Kays Translations

Chapter 22 – Shortly Before July

As July approached, the representative selections for each event came to an end.

With the Lion King Grand Festival drawing near, the students grew more restless than ever.

Even at this prestigious academy, private conversations had begun to stand out during lessons.

When boys and girls of that age gathered in one place, the abundance of nobles among them made little difference. The instructors reluctantly overlooked a certain amount of chatter.

(Everyone looks like they’re having fun.)

Ren walked through the corridor during lunch while observing the excitement around him.

Everywhere he looked, students were talking about the Lion King Grand Festival. Even those who would not compete were making plans to watch particular events or tour the festival stalls together.

Suddenly, a scene crossed his mind.

It overlapped with the academy corridor before him.

“Do your best, Vayne. I lost, so it’s up to you.”

“…But next time, let’s compete together. You reached the very end of the preliminaries this year, Ren. Next time, I’m sure you’ll become a representative too.”

“Thanks. I suppose I’d better keep working for that.”

It was another lunch break much like this one. Ren Ashton and Vayne had spoken as they walked through the corridor.

In Legend of the Seven Heroes, the two eventually became close enough to call each other best friends, and scenes like that exchange appeared more than once.

“Hey, Vayne!”

“Kaito-senpai!”

“I’ve been looking for you. We were supposed to eat together, weren’t we? Is that Ashton—the one you fought in the preliminaries?”

“It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ren Ashton.”

“Oh, right! Nice to meet you!”

Kaito spoke with his usual boldness, then fell into step beside Ren Ashton.

“You were strong! I’ve wanted to talk to you again. How about it? Come eat with us!”

“What do you say, Ren?”

“Gladly, Leonaal-sama, provided you do not mind.”

“Ha ha ha! Don’t be so formal. I’m only your senior!”

“Then… Kaito-senpai.”

“That’s more like it! Come on, you two!”

The memory belonged not to the present Ren Ashton, but to the Ren Ashton from the game.

In the current world, Ren and Vayne spoke often enough to be friends, yet they were not as close as their game counterparts. Ren had not participated in the Lion King Grand Festival selections, and many other details had changed as well.

He could only hope those differences would not eventually produce the mysterious future he had originally sought to avoid.

The future was already changing. Ren sincerely wished those changes would lead somewhere better.

Someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

“Ren.”

The speaker was Vayne—the very person who had occupied his thoughts.

“Vayne. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing in particular. I happened to see you and thought I’d ask whether you wanted to have lunch together.”

As they walked, the two began discussing the Lion King Grand Festival. Surrounded by the excited voices of other students, they talked about what they intended to see on the day itself.

Then a voice called from ahead.

“Hey!”

It belonged to Kaito Leonaal, a second-year student.

“I’ve been looking for you. I thought I was going to eat with both of you!”

“Vayne and I were just heading to the dining hall. Shall the three of us go together?”

“Sure! Let’s go, you two!”

Sometimes a familiar scene appeared in a different time and form.

Ren found the resemblance amusing and smiled to himself.

Once they reached the dining hall, Kaito consumed considerably more food than Ren and Vayne combined. Watching him eat with such vigor was strangely satisfying.

After the meal, however, Kaito abruptly froze as though he had remembered something dreadful.

Under the puzzled gazes of the other two, he slumped in his chair and stared at the high ceiling.

In a space far too grand and spacious for an ordinary school dining hall, he cut a remarkably miserable figure.

“What’s wrong?” Vayne asked.

“I forgot about my afternoon class. And I forgot to do the assignment.”

“Ah… that does sound difficult.”

“I don’t understand herbology at all. Why does it need this much? Why can’t the amount be reduced? There are so many formulas that make no sense, my brain is evaporating…”

While Vayne gave an awkward laugh, Ren recalled the second-year herbology curriculum.

The academy’s lessons were undeniably advanced, though in Kaito’s case the larger problem was probably that he had never been good at studying.

“Kaito-senpai.”

“Hm? What is it, Ashton? Does my pathetic condition make you want to laugh?”

“No. We still have about thirty minutes of lunch break left, so I thought we could complete as much as possible.”

“Ha ha!”

Kaito abruptly recovered his energy.

“I’m not proud of my grades, but are you making fun of how bad they are?”

“No. I understand what we’re dealing with, and it should be fine.”

“Oh? We will set aside what I was about to say. What exactly will be fine?”

“I’ll help you.”

“…Are you serious?”

Kaito slowly leaned across the table, bringing his face close to Ren’s. His eyes widened and blinked several times.

