Chapter 42

◈ Chapter 42: The Lingering Echoes of the Past (2)

After having a meeting with Rudger, Rine walked down the hallway with a dazed expression, as if she were in a dream.

In her arms, she tightly held the book about non-elemental magic that Rudger had given her.

Even as her mind wandered, she instinctively felt that this book must be treated with utmost care.

As she walked quickly down the hallway, she stopped at the sound of someone calling her name.

“Rine.”

“Huh? Ah! S-Senpai?”

A soft, pleasant voice calling her.

She was a second-year student who took the same manifestation class as Rine and was, without a doubt, the most famous student in Seorun, the Third Princess of the Empire.

Erendil looked at Rine with a worried expression.

“Senpai, what are you doing here...?”

“Well, I was worried, so I waited just in case. You were called to Mr. Rudger’s office, after all.”

“Huh? Oh! That’s right. Yes, that’s true. Hehe.”

“Hmm?”

Rine’s odd reaction made Erendil even more suspicious.

“Rine, did Mr. Rudger do anything to harm you...?”

Erendil had never really liked Rudger’s behavior.

It was because of her first impression of him, which was the worst.

During the first orientation, Rudger didn’t even bother to explain what he would teach in his class, acting arrogantly. This caused a lot of talk among the students in the <Akashic Record>.

In fact, it was Erendil who had first asked Rudger a sharp question about his behavior.

To her, who held a strong sense of justice, Rudger’s actions were simply unacceptable.

Even though she was impressed by the content of his class later, the bad first impression stuck.

Especially after the werewolf incident, when Rudger spoke coldly to her, she was even more irritated.

Naturally, when she heard that Rudger had taken Rine to the office, she immediately thought the worst.

“No, no, that’s not it!”

Rine hurriedly defended Rudger.

“He just gave me some advice...! He absolutely didn’t touch me or anything! Mr. Rudger is not a pervert!”

“Huh?”

Erendil was taken aback by Rine’s response.

Her face turned red, and she said in a surprised tone,

“I didn’t mean it that way. Rine, you... are quite naughty, aren’t you?”

“Huh? What?!”

“I just meant that he might have moved you to a different class or forced you to take another course. To think you would imagine something like that...”

“W-What? Just a moment! It’s not like that!”

Rine realized she had made a big misunderstanding and her face turned red with embarrassment.

Seeing Rine’s flustered attempt to explain, Erendil couldn’t help but laugh.

“Haha. I see. If nothing happened, then I’ll just think that.”

“...Thank you.”

“So, really, nothing happened? Nothing at all?”

“No, nothing happened.”

Erendil thought Rine might have said something she didn’t really mean.

But after saying it, Rine herself began to doubt.

Could Mr. Rudger really like me?

It might sound like boasting, but Rine was confident in her appearance.

‘Still, I’m not that bad-looking, right?’

Indeed, Rine was so beautiful that even nobles couldn’t help but be drawn to her.

Her rare hair color, combined with her heavenly beauty, was enough to make her name well-known among the male students in Seorun.

Suddenly, Rine imagined herself with Rudger.

She thought they might make a good pair, but she quickly shook her head.

‘No, no matter what, that’s not right. I don’t even know him well...’

Rine was quite conservative in such matters.

Seeing Rine’s flustered face, Erendil asked her gently,

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Huh? Ah, no. Not yet.”

“Would you like to eat together then?”

“R-Really? Is that okay?”

Rine was flustered by the unexpected offer from the princess. She thought Erendil would have many people lining up to eat with her.

But that was Rine’s misunderstanding.

Erendil had almost never walked with anyone. Her status as a princess was great, but it was so high that other students tended to avoid her.

Occasionally, students from noble families would speak to her, but they did so for political reasons, not because they genuinely liked Erendil. To them, she was the Third Princess, not Erendil.

So.

Erendil was, in fact, a loner in Seorun.

This was the first time she had the courage to invite a junior to eat with her.

‘Wow. This is the first time someone has asked me to eat with them!’

To Rine, who had been alone since the beginning of the semester, this felt like a great act of kindness from her senpai.

Thinking Rine might be rejecting her, Erendil fiddled with her blonde hair and said,

“Well, if you don’t want to or if it’s inconvenient...”

“No! I’d love to!”

This was the first time Rine and Erendil had a close friend to eat with.

* * *

After sending Rine back, I sat alone in the faculty office, recalling our meeting a little while ago.

