WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman ◈
Chapter 106: Let's Go, Luna Grace
──────
The owner of the pink hair was Luna.
Pink hair was rare enough that I had thought of her the moment I saw it. I just couldn't make sense of the situation.
For some reason, she was wearing a dark expedition suit similar to the ones Adeline and I had on.
So she definitely wasn't here for a casual visit.
My gaze naturally fell to her hand.
Special Shards all gave off a bright glow matching their affinity color.
Just like the glow coming from her hand now.
Judging by the situation, Luna had clearly gotten her hands on [Nebula] before we did.
'Why is she here?'
I couldn't find her no matter how hard I looked at the Academy, yet she had suddenly appeared at this exact moment.
At least one thing was certain. The itinerary I'd painstakingly put together had been wrecked on the very first day.
An unclaimed item belonged to whoever got it first.
'This is awkward.'
If it had been another student, I could have somehow asked for their understanding or borrowed it.
But Luna was an exception.
I couldn't force that on this voluntary outsider who had thoroughly shut me, no, the entire Academy out all semester.
Especially since I wasn't even going to use it myself.
'How did she even find this place?'
Even players provided with a map of Starlight Mountain had found this cave difficult to locate.
Even Adeline, a former member of the Reconnaissance Corps, had been amazed by its location.
There were no signs that anyone else had passed through in the meantime, either.
So how?
"What... are you doing in a place like this?"
"Ah... um..."
Luna's cheeks instantly turned bright red.
They were flushed enough to be clearly visible even in the dark cave. I hadn't known a person's cheeks could turn that red.
I had been about to question her, but all my momentum vanished.
'Right. Come to think of it...'
I immediately drew Renee.
During the entrance exam, Luna's Affection Level had been 3 even though we had barely exchanged a word.
That was why it had been even more ridiculous when she spent the entire first semester avoiding me.
From what I'd experienced so far, an Affection Level of around 3 meant the other person spoke to me first.
With a smile, at that.
So I decided to measure her Affection Level again.
I wanted to see whether anything had changed.
But then.
"D-Don't do that...!!"
"Hm?"
The moment I aimed Renee at her, Luna frantically waved her hands as if motors had been attached to them.
There was no way she knew what I was about to do.
Did she think I was going to attack her?
No matter how crazy I was about items, I had no intention of turning into a robber.
I wasn't doing anything wrong, so I went ahead and measured her Affection Level.
[Luna Grace]
[Affection Level: 4]
'...What are you?'
Mine, who had spent two whole months fighting alongside me through life and death, had an Affection Level of 4.
Affection Level 4 was the realm of trust.
That meant Luna trusted me as much as Mine did.
What the hell had she even done with me?
"Um, excuse me..."
"Yeah?"
"Th-That... please put it away... I feel... weird..."
If that was the case.
I put Renee back inside my clothes and began observing Luna carefully.
This was the first time I had studied her from so close up.
In the original game, Luna was a bright, cheerful character who lifted everyone's spirits. Her personality was the exact opposite of Cecilia's.
But what about the Luna standing before me now?
Her eyes darted back and forth like a pendulum.
Dark circles heavily shadowed her eyes.
Her hands and feet fidgeted restlessly.
Looking closer, I could see small scars scattered over the skin visible through gaps in her expedition suit.
She gave off an atmosphere completely different from the original.
She reminded me of something.
What did people call someone like this again?
There was definitely a word for it.
'Come to think of it...'
An Affection Level of 4 and her timing in claiming [Nebula].
The way she had avoided me all semester.
Her unstable gaze and guilty expression.
Looking at Luna now, I could draw one perfectly reasonable conclusion.
'Luna in this world is a stalker.'
With a menhera streak to boot.
By now, the personality changes in original-game characters themselves weren't particularly important.
When a tsundere could become hopelessly lovestruck and a man could become a woman, it wasn't exactly shocking for an easygoing character to become a mentally unstable stalker.
What mattered was how they had changed. Every little change could become a major variable for me.
Thinking back, I had been surprisingly popular.
Even when scars covered half my body, only people who didn't know any better criticized my looks. The seniors I dealt with every day found me endearing.
It was probably hard to criticize me when I had ability and results to show for it.
In that sense, there was one heroine I had never met as a child.
Luna Grace.
But not meeting her was only true from my perspective.
Considering Alicia's case, perhaps I had met Luna too. I just didn't know it.
Meeting the heroines as children had been enough to completely alter their personalities.
Just look at Cecilia. There wasn't a trace of her original self left anymore.
What if Luna had heard about my exploits somewhere as a child and developed unhealthy feelings for me?
Of course, it could have been wild speculation.
But if I assumed she was a stalker, everything fit together.
Why had she avoided me?
Because she was afraid of getting caught committing crimes.
Why was her Affection Level so high?
Because she was a stalker.
Why had she managed to get here before us?
Because she had secretly followed Adeline and me.
She was a mage, so she must have done something.
Creepy.
Maybe Luna's room was covered not in dolls, but in candid photos of me.
I resented this world.
Why had it turned her into this?
Maybe she was the one who really needed counseling.
Wait.
Come to think of it, whether she was a stalker or not wasn't important right now.
