Chapter 29 - I forgot something important (2/2)

“……How could this be, how did it become like this……”

I squatted by everyone’s sides who were all limp and unmoving. My body was trembling uncontrollably, and tears flowed out from my eyes.

Why did it become like this…… I’ve lost everyone important to me like this……

If everything becomes like this, how am I supposed to face the destruction ends all by myself……

“……Why…… Why……”

All I could do in that pitch black world was cry.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling. It’s the ceiling of the room I’ve been using in the dorms for more than half a year already. The room was still dark, and I couldn’t see any light outside my window at all. The sun probably hasn’t risen yet.

“……It…… was a dream.”

My voice was hoarse, and my body was trembling slightly. There was cold sweat on my back, and when I touched my cheeks they were slightly wet. It seems that just like in the dream, I was crying in real life as well.

What a terrible dream that was. I hugged my still trembling body tightly with both arms.

You have to trade someone else’s life in order to obtain dark magic. It’s magic where the price is a life.

It’s probably because that I heard such a scary topic, causing me to have such a scary dream. However, that future isn’t impossible……

In the game “Fortune Lover,” the only person whose life was at risk in the Alan, Keith, and Jared routes was the villainess rival Katarina Claes. I never got a chance to clear the Nico route…… The rival character for the Nico route is his sister Sophia. I think that it’s possible with how much of a siscon Nico is, he’d do anything at all for the sake of his sister.

That’s why…… That kind of future definitely isn’t impossible……

This game world is dangerous for Katarina Claes. Just me. And so, in order to overcome these dangers, I’ve prepared various countermeasures over these seven years.

I often told myself that “everything will be alright.”

Even so, that dream…… That scene wouldn’t disappear at all from my mind.

In the end, I wasn’t able to go back to sleep at all after that.

The next day, either because I hardly got any sleep at all, or because I had seen such a horrible dream……I collapsed in the morning while meeting with everyone, and so Keith and Jared accompanied to the infirmary where I got some rest.

Is it because I didn’t get enough sleep, I fell asleep the moment I hit the warm bed.

Quite a lot of time had passed when I woke up again, it was almost lunch break already, and as expected, Jared and Keith probably returned to class.

My head was completely cleared now thanks to sleeping so much, I thanked the infirmary nurse, and headed back to classes myself as well.

Yesterday, Jared had earnestly pleaded with me not to go anywhere by myself, but the short distance between the infirmary and classrooms shouldn’t be a problem, I think. Since there’s a shortcut in the garden between the infirmary and the classrooms, I’ll go through there.

I walked through the garden that was filled with sunshine. Then, I saw the tiny bench from before that Maria had been having lunch on before.

Then, just a little…… I walked over to the bench, and sat on it as well.

Until we became really good friends, Maria had always been eating here by herself.

That cute, gentle Maria…… Even though it’s already become completely natural that we’d be together now……

If Jared’s analysis yesterday was right…… Maria’s in quite a lot of danger right now. After all, she might have gotten involved with someone with dark magic that sacrificed someone else’s life……

“Katarina-san? What are you doing in a place like this?”

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me and I looked back in surprise, and the student council president was standing there with his usual smile.

“Uh, uhh…… I wasn’t feeling well, so I was just resting in the infirmary, and I was about to return to the classrooms……”

“So that’s how it was. But, we still haven’t found Maria-san yet, it’s dangerous to be here by yourself in such an out-of-the-way place such as this. I’ll accompany you.”

“Th, thank you very much.”

And so, I took his outstretched hand that was proffered to me.

Then I suddenly had a thought. I wonder why would the student council president be in a place like this. Since classes are still going on right now, there weren’t any other students around. As for him, why would he be in a place like this?

As that question crossed my mind, and I looked at the president, while his brilliant red hair was sparkling from the sun’s rays.

At seeing that sight, a memory suddenly dug itself out of my mind.

“The hidden character is~ surprisingly bad~”

The smirking A-chan happily continued on with her spoilers despite my protests.

“He’s a dangerous person that has dark magic. If you capture him successfully, he’ll have a sweet daily life with the heroine, but…… If you fail, he’ll kill the heroine and all her friends in the student council, it’s a really bad end where everyone dies, isn’t it. - By the way, this hidden character…… Has brilliant red hair and grey eyes -”

Yes, I think I did hear something like this from A-chan.

