Chapter 4 - It's Not About Me, It's About a Friend

Esther's strange behavior threw me off, but I started with what I had prepared.

“I intend to support your school life however I can. Is anything troubling you?”

“Troubling me... There is one thing. But I suppose there's nothing to be done about it. It's a matter of the heart...”

A matter of the heart?

Did she mean she couldn't get along with the other students? Her looks certainly must inspire plenty of jealousy. Was she being ostracized?

“What exactly is the problem?”

“No, it's... It's all right...”

Her voice dropped as she glanced sideways at a box she had set neatly beside the sofa. It seemed an unconscious movement rather than a deliberate glance.

The box was carefully wrapped in cloth. Something like... a lunch box.

“What's that?”

“... A sense of deprivation.”

What was that supposed to mean? What on earth was in there?

“Well, this isn't about me. It's about a friend.”

As I stared at her, she cautiously began to explain.

“There's a boy my friend l-l-likes.”

Esther's face filled with bashfulness.

Right...

Anyone could tell this was about her...

There was no reason for her to blush over a friend's love life. This was one hundred percent her own story. She might as well have said, “This is about me, so please listen carefully.”

A boy she liked.

Laward, obviously. Esther was a character who had no interest in any other man. She acted as though she had no romantic feelings, when in truth, every little thing Laward did repeatedly broke her heart and brought it back to life.

“No matter what she tries, he just keeps disliking her... This time, she made him lunch herself to try to win him over... But apparently, even that... didn't work. It's been bothering me. Seeing my f-friend suffer makes me suffer too, I suppose...”

A proper translation of her roundabout Esther-speak would be:

Laward dislikes Esther.

I wanted to leap up and cheer at that revelation, but forced my face to remain impassive.

Now I understood why Esther had been acting so strangely. The romance was already over. She had lost outright to Laward, the devout believer. She was probably at the point where she couldn't see even a glimmer of hope. That explained her air of a defeated soldier.

I felt bad for Esther, but this was the only path to a future. There was no other way to prevent the apocalypse. Those two could not end up together.

Having orchestrated all this behind the scenes, how was I supposed to respond?

“I don't know your friend, but...”

My best bet was to play ignorant and offer a little sympathy.

“Packing a lunch takes more work than you might think. And when you're also wondering how the person receiving it will react, there must have been any number of things on her mind. She must have started at the crack of dawn. That boy has missed out on someone special.”

When I finished speaking, I saw Esther hanging her head, her face flushed crimson.

“You're the first person... to say that.”

“Hm?”

“About... my friend's lunch.”

Was she sticking with the friend story?

More importantly, hadn't her whole third-party act fallen apart the moment she said I was the first?

“Nothing like this had ever happened before... But lately, it's been nothing but hurt. I suppose she grew vulnerable without even realizing it.”

Esther's eyes shimmered. I could tell she was tightening her throat, locking her voice down to keep the tears out of it.

“They say ten strokes will fell any tree... But some trees just won't fall.”

Well...

People aren't trees...

“No one comforted me. There were just more and more people watching me get rejected. From what I overheard... they've even started betting on whether I'll succeed...”

They'd gone that far?

Maybe she really was being bullied...?

“Thank you, my benefactor. I'll be sure to tell my friend. I'm sure... she'll be happy.”

Esther lifted her head and smiled.

“... Of course.”

I almost lost myself in that smile. Her radiant face nearly made me forget what I wanted to ask her.

Get a grip.

Her relationship with Laward mattered, but there was something else I needed to address.

Esther's abilities.

The hidden ending wasn't something the protagonist could achieve alone. When I was the player, I had definitely strengthened both the protagonist and every heroine.

Esther's abilities needed strengthening too.

Or, in her case, was it more of a change?

“Esther.”

I broached the subject as I leafed through her school records. Specifically, the “Special Skills/Aptitudes” section.

“How is your mana control coming along?”

Her expression stiffened the moment I brought up the mana control mentioned in her records.

“It's going... well.”

That wasn't the face of someone doing well at all.

“You can be honest. I have no intention of withdrawing my support just because you don't have immediate results.”

“I haven't made any progress yet...! But I... can do it!”

Esther readily admitted it. The way she confidently insisted she could do it gave me a brief glimpse of the Esther I knew.

The heroines' grades were rock-bottom for now, but every one of them had abilities to rival the protagonist's. They had the potential to stop the apocalypse.

But awakening just one or two of them wouldn't be enough. The hidden ending required the protagonist and all five heroines to reach the highest level of growth. And every heroine's affection for Laward had to be at its minimum.

Both conditions had to be met.

Esther's defining trait was mana itself. An unrivaled, staggering quantity of mana. It was as vast and deep as an ocean no vessel could contain. The game had explicitly established her reserves as the greatest in its world.

But she had so much mana that she couldn't control it. Her spells were either too small or too large. There was no middle ground.

“If you'd given the entrance exam your all, you might have placed first. But you held back out of concern for the people around you. Rather than lose control and hurt someone, you chose to come in last.”

In the entrance exam that measured combat ability, Esther had chosen “too small.” There was no telling whether her score would have been higher or lower than Laward's if she had used her full power.

