Chapter 35: Elissa (1)

Perhaps it was thanks to the experience of living as an adventurer for five years, but it didn’t take long to regain my composure.

Besides, if it was a student chosen by Elin-sensei, she wouldn’t be a bad person. Elin-sensei has a keen eye for people.

So, I smiled faintly as usual and extended my hand. My amethyst-like eyes formed a gentle curve.

“Hello? I heard you as I was coming, but I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Sian from Class A, number 9. My main weapon is a longsword, and my Stigmata is Blink.

I’m a commoner, so I don’t have a last name, so you can just call me Sian.”

“Hello. I’m Elissa from Class B, number 6. I mainly use water magic, and I don’t have a Stigmata, but I’m confident in my skills. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too.”

The girl who introduced herself as Elissa firmly grasped my hand. The feel of her hand, which showed signs of hard work, wasn’t just soft. The deep aquamarine eyes of the girl were full of determination. I liked that.

After all, this midterm exam was a group project, so it wasn’t something I could do well on my own. Elissa’s determination was also important.

“…Ugh!?”

As I approached the girl with such thoughts, I suddenly felt a chill. Water-colored mana flickered around the girl.

I felt a strong flow of mana. Uncontrolled mana swirling around Elissa. Startled by that, I unconsciously took a step back.

“Perhaps…”

I knew this phenomenon.

A disease in which the body produces more mana than it can handle, causing mana to leak out of the body. A typical symptom of mana excess.

As I’ve mentioned before, the mana contained in the body is the water tank, and the blood vessels are the hose of the water tank. And mana excess is a situation where the water tank is overflowing and the hose cannot be closed.

Because of this, the amount of mana that can be handled is overwhelming, but it is impossible to draw magic circles or perform precise mana manipulation. Because you can’t control the amount of mana you emit.

And the burden on the blood vessels, through which a large amount of mana always passes, is great, so the body is weak and the duration of magic is short. The body cannot handle its own mana.

“Yes, it’s as Sian thinks.”

“Oh.”

“I have mana excess. So the power of magic is excellent, but mana manipulation is difficult.”

“…I’m sorry for asking for no reason.”

“No. There’s no need to apologize. I was going to tell you in advance anyway.”

The atmosphere became awkward in an instant.

Both I, who accidentally stepped on a sensitive topic, and Elissa, who said it was okay, didn’t know how to continue the conversation on this topic.

I, in order to break that awkward silence, changed the subject.

“The midterm exam is a week away, so let’s work hard together until then. Ah, and you can speak casually to me. We’re in the same year anyway, and there’s no difference in status.”

“That’s…I’ve been using formal language for so long that it’s become half a habit. But if you feel uncomfortable, I’ll fix it. Even though it might be a little awkward.”

“Ack.”

I made the suggestion thinking that maybe I was a bit uncomfortable to deal with, but if she said it like that, it would be even more burdensome…!

Seeing Elissa, who readily agreed to change her speech after hearing my words, I hastily waved my hand and explained.

“Ah, no! You don’t have to go that far. I just said it because you might be uncomfortable, so you don’t have to force yourself to change your speech…!”

“Hehe, thank you.”

Looking at me, flustered and waving my hands, Elissa let out a light laugh. A pure smile bloomed on the girl’s face.

Elissa’s untainted smile had a pure and elegant charm that tickled a corner of my heart. Even I, who had become accustomed to beautiful girls, was momentarily flustered.

Looking at her slightly shaking grape-colored eyes, Elissa murmured softly.

“You are very kind person. You’re different from my first impression.”

“Huh? What was my first impression?”

“Um…how should I put it, you seemed like a very cool-headed person.”

“Eh?”

At the first impression of being cool-headed, I reflexively made a questioning expression.

I’ve heard words like cute, bold, and wanting to protect from friends and people I met while adventuring, but this was the first time I’ve heard that I was cool-headed.

Wasn’t the cool-headed one Yelena instead? Even when she was with me, she was a bit loose, but she was a girl who became cold as befitting the status of the Northern Grand Duchess in front of others.

