The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 28

Associate Professor Nia Cynthia is coming to the Magic Department at Zeryon Academy.

This was completely unexpected news.

After all, in all the games I’ve played, Nia Cynthia has never come as an associate professor.

‘Why is that?’

What influence could have drawn Nia to Zeryon Academy?

I can’t get a clear sense of it.

‘Nia Cynthia is on the side of the First Prince.’

The only reason the First Prince would be interested in Zeryon Academy is when Lucas is making significant strides.

‘It’s likely he was sent to lure Lucas.’

But Hanon hasn’t transferred.

More precisely, it’s me pretending to be Hanon who transferred.

At that point, the First Prince turned his eyes away from Zeryon Academy.

The First Prince isn’t someone who values the future.

He prefers to keep close to those currently holding power in politics.

He has no interest in rookies who will barely enter the political scene in ten years.

Thus, he gladly handed over Zeryon Academy’s future talent to the Third Princess, Iris Hyserion.

After all, he was confident that by securing the current political figures, he would become the emperor.

‘Lucas is dead.’

There’s no Lucas left to catch the eye of the First Prince, who focuses on the present.

And now, Nia, his closest aide, is coming to the academy?

The situation doesn’t add up.

“Damn world,”

I muttered, sighing as I walked down the corridor.

It’s already difficult to lead this world to the true ending, facing a bad ending. Now, issues are cropping up even outside Zeryon Academy.

‘Did something change with the First Prince?’

There’s nothing I can immediately guess.

So I was on my way to find out.

A familiar door comes into view: the student council room door.

Knock knock–

After two knocks, I slowly opened the door.

It was a courtesy for whoever might be inside.

Creak–

As the door opened, I saw a girl holding a quill pen, bathed in sunlight streaming down behind me.

Through her long silver hair, glowing beautifully in the light, her two blue eyes, like the sea, looked at me.

At a glance, she seemed cold.

But as soon as she saw me, she slowly smiled, and that impression faded.

“Well, who do we have here? Isn’t it the junior who excelled in the first-floor palace this time?”

Nikita made a remark that seemed to praise me.

As Nikita said, the story of our team’s achievement has spread among the students.

The Forest Keeper Apostle incident, which could have caused many casualties, was foreseen, and we prevented it without any deaths.

The academy even offered us a reward for our success.

Additionally, a thorough investigation into the changes in the palace has begun.

It’s good news for me, as several preventive measures against future palace changes will be implemented.

“No one can compare to you, Senior Nikita.”

However, it wasn’t only our team that performed well.

Nikita’s team, made up of third-year students, reached the sixth floor of the palace.

For current third-years, the maximum floor reached in the palace was the fifth floor.

Nikita’s team set a new record as soon as they became third-years.

This made it clear that Nikita’s team was at the top among the current third years.

However, Nikita gave a bitter smile at my praise.

“If you consider the original standard, it’s an average pace. It’s nothing that impressive. There aren’t many talented people in our generation.”

As she said, the talent pool among the third years isn’t great.

Just looking at last year’s graduates, they had already reached the sixth floor in their second year.

And by their third year, they achieved the seventh floor and even reached the eighth floor.

On the other hand, the current third years have only now reached the sixth floor.

Because of this, the third years have the unfortunate nickname of being the ‘weakest generation’.

“Moreover, I hear other younger students have also reached the fifth floor this time. They’ll soon catch up to us.”

As Nikita mentioned, there’s already a second-year team that has reached the fifth floor.

In the next palace battle, it’s almost certain they’ll reach the sixth floor.

The achievement set by Nikita’s team will soon be overtaken.

‘The talent pool among the second years is on another level.’

The second years are the generation that includes the protagonist, Lucas.

They’re known as the ‘Generation of the Golden Flame’.

The Last Princess, Iris Hyserion.

The Lazy Genius, Van.

The genius mage with the special talent ‘Mirinae’, Sharin.

The Saint, Sirmiel St. Eden.

Even just looking at these few, it’s an unbelievable talent pool.

And there are still many more gifted ones, with some talents yet to be realized.

‘Since it’s the protagonist’s generation, it’s only natural.’

The protagonist is the focal point driving the game’s storyline.

It’s almost inevitable that talent would be concentrated in the generation led by such a protagonist.

As a result, the second and third years were bound to be compared.

This was also why the second and third years didn’t get along too well.

“What does it matter what others think?”

However, it was good news for me.

“Setting a new record is something to celebrate, especially for Senior Nikita.”

A record was broken.

She achieved a new accomplishment through her efforts.

There’s nothing more important than that.

Nikita’s eyes opened slightly.

Then, they softened as a smile appeared on her face.

“You have such a nice way with words, junior.”

It’s something I only hear from Nikita.

