“Phew.”
A dark night, lit only by the quiet moonlight.
Sitting on the bed in my room inside Twilight Hall, I let out a sigh and looked around.
A clean floor of solid wood, furniture that looked rather luxurious, and one large glass window half-covered by curtains.
As expected of the capital—or should I say, Academia?
They said technology had advanced, but a glass window this large had to be quite valuable. Seeing one installed in every mere student’s room made that fact sink in.
“...”
As I stared blankly at the window, its surface even and clear, transparent glass without the slightest tint, I found myself thinking of my family’s territory.
The banquet hall of that gray old castle, with its colorful stained-glass windows in every shade.
When I first entered that banquet hall, the sight had hurt my eyes so much that I deliberately avoided looking at the windows. Yet as time passed and I grew used to my second life, even those tacky windows had become rather familiar.
I never thought I would miss the Prah territory, surrounded by forests and mountains, the complete opposite of the lively scenery of the capital I had seen below while flying through the sky on the back of the heavenly horse.
Fundamentally, this capital resembled the cities of Earth where I had lived in my previous life, so I thought I would feel no longing for home at all. But it seemed I had grown accustomed to the life of my second existence as well.
“...Anyway, what should I do?”
As I thought about the territory, the request made by Bel Daisy, the guide who had brought me here, naturally replayed in my mind.
‘How do you plan to live while attending Academia from now on?’
‘How do I plan to live? I was just thinking of devoting myself to my studies like an ordinary student.’
‘Ah, I didn’t explain, did I? Students in the Department of Mysticism are granted as much autonomy as possible, unlike students in the other departments. As long as you don’t fail the exams held twice a year, even attending classes is up to you.’
In the secret garden hidden behind dense shrubs, Bel Daisy had smiled as she said that.
‘Since you’re still a first-year, you won’t be able to free up that much time because of the common subjects you’ll take with students from other departments. But by your second year, you’ll be able to live quite leisurely at Academia.’
‘...I see. Then what happens if I fail an exam?’
‘Well, I’ve never failed, so I haven’t experienced it myself, but from what I’ve seen around me, everyone ends up receiving special training from the professor in charge. After that, they never skip class again. Isn’t it strange? Just what kind of training is it that makes even students who skipped class every day attend with serious faces?’
‘...’
At that moment, for some reason, I felt a chill at Bel’s words and smiled awkwardly.
What on earth was this special training that made students who skipped classes voluntarily attend them?
‘So, this is where the real matter begins. Could you perhaps take care of a mystical creature at Academia in my place?’
‘Pardon?’
She wanted me to take care of a mystical creature at Academia?
‘The truth is, I met that child when I was in my fourth year, when I had to prepare for graduation, so I couldn’t pay much attention to it. And when we first met, it had suffered serious injuries, so I simply left it alone to focus on recovering.’
‘I see.’
‘And by the time its injuries were almost healed, I had to graduate and leave Academia. In fact, the reason I took on the role of guide who brings in students was because of that child. If I became a guide, I could enter Academia before the semester started, like this.’
So, roughly speaking, she felt like someone taking care of a sick stray cat.
And since she would soon have to leave this place, she had been looking for someone to look after it.
Of course, that mystical creature was obviously not something as frail as a stray cat.
‘That’s why I brought you here to ask you this. If other people find out, that child will immediately be collected by a mage and either locked away somewhere or sold to a wealthy patron for money.’
‘From the mystical creature’s perspective, wouldn’t being sold to a rich household be better? It seems like it would live much more comfortably than being cared for by an ordinary person.’
‘Well. Usually, the wealthy people who pay money to collect mystical creatures are people who breed the creatures they own. Of course, for creatures that enjoy mating, that sort of life would be heaven. But that child isn’t some low-intelligence creature that enjoys mindlessly reproducing. It would probably spend years helplessly watching its own children being sold off, then break in spirit and die, wouldn’t it?’
For someone who had set aside time to ask me to take care of that child, the way she spoke of death so easily felt terribly alien.
Was that because she was a mage?
‘Anyway, that’s why I’m asking. Could you look after it? To take proper care of that child, you’d need to be a mage, but even you as you are now can at least make sure it doesn’t starve.’
