EP.75 21-1. Emotions Like a Launched Firework.
***
I led Mardol to the academy terrace. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the sky after the awards ceremony.
“It’s dangerous for you to come to our dorm, Mardol.”
I scolded the Glass Knight for casually entering the male dormitory. Even if she was pretending to be the Crown Prince, this was reckless. What if someone caught her?
I really didn’t want any sudden events triggering because of this. Besides, she shouldn’t be getting involved with me in the first place.
“If it’s you, Licht, then it’s not dangerous.”
“...”
Her sentences were getting longer. That was terrifying. Why was she acting like this? I only have room for our Saintess. I sighed and lowered my head.
“So, why did you come here?”
“This. I came to give it to you.”
Tock tock. She tapped the small box with her fingers.
Wait—could this be…? I slid the latch open and peeked inside.
“...Dragon Heart.”
“That’s right. Licht, take it.”
Her golden eyes gleamed through the helmet as she watched my reaction with expectation.
Damn, did I accidentally raise her affection level? If I accept this, I might actually get locked into the Mardol Route. I shook my head.
“I refuse.”
“...Huh?”
The shimmering glass helmet clattered slightly as the Glass Knight tilted her head, clearly not understanding my response.
“Why, Licht? I lost. I’m weaker than you—”
“Stop.”
That again. Whether we’re weak or strong doesn’t matter here. We’re both still helpless against the Demon Lord. I sighed in frustration, rubbing my forehead with my palm.
Honestly, this inferiority complex might be the one thing connecting Mardol and me.
I had to put a stop to this.
“...Let’s make a promise.”
“A promise?”
If she agreed, she wouldn’t keep clinging to me with this excuse anymore. Even Kainel, the protagonist of the sequel, was good at keeping his promises.
“From today on, you’re not allowed to say you’re weak. What do you think?”
“...I don’t want to.”
Rejected instantly.
How the hell do I make her agree to this?
I already had a promise with our Saintess, so if I tried to convince her with words, it might just make things worse.
“Then I’ll take the Dragon Heart later.”
“...If you keep your promise? Until when?”
Oh? She seemed interested now. She leaned in slightly.
This was my chance—I had to reel her in like a fish on a hook.
“Hm, how about until I’m satisfied?”
“...Alright. I’ll try. Pervert.”
I pushed forward with an absurd condition—wait, what?
The Glass Knight clenched her fists and nodded confidently. I thought she would hesitate at least once, but she accepted without a second thought.
I was caught off guard by her straightforward determination.
So she had planned to give me the Dragon Heart from the start.
She had completely shut down my attempt to reject it. Now I was the idiot making a vague, indefinite promise.
“I won’t say I’m weak anymore. So Licht, keep your promise too.”
My plan had failed. Not only had I refused to take the Dragon Heart, but I had also tried to change the conditions of the promise—and still lost.
‘This is definitely...’
A flag. Even someone like me, with no dating experience, could tell this was a definite romance flag.
Everything was spiraling out of control.
Ever since that talk in Shadow Fang, this had been happening.
How the hell could I get Mardol to stop getting closer to me?
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“...Self-satisfaction.”
This was harder than dealing with Nex Aureus. A headache was setting in.
She really didn’t care about how others perceived her, did she?
“Honestly, it’s burdensome. I feel like I owe you something.”
Even if I had helped her reunite with Bellin Gransia, this was too much.
It wasn’t even something I had intentionally done—it had just been luck.
I had no reason to accept this kind of blind kindness.
Family was important. I had simply restored what should have been there in the first place.
“You don’t have to do anything, Licht.”
“...What?”
“I just want to do this for you.”
I genuinely couldn’t understand why she was doing this.
Was it because of the Mana Rose? My eyes widened in alarm, and I instinctively waved my hands.
“No matter what, I can’t give you the Mana Rose—”
I had to counter one flag with another. I mentioned the blue rose I intended to give our Saintess, hoping to stop this from escalating further.
“It’s fine.”
But as if she had already predicted my response, she spoke in a calm, reassuring tone.
