Rena and Iria did quite a lot after the booth incident.

 

They caused trouble at Lucia and Wendy’s booths, then had their fortunes told elsewhere.

 

Rena asked the fortune teller about her chances of finding love and getting rich, whereas Iria asked to see what would happen in her future.

 

The man who drew Iria’s cards panicked with a pale face.

 

His lips trembled as he foretold, “You may become the source of disaster, with only ruin awaiting you on the path you walk.”

 

“……”

 

Of course, she didn’t believe it much because, as usual, tarot cards lack a scientific basis.

 

However, she did get a bit serious and wary, thinking that her future might really turn out that way if things went wrong later.

 

She usually showed little change in her facial expressions, so it wasn’t noticeable unless someone looked closely. But Rena, who had been with her all along, could see it.

 

“You don’t need to make such an expression. Those things are all just superstitions.” Rena said in an attempt to reassure Iria.

 

“I know,” Iria acknowledged.

 

“Really? For someone who knows that, your expression looks a bit dark.”

 

Iria turned her head abruptly, revealing that her facial expression was nothing like Rena had assumed it would be.

 

As they spent time like that in a daze, the hours until evening seemed to pass quickly.

 

On the last evening of the festival, fireworks bloomed in the sky. Rena said she knew a place with a good view, so they went to a hillside behind the academy.

 

Iria didn’t like crowded places, as she much preferred moderately quiet ones.

 

That’s why the place they were currently standing in was just the kind of environment she liked. 

 

It was a quiet night. Only a few people were in the area, and the full moon was shining bright in the sky.

 

Rena and Iria found a suitable spot to sit on and watched the sky, where fireworks would soon bloom.

 

Iria’s eyes emitted a slight red light as she stared at the sky blankly.

 

According to Iria, her eyes sometimes glow, especially on nights with a full moon.

 

No matter how you looked at her, she was a girl with a mysterious aura.

 

“Maybe that’s why I was drawn to her too,” Rena surmised.

 

She sat next to Iria and called her name while they looked up at the sky, “Iria.”

 

There was no particular reason. She did it just because.

 

Iria turned her gaze to look at Rena.

 

But Rena wasn’t looking back at her.

 

She was just looking at the sky, never turning her gaze away from it.

 

“You know, you resemble an old friend of mine a bit. That’s why I wanted to be friends with you from the beginning,” Rena confessed.

 

“……” Iria stayed silent

 

“I have a lot to be sorry for. In fact, she probably didn’t even think of me as a friend. But now it’s too late to apologize.” Rena said, low-spirited.

 

Iria briefly turned her gaze elsewhere.

 

It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in Rena’s words.

 

It’s just that she couldn’t bear to look at her face right now.

 

So, she just turned her head and listened.

 

“I’m talking about Celine. The one I mentioned before. That friend was quiet too, like you. She didn’t show her emotions outwardly, and I could never tell her thoughts.”

 

“Not Celine, but Arhene.”

 

Iria swallowed her words, barely catching herself from correcting Rena’s words.

 

She knew about that day’s incident. She was also directly involved as the perpetrator of what happened.

 

Rena was the only one who didn’t know this fact.

 

However, if she were to correct one thing, Iria and Celine might look similar at a glance, but they weren’t the same.

 

There was a fundamental difference.

 

While Celine had closed her heart directly due to childhood trauma, Iria had lost her emotions as she became a monster. 

 

Celine was just good at suppressing her emotions, not unable to feel them.

 

On the other hand, Iria’s overall human sensations had faded to the point of being faint.

 

“Without realizing it, I was overlapping you and her. The elemental attribute you use and even how you manipulate mana are similar. To me, it felt like the same person was using it. She was a talented child, though not as much as you. But at least, much more than someone like me.”

 

It’s true that Arhene had talent too good to have died there.

 

She had the most outstanding talent among the humans Iria had eaten so far.

 

If she had entered the Imperial Academy normally, she might have competed with Lucia for second place.

 

But Iria didn’t regret it.

 

That talent wasn’t lost but passed on to her. In a sense, you could say that she didn’t die. She’s just living on, becoming one with Iria.

 

As time passed, Iria and Rena engaged in small talk. It was mostly Rena pouring out her feelings to Iria.

 

After that, there was a moment of silence.

 

Rena had finished speaking, and Iria was originally not talkative.

 

At that moment, this time, it was Iria who opened her mouth. “I also had a friend like Rena in the past.”

