As expected, Lily was an existence that noticeably stood out inside the school.
Not even a day had passed after our lessons in manners, and I’d gotten to hear that name of hers once more.
By evening of that day, the school was already brimming with rumours about her.
『I heard she broke the magic measuring instrument, I’ve never heard of it happening before』
There were those that felt agitated, and those that felt skeptical. Given that sentiments were varied, it seems that interest was not short on tales about Lily learned through hearsay.
Sometimes, the students in the same year, acting as eye-witnesses on that matter, add in new information about her. It was almost like that of a Chinese Whisper game, where the details were twisted, fragmented, or blown out of proportion.
『If those were true, it’d be terrible, wouldn’t it?』
When I heard that muttered, I frowned.
Therein lies the problem.
The magic in this world was not caused by beseeching a miracle through existences like a spirit or a god. It’s from an invisible power circulating inside the user’s own body.
It wasn’t an almighty power that could do everything – the way this power manifested was greatly dependent on its suitability to each individual.
For example, Shade displayed strong suitability for magic that acted on the mind when he started with fascination magic.
Wolf, himself, was good at body-strengthening and offense-type magic. Since his career aspiration was to succeed his father, Duke Ranuncula, if this materialized, it would give birth to a combat-fanatic prime minister.
As for me, if I were to classify broadly, I’d be in the same mind manipulation category as Shade. But, my absolute forte in magic was strengthening my own memory. In other words, it wasn’t anything scary, it was only magic used for the likes of memorizing for an exam. Although it was certainly convenient, it was also certainly plain.
At any rate, though each person’s magic varied greatly, there was one common feature. That was, that『one won’t have magic strong enough to exceed the expectations of the Association』.
The Association was, by nature, a group that conducted magical research, even now, that was still a strong part of it. Within its long history, having contributed to organizing a great variety of magic, I heard they were able to roughly understand the boundaries of magic itself.
For instance, in regards to Shade’s fascination magic. Since it was magic that manipulated the mind, the danger scale was on A-class. However, there were also researches conducted on how to go against it.
In contrast, Lily had abilities which surpassed the Association’s assumptions. That is, her existence that exceeded common sense,『reaching a point beyond what can be done with magic』.
A rare exception. It wasn’t an exaggeration even if I were to say that her very existence merits an S-class on the danger scale.
In fact, while the students were talking about Lily’s magical ability, the underclassmen had the tendency to mock it. As for the upperclassmen, they might have, at any rate, reached an understanding on what this meant – that is, about her dangerousness.
In addition to this, I’m worried about how she’d take to these students’ reactions. If they jeered at her, would she think them haughty? If she thought worse of it, I wonder whether she’d even hurt someone?
To tell you the truth, I have no idea what goes on inside her head.
In the game, 『Lily』 was a young girl that concealed her magical talents since magic was unthinkable for her origins as a commoner.
In the magical school, where the members had not changed since entering the school at age twelve, the girl, who was incorporated midway as a special case, caused great ripples to this school’s fixed routine.
Although she had a strong personality given among other things, her origin and her ability score,『Lily』was the player’s own creation. I don’t know what words she’ll utter.
Her personality, which can be glimpsed from among the choices, ends up greatly fluctuating when selecting any of those choices. ‘Which one is her true nature?’ or ‘Are any of these even her true nature?’.
I started to think of wanting to know her – about the Lilium Valley who came to this school.
Long after dinner, I continued thinking about this matter.
I was in the dorm’s library, spending my free time alone.
This place was a relatively good spot that not a lot of people knew of. Students generally head to the library if they needed to find a book. Since the library furnished in the female dormitory had a limited collection of books, it was fair to say that almost no one comes to use it.
If they’d wanted to make this place just a little bit livelier for instance, they could have been partial to books for entertainment. Sadly, these books were just the ones that only adults would want students to read, they weren’t books that students would want to proactively read. Revised editions of books on history and literature comprised the majority of it. Since books related to magic were tightly regulated, there weren’t any here.
