After finishing breakfast, I headed straight for school, with Irene seeing me off at the mansion's entrance.
"Travel safely."
"Yeah."
Even though I was angry at myself for responding to the young woman's words so harshly, getting angry wouldn't fix anything. So, all I could do now was accept it and hope to repay her someday.
In truth, rich kids like him would normally have a horse-drawn carriage to take them wherever they needed to go. But according to my memories, about two weeks ago, this Alan guy had caused trouble with the carriage driver. As a result, no one dared to accept the job of picking him up in the morning anymore. Sigh... It's so frustrating. Just how much trouble did you cause?
But even so, I suppose it was an opportunity for me to see this city clearly with my own eyes. Although I had seen some of it through his memories, seeing it for myself is always better, right?
I gazed at the entire scene before me and let out a small smile.
Ah... this is fantasy.
The sight before me was of students, just like myself, heading towards the school. But that wasn't all. In the sky, countless students and other people were riding on brooms, large birds, and other winged creatures, bustling about on their way somewhere. Down below, various carriages appeared, including strange ones pulled by monsters instead of horses. There were large deer and giant lions, so diverse that I never got tired of looking at them.
It's a good thing there's a pedestrian walkway here. Otherwise, if I had to squeeze onto that road, I'd surely get trampled without knowing it.
I looked around with excitement. There were buildings with strange shapes, people in peculiar clothes, and even various species of demi-humans. It was just like the game I used to play, but what was different was the view itself.
How could a static image on a screen ever compare to the real thing?
As I was enjoying my walk, before I knew it, I had arrived at the school gates. It was a shame I couldn't continue exploring, but there's always next time.
The moment I stepped into the school grounds, the scenery around me suddenly changed.
Fwoosh!!
After stepping past the school gates, the image that appeared before my eyes was that of a gigantic school standing before me. And when I looked around, I found that this place was surrounded by a vast, massive forest with mountains in the distance. If you were to ask how vast it was... well, even at the furthest limit of my vision, I couldn't see its end.
A Territory Spell... one of the greatest grand spells in this world. This magic requires the power of as many as 1,000 mages to cast. And the one who created this spell was the principal of this school, the strongest mage of all time on this world, Cadisia Helm.
The Territory Spell was cast from the school's entrance, preventing anyone from entering unless they were a student or a teacher. If anyone dared to test their luck and force their way in... this Territory Spell would teach them a good lesson.
Hmm... so this is magic.
Seeing the beautiful sight before me, I let out a smile of admiration.
I wonder if I'll be able to do something like that one day.
Ah... damn it. I got all excited like a kid. Heh heh heh.
It seems I need to calm down. Right now, I need to focus on my goal of escaping death. After I've dealt with all that, it won't be too late to enjoy life here to the fullest.
With that thought, I stepped onto the road ahead to enter the school, with the eyes of the surrounding students fixed on me.
............................
After walking into the school building, I looked around with interest at the novelty of it all. I had seen these scenes while playing the game, but I wasn't quite used to them since my perspective had now changed. This made me look at everything with keen interest, as if seeing it for the first time.
Whisper, whisper, whisper.
I glanced to the side. Immediately, I saw that many students were looking at me. When they met my gaze, they quickly lowered their heads and walked away.
I know Alan is detestable... but it shouldn't be to the point where people stare at me this much. Wait, or was he always looked at like this, and the game just never mentioned it?... Hmm, that's possible. After the first Chapter, this guy's story just disappears. It's not surprising, since he's already dead.
Or maybe... he went and caused some more trouble? Hmm... but from what I remember, there was nothing.
I tried to think if there was something I couldn't recall, but just then, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. When I turned to look, I saw a handsome, black-haired young man smiling at me.
"Hello, Brother Alan. Are you heading to your classroom?"
"Kretan... is that you?"
"Yes?..."
I stared at the face of the good-looking young man before me. There was no mistake... this guy was Sephiroth Kretan Dias, Alan's younger half-brother.
"You seem distracted, Brother Alan. Is something wrong?" Kretan asked with concern. Hearing that, I turned to look ahead.
"It's nothing..." Although it was strange, it seemed that when talking to family or his own bloodline, this Alan guy acted unexpectedly polite. Even if his tone of voice was the same.
If I were to talk about Sephiroth Kretan Dias... hmm, how should I put it? If Alan was the epitome of evil, this guy was probably the epitome of good.
That's right. If you ask me... Kretan was the one most suited for the position of the next king.
Kretan loved his family very much and didn't just see things from one side. He was one of the few people who still talked to Alan without expecting anything in return. I don't know if Kretan still saw Alan as a brother, but maybe he was just a fool who thought Alan could change. Sigh... But even so, when Alan died, Kretan was the only one who ran to his corpse, crying his eyes out.
"Is that so? Oh, by the way, Brother Alan, have you seen the match-ups for today? I saw that you're one of the competitors. That's amazing."
"Match-ups?..."
What the hell... what match-ups?
"Yes, the Cynthia Tournament that you signed up for... or am I mistaken?" Kretan asked back, confused.
Wait a minute, the Cynthia Tournament?... If I remember correctly, that tournament was the event just before the start of Chapter 1 in Olicia's route. But from what I recall in this guy's memory, there was indeed a competition scheduled for two months from now, but I also remember that Alan didn't sign up for it.
And he hadn't gone to pick a fight with the protagonist either. Or could it be... a different route?
With that thought, I rushed myself further into the school, ignoring Kretan who was running after me. I walked past crowds of people before going to look at the giant bulletin board in the center of the school.
And the image I saw was... a list of all the match-ups for the Cynthia Tournament. And among them was Alan's name.
Sephiroth Alan Hylm Vs. Akana Sei
"....."
Sigh... Just my luck.
Seeing the list, I clenched my fists tightly in frustration before immediately turning around and walking away.
Chapter 1 was about to begin.
"B-Brother Alan! Where are you going?" Kretan, who had followed me, shouted with confusion when he saw me heading towards a different building, as Alan's classroom was in another direction.
"To take care of some business!!" Alan shouted back, his voice filled with frustration.
This was no time for classes. The Cynthia Tournament would begin in two months. If I didn't prepare... I'm dead for sure.
My body moved hastily through the crowd of staring people. Kretan, hearing my reply, stopped following. He watched my back with a puzzled expression as I walked towards the building on the other side.
"What business could he have at the Invention Building..." Kretan murmured to himself, not understanding why Alan, a person who never bothered with such things, would head into a place like that.