章 9: Spectacle [Ch-8]
'...'
I was currently dumbfounded; the sensation that was quite the rarity in my past life had become an everyday emotion now. But honestly, what else can you do when you experience such explicitly miraculous sights? Especially now, with what I was observing, you honestly couldn't help but gawk.
'How... Beautiful.'
It was the luminous rope, or rather what was happening to it, that had coaxed this reaction out of me. The golden tethering that was anchoring the island to the harbor, under which my gate was located, was slowly but intricately being woven apart.
It was coming apart slowly, gently, and gracefully as it separated thread by thread. Each thread made its way, rather whimsically, downwards before hovering behind the Golden Gate that was yet to be opened.
As more and more threads made their way downwards, the giant luminous rope completely disappeared, and in its stead appeared a beautiful and awe-inspiring pathway that was still being constructed.
'It's like weaving, with threads of light...'
The uncharacteristically cheesy words came to mind as I stared at the incomplete path. Staring at this scene made me recall all the loud sounds of awe I had heard in the midst of the short investigation that had just taken place here.
'This spectacle must have been the reason for that noise.'
I recall, though briefly, the sounds of shocks and awe that resounded throughout the harbor from both inside and outside while this investigation had been taking place.
The noises were distant due to the fact this gate was located in the more distant part of the harbor, farther away from layman observers, which at the time might have seemed like a good idea, given the identity of the students to whom this gate had been allotted... but given what happened, I think the authorities might reconsider exactly how good of an idea it was.
Regardless, I had been rather preoccupied with the investigation during that time, more specifically on avoiding 'certain' characters. It had been quite the precarious situation that I had only barely managed to succeed in.
As such, I had no time to actually look upwards or pay too much heed to those noise... But now that I myself was observing it, the noises others made seemed like an understatement of what was before me.
'Why couldn't we see this instead of a black screen?'
Though it was irrational, I cursed at the developers who didn't show such a scene within the game but instead gave us a black screen instead, while the game assets for the next part of the storyline loaded in as I watched the bridge woven of golden threads reach completion.
"Alright... We can begin boarding."
The attendant spoke, making all three of us—me, Cillian, and his sister, Amelia—snap out of our miniscule trance. It would appear that, like me, these kids had also been experiencing such a sight for the first time.
Pressing a button behind the booth, the Golden Gates slowly opened, revealing a path from the harbor to one of the bottom docks of the island.
"Welcome Students! To Fyrthorn Academy!"
He yelled in a rather corny tone as soon as the Golden Gate had finished completely opening up. It would appear that Cillian took these words as an open invitation to rush towards the now fully constructed pathway.
"Let's go, Raz! I'll push Melia!"
'Raz?'
Though I had managed to avoid attention from most people, Cillian was a different matter. He had become rather attached to me, and somehow we had reached a stage where he had a nickname for me.
His personality was drastically different from what I was familiar with. This Cillian was more happy-go-lucky and bubbly and, oh, so persistent with the questions.
'I barely managed to avoid questions regarding why I was wearing a blindfold or if I could see.'
But that was fine; this might even be beneficial for me; I still knew his background and even his probable future. After all, even if his personality is different... He's the same person. I knew that all too well.. Anyway, the problem was the girl.
'Amelia von Rosenthal.'
I had absolutely no data on her, and even worse yet, I had no clue how she could change the storyline... That was my main concern regarding altering the storyline now.
'Haah... Why did I have to go and meddle?'
"Come on! Let's go; Melia here needs to use the ladies room!"
He snickered, laughing at his own childish humor, as he began to push Melia forward towards the gate.
"Cillian! Seriously! Have some manners; you're embarrassing us all!"
She said, looking back cautiously towards the Imperial Family. I too instinctively followed her gaze with random curiosity: His Imperial Highness was shaking his head while Her Highness was smiling a very cold and emotionless smile while muttering something.
"Mother looks like she's going to explode..."
"Why do you think I'm pushing you so fast... I can feel the hairs on the back of my head standing upright."
"Who told you to say—sigh... Just move faster; if Mother changes her mind and comes over here, you'll probably be hauled off back to the palace and bombarded with etiquette lessons."
"Alrighty... Time to run."
With those words, the twins began to hustle towards the open gate as their mother had begun to walk toward them, and though she appeared to be just walking, she was definitely catching up to them.
'Are all families in this world so crazy...'
