Chapter 204
I had a lot to do, and in the end, even my training had to be supplemented.
My training routine ended up being different from my first semester.
Part of it was due to the enhancement of my supernatural power.
-Kwaking!
“I definitely felt it.”
“Really?”
“I think it would be good if you did more of that.”
“That’s a relief.”
Ellen took my blow and nodded. Self-Suggestion was quite the ambiguous supernatural power. So, up to that point, I had used it by recalling the strengthening type preset in practice.
That was when I had come up with a more efficient way to use it, and it seemed to be quite effective.
It was a bit cringy to talk about it in detail, and it was also rather cringy to use it, but as long as it worked, that didn’t really matter.
Rather than general strengthening, it was closer to a specialization—it was a way to diversify the use of my supernatural ability.
One was the specialization of my Self-Suggestion.
And then there was another thing…
“…I don’t know.”
“…I don’t even know how to teach you that either.”
Ellen was staring at me as I stood there with my eyes closed doing nothing.
I had taken my first step towards Mana Mastery.
I was trying to learn Magic Body Strengthening.
Ellen had realized how to use Magic Body Strengthening on her own. Since then, she had been focusing on adapting and mastering her Magic Body Strengthening through one-on-one lessons. Ellen was quite the unique case, so only she could take those classes during her first year. I wouldn’t be accepted even if I applied.
While I did have my supernatural ability, I still needed to be able to strengthen myself using magic as well.
While trying to handle magic like that, I would also speed up the growth of my Magical Power stat.
That was why I trained in the training room for a long time and then received one-on-one lessons on Magic Body Strengthening from Ellen.
However, Ellen was quite literally a genius beyond any other genius, so she just looked at me as if to say that she just knew how to do it, wondering why I didn’t.
“I can just do it, but why can’t you?”
“Fucking hell, are you and I the same? You’re the weird one for just being able to do it!”
“…But still.”
“ ‘But still…’ what?”
‘Were you and I the same?!’
Since I had two talents related to magic, I wondered if I could maybe get a feeling for Magic Body Strengthening.
But I didn’t feel a thing.
4000 points… Was it really worth spending all of those points? I had no idea what changed!
Well…
Bertus would already be a Swordmaster if it would just work as soon as one had those two talents. He had them since the beginning, after all.
Mana Mastery…
That was the deciding factor.
“Hmm… Hmm…”
Ellen also seemed to struggle with how to explain the technique to me, saying that she just released her magical power and ended up doing it.
Yeah…
I also wouldn’t be able to explain to someone how to breathe. I just knew how to do it. Magical Body Strengthening was just like breathing to Ellen.
Ellen just started to frown, mumbling to herself, and shook her head, seeming as if she just couldn’t come up with a proper way to explain.
What’s that?
Wasn’t she pretty cute, acting like that?
It put me in a good mood somehow.
“Just try again.”
“…Again, you say. That would mean that I did something before, though.”
I really hadn’t done anything… I had no idea how to even start. If she just asked me to try again, nothing would happen, just like before!
“Anyway, just do it.”
“…Okay.”
Ellen sat in front of me as I tried to focus.
Of course, I didn’t fucking know what to do. There was that thing called magical power in one’s body, but I had no idea how to even feel it, so how could it be possible for me to strengthen my body with that stuff?
“Did it fail?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm…”
Ellen just clasped my hands with a puzzled expression on her face.
Was she able to detect anything?
However, Ellen suddenly put my hands down as if something startled her.
“…What?”
“…No. Keep going.”
What happened?
Did she get shy suddenly? She didn’t seem to care before, though?
After that, Ellen didn’t grab my hands again. She just stared at me like that.
We sat facing each other as I kept on groaning for hours.
It was hellish training. I felt like a blind man trying to grasp what an elephant looked like by touching it.
No, that couldn’t even be called training because I didn’t even know how to start the process.
* * *
If one invested time in things such as swordsmanship or physical training, one would get results mostly equivalent to the time spent on them. Even if one’s growth rate grew slower eventually, it was obvious that the physical pain one felt would lead to more growth in the end.
However, that didn’t apply to Magic Body Strengthening.
Ellen was too gifted and only gave unrealistic and vague explanations, and I only ended up wanting to shit because all I did was put my strength in my stomach.
‘Should I wait until it’ll be part of our regular curriculum?’
But I didn’t know if I would be able to do it even if I took those lessons.
I thought that I would be able to do something because I had all the necessary talents.
If I managed to be able to use Magic Body Strengthening before the end of that year, I would be called a genius, while not to Ellen’s level.
I wasn’t expecting too much.
Everything would be solved if those two talents evolved into Mana Mastery.
So, except for the midterm exams, the group mission, and the final exam, there were no incidents or special events planned for Temple.
Of course, I didn’t have any time to just be idle because I had to train, take care of the Rotary Gang’s business, and look after the Magic Research Society.
Most of the main story during the second semester took place during the festival and the group mission, however, I didn’t know what might happen in the future.
