C42: Reverberation of the Past (2)
After the talk with Rudger, Rene walked down the hallway with a hazy expression as if she were dreaming. In her arms, there was a book about non-attribute magic that Rudger had given her. Even though she was lost in her mind, she instinctively felt that she had to treat the book as something precious.
Rene, who was walking down the hallway at a rapid pace, stopped her steps when she heard a voice calling her.
âRene.â
âUh, what?â
A soft and pleasant voice called her; it was Erendir, the third princess of the Empire.
âWhat is senior doing here?â
âI was worried, so I waited for you since youâve been called by Mr. Rudger.â
âYeah? Itâs alright heheâ¦â
â???â
Erendir felt suspicious at Reneâs strange reaction.
âRene. Maybe Mr. Rudger did something to youâ¦â¦â
Erendir didnât like Rudgerâs actions even before this. Probably because her first impression of him was the worst.
During the first orientation, Rudger didnât even say what he was going to teach in his class. Because of that, there was a lot of talk among the students in , so it must have been disappointing.
For her, with her values ââof justice, Rudger behavior was almost unacceptable. Afterwards, the content of his class was quite impressive, and she admired it, but that alone did not immediately dispel the bad perception that was ingrained in her at first.
Rather, her attitude towards Rudger worsened during the werewolf incident so when Rudger took Rene to his office it was normal for her to have bad thoughts.
âNo way!â
Rene hurriedly defended Rudger.
âMr. Rudger was just giving me adviceâ¦â¦! He never touched me! Mr. Rudger is not a pervert!â
âWhat?â
Having said that, Erendir was rather perplexed.
âI, I didnât mean to say that. Junior Reneâsâ¦â¦pretty sassy.â
âYes?!â
âI was just thinking that he would force you to take another class. I remember the relationship between a man and a womanâ¦â¦.â
âUh, huh? Come on, wait! Not like that!â
Rene also realized that she had made a big mistake, and her face flushed red from embarrassment.
At this sight Erendir started laughing.
âAhaha. Okay. It didnât happen that I was worried about you, so Iâll take it that way.â
ââ¦â¦Senior Erendir!â
âSo nothing really happened?â
âYeah.â
âThen what is that book?â
âAh.â
Erendir found Rene holding a book she had never seen in her arms, and she pointed it out.
What she did not know was that Rene was now handling the book with care as if it were something very precious.
âThis is from Mr. Rudger.â
âMr. Rudger?â
Rene nodded her head and Erendir opened her eyes a little in disbelief.
She didnât know much about Rudger, but she never thought he would take care of Rene, since she couldnât keep up with his class due to her nature. She thought he was going to kick her out of class.
âYeah. He told me that learning this would help me a lot in following the class.â
âReally?â
Erendir couldnât believe it even more when she saw Rene smiling bashfully. Rudger would do her this favor?
Wasnât that man poignantly and cruelly pointing out the studentsâ manifestation of attribute elements even in the previous class? Of course, thatâs all true, and she understood that it was a way to inspire motivation by touching the other personâs self-esteem but Erendir didnât like it.
âFor a moment, he seemed to have been particularly kind to Rene.â
When the werewolf attacked she remembered Rudger being rather harsh on her, the princess, and speaking a little softly to Rene. Of course, the memory at that time was slightly distorted due to a bad feeling towards Rudger, but the overall context did not change.
If she looked at the fact that he called Rene separately this time and handed her the book.
âNo wayâ¦â¦â
A word came to Erendirâs mind but she didnât say it, instead Rene asked her.
âIs it possible that teacher likes me?â
ââ¦â¦.â
The thought that Erendir had been holding in her mind was actually brought out by Rene herself. Erendir shook her head as she pondered how to explain this.
âNo, thatâs not it.â
âNo?â
âYes.â
âNo.â
Even Rene thought that she had said something that was not true but when she actually said that, she became suspicious.
âMr. Rudger really doesnât like me?â
It sounds like sheâs proud of her saying this, but Rene was confident in her looks.
âArenât I pretty enough?â
Rene actually had a beautiful appearance that drew the attention of even a few nobles. Her hair color is also a rare hair color, but the heavenly beauty that goes with it was enough to make Reneâs name rise among the male students of Theon.
Suddenly, Rene imagined the scene where she was with Rudger. She thought they would be a good-looking pair, but Rene hurriedly shook her head.
âAh, anyway. Being with someone you donât know well yetâ¦â¦â
Rene had a strong conservative personality in this direction.
Erendir asked her carefully, seeing her blank face and then shook her head.
âHave you eaten?â
âYeah? Oh no, not yet.â
âThen do you want to eat together?â
âAre you really okay with that?â
Rene was so happy at the princessâs suggestion, that she didnât know where to put herself. It was because she thought that if it was Erendir, there would be people waiting in line to eat with her other than herself.
