Chapter 23: Operation Befriend Nell

Nell, the only commoner heroine, came from a poor family. Having struggled since childhood, caring for her younger siblings while barely having enough to eat, she’d received a stroke of luck: mana aptitude, granting her admission to the academy. Not only did this reduce the burden on her family, but she could also send most of her earnings from her work-study program back home.

Therefore, Nell had no reason to return home during the break. She stayed at the academy, working and earning money while enjoying free meals.

‘Is someone like Nell considered a scholarship student?’

Sayo entered the academy library, lost in trivial thoughts. Parts of the library were open to the public during breaks, requiring staff. Nell was working there as a librarian.

The library was quiet in the early morning hours, before noon, making it easy to spot Nell.

Sayo slowly approached Nell, who was organizing books. She’d spent last night agonizing over how to approach her, but as always, she hadn’t found any answers.

From her observations over the past few days, Nell followed a simple routine: cafeteria-library-cafeteria-library-cafeteria-dormitory. As it was evident, Nell was even more of a homebody than Sayo.

Considering Nell’s limited range of activity, the library seemed like the only viable location for their “operation.”

No more hesitation. Just do it. As she got closer, Sayo saw Nell’s still-pale face, her attention focused on her task.

The pale librarian of the library…

A teasing remark almost escaped Sayo’s lips, but she swallowed it and greeted Nell instead.

“Hello.”

“Oh, um, hello.” Nell, startled by the voice behind her, turned around to greet Sayo, her eyes widening at the sight of her.

Silence. Sayo stared at Nell, unsure how to start a conversation. Nell, flustered, continued organizing books, her hands moving busily.

“…”

“…”

An awkward, uncomfortable silence filled the space between them.

‘Hmm…’

Nell’s gaze darted around, avoiding Sayo’s eyes. If this wasn’t Sayoreinne’s body, and if she wasn’t influenced by Sayoreinne, Sayo, in her original socially awkward state, would have been acting the same way.

Nell was inherently shy, but having been bullied by Sayo made it even more difficult for her to meet her eyes. While Sayo hadn’t directly participated, everyone knew she was behind Miner and Soine’s actions. Nell clearly harbored no positive feelings towards her. She had met Sayo’s gaze directly when Sayo had stopped Miner and Soine earlier in the semester, but in this situation, she was avoiding eye contact, which was typical of her.

…Come to think of it, she should have apologized to Nell along with Miner and Soine. She had completely forgotten. How could she have forgotten something so important?

“Well…” Nell, having edged away during Sayo’s momentary distraction, mumbled something and fled.

“Wait!”

Despite Sayo’s call, Nell hurried away, almost running. Sayo considered chasing after her, but running in the library was inappropriate, and she suspected Nell would continue to avoid her. She decided to be content with the brief exchange, at least for today. Pushing too hard wouldn’t help, not with their current strained relationship.

“There’s still plenty of time.” Take it slow. Haste makes waste, as the saying goes. And there was no need to rush, not in this situation.

Sayo watched Nell from afar, talking to a brown-haired librarian with a hair clip. Since she was already at the library, Sayo chose a few thin novels and sat down to read.

Perhaps because she’d chosen them from the same section, they all dealt with themes of betrayal.

When lunchtime arrived, Sayo looked around, but Nell was nowhere to be seen. She wanted to say goodbye, but she left the library without seeing Nell.

Should she have lunch with Ahrin outside today? They could grab some sandwiches.

Day 2.

“Hello, Nell.”

“Oh, hello. Well, I’ll be…”

Nell quickly walked away after the brief exchange.

Sayo watched her go, unfazed. She hadn’t expected any significant changes so soon, not on the second day.

Nell, wearing a headband, walked away with a girl with long, brown hair reaching her waist.

“What should I read today?”

The nearby bookshelf seemed to be the history section. She had always enjoyed history, not the memorization-heavy academic kind, but the interesting, anecdotal kind. She decided to choose a book from this section.

Nell remained elusive, so Sayo left the library without seeing her again.

Day 3.

“Nice to see you again, Nell.”

“…Yes. Nice to see you too. Well…”

Nell, after responding to Sayo’s greeting, slowly backed away, her gaze fixed on Sayo’s chest, before turning and hurrying off.

As expected. Sayo calmly browsed the bookshelves.

Natural sciences… Science existed even in a world of magic. She was curious about how science interacted with magic in this world.

Before choosing a book and sitting down, Sayo looked for Nell. She was with a girl with short, golden blonde hair. Nell seemed to be close friends with the library staff, despite being alone in class.

…Did Nell have more friends than her?

A sense of emptiness washed over Sayo. She read her book listlessly, then left the library as soon as lunchtime arrived.

Day 4.

The library was closed on Sundays.

Sayo sat up in bed and called for Ahrin, poking and pulling her soft cheeks.

“Ouch.” Ahrin tried to say “Miss,” but only a strange, garbled sound escaped her lips. Sayo smiled faintly.

She would spend the whole day with Ahrin today.

Sayo hugged Ahrin and lay back down, feeling sleepy again as she sank into the soft mattress.

‘Being lazy… isn’t so bad…’

She was completely different from her past self. Sayoreinne was happy with her newfound gentler nature. The sharp, hostile Sayoreinne was gone.

Juseong, the man from another world, who, like her, carried emotional scars…

He said he had been influenced by her, but she had also been greatly influenced by him. His memories of another world were particularly fascinating. She wished she could visit, but it was impossible.

And, whether it was her original nature or his influence, she liked girls. Holding Ahrin like this made her feel happy.

‘I’m… sorry… Mother… Is it… okay… for me… to be happy…?’

A single tear rolled down Sayoreinne’s cheek as she fell asleep.

Ahrin, her face flushed against Sayoreinne’s chest, also drifted off to sleep. The room was filled with the soft breathing of the two girls.

Day 5.

“It’s been a while, Nell.”

“We just saw each other two days ago…”

“Listen…”

Nell bowed her head and quickly excused herself.

Just let her apologize, let her get a word in.

Sigh. Still, was there some progress in Nell’s reaction? Or not?

Unsure, Sayo browsed the bookshelves again. This section seemed to be about languages. From the Minorus language they currently used to foreign languages, Eastern languages, ancient languages, and even the language of fairies… a diverse collection, but… linguistics wasn’t her cup of tea.

‘I wish they had manga in this world.’

Missing manga, perhaps due to the lack of interesting books, Sayo chose a book with illustrations and sat down.

It was about ancient languages, with illustrations of the beings who spoke them. The illustrations weren’t to her liking, and the book itself wasn’t very interesting.

Rub, rub

Sayo rubbed her eyelids, then looked for Nell.

Nell was with a girl—or should she say a woman?—with fiery red hair, tied in a ponytail, like Euru. The woman was incredibly tall, making Nell look tiny in comparison.

Was that woman also Nell’s friend? Did Nell have even more friends than her?

Euru, Miner, Soine… Ahrin.

4 vs 4. It was a tie. She hadn’t lost yet, Nell.

‘…What am I doing?’

She suddenly felt childish, like a teenager.
This was… ridiculous. No, it was Sayoreinne’s influence! It couldn’t be helped.

Still…

This childish competitiveness wasn’t unpleasant, so Sayo smiled.