The room was the type that if you walked ten steps more, you’d have circled around it. Given that there were only two chairs set aside, it wasn’t even suited for friends to clamour into. Since it is a place for a forever alone book lover to rest her mind, I come here often.
There have been times when other students would occasionally visit, but, for some unknown reason, everyone who did, left in a panic. Not only that, they’d apologize to me saying they were『sorry for being a disturbance』. Even though I, the person who remained in the room and the one they said this to, didn’t tell them anything of that sort, could they not act so frightened?
Since it was sad to think that the dormitory head was occupying this room, I guess they’ve held back from coming to this place.
And so, as I heaved out a sigh, my ears caught the reverberating sound of a knock. Had they already known someone was using it since the lights were turned on?
「Yes, come in」
I remained inside, even though I was thinking that they might run away once they realized it was me, I urged them to come in. Somehow, it was Lily who came inside.
Although I was extremely surprised, I realized that I was alone with her in this place. Right now, the female dormitory was brimming with rumours about her, and I fear that this could lead to special attacks in her room by groups stirred up by curiosity.
This might not be the time for me to be carefree in this sort of place. I’ve got to have a counter-plan as the dorm head.
「… I’ll be leaving soon, so please feel free to use this place. If you’d like to borrow a book, then you’ll need to fill out necessary information at the bottom of the note–」
「No, uhm」
She said, interrupting my words.
「I… I was looking for you, Lycoris-sempai. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about」
What… did she say…
She knew I was here and wasn’t running away, better yet, she came all the way over here to look for me…?
「Is now a good time?」
「…yes. So long as it’s before I retire to bed」
Once I said it, she went closer to my side, smiling happily.
Even though I once again thought of it, she really was a cute girl. Although her features were also adorable, the carefree feeling truly left a good impression. This feeling seems loved particularly by the older ones.
Offering her the chair, she merely said 「thank you very much」 unabashedly and immediately sat right next to me.
「What I wanted to talk to you about is regarding what happened during our etiquette lessons, uhm, you did me a favor by helping me then, honestly, thank you very much!」
She swiftly and vigorously bowed her head down.
「No, it’s no big deal」
「But, I don’t have even the slightest idea about etiquette, I’m a total weirdo. And yet, Senpai, you still cheerfully agreed to be my mentor」(1)
Well, I did get very upset about doing that though.
Leaving that aside, her words made me slightly uneasy.
「Do you really think yourself a total weirdo? Or perhaps, did someone say this to you?」
Really,『Weirdo』 was a considerably nasty word.
Seeing Lily sink into silence, could it perhaps be the latter? Inside the game, Lily had a considerably hard time getting used to the new school. This was natural. After all, she was abruptly thrown into a society whose living standards were different from hers.
「I’ll be honored to give you guidance on etiquette, but I hope you won’t forget the most valuable thing」
「The most valuable thing?」
「You’ve also heard it from the teacher, right? The most important thing is the thought put into the action. For instance, you came today to especially express your gratitude to me. What you did was most important, it had sincerity, so don’t shrink too much, it’s alright to be confident」
Although this were words spoken by the teacher, it seemed she was honestly affected by it. Even with the countless ‘thank you very much’, I was told the words repeatedly enough to be flustered.
Then, when I was about to leave, she said this.
「Uhm, is it alright to come here again?」
「Eh? Yes. As long as it’s a dormitory student, anyone can come here…」
「That’s not it. What I mean is, if I come here, can I talk to you again?」
I ended up nodding my head too many times with excitement.
Without doubting my suspicious behaviour, she smiled happily and left the room.
T-this…!!
Did we… end up becoming friends!?
(Is this alright!? Is it really alright that we promised to meet again so easily!? Is it okay to take her words to mean that she wants to talk to me!? Am I right in thinking that she likes me!? As expected of the heroine! What a nice, friendly girl! I think if we talk more, we might become even closer! W-we might even become best friends or something!)
My heart gushed with joy.
I can’t stop myself from looking forward to the next time we’ll meet again.
Somehow, it’s as if I was the one captured by Lily.
Just kidding.
(1) She says ‘sempai’ instead of ‘you’.
