[603] To Someone (1)
Watching Istas change form was a spectacle.
"Isn't it cool? This is Istas, the famed attraction of the Alpheas School of Magic."
"Well, my old school had something like that too."
Liz said her alma mater's name without hesitation, while Oscar casually called his school "the one I went to."
Even trivial chatter reveals the difference between an elite school and a lesser one.
Oscar was a city native, but unless it was the Royal Magic Academy, his school wasn't among the kingdom's five great schools.
Still, Liz was proud of Oscar.
With a man who'd pulled himself up and earned official certification by his own efforts at her side, she felt they could overcome anything.
"Come on. I'll show you the research club full of my memories."
"Let's go back now. I already greeted the headmaster."
"Oh, come on. Hurry. It'll be fun."
While Liz skipped along like a child, Oscar could think of little but his dinner plans.
"Nothing here's changed at all."
A flood of memories washed through Liz's mind.
"How do you find your way around? It's a complete maze."
"One of the previous presidents could use a Servant ability. That person made the Master Equation."
"Really? How does it work?"
Liz turned with her hands behind her back and stuck out her tongue.
"Secret."
The door to the Paranormal Psychical Science Club opened and Liz's face popped in.
"Ta‑da! Huh, no one's here?"
"They're probably in class. Let's go. I've got a dinner with the Association people."
Just as Oscar was about to leave, Liz grabbed his wrist and spun him back.
He sighed and turned, but faced with Liz's meaningfully expectant look, he couldn't help but snap alert.
"You're really just going to leave? You might regret it."
"Ahem, what are you talking about?"
Oscar pretended not to know.
"This place is where I stayed longer than my dorm. In short, my scent's all over it."
As Liz pulled, Oscar's legs moved as if hypnotized, and the door closed a moment later.
"Ah, this is insane."
Nade, who'd finished his evaluations earlier than his friends, went looking for Shirone and entered Istas.
'I can't focus at all.'
His head was full of Liz and nothing else.
'I should've avoided meeting her. If I hadn't left Scramble Royal, if I hadn't gone to the bath that day...'
Regrets piled up.
But in a corner of his heart another Nade rejoiced at the reality of seeing Liz again.
"I wonder if Shirone's here?"
Nade's hand on the doorknob froze.
At first he thought it was Shirone, but the voices coming from inside were clearly a man and a woman.
"What the—?"
When he opened the door and stepped into the clubroom, he found Liz and Oscar kissing.
"Senior Liz?"
It felt like his heart had been ripped out and his brain taken; he couldn't think at all.
"Liz! Ugh! Ugh!"
Seeing Nade, Oscar shoved Liz away in a panic.
Liz, realizing belatedly, widened her eyes in embarrassment and then gave an awkward smile as she approached.
"Oh my, Nade! When did you get here?"
"What are you doing right now?"
"Oh, how embarrassing. Sorry. I suddenly got nostalgic and the mood..."
"Get out."
Nade's face hardened, and Liz's smile snapped shut.
"Don't ever come here again."
Oscar frowned.
"Who talks to a senior like that? This research club isn't even yours, and Liz already graduated from here."
Nade's gaze lingered on Oscar for a moment before turning back.
"Outsiders, leave."
They didn't know.
They didn't know the desperate battles he and his friends had fought to protect this club.
"Outsiders? Leave?"
Oscar had had enough.
"You should think before you speak. The person standing in front of you is a pro mage who's been officially certified by the kingdom. You, without a mage's license, have no right to talk like that."
Nade didn't even want to keep arguing.
"This is the last time I'll say it. Leave. Unless you want to get hurt."
"This brat keeps egging me on…"
Oscar's eyes flashed and he stepped forward.
But the instant his gaze hit Nade head‑on, it felt as if his heart stopped and his body froze.
'What is this guy?'
A chill that could freeze blood. He'd never felt such killing intent even on missions.
"If you're so confident, come at me. You say you're a pro mage, right?"
Oscar was literally a pro, and the one who'd frozen him was an amateur about to graduate.
However he felt, he couldn't back down. Oscar tried to move closer again, but Liz cut in.
"Enough! Don't fight."
She pulled Oscar back and turned to Nade.
"Alright. I'll go. I'm sorry if I upset you."
"Liz, are you really going to put up with this? He only thinks about himself—talking down to a senior like that."
"Oscar, please stop. Let's just go."
As Liz took her lover's hand and left, Oscar spat an insult.
"You punk. No wonder you always come in last."
The door slammed. Nade, left standing there, felt dizzy and sank onto the couch.
"Hah."
Contrary to his expectation that he'd feel relieved, only regret washed over him now that it was over.
"Aaah! Really! Really!"
He beat his own head like a madman and buried his face deep in the sofa.
Two hours later, when Shirone and Iruki arrived, Nade was already a wreck.
"What happened? What's wrong?"
Shirone wondered how a person could change so much in a few hours.