During the first semester, I acted a bit hateful and disgusting because I didn’t want to be looked down on by the others, so no one dared to do that. That was why I planned on staying out of trouble after that.
There was no reason for me to pick fights with others anymore, after all.
I was trying to act in a more constructive way. I wanted to focus on things like making money, getting stronger, and gaining influence.
It wasn’t exactly stressful, but in the end, I still had a lot of things I had to take care of, so I was suffering from fatigue, if not chronic fatigue.
And so, a few days later…
There was another thing I was rather concerned about.
“Uhm. Ah… Hello. Reinhardt.”
“Huh? Oh…”
Charlotte still wasn’t comfortable around me.
I felt something more from her behavior than awkwardness.
* * *
Translator – KonnoAren
* * *
After Dettomolian’s fortune telling, things had become awkward between Charlotte and me for no apparent reason. However, there was no reason for us to believe what he told us at all. I thought things would get better after a while, but they didn’t.
No, rather, things had gotten even more awkward than when we’d just heard his prophecy.
Technically, rather than awkward, she just seemed incredibly uncomfortable around me. She couldn’t even make eye contact with me, and if we ever ran into each other in the hallway, she would only greet me briefly before quickly passing by.
What the hell?
Did she become overly conscious of me because she had been thinking about that too much? That didn’t seem to be the case. If that were the case… shouldn’t she seem more… energetic?
It didn’t seem that she became conscious of me in that way, but it was more than obvious that she was very aware of me for a slightly different reason.
But I didn’t really have much contact with Charlotte. For what reason did she feel so uncomfortable around me?
D-did I cause trouble without knowing?
I had reached the point where I even doubted myself.
However, I couldn’t think of any particular reason why Charlotte would feel like that except for the incident with Dettomolian.
What the fuck?
Did she really just become conscious of me as a man?
I don’t think so, though?
Unless…?
Ah…
Was that what one called being delusional?
What the hell was I thinking? I seriously started thinking stuff like “What if the Princess suddenly fell for me after hearing that divination?”, but Charlotte was still completely fixated on Valier, right? No, well, that was also me, though.
But what should I call it if Charlotte, who seemed to have fallen in love with Valier, suddenly turned to me? A change of heart? But both of them were me, so it couldn’t be that. Well, maybe it could still be called a change of heart.
“What are you thinking about?”
“…Huh? Why?”
“You look frustrated.”
Eventually, Ellen, who was going back with me after our classes ended, spoke up.
* * *
I had many problems, but I felt like Charlotte’s attitude changing all of a sudden was rather strange, which threw my thoughts into disarray. Charlotte was a person dear to me, after all, regardless of my personal needs and reasons.
She was the first person I’d met in this world, and she was also the person who’d made me realize that I was capable of risking my own life to save someone else.
After various twists and turns, we’d reunited, and while our direct meeting wasn’t that good, we’d ended up with a normal—maybe even moderately friendly—relationship.
But something had changed ever since we talked with Dettomolian.
Charlotte would pass me by while greeting me awkwardly as if she felt embarrassed ever since then, but she didn’t only seem embarrassed, it looked like she found it difficult to greet me and would shuffle past me with her head bowed.
While I didn’t know what exactly happened, I understood that the situation was getting weirder.
Let’s just assume…
Let’s just say that Charlotte really liked me (Reinhardt)…
Then what would that mean for the future?
What if Charlotte confessed and I said I didn’t like her in that way? What would happen then?
Wouldn’t they say something like, “How dare someone of such humble standing refuse the courtship of the Imperial Princess?” and send my head flying?
But what if I said something like, “It’s my honor, Princess.”?
Wouldn’t they say something like, “There is no place for someone like you in the Imperial Family!” and send my head flying?
Whatever I did, my head would go flying.
I was pretty sure that wasn’t her view on things, I was just arbitrarily thinking stuff like, “What if the Princess actually liked me?”. I didn’t know what Charlotte was thinking.
Or was she perhaps afraid?
Was she afraid that Dettomolian’s prophecy would come true, so she tried to put some distance between us?
What should I do if that was the case?
I had no intentions of marrying her, so should I just tell her to treat me like usual?
Then wouldn’t they say stuff like, “How dare you discuss something like marriage with the Princess?” and send my head flying?
No, no matter how I thought about it, it would just end in my head being sent flying.
I didn’t really know her reasons.
It just seemed that Charlotte was uncomfortable around me. Sometimes I felt like she was trying to avoid me somewhat.
It might be something like that.
Although we had only spent one day together, Charlotte liked me (Valier). That was certain. However, she’d been told that she would end up marrying the other me (Reinhardt).
Did she try to avoid me because she thought that her feelings for Valier would end up fading otherwise?
Of course, I didn’t believe that Dettomolian’s words would come true.
But let’s say it really was a prediction of the future. If it was some kind of oracle, for example…
Rather, wouldn’t the actions one took to avoid the oracle’s fulfillment turn into actions that actually led to it?
Just like King Laius’ action of abandoning Oedipus after hearing the oracle that his son would end up killing himself and marrying his wife became the decisive event that led to its fulfillment.
