CH 37

Chapter 37 - The First Letter (37)

The academy at noon was always crowded. It didn’t matter whether it was a weekday or a weekend.

In the middle of the academy site, especially where the central library and student union were located, there were many passersby. First of all, it was at the center of the academy, and in the student union hall, there were various shops that students could use.

The tea that I was now drinking with a straw had also been purchased at one of those stores. Three or five students were chatting at a small table outside the student center.

In this peaceful moment, Leto, as always, was sitting in front of me.

“…… So, you left both of them alone and came here?”

Leto looked at me pitifully. If I don’t reply, I was sure I would be stung by his tongue. So, I sighed and scratched my head.

“No, what was I supposed to do? They both got too worked up, and I got very annoyed as well.”

Leto pursed his lips, stunned by my words, then turned his head away as if he had given up.

Only the sound of him sipping his drink through that straw resounded. Soon, Leto raised his hands and lamented.

“Alright. You have now graduated.”

“What do you mean?”

In response to my confusion, Leto spoke to me with an even more surprised look.

“‘What do you mean’? I mean, the two most beautiful flowers in the sophomore year of the academy are fighting over one man. How could I dare to call you my disciple? Even more so after you told them to not look for you for a while?”

Woah , Leto shook his head in admiration. However, soon his brows furrowed.

“You are ‘playing hard to get’ quite well. However, you bastard, you shouldn’t have done  that to Celine.”

Somehow, I felt a bit of regret creeping in.

In fact, when I got back to the dormitory and began reflecting on my actions, I realized that it wasn’t that big of a deal to be so angry about. I was even avoiding them since the morning. In particular, the image of Seria’s restlessness still lingered in my mind.

She was particularly inexperienced in human relationships. I was worried that my words might have been misunderstood as a declaration of our friendship’s end.

I sipped the drink through a straw and clicked my tongue. A refreshing scent tickled the tip of my nose. It felt like my head was a little clearer.

Seeing my troubled expression, Leto heaved a deep sigh. His face suggested that it was hard for him to say anything more on this matter. After being silent for a while, he seemed to have decided to change his perspective in a slightly more positive direction.

Suddenly, he chuckled and started laughing. My inquiring gaze turned to him.

A gleam flickered in Leto’s green eyes. It was reminiscent of an evil spirit.

“No, no. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since you got this angry at Celine, isn’t it?”

“Well, I guess you are right.”

Last time we had a fight was in the infirmary, but in the end it was a minor misunderstanding, and Celine was the only one who got angry in the end.

I’ve never been this furious. That’s why the memory of Celine looking at me in astonishment was still engraved in my mind.

When I think of that expression, my heart aches for some reason. Seria is Seria after all, but Celine is also a dear friend of mine. After having such a fight with her, I had no choice but to get concerned.

That’s how friends are. It’s easy to cut off a relationship by acting like it’s not that big of a deal, but the stronger the bond, the more uncomfortable it becomes when it’s torn.

But, contrary to my distressed mind, Leto was just ecstatic.

“Hey, was it worth seeing?”

“What?”

To my brief question, Leto answered without stopping his giggling laugh.

“Obviously, I’m talking about Celine’s face! She must be feeling quite bitter now. A sudden competitor has appeared, and she now fears she is being hated since she fought with her enthusiastically…….”

“How could I ever hate Celine?”

“That’s what you think, but Celine doesn’t know that and by now she must be biting her nails in anxiety.”

I smirked while trying to brush off Leto’s words, but I had no choice but to shut my mouth again upon hearing his words.

After all, Leto is like Celine’s older brother, so he must know Celine better than I did.

Still, I couldn’t easily believe it. That Celine, who always acted boldly and sociable, was anxious?

I couldn’t imagine it, so I had no choice but to shake my head with a hint of disbelief.

Leto didn’t force me to believe him, as if he knew how I would have reacted. He only left me with a single request.

“Hey, you must stay by my side today. I have to see the look on Celine’s face, really.”

His voice brimmed with cheerfulness. It was a voice hell bent on making fun of Celine. In short, Celine’s misfortune was a source of happiness for him.

