Editor : Amethyst00



“Wow! That looks delicious!”

Rena silently watched Luna’s back as Luna dragged her around all over Seiren.

After buying two ice creams from a Lumene student vendor, Luna tilted her head.

“It does look tasty, but what on earth is this?”

“It’s ice cream.”

“Cold food?”

“Yes.”

“Oh? Ohhh. Eating something like this in weather this cold… Have people in the future all gone soft in the head?”

“Even if magic makes it pleasantly warm, elves who live in the cold northern regions usually don’t eat things like this. Lumene students are probably the only ones who’d think to sell it.”

Just as Rena said, to an elf, selling ice cream in the North was an idea you’d never even consider.

“Hm. The North used to be a warm region, you know.”

Luna smiled faintly and took a bite of her ice cream.

“Mmm! This is good!”

Then she handed the ice cream in her other hand to Rena.

“I’m treating you—because I’m such a nice older sister.”

“…It’s my money.”

“Hm? What was that?”

“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

Sensing she was about to get scolded, Rena quickly accepted the ice cream.

Rena watched Luna’s back as she walked ahead, humming to herself.

Rena didn’t know why Luna looked so young, but at most, Luna appeared to be about the same age as her.

“Lady Luna.”

“Hm? Why are you calling me?”

“Do you know about your own future, Lady Luna?”

“Yeah. Apparently I save the world or something?”

Luna made a face like it didn’t quite feel real.

“And then I die in the middle of it.”

“……”

“From what I’ve been able to piece together, it doesn’t sound like it was a very happy life.”

In the records Luna had seen about herself, there weren’t detailed accounts of what kind of life she’d lived.

They contained only her deeds and the great feats she had accomplished.

But even that was enough for Luna to imagine the life that awaited her.

A world on the brink of ruin—

and herself, struggling desperately to stop it.

'I don’t know why I devoted myself to the world to that extent, though.'

Luna licked at her ice cream and quietly questioned it to herself.

Had she ever been that attached to the world? If she was honest, no.

It wasn’t that she hated it or resented it—but there also wasn’t anything she cared about enough to struggle and thrash for.

Up until she arrived to Balharun.

No—her life wasn’t smooth even after she arrived.

'So what was it that made the future me try so hard?'

While Luna was turning that question over in her mind,

Rena asked carefully,

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid of what?”

“There’s so much hardship ahead.”

Rena’s eyes dimmed slightly.

“Everyone in this era is praising you, Lady Luna.”

“Yeah. I know. That’s why it feels strange.”

“Aren’t you afraid of having to live up to that expectation?”

“Hm.”

Knowing the future wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Just as Rena said, the life Luna would live from here on wouldn’t be smooth.

She would have to endure every horrible, grueling thing that awaited her.

It wasn’t something she could feel proud about—Wow, so I did something amazing!—because from now on, she would have to accomplish all of those feats herself.

Seen from that perspective, people’s praise was more than enough to become a burden.

At Rena’s words, Luna shrugged.

“I hadn’t really thought about it that deeply.”

“…Huh?”

“Whether I’ll go back to where I originally was with these memories—or not.”

Luna let out a small snort of a laugh.

“Meh. I’ll give it a shot.”

“……”

“And if I really can’t do it, I can just quit.”

Luna shoved the rest of her ice cream into her mouth.

“I just have to try as hard as I can, right? What do I care what other people say?”

In a way, it was so carefree it almost sounded thoughtless.

But in truth, it was the right answer.

“As expected of you, Lady Luna.”

“Hm?”

Rena burst into laughter.

The Luna in front of her was a Luna from a time Rena didn’t know.

And yet she was unmistakably Luna.

She didn’t care about other people’s eyes.

The Luna Rena knew had wanted to become a great archmage.

She was an elf who dreamed of being praised by all, of becoming someone who could bring light to the world—and she achieved that dream.

But Rena knew.

Even if Luna had failed to become exactly what she wanted, Luna would never have been truly disappointed or crushed.