The existence of a hidden character and his endings……

The ending from the dream yesterday definitely wasn’t impossible…… The heroine and everyone in the student council dying…… Such an ending definitely existed……

Cold sweat was running down my back.

Why did I forget such an important thing until now…… I’m really such an idiot……

Brilliant red hair and grey eyes - I stared at the student council president who was smiling gently before me, Sirius Deek. This person’s the hidden character in “Fortune Lover,” the person with dark magic -

This gentle person…… Will take the lives of Maria and the other student council members, everyone important to me…… I really can’t believe it at all……

However, if Jared’s analysis was right, this incident has to do with a dark magic user…… And the president - Sirius Deek, probably has the ability of dark magic.

Dark magic where you have to offer someone else’s life in exchange……

“Katarina-san, what’s the matter?”

While holding his hand, I was completely frozen, while I was busy suspecting him Sirius spoke up. His expression was his usual gentle self.

Is it really this person……

“President…… Do you have dark magic? And, what did you do to Maria?”

“………What’s dark magic?”

Before I realized it, I asked him by reflex, and Sirius had a confused look on his face. It’s a face that says he’s never heard of such a thing before.

That’s right. Most people probably wouldn’t know about such a magic. As for me as well, I had just heard about it from Jared, and never knew about it until then.

He really might not know. While in the game he had dark magic, it might be different now in reality.

My friends are also quite different from the characters in the game. The president as well, there’s quite a good chance that he’s different from the game.

“That’s right. You’ve probably never heard of such a thing. It’s impossible that such a gentle president would do anything to Maria and us with the power of dark magic. I’m sorry for asking you such a weird thing.”

That’s it, I must have gotten something wrong. I really can’t think that such a gentle president would do something like take other people’s lives with dark magic at all.

That’s what I thought, and when I looked at Sirius again -

I saw him looking at me with cold eyes that I had never seen before from him.

“……President……?

“……Gentle…… You said I’m always like that, right.”

“……I mean, since president is really gentle and all……”

I was a bit shaken at his cold eyes and voice but still answered him, and then -

Sirius changed his expression.

“That’s all just acting. It’s really easy to pretend to be gentle and calm. It looks like it was so easy to fool all you idiots, eh.”

“!?”

At seeing how I opened my eyes wide in surprise, a smile appeared on Sirius’s face as if to make fun of me.

“By the way, I also kidnapped Maria Campbell. Because she found something out that she shouldn’t have. Also, Katarina Claes, I really hate you. Saying that you’re helping those that are lonely, saving people with the intention of being a hypocrite! I can’t help but be irritated whenever I look at you!”

He changed from his cold tone of voice, and now he was agitatedly shouting words full of anger towards me. He was still holding my hand in his really tightly as well, and it hurt quite a bit.

“You should just disappear somewhere already!”

Saying that I’m helping those that are lonely? Saving? Hypocrite? There’s so many things that I don’t understand about what Sirius is saying.

But, his words were so full of malice, I did understand that he seems to hate me……

And, it seems that this person was the culprit who took away Maria as well.

Then, just like in the game, will this person take away everyone’s lives in the student council, everyone important to me……

I looked into Sirius’s grey eyes. It was so different from his usual calm expression, his eyes were cold as ice.

He said that he himself kidnapped Maria. He said that his gentleness was all acting. All his words he spat out at me were full of malice.

Even so…… Why……

“……Are you alright?”

I reached out my free hand towards Sirius’s face.

Sirius who had such cold eyes and said such words full of malice towards me.

Even so, in contrast to his words, his face looked so very, very bitter…… It seemed like he would cry at any moment.

His complexion looked terrible as well, as if he would fall over at any moment……

When my outstretched hand touched his face, it was as cold as ice.

“……You hypocrite…… That’s enough out of you! Don’t bother yourself with me! Don’t get close to me! Don’t smile at me! ……Disappear from my sight already!”

He knocked away my hand that was touching his face, and shouted at me.

Then…… For some reason, everything slowly turned dark before me. And, my consciousness gradually faded……

“Just go to sleep like that. Keep sleeping until your life runs out.”

Sirius said so as if he were spitting it out.

The last thing I saw in my fading consciousness was -

Sirius was crying.