Of course, if Celine ever got into a really bad situation, his expression darkens.

Family is always like that. At this point, I decided to change the topic slowly.

“Other than that, Leto.”

“Yes?”

When I nonchalantly said so, Leto also responded with an uninterested voice. However, my insides were hurting due to nervousness.

It was because I thought that the story I was about to bring up would be passed off as nonsense. After all, the last time I spoke to Leto, his reaction wasn’t good.

But it was impossible for me to carry this heavy burden alone. I needed at least one trusted colleague with whom I could share my concerns.

If so, there was only one person I could rely on.

A close friend who is smarter than me, is very knowledgeable, and is aware of a lot of rumors thanks to him being a social butterfly.

Leto Einstein, there is no one beside him.

“What would you think if a letter came from the future?”

“Ah?”

Leto, who had a straw resting on his lips, exclaimed as if I just said something ludicrous. Then, after frowning for a moment, he fell into trouble. He put down the drink he was drinking once again.

He said with a puzzled look.

“Do you mean the thing you talked about last time when we were visiting Emma? Are you still in shock?”

“No, Leto. I’m serious, come on, look.”

Then I pulled out the love letter I had been keeping in my arms. Elegant handwriting on an old-fashioned parchment. It was a letter that seemed to have been written by an elegant noble girl.

No matter how much I wanted to lie, I would have to spend quite a bit of effort to fake it. And, as Leto knew well, I wasn’t the kind of person who liked to joke around.

Seeing my actions, Leto frowned and looked at me in bewilderment. He glanced at the letter I had held out.

“So what?”

“What do you mean by what? I want you to take a look at this. This letter comes from the future…….”

Then Leto’s expression turned serious. He glanced at my hand, and then at my face. He heaved a deep sigh and leaned back against his chair.

And he said in a muffled voice.

“There is nothing”

What the fuck are you saying , the moment I was about to say that.

Leto got up and leaned his torso forward, he then ran the palm of his hand over my outstretched hand.

Then Leto’s palm passed through the parchment, as if it was passing through thin air. My eyes almost popped out of my sockets.

It was something I couldn’t comprehend with my common sense. That object certainly gave me the sensation of something real, so what’s happening?

It was natural for Leto’s expression to turn serious. He then said in a serious tone.

“Hey, shouldn’t you get some psychological counseling? It must have been due to the shock you received at that time, when Emma got attacked…….”

“No, it is not like that! I mean, last time when I subjugated that demonic beast, I did it because in this letter it was written that the demonic beasts would attack!”

I was in panic and tried to come up with an excuse, but Leto’s expression turned increasingly grim. If I went on like this, I would be forced to seek psychological counseling.

It was frustrating for me too. Is this really true? Or is it just a fantasy created after having received psychological trauma? I couldn’t easily dispel such doubts.

However, the attack of the demonic beasts during the swordsmanship training class was something I couldn’t have predicted without it. I couldn’t simply scoff it off as a coincidence, and I still have vivid memories of the nightmare I had that day.

Those golden eyes drenched in exhaustion and despair.

They gave me an unusual confidence that ‘I mustn’t ignore this letter’, but now, even the only person who could help me didn’t believe me.

I could not convince him by talking about past events. So I recited the contents of the letter from the future.

“So, Leto. You may not believe it now, but according to this letter, a powerful demonic beast will appear at this year’s Hunting Festival.”

“The Hunting Festival? Ah, come to think of it, the 4th graders who had been dispatched are slowly coming back because of the hunting festival.”

“……?”

I closed my mouth again at Leto’s reaction. As my curious gaze turned to him, Leto stared at me, wondering what was the matter.

Frustrated, I got up from my seat and recited the letter’s contents once again. This time a little louder.

“During this year’s Hunting Festival, a powerful demon will appear”

“Alright, I know, the Hunting Festival is coming soon. Are there any academy students who don’t know that? Why would it matter?”

No way, I plopped down and was at a loss for words.

There was a strange difference between what I said and the words Leto heard. When I tried to convey the information contained in the letter, my words seemed to be replaced with a similar yet completely different content.

How is it even possible?