'Because effort doesn’t become meaningless, and what you gain along the way doesn’t simply vanish. That was the kind of person she was.'

Remembering the gentle voice that had told her Luna’s story, Rena smiled brightly.

Just as Luna tilted her head at that—

“Ah—!”

A startled cry rang out.

Luna and Rena turned their heads.

“Hm? Eiran-unni, do you know them?”

During the break after the performance,

Eiran and Chelsea—who had been looking around to enjoy the festival for a bit—spotted Luna and Rena.

The moment Rena saw them, she made a “Gah!” face.

She tried to bolt right away, but Luna grabbed her by the back of the neck.

Eiran knew that Luna from the past had come to the present era.

So after a brief moment of hesitation, she leaned in and whispered Luna’s true identity into Chelsea’s ear.

Hearing it, Chelsea’s eyes went wide.

“Hi.”

Luna gave a small smile and a wave—then tugged Rena along with her.

“Did you do something wrong? Why are you trying to run away?”

“You—you! When I saw you in the Northwestern Sea, you were human. So why do you look like an elf now?”

Recognizing Rena, Eiran hurried over and grabbed her wrist.

“Hm?”

For a moment, Eiran tilted her head.

“So this is the suspicious kid you said you saw, Eiran-unni? She’s still just a child. But…”

Chelsea rubbed her chin and studied Rena’s face closely.

Then she tilted her head.

“Doesn’t she look kind of skinny?”

“Yeah. She looks a bit scrawny.”

“N-No! I eat well, I swear!”

For some reason, Rena reacted far more strongly than expected to what Chelsea and Eiran said.

As Eiran and Chelsea looked puzzled at that reaction—

“So you two know about me as well?”

Luna smiled brightly.

Then she patted Rena on the shoulder and said,

“She may be suspicious, but she’s not a bad kid.”

“Why do you think that?”

Chelsea asked, tilting her head. Luna gave a small smile.

“Because she came from the future.”

“What?!”

“T-The future?”

Chelsea and Eiran stared in shock.

“Yeah.”

Hearing that, Chelsea’s face turned serious.

'If what Eiran-unni said is true, then Lady Luna right now is Luna from her childhood, right?'

Chelsea recalled what she’d just heard from Eiran.

But even if this Luna was from her younger years, Luna was still Luna.

'Leo-oppa once said he’d been to a parallel world.'

And the one who had laid the theoretical groundwork for the magic that could travel between such parallel worlds was Chloe.

'There’s no rule that says magic to travel through time can’t exist, either.'

Thinking like a mage, she quickly worked through the logic.

“Lady Luna, why do you think this girl came from the future? Just because she claims she did?”

“No. Um… how should I put it? I can see the wavelength of mana.”

“Wavelength of mana?”

“Yeah. It probably only shows up for me.”

Considering Luna’s talent, it wasn’t strange that she could see things Chelsea couldn’t.

“So the wavelength is different only for this girl?”

“Yeah. For you guys, I don’t see any color at all. But people like me and Seiren—who came from the past into the present—show up as red. And this girl… she has a blue wavelength.”

“Hm… since magical power ultimately comes from mana, that must be influencing it. If something people of this era can’t perceive becomes visible to those from other time periods… then this era is the baseline. And if the wavelength changes relative to that baseline…”

“Then… is your red wavelength more pronounce than Lady Seiren’s?”

“Oh? Yeah. Because I’m from further back. You’re pretty smart, huh?”

“Hmm… In the future, Lady Luna never mentioned having this kind of wavelength. Hm… Well, I suppose it makes sense. The younger you are, the sharper your senses can be.”

Chelsea herself remembered that when she was younger—back when she’d just started learning magic—she could feel the faintest shifts in the wind far better than she could now.

Accepting Luna’s explanation, Chelsea looked over at Eiran, who was inspecting Rena from every angle with curious eyes.

“Ahh. So that’s why you called Miss Eliana ‘grandma.’”

At that, Chelsea burst out laughing.