“The others say I’m harsh with my words, though.”

“That’s strange. By my standards, you only ever use kind words. So, why not speak to them the way you do with me?”

“No, this is exclusively for Senior Nikita.”

“…Should I be happy about that?”

Nikita’s expression grew a bit uncertain.

It was a technique I recently learned from Sharin, but it seems it didn’t work well here.

“By the way, Senior, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

I walked closer to Nikita and naturally took over some of the work she was handling.

“What is it?”

“I heard that Nia Cynthia is coming as the new associate professor of magic studies.”

I took the quill pen in front of me and started working.

“I thought it might be polite for me, as a junior who’s always indebted to you, to go and greet him.”

“Don’t bother.”

Nikita’s voice turned cold.

I shifted my gaze from the papers to Nikita.

At that, Nikita met my eyes and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Even she seemed surprised by the tone of voice she had just used.

“Ah, um, that’s not what I meant.”

Nikita, flustered, waved her hands in an attempt to brush off the situation.

But I could tell why she had reacted that way a moment ago.

Nikita holds Nia Cynthia in high regard.

To her, Nia is an idol, someone she admires—a wonderful older brother figure.

However, behind that admiration and idolization, there is also jealousy.

The House of Cynthia is a family of magical lineage.

Yet, Nikita was born into the Cynthia family without any magical talent.

The common perception of her is that she’s merely a pretty doll for political marriage.

People often feel bitter about things they lack.

Nikita, too, once wished she’d been born with a magical talent and went through a time of deep frustration about it.

Nikita isn’t a perfect superhuman.

No matter how kind her older brother might be, somewhere in her heart, there is jealousy.

She’s mature enough to hide it entirely, but for the first time, that jealousy surfaced.

And this time, that jealousy was directed at me.

I’m someone who endlessly praises Nikita.

Every day, it’s a given that I pay her at least ten compliments.

I’m the only person who sees everything she does in a positive light.

For Nikita, this is the affection she never even received as a child, the doting and praise she’d never known.

Having grown up with more criticism than praise, Nikita was initially embarrassed by my compliments, not knowing how to respond.

Recently, however, she’s come to enjoy them and even gives me subtle glances, as if asking for more.

And that’s incredibly endearing.

Somehow, my praise has become an essential part of Nikita’s life.

Once someone’s tasted praise, it’s hard to let go, and Nikita is no exception.

In that context, Nia Cynthia has appeared.

To Nikita, Nia Cynthia represents an ideal version of herself, a person with everything she lacks.

Having been compared to Nia her whole life, Nikita can never attain what Nia has, while Nia has everything that Nikita could wish for.

I joined the student council out of admiration for Nikita.

So, what would happen if I were to meet Nia Cynthia, who is essentially an improved version of Nikita?

For a moment, Nikita imagined it.

She pictured me being taken away by Nia Cynthia.

She must have felt like a precious, well-loved toy was being snatched away.

“Nikita, I’m not going anywhere. The only person I admire is you, Senior Nikita.”

So, I decided to make it clear to Nikita.

Nia Cynthia was never on my mind.

The only person I admire is Nikita.

When I told her this, the flustered Nikita slowly looked up at me.

It seemed she realized something, as her eyes gradually widened.

Whoosh!

Then Nikita vanished.

To be precise, she ducked under her desk.

It looked like she’d finally understood the meaning of her own words, uttered without realizing it.

I pushed back my chair with a scraping sound and moved closer to Nikita’s desk.

“W-Wait, don’t come any closer.”

Nikita shouted from under the desk, covering her face with both hands.

She looked like a hamster hiding in a burrow.

I sat down naturally in her chair.

“H-Hey, junior, it’s okay for you to leave now!”

“No way. Since you doubted me, I’ll make sure you understand today. My only admiration is for you, Senior Nikita!”

“Junior, sometimes I can’t stand how quick you are to catch on! So why are you suddenly being so oblivious?”

“To show you my sincerity and clear up any doubt you have, I can put my perceptiveness aside for now.”

“Well, there’s no consideration for me in that!”

I could hear Nikita whining from under the desk.

Is this what they call sadism?

I think I’ve just learned something new.

But, just as I was about to let her off, thinking she was at her limit—

“Hmm, what’s going on here?”

A new voice rang out.

Thud!

Nikita tried to stand up suddenly and bumped her head on the desk.

While she held her head in silence, I turned my head.

Standing there was a handsome man with long silver hair, the same color as Nikita’s.

And I knew exactly who he was.

Nia Cynthia.

The very person we’d just been talking about had walked through the student council room door.

“O-Oh, brother…”

Nikita hurriedly came out from under the desk and lowered her head.

Nia looked at her and smiled gently.

“Nikita, would you care to explain the situation?”

Her brother had arrived.