140. advice
I went to Luke’s office and knocked on the door.
smart smart
“Who are you?”
“This is Sirius.”
“Come in.”
Luke still appeared more human-like than when we met the other day, probably because we came back.
He wasn’t even wearing slippers, and his face looked blemished, as if he had shaved once.
“I guess you’re tired already? You’re coming to my office too.”
Sitting on a chair and spinning his pen around, he offered me a seat.
“Because I want to ask you something.”
“Yes. There is less than a week left until the final exam, so I’ll accept any number of questions.”
After taking a moment to catch my breath, I slowly began asking questions about what I had seen.
“…A member of the previous generation’s hero’s party. Why didn’t you reveal it?”
Luke’s face hardened as he looked at me with a smirk.
“What are you talking about? That’s it.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I’ve seen everything.”
After a moment of silence, Luke closed his eyes.
“The rift seems to have shown you something.”
“…don’t talk back and answer me.”
I said it because I thought I would count it as a different story, but Luke laughed as if it was absurd.
“No. Did you or Seliana go into a dimensional rift and leave your etiquette behind?”
“I’m sorry. But I want you to answer honestly.”
Luke turned his chair 180 degrees and looked out the window.
“If you say something, what’s the difference?”
“yes?”
“I asked what would be different if I said it. Sirius.”
Having said that, Luke slowly reached out and opened the window.
cool. No, the autumn wind, which felt a bit chilly, flowed into the office.
“The fact that I was a member of the former warrior’s party has no effect on you.”
“But… the experience of facing the Demon Lord! Points to keep in mind when dealing with the Demons!”
Even though there was obviously helpful information, Luke kept his mouth shut and didn’t say anything.
“I haven’t heard anything you said from my master.”
Are you talking about the old man I met in the crack?
“We didn’t hear anything you talked about, and we made it through that arduous journey only with bloody training.”
“Of course I was frustrated, and I tasted failure. I also lost my colleagues.”
Again he turned his back to me.
“That’s what a warrior’s party is. Sirius.”
He continued speaking in a calm tone.
“How do you think those who take the easy shortcut can defeat the demon lord?”
“There was only one reason I sent you to the dimensional rift.”
“Because you were so terribly weak.”
“I didn’t train you guys here because you were so weak that I couldn’t even compare to my time.”
…surely the Rebecca I met. And it was clear that Cecilia and Tania, her colleagues, were formidable strong men just by looking at them.
Honestly, if you think they’re fighting us right now…
It was a disaster.
It was a result I didn’t have to worry about.
Rebecca and Ceria.
Amelia and Luna.
Luke and me
It seemed like they would already lose if they looked only at the people who could be considered their core strength.
Of course, Seria now seems to have reached another level, but…
“Sirius. I can understand why you brought up that story, but I still have no regrets about my choice.”
good.
We could understand to some extent why he hadn’t revealed his identity to us.
It’s just that there’s no point in finding out.
Then it was time to question his existence.
“Sir… how are you still alive?”
Luke’s expression looked complicated.
“Hmm… that’s what I mean… I don’t really want to be alive either…”
As if he had finished his thoughts, he answered my words with a fist on his palm.
“I’m cursed!”
He said it as if he had given a very clear explanation, but in fact there was no subject, and I did not understand it at all.
“Roughly imagine that some terrible witch cast a curse on it.”
“So you’re just going to live like that forever?”
“…don’t say anything terrible. It’ll work out someday. Yes. Someday.”
Luke shook his head in disgust.
“Another question. But Sirius. Did you watch our party’s journey? Or did you find out about it in some other way?”
…I can never say that I possessed your body.
“It just whizzed by like a flashback magic.”
“…Really? Then what was your ordeal? What was the target I was pointing at on the note?”
I didn’t expect this.
I sighed and decided to mix the lies with the truth.
“The dragon Bartina.”
Upon hearing the name Bartina, Luke trembled.
“That means you witnessed the scene of how we fought with Bartina.”
After patting his chin for a moment, Luke said just one word.
“hey.”
“yes?”
“…Did you see it?”
I couldn’t understand what I was talking about.
“No, no. I wish I hadn’t seen it.”
…I felt like I was going crazy because I was curious.
In fact, since I was possessed by Luke’s body, I had no idea what Luke was doing or saying.
I just copied his personality and gestures.
I had no idea how he would respond to Rebecca or Amelia-sama every time.
It was the same in the fight with the evil dragon Bartina.
What did Luke reply to Amelia-sama’s last words?
“Okay… Then did you ask everything you wanted to ask?”
With a self-deprecating smile, Luke looked at me, who resembled him in his youth.
“Oh… how to say. It’s a subtle feeling when you say you’ve seen my past.”
Well, I thought that I would feel the same way if someone 1000 years later stole my memories.
I also pondered whether there was anything I should ask him, so I asked him one last question.
It was because he was very concerned about what the evil dragon, Bartina, said.
“teacher.”
“You still have questions. If it’s about my personal history, stop asking. I’m old, so I can’t even remember.”
no. Even if you’ve forgotten everything in time, you’ll remember this.
“How did Rebecca… die?”
His lover and former warrior.
I needed to know how Rebecca died.
Because that way, I could get a little hint about Seria’s future.
Rebecca.
As soon as her name was mentioned, Luke’s face became contemplative.
His white skin looked even paler, and a shadow fell over his face, which always had a smirk on it.
“Yes… You said you saw my past, so you must know the name.”
I knew exactly what emotion was in his eyes.
longing.
Luke was still deeply missing Rebecca.
“Sirius. Well, I’m guessing, so let’s ask one question.”
I shook my head slowly up and down.
“Do you… do you truly love Seria?”
A completely unexpected question came out of his mouth.
Do you love Seria?
It was a self-evident fact needless to say.
Of course, it wasn’t that my affection was only directed towards her.
Luna was a person who was no different from my companion, and she also considered me as a companion.
However, to say that I didn’t love Seria was an absurd fact.
I have endured a hellish time of endurance in the demon realm while only looking at Seria.
I was the one who dared to escape from the academy with the determination to lay down my life for her.
I dared to say
I would even lay down my life for Seria.
“Yes. I love you.”
Hearing my answer, Luke smiled bitterly.
“Yes… I see…”
He let out a deep sigh and then uttered words that I couldn’t understand at all.
“Then Sirius. Leave him.”
“yes?”
“Never take that child as your lover or companion.”
Again, he gave me very contradictory advice.
“yes?”
“As a member of the former hero’s party and as a former hero’s husband, I give you sincere advice.”
“After this test. No. If you succeed in defeating the demon lord by being selected as the final warrior party.”
“Leave Seria immediately.”
I could tell just from the way he spoke that he wasn’t joking.
But I couldn’t guess why.
It sounds as if the reason Rebecca died was because of Luke’s existence…
But Luke was living like this, breathing proudly.
I thought it was an inconsistent story.
“why…?”
“I’m sorry. Anything more than that is a breach of contract. I think this is all I can tell you.”
Grabbing my shoulders with both hands, Luke pushed me out of his office.
“If you have time like this, you’d better go rest or play. Or talk to the other kids for the final exam.”
He never told me about my last question, Rebecca’s death.
“If you pass the final test. Then. Let me tell you everything.”
After that, Luke slammed the office door.