“Pfft. She must’ve completely flipped out when she heard that. Do it again next time you see her.”

“Yes, Grandma.”

“No… not to me.”

Watching Chelsea knit her brows, Rena said—

“But you are a grandma.”

“Do you even know who I am?”

“You’re famous?”

“What is that supposed to mean—such a wishy-washy answer?”

“Don’t be like that, Chelsea. She said she came from the future.”

Eiran smiled softly and patted Rena on the head.

“Isn’t it something to be happy about instead? The fact there’s a kid who can call us ‘grandma’ means we lived to win. Right?”

“Um… maybe?”

“I’ve noticed since earlier—you sometimes answer in a vague, roundabout way. Is that some kind of rule?”

When Luna asked with clear interest, Rena’s eyes darted around.

“‘Maybe,’ huh?”

“Interesting.”

Luna’s lips curled into a small smile.

“Isn’t the important thing not to make things awkward? What’s your name?”

“Rena.”

“Miss Rena… want me to buy you something tasty?”

“Uh… I’m fine, Grand— I mean, Lady Eiran.”

“You don’t have to refuse.”

“R-Really, I’m fine, Gra— Lady Eiran.”

Sweating coldly, Rena turned her down as politely as she could.

“Honestly. Never in my life did I think I’d end up meeting someone from the future.”

Chelsea said, looking genuinely fascinated.

Just then—

The atmosphere inside Seiren grew noisy, and the crowd began to part to either side.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

As Chelsea tilted her head, an answer came from behind them.

“It’s the parade they do before the beauty pageant.”

The voice—full of amusement—belonged to Elena.

“A beauty pageant parade?”

“Yeah. It’ll be a pretty spectacle show.”

[“Ladies and gentlemen! The beauty pageant to crown the finest beauty! Allow me to introduce the contestants! I’m Runeba Tess of Lumene, your commentator! A graduating senior this year—so this is my final broadcast before graduation!”]

Runeba’s cheerful voice, acting as the host, rang out across the area.

[“Alright! Then, my final commentary… begiiiiiins—”]

Runeba’s energetic voice gradually lost its strength.

[“Ghk… ghh… I don’t want to graduate… I don’t want to go out into society… I want to stay a student forever…”]

A gloomy, sniffling voice came through.

And then—

[“If you’d like, I can fail you for publicly disgracing the school right now.”]

When Harrid’s icy voice rang out from behind, Runeba shouted brightly,

[…Yes, sir!]

At the same time, festival music swelled—and a massive carriage carrying the contestants rolled into view.

“So they even do something like that.”

Eiran let out a small exclamation of admiration.

“Yeah. But who are these kids here? And especially this one—she looks kind of cheeky.”

Elena, who’d been tilting her head while looking at Luna and Rena, finally pointed at Rena and asked.

Facing Elena, Rena said,

“So you were a wicked old crone even when you were young?”

“Oh? Now that’s a new kind of provocation.”

A smile touched Elena’s lips, but her eyes weren’t smiling.

Just then—

“Gah—Young Master Leo?!”

Watching the parade, Eiran recoiled in shock.

“Huh? Kyle-oppa came out too?”

Chelsea, flustered, scanned the contestants this way and that.

Spotting Leo standing among them, Elena burst into laughter and clapped her hands.

Just then—

“Your Majesty?!”

A cry of shock burst out of Rena.

At that, Elena, Chelsea, and Eiran all turned their eyes to Rena.

“‘Your Majesty’?”

“What are you talking about?”

Chelsea—who didn’t know Leo was in disguise—and Elena—who didn’t know Rena was from the future—both wore puzzled expressions.

But Eiran, who knew both of those things, let her mouth fall open.

Eiran looked back and forth between Leo and Rena—and then a realization struck her.

White hair, red eyes…

“Huh?”

At Eiran’s dazed little sound, Elena and Chelsea turned puzzled looks toward her.

A moment later—

“H-Huh?!”

This time, Eiran cried out in sheer shock.