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I dug up the soil in the flowerbed and even helped Titania plant some saplings.

After finishing the task, I felt that the area around the dormitory had definitely become more colorful and vibrant.

It began as an idea to help Titania, but surprisingly, it wasn’t such a bad experience.

Titania mentioned that the soil around here was rich in nutrients, making it great for plant growth. It might be interesting to create a vegetable garden later and try planting potatoes and beans.

While brushing the dirt off my arms and legs, Titania cautiously asked,

“Um… Instructor?”

“Hmm?”

“The people targeting me were part of an organization called The Future of the Empire, right?”

I froze for a moment at Titania’s question.

I could roughly guess why she was asking such things.

She must have read the news. It was an article related to her, so there’s no way she didn’t pay attention to it.

I nodded, trying my best not to seem awkward.

“Yeah.”

“And The Future of the Empire was annihilated by a guy called The Faceless Hero last night.”

“…That’s right.”

“And Instructor Ion happened to be absent last night, right?”

With her continued questions, my head started to spin.

With each question she asked, an unknown anxiety and tension weighed heavily on my shoulders. I felt like I had a sense of what Titania was thinking.

I steeled my resolve inwardly and nodded again.

“Yeah.”

“As I thought….”

It seemed like Titania had confirmed her suspicions; she nodded with a bright expression as if the puzzle pieces in her mind had come together.

She looked at me with a very serious face, and seeing that made me tense up as well.

Eventually, Titania asked in a loud voice,

“Did you meet The Faceless Hero yesterday!?”

“……”

Suddenly, the tension melted away, and I felt my shoulders relax.

The anxiousness I had been holding onto felt oddly comical, and I responded in a somewhat reluctant tone.

“…You could say that.”

“Wow! You met one of the Seven Heroes of the Continent in person! They say an enormous skeleton monster appeared too; did you witness The Faceless Hero in action as well!?”

“Um, in a way….”

Titania’s misunderstanding was bewildering, but it was actually a relief for me. It felt incredibly awkward and strange to be in a situation where I was essentially talking about myself as if I were someone else.

“Then, Instructor, did you perhaps ask The Faceless Hero to help me directly since you knew him?”

“……”

I had no idea how to explain this situation, so I just remained silent.

However, as Titania observed my expression, she seemed to interpret my silence in her own way and nodded. Then she asked again, but in a serious tone.

“Then can I express my gratitude to him as well?”

“What?”

“He helped me, after all. I’m very grateful to you, Instructor, but I also want to directly thank The Faceless Hero. Is that not possible?”

That wouldn’t be a problem. But how?

Should I leave for a moment and then reappear before her in the guise of The Faceless Hero? Objectively, that would be an incredibly ridiculous situation.

And aside from it being silly and cumbersome, I wasn’t too keen on the idea either.

I shook my head and replied.

“It’s not something he’d appreciate.”

“Still, I think it’s really important to convey your feelings. If it’s hard to meet him, could you please relay my message later? I really want him to know how grateful I am.”

Given that The Faceless Hero was me, the idea of delivering a message to myself felt incredibly strange…

“…Alright. If it’s just that much.”

In the end, I had no choice but to agree to Titania.

*

After helping with Titania’s work, the sun was already beginning to set.

I had a quick dinner at the dormitory and headed back to my room.

Originally, I planned to check on Gwen’s sword afterwards, but Gwen was still recovering from the muscle soreness he had endured two days ago.

Even so, he insisted he could still move and wanted to come to the training grounds, but there was no convincing reason when he hobbled out using his sword as a cane.

I forcibly made Gwen rest in his room, asserting that taking breaks was part of training. If he didn’t rest properly when he should, even injuries that could heal wouldn’t. If he took a good break for about two days, he would be fine by tomorrow.

Before I knew it, the sun had completely set, and night had arrived at Opal Black Dormitory.

Curfew time was approaching. It was time to patrol the dormitory as usual.

I thought Osnia would come to my room for the nightly patrol like always.

However, several minutes passed, and Osnia did not appear.

Up until now, Osnia had never been late, not even for a minute. Just to be sure, I waited a little longer in my room, but still, there were no signs of her coming.

“…”

I wondered if something had happened.

I grabbed my coat and made my way down the dark, unlit corridor towards Osnia’s room.

As I reached her door, I sensed a faint presence inside.

The room was quiet, as if she was just sitting still without doing anything. It seemed she was indeed inside.

I knocked on Osnia’s door.

But no matter how long I waited, there was no sign of her opening the door.

Thinking she might not have heard me, I knocked a little harder this time.

Just as I was contemplating whether I should force the door open, the door creaked slowly open, revealing a dazed-looking Osnia.

Osnia spoke in a tiny voice that barely reached my ears.

“…Instructor?”

“Osnia. It’s time for patrol.”

“Ah….”

As I jogged her memory of the day’s tasks, her eyes gradually widened, and her little mouth fell open.

It seemed she had really forgotten.

“It was fine to stay in, but put on your outerwear and come out.”

At my instruction, Osnia nodded and slowly put on her school uniform jacket before stepping out of her room.

