Chapter 59
“I want to take a shower,” said as she sniffed herself, taking in her own body odor.
“Aren’t you going to miss the lights-out time if you take a shower now?”
Due to various events happening, it was already past eleven o’clock. It wasn’t like a big problem would occur if she didn’t keep to the official lights-out time, but it could get troublesome if the dorm supervisor found us during their patrol. Although the likelihood of this happening wasn’t that great, it was still a possibility.
In the original work, there were many scenes of Ludwig wandering around past bedtime, too.
“I hate this smell.”
Ellen hated the feeling of being damp with sweat. It certainly seemed worse than usual, and she had been quite sticky when I was carrying her.
She always took a shower before meals as well.
I decided to be more generous with her, since she was bound to be a little more down and sensitive than usual during this period.
That was also why I prepared the sandwiches for her.
“... Okay, got it. I’ll be at the dining hall then.”
I was about to head to the dining hall, but Ellen shook her head.
“We might get caught by the dorm supervisor.”
Hmm? What was she suggesting? She wanted to eat after showering, which would mean going around past bedtime, and she didn’t want to risk getting caught by the supervisor, yet she insisted on eating only after washing up. What kind of nonsensical greed was this?
“Can’t we just eat in the room?”
Oh. So that’s what she meant.
***
The Temple’s dormitories were not separated by gender but divided by class, so it was common for boys to enter girls’ rooms and vice versa. It was quite frequent for students in Class B to visit each other’s rooms.
When it came to Class A, however, it was rare to see students enter each other’s rooms.
You may wonder how a co-ed dormitory could work without any romantic anticipation, and if there was going to be any sexual tension between students.
There was plenty of narrative to be fleshed out, whether it was in the school classrooms or in the dormitories. If I were to separate the dormitories by gender, only male-driven narratives would be possible in the dormitory sections of the story since the protagonist, Ludwig, would be in the male dormitory.
As an author, it would be a strategic mistake to separate the dormitories when it came to initiating events and forming relationships among characters. Although it might have been more plausible to separate them, it would probably lead to a boring story.
What kind of fun and intriguing events could one create in a dormitory flooded purely with male characters? The most they’d do is get up at dawn to play football or something.
Therefore, the co-ed dormitory existed not out of practical necessity, but for narrative convenience. Realistic settings weren’t necessary—it was all about creating a setting which would make it convenient to write. Ultimately, the co-ed dormitory was implemented purely for the convenience of the author.
Anyway, entering the room of a classmate who was just a kid to me didn’t stir up any feelings.
And I was also a hundred percent sure that she didn’t have any feelings for me as well.
It might have been a little more thrilling if I were in the same situation with a student in the upper classes. If so, I would probably be frozen stiff, stuttering and unable to act.
In that sort of situation, though, I would still be considered a pedophile.
To me, all the students in the Temple were kids!
I went to retrieve the sandwiches from the training grounds and entered Ellen’s room.
As soon as I entered her room, she dashed into the shower.
Splash, splash.
I placed the sandwich on the table and sat down.
Her room wasn’t much different from mine. It smelled slightly different, but I knew for sure that the scent wasn’t coming from makeup products.
Since she wasn’t responsible for cleaning, the room was naturally neat.
There weren’t many personal belongings in sight. While my room also lacked personal items, her room seemed quite sparse.
Actually, no. My room was overwhelmingly more so. Aside from what the Temple had provided me and the textbooks or reference books for my major, I had nothing but clothes.
There was also some exercise equipment in her room, likely for fitness training. They didn’t seem like personal property, but had probably been installed by the Temple staff at her request. The private room was spacious enough to accommodate various exercise equipment and machines. I had similar equipment in my room, so I was familiar with it. Aside from some minor differences, the general layout of the room was similar to mine.
Overall, the room was spartan, and the only thing that made it feel like a girl’s room was the slightly different smell.
In one corner of the room, where other students might have a magical research desk or something similar, there was a trunk. Unlike ordinary trunks, this one was long.
The trunk, painted in a dark hue, was securely sealed. It wasn’t too large, and could be carried around. It was more or less an elongated rectangular case.
I shouldn’t have known it, but I knew what was inside that trunk.
It had to be the only personal belonging Ellen Artorius had brought with her to Temple.
After waiting a bit longer, Ellen came out of the shower. She shook her wet hair as she bustled about the room for a while.
She was wearing a tracksuit paired with slippers.
Now that I thought about it, she always dressed like this, and so did I.
It was always either the school uniform or a tracksuit.
Ellen and I sat facing each other at a table inside the room.
“Let’s eat and go to bed quickly. I’m tired.”
“Okay.”
We began to eat without the need for a lengthy conversation. Honestly, I was so worn out from pushing my body to its limits these days that sleep felt like the greatest joy.
It was unlikely that the dorm supervisor would suddenly burst in, but strange rumors might circulate if anyone found out that we were together in the same room at this time of the night. However, not only was the Royal Class’s dormitory empty, but the entire Temple was practically vacant because of the break.
We silently continued eating our sandwiches. Since I’d made quite a lot, it took us some time to finish them all.
Rumble!
A peal of thunder echoed through the Temple, then rain began to fall outside. Ellen paused in the middle of eating her sandwich and quietly looked out the window.
“Have you finished eating?”
“Not yet.”
Ellen absentmindedly gazed out the window, chewing on her sandwich.
