WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 24: Party

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There hadn't been a single cloud in the sky, yet a storm-like night had passed.

Celia's sudden actions caught me off guard. I lost my composure and ended up revealing my identity to her.

She probably knew that everything I'd said after the kiss was a lie.

Even so, I told her not to come near me.

Because that was the right thing to do.

Because it was the best choice given our circumstances.

If the Proof at the academy ended in failure, I promised myself that I would ask for her forgiveness then and apologize however I could.

I could rationalize it, talk myself into it, and comfort myself as many times as I wanted, but I still couldn't imagine what Celia was thinking.

She would probably resent me for pretending not to know.

Maybe, after that, she would forget a man like me and find someone new.

As long as she was happy, she didn't have to be by my side.

That choice would hurt, but I thought I could still let her go with a smile.

Our homeroom teacher told everyone to return to Training Ground 1 by ten in the morning.

Today, I went to wait outside Luna's room by nine thirty.

"Siiiriiius~"

Humming cheerfully, Luna called my name.

Knowing nothing, she smiled brightly and linked arms with me.

Her silver hair swayed, gleaming in the light.

"Hey. No linking arms in front of other people, Miss."

As usual, I stopped her in case someone saw us.

"Aww, there's nobody here. Nobody~"

Naturally, she didn't listen.

She always let my words go in one ear and out the other, so it wasn't surprising.

I was just about to tell her that she really had to let go if anyone showed up when Luna suddenly looked at me with a serious expression.

"Who was it?"

Her voice had turned cold.

Nothing came to mind, so I tilted my head.

"Huh?"

Luna stopped walking.

"It wasn't a person? Then what was it?"

"Sorry, but I seriously have no idea what you're talking about."

Had I done something wrong without realizing it?

If she meant what happened on the terrace yesterday, there couldn't be any trace left behind.

After all, I had left Celia there and gone inside.

"Your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"They're swollen."

Ah... It seemed the aftermath of sobbing over Celia yesterday had carried into the morning.

They hadn't looked swollen when I checked after washing up, but Luna noticed right away.

"Who made you cry?"

Celia.

"It's not like that... We're going to be late, so let's hurry."

I grabbed Luna's hand as she blocked my path and tried to move forward.

My hand closed around hers, but I couldn't move forward.

Instead, she pulled on my hand and turned me back around.

"That doesn't matter at all."

She looked directly into my eyes.

"I won't ask anymore if you don't want to tell me."

Yes. Please don't ask.

I feel like my lifespan gets shorter every time you do.

"But promise me one thing. The only one who gets to hurt you or make you cry... is me..."

Luna brought my hand to her face and kissed the back of it.

"So... if anything other than me makes things hard for you... make sure you tell me."

She let go of my hand.

"I'll smash it all to pieces for you."

She grinned after saying that, and she looked so cool.

Sometimes, her words really got to me.

I felt like some kind of princess.

Luna was the prince protecting me.

It felt like those roles were supposed to be reversed, but I didn't think this was bad either.

But I'll keep this one a secret, Prince.

I don't want to see you smash the Hero to pieces.

I nodded and headed to the training ground with her.

Unlike yesterday, all twelve of us arrived on time.

Our homeroom teacher looked deeply moved that everyone had made it.

I wondered why our homeroom teacher was making that face over something so small.

"Well, since everyone has managed to arrive on time for once, I'll be forming temporary parties based on what we discussed during yesterday's interviews and your specialties."

The students who had looked half-asleep perked up the moment they heard the word party.

"The first party. Celia, Arin, Kairin, Zeke."

As expected, the first group seemed to be the Hero's group.

Since this was meant to test compatibility with the Hero, it made sense for the main character's group to be called first.

I looked at Celia.

She didn't seem to have any particular thoughts about her group.

Curious about her reaction, I looked at her, and she looked back at me. Our eyes met for a moment.

In that brief instant no one else noticed, Celia gave me a small wink.

What was that supposed to mean?

I was starting to feel uneasy.

Arin was grinning from ear to ear, apparently delighted to be in the same group as the Hero for the first time.

Anyone could tell her expression said, I'm so happy.

Celia had always liked cute things, so I thought she would probably like Arin too.

