A few dozen minutes later.
I was walking along the highway to take Eve back to the magic academy's dormitory.
I had originally planned to take a long detour home after shopping to blow off some stress, but the situation had changed. This is bad.
"..."
The two of us walked silently down a quiet, empty street. The only thing in the air was complete silence.
"..."
—This is insanely awkward.
The peaceful mood we had earlier had completely vanished. Please come back.
Seriously... I stepped on a massive landmine. If I could turn back time, I'd punch myself in the face to stop it.
I want to fix this atmosphere somehow, but even when I try acting extra cheerful, she only gives short, cold replies like "Yeah" or "Mm."
If this keeps up, I might not get the tickets... What do I do?
"...This is far enough."
While I was desperately trying to think of a way to fix things, we had already reached the teacher's dormitory. Eve spoke quietly.
"Wait... hold on a second. Um... well... we still haven't talked enough. Can I walk you all the way to your room?"
I said something I didn't mean at all and asked her anyway. I absolutely cannot let us part ways in this atmosphere. I have to prevent that no matter what.
"? ...!? ...Absolutely not!"
Eve first looked confused, then her face suddenly turned bright red as she realized what I meant. Her eyes widened in shock and she glared at me, raising her voice louder than usual.
"If I gave you the wrong idea, I'm sorry. But I didn't mean it like that... I already have Reiji..."
Eve turned her face away and mumbled something under her breath. What kind of misunderstanding is she having?
"...? No, I just want to talk a little more. I'll head straight home after since I want to sleep early too."
When I said that with a confused look,
"...I see. ...Then it's fine."
She agreed.
...But she still wouldn't look at me, and her ears were bright red. She's definitely really angry. I need to do something.
---
Inside the dormitory, Eve's room.
"Hmm... It's a pretty fancy room. You've got a lot of clothes... Wait, you don't have any magic tools?"
"I left all my magic tools at my family home. Also... please don't stare too much."
After entering the room, I looked around at the cute space filled with stuffed animals. Eve seemed embarrassed and told me that.
The room was very neat and organized, which matched Eve's meticulous personality. I just throw everything into my dimensional storage, so my room never gets messy, but the inside of the storage is a disaster. I genuinely think this is impressive.
"So... what did you still want to talk about?"
After placing a cute cup filled with a drink in front of me, Eve sat down lightly on the sofa and asked.
"Uhh... well, you see..."
I didn't actually have anything to talk about, so I desperately racked my brain trying to find an interesting topic. ...But nothing came to mind. Absolutely nothing. It was shocking how blank my mind was.
Even when I used *High-Speed Calculation* to accelerate my thinking, nothing came up. I was silently praying to a god I didn't even believe in: "Come on, give me something...!"
"...I'm sorry."
For some reason, Eve suddenly apologized.
"You were trying to cheer me up... right?"
"...Well, yeah."
(Though it was mostly just so I could get the tickets.)
"Also... back then. When you saved me, I'm sorry. I didn't even thank you properly... I acted terribly. And I'm sorry for being so rude when we met again at the academy."
"When I saved you...?"
I had zero memory of it. Did that happen?
Seeing my confused face, Eve told me, "When you defeated the Four Heavenly King." Oh, that time.
Now that she mentioned it, I do remember Eve glaring at me after I took down that skeleton. When we met again at the magic academy, she was also really prickly, so I thought she hated me.
But... I didn't actually mean to save her. I just brushed off some sparks that happened to fly my way.
"...I was jealous. Of your — absolute strength. Reiji was strong too, but if you were that strong, maybe he wouldn't have died."
"...I'm not bothered by it, so it's fine."
When I told her not to worry about it, Eve looked down and quietly said, "...Thank you."
"Besides... I wasn't really depressed. I was just... remembering the past and thinking about it."
"...Oh, so that's what it was."
I really thought I had stepped on a landmine. Thank god I didn't.
While I was quietly relieved, Eve continued.
"I... used to like Reiji. But I was stupid and realized it too late... so I never got to confess to him."
"...I see."
Eve spoke with a dark expression, opening up about her feelings.
I've never had a crush or a girlfriend before, so I don't really understand how it feels, but losing someone you love must be really painful.
While I was struggling to find the right words to say,
"But... it's okay. Even though Reiji died, I'll be able to meet him again."
Eve had her usual blank face, but with a slightly unhinged smile as she said something that made no sense. Meet him again? What does she mean?
"Is that... because of the *Falsehood Barrier's* 'Life and Death Reversal'? But that should only let you talk for a few days after death..."
When I asked, Eve shook her head and said, "No, that's not it." Then what does she mean? I have no idea.
The only other magic that can bring someone back is *Resurrection* from recovery magic. But it has very strict conditions, and it's impossible to revive someone after a long time has passed.
Even the *Resurrection* I know has a limit of about 10 days after death. Plus, the soul has to still be in this world.
From the way Eve was talking, it sounded like months had already passed... If someone's been dead that long, their soul should have already disappeared.
The only magic that could revive someone after that much time would be the suspicious one from that old fairy tale.
Eve spoke in a clear, determined voice:
"I'm searching for the *World Tree's Blessing Yggdrasil Saber*. So, I can bring Reiji back to life and meet him once again."