Chapter 135 - An Unfinished Story (2)

“……Rain-ssi.”

Encountering Serene was, naturally, a product of coincidence. My schedule had opened up, and I felt stuffy, so I came out for a bit, only to run into her like this.

“What a coincidence.”

When Serene called my name, I replied as such. Well, it wasn't as if I had any actual business with her.

“You seemed to be concentrating on something. My apologies.”

I added. Just before Serene spoke to me, she seemed to be lost in deep thought, so I was planning to make a graceful exit.

However.

“Would you like to sit for a moment?”

Serene stopped me, instead telling me to stay.

It was an impromptu walk, but I ended up sitting down. To be precise, under a tree on the plain, near its base.

Although I sat down at Serene's invitation, she didn't initiate any particular conversation.

“……”

She just silently watched the empty air.

‘Seeing this, she seems similar to Arien.’

Unlike Serene's bright and cheerful image, now that I thought about it, she was.

In the original work, Serene was the person who enjoyed contemplation the most after Arien.

And their strength also made me feel that they were somewhere in a similar boundary.

Arien, who defeated the First Astro in one go, albeit after absorbing a magic source, and Serene, who crushed 『Despair Without Cost』 in a single blow, albeit with magic backup.

A strength that was so great it almost felt unfair. That's what I meant.

‘Well, whatever.’

As such thoughts started to spring up, I quickly dismissed them. It was my fault for being weak; it wasn't their fault for being born strong.

Crackle, crackle.

On a night where the moonlight descended, the fuel in the lantern that illuminated the darkness still had plenty left.

And this meant that there was enough time to talk.

“There was something I was curious about……”

I broke the silence and asked Serene about a certain topic. A question I had been dying to ask.

“How on earth did you catch up to the power car?”

At the time the train was separated by the explosion, Serene was definitely not in the power car. She would have been somewhere between Cars 8 and 20.

But Serene had broken through the train's ceiling and intervened when I was subduing Vargas.

From what I could figure, it was a sequence of events that should have been physically impossible.

When I asked how that was possible…….

“Ah, about that… I knew the train would pass through a canyon, so I tried to cross the canyon to get to its exit first. I was glad it worked out.”

“……”

Hmm. An answer that felt very much like ‘I tried it, and it worked.’

I had felt it in many ways after falling into this world of Arche, but I strongly felt my carefully built common sense being negated.

“……I, see……”

What could I say to that?

I see. That's what.

***

In truth, there were many other things I wanted to ask. Why was I Serene's idol? Why did Serene consider me so close? And… what had happened to the old Rain Enlight?

However, these were not easy questions to voice. After all, this was the story of none other than me, Rain Enlight.

Asking someone else about my own story, isn't that the height of strangeness?

The sense of incongruity it would create in Serene might become the clue that reveals my secret to the enemy.

Under that judgment, I had kept silent despite having this curiosity.

However, one cannot hold onto a question forever.

‘If I’m going to ask, now is the time.’

Now, when Serene's guard was down in many ways, was the perfect time to ask. I judged so.

“Come to think of it, do you remember?”

“Yes?”

“About my last day in the middle school division.”

I mentioned what I had heard from Serene's stories so far, probing her moderately.

Judging from the stories up until now, the nuance was that something had happened on Rain's last day of middle school.

“……”

Serene's reaction seemed half surprised and half flustered. Was she trying to choose her words?

“……I was surprised you brought it up first.”

“It’s not something we can just keep quiet about, after all.”

“That’s… true.”

Serene laughed awkwardly. As if to hide her own flustered state and be considerate of me.

“I still regret it.”

“Regret, you say.”

“……Yes. Even if you said what you did, Rain-ssi, I regret not being able to stop that situation.”

“……”

Hmm.

To summarize, it was like this. An incident occurred on the last day, and Serene tried to stop it but was stopped by the original Rain.

And after that, an event so shocking to Serene occurred, and Rain Enlight broke down.

‘Well, that makes sense.’

Considering Serene's sense of justice, a development where she would turn a blind eye to the injustice inflicted upon Rain Enlight was quite unnatural.

Serene would have been attending the academy during the middle school days, and she seemed to have a connection with Rain, so why did she condone such a situation?

That became the answer to that question.

‘Did he himself tell her not to interfere?’

But why?

Why did Rain refuse even the offer of help? The question led to another question.

And to resolve that question, what should I say?

After a moment of thought, I opened my mouth again.

