Love Letter From The Future

Victory was sweet and growth was rewarding.

However, I wasn’t so petty as to boast about it in front of my cherished junior. So, I deliberately cleared my throat and composed my voice.

Now was the time to show maturity as a senior.

Without any pretense, a sincere confession slipped from my mouth.

“Well, I just got lucky…?”

There was no other way to explain it but sheer luck.

I, by chance, received a letter from the future and, by delving into my future self’s memories, I rapidly grew in a short period of time. It would have been shameless to entirely attribute this to my efforts.

However, Seria merely let out a soft chuckle, perhaps taking it as another humble remark.

A shadow of loneliness fell across the face of the girl bowing her head.

“…With this, I can’t refute it. It seems I’m still far from adequate.”

It was an anticipated reaction.

Continuous defeat can dampen even the fiercest fighting spirit.I knew the feeling all too well, having once been merely mediocre myself..

Living a life of setting aside expectations and enjoying an ordinary routine was suited to such a position.

It wouldn’t be so bad, but I still needed Seria.

That’s why I casually threw out a remark.

“Come soon.”

“…?”

Seria stared blankly at me. I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at the silly look in my junior’s eyes, which I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I’ll go ahead and wait for you, so hurry and come soon. Didn’t he say you can come once you have that technique mastered?”

“Ah…”

Only then, as if just realising something, did Seria softly exclaim.

It was something that had been discussed earlier.

The ‘me’ from the future used a specific technique to overpower Seria, and had said that she could only be of help after grasping at least the essence of it.

This was, in other words, tantamount to saying that she could come along once she had that technique mastered.

It might have been my own arbitrary interpretation, but what else could I do?

If he didn’t want to be misunderstood, he shouldn’t have been so vague in the first place.

He brought this upon himself.

Just like clouds clearing from a bright sky, Seria’s expression slowly began to lighten.

“B-But is that really okay? What if I end up being a burden to you, Senior…”

“You’ve never been a burden to me.”

Taking a few steps forward, I stood before her. It was then that my hand came to rest on her shoulder.

“So come as quickly as you can. Senior Delphine will be waiting too.”

With that, I pulled Senior Delphine’s note from inside my pocket.

Seria stared at the brief message written there for quite a while. After some time she nodded, her eyes filled with determination.

“Alright, Senior… I’ll definitely catch up. For you and for my sister as well.”

She was speaking about the two people she respected the most.

Considering her overflowing talent, I thought the day Seria would catch up to me wasn’t far off. Perhaps she’d be on my heels within two weeks.

Her talent was truly terrifying.

It was no different from saying that she’d master a technique she hadn’t even been taught. Naturally, it would be far more difficult than being properly taught.

Yet Seria didn’t show even a hint of anxiety.

Even I found it hard to imagine the possibility of her failing.

Just as she always had, Seria would succeed.

Feeling proud, I gently stroked Seria’s hair.

It was something I often did with Celine and Ria.

In my heart, Seria held the place of a younger sister alongside those two.

Of course, touching a grown woman’s hair like that was somewhat inappropriate. Realising this belatedly, my hand flinched.

I wondered if she might have felt uncomfortable.

No matter how close you are, it’s rare for a woman to let someone touch her hair so casually. Not only would it mess up her carefully arranged hair, but between a man and a woman, it was considered an action with deeper implications.

Fortunately however, Seria didn’t show any signs of disliking it.

Rather, she closed her eyes and even displayed a happy expression. I didn’t know the reason, but if Seria was pleased, so was I.

I continued to stroke her hair for a while.

But Seria seemed to still have something to say to me.

Her blue eyes hesitantly glanced at me. It was then that a cautious question slipped from her lips.

“But, senior…”

“Hm?”

I looked at Seria with an expression that said she could ask me anything.

She hesitated for a moment, then, as if making up her mind, she tightly closed her eyes and asked.

“Could you possibly tell me from where you learned the Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion?”

Where did I learn the Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion?

Well, I didn’t know either. It was a technique I had somehow picked up by peeking into the memories of the ‘me’ from the future.

It was a mystery, come to think of it.How had the ‘me’ from the future mastered all those numerous secret techniques?

I had no proper answer to that sudden question. So after pondering for a while, I decided to subtly probe Seria.

“…Why do you ask?”

It was pure curiosity.

An obvious counter-question wondering why she was bringing this up.

At that single word, Seria began to hesitate again.

After a long pause, the girl stammered as she began to speak.

“Well, it’s just that… the Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion is the Yurdina family’s secret technique, right?”

“That’s right.”

It was a well-known fact.