“...I know you’re going to give it to the ‘Nameless Saintess.’”
Her golden wolf eyes pierced through me from inside her helmet.
Had she figured it out? I hadn’t told anyone. How—?
“I want to know more about you, Licht.”
“...”
I realized it instinctively.
If I let this continue, we would only grow closer.
As soon as I heard those words, I immediately stood up.
A deep, visceral instinct surged through me—
A warning, telling me that I had to keep my distance from her.
Just as I was about to leave the terrace—
“Oh! Licht, Mardol! I was just looking for you two.”
“...Professor Dennis?”
A familiar blue-haired man staggered toward us.
I had no choice but to sit back down.
What in the world had brought him here?
***
Now with an additional member, the three of us sat on the terrace.
Dennis, of course, was drinking again.
His glowing white eyes stood out even more as he made his presence known.
“I watched the exam matches. Licht, you lost, but magic has its weaknesses.”
He spun multiple layers of an intricate magic circle, increasing its rings with every rotation.
As expected of a Knight Heart protagonist. That was impressive—I was actually jealous.
“...I was weak against unexpected situations.”
“That’s right. Mardol, turning steel into glass was clever, but—”
“I forgot.”
“...Like Drake said, relying too much on mana can leave you vulnerable in unforeseen circumstances.”
Dennis and Mardol continued discussing the exam, reflecting on their performances.
Strictly speaking, Mardol had won, but there must have been some unspoken understanding between magic users.
“Mana control... Maybe I shouldn’t have done it...”
Was it when I used Shadow Fang and blended into the darkness?
"Drake wouldn’t stop bragging about it afterward."
"Did he? My master?"
I had expected him to scold me for learning swordsmanship from somewhere else. But knowing him, he was probably laughing and saying something like, ‘Finally, swordsmanship has beaten magic! Wahaha!’
"Well, you lost in the end, but you put up a good fight, Licht. The mage students were shocked, and the swordsmen saw hope."
"Entering the darkness was a mistake on my part."
"That’s true. You can’t even use a basic light spell."
The blue-haired man drew a slight curve at the corner of his lips as he offered words of encouragement.
"No, I’m wea—oh."
I saw the Glass Knight quickly slap her hands over her mouth.
Ah, good. She was keeping her promise.
Mardol had clearly wanted to say she lost because she was weaker, but she was holding back—probably afraid I wouldn’t accept the Dragon Heart otherwise.
‘But seriously, why did this guy show up?’
Just when I was about to escape from the princess, Dennis had appeared out of nowhere.
I rested my chin on my hand, thinking. Why was he looking for Mardol too, not just me?
‘Did he recognize Heavenly Demon’s swordsmanship?’
Maybe seeing my sword techniques had made him suspect something.
I held onto a sliver of hope—
Could it be that my swordplay had distorted and disrupted the Demon Lord’s Authority?
"Professor, did my swordsmanship remind you of anything?"
"Hm? Not particularly."
Damn it. Authority of Ignorance was stronger than I thought.
Could I even say his name out loud? What if Head Eike was watching?
‘It might have been fine when I was training with White Magnolia, but…’
Saying the Heavenly Demon’s name inside the academy was too dangerous.
That was like running into a battlefield with a time bomb strapped to my chest.
And this wasn’t just any enemy—this was Omniscience.
The Demon Lord who knows all information.
If I made a careless move now, I’d be walking straight into my own grave.
"...It’s nothing."
There was no way to counter the Authority yet.
If I got hit by Ignorance myself, it would be disastrous.
I had already struggled enough against Magic Hat.
‘And I couldn’t even fully disable Masterpiece, so it’s too soon to act.’
Even if my fake Holy Sword could sever an Authority, I couldn’t exactly use it on people.
If that were possible, I would have already removed the bullets from the Heavenly Demon’s body.
"...So, why were you looking for Mardol and me, Professor?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Ah, well, my dear students."
Dennis still spoke formally to Mardol. Was it because she was the original protagonist? It was oddly respectful.
"It’s because our magic club must participate in the Summer Festival!"