"It's over. It's all over."
"So what's over?"
"Senior Liz visited..."
After hearing Nade's account, Shirone and Iruki fell silent for a long time.
Chasing her off so harshly had been a mistake, yet imagining themselves in that situation made their scolding feel less righteous.
"Think of it as for the best. She already had an arranged fiancé, didn't she? If you set your hopes on her, you'll only hurt yourself."
Iruki's advice was practical.
"I know. But I can't give up. I'm furious, but I don't want to lose her."
Shirone administered shock therapy.
"You still like her after what you saw?"
"Of course I do! I love her! I feel like I'll go mad from how much I love her. Do you know why I wanted to open a magic goods shop? Because she works at the armory! I planned to confess properly but then this—"
Nade grabbed his head.
"I was stupid! I should've played it cool. Now she must hate me completely, right?"
"Hate or love, she's engaged. That means she's probably going to marry him."
"Is an engagement a big deal? She might change her mind and come to me. Iruki, what are the chances of that?"
"Zero percent."
He didn't even want to do the math.
"Shirone, tell me. What should I do now? This is what insight's for, right?"
"If you really can't give her up, there's only one way."
"Really? What is it?"
"Go now and apologize to both of them."
"Apologize?"
He could imagine apologizing to Liz, but bowing to Oscar was hard to picture.
"You were harsh, it's true. If you can't do it, you'll have to let it go."
Even Nade saw that as the only solution.
"But I don't know where they are. I can't check every inn in town."
"The headmaster will know. I'll ask."
Shirone ran to Alpheas and learned Liz was staying at the Dolphin Inn.
Grateful, Nade left Istas, repeating thanks, but when he reached the inn he was barely compos mentis.
'Stay calm. I'm just going to see a senior. I wasn't like this before.'
With a hand trembling like he was about to jump off a cliff, he knocked. Liz's voice called out.
"Who is it?"
"Um... it's Nade."
"Nade?"
The door opened and Liz appeared, dressed casually.
She might not be more beautiful than when she dressed up, but that naturalness made his heart beat all the more.
"How did you find this place?"
Liz's face, looking at the stunned Nade, showed it wouldn't be a warm reception.
"Want to come in?"
"Sorry! Senior!"
Afraid to delay a moment, Nade bowed immediately.
"I must've been out of my mind. I didn't even recognize you. I'm really sorry."
An apology wouldn't resolve everything, but there was no reason to refuse one.
"Alright. Thanks for coming. Honestly, I've felt a bit uneasy. I wondered if I shouldn't have come back to school."
"Absolutely not. It's all my fault."
"Okay. Let's meet before you leave."
"Um, where is Oscar? I want to apologize to him directly too."
"He's out to dinner with some Association people. Don't worry—he's not the type to hold grudges."
"Still, could you tell me where? I won't be a nuisance, I promise."
Liz wanted Oscar to get over his anger too.
"He's at the Gold Ocean Restaurant. He said he'd meet them there. It's an important gathering, so don't disturb it."
"Okay. Don't worry. Thank you."
Thinking he might make another mistake if he stayed, Nade hurried out of the inn.
"It's done! It's done!"
Though distance remained, it was a hundred times better than the relationship being cut off.
'To be so happy over something like this. A few days ago she smiled at me...'
Why do people only realize what matters after they almost lose it?
'I'll be satisfied for now that I get to see her again.'
Across from the restaurant, Nade peered through a window and found Oscar inside.
Surrounded by five or six people, he gestured confidently as he talked.
"Tch, lucky guy."
Did Oscar realize how blessed he was to be loved by Liz?
She could be annoying or bothersome at times, but to someone else she was an untouchably noble woman.
"How long are they going to be?"
There was nothing more humiliating than waiting outside to apologize to the boyfriend of the woman you loved.
Maybe because of thin clothes, the autumn chill felt sharper, but it was more than just the weather.
"Please finish soon. Please finish soon."
About an hour later, those who'd finished dinner, Oscar rose from his seat.
'He's coming out.'
He opened the restaurant door himself and waited for his group to follow, straightening his clothes and bowing slightly.
"Thank you for the meal, branch head. Next time I'll take you somewhere nice."
"Ha! Glad it suited you. I look forward to seeing your taste."
'Wow. He's the branch head?'
Nade watched a middle‑aged man whose belly strained the suit buttons.
Being certified was impressive, but dining with the Creas branch head of the Magic Association was extraordinary.
'He must be competent. After all, to live with Liz—wait?'
A blonde woman in a red dress slipped on a fur coat and slid her arm through Oscar's, smiling softly.
"Dad, can I walk with this person for a bit? For digestion."
"Sure. Escort our daughter well."
"Don't worry."
From their conversation it was clear she was the branch head's daughter.
What Nade couldn't understand was why such a woman would link arms with Oscar and go for a walk.
"...What on earth is going on?"