Chapter 14: The Empty Embrace

The sky had turned the color of a sunset. The enormous magical barrier surrounding the northern forest of the academy had shrunk to a circle with a diameter of about 100 meters. In this situation, Yelena Frost frowned and looked around.

“…Sian, isn’t here?”

The exam was already nearing its end, but no matter how much she looked around, Sian was nowhere to be seen.

She had wanted to cross swords with her again.

Something was strange. No matter how much the new students this year were said to be of exceptionally high level, the Sian she had seen wouldn’t have been taken down by an ordinary first-year student.

Sian’s ability to detect presence was far superior to her own. She should have been able to detect an ambush from new students, so it couldn’t be that she was eliminated by a surprise attack.

With a suspicious heart, Yelena swung her sword, infused with mana, towards her back.

“Kyaak!!”

“Adel? Damn it, run…kyaak!?”

The sunset-colored sword path, infused with mana, instantly pierced through two figures. The two students instantly turned into silver particles and were expelled from the forest.

Yelena habitually shook her longsword and slowly looked around.

Whether it was designed that way on purpose or just bad luck, the lush forest had become the final battleground. As soon as Yelena hurriedly entered the mana boundary, a magical stopwatch made of mana appeared in the sky.

[1:00]

[0:59]

[0:58]

‘…Only a minute left?’

Yelena was about to quickly spread her mana to check for any remaining survivors, but she let out a sigh and sheathed her sword again.

After all, this exam wasn’t about being the last one standing. It was an exam where those who survived until the end in the forest would be victorious.

Was Sian’s ability to hide her presence more strong than she had thought? While trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling.

“Oh.”

And then, she finally felt a sense of incongruity.

If it had been her in the past, she would have relentlessly searched for the remaining students.

She couldn’t concentrate on the exam properly because she was thinking about Sian. And because Sian was not visible, she felt uneasy.

“What, what is wrong with me…?”

Fwoosh-

The moment she realized that, she felt a heat rising from her cheeks. Yelena covered her red face and tightly closed her eyes.

She couldn’t erase the existence of Sian from her mind. She wanted to forget about Sian for a moment and concentrate on the exam, but the more she tried to forget, the more she kept thinking about her.

This had never happened in the past eight years. If there were any stray thoughts, she would just bury them in a corner of her mind and forget about them.

Yelena closed her eyes and murmured quietly.

“A friend to wield a sword with…huh…”

That’s right, it was because of those words.

In her childhood, no one had approached her when she was swinging her sword all day.

There were those who offered cheap sympathy and were intoxicated with their moral superiority. There were those who were just trash, trying to take advantage of her. There were those who offered formal comfort.

As she cut those guys off like a knife, the only person left around Yelena was the blunt maid who had raised her since childhood.

Maybe, maybe I was hoping that someone would approach me-

“Sigh…”

Yelena took a deep breath and cut off her thoughts. She had been lost in thought, and a minute had passed in an instant.

Now that Sian was not by her side, she kept thinking of Sian and couldn’t concentrate. In that case, she should just swing her sword with Sian.

“When I get back, I’ll just swing my sword with Sian.”

Murmuring quietly, Yelena slowly sheathed her sword. She believed without a shadow of a doubt that she would be able to meet Sian in the auditorium.

[0:00]

[Exam End]

[All remaining students will be moved to the auditorium]

Therefore, when all the remaining students were transferred to the auditorium and the familiar face of a certain girl was nowhere to be seen, Yelena felt that something was wrong.

A corner of her heart throbbed. She worried if something bad had happened to Sian.

Sian was a strong girl who defeated her. She was a child who wouldn’t lose to anyone in the Northern Knights in terms of actual combat experience, but she was eliminated from the exam?

“That can’t be…”

With a suspicious look, Yelena’s gaze found the figure of a teacher with flaming hair. The first-year swordsmanship instructor, Elin Agnes.

“…What, what do you mean? Two students are missing?”

“Yes, temporary Class A, No. 13, student Sian, and temporary Class C, No. 17, student Regina Strelachia are missing.”

“Did anything go outside the barrier, or were there any traces of space-based magic being used? Or is there a possibility that the barrier was temporarily damaged?”