I thought, looking at the unexpectedly commonplace scene of a mother chasing her children around to scold them.
Though I did appreciate the oddly heartwarming scene, I did not appreciate having to carry all 3 of our suitcases with my fragile body.
'... Why did I have to meddle?'
I sighed, regretting my decision to meddle as I followed the twins and joined in on their efforts to avoid their angry mother as I headed towards the open gate.
***
"Haah! K-Kehum! Haah! W-Wait... Too fast!"
I yelled as I followed the twins, who were quite literally rushing up the pathway without a care about me, who was still holding onto their bags as well, as I tried my level best to keep up.
'Just how fragile is this body?!'
I thought, barely catching my breath, clinging to the guardrail. Though I had expected this body to be weak, given that I was still recovering from ⸢True Demonization⸥ and the fact that this child even before getting cursed was apparently quite sickly... This was too much.
I was holding onto bags that weighed a total of barely 5 kilograms and was barely even running given how fast I could go, and yet this body was exhausted again. How embarassing.
"Come on Raz! Your joke's gotten too boring! There's no possible way you're that tired!"
"Cillian!... Just wait... I think he's genuinely tired."
Cillian yelled, snickering behind his more observant and seated sister as they waited for me to reach their position on the walkway.
'You try being me then!'
Exhausted yet again, I cursed at Cillian in my head, unable to even muster enough strength to yell anything.
He, annoyingly, was still full of energy despite having run up this long ramp of a pathway all the while pushing his sister along in her wheelchair.
While he looked at me with disbelief at my incredibly low stamina, Amelia though was looking at me with a slight of curiosity and consideration, and I didn't know why.
'Thank goodness we're almost there.'
I nearly shed tears of joy as I watched the destination come into frame as I caught up to the twins.
"Wait for him to recover Cillian... I recall the second child of the Elizieres being born sickly; he must actually be exhausted."
"The Elizieres had 2 sons? Are you sure Melia? I only recall ever meeting Leon though?"
'I'm literally standing right next to you.'
I thought, still catching my breath as I heard the innocent words come out of Cillian's mouth. I must admit, this personality made him appear much more uncouth than in-game... I wonder what had actually happened in the incident—with which I had now interfeared—to make his personality change so much.
"You three students there! Please hurry up! We're already late, and Introductory Orientation will begin any second!"
The voice resounded from the docking bay; located on the underside of the island, it was the final destination of this pathway. There appeared to be an attendant waiting for us, with another buggy to transport us to the Main Auditorium.
'Oh no... Here we go again-'
"No time to waste, Melia! Here we go!"
"Wait! Ciliaaaaan-"
The pair rushed upwards as I lagged behind them. Eventually, but raggedly, I managed to reach the top only to find them already seated and waiting for me. Amelia had been neatly situated in the front seat next to a restless Cillian, in a seat right behind the driver's seat, whereas her wheelchair had been stored appropriately, attached to the back of the buggy.
"Finally! Come quickly, student! We're already late.. Go and sit on one of the remaining seats behind these two!"
The driver of the buggy ushered me to move faster as I finally trotted my exhausted body along and made my way to the club car.
"My supervisor is going to kill me."
He muttered silently and quickly headed to the front and began to start the vehicle as I sat on one end of the large slipper chair situated behind the twins.
"Your bags... here... you... two."
I barely got the words out as I handed them their—at this point rather infuriating-looking—bags with a shaky arm, somehow managing to keep my body upright while doing so.
"Thank you, Sir Raziel."
"Thank you, Raz! I'd forgotten about these."
'Please... don't forget them with me next time.'
I urged them psychically. But it would appear this was my physical breaking point since I was unable to keep my body upright any longer, likely due to physical exhaustion. Helpless, I barely managed to snuggle myself into the long slipper chair and lay down comfortably, thanks to my short stature.
"Lying down in a moving vehicle? I've always wanted to try that... Melia Shift-"
"No! You'll do that over my dead body, Cillian. There are still people here."
"How come he gets to do it!"
"He's exhausted because you rushed all the way up here! Who told you to run that fast?"
"I had to! You saw how fast Mother was; she might have followed."
"Enough! Just look outside and enjoy looking at the campus for the first time... We'll talk after the orientation program."
"But-"
"Just. Do. It."
"Fine."
Pouting, he stopped talking as he veered out the window. At this point, my eyelids had closed as I put my forearm over my face and gasped for air, attempting to rest when the vehicle began to move.
