"Oh, Professor Harold!"
"Student Geralt. As you said, when I climbed the hill, I found a suspicious vampire. He was a little farther from the location you mentioned, though."
"My apologies. I was checking too many prophecies at once, so there might have been some slight discrepancies."
"It's fine. In any case, I found him and killed him. I used Serista's blessed sword to cut him down, so I doubt he'll be getting back up."
The unexpected voice belonged to Harold, who was discussing the vampire with Geralt. In his arms, cradled like a princess, was someone familiar—someone I'd seen a few times while meeting with Mezzlen.
"This girl, I’ve seen her before. If I recall correctly, she was one of Princess Mezzlen's maids."
"Yes, that’s Kate! Saint Serista, please take her to the infirmary immediately!"
"Y-Yes! Right this way, quickly..."
With that conversation, the four of them entered the academy church.
From what I overheard, it seemed they had successfully dealt with the leader vampire and rescued Mezzlen's maid as well—all thanks to Harold stepping in and getting involved in the story.
‘Well, Harold is definitely reliable when it comes to combat.’
In the original story, Harold had been on the same side as the corrupted Ethan, making him essentially an enemy. But in this world, he was more of an ally, so it made sense that he could help when needed.
Given that Harold had even used a blood transfusion spell to save Mezzlen, he likely didn’t see her as just an ordinary student. Perhaps they’d grown closer during their summer expeditions in the highlands.
"...I came all the way back to the church, but it looks like I wasn’t needed after all."
"You say that, but if you hadn’t come, Ethan, Seraphine and the others wouldn’t have been able to join us so quickly. And we’ve secured the fake Princess Mezzlen safely, too."
"...I only did it because Lilith kept insisting I had to."
It seemed they had gone to Seraphine as I suggested and captured the doppelgänger.
I’d need to check later to see if they’d properly contained that troublesome monster, but it appeared that the Mezzlen kidnapping incident was finally coming to a close.
"By the way, where’s Miss Rosewood?"
"...I left her at the dormitory."
"Did you two have a fight? You’ve got that look like you’ve been arguing."
"...Hah."
Ethan and the hero were leisurely chatting now that the culprits behind Princess Mezzlen's kidnapping had been dealt with.
It was a surprising sight—seeing the hero and Ethan getting along like this was something that never happened in the original story. It was probably only possible because this was the new Ethan of this world.
Curious about how Ethan might talk about me when I wasn’t around, I quietly hid behind a rock and eavesdropped on their conversation.
"We didn’t fight. It’s just that, because of my selfish actions, she might have gotten angry."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Do you remember what happened earlier when we ran into that vampire in the underground hideout?"
"That situation?"
"Lilith recklessly threw herself into danger, relying only on the saint’s light. It was a situation where things could’ve gone very wrong."
"Oh, yeah, that. I thought it was dangerous, too. It seemed like Miss Rosewood was acting with a plan, but it was risky. Luckily, everything worked out, and we managed to rescue Princess Mezzlen."
"...Yeah, we were lucky it worked out. Just thinking about what might’ve happened otherwise is terrifying."
"......"
"......"
With a heavy sigh, Ethan recalled what had happened earlier, and the hero fell silent, sensing the serious mood. I stayed as quiet as possible, continuing to listen without making a sound.
"I just had a bad feeling. If I didn’t forcibly stop her, I felt like she would throw herself into danger again."
"...Well, considering your position, I can see why you'd feel that way."
"So I used a bit of force to tie her up in the dormitory. I’m already dreading what she’ll say when I return."
"Still, you did it for Miss Rosewood’s sake, right? I think she’ll understand."
"...Even if she ends up hating me, I wanted to make it clear to her. I wanted her to know that even without her putting herself in danger, things would still work out. And I didn’t want her to feel responsible for things she didn’t cause."
"Oh..."
"Everything was resolved without her help, so I hope she realizes that not every problem needs her to take the risk."
...So that was what it was about.
I had wondered what he was thinking, using the Chain of Obedience to tie me up in the dormitory, but it turns out it wasn’t just some thoughtless, impulsive action.
