I strolled down a sun-drenched street in the mid-afternoon, glancing over at my companion.
"Easy now, Bell. Watch out for the carriages."
"Gau!"
I was out for a walk with Bell, wandering through the streets of the Royal Capital together.
After Bell came to live at Lilia-san’s mansion, Sieg-san had ended up taking over most of his daily care. It wasn't as if Lilia-san had officially appointed her or that I’d asked her to do it—Sieg-san simply adored animals. She was constantly checking in on Bell and doting on him.
Bell had grown quite attached to her, and I often saw the two of them playing happily together. However, since I was the one who had brought Bell home, I couldn't just leave everything to Sieg-san, no matter how much she enjoyed it. That was why I made sure to handle his daily exercise myself.
Bell seemed genuinely happy whenever we went out; he was always in high spirits during our walks, frequently rubbing his face against me. I continued down the street with a smile, patting his head as he nuzzled me.
At first, we’d drawn plenty of curious stares, but humans are creatures of habit. After a few days, people had mostly grown used to the sight, and the surprised reactions had faded.
"Hmm. Shall we try a different route today, Bell?"
"Gau!"
At his bark of agreement, I turned down a street we didn't usually take. Even if it was a new path, Bell’s size meant we had to stick to the main thoroughfares, and since I was wearing Chrome’s Necklace, I didn't have to worry about getting lost.
However, being in an unfamiliar area meant the curious stares returned.
"...That’s a Behemoth."
"Whoa... first time I've ever seen one."
"...Miyama-san?"
I’d heard the first two comments often enough when I’d started these walks, so I didn't pay them much mind. But wait... the last one sounded a bit different.
Curious, I turned around to see a familiar face standing there.
"...Oh, Kusunoki-san?"
"What a coincidence. To think I’d run into you here... Are you taking Bell-chan for a walk?"
"Yeah. I decided to try a new route today. Are you coming back from the Magic Academy?"
"Yes. My lecture just ended, so I was heading home."
It seemed this street connected the academy to Lilia-san’s mansion. Kusunoki-san was wearing a brown robe—likely her school uniform—which, combined with her glossy black hair, gave her the distinct look of a proper mage.
Kusunoki-san looked at Bell and me for a moment, then fell silent as if she were weighing her words. Finally, she spoke up.
"Um... Miyama-san."
"Yes?"
"If it’s alright with you, could I join you for the rest of Bell-chan’s walk?"
"Sure. I don't mind at all."
I had no reason to refuse, so I nodded. A faint smile played across Kusunoki-san’s lips as she fell into step beside us.
"Come to think of it, I never asked... but what exactly are you studying at the Magic Academy?"
"Well... the only subjects I’m attending are Earth Magic and Magic Tool Creation. Today, I was studying the 'Basic Construction Theory of Semi-autonomous Golem Generation Formula using Earth Magic.'"
"O-Oh... Just hearing the name makes me feel a bit sleepy..."
"...Miyama-san, you’re a university student, aren't you?"
"...I have no defense."
"Fufufu."
Kusunoki-san was so composed that it was easy to forget she was only seventeen. As I’d suspected, she was clearly very bright. She certainly seemed smarter than I was back when I was gasping for air during my own university entrance exams.
"But what made you want to start studying at the academy so suddenly?"
"...Well, that’s... you won't laugh, will you?"
"Eh? No, I won't laugh."
"...It might seem childish, but, um... I’ve wanted to be a mage since I was little. So when I heard that this world actually had magic, I just... I got really excited."
Hearing her mumble those words while looking bashfully at the ground was quite heartwarming. She usually acted so mature, but it was nice to see that she still had an age-appropriate side—someone who cherished her childhood dreams and got a thrill out of real magic.
"I understand how you feel. I was incredibly excited when I realized I could use magic, too."
"...I-I knew it. You felt the same way?"
"Yeah... though compared to you and Yuzuki-san, I’m not very good at all."
"...That’s because your magic power is lower than ours, Miyama-san."
"Gah..."
"Ah! I-I'm so sorry!"
Her blunt statement of fact, delivered without a hint of malice, pierced right through me. As she said, my magic capacity was much lower than theirs. Aside from Sympathy Magic, I couldn't use anything particularly large-scale.
"Hmph. I’m jealous of you both."
"B-But you have Sympathy Magic, Miyama-san! That’s an amazing ability... Since you can transmit your own emotions, couldn't you project 'feelings of terror' to intimidate an opponent? Or even use it to apply a 'mental burden' on them? If you could just distract them for a single second, you could use that opening to strike with a knife or something..."
"...Kusunoki-san, you come up with some surprisingly vicious ideas."
"Eeeeh!?"
"...Are you secretly aggressive?"
"Wait, just a minute!"
As Kusunoki-san detailed offensive uses for Sympathy Magic that I had never even considered, I realized she had a remarkably ruthless imagination. According to Kuro, my Sympathy Magic was a Mental Interference-type... so it might indeed be more effective for attacking the mind rather than anything physical.
Not that I ever planned to use it that way.
"No, no, I'm kidding. That was actually very insightful. Thanks."
"...Miyama-san, you're mean."
"Sorry, sorry... Ah, changing the subject, if you’ve always admired mages, did you play a magic class in the MMO?"
"...I did. Though I didn't really know what I was doing at first, so I dumped all my points into Earth Magic. I struggled quite a bit."
"Ah, I see. Earth-attribute magic was always a bit of an underdog, wasn't it?"
In the MMO we had both played, Earth-attribute magic was considered disadvantaged. Players were usually advised against it because of the skill point investment. Most enemies weak to earth also had high magic defense, making them a nightmare for mages to deal with. That said, it wasn't completely useless; there were specific high-level dungeons where having earth magic made things much easier.
Still, because of the skill point requirements, the early game was brutal, making it a poor choice for solo play.
"Come to think of it, the 'boy' I used to be friends with in the game was also a magic user who focused on the Earth-attribute."
"Is that so? Not that I can talk, but that’s a rare build."
"Yeah. He was a beginner, but he was a hard worker and very sharp. By the time I retired, he had even soloed a boss monster called the Tempest Dragon."
"...The Tempest Dragon?"
"Yeah. I told him that wasn't a monster a magic class should be challenging, but he insisted he could manage if he played it right... I was really surprised when he actually pulled it off through sheer ingenuity."
Back when I was active in that MMO, I’d become friends with a beginner and taught him the ropes. His character was a male mage named 'Hibis.' He was a light player who only logged in for about an hour a day, but he was incredibly dedicated and grew strong in no time.
If I remember correctly, he was fourteen when I retired, so he’d be around the same age as Kusunoki-san now. Man, thinking about it brings back memories...
"M-Miyama-san!?"
"Yeah?"
"W-Well, that magic user... was it a male character? W-What did he look like!?"
"Eh? Um, he didn't seem to have changed his appearance from the default, but he always wore a black pointed hat I gave him when he first started."
"—!?"
Startled by the sudden, intense way Kusunoki-san pressed me for details, I described what I remembered of Hibis.
Kusunoki-san’s eyes widened, and she froze, coming to a dead stop in the middle of the street. She stared at me with trembling eyes, and her voice sounded as if she were on the verge of tears.
"Kusunoki-san?"
"...I knew it... Miyama-san, you're... 'Shell'..."
"...Eh?"
The name she uttered was my old character name from the MMO. It was a name I’d come up with by twisting my own, a slightly embarrassing memory I’d never shared with anyone... so how did she know?
Dear Mother, Father—I happened to run into Kusunoki-san and ended up going for a walk with her. We got excited talking about the MMO I used to play, but for some reason, Kusunoki-san... already knew my old character name.