Episode 12: Awakening of Love

TL: lime
ED: Spynine01

I looked up at the sky and saw red smoke rising into the air.

It’s beginning.

Dorothy, who had been trying to get close with me earlier, fell silent and just pulled my hand to walk along with her.

I can tell that she is used to adventuring, as she acted really quickly, using magic to camouflage herself so that she didn’t leave any traces on the path she had walked on prior.

“What kind of magic are you good at, Helios-kun? Because even the smallest thing could be used for some application or the other.”

She even set up a trap along the way.

It’s a simple pitfall, but one that a freshly minted student of the academy might fall for.

“…Well, I’m not good at it overall.”

The results were unremarkable, it was just below the medium range.

When I lived in the country, I never even considered learning magic.

Maybe that made a big difference between my skills.

I had followed Liza’s back and tried to train myself as hard as I could, but I felt that I had reached my limits, so I had enrolled in this academy.

Even though it was a different world, the hero and his friends entered the school too, and I was exhausted chasing Liza, and within a year I lost any motivation and almost stopped trying to get stronger altogether.

“I don’t have any magical means of attack, but I———”

She covered my lips with her fingers.

Before I could be surprised at her actions, Dorothy warned me.

“You know what, let’s get rid of those honorifics you use with me.”

“Eh, ah, that’s right.”

“Look, you’re being very silly.”

When I think about it, I still have the same habit of using honorific expressions whenever I’m nervous with any other people or the opposite sex.

I was careful not to make the other person feel uncomfortable or reject me, I probably just do it subconsciously.

Dorothy didn’t think it was a good idea to treat her like a stranger, and so her cheeks puffed up with slight anger.

“…I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. After all, I was the one who got close to you and I was the one who caused you a lot of trouble. And you don’t like girls like me at all, do you Helios-kun?”

She forced herself to smile even though she looked saddened at her own words.

I’ve always been able to look away from Dorothy’s feelings because of my position in the world, but I think it might be because she’s the only one who’s ever been nice to me.

(Does that mean… she likes me… or something?)

I knew I would be accused of being a virgin or something, so I came up with this idea in my head..

Otherwise, I can’t explain her reasoning for approaching me until now.

I’m such a fool, aren’t I?

I’m such an asshole that I don’t want to stand on the stage, even if it means stepping on the feelings of a girl who loves me a lot.

Maybe I was just using the terms ‘hero’ and ‘main heroine’ as an excuse, but I was actually just afraid.

I was afraid I would lose it all again.

“I don’t mind, not at all.”

Dorothy was surprised at my curt reply.

I can’t help it, I’ve been pretending I’m not interested until now, but…

“It’s not that I don’t like being talked to by a pretty girl like you…”

It still made me shy.

Dorothy, who was still listening to me, started to blush and began fidgeting with her hands behind her back as if she were embarrassed by my words.

“R-Really? Ehehe… I’m kind of happy you said that.”

I was fascinated by her modest attitude and gesture, it was as if the momentum she had just shown me so far had been a lie.

I wanted to continue looking at her a bit longer, but I was too embarrassed to continue making eye contact with her.

It was just like the first time I had fallen in love with Liza in the countryside.

(I had fallen in love with Dorothy too)

And as if to break the good mood between us, someone fell from the sky.

The speed was so fast and the magic was so strong that Dorothy put up a barrier against the sky before she could even recognize it as an attack.

The person who fell couldn’t penetrate the barrier and was immediately repelled by it.

As soon as they landed on the ground, they immediately followed up by releasing a fire magic attack that burned the surrounding trees to the ground.

As if to intercept them, Dorothy also released the same magic in retaliation.

The attack magic that clashed between the two of them intersected and created a huge impact upon the ground.

A student who could keep up with Dorothy’s level.

The only other possibility was either Lute or one of his friends.

As she strained her eyes to see who had attacked her, she was immensely surprised to realize who it was.

A girl I had once known as a childhood friend, but who had lost interest in me after her encounter with Lute.

———It was Liza.