Still, Laward's first-place finish had been enough to catch her interest. She grew curious about what sort of training had brought him to the top. She wanted to know more about him.

Only afterward did she notice that he was more diligent than his peers, that his hands were large and his back broad. Before she knew it, she liked him.

“I'll make sure I succeed... before my second year...”

Esther's voice grew quieter still.

Certainly, mastering mana control would make her a human asset; failing would make her a human disaster.

A human disaster.

Water and fire, the elements that made up the character for disaster.

If she went out of control, she would cause a catastrophe like a flood and a fire combined. A sea of flames.

But that only applied when she used magic with destructive properties. What if she used the opposite—magic with beneficial properties?

“You don't need to control it.”

“Pardon?”

“By my standards, you're already perfect.”

A person's value changes with their environment.

“Mana control is essential. All I do is put the people around me in danger. Even a spell to make a tiny flame causes a massive fire when I use it. In the past, because of me...”

I knew how to fix Esther's weakness. Partly because I had been a player, but above all because I had commanded the paladin order.

“Healing magic.”

I knew the answer.

“Healing magic has no side effects from excess mana.”

“... Healing magic?”

“In fact, the bigger it is, and the more of it there is, the better. You've probably never considered holy magic. You must have thought that making a name for yourself as a mage meant becoming a powerful weapon or achieving some great innovation.”

“... Yes.”

“Life is more precious than power or knowledge.”

I remembered the commander before me, who had died before my eyes for lack of healing magic—the man who had gone and left the paladin order in my hands without asking.

I remembered my brothers, gauging how close death was by the blood pouring out of them, howling in horrific pain.

If Esther had learned healing magic... If she'd been there beside us with that power...

Things would have been different.

“The caster's mana determines how effective healing magic is. You could save even someone whose limbs had been torn off.”

Esther's eyes flew wide open.

“I don't need to control it...”

She haltingly repeated my words.

“You said making a tiny flame causes a massive fire.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Then a single F-rank healing spell could save countless lives. Even a spell that normally does no more than heal a little scratch could make you a savior.”

In the hidden ending, Esther had given up on mana control. Instead, she had barely managed to learn healing magic and put it to good use. Only at the very end had she found what suited her.

I intended to steer Esther toward learning healing magic starting now. Rather than spend that time practicing mana control, I would make her a healing specialist right away. By moving things forward, I could make Esther even stronger than she had been in the hidden ending.

And...

“Incidentally...”

There was one more reason it had to be healing magic.

“Healing magic becomes offensive magic when used against the undead.”

The game's lore stated that holy healing magic damaged the undead, but I didn't even have to reach that far. I had confirmed it firsthand in my previous life.

With Esther's tremendous mana reserves, its ceiling would be even higher.

“Healing magic restores living creatures and destroys the undead.”

And what if that healing magic was an area-of-effect skill? It could unleash more firepower than most offensive spells.

“The undead? Those don't exist anymore.”

Well, that was a natural reaction right now.

For now, it couldn't be otherwise.

I had said everything I needed to. Time to meet the next heroine.

“Well then, I'll see you another time.”

“Oh, yes! Thank you so much for selecting me for the scholarship. And for all your kind advice!”

Perhaps worried that she'd let the conversation run too long, Esther quickly rose. She bowed deeply, then hurried toward the back door.

“Esther.”

“Yes?”

“You forgot this.”

I pointed to the lunch box sitting all alone on the sofa.

“Your sense of deprivation.”

“Oh, oh...! So I did!”

Startled, Esther came back and cradled the lunch box in her arms.

“I realize it comes with a lot of history, but if you're going to throw it away, may I eat it? I happen to be hungry.”

“Pardon? It's my friend's, so I'd have to ask...”

“May I eat it?”

“I-it must be completely cold by now! You must be used to expensive, fine food at home, and what I made...”

“I don't mind.”

“Oh... All right...”

Esther set the lunch box on the table and sat back down on the sofa.

CLICK

I slowly opened it.

Finding nothing but Western food in such a familiar-looking lunch box was a real letdown, but it was a health-conscious meal nonetheless: eggplant lightly grilled in olive oil, a salad with tomatoes, chicken breast shredded along the grain into easy bites, sautéed spinach, and a salmon steak cooked just right.

A proper five-side-dish spread, so to speak.

The Korean word for those five dishes also brought to mind five concubines—and, somehow, the harem route...

More importantly, I was eating food that normally would have gone to that obnoxious protagonist. It was a little cold, but that didn't matter.

Ah.

A victor's feast.

Chomp—

Protein first.

I bit into the salmon steak. The fish flaked apart pleasantly, releasing its succulent juices.

“How... does it taste?”

Esther asked, despite supposedly having no particular reason to wonder, since her friend had made it.

“Hm? It's delicious. I can hardly believe a student made this.”

“What a relief...!”

Esther's expression relaxed into a bright smile.

A relief...?

It wasn't Laward saying it was delicious. I was just stealing the protagonist's food.

“Please try the other dishes too.”

“I was going to, but... how long are you planning to watch me?”

