Chapter 44: Yufia and Shion

The day after Shion rescued me when I was left stranded alone in the mountains and gave me a ride home.

By morning, the effects of the drug used to put me to sleep had completely worn off, and since I could use magic without any issues, I went to Crawford Magic Academy.

When I entered my class, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and my classmates appeared to have no idea about what had happened the previous day.

“Good morning, Yufia. How are you feeling?”

“Ah, Sh–Shion… G-good morning! I’m completely fine now…!”

“…? Something’s off… or am I just imagining it?”

“N-no, it’s not weird at all! Really, thanks to you, Shion, I’m perfectly fine now…!”

“I see. Well, that’s good then.”

“Also, I’m sorry about yesterday—it was all my fault…”

“Don’t be silly, Yufia—it wasn’t your fault. But today, I’m determined to pull off the Ignition, so will you stick with me after school?”

“Yeah, of course…!”

“Great. Thank you, as always. Then, see you after school.”

“Yeah!”

Perhaps to avoid reminding me too much of yesterday, Shion didn’t dwell on it and treated me as usual.

But I couldn’t help but keep recalling yesterday’s Shion—even though I was physically fine, my heart was still pounding.

Then, as classes began as usual and I attended class as usual, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

It was about the culprit who abandoned me in the mountains yesterday.

The note that had first instructed me to come to the Second East Wing was placed on top of my clothes in the changing room after the practical class.

So, it was most likely that the culprit was a girl from my own class.

　If I left things as they were, they might do something else again, so I at least wanted to know who the culprit was.

Shion said that he had directly gotten my whereabouts from “the one who left me there.”

In other words, Shion knows the culprit behind yesterday’s events.

Even though I wasn’t sure what to do once the culprit was identified, I decided that at the very least I wanted to know the culprit’s name—and I planned to ask Shion directly during lunch break.

It was embarrassing, even to myself, that I hadn’t thought about the culprit at all because yesterday’s image of Shion was burned into my mind, leaving me to think of nothing but him.

At lunch break after the practical class, I immediately set out to find Shion to talk to him, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

I even forgot to have lunch while searching for him, yet still, I couldn’t find him.

Before afternoon classes began, as I gave up and returned to the classroom, Shion also came back a short while later.

Then, he stopped by my seat and spoke.

“After school, aside from magic practice, I have another matter to discuss. When class ends, come to the classroom at the very back of the Second East Wing.”

“……! …O-okay……”

After saying that, he returned to his seat and began preparing for class.

I also got ready and attended class as usual.

………

……

…

After school, having given Shion a heads-up and scribbling a few notes on the lesson, I headed to the Second East Wing just as he had instructed.

When I opened the door of the empty classroom at the very back, there were three students inside.

One was Shion, and the other two were the female students who had gotten into an argument with Shion after school the other day.

　Shion appeared completely normal as always, but the two girls were unnaturally pale, and they looked at me with fearful eyes as I entered.

“Um… Shion, what is this…?”

“Apparently, these two have something to say to you.”

“Huh?”—the two girls immediately dropped to their knees and bowed their heads to me.

“Queensroad-san, we’re truly sorry!!!”

“…Huh?… Uh…”

In response to my confusion, they continued speaking desperately.

They explained, in a desperate, tearful outburst, that they were the two culprits who had abandoned me in the mountains yesterday. They admitted that they had hated me out of jealousy, and that they committed the act because they couldn’t stand to see me enjoying myself with someone else. They had intended only to scare me a little—thinking that if my parents filed a missing person report at night, I’d either be rescued by morning or manage to free myself by the following noon—and never imagined that they would come dangerously close to taking my life. Now, they realize how atrocious their actions were and are deeply remorseful, promising that they will never again direct any malice toward me.

“I’m really sorry… I’m sorry…”

Both of them knelt on the floor, bowing so that their foreheads pressed against the ground as they repeatedly apologized.

“Ah… um, well…”

Still bewildered by this unexpected turn of events, I turned my gaze toward Shion, who stood beside me, equally perplexed.

“These two have done something that can’t be easily forgiven. They should be handed over to the school and the security authorities to receive appropriate punishment. However, deciding what to do with them… Yufia, it’s up to you.”

“Th-those are the words, aren’t they…?”

Hearing that, I looked at the two who were still bowing their heads in tears.

And then, I made up my mind about what to do with them.