Her demeanor was very different from the norm, and she seemed unusually disturbed. I had written about this festival period from Ludwig’s perspective and had never narrated it from Ellen’s point of view. Therefore, I never specified exactly what Ellen was feeling right now.
Because of that, I didn’t really know how deeply she might have been grieving.
Ellen stared out at the pouring rain and the occasional flashes of lightning. I wondered if she was afraid of the thunderstorm, or if she appreciated it. I didn’t even know that much, but I assumed that she wasn’t feeling afraid.
Ellen wasn’t the type to talk about herself.
Only when the contents of that trunk were revealed would Ellen’s true identity become known, and the truth that was held in confidence, which only Vertus and a few other teachers knew about, would be revealed to me.
“Reinhart.”
“... Yeah?”
I was startled by her sudden use of my name.
Ellen was looking at me.
And she had called my name for the first time.
“Thank you.”
Those were the only words she spoke, which she delivered quietly while looking at me. She was not smiling in any particular way, nor was she being terribly blunt; her expression was something in-between.
I was beginning to get better at gauging Ellen’s moods. Of course, I didn’t yet understand them entirely, but I was starting to, more and more.
“People sometimes feel lousy for no reason. There might be a reason as to why they are like that, or there might not be. That’s just how it is.”
Ellen stared at me intently in response to my unexpected and unsolicited advice.
“So, if you keep quiet too much, it can grow into a sickness on its own.”
Bottling things up inside wasn’t good. And even though Ellen had a patient demeanor, she also had her own emotions and thoughts. She tried to act unfazed, but always ended up reaching a breaking point, like the time she got so irritated that she started to teach me swordsmanship.
I tended to react strongly even to small irritations, while Ellen maintained her composure no matter what happened.
If you thought about it, Ellen and I were complete opposites.
And I believed that opposites often got along better than those who were of similar disposition.
I, a person who was verbose and with a nasty temper, and Ellen, who spoke very little and had a gentle manner about her.
According to my standards, surprisingly, we were a good combination. If two talkative persons got together, they’d just end up with each spouting their own ideas. If two quiet people met, they’d just maintain silence all day.
Although it might not have been pleasant for Ellen to hear me telling her to speak every once in a while, I wonder what she really thought about my comment.
I wondered if she was surprised to know that I’d realized she was depressed.
After a long silence, Ellen, who had been staring blankly at the thunderstorm, finally opened her mouth.
“Do you think you would sacrifice your life if it meant that you could save the world?”
It was an unexpected question.
But I knew what she meant by it.
Ellen ultimately believed that death was death. Even if it saved the world, it was still the loss of a single, precious life. People might admire the hero Ragan Artorius, but Ellen was still mourning her brother’s death.
That was why Ellen both missed and resented her brother.
Because I knew this, I did not dismiss her question.
“Well... I guess you never know until you’re actually faced with that situation.”
Any talk about what we would do in a hypothetical life-or-death dilemma was meaningless until we were truly confronted with it. People who said they would never sacrifice themselves might end up doing the opposite, and those who claimed they would might hesitate when actually put to the test.
“I’m definitely not going to die like that.”
Even if giving up her life could save the world, Ellen was certain she wouldn’t make that choice.
She only had one life and she had no intention of giving it away, even if it meant trading it for the world.
I looked at Ellen and nodded.
“I understand that completely.”
I knew, however, that Ellen Artorius would eventually risk her life for the sake of the world.
***
Ellen rose from her seat and walked toward the black trunk. Without a word, she cleared away the basket containing the sandwiches and placed the trunk on the table.
Click, click.
She unlocked it and silently revealed what was inside the trunk.
“... It’s a sword. And an unusual one.”
Within it was a longsword. It wasn’t incredibly fancy but that didn’t mean it was excessively simple, either.
The sword was covered with smooth lines, and the fuller was engraved with ancient characters of an unknown script.
It was a language that I should not have been able to read, yet I could. The system provided me with a means to translate languages, and so I was capable of reading and speaking the languages of this world. Because of this, I was able to decipher this as well.
I hadn’t described in detail the message that was engraved in ancient script, so its meaning was new to me as well.
“Forged with tears.”
I didn’t know what this meant. But I did recognize what sword it was.
It was Ellen Artorius’ sword.
Before that, it had been the sword of the hero, Ragn Artorius.
“This sword is named ‘Lament’.”
“....”
This was the heirloom that Ragn Artorius had left to Ellen before he took part in the Great War.
It was said that the hero Artorius carried two divine swords.
The sword of the god of war, Alse, known as Alsbringer, and the sword of the god of the moon, Mensis, called Lament.
Alsbringer, used by Ragn Artorius to slay the Demon King, became a national treasure of the empire. However, aside from a select few who knew about Ellen Artorius, no one knew where Lament was. Its whereabouts would be revealed, along with Ellen’s identity, later on.
Ellen was revealing her true identity to me by showing Lament. Even though it may have been difficult to recognize a divine sword just by its appearance, its name was known to everyone.
After all, Lament was one of the two symbols of the hero Artorius.
“I knew it. I knew there was something special about you.”
Since I already knew of this fact, faking a surprised reaction felt unnecessary, and so I simply showed a rather neutral reaction. Ellen seemed satisfied with my response, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly in a smile.
It was hard to keep on looking at her as she smiled. It made my heart race for some reason.
[Achievement complete - Ellen’s Truth]
[Ellen Artorius revealed her identity far earlier than expected.]
[You have received 500 achievement points.]
Unexpectedly, I even received achievement points for it.
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