Season 1 Side Story Chapter 9. Secret of a Secret (3)
[Secret(★) Clear... Failed!]
[There are more hidden conditions related to the secret.]
Almond hadn't cleared the condition. It was as if the game was mocking him...
— Hahaha
— I need to capture Almond's expression, hahaha.
— That's hilarious. Hahaha.
— Being fooled like this is super annoying.
It seemed unusual after seeing the chat’s reactions.
— In the story mode, the one-star clear is achieved last to prevent players from just leaving after achieving it. This isn't a spoiler, right?
"... Ah. So that's how it was."
If players could just leave after achieving the one-star clear, it would be quite unfair from the game company's perspective.
'Anyway, that's not the main issue here.'
Right now, Ran was in the middle of a very important conversation.
"They told you to kill Seri. What happened next?"
Ran gazed into the distance at the hazy sky and continued, "I... I managed to find evidence that Seri was a witch."
"Seri is a witch?"
"Yes. She has green eyes, her pinky fingernail was long, and she never tied her hair."
"... Those are the criteria for being a witch?"
The criteria seemed rather ridiculous to be a witch. It was laughable unless someone witnessed a witch transforming someone into a sheep or something.
"Witches store their power in their pinky nail, which isn't a very well-kept secret."
"Even if that's true, the rest could just be coincidences."
"That might be true. However, her appearance perfectly matched the Desert Witch - Meisa that the paladins of the order were pursuing. More than anything else..."
"?"
"A definitive evidence was that she bled in accordance with the lunar cycle."
"...?"
What was he talking about? Could he possibly mean menstruation?
Almond wore a look of disbelief.
"By bleeding, I mean... instead of waste, she bled. It's a characteristic of witches."
— Shivers.
— You teach this to kids???
— That's insane...
— By that standard, they're all witches. Hahaha.
Such misunderstandings could arise if young boys were kept separate from girls and weren't educated about menstruation. These boys wouldn't know or understand that menstruation was natural.
Those identified as witches would be closely monitored, and any menstrual products left behind could be used as evidence.
"Do outsiders also know about this... witch's bleeding?"
"No. It's a secret that must never be leaked to outsiders. If it were, witches could alter their physiology, and the accumulated knowledge of the paladins would be wasted. It's happened a few times before."
Of course... outsiders wouldn't be told this. Why was he telling Almond though? Did he not consider Almond an outsider?
Almond decided not to interrupt Ran's passionate speech and remained silent.
"By the teachings of the order, Seri was undoubtedly a witch..."
Ran looked down and his legs began shaking uncontrollably. He gripped his knees tightly, so tightly that the fabric of his pants seemed close to ripping.
He barely whispered with a trembling voice, "But I hesitated."
"Why?"
"Because my eyes, my ears, my skin told me that Seri wasn't a witch."
Ran struggled to continue, but spoke with all his heart.
"No matter how much I scrutinized her, no matter how long I observed her, she was just an ordinary girl. A bright, harmless girl who never did anything to bother anyone."
"..."
Ran's lips dried out. Saying such things seemed to cause him great pain. Moreover, he was considerably weakened at the moment.
"It's okay. You don't have to say any more."
"No... I will speak till the end."
Ran bit his lips tightly, enunciating each syllable clearly.
"I couldn't kill Seri. I couldn't even tell the cult that I failed to kill her. I... just let her go."
"You let her go?"
"I told her everything as it was and asked her to run away."
— Ah... :'(
— Whoa.
— He must have fallen for her at first sight. Lol.
— So, he helped her escape...
One could see why they imposed such a harsh punishment on Ran. While it was still hard to accept logically, it was somewhat understandable from the cult's logic.
"Why did you do all that? You could have just reported to the cult."
"... If I did, another boy would come to kill her."
"They said she's a witch."
"She wasn't a witch!"
Suddenly, Ran stood up from his seat.
He swayed a bit and seemed ready to charge at any moment.
"... What about the evidence?"
"..."
Under Almond's probing, Ran eventually closed his mouth.
The so-called evidence of a witch pointed to Seri, but Ran felt she wasn't a witch. Either the cult was wrong or he was.
Faced with these two options, Ran couldn't choose the former.
"... Yes, so I was punished. I spared a witch who had all the signs... I wanted to spare her. Before I realized it, my mouth, my hands, and my feet were already helping Seri escape."
"You mean you gave in to your feelings."
"... Yes."
Now, the sequence of events became somewhat clear.
"Was it love at first sight? Or did you grow fond of her over time?"
"Excuse me?"
Taken aback by the sudden direct question, Ran's face turned red enough to make his bare upper body seem flushed.
Almond laughed at his reaction.
"You fell in love at first sight, didn't you?"
"... I, I don't know what that is, but it seems that way."
"It's always like that at your age."
— Dry aged Almond.
— Back in my days, I tell you~
— Lol Almond reminiscing about his first love.
— He sounds so old. Lol.
"I... don't understand what you're saying."
"At your age, it's natural for a boy to like a girl and a girl to like a boy. No one can stop that, even if they claim to speak in the name of a god."
"Is... that so..."
Upon hearing that even gods couldn't stop such feelings, Ran's eyes widened in surprise.
"Who are you to say such things?"
Almond didn't answer and simply stood.
"We should go. The guy I scared off might have regained his courage by now. Do you have somewhere to go?"
"Well..."
Ran looked away and mumbled, "There's... a village where I hid Seri..."
"That's where we'll go then."
Without any hesitation, Almond spoke for Ran.
"Can you hide your identity?"