My itinerary had been ruined, but couldn't I still piece it back together if Luna cooperated?
It couldn't hurt to ask.
"Hey, Luna."
I asked in the gentlest voice I could manage.
"Could you let me have that Shard? I won't use it myself. There's someone who needs it."
Luna's shoulders trembled. She hugged [Nebula] tightly to her all-but-nonexistent chest and vigorously shook her head.
"Ah, ah... th-that... I-I'll have to refuse...!"
What was this deja vu?
Hadn't this happened on the first day of the semester too?
More than losing [Nebula], I felt empty at being rejected for the second time without even confessing.
Right. As a mage, it would be difficult for her to give up [Nebula], no matter what else.
'Whew... Fine. I'll set Nebula aside for now.'
That was when it happened.
"Th-Then I'll be going...!"
Luna hurriedly prepared to flee as though her business here was finished.
When I looked at Adeline, she merely shrugged. She didn't seem inclined to step in.
Hold on. Was it really right to let her go like this?
If she really was a stalker, as I suspected, then sending her away now meant allowing her to keep following me throughout my upcoming schedule.
Wouldn't that mean she could get to every item and piece of information before me, whether it was the Shipwreck or the church branch?
In that case...
"Wait."
"Huh...?"
Where did she think she was going?
'Wouldn't it be better to keep her by my side so she can't do anything suspicious?'
More than anything, I knew nothing about who she was now, having become completely different from the original.
"You know me, right? Halibal Velder, from your class."
"Y-Yes..."
Viktor Grace was likely to become an enemy in the future.
To naturally make contact with him and obtain information, it would be best to bring his daughter Luna onto my side... No, at the very least, to keep her somewhere within my sight.
Then perhaps I would naturally have a chance to check [Nebula]'s abilities. I would only check its special ability, then give it back.
"I asked you earlier, didn't I? What are you doing in a place like this?"
"T-Traveling..."
"Traveling, huh? Then you're like us."
Having Adeline beside me was good timing too.
She was an instructor, after all. Maybe she could help set this criminal girl on the right path.
"The instructor and I are traveling too. Well, it's closer to training than traveling, really."
"......"
"If you're planning to travel around for a while, how about coming with us?"
"Y-You mean it...?"
I baited the hook and cast it at Luna.
'What'll it be? Follow me around in secret with difficulty, or join us legitimately?'
Before I knew it, I had extended my palm toward her.
A stalking victim offering companionship to their stalker.
There was no way she could resist that.
'Come on, Luna Grace.'
Just as I expected, Luna's eyes shook violently as she stared at my hand.
⁎⁎⁎
Luna's heart had been pounding for some time now.
She remembered coming here with him to collect [Nebula].
She could never let the current Halibal learn about the ability [Nebula] possessed, so she moved as soon as vacation began.
But Halibal, who should have come here much later rather than now, had appeared on the first day of vacation with Adeline in tow.
She had hurriedly hidden herself, but she couldn't escape Adeline's senses.
'I hope you won't tell the others about me...'
'I have no intention of doing so. Right now, I am simply an instructor. There is no reason to let others know that you move not as a student, but as the Imperial Princess's sword.'
Luna and Adeline had already coordinated their stories on the day of the celebratory banquet, immediately after fighting the Bishop.
That was why Adeline had looked unmistakably like she had made a mistake when Luna emerged from behind the pillar.
But what was done was done.
More importantly, Halibal Velder was looking directly at her.
"What... are you doing in a place like this?"
How long had it been since she had heard his voice from this close?
As Halibal stared intently at her, Luna could think only of running away immediately.
Running was easy.
As usual, she could draw up her mana and vanish into the shadows. Then she could continue as she always had.
But.
'Wait.'
Those words had rooted her feet to the spot.
When she came to her senses, the person she had tried so hard not to get involved with in this life was holding out his hand.
A rough, callused hand. A thick hand covered in proof of training.
The moment she looked down at it, her mind went blank.
This was why she had wanted to run away quickly.
'No.'
She had sworn not to get involved with him.
She had repeated to herself thousands of times that the way to protect him was to stay away from him.
And yet.
The hand before her looked exactly like the hand she remembered.
The rough hand that had helped her up when she collapsed from exhaustion during dungeon raids.
The warm hand that had patted her head and told her she had done well when she returned from completing a request.
She had tried to forget it all.
But he was once again.
Holding out his hand to her.
"If you don't want to, it can't be helped. I'll see you at the Academy."
His voice, as though he were about to leave, shook the reason she had barely held onto.
Long-forgotten desire blazed up like a wildfire.
'...I'm so greedy.'
Was she really such an ugly person?
How could her desire to stay by his side be stronger than her desire to protect him?
'...Just for this vacation.'
By the time desire raised its head, her decision had already been made.
An excuse she told herself.
'If I stay beside him, I can stop him from doing dangerous things. Yes. That will be better for protecting him.'
In the end, Luna could not overcome her desire.
Opposite the hand holding [Nebula], she slowly raised her still-trembling left hand.
Then, carefully.
She gently placed her small hand atop his rough palm.
"...I-I'll go."
Unable to meet his eyes.
"Please... let me come with you..."
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