But that was Reneâs mistake, Erendir had rarely traveled with anyone until now. Her status as a princess was great, but she was shunned by other students because it was so high.
Occasionally, there were students from noble families who spoke to her, but they only contacted her for political purposes. They didnât come because they were purely in love with the person named Erendir. All they saw was that she was the third princess, she wasnât Erendir.
âOh my gosh. Itâs the first time a senior has asked me to eat together!â
In the eyes of Rene, who was alone all the time because of the incident at the beginning of the semester, it reflected like the great mercy of seniors.
Perhaps she thought Rene would refuse since her reply was delayed and Erendir said as she rubbed her blonde hair with her fingers.
âIf you donât like it or feel uncomfortable, thereâs nothing you can do about itâ¦â¦.â
âNo! I want to eat!â
At this moment, Rene and Erendir have become friends that will eat together for the first time.
* * *
Having sent Rene back, I sat alone in the school office and remembered the meeting with her a while ago. It seems she doesnât know herself, but I do know what power she has.
âNon-attribute magic. It is not so surprising that the attribute itself does not exist.â
For me, it is a new form of magic that has not been discovered before because it has no attributes, and there was nothing new about it. Because magic has always been new to me.
Since I was living in a world without magic, the magic that exists in this world has always given me a mysterious experience.
Ironically, compared to the wizards who are residents of this world, I, who has the memory and knowledge of another world, perceive magic as magic differently.
Todayâs wizards with a clogged mindset were isolated and stagnant in their lives but after being reborn I must say that my brain limiter has been released.
Other wizards reaction when discovering new magic.
â-Non-attribute magic? There can be no such thing!â
But for me.
â-Non-attribute magic? In a world where magic exists, there could be such a thing.â
I reached the point of being flexible. Even my point of view was different from that of the wizards in this world, it was very different. Even that strict master stuck out his tongue in this area when he taught me.
However, what I paid attention to as I looked at her was not the magical powers she possessed, but her eyes. Her non-attribute magic is only a part of her power she possesses. The real thing is her âeyesâ.
âThose eyes. I think I saw her somewhere.â
My master had all kinds of old books that I canât find now, and the typical ones were books about monsters and demons that are hundreds of years old.
There are no monsters except for a very small number of cryptids now, but it is said that in the past, this continent was full of monsters and even demons that controlled those monsters.
I thought of Reneâs eyes. Her eyes were pale blue however, while we were talking a while ago, I noticed that the color of Reneâs eyes had changed subtly.
Among the deep blue irises, a pure white light shone like the stars in the sky. Her eyes resembled the calm waters of the Milky Way in the night sky. There was no way I could not have been unaware of those peculiar eyes.
âAn eye to distinguish between good and evil, the Judgment. Unless Iâm mistaken, Rene is the owner of that eye.â
The Judgment is an eye that distinguishes between good and evil in others, and clearly shows whether there is any hostility or not. A power that canât be called magic, but is literally close to a miracle and a mystery.
The great thing about this eye is that it can reveal the appearance of âdemonsâ hiding in the crevices of humans.
âNow, those demons are only treated as legends.â
To people today, demons are just bad guys with horns on their heads and red skin that appear only in fairy tales. A product of lies to scare children, however, looking at the old books, it seems that they exist.
âIn a world where magic exists, there must be demons. I also died and came back to life, isnât there something like that?â
And Reneâs eyes had a lot to do with it.
I have seen with my own eyes that the Judgment that only existed as a record is real. In other words, the existence of the Judgment that distinguishes demons determines whether demons exist or not.
Another characteristic of the Judgment is that if it appears, a big event will occur regardless of the age. Fortunately, Reneâs Judgment was not in a state of being fully awakened, and it seemed that she didnât even know that she had that kind of ability.
But someday she will realize.
âIs this also a relationship after all?â
No wonder the book she wrote ended up with Rene.
âIt hurts a little.â
It seems that she doesnât remember but one day she will.
To think that I would find the owner of the Judgment eye and face a past relationship like this.
âTo be involved in this kind of thing in Theon.â
I sighed and got up from my seat.
I thought that if Rene can use the Judgment properly, maybe I will be able to find out all the members of the secret society who are hiding in Theon.
In particular, the most threatening thing to me right now was the First Order, which is still difficult to identify.
âThey are as vigilant as possible, but there must be something that I can find.â
As long as I didnât know where the first order was and what it was doing, I had no choice but to be as careful as possible. However, if Reneâs Judgment works properly, maybe it will be of great help to me.
Aidan and his friends plus Rene. If I cleverly use the power of these children, maybeâ¦â¦
After putting on my coat and opening the door to leave the office, I finally heard a creaking sound outside the door and had to stop.
âOuch.â
A blue-haired girl sat on the floor, clutching her head. Looking down at her, I spoke with a cold voice, contrary to my bewildered heart.
âWhatâs going on here, Flora Lumos?â