So it was only natural for Seria to be curious about its origin. It was her rightful concern, as a member of the Yurdina family.

But what puzzled me was whether there was any need for her to be so cautious when asking that question.

Seria was hesitating as if she were probing into a forbidden secret.

I figured there must be a reason for that.

It didn’t take long for that ‘reason’ to come to light.

“But my sister hasn’t said anything about it, which means she’s acknowledged you as an inheritor of the Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion…”

In fact, there was a hidden backstory to all this.

From the very beginning, my relationship with Senior Delphine hadn’t started off well.

The ‘me’ from the future had, quite literally, turned her into minced meat.

During that process, Senior Delphine had been so terrified that she couldn’t bring herself to ask about the ‘Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion’. That, of course, remained the case afterward as well.

Then, as we went through various incidents, Senior Delphine gradually came to accept the existence of my Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion as a given. Under such circumstances, there was no need for her to probe me about its origin.

After all, Senior Delphine had declared herself to be my ‘slave.’

And so, the secret surrounding my ‘Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion’ remained unresolved.

At least until today, when Seria brought up the matter again.

With an anxious expression, she continued her own reasoning.

“Th-Then, could it be that they intend to accept you as a member of the Yurdina family? So, could it be that you and my sister are engaged… th-then, then…!”

It was then that I felt an inexplicable chill.

Every time Seria muttered to herself, her eyes dimmed with a gloomy light. Before I knew it, shadows had crept into her aquamarine-like pupils.

It was a heavy hue, like gazing into the depths of the ocean.

The instant I met her cold gaze, I tightly shut my mouth.

“… then, I have no choice but to get rid of them.”

The question of ‘Whom? rose to my throat, but I managed to swallow it back.

I wasn’t confident I could handle whatever answer Seria might give.

I simply resolved to myself once again.

I must never let Seria find out about my relationship with Senior Delphine.

Absolutely never.

Regardless, Seria continued to murmur in a gloomy tone, vacantly staring down at the sword at her waist.

**

The people who would head North were quickly decided.

First, convincing the Saintess was simple. As soon as she heard the word ‘cult,’ she eagerly declared her participation.

Making the sign of the cross over her ample bosom, she said,

“If a priest of the Church of the Heavenly God is leading a cult, I cannot just idly stand by. Especially if the Dark Order is involved.”

Senior Elsie’s participation was also settled in no time.

Before I could even bring it up, Senior Elsie already had her belongings packed and came to find me.

Seeing my puzzled expression, she gave a sly smile.

“Where could I possibly go without you, Master?”

In other words, she meant, ‘Where do you think you’re going without me?’

Since her confession the other day, Senior Elsie had oddly started mixing informal and formal speech when talking to me. Correspondingly, her attitude toward me had somewhat changed.

Just watching how she subtly tried to pressure me made that clear.

Of course, if I put on a serious face, she’d back down quickly, but I didn’t feel the need to go that far.

After all, I was the one who needed her help.

Finally, including the princess and Emma, with whom I’d already spoken, everyone who would be heading North was decided.

Unfortunately, Celine said she’d stay at the academy to train with Seria.

When I went to say goodbye, Celine was grunting as she swung a battle axe as big as herself.

The force was tremendous.

I even wondered if I could block a strike at full force from her.

With a loud thud, fragments of the shattered ground scattered in all directions.

Seeing me standing there with my mouth agape, Celine scratched her cheek awkwardly.

“I-I think I’ve gotten a little used to it? Ahaha…”

No matter how you looked at it, it was more than just ‘getting a little used to it.’

Celine herself must have been the most aware of this. She seemed unwilling to let anything disrupt the rare opportunity for growth that had come her way.

I decided to respect her wishes.

As for Seria, I didn’t know where she’d holed up to train. Since she said she’d catch up soon, I thought she’d find me if I waited in the North.

And so, just a few weeks after arriving at the academy, I had to pack my bags again.

The journey North was brief.

Unlike small rural territories like the Percus Estate, the Yurdina estate was a major city in the North.

Since it was directly connected by warp gates, there was no need to take a carriage.

However, even in that short journey, there were some disputes.

Emma, who was travelling with me for the first time, naturally became the main focus of the group’s attention.

Feeling intimidated by their blatant hostility, Emma even hid behind my back. I tried to persuade them not to behave that way, but they weren’t the type to obediently listen.

Especially Senior Elsie was a problem.

She took advantage of moments when my attention was elsewhere to pick on Emma.

“Hey you, commoner. What’s your deal?”

“Ah, Lady Rinella…”

It was the first ordeal that came to Emma.

My eyes glanced over at the two of them.

Silently, without anyone noticing.