“It was all my choice.”

“……”

“I paid the price for my choice, and there’s no need for you to feel guilty about it, Serene-ssi.”

“……But it’s a fact that if I had acted, I could have prevented that ridiculous duel from happening.”

A duel. Another keyword emerged.

“Well.”

I slowly drew out my words and fell into thought.

A duel. The academy holds various exams on the last day of the semester.

The Joint Grade Mock Battle we had last time was one, and there were many examples in the original Arche as well.

‘The incident must have happened during that exam. In a duel, at that.’

As I continued my deductions to that extent.

“That time… it was really harsh.”

This time, Serene spoke first.

“The opponent deliberately dragged out the duel, trampling on his pride by toying with him, and even the watching students joined in……”

However, her story did not continue for long. As if the words had slipped out unconsciously, Serene trailed off while glancing at me.

“It’s alright. It’s in the past.”

“……I don’t think it’s something to be dismissed so lightly.”

Well, true.

I don't know for sure, but since that incident was likely the reason he dropped out of middle school and became a shut-in, it must have been quite a shock.

Now that the story had come this far, I had a few ideas of my own.

‘The duel exam must have been with a student from the same grade.’

And that student must have left a considerable trauma on Rain Enlight.

To the extent that just hearing the name would cause mental agitation.

For the person who inflicted a wound that would cause someone to shut themselves away for years, that much would be expected.

And I had so far experienced such trauma with two opponents.

One was Robelia il Enlight, and the other was…….

‘Felix.’

Felix Shotton. In Arche, he was Claudio's right-hand man and a major villain on the first-year side of the academy.

I recalled what Milo had mentioned before. About the entrance examination, during the duel test.

-Was what Felix did to you back then not enough?

I had experienced anxiety and unease just by hearing his name, and it seemed it stemmed from such a past.

I could realize it now.

Thump, thump.

As if to prove that thought, I was experiencing the same symptoms now. Compared to before, the trembling was much less severe.

‘So that’s what happened.’

Thinking of it that way, it made sense. Felix had a personality of mercilessly driving out anyone he judged to be unqualified by his standards, and Rain was a person who would be at the very center of those standards.

Rain Enlight must have broken down while watching Felix toying with him in a dragged-out duel and receiving jeers from the watching students.

‘This should be enough.’

I don't know if this is the complete truth. But among the conjectures I could piece together, this would be the closest to the truth, I judged.

“……It’s not that I’m treating it lightly.”

Having achieved my initial goal, what remained was to resolve the lingering resentment in Serene's heart.

Whether that was something I could do was another question.

“……”

Serene, who had been fidgeting with the lantern with her gaze lost for a moment of silence, slowly looked at me at my words.

“The wound has healed, but the scar will remain forever.”

When you receive a big wound in your heart from some great event, it remains in your heart forever.

The wound eventually heals but leaves a scar, and the existence of that scar can cause phantom pain whenever you recall it.

“And every time I look at the scar, it will serve as a lesson… no, that expression doesn't fit. It will make me wish earnestly. For such a thing to never happen again.”

Whether that incident was one's own fault or not. It creates that earnest wish.

These stories stemmed from my own experiences.

Experiences that had now become the past.

“I will no longer bear everything alone.”

At the end of my vague conjectures, I brought up that story.

I couldn't know for what reason Rain Enlight had faced those cruel acts of violence alone.

I also couldn't know why he had turned away even Serene, who would have become a reliable ally.

But there was something I could learn by using that incident as a mirror.

“If I need help, I will ask for help. If it hurts, I will say it hurts.”

It was that Rain Enlight had broken because he faced everything alone.

“It’s a shameless thing to say since I’ve already received so much help, but……”

I slowly trailed off my words and leaned back against the tree comfortably.

And I looked at Serene.

“……If the day comes when I say I’m in pain, would you be able to help me?”

And I said so.

The night had grown darker, but due to the flickering flame of the lantern, Serene's face was clearly visible in my eyes.

“……”

Serene was smiling, crouched down, leaning against the tree.

It wasn't the bright smile she usually showed. But, it was an undeniable fact that her expression seemed more at ease than any other smile I had seen from her.

“It took a long time to hear those words.”

There are still many unfinished stories. Like the story of why I am Serene's idol, and the story of my secret.

Nevertheless, we still had time. And today, we unraveled one of the unfinished stories.

‘This might not be too bad after all.’

It was that kind of night.