"...A waste of time."
As the sun set and it was getting close to the time to head home and sleep, Yoon Ha-min spoke up first, seemingly suggesting we wrap things up.
Honestly, I considered looking around more, but since it was only the first day and we couldn't keep focusing solely on this town, I nodded in agreement.
No cracks in the wall, no totems, and no sign of any Mysterious Person.
It was literally a waste of time, which made me feel awkward.
I worried about being labeled a liar.
But Yoon Ha-min didn't seem to mind.
I looked at him for a moment before turning away.
It was about time to head back, and I couldn't keep him here any longer, so I went along with the mood.
"Yeah... thanks for helping with something so trivial."
Ha-min tilted his head at my words.
"If what you're saying is true, someone here could die."
"...That's right."
"When it comes to saving lives, I can't just stand by knowing people might die."
He spoke words of justice.
I knew they were righteous words, but I also knew him well.
I couldn't help but know.
I admired how he pursued ideals while taking realistic approaches.
He still didn't fully believe what I was saying, but I appreciated that he couldn't simply dismiss it and was helping me look for evidence.
I never expected to benefit from the protagonist's good character.
Honestly, even after I asked to be friends, we hadn't even eaten a meal together. I thought he might be the type to ignore minor characters until the end, but that worry seemed unfounded.
"Will you come out again tomorrow to look?"
"Probably."
"...Huh."
I answered immediately, and he chuckled at my quick response.
"...Alright. Do you also live in Central City?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go back together. I'll walk you home."
"...No, that's okay. I'll go back by myself."
I declined his offer.
"Okay. Get home safely."
Ha-min smiled wryly as he said goodbye and slowly walked away.
I quietly watched his retreating figure.
I needed to go the same way eventually, but I didn't particularly want to walk back together.
We weren't friends, and staying close would only be awkward. It would increase his suspicions, and I didn't have the confidence to fully face his scrutiny.
I understood how difficult it was to ask someone to believe without proof.
He was following me to find evidence, but there was no guarantee we'd find anything, which must be frustrating for him.
Even if what I said was true, I had no answer if he asked where I heard it or why I was so certain.
During these two weeks, what could I do, and what could I do afterward?
I thought having knowledge of the future would allow me to completely change the story, but I felt sad about how powerless I actually was.
I laughed hollowly, wondering if this was how lonely it felt when no one believed in you or expected anything from you.
*
Friday arrived.
Despite it being Friday, the students weren't in high spirits.
Understandably, this Academy's exams were always on Wednesdays. It wasn't a system where you took tests on Friday and enjoyed the weekend.
The weekend was merely time to review Thursday and Friday's lessons in preparation for next Wednesday's exam.
But what could we do?
When it comes to protecting the world, we can't distinguish between weekdays and weekends, so we might as well get used to it now.
Meanwhile, I found myself unable to focus on class today.
Noticing this, Orca, who sat next to me, glanced my way.
"...You seem particularly troubled today."
Her quiet observation that I wasn't focusing on class stung a little.
"It's nothing."
Maybe I just had more to think about.
I brushed it off, but yesterday's events kept lingering in my mind.
A girl with ivory hair and purple eyes.
I couldn't stop thinking about yesterday when I walked with Kanna Aurora.
When she suddenly asked me on the rooftop if I could trust her just once, I followed her out of curiosity, but what I encountered was someone whose words I couldn't tell were nonsense or truth.
She suddenly claimed monsters would attack the Academy and other towns, which seemed absurd, yet her serious expression made me wonder if there was something to it.
So I followed her, and while her story seemed far-fetched, what she was looking for was clear.
The three items she told me to find suggested someone who believed this wall had been or would be breached.
What was Kanna thinking?
My thoughts kept drifting toward where Kanna was.
Normally, I wouldn't want to pay attention to someone who wasn't focusing on class, but after hearing her voice yesterday, I couldn't help but be drawn to her.
I couldn't stop myself from being concerned.
I couldn't understand what evidence she had to claim monsters would swarm here in two weeks.
It was hard to dismiss it as a joke to avoid exams because I saw her genuinely searching for clues.
If she were Second Rank, or even ranked at all, I might think it was a ploy to overthrow the Top Rank, but that wasn't the case.
"...Yoon Ha-min?"
Orca's gentle voice brought me back to reality again.
"Ah, sorry. I've got a lot on my mind."
I smiled bitterly.