If that was the case, the action Charlotte took to distance herself from me would only become the decisive action that would make the oracle come true.
Of course, that was only under the assumption that Dettomolian’s words would really come true.
In the end, all stories involving oracles had the same message:
Fate was unavoidable, and what would happen had to happen. The actions one took to avoid said fate would only bring one closer to its fulfillment.
While I was thinking about that problem involving Charlotte, I felt an eerie feeling burning my spine.
I started to think that everything I did to stop the Gate Crisis would either have no effect or might cause a slew of other completely unexpected problems.
The Gate Crisis was fated to happen.
And I was trying to prevent it.
Would the measures I took to prevent it actually work properly? And even if they worked, would there just be a different kind of Gate Crisis?
I couldn’t tell.
The Gate Incident would happen later.
Charlotte seemed to really feel uncomfortable around me, and I wasn’t sure why, but I thought it might have something to do with Dettomolian’s words.
That was the problem.
If Charlotte had decided to distance herself from me, what was I supposed to say to her? That she didn’t have to do that? Did I even have the right to say anything?
Charlotte could do whatever she wanted, and it was rather weird if I just told her what to do or what not to do.
Eventually, while I was thinking in my room, my communication device rang.
[…Reinhardt.]
Charlotte’s slightly gloomy voice came out of the device.
[Can we… talk for a moment?]
Judging by her voice, it seemed like she had come to a decision.
* * *
At Charlotte’s request, I left Royal Class’s dormitory. Charlotte was waiting for me at a bridge stretching over a small pond, deep in the park in front of the dormitory. There was no one around because people usually didn’t venture that deep into it.
Although only a few people ever went there, it was well maintained, and the pond’s water was transparent and clear.
With her arms on the bridge’s railing, Charlotte looked at me, then nodded.
“You came.”
“Yeah.”
She had a slightly different feeling about her than the Charlotte who had just passed by me up until then.
Before, she’d seemed beyond awkward and uncomfortable.
Seeing her there, she had an incredibly sad look in her eyes. Charlotte leaned against the bridge railing, looking in the direction of the pond, and I leaned against the other one looking in the opposite direction.
We didn’t face each other.
I thought that would be more comfortable for Charlotte and me.
I didn’t know what to say to Charlotte.
“I have been acting strangely these days, haven’t I?”
“…I can’t say no to that. Yeah, you’ve been weird.”
“After hearing something as embarrassing as that… I just couldn’t help it.”
“I was like that as well…”
Dettomolian’s words…
He’d told us we would get married in the future.
That might have been why Charlotte had been acting like that.
“It’s ridiculous, right?”
Charlotte and I getting married… She said it was ridiculous; I agreed with that.
“Yeah… You’re right.”
“Don’t you feel bad when I say something like that?”
“…Huh?”
Charlotte looked at me with a slightly mischievous smile tugging at her lips. I was slightly taken aback by that.
“Well, you know. I don’t think of you in that way, but because you denied it so vehemently, I felt annoyed for no apparent reason. ‘Am I really that bad a catch?’ was what I was thinking.”
“N-no. No! That’s not it! You know what I meant when I said that!”
It’s not because I hated the idea of marrying her that I said that it would never happen, I had just been saying that from a realistic point of view. It could never happen! She knew that!
It wasn’t like I wasn’t low-key happy to hear that I might marry an Imperial Princess, but I’d just gotten freaked out and denied it, saying that it would never happen.
Right, that might have been upsetting.
“…That wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry if that made you feel bad.”
“I know. I know. I know what you meant. It’s just… It’s something that has no hope of happening. I think… it would have been even worse if you were actually happy when you heard it. That’s what I thought.”
Charlotte was smiling at me.
Well…
If I actually said something like, “I’d love that. Marrying an Imperial Princess in the future. Life sure is good,” that would have been seriously weird.
It wasn’t that she felt awkward, Charlotte just avoided me out of her own sincerity. It seemed like she actually believed the prophecy, so she’d got scared or something.
“Well, he did say that there was a chance that he was wrong, but I still ended up thinking about it seriously, like, “What the hell would have to happen for me to get married to you?” something like that.”
“…Seriously?”
“What? Can’t I do that?”
“N-no, that’s not it… There’s nothing wrong with that, but… Isn’t it a bit strange to talk about that in front of me?”
I actually had done that as well. What would have to happen for me to get married to Charlotte?
“It’s fine, it’s not like I like you or am interested in you in that way. I was just thinking, if that were the end result, whether there was a reasonable scenario that would have led to it. I was just curious.”
Charlotte spoke with a strict expression on her face as if telling me to not misunderstand. Charlotte simply pondered whether there was a reasonable explanation for that outcome.
She was watching the fish swimming in the pond.
“Reinhardt, you see…”
“…Hm?”
“I think… me ending up marrying you… isn’t so impossible.”
“…Huuh?”
The answer Charlotte gave me was far beyond anything I could have imagined. She smiled at me, who was completely dumbfounded.
I didn’t know what she was thinking, but that smile didn’t reach her eyes.
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