Whoosh whoosh—
A gentle breeze blew into the academy at this time, lightly brushing against the cheeks of Ryuji and Rover on the bench.
“Ha…”
Ryuji boredly yawned toward the sun.
During these busy days, he had already forgotten which sunrise this was that he was seeing.
He only knew that he had not slept for a very long time.
At this moment he was sitting on a long bench, waiting together with Rover for the result of Lynae’s interrogation by the academy.
“Ryuji.”
Rover suddenly softly called the Ryuji beside her.
“Mm.”
Ryuji leaned back against the bench and looked at the sky as he responded.
“Why did you come to help me and Lynae surround and attack Voidworm?”
“This question, huh…”
Facing Rover’s question, Ryuji raised an eyebrow.
The other party was probably puzzled.
Previously he had clearly thrown off the matter of investigating Fractsidus and refused to take responsibility for it.
“No particular reason. Protecting friends.” Ryuji answered casually.
This reason that had made him take that step had been decided by him at the very beginning when he set out.
He felt that directly facing Voidworm and investigating Fractsidus did not belong to the same difficulty level.
The former needed his help more.
“And I feel I didn’t really help much either.”
Ryuji reviewed his performance when facing Voidworm.
“The defensive arrays were activated by you. The one who delivered the final blow to Voidworm was Lynae.”
As he spoke, Ryuji lowered his head and looked at his own shadow.
With only two Shikigami unlocked, it truly had not been of much help in resisting external enemies.
In the end, there had simply been too little time.
He felt as if he were a complete beginner who had mistakenly entered a raid dungeon and had been directly skipped past the monster-farming and leveling stage to challenge the big boss.
“No, Ryuji, you played a very large role. You helped me and Lynae hold Voidworm back.” Rover shook her head and denied Ryuji’s self-deprecation.
“Does this count as comfort?” Ryuji lowered his head and smiled.
“At least you are still willing to wait with me for Lynae to come out.” Rover sat upright, her expression serious as she spoke.
“…”
Although Lynae was a great hero who had returned to the academy together with Rover, until the academy’s interrogation was completely settled, she was still a suspect.
Her previous friends either feared her or had not yet adapted to the change in the other party’s true identity.
In short, right now aside from Ryuji and Rover, no one was here waiting for her.
“Don’t worry, wait for me to come back!”
The last thing Ryuji and Rover had seen when they separated from Lynae previously was the other party’s consistent cheerful smile.
However, this was not to say that Lynae’s outcome had been decided.
On the contrary, she still had quite a lot of room to maneuver.
After all, no matter how one put it, the other party was a great meritorious contributor who had saved the academy.
Gulu gulu.
At this time, the familiar sound of sliding wheels rang beside the ears of Ryuji and Rover.
After the two of them raised their heads, what they saw was that unrestrained girl.
“Hehehe.”
From the joyful expression on the other party’s face, everything should still have gone rather smoothly.
“What was the result?”
Rover stood up from the bench and asked the other party about the result of the academy’s interrogation.
Whoosh!
It was a test paper.
The score on it was one hundred points.
“I didn’t expect you were actually a genius.”
Ryuji at this time also leaned over, looking at the test paper in Lynae’s hand with a face full of surprise.
After all, the image of Lynae in his mind most of the time was carefree and rough, which could not be linked at all with the so-called top-student appearance.
“Hehe, now I’m a student of the academy again. Although I’ve been required to start everything over from the beginning afterward, and I’m still not counted as an official student.”
Toward the end Lynae awkwardly scratched her head.
After the previous interrogation of her by the academy teachers had ended, they had given her a test paper.
They had not said any other words, only that this was an examination.
At that time Lynae’s face had brightened, and she had immediately begun answering with flying pen.
The final result had also not been outside her expectations.
“Hmph hmph, in the past I was a student who could make up credits through the final exams even while skipping classes.”
Lynae opened one eye and looked at Ryuji with a face full of pride.
“Congratulations, Lynae.” Rover said with a smile.
“Congratulations on returning to the academy you like the most.” Ryuji also put away his playful thoughts and spoke seriously.
“You two… you two are making me a bit embarrassed like this.” Lynae scratched her head.
As expected, facing the sudden seriousness of her close friends still felt a bit too strange.
“Then celebrate in the way you like the most—go for a drive together?” Rover invited.
“About that… although I really want to go, strictly speaking I’m still in the observation period right now, so I don’t have as much freedom as before.”
Lynae brainlessly spread her hands.
To her this was a very uncomfortable matter.
“Perfect. I also need to catch up on sleep. After coming to the academy I haven’t even entered my own dormitory once.” Ryuji said while yawning.
“Oh? Student Ryuji, you’ve only been at the academy for a short while and you’re already planning to skip class?”
Because of the joy of returning to the academy, Lynae carelessly joked with Ryuji.