“……Alright. That’s it… It’s fine, both of you. Look up—I’ve already forgiven you.”

“Eh…?”

“R-really…? Queensroad-san…”

“Yeah. I wasn’t angry from the start. I was a bit scared you might do something else, but since I can tell you’re truly remorseful, it’s fine now.”

“U-uh… Thank you…”

“I’m really sorry…”

“Are you really sure it’s okay, Yufia?”

“Yeah.”

Truly, their remorse was palpable—and besides, they looked so pitifully frightened by something beyond mere guilt that I couldn’t bring myself to reprimand them further.

Moreover, in a way, the fact that I ended up with such a wonderful memory that compensated for all the pain was thanks to them, so I decided to let it go this time.

With relief, Shion smiled and addressed the two, who were tearfully thanking me.

“Because, you know, I’m really happy for both of you.”

“!!”

However, contrary to Shion’s gentle vibe, the two of them tensed up and cast frightened looks at him.

“…?”

While I tilted my head in confusion, Shion continued speaking to them.

“But if anything happens to Yufia again then—”

“I-I know! I swear, I won’t do anything to Queensroad-san ever again!!”

“I swear, I’m truly remorseful!!”

Shion stared at them as if gauging their true intentions, then said, “…Alright. That settles it,” flashing a smile at me.

“…Yeah!”

“Then, shall we return to the classroom?”

“Yeah…!”

After that, Shion and I returned to the classroom, and I joined him for his magic practice.

Shion didn’t speak of it on his own, but honestly, it wouldn’t be a lie to say I was curious about what he had discussed with them behind my back. So, later, I asked him about it.

Then, he simply explained, “I threatened them like crazy.”

Frankly, the way they were scared at that moment was abnormal, so I asked, “Maybe… you went a little too far?”

“I knew Yufia would forgive them. But with only Yufia being scared, if those girls went unpunished, my anger wouldn’t subside. So I scared them without mercy. Well… now that I think about it, maybe I did go a bit overboard.”

They were even more frightened than I was when I was held captive in the mountains. I felt a little sorry for them, but more than that, I was overjoyed that Shion had gotten mad on my behalf.

“…Thank you, Shion.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“…Lots of stuff.”

“Haha, what is that supposed to mean?”

After that, I was never bothered again, and this incident was resolved safely thanks to Shion.

This is a little old story from the few months when I first met Shion at the age of 10, became friends, and developed feelings for him.

◆ ◆ ◆

After that, seven years passed.

After graduating from Terrence Magic School at age 15, Shion and I left our hometown in the northern part of the kingdom and enrolled in Crawford Magic Academy in the western part of the kingdom.

Even though there was a higher education institution for magic in my hometown, Shion said he would apply to Crawford Magic Academy, so I chose it without hesitation.

Because of that, Shion and I never grew apart—even now, as second-year students at Crawford Magic Academy, we have lunch together and practice magic on our own after school two or three times a week.

I can use high-level magic, but my sense for combat tactics and anticipating opponents isn’t very sharp, so I have Shion practice with me, and in return, I lend him my support when he activates new spells he learns.

Today was the day I was supposed to meet Shion after school, so I headed to the practical training ground where we usually meet.

The training ground that Shion and I always use is in an area with little student traffic after school. Therefore, the route is normally quiet, but I heard a commotion coming from behind a building along the road.

Curious, I peeked from behind the building and was shocked to see Shion fighting three A-class students.

“(…!!!)”

I instinctively considered joining in, but upon closer inspection, it seemed that Shion was overwhelming the three A-class students.

Perhaps Shion was using his trump card, “Limit Acceleration.”

Due to the current precision of magic, the range in which one can move in an instant isn’t very wide; nevertheless, with the attack methods of those A-class students, they would never be able to land a hit on Shion.

Shion dodged all their attacks and relentlessly delivered powerful punches and kicks.

Seeing that, I decided I didn’t need to help, and since I didn’t know all the details, it wouldn’t be wise for me to get involved, so I chose to just observe.

However, not knowing when Shion might run out of mana, I deployed a magic circle just in case I needed to help him at any moment.

And in the end, preparing the magic circle turned out to be the right decision.

As Shion, with two of the A-class trio collapsed behind him, was walking toward the remaining one, a strong flash of light erupted.