Now that I’d seen for myself that things had been resolved just fine without me, Ethan was right. Even though I wasn’t involved in securing Princess Mezzlen after her rescue, everything had gone smoothly afterward, without needing me or Ethan.
The hero had fully utilized his memories from his previous life, the party members were just as strong as they were in the original story, and even one of the most dangerous enemies, Harold, was now their ally.
Realizing that everything could proceed just fine without my intervention gave me an odd sense of relief.
‘I’ve been way too impatient.’
Now that I’d seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears, it was clear: even without me, this world was heading toward a happy ending. The changes I’d made to the original story had only led to better outcomes, and I didn’t need to ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) feel the weight of responsibility anymore.
"You know, it’s not my place to meddle in your love life, but sometimes you should take the time to have a long, meaningful conversation."
"...We’ve had plenty of those already."
"I mean more than just typical romantic talk. I’m talking about opening up and sharing those little secrets you’ve kept inside. Trust builds from sharing those things."
"...Romantic advice from a hero with three relationships going on at once. Very credible."
"...I told you, it’s not three."
The fact that they could joke like this meant they probably had these kinds of conversations often.
Seeing Ethan and the hero like this was definitely a surprising side of them I hadn’t expected.
"Are you leaving now? Why not say goodbye to the professor?"
"No need. If I go to my father now, he’ll start talking, and it’ll take forever. Someone is waiting for me at home, so I need to hurry back."
"...Oh yeah, you mentioned you left her tied up, right?"
"I need to get back and untie her as soon as possible, or the resentment will only grow."
...Oh, right.
Come to think of it, now isn’t the time for me to be listening to all of this.
The sight of the dormitory table leg still hanging from my neck sent a chill down my spine.
‘The state of the dormitory is a disaster right now...’
The table leg, which had been bolted to the floor, was now in my hand, and I had even disassembled the top of the table, leaving it thrown haphazardly on the dormitory floor. Not to mention, I had put Isabel to sleep with a spell and laid her on the big bed. Considering how long the spell lasts, she might already be waking up.
‘If he finds me doing something strange when he gets back, he really will lock me in a cage.’
"......!!!"
Recalling Ethan’s earlier threat, I hurriedly rushed back to our dormitory.
Even if I ran as fast as I could, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it back in time.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
Crash!
"Huff, huff, huff..."
I ran full-speed from the academy church next to the theology dormitory all the way back to the swordsmanship dormitory.
The first thing I saw upon returning to my room was Isabel, still peacefully asleep on the bed.
‘At least Isabel is safe.’
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Just seeing her lying quietly in bed was half the battle won.
Luckily, her last memory would be falling asleep in my arms, so there was a good chance she hadn’t realized I’d escaped from the dormitory.
Now that Isabel was still sleeping, it was time to reassemble the table. If anyone saw that the table had been disassembled while I was supposed to be tied to it, they’d surely suspect I had tried to escape.
‘First, I need to fix the legs!’
Clink, clink, clink.
I reattached the table legs to the floor first, intending to deal with the table top afterward. Using the same precision dagger I had used to unscrew the table, I tightened the screws.
Since the dagger was narrow, the silver one I’d received from Lizzy was perfect for this. The blades I’d gotten from Ethan or Seraphine were too wide and cumbersome for this kind of work.
‘It just needs to look like nothing’s wrong. At least enough that I can argue it’s always been like this...’
I didn’t have enough time to tighten the screws as firmly as they had been originally, but I made sure they wouldn’t fall off easily. Then, I started working on the table top.
Clink, clink, clink.
"...Lilith? What are you doing...?"
"Waaah, Sleep!"
"Uuuh...? Zzz..."
Isabel, groggily sitting up in bed, was hit with a second sleep spell and collapsed onto the bed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Mentally apologizing to her, I quickly lifted the table top onto the legs and began reassembling it. Just as I was about to finish...
Click.
The sound of the door unlocking echoed through the room as the dormitory door slowly opened.