‘It feels strange to say this to someone who confronted a demon for my sake and even helped me obtain a grimoire, but what benefit do I get from taking care of that child?’
‘Hm?’
I slowly spoke while looking at the mage’s face as she questioned my words.
It was true that I felt grateful to her, and if she asked for help, I did want to help her once without expecting anything in return.
Because she had already helped me once.
However.
‘What you’re asking of me right now, Miss Bel, is to take care of that child, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘For how long?’
‘Until you graduate. Or even after you graduate, if you grow fond of it, you can keep raising it.’
‘I thought so.’
Judging by her personality as I had experienced it so far, if it were a light request, she would not have brought me all the way to a secret garden like this and would have simply asked me in the corridor of Twilight Hall.
But the fact that she had not meant that the request she intended to make was that significant.
‘If you ask me to look after it a few times, of course I’ll do it. I’ve received that much help from you, Miss Bel. But what I’m being asked to do now isn’t a matter of a few times. It’s a request to take care of it for at least four years, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right.’
‘I would have to take responsibility for a life not for a few days, but for years. I can’t accept that request without any compensation. It’s not because I like money, but because I feel I’d carry out a request without compensation insincerely.’
People often say that, don’t they?
The weight of goodwill is heavier than gold, but the strength that sustains that goodwill is lighter than a feather.
Taking care of a sick animal out of kindness is certainly an admirable thing, but continuing that work for years is an entirely different matter.
Once or twice, you can do it with a good heart. But to continue doing it, goodwill alone is not enough.
You would have to be someone like Miss Bel, who loves animals, or receive some sort of compensation in order to barely sustain it.
Otherwise, since I was human too, I would undoubtedly find it troublesome and abandon it.
After all, taking care of a living creature is an incredibly bothersome task.
‘I know myself well. If I accept your request lightly, Miss Bel, I’ll probably take care of it for the first few months. But with only gratitude toward you, I won’t be able to take care of a living creature for years.’
‘Why do you think so?’
‘Because it’s troublesome. This might not be something I should say as the one receiving a request, but I’ll be honest. I know well because I’ve watched our family’s hunting dogs being cared for. Every day, they’re fed, their fur is brushed, and they’re checked for injuries or illnesses. Dogs are creatures that have been altered to be easy for humans to raise, so that’s all it takes. A mystical creature would require far more work than a hunting dog, wouldn’t it? I can’t guarantee that I’d be able to do that properly on gratitude toward you alone, Miss Bel. That’s why I asked. Whether raising that mystical creature would bring me any benefit. If there is some benefit, then I won’t give up so easily.’
After hearing everything I said, Bel watched me without any expression.
In the brief, awkward silence, I wondered for a moment if I had said something unnecessary, but soon I thought that I had needed to say it regardless.
If I made a decision lightly just to look like a good person, or to get through that moment, I would surely end up regretting it later.
‘Pfft!’
‘?’
How long had we been looking at each other without speaking?
Her expression, which had remained impassive as she listened to me, suddenly bloomed into a smile, and she burst into laughter.
‘Ahaha, as expected, my eye wasn’t wrong. Mm, asking you was definitely the right choice.’
‘Pardon?’
‘No, normally when people receive a request like this, they either get offended and tell me to get lost, or they say they understand with words alone and then abandon it. But this is the first time someone has spoken so honestly like you... Mm, I might fall for you.’
She mumbled the words after “first time,” so I couldn’t hear them clearly, but fortunately, it seemed she had not been offended by what I said.
‘I’m relieved my words didn’t sound unpleasant to you.’
‘Hehe, it was the most exemplary answer I’ve ever heard. And I fully understand what you mean. Unless one possesses magic related to mystical animals like I do, it’s only natural that giving such devoted help would be difficult.’
‘Yes.’
‘So don’t worry too much. Raising that child can definitely bring you a clear benefit. It’s a precious child that even wealthy mages search for with their eyes lit up.’
The smile she wore was a confident smile that only someone with certainty could make.
‘You’ll gain tremendous benefits simply by taking care of that child. I guarantee it.’
And, as if somehow bewitched by that smile of hers, I nodded.