"... Is thi- al-o -n effe-t of hi- cur-e?"
I barely heard the princess mutter something under her breath, likely since it had been masked by the splutter of the buggy as it chugged along at an extreme pace. We had quite a daredevil as a driver it would appear.
...
Before long, we had reached a large academic building, the building that embodied this academy: the Fyrthorn Academy Building.
"Students, follow the necessary thread of light to reach the auditorium hall; I have to go and inform my supervisor that you've arrived so that the orientation can finally begin."
He spoke, pointing towards the front end of the building; various 'threads' of different colors were present, likely made of mana, each with a different labeled destination.
By the time we saw the threads, the driver had left. He must have been in quite the rush since he left immediately, rushing towards a different corner of the hall, getting off from the parked vehicle without even helping remove the wheelchair for Amelia.
"I'll go find the thread we have to use! Come Quickly! Raz! Cel!"
With a similar sense of urgency to the driver, but this time likely due to plain curiosity, Cillian grabbed his bag and rushed out towards the building, leaving me behind alongside his sister in an empty parking space in front of the building.
"..."
"..."
This led to an awkward silence since we both didn't know how to interact with each other. Thankfully, it was only broken by Amelia's disappointed muttering, which I only barely heard.
"That idiot brother of mine... I swear... I'll get you back for abandoning me."
'I agree with that sentiment. Please get him back for making me hold all your bags as well.'
Though I thought this, I was rather surprised at the treatment that Amelia had received, not just from her brother but from the academy as well. I had half expected attendants to come out and help her inside... but nothing of the sort was happening here.
'Are they just unaware of how to handle a wheelchair?'
Though the premise might seem weird, this world had ludicrously advanced medicine that could cure most diseases and injuries. It was so advanced that wheelchairs and such apparatus were something that might seem prehistoric for people in this era.
'Still this is rather bizarre.'
Prehistoric or not, the academy was still fully wheelchair accessible; the proof was in front of me. Most buildings here had ramps attached to them, and smooth pathways were present all over campus—at least in the scenery I had seen when I sat upright after recovering from my fatigue.
They must have either built and paved such pathways in preparation of Amelia's arrival or, more likely, were present there historically. Then why isn't someone else coming out to help here move?
'This won't do.'
I had recovered sufficiently, at least enough to move around a little bit. I got up, grabbing my bag-
"U-Uhm..."
The flustered princess looked at me helplessly, hoping not to be left alone in case I was planning to leave and go to the auditorium alone.
'I'm not that heartless of a person.'
"Pardon me."
I told her as I placed my suitcase next to hers, heading towards the back of the buggy afterwards and locating her secured wheelchair.
As she looked over at me with confusion, I effortlessly detached the wheelchair from the back and configured it to its open position. Placing it down with some effort—damn this fragile body—I strolled it forward as I placed it beside her.
"Oh-Um.. Thank You!"
I watched as she struggled to get onto the wheelchair, trying to keep the cloth on her legs to remain in place at the same time. This admittedly painful to watch action was unfortunately familiar, at least for me as I stood there, watching her shuffle about, still hoping academy staff would arrive but to no avail.
'... Fine.'
Despite my petite build, I was still a human male and, as such, had my own dignity. Just how could I, or anyone else in my situation, just stand there and watch this continue?
"Pardon me once more."
"Huh? O-Oh! What are you -Wait!"
Despite my frail body and my exhausted state, I managed to carry the, rather lightweight, girl in my thin arms as I placed her down gently in her chair.
'Damn it... Again with this body.'
It was exhausting to do anything again. Even with such little physical movement, my body was already screaming out with pain.
Hiding my discomfort, I unloaded the suitcases from the buggy. I kept hold of mine while placing the other one into the lap of the usually red-faced girl who was ensuring the cloth on her legs was placed properly.
"T-Thank you, Sir Raziel."
"... It was... my honor."
I barely got the words out. The fragility of this body was starting to become increasingly harder to deal with. I really needed to get my physicality up as well, and that too fast.
Regardless of my future ambitions, I unloaded the small suitcases from the buggy, placing her small suitcase into her lap as I held the other in one of my gloved hands as I began pushing her wheelchair with the other.
"M-Most p-people don't know how to utilize wheelchairs nowadays. I didn't expect you to know how to use it."
"I... had experience using it."