Honestly, I thought I'd just need to defeat the Mysterious Persons and monsters threatening the world, so I didn't expect to have this kind of worry.
"I see. You should focus on class. You might get overtaken otherwise."
Orca narrowed her eyes with a smile.
Though she was Second Rank, her determination to catch up to me was evident.
While we scored the same on written tests, I outperformed her in practicals. If I made one mistake on paper, our positions could easily reverse.
"True."
I picked up my pen again.
But even as I studied, my concerns persisted.
Kanna's voice as she held the rooftop railing and muttered while looking beyond kept echoing in my mind.
She said if I went there once, I'd see something.
I didn't know what she was seeing, and I wanted to know.
Aren't you curious?
Coincidentally, it overlapped with the third exam, which seemed suspicious to others. Did she tell me because she was that desperate?
Was I the only one she told, or had she told others...?
Wait.
Come to think of it, wasn't it our homeroom teacher who knew Kanna was on the rooftop?
I looked up.
After focusing on class for a while, as soon as the bell rang at the end of the lesson, I stood up.
"Yoon Ha-min? Where are you rushing off to...?"
"I need to ask our homeroom teacher something quickly."
When I said that, Orca nodded understandingly and returned to her work.
Seeing her nod so quickly made me appreciate her similar personality to mine.
Anyway, I headed straight to the teachers' office and spotted our homeroom teacher returning from teaching another class. She was slightly shorter than me but had a distinctly adult presence.
"Mrs. Lucia!"
When I called her name to stop her, she turned her head sharply.
"...Ha-min?"
"Teacher, I have something to ask you. Do you have a moment?"
"...Hmm, I don't have another class, so yes, that's fine."
The teacher nodded willingly, and I led her toward the stairs.
She followed me calmly, as if familiar with this path from yesterday, which made my mouth go dry.
Though I had sought out the teacher for this meeting, I was at a loss for how to ask, which left me feeling awkward.
No, I should just speak directly instead of beating around the bush.
Opening the door and stepping over the threshold, I saw the panoramic view of the rooftop.
Seeing that no one was there, I knew it was a good place to talk.
The teacher looked around once and then gazed at me intently.
"What did you want to ask about?"
"...You spoke with Kanna Aurora here yesterday, didn't you?"
"I did."
The teacher answered readily.
There was no reason for her to hide that she had spoken with a student.
But if it was about the content of their conversation, that was a different matter.
The fact that I had called the teacher aside suggested I wanted to discuss this.
Yesterday when I came up to the rooftop, she had talked about it.
If so, the teacher probably knew about this story.
"...Teacher, did Kanna Aurora tell you yesterday that monsters would attack?"
"...I see she told you the same story. Did she say that when you went up to the rooftop yesterday?"
"Yes."
The teacher seemed to consider for a moment but then turned away as if it was nothing.
Mrs. Lucia was looking at the sprawling view of the town.
It was a vast space, but not infinite, showing how humans were constrained in their freedom.
She gazed at the wall that reminded us of this fact.
"It's better not to worry too much. Perhaps Kanna is just feeling pessimistic about her poor grades and wants to make the exam disappear."
"...What?"
"This is inside the Wall. We haven't even received reports of cracks forming, so it's impossible."
The teacher stated firmly.
I stood there blankly before nodding.
That was true. Our role as heroes was to gradually expand the Wall while defeating monsters we encountered to stabilize the area.
Besides, when cracks formed and monsters entered, reports came immediately, and monster attacks happened in an instant.
The teacher's judgment seemed correct.
So I couldn't say anything.
"You should just focus on the exam. If you entered as Top Rank, you know you need to graduate as Top Rank to get into a really good place, right?"
"...I know."
"Good. Is that all you wanted to discuss?"
"...Yes."
"Then I'll be going."
With that, our conversation ended, and the teacher carefully opened the door and left.
"Ah, if you see Kanna going to the rooftop alone, please stop her."
I quietly nodded at her words.
What the teacher said was right. Anyone would agree with her judgment.
But somehow, I felt uneasy about the teacher dismissing Kanna's story as just an attempt to ruin the exam.
I couldn't say much since I also didn't pay attention to the Bottom Rank who didn't seem to try.
But whether she truly wasn't trying was something only she would know, so I gazed intently at the sky Kanna had been watching.
Would I really see something if I went there once?
I didn't know what it was, but I wanted to find out.