The voice that seemed to have ridden in on the wind was certainly unfamiliar, yet not unfamiliar at all.
It was a voice I had heard more times than I could possibly count.
Of course, it was the first time I had heard it since entering the game.
The pale violet hair and deep purple eyes before me were such rare colors that I couldn’t tear my gaze away even if I tried.
I had once heard that the stronger one’s energy became, the closer its color grew to purple.
I couldn’t know whether that was true or not, but one thing was certain: the being before me now was an unprecedented genius in the history of the academy, a genius among geniuses for whom no amount of praise would ever be enough.
Her name was Celestia.
She was one of the main characters of this game.
“Nice to meet you... This is the first time we’ve talked like this, right?”
“...I guess so.”
She was definitely a face I was glad to see.
Even when I went to events, I felt happy just seeing people cosplaying characters from the game I played, so if the actual person was standing right in front of me, then someone like me, a hopeless fanboy, hardly needed to explain what kind of feeling that was.
But right now, I couldn’t show how glad I was.
The protagonist, Lowell, didn’t meet Celestia until at least three months later, and they only had their first conversation right before summer vacation.
Of course, this world no longer had the protagonist I knew, and the Lowell family, which in the game’s setting had no influence aside from appearing in elements like letters that could be collected at the academy, was now actively interfering with my academy life.
So it was reasonable to think that many things had changed from what I originally knew, but even so, this meeting was far too early.
The current Lowell was a failing student, a troublemaker within the academy, and an ugly man. There was no reason for a girl like her—top of the entire school, a model student admired by everyone, and beautiful enough for anyone to like—to come looking for him, was there?
To be honest, even in my life before coming here, I had never once been popular with women, and when I thought about it, I couldn’t remember a single time in my life when I’d spoken one-on-one with a girl...
So Celestia, who was now looking at me with interest and smiling, was something I simply couldn’t get used to.
After an awkward silence passed between us for a while, Celestia began speaking to me with a curious expression.
“It’s just that you seem a little different lately.”
“Different?”
“Yeah. You’re the first one up in the morning, and aside from the kids in the Knight Department, you’re the only one always running around the field.”
“That’s true...”
After hearing Celestia’s words, I realized that I really had been working hard lately, doing what I could in my own way.
Of course, since doing something early in the morning was painful, there was also the thought that I should cultivate a heart that could overcome hardship. But in the end, with this fat body, no matter what I did, I was bound to look unsightly.
At least one of the reasons I moved so early in the morning was because I didn’t want to hear mockery I had no desire to hear.
However, when you put in effort alone, doubt inevitably creeps in until someone notices it.
Am I really doing this properly? That kind of doubt.
Because I saw myself every single day, I couldn’t really feel how much I had changed.
No matter how well I knew that people didn’t change overnight, it wasn’t easy to keep striving while looking at an unchanged version of yourself.
Especially in the early stages, before any real change began to show.
Even if she was only a character in a game, the fact that someone had noticed it made me feel a little relieved.
Separate from my gratitude, a bit of curiosity arose.
I had never seen Celestia all this time.
Of course, in the early part of the game, there were almost no opportunities to meet the main characters, so I had simply accepted it. But now, Celestia seemed to have observed me to some extent.
“But I’ve never seen you before. Were you watching me all this time?”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to spy on you, but lately the spirits have been talking about nothing but you, so I got interested.”
After hearing Celestia’s words, I thought about it for a moment, then nodded, deciding that it was entirely possible.
There were many kinds of magic in this game.
From the orthodox magic people commonly imagined, to the Wild School, which manifested mana existing in nature, and even spiritists who handled spirits born from magic that had dwelled within them for a long time.
Usually, whether orthodox or wild, people only trained the kind of magic that mainly suited them, because progress and efficiency were faster than learning magic that didn’t fit them. So they didn’t practice two kinds at the same time.
But Celestia was both an outstanding mage and a spiritist—in other words, she was closer to the kind of shameless cheat who didn’t need to agonize over “Which of the two should I buy?” and instead just said, “Huh? Can’t I just buy both?”
Meanwhile, some people had bodies that couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of that kind of energy, let alone magic.
“I guess that could happen...”
In any case, if Celestia, who could see spirits and even form contracts with them, had heard about me from the spirits, then the situation wasn’t completely incomprehensible.
I had been flustered at first, but now I was gradually feeling more at ease.
Of course, seeing a character I had only ever seen in the game existing as a real person right in front of me was enough to make my heart race.
Not only did she smell nice, but her pretty face and gentle voice made my heart flutter just from talking to her.
More than anything, the only things I had heard from girls since coming here were contemptuous and mocking words they deliberately said just loud enough for me to hear from a distance, like “Wow, he’s seriously ugly,” “Disgusting,” and “He smells” (I had just washed, though?).
So as I looked at Celestia smiling at me right in front of my eyes, I felt like I understood why there were stories on community boards about guys deciding the names of their future grandson and granddaughter just because a girl working part-time had smiled at them.
Of course, Celestia was kind to everyone by nature, so I absolutely must not misunderstand.
“So, Lowell, there’s something I’d like to ask of you...”
Of course. There was no reason a woman this pretty would approach me without a purpose.
Even before I came here, the women who talked to me were mostly the type who said things like, “Do you know the Way?” or “You look like you have great fortune.”
“Sorry, Celestia. I have something urgent to take care of right now, so I have to go. Let’s talk next time.”
I conveyed only what I needed to say as quickly as possible, then passed by her and walked briskly down the path she had come from.
It was foolish, but to be honest, it felt good.
Talking to a pretty woman who smelled nice—moreover, talking to a character from the game I loved most—was such a dreamlike thing.
Honestly, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t thought about using the excuse of granting her request to become closer to her.
And she didn’t seem like the kind of character who would make an impossible request of someone she had just met...
But there was a reason I couldn’t get too close to her.
First, although many things about Lowell had already changed and I couldn’t be certain, this world was at least one where the things I knew still existed as they were.
Therefore, the more I acted outside the predetermined script, the higher the possibility that the future I knew would change.
I thought that since I was the protagonist, I would at least have cheat-level abilities or the sort of appearance that justified the plot, but from my position, having none of that, not knowing what would happen in the future was dangerous.
And the next problem lay with Celestia.
It was true that Celestia was very popular, but strictly speaking, the foundation of that popularity lay in her pitiful story and tragic ending.
The power she possessed was genius-level, and her talent was outstanding as well.
She was always kind to those around her, and to put it bluntly, her beautiful appearance alone already made her a sufficiently charming character.
But she was the final boss of Act 1 of Magica Academy Legacy, who would meet her end at the protagonist’s hands.
Building a deep bond with a girl I was fated to someday kill with my own hands was too much for me, even if this was a world inside a game.
Celestia watched the boy hurry away from her without even hearing her request, and the smile she had been wearing until then disappeared.
In the now-empty corridor, the faint wind that had been blowing until just moments ago came to a stop.
Soon, several currents of energy began to swirl around the girl.
Warm and cool, carrying the scent of grass, while at the same time seeming to hold a dry feeling in the air—varied sensations appeared within a single space.
Before long, the form of a giant wolf appeared, gazing together with Celestia in the direction where Lowell had vanished.
Celestia was not in a very good mood.
She had wanted to talk with Lowell a little more, and she had also hoped he would listen to her request.
After all, Lowell’s appearance as he tried to change, making efforts day after day that no one acknowledged, had been enough to move the girl’s heart.
She had gathered her courage and spoken to him, but he had only said what he wanted to say and disappeared.
“...I wanted to talk a little more.”
Celestia stood there for a long time, gazing at the end of the corridor where Lowell had disappeared.