“Th-that’s…according to the mages in charge of the barrier, nothing crossed the barrier during the exam…”

“So, according to you, Sian and Regina. The two students suddenly disappeared from within the barrier. You don’t think that’s possible, do you?”

“But…”

“…”

‘…I see. If it were something that could be handled within common sense, you wouldn’t have called me. Go back and quickly check if there have been any problems in each department.”

“Yes, understood!”

Yelena Frost’s body trembled as she listened to the conversation between Elin and the exam supervisor. She couldn’t hide her uneasy feeling at the words that Sian was missing.

The girl who had never cared about others, didn’t understand the feeling of ‘worry’ that she felt for the first time in her life.

It was just that her heart was beating a little faster than usual.

Negative thoughts kept popping up, wondering if she had suffered a serious injury or if she was in a critical situation.

Without even realizing that her actions were very different from usual, hoping that what she had just heard was a lie, Yelena approached Elin.

“Excuse me, Elin-sensei.”

“Hmm? You are…”

“Temporary Class A, No. 2, Yelena Frost. Sian, is missing? Did I hear that correctly?”

“…Sigh, yes. Since you’ve already heard it, there’s no point in hiding it. You heard correctly. Two students suddenly disappeared during the exam. One of them is Sian, whom you know well.”

“…Ah?”

However, what came back was a reconfirmation of the fact that Sian had disappeared.

Yelena’s cold, emotionless mask cracked. Worry, anxiety, fear…a complex expression mixed with many emotions.

But Yelena didn’t have the time to realize that her expression had cracked.

As soon as she heard that Sian had disappeared, her heart felt heavy like a stone. It felt like her heart had dropped.

“We’ve urgently gathered a search party, Elin.”

“Send the search party first. I’ll join later. It’ll be harder to find them after sunset, so don’t wait for me.”

“Excuse me, teacher.”

Yelena grabbed Elin, who was about to leave the auditorium after talking to the instructor.

“Please, include me in the search party.”

•

“Hmm…”

Regina fumbled around with a hazy mind.

She wanted to feel Sian’s warmth again, like before she fell asleep. The girl flailed her slender arms in her sleep.

“Hmm…?”

However, nothing was caught. She was supposed to be leaning against Sian’s embrace just a little while ago, but the hard texture of the dungeon floor felt only cold.

“…Ah?”

Suddenly, her heart dropped. She was definitely held by Sian when she closed her eyes. Then why was she alone? Where was Sian? Where on earth did Sian go…

“Sigh, Sian, Sian…?”

Suddenly, a cold anxiety enveloped her whole body. Maybe, maybe this was all an illusion. Maybe it was something that she, who had gone mad from endless regressions, had made up…

“Sian…! Answer me, please answer me! Where are you, I’m, I’m so cold, haah, haah…”

Her mind was forcibly dragged to the surface. The cool air of the dungeon was too cold. It wasn’t like this when she was held in Sian’s arms.

In the 999 regressions, Sian was the only one who affirmed her, the only one who empathized with her, the only one who succeeded in twisting the ‘fate’. Was she also a fantasy?

“Please, please…answer, me…”

Hope gradually faded from Regina’s words. Ah, right. She was just a marionette bound by ‘fate’. Just a doll that was only meant to follow the orders of fate, without a will of its own.

Why did she, a doll, hope for something? Why did she desire salvation? If she was a doll, she should have just known how to do as she was told. She didn’t need emotions.

“Ahaha…”

A powerless laugh echoed through the dungeon, and Regina slowly closed her eyes.

The hope she had encountered for the first time in thousands of years was too sweet. So, the sight of hope disappearing before her eyes was unbearable for the already broken Regina.

“Sniff…it’s…cold…”

Regina muttered quietly and curled up. Her vision gradually blurred because of her tears. Thinking that it didn’t matter anymore, Regina’s vision slowly closed.

“Regina? Sorry, I was dealing with some Death Knights while you were sleeping.”

“Ah….?”

“I’m sorry. Here, let me hold you.”

So, when she saw Sian at the edge of her vision, Regina silently threw herself into Sian’s arms. Like a child seeking affection.