Compared to her, I wasn’t even close to being cool-headed.

Wondering if there was someone I had met before that I couldn’t remember, I carefully asked a question.

“Have we, met before?”

“Ah, Sian wouldn’t have seen me. The first time I saw Sian was on the first day of the academy, when you were dueling with the duchess.”

“Oh.”

Was this girl also mixed in with the audience at that time?

If so, she might have had that kind of first impression. At that time, I was in a complicated mood in many ways, so my reaction was a bit sharp.

Besides, after the duel, I was so preoccupied with the status window that I didn’t even think about extending my hand to Yelena and ran straight back to the dormitory.

“You maintained your composure even in front of the duchess’s fierce swordsmanship, parried her sword, and after winning, you walked down from the sparring stage without saying anything. It was cool.”

“I see.”

“I thought you were a really calm and cold person at the time, but meeting you like this, you’re quite a cute person.”

“Ugh…!?”

Elissa smiled faintly and carefully stroked under my chin. My body shuddered at the soft touch of a girl my age.

My cheeks, weak to praise, turn red. Still, a question arose in one corner of my mind.

Something was definitely strange.

Objectively speaking, Elissa was an attractive girl who wouldn’t lose out to anyone.

Short, light blue hair, and a fragile, girlish image. A gentle voice and neat gestures. A polite tone and deep aquamarine eyes were impressive, a girl with an elegant charm.

If such a girl was in the original work, there was no way I wouldn’t have remembered her. There was no way I would have seen her for the first time.

Even if she didn’t have a Stigmata, there were quite a few supporting characters with significant roles who didn’t have Stigmata.

So, there was only one conclusion.

This girl was a being influenced by the ‘seed’.

It wasn’t that she had directly absorbed the seed. I wouldn’t have failed to notice the influence of the seed if I had already absorbed the cherry blossom seed.

The status window, which was stuttering in front of the cherry blossom tree, wouldn’t have been silent.

Then, perhaps Elissa was caught in the butterfly effect caused by the ‘seed’. She had been directly harmed by the ‘seed’ or had been indirectly influenced.

In the first place, mana excess itself is an incredibly rare disease. It was to the extent that it was only mentioned and passed over in the original work, a disease that was almost impossible to get.

In the first place, it’s not a normal situation for the body to produce so much mana that it can’t handle itself.

As I got to that point in my thoughts, my expression naturally hardened.

“…“

The ‘seed’ had already begun to affect this world. It was faster than expected. I thought there would be no problems for a while since the cherry blossom tree hadn’t caused any damage yet.

I don’t even have a sense of how many types of seeds exist, and how many are scattered. The original work has already been twisted.

Can I handle the changes that will occur in the future?

I’m just an ordinary girl who only knows the future. Even that knowledge of the future is an uncertain transmigrator who is only half right.

“Sigh…”

A deep sigh escaped me unconsciously, worrying about the future.

Right now, a single seed has bloomed, and that flower is affecting this world, so I have to do something. But there’s not much I can do right now.

The only connection I have with the ‘seed’ right now is Elissa. Even that was a very vague connection, not even knowing how she was related.

So, I needed to get close to Elissa.

Close enough to show each other everything deep in our hearts. To find out how Elissa came into contact with the seed.

Of course, apart from such a purpose, I felt a desire to become close to Elissa as a person. I could tell from a few conversations that Elissa was a pretty good person.

So I caught the expression that was about to break.

“What’s wrong?”

“No. It’s just, I’ve been a little tired lately. I stayed up late reviewing because there were parts of magic engineering that I didn’t understand. I don’t know why a swordsman has to learn magic engineering.”

“Hehe, that’s right.”

Even though I was a shut-in in my past life, I was in a body with two friends now.

And having befriended heroines who were judged to be unattainable in the original work, I could say that I now had some skill in getting close to girls.

Thinking that, I asked Elissa.

“Elissa, are you busy today by any chance?”

“Yes, I finished my assignments yesterday.”

“That’s good. Then, since we met like this, shall we have a meal together in the autonomous district? I’ll treat you.”