"I'm not sure. I'll have to try, but I really want to go."
— Whoa. :'(
— Ran is so brave.
— Just going to Seri without a plan... Dang.
— This is what you call a romantic.
Almond guessed that the journey to Seri could lead to the second star.
'But what about Lorang?'
Lorang had wondered if Ran was safe and why he had been imprisoned. He would probably feel left out if they just left.
'But looking at the current situation, Lorang isn't a priority.'
He felt sorry for Lorang, but the feelings of a school friend seemed trivial with Ran's life hanging in the balance.
"Let's go to the village right away. Do you know the way?"
Saving Ran was essential for the story mode, so he decided to overlook Lorang. That was just the fate of an extra.
***
Leaving the school was surprisingly easy. All they had to do was deal with a few guards nearby, which wasn't difficult for Almond.
In fact, after dealing with the guards, the armor and weapons they obtained only made Ran and Almond stronger.
Then, they entered the guard's lounge and gathered some food. Ran couldn't resist and began gobbling down biscuits on the spot.
"Kugh... Kugh."
He choked on the dry biscuits, coughing, but was so hungry that he continued to eagerly eat.
"He... he..."
While Ran sobbed a little as he ate the biscuits, Almond pretended not to notice and just gathered more pies and snacks.
Soon, they walked out of the school's boundaries with backpacks filled only with food.
Then, the screen went black.
[Loading...]
It seemed to be transitioning to another scene.
[Rudengard Village]
The story resumed when they arrived in the village.
The first thing they heard was a heated argument.
"When did I say I'd give a ten silver discount?"
"You just said! If I buy this, I can get it for ninety silver with the discount!"
"When did I?"
"You...! I swear to the goddess of forgiveness and truth, you are lying!"
Many bystanders enjoyed the scene around the arguing voices, whispering and laughing as if watching a circus.
"Here! Lemon sugar water that disappears when you drink it, five copper! Watch while you drink, drink while you watch!"
Merchants also took the opportunity to advertise.
Indeed, they were in the middle of a bustling market.
"Excuse me..." Ran said cautiously while weaving through the crowd.
Almond naturally followed him.
"Hey, Ran. Are we almost there?"
Ran turned to Almond and his eyes showed a slight surprise.
"You're back, Almond?"
"Huh?"
"For a while, Lete was filling in for you. I thought you had left for good."
"Oh..."
It seemed that the body's owner came and went. When scenes skipped, Lete became the owner again.
"At least it will be easier for a while."
It was a surprisingly calm reaction to a soul coming and going. The same could be said with Lorang. Who was this Lete usually?
"Is it... okay? About Lete."
"Oh. Lete has always been an easy soul to possess. After he was seriously injured once... he started hosting other souls more frequently."
‘I see.’
It was quite fascinating to meet someone who experienced this so commonly.
"So, what happened in the meantime? I don't remember."
Upon summarizing the situation, it turned out that Seri had taken refuge in this village.
"We're almost there."
"Oh."
Would it end when Ran and Seri finally met?
Almond scratched his head and followed Ran.
Ran discovered the sign of an inn and pointed to it before entering.
The old wooden double doors of the inn creaked open and a bell rang.
[A girl has been spotted!]
With such a notification, the back of a girl with long reddish-brown hair greeted them.
She diligently explained the menu to the customers and took their orders.
"Ah... Yes. Bacon sandwiches... I'm sorry, but we ran out of shiitake mushrooms today..."
Ran and Almond naturally took their seats. As they sat, they saw the side of her face.
'Oh...'
It was a radiantly beautiful, flower-like face that exuded clear and spirited energy.
"Melly! New customers have arrived!"
"Ah, yes! I'll take their orders and be right there!"
Her name was Melly? She couldn't entirely abandon her previous name. That was her personality.
"What will you order...?"
Tossing her reddish-brown curly hair back, she froze when their eyes met.
Almond glanced at Ran's expression next to him.
Melly was somewhat frozen, but Ran was petrified like a snowman.
They stared at each other for a while, as if they had fainted on the spot and hoped time would stop.
The corner of Seri's mouth rose slightly, and the moment she took a step...
Almond's eyes bulged, and he froze.
"?!?"
It wasn't because of Seri.
It was true that the affectionate gazes between the approaching Seri and Ran were as dazzling as welding sparks.
That wasn't why Almond froze.
'That's...'
He saw a familiar face at a table beyond them.
'Next to Beret...?'
When Beret and Almond had their altercation, it was the teacher who looked like a gentleman looking for Lete.
Was his name Dalia?
"... Ran."
With a trembling voice, he tightly gripped Ran's shoulder.
Then...
"... Yes, yes?"
Suddenly, Almond pushed him down. All the way under the table!
"Get down!"
At the same time, Dalia moved.
Whoooosh─!
A massive beam of light shot through where Ran and Almond's upper bodies had been.
Boom!
It blasted the back wall away.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
The customers screamed and jumped all at once. Ran remained stiff, unable to move as people scattered in every direction.
He stared at the wall behind him because...
"Cough... Ugh... Ra-Ran..."
Seri had been pinned to the wall by the massive spear.
"I thought you had potential. Did you mess up your work over a girl like this, Ran?"
Dalia smiled broadly and summoned more white mana.
"Did you think we wouldn't catch you?"
His mocking laughter showed a completely different person than the one they knew from the academy.
"The council has sentenced you."
Bzzzt!
Another white spear formed.
"Execution."
***
[Beginner's Tip: Did you know that witches have a limit to the magic they can use in a day? However, their power strengthens if someone calls their name and asks for help.]