Chapter 70

"Tell me. Zeros Silphieed—just who are you, exactly?"

A cold voice echoed throughout the headmaster's office.

The question was infused with a strong will to pursue me, surpassing mere curiosity.

I narrowed my eyes against the sunlight streaming through the window, pondering how to respond.

In front of me, Noah added more words.

"It's impossible for someone with the Emblem of Void to use skills. Yet, you can use them, making you a heretic."

Her blue eyes wavered for a moment.

"And more than anything—your sword-wielding stance reminds me of a dear mentor. I can't just let you go like this."

Noah declared this with a strong tone, and there was a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Answer me. Who are you really?"

In response to her question—I couldn't help but smile.

"W-Why are you smiling!?"

Caught off guard by my unexpected reaction, Noah's voice betrayed her confusion.

"W-What's going on? You can't throw me off just by reacting unexpectedly!"

Despite her tough words, her voice clearly showed her unease.

Her current demeanor was exactly what one would expect from her appearance.

(—Ah, just as I thought.)

Seeing her reaction, a certain conviction grew within me.

I had feared that this world had changed from a game to reality, and that everything had changed over the span of a thousand years.

But—she was still the same person I knew.

I looked at Noah's left hand, covered in a white glove, and spoke.

"Before that, let me say something. The Emblem of Void can gain skills if certain conditions are met. You, the headmaster, should know this best, right?"

"Why do you know—ah!"

Noah clamped her hands over her mouth, as if realizing she had dug her own grave.

Her gesture made me smile even more.

"D-Don't smile! Rather, why do you know such things! I won't let you escape, no matter what!"

Noah's face flushed red with embarrassment as she shouted, gathering magic in her right hand.

I savored the nostalgia and told her:

"Of course I know. After all, I was the one who taught you about the Inheritance Shrine, the way to gain skills while struggling with the Emblem of Void."

"What are you—"

Her blue eyes trembled slightly.

As I gazed into them, I began to trace distant memories.

This was from my previous life, when I played Creon as Zeronity.

I met a certain elf girl.

She was an NPC, possessing the Emblem of Void, which players were not supposed to have.

Even without skills, she had reached a high level through her innate combat sense and the use of various items.

However, her inability to use skills was a significant source of insecurity for her, and she eventually confided in me about her struggles.

Upon hearing this, I acted quickly.

At that time, the Emblem of Void was a dead setting, unusable by players and rarely held by NPCs.

But encountering its user sparked my interest.

I thought that if I taught her about the Inheritance Shrine, she could gain infinite skills and become the strongest being in the world.

Creon had a high degree of freedom, allowing NPCs to join parties and explore.

So, I sometimes worked with Scarlett to teach the girl several powerful and original skills.

During this time, a raid against an evil god occurred, and a few days later, I was reincarnated into this world a thousand years later. The plan to make her the strongest was left unfulfilled, but she remained a significant regret for me.

However, after being reincarnated as Zeros for a while, I realized something.

The headmaster of the royal academy, which my sister attended and I would soon be applying to, was someone I knew from the past.

That's why, even though I knew it wasn't necessary just to become the strongest, I decided to attend the academy.

All for the sake of meeting her again.

—And after all this reminiscing, it should be obvious who that girl was.

Noah WhiteMoon.

She was an irreplaceable companion, disciple, and friend to my past self.

Addressing her as if to counsel her, I slowly revealed the answer.

"You must have already guessed, but I have memories from my past life. You know this well, don't you?"

"! That's impossible... You can't be... that person..."

Despite understanding it somewhere in her mind, Noah's voice betrayed her confusion.

Looking at her most distinctive feature, her silver hair, I smiled with nostalgia.

"By the way, the surname WhiteMoon was something I came up with, inspired by your silver hair."

"—! No... If you know that, you really are... Zeronity... no, Zeros, right?"

"Yes... It's been a long time, Noah."

The moment she heard those words, large tears streamed down Noah's eyes.

"...! Zeros!"

"Whoa."

Overwhelmed with emotion, Noah lunged at me.

I gently embraced her small body.

"Sniff, sniff... Zeros and Suu suddenly disappeared from my life... I've always, always wanted to see you, Zeros...!"

"...Yeah."

The sunlight streaming through the window softly enveloped the two of us, who had finally reunited after a thousand years.

And so, I had crossed a thousand years to meet my old friend once again.

Thus, the reveal of the identity of the person with the Emblem of Void, hinted at from the beginning, was complete.

Some of you might have guessed it.

I've been looking forward to writing this scene since the beginning, and it feels incredibly satisfying! There are many foreshadowing elements, so it might be interesting to reread from the start!

The rude treatment of Zeros in the previous chapters was 20% caution due to the information I shouldn't have known, and 80% overzealousness because of my deep affection for Zeros.

By the way, the title of the next chapter is '71 The Headmaster, Dere-Dere.'

Stay tuned!!!