Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 87

Vacation.

 

She won. For once.

 

“Last group! Don’t stop moving!”

 

“Mage group three, report to the training room now.”

 

“Put on your wooden swords and wipe off the sweat!”

 

The stench of hot sweat and dirt filled the Academy’s training grounds. Eileen, sweaty as ever, scanned the hellish landscape and muttered to herself.

 

“Is this what they call youth?”

 

Youth is youth, even if it tastes like beef. The foul atmosphere outside had attracted not only swordsman and mage applicants, but also healers and other secondary classes, and Verotanis was crowded, even for a vacation.

 

‘Tough, but maybe not so bad.’

 

While physically demanding, the regularity of the rigorous schedule left less time for anxiety, and there was a sense of unity and security among students of all grades and statuses, many of whom would not normally have the opportunity to talk to each other, training for a common purpose.

 

“First, let’s meet the hero.”

 

As she watched a group of students wielding swords in formation, Eileen summarized her next move. Meeting Aire was the first priority, if only to clear her mind of any doubts.

 

But as one of the most important men in the Empire, he wasn’t someone she could just go to at will, even if she could use her position as a contractor for the Divine Beast to her advantage.

 

“It’s a bit much to visit a temple in the name of Star when they covet it so much.”

 

So Eileen chose to apply for worship at the Central Shrine.

 

“It would be nice to be one of them.”

 

The Central Shrine, the primary residence of the Heroes, only accepted regular worshippers every Sunday morning, and the selection process was as random as its reputation.

 

Each person selected was allowed to bring a companion, so Eileen had asked Cordelia, Lucian, Felix, and Laquerta to apply together to maximize their chances of being selected.

 

‘In the unlikely event that they all fail, the next best thing is…’

 

A pair of shiny hooves stepped up to her side as she pondered.

 

“E~il~rin.”

 

“Professor!”

 

Turning around, Albert, his red hair still tied up high today, greeted Eileen with a bright smile.

 

“Have you had enough rest? Shall we get back to training?”

 

“Yeah, sure.”

 

Having gained some basic physical strength, Eileen entered the Elementalism specialty class at the same time as her vacation. The first half of the training focused on increasing her control, and afterward, she worked to develop a knack for controlling the ‘power’ itself, using the plant-type beasts the imperial family provided.

 

At first, she thought she was going to have a personality disorder.

 

After a week of fending off, cajoling, and appeasing the snarling Star, he realized something: “It’s the power that comes out when you face a magi.”

 

“It seems that the first manifestation of the power that comes from facing a magi is enough to stifle Star’s will, and then it’s surprisingly easy to control.”

 

Eileen compared it to a game and defined it as the difference between automatic and manual mode.

 

When a monster called a “demon” is encountered, Star’s “automatic mode” reflexively turns on, but if she flips the switch in time before the hunt begins, he can enter “manual mode,” where she can control the power herself.

 

“What an inefficiency!”

 

It would have been best if Eileen could control the switch that triggered the power herself, but it was also a tricky ability to use, as there was no manifestation of the power in the absence of a demon.

 

“Wait.”

 

“Chew.”

 

The giant tree roots that protruded from the ground in front of the creature wandered aimlessly. Eileen concentrated, trying to shift the initiative from Star to herself.

 

A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead, and soon the ancient tree’s roots curved delicately, crushing the small mushroom-shaped creature and destroying it.

 

“Ah! Professor, I succeeded this time!”

 

“Well done, let’s keep it up!”

 

Albert smiled cheerfully, encouraging Eileen. The ground cratered. An old tree that disappeared at the same time as the demon was destroyed. Looking around at the scene, Albert nodded silently.

 

Eileen was slowly making progress.

 

 

***

 

 

“Eileen.”

 

Eileen’s shoulders jumped at the voice behind her.

 

“Huh?”

 

She was on her way back from a private training session with Albert. Felix and Eileen stood alone on the deserted trail. Felix walked up to Eileen, who looked back at him with a squeak.

 

“So, how’d the Elementalism lesson go?”

 

“Yeah, it just finished!”

 

Eileen blushed at the exclamation that escaped her lips.

 

‘This is why I didn’t want to be alone with you!’

 

A few weeks passed between the end of the festival and the start of the school year, and although they had returned to their normal relationship, Eileen was still uncomfortable being alone with Felix.

 

A conundrum of withheld answers reared its ugly head whenever she was left alone with Felix.

 

“Eileen.”

 

Once again, she heard Felix’s raspy voice, his expression a little sad.

 

“I mean what I said about waiting forever, but I’d be very sad if you stayed away from me.”

 

“No!”

 

Panicked, Eileen shook her head urgently. She wasn’t trying to keep him away. She just wasn’t sure how to act.

 

“I can’t face that heart, because nothing is resolved yet.”

 

The creature howled at the sky as if cursing the world. The eerie sight made Eileen hesitate.

 

“I’m not shying away, I’m just, I’m just a little embarrassed…”

 

Her cheeks flushed as she stammered, a blush running down her face. Felix, who had been watching her closely, smiled wryly.

 

“Do I care? I’m rather pleased.”

 

“Come on, let’s get to dinner!”

 

Eileen turned on her heel and led the way, Felix following lightly behind her. They had just exited a trail that was silent except for the cicadas.

 

“Huh?”

 

Cordelia, wiping the sweat from her brow with a towel, turned to face Eileen and Felix. Her perceptive blue eyes quickly scanned the two of them. Cordelia’s eyebrows rose as she took in the oddly red faces of the boy and girl.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Cordelia?”

 

“I’m going to go first.”

 

After Felix’s quick disappearance, Cordelia turned to Eileen, who was left behind.

 

“So, what happened between you two at the first dance at the ball?”

 

“Nothing happened! Nothing happened!”

 

“Yeah, right.”

 

Cordelia shrugged and smiled mischievously at Eileen, who wiped a hand over her face.

 

“Right. Come to think of it, Cordelia, you had your first dance that day, so why the sudden change of heart?”

 

Cordelia hadn’t even danced with Lucian, who had walked her down the aisle. Eileen suddenly wondered what she’d been thinking when she reached out to him.

 

At the words, Cordelia’s hand dropped from the towel she was holding.

 

“Ah, him.”

 

Her eyes dropped low, as if searching for a memory. After a pause, Cordelia looked up at the tree where the cicadas were chirping.

 

“Yeah. I don’t know what it was, it was just strangely familiar, him.”

 

As if she’d always known.

 

Suddenly, a gust of wind shook the tree. It was strong enough to blow the leaves off the trees, but the cicadas still cried.

 

That night. Eileen dreamed.

 

The setting was the ruins after Cordelia’s death.

 

A mangled Aire was lunging at a monster that screamed endlessly.

 

Again and again. His legs pierced, his body torn apart.

 

Having lost everything, he became a moth to the flame, dashing toward his own death, an act that was more a howl for a place to die than a mission to save the world.

 

Reduced to rags, but still not dead, he cried out to the heavens.

 

“Why is it so hard to ask you to kill me?! Damn you, I blame you, I curse you above all!”

 

The ruddy man fell to his knees. The hero’s back buckled as he cursed the heavens, and blood splashed from his forehead as he fell to the stone floor. The teary-eyed monster’s head turned toward him.

 

The massive creature’s hand lunged for the hero, but the man, who had lost all sense of the sword, did not even flinch. There was, of course, no salvation.

 

Saddened by it, Eileen wept long after she awoke from her dream.