Actually, the fact that a love letter comes from the future already doesn’t make any sense, but to see this level of distortion in front of my eyes made me feel only more confused.

As I lowered my gaze in a daze, Leto slowly swallowed his saliva with a serious expression. He seemed to be wondering if I was out of my mind or if he should take my words seriously.

He sighed immediately. As if he just made up his mind, he said.

“Hey there, Ian. If what you say is true… … .”

“…… Do you finally believe me?”

When I responded with a slightly excited voice, Leto nodded as if to calm down. He continued speaking in a low voice.

“If that’s the case, there is a high possibility that the time distortion singularity is a phenomenon limited only to you.”

At those words, I stared at Leto with a look of incomprehension. Leto clicked his tongue, even without saying anything, it was obvious what he was going to say.

‘That’s the problem with those from the Knight’s Faculty.’ Soon, he began explaining to me.

“To distort the space-time continuum, the highest level of magic is required. Even then, the scope is limited. However, if a letter did come from a distant future, it means that the information has been passed down.”

“The information has been passed down? What do you mean by that?”

Then, Leto sipped his drink. He seemed to be still contemplating whether it was right for him to seriously believe me. Even so, in the end, I was his best friend.

He continued to explain.

“Just from the transmission of information from the future, the world is subjected to a tremendous amount of distortions. For example, the stuff you were talking about earlier, like how you subjugated the demonic beasts after reading the contents of the letter?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Then how did you subdue those demonic beasts in the future from which that letter came from? Were you reading that letter again?”

“Yes, I guess……?”

Leto shook his head in response to my lack of confidence. It meant that I gave the wrong answer. He opened his mouth again.

“Time is not that simple. If there is no past where you read the letter in the first place, consequently there would be no future where you subjugate that demonic beast. In that way, how could you possibly write a letter in the future? The causal relationship of the event itself is trapped. It’s like running in a circle chasing yourself.”

“……?”

I still had no choice but to look at Leto. Leto spat out a brief swear word out of frustration, then he shook his head and said to me.

“You don’t have to understand. So… the point is that the distortion is enormous even with that little bit of information. The mana required to correct it is even greater. So, in order to minimize the scope of that distortion, the scope of time reversal must be restricted, and that is where you play your part.”

“Is that even possible?”

“A letter coming from the future. Does it even make sense?”

Leto’s response shut my mouth at once. Leto was still looking at me with suspicious eyes, but even so, just now he provided me with his own inferences, even if it was for a short time.

“So if what you say is true, no matter how much you want to show me the letter, I won’t be able to see it. Since the distortion’s scale would increase, they must have blocked it in the first place. Of course, there may be a way around it, but…….”

Hmmm , Leto Fell into deep thought as he kept tapping the table with his index finger. After a moment, he quickly scratched the back of his head and began shaking it vigorously.

“Right now I can’t think of a way. Anyway, that’s it. I’ll look into it, so don’t even bother yourself with it. Of course, if I had to bet, I’d bet you’re crazy.”

“Don’t do that, really. I’m serious…….”

In the end, the following key points I found out from my conversation with Leto that day.

The love letters will come only to me. And no one other than me will be able to see it. It’s impossible to convey the contents of the letter as it would convey future information to the past.

It was disappointing news. If so, does that mean that I have no choice but to carry the burden of this letter alone?

My head was clouded. My shoulders were heavy. So far it had been fine. But, even in regards to the Hunting Festival, I wasn’t sure if I could handle it. But what if the contents of that love letter were true?

What if I had to prevent the destruction of the world?

It made no sense,I was at best just the second son of a countryside Viscount. This was way beyond the limits of my capabilities.

But at the thought of the world being abruptly destroyed, I couldn’t even laugh.

It was when I was walking in a daze like that.

I suddenly noticed a presence. In fact, I had noticed it for a long time, but I couldn’t call her recklessly because I didn’t organize my thoughts yet.

But now, it was an alley with few people. It might be the best moment to converse with her.

“…… Come out Seria.”

Then, from behind a building far away from me, a girl appeared, hesitatingly.

It was Seria. She was looking at me anxiously.

It was a look of desperation.