Chapter 67 - The Existence Proof of a Creation Soul (1)

It was Saturday, two days before the start of the final exam week, when I finally got a bite.

I discovered Arien leaving the academy around 9 o'clock… when evening was turning into night.

One might think, can't she go out? But for Arien, that in itself was surprising.

I had spent a semester with Arien, but it was the first time I had seen her go out of her own will. Especially at this late hour.

And at this point, at this time. What business could she have to go out?

‘The time has come.’

Five minutes after confirming Arien's departure, I also left the academy.

I had already figured out the route. Tailing Arien blindly would not be a good choice.

‘She has better senses than she looks… tailing her would get me caught.’

So I moved with a five-minute gap from Arien. The destination was obvious anyway.

Arien boarded an unmanned tram located in downtown Endinium, heading towards the outskirts.

‘An unmanned tram that runs 24 hours. It would have been great if something like this existed in the modern era…’

The trams ran at five-minute intervals, so I got on the very next one.

After that… well, nothing much happened. I just stared out the window until the tram reached the last stop.

There was still a long way to go even after reaching the last stop, so I needed to catch my breath in advance.

***

The Star Seeker, Arien Ortega, did not have high expectations for her academy life.

It was only natural. The knowledge that could be acquired at the academy was, to the girl, nothing more than a ‘path already trodden.’

Of course, it wasn't that Arien knew everything.

However, it was also true that it wouldn't take much time to acquire that knowledge.

Yes. This was neither confidence nor a hopeful wish. It was a dry fact, stated calmly.

That fact soon caused a sense of ennui to settle in Arien's heart.

To spend repetitive days, nothing new, nothing novel. How could Arien, a natural-born seeker, not feel ennui?

…However, the situation turned out to be quite different from what she had expected.

First of all, Arien received a mission from her ‘father,’ Tyrion Ortega.

A mission to form an intimate relationship with Rain Enlight, another holder of the aptitude for Origin Magic.

An intimate relationship? This was an endlessly confusing instruction for Arien. The term 'intimate relationship' did not specify clear success conditions.

The ‘human heart,’ which could not have a precise logical structure or form from the beginning, was a weak point for Arien.

To give such a socially related instruction to Arien. Arien could not understand it logically.

‘Father must know that.’

But refusal was not an option for Arien.

-If you become truly intimate with that child, I will tell you about your past.

An ambiguous condition for achieving the goal, unlike the Magic Tower's Master, Tyrion Ortega, who lauded logic and clarity.

Nevertheless, Arien could not refuse this instruction, with a reward related to her own origins at stake. That was the reason…

On the other hand, there was also a reason that Arien herself had a slight interest.

She wanted to know about the human heart, something she had not yet finished exploring.

That's why Arien tried. She tried hard to explore the incomprehensible human heart and put her heart and soul into exploring topics of conversation to get closer to others.

‘Last time, when I introduced the tourist spots in downtown Endinium, the reaction was good.’

Hmm, the choice of conversation topic back then was certainly excellent. Who would refuse the fun of learning something new?

Anyway, time flowed on.

The progress was not bad. The friendship with the target, Rain Enlight, was going smoothly.

‘I thought I would go through trial and error since it’s the first time I've formed a friendship since I was born.’

In fact, the general consensus was that social activities caused some discomfort, and Arien also thought so.

It was only natural for two people who had lived in different environments and were born differently to meet and form a relationship.

But the relationship I had with Rain Enlight was… a little different.

Originally, Arien was the type who didn't care about others, so she didn't feel uncomfortable, but Rain was a little different.

When we were together, I even felt comfortable.

‘He is also faithfully helping me with my exploration of the human heart.’

The request for Rain's help because she wanted to know the human heart was a means to get close to Rain, but it wasn't a lie.

Arien truly did not understand the human heart, and she wanted to understand it.

In that aspect as well, Rain was faithfully assisting Arien, and Arien was also paying Rain back for it.

-…Miss Arien, it's a bit much for me to say this as the one asking for a favor, but a relationship where one side only gives or one side only receives is not healthy. It's hard to call it a friendship.

Just as Rain said, a relationship where they exchanged what they had.

‘Is this, what they call the feeling of enjoyment?’

As Arien was clumsy in understanding her own emotions, she couldn't perfectly understand the emotions she had…

But clearly, Arien was not in pain. She was not uncomfortable. She just wanted to explore emotions and people a little more.

And, she hoped that these days would continue.

…In the midst of that, someone delivered a letter to Arien.

To talk.

If she refused, they would expose Arien’s secret.

That was the content.

***

Getting off at the last stop of the tram, the view of the city outskirts, dyed in pitch-black darkness as night had fallen, came into sight.

‘The center of Endinium is as bright as day even in the middle of the night.’

The outskirts of the city at midnight were rather bleak. All I could see were the factory district, still operating diligently at night, and the residential area for the workers of those factories.

But the place I was heading to was bound to be even more desolate.

If I crossed this factory district now, I would come to the 'Palkart District,' where abandoned factories that were no longer in use were lined up.