“……”

“……”

We headed towards Hemeim Forest as we always did, but Osnia seemed much stranger than usual.

She lagged behind while walking and occasionally strayed off the path, moving in the wrong direction. While she usually had a dazed impression, today it appeared as though she had truly left her mind somewhere else.

I caught her shoulder, almost tripping over a tree root as I spoke.

“Osnia, pull yourself together.”

Osnia blinked several times before slowly replying.

“…Ah, I’m sorry.”

“Your condition seems off today. Are you feeling unwell?”

I asked, examining her complexion.

If Osnia was truly unwell, I had no intention of dragging her along. If it felt like she was coming down with something, it would be better to send her back now.

Worried, I placed my palm on Osnia’s forehead. Then I leaned in slightly to make eye contact and examined her face more closely.

But contrary to my worries, her skin wasn’t flushed, and there didn’t seem to be any sign of fever on her forehead.

“Um….”

At my actions, Osnia completely froze, forgetting even to blink or breathe.

“Hmm… It doesn’t seem like a cold. Are you really okay?”

As soon as I said that, Osnia suddenly hiccupped.

“Eep!”

“Hmm?”

Osnia covered her mouth with a puzzled look in her eyes.

However, once a hiccup comes out, it won’t stop that easily. Upon closer inspection, I noticed her ears were slightly flushed, making it seem as if she was heating up.

“It seems you’re really not feeling well. Let’s end the patrol here for today.”

I moved closer to support her, but Osnia instead stepped back from me, and that too with quite an urgent pace.

“…Don’t come near me. Eep!”

I realized that I hadn’t been careful enough.

No matter how much of an instructor I was, it must feel uncomfortable for a guy to touch her body without permission. I stepped back a bit more as I realized I was still inexperienced as an instructor.

“I apologize. That wasn’t my intention.”

Osnia shook her head energetically.

“That’s not it… Eep!”

She looked puzzled, as if she didn’t understand why she was hiccuping. It was as though she couldn’t grasp the changes happening in her own body at all.

“This isn’t because I’m sick—Ah.”

Suddenly, Osnia turned her head towards the forest, widening her eyes in surprise.

It was a very rare sight for Osnia, who usually didn’t express her emotions.

I looked in the direction she was staring. All I could see was the dense forest and dark shadows; there was nothing else.

Yet Osnia muttered something strange.

“…I can hear a voice.”

“A voice?”

I frowned in confusion, my brows furrowing.

The voice Osnia said she heard was completely inaudible to me.

Closing my eyes and concentrating on my senses, I tried to listen for sounds around.

No matter how much I strained, I couldn’t hear anything that resembled a voice. All I could hear were the sounds of leaves rustling in the gentle night breeze, and nobody else was around but the two of us.

Osnia murmured almost inaudibly to herself.

“This voice… It’s calling me, calling me. Could it be… is it you…?”

A feeling of dread began to creep in as her expression continued to grow stranger.

Now that I thought about it, things felt a bit off. Even aside from the voice that Osnia claimed to hear, the forest today was eerily silent.

There were no sounds like chirping insects, the fluttering of bees, or the hooting of owls. In a forest, there should be sounds of life all around, but none were present.

An unsettling silence that felt almost intentional.

This was definitely not a normal situation.

I carefully backed away from the forest and warned Osnia.

“Osnia. Don’t ever stray from me.”

But there was no response.

“Osnia?”

When I turned around, there was nobody there.

Osnia, who had been here just a moment ago, had vanished without a trace.

“……”

The Heinkel Headmaster had said.

When wandering through Hemeim Forest, one must never stray from the path.

If one took the wrong path, they could endlessly wander in the woods.

However, there was no choice but to seek Osnia.

How was it that not a single peaceful day had passed since becoming an instructor? I sighed deeply in resignation and followed the direction Osnia had disappeared.

Even though I still couldn’t hear a sound around me, unless Osnia had used magic, it was impossible for her to have gotten far in such a short time without me noticing.

I walked cautiously through the forest, meticulously observing the ground.

In the dimness of the moonlight, a regular person would have a hard time distinguishing any details, but I noticed faint impressions in the ground that were indeed Osnia’s footprints.

It wasn’t magic. This was a trace of someone who had walked.

So the answer was clear.

This forest was disturbing the senses.

I traced through the woods, following Osnia’s signs like footprints and broken branches. Her trail continued deeper into the forest.

Just before Osnia disappeared, she had certainly been acting oddly; she had seemed to hear things that weren’t there and see things that were invisible.

Had something in the forest lured her away?

With no idea of what lay ahead, I stayed alert while tracking her trail when suddenly, a soft, feminine voice called to me from behind.

“Ion.”

My heart raced at the familiar voice.

I stopped walking and slowly, very slowly, turned around.

Glistening golden hair like honey and transparent blue eyes as clear as the ocean.

A girl I had tried so many times to forget, yet ultimately couldn’t.

“…Ella?”

Ella appeared just as I remembered her.

“I have missed you, Ion.”

She looked at me with a radiant smile, like a beam of sunlight breaking through.

 

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