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After being protected by the army, Alice was essentially awalking corpse. That condition remainedunchanged up until she was 12 years old. Her life was at a crossroads with the

undoubtably being the crux of that divide. Whenever Alice contemplated over it, she couldnot help but split hairs. Had she gonewrong somewhere?

What was done was done, though it still lingered in her mind. One day, Alice arrived at a militaryfacility’s training ground. Her passingwas merely coincidental.

That training ground was primarily for spear training. In order to ventilate the hot air within thetraining area, the doors would often be left wide open. The intimidating shouts of those traininginside were loud and clear from the entrance.

It was not that she felt particularly happy seeing them train,rather she felt a sense of security being within the training grounds. Furthermore, as long as she diligentlypracticed, she would not end up like how she was before. Her lingering regrets were a constant sourceof torment and suffering.

When Alice was by herself, that vicious cycle laced herthoughts. It would surface in her mindlike an ominous premonition. She wassupposed to forge on ahead, but was instead being stubbornly tripped up by herpast. She was incapable of moving on.

Alice was currently leaning against a tree trunk enjoying thebreeze during a period of rest when all of a sudden, a girl with red hairfluttering in the wind came into her sights. Her red hair possessed a dazzling radiancethat captivated Alice. She could nothelp but be fixated by her.

Alice was aware the other person had noticed her gaze since sheunexpectedly came towards her. At aglance the girl was most likely around her age. Even though Alice hurriedly diverted her eyes,the red-haired girl kept pressing forward. For a brief moment, Alice even contemplatedescaping the area.

The red-haired girl swiftly made her way before Alice, puffedher chest, and said:

“I do not think we have met before. My name is Tesfia Fehbel. I heard from the people at the training groundthat you are a disciple?”

Alice could not utter a word, not even headshake to refute. ”However…” the red-haired girl said with apuzzled look while pointing to Alice’s uniform.

“I-I am not a formal student. I am only an apprentice.”

“Oh I see. Excuse my lackof manners. I had not seen anyone aroundmy age here, so I got a bit excited. Mayask for your name?”

“Alice…T-Tylake.”

For some reason Alice felt her clouded mind clear up a bit themoment she announced her name. Quite along time had passed since she last said her full name. Alice could not help but mull over whether shewas indeed [Alice Tylake]. She thenfinally thought of and became aware of an obvious matter, of those who bestowedthat name upon her. Despite the shortduration, Alice had received a lot from her parents. One was her name, which was kept in itsentirety. After losing both of herparents, she felt alone with nothing to her name and resigned to her fate. However, that was not the case. By saying her name, she could feel her parents’wishes through the name they entrusted to her.

The red-haired girl probably had no idea to Alice’s internalstruggles. She simply replied:

“What a cool name. Yourhair is also very pretty.”

Certainly, that honey color hair of hers was inherited from herparents too. She uncontrollably squatteddown and started crying. The red-hairedgirl eyes widened in surprise. She bentover to look at Alice and asked:

“Did I say something to offend you…!?”

“N-No, it’s okay. Really…”

“A-Are you sure?”

Alice once again waved her hand to indicate to the red-hairedgirl that everything was okay and then slowly stood up. These would probably be the last tears to flowfrom her eyes. At least, it will not be howit was before, crying an endless stream of sorrow… The current Alice had that inconceivablefeeling. She straightened herself andfaced the red-haired girl. With clearvoice she said:

“…Mmhmm, my name is Alice, Alice Tylake.”

<SS1: The Distance to that Pursued Figure

SS3: