Rob wandered out into an open field, with a bit of a frown forming on his face, Mental exhaustion, sigh. Even with all my intelligence, I still forget little things like this. Or perhaps this is an arrangement I made before sealing my memories, so I get to experience something more grounded and deepen my foundation before starting to pursue my truth?
Rob inwardly laughed at his own narcissistic thoughts that basically treated his own lacking memory as a part of a grander scheme. But… it wasn’t implausible. Oh well, I’ll create a potion later. I don’t have to go to the gym today anyways, and that dungeon back then should have worn my body enough.
He soon arrived at an all-familiar bench that was placed in a cool and shadowy area. Ahead of him, students had laid out large sheets of cloth on top of the green grass to eat out in the open and enjoy the cool breeze that came their way.
Rob had to praise the engineers and architects that had built this place. It had a nice blend of infrastructure and nature, allowing one to enjoy both grand buildings and beautiful sceneries like this. He sat down on the bench, unwrapped the meaty sandwich coated in delicious juices, and bit down into it while waiting for his targets to arrive.
…
“What’s that in your hand, Holly?” a dashing young man asked in curiosity. He was tall and athletic, with sharp golden eyes and flowing gold hair. Even though he wore the same uniform as everyone else, his mere presence alone gave him the aura of a grand king, a leader that can push forward the tides of victory!
“Hmm? Is it a notice?” a beautiful lady also turned curious when she noticed the plain piece of paper held by the girl named Holly. She had bright purple hair and silvery white hair reaching down to her waist, along with her knightly aura and relatively tall height, she gave off the presence of an elegant lady well-versed in the ways of combat.
“Oh, this?” the girl in question looked back at her precious friends, the Crown Prince - Kain Vizwel, and the daughter of Duke Lamuer - Alice Lamuer, and smiled. Holly gripped the paper she held in her hand tightly and said with a sigh, “I’ve been looking for Rob Fortune for the entire morning, but no one in Class 1-B knew where he went to.”
“Rob Fortune? I’ve heard of that name before…,” Kain Vizwel muttered as he scratched his chin, trying to recall who Rob Fortune was.
“Isn’t he the one who defeated Leo Regulus in one blow? It became a hot topic at school right?” Alice Lamuer asked.
“Right! It happened on the first day of school!” Holly muttered. “But… What does he even look like? How would I even find him before lunch ends?”
“You should worry about that after you finish eating. Who knows, maybe you’ll come up with a plan when you have a full stomach,” Kain suggested, and Holly agreed in the end.
She was too tired looking around the school this morning, so she might as well take her well-deserved rest before continuing her hopefully fruitful search. Soon enough, they sat at the usual place they ate at, not noticing the shadowy corner a few meters away from them where a lone man sat and ate his sandwich in silence.
…
“Ugh, I never realized just how much Fire Magic sucks, but now I do,” Anna mumbled in dismay as she had been enlightened to the wonders of Spirit Magic. “Having the power of spirits at the tip of your fingers, manipulating all the elements as if you were a spirit yourself, it’s just way too damn fun and easy to do!”
“Compared to that, using Fire Magic is just too tedious. I have to manipulate my mana, create a clear mental image, calculate some stuff in my head, and that’s for a simple spell like fire arrow. Ugh, if only I can train Spirit Magic in public, but that would expose my secret.”
She sighed and opened the door leading to the rooftop. It had already become a habit for her to eat lunch on this rooftop all alone and enjoy the peace and silence it brought. She also enjoyed the aerial view it brings since she can spy on Holly Lavestine, the protagonist of this world, and see her progress with the male leads.
Three years, in less than three years, the Demon Lord would descend. Anna slouched her shoulders helplessly and stared at Holly in the distance. I’m praying for you, please defeat the Demon Lord so I don’t die!
You did it in the game, so you should be able to do it here too, right…? Anna clicked her tongue. Who the hell am I kidding? My existence itself would cause a butterfly effect that would severely change the future of this world. Relying on the protagonist to live is just foolish.
In three years, the Demon Lord would come and kill us all. By that time, I need to have acquired the power of a Royal Mage… no, an archmage! I need to be as strong as an archmage, only then can I guarantee my and my family’s safety!
She could already begin to feel her head ache with a dull pain over this seemingly impossible task. Archmage? Who was she trying to fool? There had only been a few archmages and archknights to have ever lived in this entire world, each shining brightly like stars whose names were written in the books passed down from one generation to another.
But, even with that implausible goal, she still had to try. Just as she mustered a meager amount of her will and resolve, her eyes lit up in joy when she saw a certain person eating lunch all alone in a shadowy corner of the vast open grass fields. He sat there, all alone, munching on a sandwich while staring off into the distance in a daze.
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“Heh, serves you right, you loner!” Anna mischievously laughed and placed the paper bag she held onto the railings in front of her. She carefully opened it, and the smell of bread wafted into the air and into her nose. She breathed in the aromatic scent and mumbled with a delightful smile, “Mmm!”
Misery loves company. If she was facing the heavy task of reaching the level of an archmage so she can survive the onslaught of a demonic overlord, then there should be a person to suffer a portion of suffering!
She opened her mouth, ready to bite into the juicy and crunchy and crispy and aromatic bread she held in her hands like bready goodness, but all of a sudden… click. The door behind her creaked open, releasing a haunting sound that echoed in her ears. Her body shook at an imperceptible level, and her heart boomed like banging drums, while she prepared to launch an attack at any moment she felt her life is about to enter the underworld.
Anna slowly turned around with an erratic heart. Who was behind her? Who opened the door? Why were they here? Is it a monster? Am I going to die? Do I leap off the building now and shout for help?
Her paranoia didn’t help to ease her anxiety. As peaceful as the world may be right now, the traumatizing experience she had while playing Lucky Lover was still fresh in her mind. The stupidly hard monsters in the dungeon, the horrifying events that occurred all throughout the story, the numerous deaths she had experienced before even reaching the Demon Lord, some due to fights, others due to stupid fucking reasons like being stabbed in the back while eating lunch… - it had unknowingly affected her mind and caused her to form slight paranoia.
But, when she saw Melvin Dolton walking through the door, the worries in her heart disappeared and were instead replaced by confusion.
Why is he here?
…
“Eating at the school rooftop, I hadn’t done this since I was in high school,” Melvin Dolton chuckled and carried a black square box up the stairs.
He wore a melancholic smile as he walked up the stairs and vague memories resurfaced in his mind. He felt slight nostalgia, but he had lived here for quite a while now, going back home would only serve to bring grief and sorrow to his loved ones in Tyr. And returning back was even more impossible. I don’t even know how to control this blessing, much less go back to Naven.
As he reached the top of the long flight of stairs, he grabbed the door’s handle and pushed it open. When he did so, he was greeted by a pair of light brown eyes and short auburn hair fluttering with the wind.
Annabeth Auburn stared at Melvin Dolton in clear surprise, while Melvin Dolton also stared at Annabeth Auburn in confusion and curiosity.
“Well, hello there, Miss Auburn,” Melvin greeted with a smile and closed the door behind him with an audible click. He stared at the paper bag full of bread in her hands, and guessed, “Are you here to eat lunch too?”
“Oh, uh, yes! Yes, I eat my lunch here most of the time,” Anna responded as she stuttered for a bit in the beginning before regaining her calm. She was already wondering in her mind why Melvin Dolton was here on the rooftop, but when she saw the block box in his hand, she could tell that Melvin was also here to eat lunch - how joyful.
But why here? This is supposed to be my sacred land! Anna inwardly shrieked.
“Oh, so this is where you eat! I’ve been wondering why you’re nowhere to be found on campus whenever it’s lunchtime,” Melvin chuckled and walked toward the bench on the rooftop and sat down.
“I didn’t know you were that curious, Mister Dolton. I am curious though as to why you’ve decided to eat here. For an entire month, you’re the only person who had come here besides me,” Anna asked with a smile. She really wanted to know why he was here to disturb her alone time. Perhaps if she knew, she could deploy some sort of scheme to ward him away from coming here ever again.
“Ah, that?” Melvin Dolton smiled and opened his lunch box. “I was just fancying myself, that’s all, but I would have never guessed nor expected to find you here, Miss Auburn.”
“Me too…” Anna smiled on the outside, but inside, her asocial self was already shrieking in damnation.
“Oh yes!” Melvin widened his eyes as he seemed to have remembered something important. “I remembered that Miss Auburn was quite curious as to what happened to the victim of the fire that happened last week.”
“Hmm? You have news about it?” Anna was surprised to hear this and had her curiosity piqued.
“Yes indeed, and quite a fortunate one at that.” Melvin laughed in joy as he placed his lunch box to the side and stood up. “After the fire, my father had decided to extend a helping hand to the government to help her find new foster parents since she didn’t have any other relatives to take care of her.”
“My father has quite the tendency to help out others financially, but seeing that there’s an opportunity to do more good than just giving out… pocket change, as he calls it, he decided to do a bit more than what was needed of him to do!” Melvin smiled.
“It took a while, but it seemed like two kind souls had finally decided to help her out,” Melvin walked up to the railings and stared out into the distance, toward a certain shadowy corner with a mysterious grin. “Two kind souls indeed.”
“Huh, good for her!” Anna smiled upon hearing the good news and looked back at her targets, but she almost choked on her bread when she saw Holly standing in front of Rob, not only that, she was even speaking to him!
W-W-What happened?!
…
“You guys go on without me,” Holly said as she packed her lunch and slowly stood up with a grunt.
“Are you sure? You know we could help,” said Kain.
“Yeah. We have the time to help you find that guy,” said Alice.
“You guys still have other stuff to deal with, right? You guys don’t have to worry about me, if I don’t find him by 12:50, I’ll go back to the classroom,” Holly assured her friends as she smiled confidently.
“Okay then.”
“See you later, Holly!”
As she watched the two walk away into the distance, Holly slumped her shoulders and sighed, “Even though I told them that, I don’t even know what he looks like.”
Holly looked around the open grass field, but couldn’t even begin to recognize who Rob Fortune was among the large crowd. Vizwel Royal Academy was simply too large and had too many students for a single girl like her to find one specific student - a student whose face she doesn’t even know.
She was about to walk away from the grass field when all of a sudden, she heard someone call out to her from behind, “Hey, you! Are you looking for me?”
Holly slowly turned around and looked at the unknown student in front of her. He was around 5’8, with messy black hair and dark brown eyes. He had a pudgy belly and a frail complexion, but there was a sense of liveliness and vigor to his presence that she couldn’t describe in detail.
“Are you… Rob Fortune?” Holly asked with starry eyes.
“That’s me.” Rob grinned and inwardly laughed. Ha! It’s her! The one who has an insanely high affinity for Holy Magic. Ohohoho! Destiny had blessed me greatly today! Luck is truly on my side… well, since she does have higher luck than me, luck is on her side, but who fucking cares!
If play my cards well, I’ll have access to an endless supply of herbs enhanced and augmented by Holy Magic! Fucking holy herbs! HOLY HERBS! It’s a walking talking goddamn goose that lays holy eggs!