‘I need to brace myself.’

The Palkart District described in was… in a word, a slum.

As the abandoned factories were located there, it was no longer used for production, and it became a slum where wanderers who had lost their homes or criminals settled.

‘Because of this, it was mentioned that it was treated as a nuisance in many ways by the state.’

As the slumification had progressed considerably, the public security was also a mess. Just looking at the dark scenery of the Palkart District in the distance, I could roughly guess that fact.

I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. I had tried to dress plainly, but since I looked neat, I might get into a fight.

“I have to be careful.”

Swoosh.

I pulled the hood of my robe over my head. I had to move as inconspicuously as possible.

If I moved carefully, I probably wouldn’t stir up any trouble.

…Or so I thought.

“Hey buddy, got anything on you?”

While moving with my hood up, I got into an unnecessary fight. As I was detouring through an alley, a man with a rough-looking face blocked my way.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never practiced hiding my presence.’

I glanced at the burly man in front of me and sensed the presence of others around.

‘There are about five I can’t see.’

A total of six? Since my stride is wider and faster than Arien’s, it wouldn’t be a problem if I dealt with them quickly and moved on.

As expected of street thugs, they were a mess in many ways. If they were planning to use their numerical advantage, they shouldn’t have chosen a place like this alley.

“…I know you won’t listen, but just go on your way.”

“Oh, for a lost young master, you talk pretty tough, huh?”

He wasn’t listening at all. As expected.

“Haa…”

I sighed and grabbed the 『Spellbinder』 in my bosom.

“Just give us what you have and go, huh? Why are you trying to take the hard way?”

While the burly guy was pressuring me with his size, I felt a presence behind my back.

He probably thought the burly guy would draw my attention, and he would finish me from behind.

But, when that presence came within three steps of my back.

Thwip-.

I turned around and kicked out at the presence I felt behind me.

Thwack!

“Gah-!”

The kick landed squarely on the jaw of the guy who was aiming for me from behind, and he was sent flying.

‘Even if my stats are crappy, it seems hand-to-hand combat works on these riffraff.’

I realized it anew. In the game, average academy students were treated as extras, but compared to these street thugs, their level was different.

As I was thinking that.

“You bastard…!”

The burly guy who was threatening me from the front grasped the situation, pulled out a hand axe, and charged at me.

“Tsk.”

Shing-.

I clicked my tongue and drew my sword. I could feel his companions rushing in from other directions.

“…To think I’m doing all this to save these bastards.”

I was fed up. If I made even the slightest mistake, it would be their own lives on the line.

***

It didn't take long to get out of the alley. They weren't guys who would take that long.

Swoosh.

As I came out of the alley, I wiped the blood splattered on my cheek and had a thought.

‘What am I even doing all this for?’

Yes, I was feeling a sense of doubt.

As I mentioned briefly before, this was also about saving the people of this area.

You might be wondering what I mean, but if the story of 『A Star in the Shadows』 proceeds as canon, this area will be completely devastated.

It would be utterly destroyed by an explosion at a factory. Not just the factory, but the nearby residential area as well.

And the cause was the industrial waste buried in the factory Arien was heading to now.

‘A huge amount of waste that explodes when it absorbs a certain amount of magic power was piled up in the factory's basement.’

The magic used in Arien's spell would leak out after its effect wore off, seeping into the waste and causing an explosion.

In fact, since it was an abandoned factory, no one would normally come, and even if a mage used magic nearby, the waste would never absorb enough magic to reach the explosion threshold.

But the problem was that the one casting magic in that factory was Arien.

‘Both the amount of magic power she has and the amount of magic power she can put into one spell are ridiculously large.’

Thus, the waste absorbs the magic and explodes. Due to the absurd amount of magic contained in the spell Arien casts.

Of course, Arien herself and the playable character accompanying her are safe because Arien uses a protection spell just before the explosion, but this incident becomes a source of trouble for a long time.

And there were two reasons for that.

First. As mentioned before, the factory explosion devastates this entire area, and the Empire loses the people's trust by being preoccupied with covering it up.

And the abandoned survivors, and the people who lost their trust in the Empire… come to support ‘The One’s’ 『Ad Astra』.

Second. The current Arien, with her faint humanity, doesn't think much about the fact that she caused this incident, but as her humanity deepens, she suffers from guilt over the events of 『A Star in the Shadows』.

And this acts as a factor that torments Arien in 『Ad Astra』 for a long time.

‘The reason Arien didn't have the same prestige as Serene, despite having as much power, was largely because of this part.’

She was powerful, but her mental strength couldn't support it, so she couldn't display her full power. That was Arien in .

But if I handle this incident well, there will be no room for Arien to suffer in the future.

If that happens, she will be able to show her true skills without the restriction of her mental strength.

“…For now, I'll be satisfied with that.”

It was quite unsettling that the lives I would save with this were of that kind… but what could I do?

If there are good people, there are bound to be bad people.

With that thought, I approached the entrance of the abandoned factory, my destination.

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