“Pardon? Oh... R-right. I'm sorry.”

“You can go now. I'll return the empty box next time.”

Esther paused at that, then rose with a smile at the corners of her lips.

“Yes. I'll see you next time.”

004

I continued meeting the heroines.

First had been Esther, a first-year in the magic department.

Next was...

“I'm Rebecca!”

Rebecca burst noisily through the door and immediately flashed V signs with both hands. As she struck her pose, her neatly cut blond bob swished as if showing off.

Dazzling.

The moment I saw her, I knew that was the perfect word. A necklace, earrings, and all manner of accessories adorned her. She looked as if every movement should come with a little sparkle sound effect.

Yet none of it felt excessive, probably because her face shone brighter than her jewelry.

She clearly put effort into her appearance, fitting for someone whose official character profile said she changed her hairstyle every day. Intriguing green eyes and a sharply cut bob. Her eyes, a blend of catlike and foxlike, gave her a cold look, but her lively, warm manner broke through that cool exterior.

The two hairpins in her bangs probably played a decisive role as well.

“I'm Rebecca, a second-year in the magic department! I'm pursuing the sword with a view to becoming the Sword Saint!”

... That one-line introduction was a bundle of contradictions.

How did “magic department” and “Sword Saint” belong in the same sentence? Her sunny demeanor clashing with her chilly looks wasn't the only thing that felt inconsistent.

Come to think of it, there was one part of Rebecca she didn't decorate.

Her hands.

No rings, no nail art.

Pursuing the sword with a view to becoming the Sword Saint, huh? She made it sound like dating with a view to marriage.

Worse, the real problem was that she had absolutely no idea what was wrong with that.

Our conversation passed in a whirlwind.

Then came...

“... I'm Lucia.”

Lucia's black hair swayed as she gave a slight bow. Dark circles hung heavily beneath her sky-blue eyes. She looked so exhausted that a tap might knock her over.

She was petite, but her figure commanded attention. Her silhouette was unreal. If there really was a Goddess, she must have sculpted it thinking, “This is a little shameless, but surely the world can have one body like this?”

“Lucia is a third-year in the swordsmanship department.”

What was with that way of talking?

Oh.

At some point, Lucia had closed her eyes. She had been dozing ever since we started talking.

“I'm sorry. I do night work, so I'm sleepy during the day.”

... What?

Lucia quietly checked my reaction and gave a sly smile.

By “night work,” she meant working for a certain guild's assassination unit. Having played the game, I knew her background, but if I hadn't, I would have looked thoroughly flustered.

Still, I hadn't entirely hidden my reaction, and Lucia watched me as though I amused her.

Was this what set third-years apart?

Despite her stiff manner of speaking, she had a mischievous streak.

“Lucia, I'd like you to focus on your studies. That's why I'm giving you a scholarship.”

“I'm truly grateful for the scholarship.”

Lucia bowed her head deeply once more.

“But Lucia has no intention of quitting her job.”

“Not that you can't quit?”

“No.”

Lucia drew a firm line.

Well, I could let that go for now. It was time to focus on Esther, and there was no need to rush.

“I'll have to deal with them one at a time anyway.”

“... Deal with them?”

“Just talking to myself.”

And so I met three heroines in succession. Amelia, who couldn't spare even a moment to show her face, and Veronica, who had received the severe punishment of a one-year suspension, would have to wait for another opportunity.

Five heroines.

As unbelievable as it seemed, they would all fall for one man.

After school.

As soon as Esther returned to her dorm room, she flopped onto her bed. She rolled left, then right, tossing and turning as she thought back on the day's events.

Lately, all she had done was cry every day. She kept replaying her own constant efforts to win Laward's heart and his invariably icy responses, lamenting the gap between their feelings that refused to shrink.

The more her unrequited love for Laward piled up, the wider that gap became.

Scales tipping only to one side. There was no balance.

Today, however, a different face lingered in her mind.

Daywin Hasgard.

Her benefactor from an illustrious count's family.

He was an unusual man.

His easygoing words and behavior hardly seemed those of a nobleman's son. He had thought nothing of accepting a novice's homemade lunch, one that had even gone cold.

And...

[“She must have started at the crack of dawn. That boy has missed out on someone special.”]

[“You don't need to control it. You're already perfect.”]

[“May I eat it?”]

She remembered the words that had come upon her suddenly like waves, sweeping through her heart.

No one had ever said such things to her before.

It was laughable and pathetic to find comfort and reassurance in someone she had only just met, but she couldn't deny the warmth his words had brought her.

[“I'll return the empty box next time.”]

More than anything else he had said, those utterly meaningless words kept circling in her mind.

There would be a next time.

She rolled over, and the familiar dorm-room door came into view. Her roommate's cosmetics sat on the desk in their usual place.

A day like any other.

She didn't quite understand why. Today was, after all, the day Laward had rejected the lunch she'd made with such confidence, and yet...

“How strange.”

For some reason, there were no tears today.

[Ending (1) Locked]

[I-It's Not Like I'm Saying I Like You, Okay?]

“Huh...?”

As I was drying off after my bath, a message suddenly appeared, telling me an ending had been locked.