“You’re serious?”

“Yes, so we should hurry.”

Ren rose, intending to return his dishes.

“Meet me in front of the library! I’ll clean up for all three of us!”

Without waiting for a reply, Kaito gathered their dishes and rushed away, finally putting his proudly trained muscles to academic use.

Ren and Vayne watched him go and shrugged.

“Sorry, but I can’t come. I already promised to meet Sera. Besides, I don’t know much about herbology either, so I doubt I’d be useful.”

Ren told Vayne not to worry and headed toward the library.

Kaito soon raced up beside him like the wind, shouting, “Let’s go!” A teacher’s reprimand—“Do not run in the corridor!”—quickly followed.

◇　◇　◇　◇

Just before lunch break ended, Kaito left the library with his assignment successfully completed.

Unlike his earlier charge through the corridor, he observed the library’s rules and whispered a quiet, “Thanks.”

“That went better than I expected.”

Ren was surprised—and pleased—that his own knowledge had been enough to complete a second-year herbology assignment.

He was due to begin organizing-committee work that afternoon. After sitting for several dozen minutes, however, his body felt stiff, so he left the library and headed toward the academy gardens for a short walk.

On a terrace in one corner of the gardens, he found Radius sitting alone.

“Hm? Radius?”

“Hm? Ah, Ren.”

Until Ren called to him, Radius had appeared lost in thought.

“Thinking about something?”

“Yes. There is a matter that concerns me slightly.”

He did not seem inclined to explain what that matter was.

For a moment, Radius looked at Ren as though he might say more. After a thoughtful “Hmm,” however, he closed his mouth again.

“I will meet Mirei before joining the others. Could you tell them to wait for us a little longer?”

“Sure.”

“My apologies. I will be as quick as I can.”

Ren left Radius and continued toward the organizing committee’s workroom.

Radius remained where he was, still considering something. Several dozen seconds later, he rose and began walking.

He had barely entered a secluded corner of the garden surrounded by hedges when a voice came from the greenery.

“It is I, nya.”

“I’ve been waiting.”

Radius joined Mirei in the shadow of the hedge. She handed him a sheet containing the information she had investigated.

◇　◇　◇　◇

When Ren reached the organizing committee’s workroom, two young ladies were already there.

“Ren, you were studying with someone rather unexpected.”

“We saw you on our way here. I was surprised to find you studying with a member of a Hero Faction house.”

“Ah… Kaito-senpai was having a difficult time.”

Leaving the subject of Kaito there, Ren told them what had happened the other night.

He had already reported the matter to Lessard, but he had not yet explained the details to Licia and Fiona.

“Do you remember when I mentioned that Ulysses-sama might call for me during the Lion King Grand Festival?”

The two nodded, and Ren continued.

He described the latter part of the conversation held on the top floor of Arnea Inn.

“That is the situation. I will probably meet merchants from the Sky Continent, with Lessard-sama attending as well.”

Licia and Fiona exchanged glances.

The two gave quiet laughs, apparently thinking the situation was entirely typical of Ren.

“When you meet them, you’ll talk about what you do in Clausel, won’t you?”

“It sounds that way. They want to hear about my village and related matters.”

“Then do you think the Viscount Given incident will come up too?”

“Perhaps… It is a little embarrassing.”

“Fufu. That’s all right. It is a story about what you accomplished, Ren.”

As they spoke, the door opened and Radius entered with Mirei.

Radius, who had warned them that he would arrive late, asked Mirei to place a thick stack of papers on the table used for their work.

“Here you are, nya.”

“Um… Mirei-san? Isn’t this…”

“The work all of us were supposed to finish today…?”

When Fiona followed Licia’s question with one of her own, Mirei glanced toward Radius.

“As you have all realized, this is the work scheduled for today.”

Licia and Fiona both turned toward Ren, silently asking him to question Radius on their behalf.

“It looks as though it’s already finished.”

“Naturally. I completed it at the castle. For now, direct your attention over here.”

Radius approached the blackboard and began writing their forthcoming schedule. He carried no notes, apparently having committed every detail to memory.

“The Lion King Grand Festival will begin soon. As you can see, the organizing committee has been burdened with troublesome work all the way up to the opening day. I intend to submit recommendations to the academy concerning improvements to the faculty’s work system, but setting that aside—”

He marked several days on the schedule with crosses.

Those were the dates Radius expected to be unavoidably busy. After today, they would have almost no free time before the Lion King Grand Festival began.

Today, however, was different. For some mysterious reason, Radius drew a circle around it.

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