What on earth is this situation?

Staring blankly at the nobly shining door next to Nix, Nigel’s head turned completely white.

Her fingertips desperately stretched into the air trembled, and her open mouth could not utter any words, only breathing in air rapidly.

Leaving sick Nix behind and going out alone, it was absolutely unacceptable.

‘…That’s right! My ability will manifest soon!’

Nigel forcibly took her eyes off the door and clenched her palms.

And, she waited for the sacred power to miraculously bloom.

Since a saint is a being that creates miracles, surely… Yes, without a doubt, sacred power will appear and heal Nix.

It must be because my desire to save someone is still weak, not earnest enough.

So Nigel deliberately ignored the magic door, and the promise of “soon” piled up day after day.

And, not everyone could have a fairy tale happy ending.

Nix’s condition weakened day by day, and no sacred power came from Nigel’s palms.

In the end, Nigel could do nothing as Nix’s strength waned day by day. The knowledge from books she had read more diligently after Nix said they would enter Sienna together was powerless in the face of her friend’s pain.

The worse Nix’s condition got, the stronger and more beautiful light the magic door emitted.

As if… it was sucking out Nix’s life force.

Through blurry vision on the verge of tears, she glared sharply at the magic door. Then suddenly she caught sight of herself reflected in the mirror.

Black hair and purple eyes. The eyes of the mad dog of the temple who endangered the empire’s people gleamed fiercely.

At the same time, young Nigel’s lips mumbled softly.

Everything her gaze touched did not yield good results… that’s what was written in the novel.

Ah.

Finally, she found the cause of the problem.

I was the cause of everything.

And, the small feeling of misfortune that had bloomed suddenly grew large and deep.

…It was just like that time.

When her parents, working late at the store because of her selfish desire to go to a good school, were caught in a fire set by a vagrant.

‘Anyone who stays by my side becomes unhappy… see.’

Her parents, Abelin, Andy, and even Nix.

In the end, nothing has changed from back then.

The small feet that had not thought of leaving in front of Nix’s room slowly lifted off the floor.

This was not young Nigel’s will.

Soon the opposing foot with its own consciousness strongly kicked off the floor and began to roll quickly.

I, I have to leave.

I, who selfishly survived alone, who survived this time too by killing my mother.

If I leave now, Nix can live.

As Nigel ran out mindlessly, she heard the laughter of children.

“…!”

Hesitation crept into her unwavering footsteps.

If she stayed, even the orphanage would not be safe.

Nigel looked around with wavering eyes.

At last, Nigel found where to go.

The forest. Deep inside. Even deeper.

To a place where no one could find her.

Sienna, which was noisy even during exam periods, was enveloped in complete silence.

The sound of heavy boots echoed lowly in the corridor.

Professor Roneh, wearing comfortable clothes and carrying a large sword, Firma, approached three men staring blankly at the shining door.

“Heres, what about Nigel.”

“Still the same.”

Heres shook his head heavily, then forced a smile.

“Whatever memory she’s wandering in, even when we give a signal by making the door shine brightly, she shows no sign of coming out.”

Hah, heavy sighs burst from both of their mouths simultaneously.

It had been a week since the advancement exam for first-year magic students began. The end of the semester, when everyone should have been leisurely and happily killing time waiting for promotion results, had turned into a mess due to one person’s absence.

Nigel had not come out of the door for a week.

“It’s all my fault. I made the magic design too intricate. What kind of professor blocks the option for others to enter with their own hands, not even considering a student’s unexpected behavior?”

Heres said gloomily with his head bowed low.

“Stop saying that now, Heres. You did it because you trusted the students.”

“As much as I trust them, I should have properly recognized the immaturity of children. No matter how reliable and academically good the children are, I should have remembered that they are still children I need to protect, regardless of that.”

“Oh, that’s right, but to protect Nigel, you need to be strong first. Right now, you look more like someone who needs protection rather than a protector.”

“…!”

Heres’s bloodshot eyes, which had not listened to anything said, began to waver at the mention of protecting Nigel.

Roneh was right. Arms and legs trembling from sitting for too long, magic depleted from pouring it out to make the magic door shine in case Nigel noticed.