The nameless face flashed in my head once again, memories of pushing around a similar apparutus and
'Why... do I keep remembering her? Damn it!'
I cursed at the capacity of memory, hoping to quickly get the nostaglic but painful memory to finish rather quickly, only to be interrupted by the princess.
"I-I see! It must be because of your sickly body... that makes sense!"
She was under a misapprehension, but I think this was something I had better leave uncorrected as I continued walking towards the building at which Cillian had been waiting but had now somehow disappeared.
'Just how red can she get?'
Unlike the short time I had observed this girl, she was now suddenly behaving rather... Can I call it bashful? At this point, it might be a medical issue. Her face was still rather red, and she was beginning to look like a plump tomato.
And now, despite her appearance, it would appear despite her that she, though she tried to hide it and that too well, was attempting to come up with some topic of conversation to break through the awkward tension her last comment had generated.
"U-Ummm... Curses! Yes! Are you interested in curses?"
'Curses?'
Unexpectedly, the rather obscure but relevant topic for me popped up. Though it wasn't something that I had expected to hear from her.
"... Actually yes, but are you sure you wouldn't want to talk about something else?"
"-Ah.. No, no... I bought it up... Besides, Curses is an interesting topic, especially with the growing appearances of demonic cultists within the Empire. I'm glad we'll have a course regarding it in the future."
'... She unexpectedly had good intuition.'
Most people wouldn't have even begun to notice the pattern of demonic beasts that had been popping up—at least according to the pre-game cutscenes. But I guess there was one who had managed to do so—her.
Then was it her medical status, that of a coma within the game, the reason that the Western Continent was the worst hit and unprepared when the Demons were at the height of their power?
'It was likely.'
I thought, staring at the even now red-faced girl as I pushed along the wheelchair, thinking of a reply to her comments.
"You seem to have good intuition... Our territory has also been noticing an increase in demonic beasts."
"Oh my, I'll have to speak with Father about this... But beside that, have you noticed any new cases of curses... like that of, say, a Curse of Demonic Manifestation?"
Though she spoke germanely, she gave me a direct and ambivalent look as she spoke of the rather specific curse.
'Wait.. She couldn't possibly know-'
"Ah! I found them!"
An attendant popped out of the front opening of the building we were headed towards as she ran outwards, guided by Cillian.
"Okay! I'll help them inside now! You, student, get inside now; the introductory orientation is about to begin."
"But-"
"Go inside now! Or else you'll miss it!"
Admonished for the umptieth time this day, Cillian grumbled about it as he headed inside to the auditorium, following the Golden Thread. By that time, the attendant had reached us and was pacing ahead with Amelia, pushing her wheelchair farther away from me, cutting short our conversation.
"Hey! Blindfolded student! Do you also need help, or can you follow me? If you can follow me, get over here!"
"I-I can follow you."
I won't lie, I flinched at the slightly aggressive lady's comments as I paced after them, only constrained by the limits of my body, finally entering the building.
'No... She can't possibly know.'
The thought from seconds ago had lingered in my mind, but I had put it to rest. It was an educated guess; after all, even Cillian couldn't detect anything, given that he was one of the higher-level characters at the start of the game... and Amelia didn't appear to have a higher level than him; she couldn't have possibly known anything.
I convinced myself the specificity of her words to be pure coincidence by the time we entered the vast and tightly packed auditorium. It filled with the buzz and chatter of the students that blasted our eardrums as soon as we entered it.
"She has to sit in front. I believe you'll be able to find yourself a seat?"
"Yes, but are there assigned seats-"
"No, just sit where you can."
"Okay. Thank you-"
"Great. You can meet her later, after the introductory orientation."
With those concise words, the attendant wheeled away a now flustered-looking Amelia as I quickly made my way through the oddly sparsely filled but still loud auditorium and managed to grab an isolated seat in the back.
Ensuring I was relatively far away from most students and the stage, I settled in as the lights suddenly went out and a lull fell over the room.
The stage in front now lit up, as whom I assumed to be a faculty member with the face of a literal lion walked onto the stage and began to speak.
'Time to pay attention.'
Though fatigued, I sat upright and began to pay attention; this part was important, especially since I was no longer in the game and couldn't press keys on a keyboard to accomplish certain tasks and systems.
Since these methods were taught here in this orientation, a cutscene I routinely skipped due to its lengthy speeches. I had to pay attention; this annoying cutscene from the game had now become a necessity for me to survive in this world.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット