Ice of Aret.
Erylin was born with a unique magic.
Ain didn't quite remember the specific magical effects it had anymore.
But to sum it up, only intense, extreme emotions could rapidly improve Erylin's magical mastery.
Otherwise, she could only learn and comprehend slowly like an ordinary person.
This was also one of the main reasons why Erylin was the female lead of this game.
A tragic ending, the despair of losing loved ones step by step...
With this talent, step by step through the game's plot, Erylin became a magic-learning genius, even far surpassing a typical genius.
But the cost was that in this dog-shit storyline, Erylin gradually lost her original self. By the mid-to-late stages of the game, her personality completely transformed into someone else.
Erylin dazed at Ain, wanting to make some excuse. But when she met his burning gaze, the young girl bit her lower lip and slightly lowered her eyes.
“You seem to... know me very well...”
Erylin didn't know why Ain could see her abnormality.
Just like last time, and this time too.
She had no idea why he had said, “The Erylin I know wouldn't make that kind of face,” back then.
She had clearly only spent a few days with him, so why could he see right through her thoughts at that moment?
Erylin couldn't understand it.
“About that...”
Ain sighed and scratched his head in frustration.
From another perspective, having completed the first playthrough, hadn't he accompanied Erylin through her entire past life?
How could he not understand her?
Before Ain could respond, Erylin immediately threw out another question.
“Why did you say those things to me back then?”
A flash of bitterness crossed Erylin's eyes. Soon, she added, “It was probably just to save Lillian... right?”
Ain was dumbfounded.
“What did I say?”
“You know, that...!”
Erylin's downcast eyes instantly snapped to Ain. She instinctively clenched her right hand, but looking at the sheer confusion in Ain's eyes, the young girl already had her answer.
Yes, if he really did it for her that day, how could he not remember what he had said?
Ain... had never done it for her, had he?
Another flash of disappointment crossed her eyes, and she didn't dare look at Ain anymore.
But soon, Erylin let out a soft laugh, about to explain, only to find that Ain's hand was still tightly holding onto hers, refusing to let go.
“If you insist on asking me why...”
Ain scratched his head in irritation, his eyes drifting to the side. He seemed completely unable to guess what the girl was thinking, wanting to say something but not knowing where to start.
In the early game, Erylin hadn't even raised a hand against him, even when he had harmed her using forbidden magic.
And after witnessing the deaths of Grace, Lillian, and many other companions and instructors, Erylin had completely turned dark.
If anyone dared to act against Erylin, she would beat them until they could no longer take care of themselves.
Literally unable to take care of themselves, requiring someone else to look after them for the rest of their life.
So, Ain really hated this story.
He didn't want to see Erylin become a tragic pawn controlled by fate again, like in the original plot.
Having thought of this, Ain finally spoke the words he had kept hidden in his heart for so long.
“What I'm doing now... is just because I want Erylin Lorenz...”
“...to be happy, that's all.”
Erylin stood dazed for dozens of seconds. Beneath her clothes, the layers of frost extending from her neck to her chest completely receded at this moment, revealing her fair skin once more.
It took Erylin a long time to finally let Ain's words sink in.
After a long moment, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks, and she slowly uttered a single word.
“Huh?”
...
“Professor, Professor! Am I late?”
“Ahaha, there's no need to rush, Erylin. We aren't setting out until tomorrow.”
At the city gates, a middle-aged professor with a kind gaze smiled as he welcomed Erylin, who was running toward him.
“That's great! I thought I was going to be late...”
Erylin let out a long sigh of relief. Looking at the girl before him, Finn frowned slightly, but then his smile returned.
“It seems like you're much happier than you were a few days ago. Did something good happen?”
Erylin looked at the professor in surprise, her face flushing slightly as she said flusteredly, “Huh? Really?”
Finn waved his hands and smiled. “You have no idea. When you met with me to coordinate the mission a few days ago, you had such a long face. I thought some ignorant fool had made you angry...”