“I’ll go find Doctor Luuk to get a leave slip. No matter how you put it, facing Voidworm counts as a work injury, right?” Ryuji complained once.
Afterward, Lynae was summoned by the academy again and needed to accept an inquiry related to Fractsidus, while Ryuji needed to go to his own dormitory.
So in the end, only Rover remained alone in the academy plaza.
Looking at her friends leaving, and at the beautiful scenery of the academy, Rover smiled slightly.
“…Protect the sun.”
A strange voice appeared beside Rover’s ear, but after she looked left and right she discovered that there was no one else around.
…
Click.
After arriving at the dormitory that belonged to him, Ryuji did not even have the leisure to appreciate the room and directly crawled toward the bed.
“Hah, as expected, the moment I relax, I feel my eyelids fighting each other…”
After muttering a sentence while lying on the bed, Ryuji sank into a dream.
In the dream, he discovered that he was reviewing everything that had happened after coming to Lahai-Roi.
Suddenly barging into this unfamiliar world, without even the leisure to catch his breath he had gone to challenge all sorts of tin monsters he had never even seen before.
Very busy.
But at this moment he unexpectedly felt that this feeling was quite good.
Probably because…
“Ryuji.”
“Hey! Ryuji!”
Probably because he had made two close friends.
…
After sleeping for almost an entire day, after Ryuji woke up, handled the terminal that belonged to him, and also joined the campus forum, he then discovered…
[(^▽^)]
[Come to the academy garden! Rover and I are both here!]
It seemed today was the other party’s rare “release” time.
So Ryuji also did not dilly-dally and came to the academy’s garden.
“Hey! Over here, over here!” Lynae waved at Ryuji full of energy.
Da da.
When Ryuji had also arrived, the three of them sat down together on a long bench to the side.
“So calling us over in such a hurry—is there some great happy event?” Rover opened her mouth with a smile.
“Of course! I’ve come to notify my two friends! Tomorrow is my formal enrollment test!” Lynae puffed out her chest proudly.
“Just that? If I had to guess, you definitely wouldn’t call us here over such a small matter.” Ryuji rolled his eyes to the side.
“Hey, can’t I simply come find my good friends to share the joy in my heart?!”
Lynae pouted, looking a bit puffed up with anger.
“What I mean is that a certain someone would definitely not trouble her friends to come out over such a small matter. After all, she’s the type who would rather carry a bit more herself than let her friends be burdened.”
Along this path Ryuji could also be considered to have understood Lynae’s personality.
After speaking he half-opened his eyes and looked toward the other party, seemingly expecting the expression she would make next.
“I support Ryuji’s statement.”
Rover raised her hand and responded, looking like a student answering a teacher.
“Alright, I didn’t expect both of you had seen through me.” After Lynae finished speaking she lowered her head as if admitting defeat.
Hah.
Then she stood up and slowly walked forward, while stretching her hand out toward the place of the sun.
“There are some things I want to vent about to my good friends.”
She turned around and said toward Rover and Ryuji behind her.
“As you should. Or rather, this can also be considered a friend’s duty.” Rover gently stretched out her hand as she spoke.
“Same here.” Ryuji chuckled lightly.
“Thank you both…”
Afterward, Lynae said many things.
There was the annoyance toward the special “concern” homework assigned by Professor Mornye, the annoyance toward classmates coming to ask this Voidworm Knight for signatures.
And also the annoyance of needing to return to first year and start studying again.
Even though Voidworm had already been defeated, it seemed there were still many matters that required her to expend effort.
However, although everything she spoke of was some troublesome matters, toward the end, when Lynae turned around with her back to the sun, Ryuji and Rover saw the expression on the other party’s face.
She was smiling.
“These are all my troubles, but now when facing them, I am very happy.”
Lynae’s gaze passed over Ryuji and Rover and finally looked toward Startorch Academy behind them.
“In the past at the academy I was also very happy, but there was always a stone in my heart.”
When Lynae said these words she lowered her head and placed her hand on her chest.
“However, now with the help of my friends, after moving it away, my heart feels much better.”
Her gaze returned to Ryuji and Rover.
These two people who had helped her untie the knot in her heart.
“Then now, what should we call you?”
Ryuji suddenly asked toward this “new student” who had just enrolled in front of him.
Yes, what should they call this sunny and cheerful girl in front of them?
She was no longer that mercenary who had lived in the dark corners of the New Federation, nor was she an undercover agent of Fractsidus.
“My name is Lynae, a first-year preparatory new student of Startorch Academy this year! From now on, please continue to take care of me a lot, my friends!”
Lynae finally smiled and made a pair of scissors hands toward the friends in front of her.
She had met Ryuji and Rover under the name Lynae, so the story of that mercenary should have ended long ago.
What began from now on was the life that belonged to Lynae.