Ariel Dalton Wants to Graduate

Many things were omitted, but it wasn’t difficult to interpret. It was just difficult to answer. Watching my face contort in an attempt to fight the excruciating pain, Kyle gnashed his teeth and covered my head. It was a careful touch, unlike earlier.

“Damn it, Ariel, you don’t have to push yourself. Damn □□□.”

Some of the words he’s spitting out are difficult to hear, just like when we were in herbalism class. I forcefully lifted my eyelids to chase away the drowsiness that suddenly hit me. 

Then, instead of talking, Kyle asked me to answer his question with a nod. I got a little excited and nodded vigorously. It seemed that Kyle Villard had finally thought of revealing what was inside his head.

Despite everything, the various secrets he held felt like a wall between us. I could confidently say that I trusted him not to make me sad, as Kyle had asked me to do that day in the greenhouse. But I wasn’t confident enough to say that I didn’t feel sad every time he would leave his assigned seat in the magic science classroom to whisper to Rosemary Blossom, who hated me.

“First, your time is going back to March, which starts at the graduation banquet, is that right?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Kyle spoke. I nodded fiercely in delight. He was stuck in the repeating fifth year, just like me!

 The next question was, when was the first graduation banquet I remember? 

“So, did you suddenly drop out because of that?” Kyle added. 

My head shook up and down again. But the first time I went back in time wasn’t when I dropped out, so I continued with a quick horizontal motion.

“Yes, but not really.”

I stuttered out of frustration. A sharp, ringing sound echoed in my head. Kyle quickly waved his hand.

“Well, forget it. I guess I roughly have an idea now what happened.”

Kyle hesitated for a long time before asking the last question.

I felt that he had something he wanted to ask, but he was worried that I would give him an answer he didn’t want to hear.

Kyle’s gaze wasn’t on me. It rolled across the floor like a stone at his feet. When he finally opened his mouth, his eyes were closed, like a five-year-old afraid of a monster that had crawled from under the bed.

“Do you remember anything? About Keran Illestia…”

Suddenly, a melodious voice flew in, like a lark chirping.

“What about Keran?”

We looked in the direction of the sound, startled. Rosemary Blossom was standing at the stairs of the back door of the annex, with her lush blond hair tousled messily.

The purple eyes under the dense eyelashes were so deep that it was impossible to tell what emotion they had. The perfectly black pupils reminded me of the “Witch’s Path.”

How long has she been there? My shoulders trembled a little as chill licked my spine.

“Are you trying to get in my way again?”

Blossom looked straight at me and murmured. Her words were sharp like broken glass scratching my ear. 

“It’s none of your business.”

Kyle quickly interrupted her.

I had no reason to endure Blossom’s bottomless and incomprehensible hatred. Moreover, I had never ‘gotten in her way’. On the contrary, wasn’t it she who stole my banquet partner?

I tried to retort, but my lips wouldn’t move. It was a restraint to which I had already become accustomed.

“I’ve thought about it. I’ve been thinking, yes… Where did it go wrong? Huh?”

Blossom slowly descended the stairs. Her complexion was excessively pale, and she continued to stutter. She seemed to be in a very unstable state.

“But, I can’t find the answer… and I don’t want to know. I only did □□ for □□□, so why does it have to be like this?”

“Stop it, Blossom!”

“I told you to call me ‘Rose’!”

She exclaimed obsessively.  At the same time, an enormous noise bursts out from the wind. It was like the scream of Mandrake, but hundreds of times louder.

I tried to cover my ears, but it was impossible to resist the deafening noise. I endured the explosive sound that tore apart my eardrums.

The mana mixes in the air and violently hits the ground. They floated  and crumbled repeatedly in a spiral shape. It is  as if the world was sympathizing with Rosemary Blossom’s anger. Was this also because she was the ‘main character’?

“Well, I’ve tried it before, but even if one □□□□ disappears, □□ doesn’t become □□.”

“Rosemary Blossom!”

Ah, that gesture again. Mana gathered at Blossom’s fingertips as she tapped the air before suddenly dissipating. Kyle flinched as if he had received some kind of divine revelation, then approached me. It was an unnatural movement, like a doll tied to its strings.

“Blossom. No, Rose, please…  what are you trying to do?”

“You said you would help me. You… you must not forget your duty.”

He reached out his hand toward me. I blinked my eyes dumbfoundedly at the sudden warmth around my neck.

“No, no, please stop… I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything…”

Kyle’s hand was now just a little bit away from my neck. His body shook violently, and blood oozed from his mouth. ‘Kyle, I don’t have a handkerchief,’ I wanted to say. ‘Edgar Ramos took it and hasn’t returned it yet. So don’t get hurt.’ But my tongue felt too stiff.

Soon, I began to experience shortness of breath accompanied by excruciating pain. Kyle sobbed as he choked me. The smell of blood from his tears immediately seeped into my heart, not my nose.

Even while struggling, I thought strangely calmly. It was now clear that Blossom was the “main character” that Kaitlyn the Great had spoken of and had absolute power. Kyle was in a position to help Blossom and had to obey her. Also, like me, he lived in a time where the ends were connected and—

The scene flickered in front of my eyes. I couldn’t think of anything anymore. Red shadows spread from the corner of my vision. Kyle screamed. “I know how to fix Keran Illestia!” I suddenly heard a voice shouting those words before my consciousness completely submerged.

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:22 [ERROR] com/attis/core/loader/CharDataLoader : cannot find charadata – /app/data/chara/template/female/13/girl_07.dat(Access Denied)

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:22 [ERROR] com/attis/core/loader/CharDataLoader : cannot find charadata – /app/data/chara/template/female/13/girl_07.dat(Access Denied)

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:23 [ERROR] com/attis/core/loader/CharDataLoader : cannot find charadata – /app/data/chara/template/female/13/girl_07.dat(Access Denied)

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:24 [INFO] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validate savefile – /app/savefiles/autosave.sav

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:24 [ERROR] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validation failed!

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:24 [INFO] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validate savefile – /app/savefiles/save001.sav

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:24 [ERROR] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validation failed!

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:24 [INFO] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validate savefile – /app/savefiles/save002.sav

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:24 [ERROR] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validation failed!

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:25 [INFO] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validate savefile – /app/savefiles/save003.sav

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:25 [ERROR] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validation failed!

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:25 [INFO] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validate savefile – /app/savefiles/save004.sav

XXXX-XX-XX 13:45:25 [INFO] com/attis/core/loader/SaveFileLoader : validation has been completed. initialize savefile…

You can now sponsor an extra chapter by buying me a Ko-fi! 2 Ko-fi= 1extra chapter.