Then, as Shion—caught up close in the light—seemed momentarily blinded, the three launched their spells at him.

Unable to dodge the spells coming from three directions, I quickly activated my magic and summoned three gigantic water dragons from his feet, which dispelled all three spells.

I’m sure Shion would have recognized it as my magic immediately.

“(If things had gone badly, Shion might have been seriously injured…)”

Thinking that, I felt an overwhelming impulse to crush them all immediately. But since I wasn’t one of the parties, I managed to hold back my anger and decided to leave their fate up to Shion.

While waiting for Shion’s signal, I saw that, after finishing a conversation with one of the three, he raised his right hand. Then, making sure I could see, he pointed his raised thumb toward the ground.

“Crush them!”

That was his signal.

I mercilessly slammed the gigantic water dragons onto the three of them.

……
……
…

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

After conversing briefly with a short male student, Shion joined me.

“That looked really fun, but what were you talking about?”

“Oh, that guy—Elliot, as they call him—is apparently a scholarship student for weapon forging magic. Next time, I’m going to get a tour of the forge.”

“Is that so? That’s great…! Shion, you’ve always said you wanted to check it out, right?”

“Yeah, I’m super excited.”

Shion laughed innocently. Seeing him so happy made me feel happy as well.

“Even so, that was seriously crazy earlier. I never expected there to be a flash of light like that.”

As we walked toward the training ground, he brought up the earlier battle.

“Speaking of which, couldn’t you have dodged it before the magic circle was aimed at you?”

“That’s impossible. I had no mana left to use Limit Acceleration.”

“I see… I really thought you had plenty of mana because you were so cool and composed…”

“No, not even close. If Yufia hadn’t helped me, I’d have been completely doomed. Thanks a lot, seriously.”

“No, if I can help you, Shion, that’s all that makes me happy.”

“You’re really a good person, Yufia. But maybe you could have taken it a bit easier?”

“Th-that’s because… I got so worked up thinking you might get hurt that I ended up using too much power…”

“I see. I was sure you were dead set on killing them.”

“Th-that’s not true at all…!”

When I got angry, Shion laughed heartily.

“Geez… by the way, what were you getting into with those people?”

“Ah, I didn’t see it from the beginning, but judging by the situation, it seemed that Elliot was being unilaterally assaulted by the three, and they were about to break something important to him. I was so infuriated that I decided to beat them up.”

“Well, I almost got beaten instead. Wahaha.”

“Were you acquainted with that short kid?”

“No, I just met him today.”

“Then, you were fighting for someone you didn’t even know.”

“Whether you’re connected or not, if someone in need is right in front of you, you can’t just ignore it.”

“…Yeah. Hehe.”

“What’s that? What’s so funny?”

“No, nothing—just, it’s so typical of you, Shion.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Hehe.”

“…What a weirdo.”

I think Shion has changed a bit from before… no, quite a lot.

He always had a strong desire to be “cool,” but during elementary school he was still cute and childlike.

He began changing around the age of 14, in his second year of middle school.

Around that time, he suddenly developed an abnormal fondness for black clothes and things, and he shifted his goal from being the “strongest magician” to the “strongest magic swordsman” with the excuse that “that looks cooler,” and started displaying bizarre behaviors like talking to himself and laughing loudly when no one was around, and even uttered complicated phrases like “It’s not that you shouldn’t stand out; it’s that you should act as if you’re avoiding attention”…

The Shion who was once admired by everyone at Terrence Magic School was no longer recognizable—he had completely become a weirdo.

…But even so, my admiration for him remains unchanged.

Because his core—his true self—has always remained the same.

He is kind, caring, hardworking, and full of a strong sense of justice, always willing to sacrifice himself for someone else; his wonderful core has never changed.

That’s why, even now, he remains the person I admire above all.

……
……
…

“Ah, by the way—”

“What’s up, Shion?”

“Tomorrow, there’s someone who promised to have lunch with me; is it alright if you come along as well? Apparently, it’s fine if you’re with us.”

“R-right… I’ve never had a meal with anyone besides you, Shion, so I might not be very good at small talk…”

“Well, it’s hard if you’re suddenly expected to be friendly, but I’ll step in, so you don’t have to try too hard. He’s a really good guy, so don’t worry.”

“Okay. If you say so, I’m fine.”

“Great. See you tomorrow at the cafeteria.”

“Yeah!”