 

“Huh? Really? What kind of person were they?” Rena reacted intensely.

 

Because it was Iria’s past, not anyone else’s. So, she was very curious.

 

“……”

 

Iria seemed to be lost in deep thought for a moment.

 

Was she reminiscing about the past?

 

Maybe she was trying to remember a half-forgotten dream.

 

She traced faint memories.

 

Originally, she had no intention of telling anyone, but Rena had also shared her embarrassing past.

 

Since Rena trusted her to do that, Iria decided to trust her, too.

 

“Her name was Riana. She was the first person to show me kindness.”

 

“For you to say that, she must have been a close friend? Did you meet her before entering the academy?” Rena asked.

 

Iria nodded.

 

“She was the first person to teach me how to live.”

 

“So I guess we were close.”

 

“Riana also – Well, I think she had a similar atmosphere to Rena. Yes. Because usually people don’t approach me first.”

 

“Hmm, I see. So what happened to that friend? Are you still close? I’d like it if you could introduce me to her,” Rena requested. She was very interested in Iria’s friend.

 

Honestly, Iria had a personality that made it very difficult to make friends.

 

So, if she called someone a friend, Rena was curious about what kind of person they might be.

 

Iria thought slowly, taking her time.

 

A rather long moment of silence passed.

 

Fireworks burst into the night sky.

 

No answer came until the light of the blooming fireworks reflected in Iria’s red eyes.

 

The second and third fireworks exploded, followed by the fourth, bathing the dark blue sky with red.

 

Finally, Iria opened her mouth to say, “You must be wondering what happened to Riana.”

 

Rena couldn’t read the expression Iria showed that night.

 

It looked like the same expressionless face she usually had, but also slightly different.

 

The same expressionless face, but it seemed to have an emotion Rena couldn’t read.

 

And even Iria herself didn’t know it.

 

She couldn’t know what expression she was making.

 

“Well, I’m not sure either.”

 

It was the night of the last day of the festival.

 

***

 

Several nights have passed since an unknown intruder entered the Empire’s headquarters.

 

Albert, lying in the hospital room, was having a long dream.

 

So much time had passed that he couldn’t tell how long it had been.

 

In his dream, a young boy with blue hair was looking at a girl with silver hair and red eyes, exhibiting a mysterious aura.

 

Her face seemed familiar, but he couldn’t remember her name.

 

Looking at her, he felt a unique atmosphere, as if he were looking at something inhuman.

 

Albert appeared interested in this sense of discomfort.

 

Somehow, the girl’s atmosphere resembled his old master.

 

The red eyes staring at something with a blank expression also showed the same resemblance.

 

If she were human, he thought there must be some strange humans out there.

 

Because the existence of his master, who resembled her, was at least not human.

 

“……”

 

“Are you awake?”

 

Albert, who had been having a long dream, opened his eyes to see a familiar ceiling and background.

 

This was a hospital room inside the Empire’s headquarters.

 

He had visited the hospital a few times to see patients, but this was the first time he had been lying there himself.

 

His body was wrapped in bandages.

 

“You were asleep for a week. During that time, we couldn’t open your eyes no matter what method we used.”

 

“Hmm……”

 

“We were able to keep you alive by pouring in all the miracles of the priests, Albert. I’m glad you didn’t die.”

 

“Lady Sertia.”

 

The one who had been nursing Albert’s body all this time was a woman with pitch-black hair and heterochromatic red and blue eyes.

 

Her appearance stands out every time you see her.

 

“When it’s just the two of us, you can call me master. How are you feeling?” his master asked.

 

“Not very good. What happened?”

 

“As I expected, you don’t remember anything. Can you walk? Let’s take a walk together after a long time.”

 

It’s not easy to move a body that has been asleep for a week.

 

But he couldn’t refuse Sertia’s words.

 

Her eyes were redder than before.

 

It probably means there isn’t much time left.

 

He agreed immediately.

 

He didn’t want to see the benevolent expression in front of him distort.

 

“I’ll get ready.”

 

“Alright. I’ll wait outside.”

 

Albert was left alone in the hospital room after Sertia left.

 

His mind was complicated.

 

It felt like several days of memories had disappeared completely.

 

For now, he couldn’t remember anything.

 

But the question remains: Why was he in this state, and what had happened during that time?

 

He sighed deeply in the hospital room where he was left alone.

 

He just hoped that his old master, the monster, knew something.