In this state, he couldn’t do anything, let alone save Nigel.

Eventually, Heres’s emotional gaze regained its original calmness that adhered well to principles.

“…Thank you, Professor Roneh. Thanks to you, I’ve come to my senses.”

Heres acknowledged the limits of his body in his dry, stiff vision, and barely raised his stiffened, trembling legs.

“Yes, if you really want to protect Nigel, go in and rest now. You’ve already gone two days without keeping to the shift schedule. Of course.”

Roneh’s gaze turned to over Heres’s shoulder.

“…The same goes for you two.”

Cold eyes looked coolly at Noah and Allen.

“I’m done indulging your stubbornness. Get back to the classroom now.”

Roneh reached out and forcibly raised Allen and Noah.

“But…!”

“Don’t think about making flimsy excuses, Allen. I allowed this on the condition that you maintain regular meals and sleep, but look at you two. Looking at you, one would think this is a back alley, not the Imperial Academy.”

Since Nigel entered the door, Allen had lost his smile and Noah had lost his direction.

Regardless of what Roneh said, Noah still couldn’t take his eyes off the door.

“Noah.”

“…”

“Noah Beselion.”

“…Nigel.”

Bang-!

Roneh’s Firma flew in the blink of an eye and pinned Noah to the wall without shedding a drop of blood.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Even at Roneh’s stern reprimand, Noah still turned his unfocused eyes and stared blankly at the shining door next to the wall.

And soon, tears welled up and overflowed in his blue eyes.

Seeing his student’s tears for the first time since he was a snot-nosed kid, Roneh was taken aback and at a loss for words.

Noah was someone who had endured any difficult training and insults without shedding a single tear. So she had thought he was a strong child, but as Heres said, there were still undeveloped parts.

Roneh sighed heavily with mixed feelings and approached Noah, who was stuck to the wall unable to move due to Firma, crying miserably.

Thinking that even this disgustingly big guy was her student, Roneh carefully put Firma back in its sheath, worried it might stab Noah who was silently shedding tears. Then she lightly hugged Noah, who had grown so tall before she knew it.

She meant to comfort him, but what was this? The crying got even louder.

It was because Allen, who had been relatively fine, had tiptoed over and joined in.

Comforting Noah with her right arm and Allen with her left, Roneh, with her heart softened, ended up saying something that wasn’t yet definitely concluded.

“If there was a way to save Nigel, though it’s dangerous… what would you do?”

That’s when it happened.

The loud crying stopped as if by magic.

Roneh looked down in surprise. The 17-year-old children who had been bawling were gone, replaced by an unbreakable resolute will etched on two young faces.

Pff, Roneh and Heres smiled looking at their two students.

“Alright, what’s the first thing we need to do to save Nigel?”

The two boys who had found their way looked at each other’s disheveled state, then without anyone going first, walked off in step with each other amicably.

In those steps, there was only certainty, with no hesitation to be found.

“…It’s dinner. Eat quickly.”

Nigel snatched the small basket Zeronin held out with a disgruntled look.

That night when she didn’t enter the orphanage. Zeronin had found Nigel hiding in some nameless cave deep in the forest.

And he said he had made up some excuse to the director, telling her to stay holed up in the cave as long as she wanted.

When Nigel asked how he knew she was here, Zeronin said, ‘Because I did the same thing.’

Still clumsy at hiding her expressions, Nigel couldn’t offer any rebuttal when she saw the pain etched on Zeronin’s face.

And now, the present.

Zeronin, whom she thought would stop coming after that one time, brought Nigel clothes and food and various things, then promptly left.

“Ah.”

Just when she thought he would leave without lingering again today, Zeronin turned his head.

“That noble boy you were close with, it seems he’s about to leave.”

Nigel, who had kept her lips tightly sealed for days, finally couldn’t contain her curiosity and opened her mouth.

“His condition…?”

“They say he’s critically ill beyond help. It’s unfortunate.”

In the end, no matter what I did, nothing changed.

Looking down at her scarred palms that produced nothing, Nigel’s heart began to crumble again.