She doesn’t seem to know, but I know what kind of power she possesses.

‘Non-elemental magic. The fact that an element doesn’t exist isn’t that surprising.’

To me, non-elemental magic or a new form of magic that hasn’t been discovered yet isn’t anything new.

Because magic has always been new to me.

Living in a world without magic, the magic in this world has always been a mysterious experience for me.

Ironically.

I, who have the knowledge and memories of another world, recognize magic more as magic than the residents of this world.

The current mages, with their narrow-minded thinking, have become stagnant and isolated in their lives.

But after dying and being reborn, I have a different perspective on accepting things.

It’s as if the limiter in my brain has been removed.

While other mages would foam at the mouth at the mention of non-elemental magic,

-Non-elemental magic? That’s impossible!

I would calmly respond,

-Non-elemental magic? In a world where magic exists, it’s possible.

I have reached a level of flexibility in my thinking.

My perspective on magic and its recognition is vastly different from that of the mages in this world.

Even my strict teacher was amazed by this aspect of me.

However, what I was really paying attention to when I looked at Rine was not her non-elemental magic, but her eyes.

‘Those eyes. I’ve seen them somewhere before.’

My elderly teacher possessed countless ancient books that are hard to find nowadays, including a book about monsters and demons that was hundreds of years old.

While monsters are almost non-existent now, except for a few Cryptids, it is said that this continent was once teeming with all kinds of monsters.

And there were demons who controlled these monsters.

‘For a brief moment, the look in her eyes...’

I recalled Rine’s eyes.

Her eyes, which had a faint blue hue.

But during our conversation just now, I noticed that the color of her eyes had subtly changed.

Between the deep blue irises, a white light, like the stars in the sky, shimmered.

Her eyes resembled a calm surface of water reflecting the Milky Way in the night sky.

I couldn’t have failed to recognize those unique eyes.

‘The eyes that distinguish good from evil, the Judgment Eye. If I didn’t see it wrong, Rine is the owner of those Judgment Eyes.’

The Judgment Eye can distinguish between good and evil in others and clearly show whether someone is hostile or not.

It’s a power that is more of a miracle or a mystery than magic.

The most remarkable feature of the Judgment Eye is its ability to identify ‘demons’ hiding among humans.

‘Now, demons are almost considered legendary.’

To people today, demons are just the bad guys with horns and red skin that appear in fairy tales.

A product of lies to scare children.

But from the documents, it seems that demons did exist.

‘In a world where magic exists, demons could exist too. I died and came back to life, so why not something like that?’

And Rine’s eyes were closely related to this.

Seeing the Judgment Eye, which was only recorded in history, actually exist in front of me.

In other words, the existence of the Judgment Eye, which can distinguish demons, might determine whether demons really exist.

Another characteristic of the Judgment Eye is that significant events tend to occur whenever it appears, regardless of the era.

Fortunately, Rine’s Judgment Eye was not fully awakened, and she seemed unaware of her ability.

But she will realize it eventually.

‘Is this all just fate?’

The book about non-elemental magic that I gave to Rine.

I never imagined that the book written by ‘her’ would eventually end up with Rine.

Rine doesn’t seem to remember.

‘This is quite a headache.’

Not only did she realize she was the owner of the Judgment Eye, but also the fact that I’m facing this past connection again.

‘To be involved in such matters in Seorun...’

I sighed and stood up.

Suddenly.

I had a thought.

If Rine could properly use the Judgment Eye, she might be able to expose all the secret society members hiding in Seorun.

Especially the First Order, which is the most immediate threat to me, whose true identity I still can’t determine.

I have no idea who they are, what they’re doing, or where they are. Asking Sedina Roschen isn’t an option either.

‘Even if I’m cautious, I need some clues.’

Without knowing what the First Order is doing, I have to be as careful as possible.

But if Rine’s Judgment Eye works properly, it might be a great help to me.

With Eidan and his friends, the Three Musketeers, and now Rine.

If I can cleverly use these children’s powers, perhaps...

‘No, forget it. I should just go home first.’

Putting on my coat and opening the door to leave the faculty office, I had to stop when I heard a scream from outside.

“Ouch.”

A girl with deep blue hair, who had apparently bumped her forehead on the door, was sitting on the floor, holding her head.

Looking down at her, I couldn’t help but say in a cold voice, despite my inner confusion,

“What are you doing here? Flora Lumos.”