Dennis grinned, his tipsy expression making it clear he had been drinking.
Summer Festival? Right… Since I skipped a whole month, it made sense that summer was approaching.
"...The Summer Festival?"
"A festival… Oh, right, Licht."
A sinking feeling settled in my gut.
I had been trying so hard to avoid raising more flags, yet here I was, getting tied even closer to Mardol.
So now I had to be involved with her.
If Kainel hadn’t mentioned the club while Mardol was around, she wouldn’t have even joined in the first place.
I hated that clueless golden retriever at that moment.
"Honestly, we’ve all been too busy to properly participate in club activities."
"That’s true..."
"Right."
"So, this time, we should make an impact with the festival."
Dennis wrote glowing words in the air using the water from his cup.
<Grand Hearts Academia’s Summer Festival! Magic Club Booth!>
To be fair, summer vacations and Christmas were major events in most games.
Limited-time characters and outfits often appeared.
There were even characters who only got a power boost by changing their clothes—somehow becoming completely different characters.
‘At least this world follows the seasons properly.’
Thankfully, there were no ridiculous cases of wearing swimsuits in the dead of winter or Santa costumes in the middle of summer.
I nodded slightly and asked,
"Then shouldn’t you also inform Kainel and Ariel?"
"I already did, Licht."
So he had stopped by the imperial blacksmith first.
With Teleportation Magic, it would have taken no time at all.
Since he had also managed to find Mardol and me on the terrace, it all made sense.
"And what exactly do you want us to do, Professor Dennis?"
"That’s for you to decide. That’s why I came looking for you."
What?
Sure, the festival was still a while away, so we had time to prepare, but this felt way too irresponsible.
I thought he was a good professor, but at least he could have shown us an example from last year before dropping this on us.
"...So you don’t even have a plan yet?"
"That’s right, my assistant-to-be."
Dennis patted my shoulder.
He hadn’t forgotten about my grad school offer.
I had been too busy saving lives to reject it.
"Hmm..."
Leaning back in my chair, I began thinking.
It was unavoidable—I had to do it.
If we performed well at the festival, there might be some kind of bonus reward, like with the exams.
‘Magic Club... Magic...’
Since it was a Magic Club event, it would be best to incorporate magic.
Kainel knew some magic, even if only a little. I was the only one who couldn’t use any.
Mardol had Glass Magic, Ariel had Fireworks...
And Kainel had Light Magic.
Could we combine these somehow?
"Professor Dennis, by any chance..."
Ah. There was something we could do.
"Would it be possible to create a maze using mirrors and magic?"
Like the ones in amusement parks.
I had fond memories of them from visiting with my father.
"...Of course, it’s possible. Is that what you want to do?"
This could be a unique idea.
At least, that’s what I thought—
"No, let’s add a twist."
But in a world overflowing with magic, spirits, divine power, and swordsmanship, a simple maze wouldn’t be impressive.
We needed something more.
"How about making it scary, Licht?"
"Ah, Mardol, that’s a great idea."
Ah, crap.
I was agreeing with her again.
I needed to stop, but it was a reflexive response.
"What if we create a ‘Haunted Afterlife’ attraction?"
"You mean distorting space with mirrors to create illusions, Licht?"
"And adding Ariel’s flames."
We could have ghost-like figures and simulate an underworld experience.
Mirrors could be used for eerie illusions.
"Yes. We can combine all three types of magic."
As expected, they were all magic users.
They immediately understood the idea better than I did and nodded enthusiastically.
"...Then what will you do, Licht?"
"I have my own role."
Maybe I’d make lame dad jokes, acting as the King of the Underworld.
Hardly anyone would get them, but our Saintess would enjoy it.
If the Nameless Saintess came to the Summer Festival, it would be good for her to hear them.
And so, I was roped into helping with the festival preparations.
In games, participating in events was usually beneficial anyway.
"Mardol, could you turn away for a moment?"
"Why, Licht?"
"...It’s nothing."
She had been staring at me the entire time.
The more I talked, the more flags I triggered.
It bothered me that I had to work with her—
But really, what could possibly go wrong?