Kairin was a blonde girl with a neat bob haircut.

I'd never spoken with her, but she always seemed to have a cold expression.

She didn't seem interested in getting close to anyone else.

She wasn't carrying any particular weapon either, so I had no idea what her specialty was.

Maybe she had as many secrets as Luna and I did.

Zeke looked like the typical bold warrior.

He was built like a mountain. Even without being told his specialty, I felt like I could guess it.

Honestly, if he just went onto the battlefield exactly as he was, that would probably be his specialty.

I couldn't imagine knocking him down.

At least, I felt like I could never beat him in hand-to-hand combat, not in a million years.

I'd even heard him laugh before, a loud, "Kuhahaha!" He seemed a little more manly than I was.

That was the temporary Hero's Party our homeroom teacher had assigned for now.

It was a fairly predictable party, and Arin and Zeke alone seemed enough to cover Celia well.

"The second party. Luna, Leon, Alfonso, Cairo."

It looked like neither Luna nor Celia would be in the same party as me this time.

At least I could relax a little during class like this.

Curious about Luna's reaction, I glanced at her beside me.

Luna was pouting as if she didn't like her group.

I didn't need her to explain what she disliked.

She just didn't want to be apart from me.

I didn't know how compatible they were as people, but the second group seemed very well-balanced as a party.

Leon, who had made a good impression on me with his blunt question to our homeroom teacher last time, was a handsome man with a bold air about him.

Anyone could see how solid his build was, and the muscles hidden beneath his uniform looked like they were fighting to be noticed.

He would definitely make a dependable front liner for the party.

Alfonso didn't look as muscular as Leon, but I could feel exceptionally pure mana flowing from him.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of magic would surely notice.

He was a powerful human mage who had built a solid foundation from the basics up.

I suddenly wondered whether Alfonso would have trained this hard if he had magical power that came so easily.

Cairo was a dark-skinned man, and his long blue hair stood out.

He had a huge bow slung across his back, large enough that, in the hands of someone skilled, it seemed capable of striking from a great distance.

Then I noticed how enormous his hands were compared to his body.

The hard calluses on his fingertips explained everything.

Luna's party also seemed incredibly strong once I looked at them together.

If they took the final-semester Proof test with that lineup, I couldn't imagine them losing easily.

They all looked that skilled individually.

"The final party. Cain, Sirius, Raven, Yuri."

Honestly, my temporary party looked weaker than the others.

First of all, without Celia or Luna, our group had missed out on the top students and fell a little behind in terms of ranking.

And I was Sirius, the dead-last student in this class.

Of course, the ability I'd displayed was fake, but from everyone else's perspective, it was clearly a party of losers.

Cain didn't seem to like his party.

The blond, brown-skinned boy with a huge halberd on his back kicked the innocent floor.

He was built solidly too, so he seemed like he could buy me enough time to cast magic.

I'll work hard so we don't come in last... Please don't get mad...

Raven had long black hair and pale skin, just like Master Amelia.

For some reason, she wore a mask, though I had no idea why.

She had no visible weapon either, so it seemed I would have to ask her directly about her specialty.

The last person was Yuri.

Yuri was a somewhat androgynous-looking young man, a slender, handsome boy with long hair tied back.

He had a bow on his back like Cairo, though his looked a little smaller.

Still, just looking at his build and face, he already seemed agile.

I should ask him to race me sometime.

I wasn't confident in my strength, but my speed wasn't bad.

My party looked a little clumsy and weak, but I liked it.

If I was lucky, maybe I could make some new friends.

"Now then. Does anyone have any questions or objections about these party assignments? Like I said, everyone will get a turn being in a party with the Hero. Aside from that, does anyone have a complaint?"

I wondered whether Cain, who had ended up in the same party as me, would object, but he didn't seem to intend to.

No one spoke, and just as I thought the assignments would end like this, one student raised a hand and broke the silence.

"Teacher, I have an objection."

I was foolish for thinking there wouldn't be any objections as long as everyone got a turn in a party with the Hero.

After all, the one objecting was...

"I think Sirius should be assigned to our party instead of Arin."

Celia.

At this point, just leave me alone already.

Footnotes:

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