“Now it seems like you might have given him a beating?”
Recalling the last thing Ain had said to her, Erylin's heart pounded wildly, her small hands waving in a panic.
“No, I didn't! Nothing like that happened! Please don't jump to conclusions, Professor!”
Finn didn't press further, simply smiling as he patted Erylin on the shoulder.
“Your state of mind is what's most important. When on a mission, don't let personal emotions interfere, understand?”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Seeing the girl's blushing face, her small fists clenched with an adorable look of determination, Finn's mood brightened as well.
“Reporting in, Professor. I've arrived as well.”
Only then did Finn notice a student standing behind Erylin.
Finn welcomed him with a smile, saying, “Ah, you are...”
The moment he clearly saw the boy's short, silver-gray hair and a face he would never forget for the rest of his life, Finn's expression did a complete hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
As happy as Finn had looked when gazing at Erylin, that was how ferocious he looked staring at Ain now.
“Tch!”
Finn had a look of utter disgust.
“So you're the one who pulled strings to slip through the back door, who is always nowhere to be found when there's work to do, who acts all high and mighty and takes missions whenever you feel like it, who forced me to work overtime in the middle of the night to meticulously draft your file word by word, and who ultimately made me swallow my pride to run errands for you and present all the materials to you on a silver platter...”
“Ain... right?”
Finn's smile was ferocious and terrifying as he slapped his right hand onto Ain's shoulder. Ain averted his eyes, not quite daring to look him in the face.
So going to the church to find Grace instead of accepting the Typhon Chain mission on time last time had such a huge impact...
My reputation seems to be even worse than I thought.
No wonder the mission file Emil handed me last time felt like it was written with so much resentment...
It turns out it was written by this professor.
“Ahaha... well, maybe, perhaps, it probably is me?”
Finn forced a smile, veins popping on his forehead as he spoke.
“Don't worry, I'm not the type to use my position for personal grudges, and I absolutely would never do something like 'deliberately giving a student a low score on their mission evaluation'...”
“Since you've just joined the Typhon Chain, I will definitely take 'very good' care of you...”
“Student Ain.”
Okay, he's definitely holding a massive grudge.
“Hey, hey, stop daydreaming! Look who's there!”
“Erylin is here too?”
At the city gates, many students' gazes fell upon Erylin.
“This is the first time I've seen her this close in person...”
“She's really beautiful, isn't she?”
“Ah, the guy next to her, isn't that...”
“Tch! That Ain guy, right?”
Ain felt the gazes that were originally on Erylin instantly shift to him, filled with several times more resentment.
“That bastard really deserves to die. I heard he's been staying at Erylin's house lately...”
“What?! You're kidding, right? How is that possible!”
“Look, another guy with outdated info.”
“And I heard someone saw him four-timing girls in the cafeteria...”
“Holy crap! Seriously?!”
“That's nothing. That Lillian girl next to Erylin even called him 'Master' in public last time... Sheesh, they're really playing some wild games...”
“What?! When did that happen! Why didn't I know!”
“If that's the case, why is Erylin still walking so close to him?”
“Uh, could it be because Erylin also has to call him Mas—”
“No! My goddess! There's no way that's happening! You guys are slandering her! Spreading rumors! This is blasphemy against the goddess! Unforgivable!”
Accompanied by the rising tide of gossip, the crowd's looks toward Ain grew increasingly hostile.
“That guy really deserves to die, right?”
“He really does...”
“He really deserves to die!!!”
Listening to the rumors floating around him, Ain stood meekly in place, utterly at a loss.
How did my reputation sink to such an unimaginably terrible level?
Erylin's cheeks flushed slightly, and she stole a few glances at Ain, looking somewhat pleased.
But this left Ain even more baffled.
Why is this girl so happy?
What did I even say?
Suddenly, a heated argument broke out in the crowd in the distance.
“You did that on purpose!”
Rate on N.U.
