The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 99: Unclear

I arrived at the academy as usual and immediately started looking for Fiera and the others in the classroom.

However, not only was Eir absent, but I couldn’t find Fiera and the others anywhere either, so I took my seat and attended the class alone.

I had often been alone before, but ever since entering the academy, Fiera and the others had always been by my side, making this sudden solitude feel incredibly lonely.

To distract myself from that loneliness, I concentrated even harder on the morning classes, and before I knew it, it was already lunchtime.

While I was about to lay out the lunch I had brought on my desk, Fiera and Shuvina entered the classroom and walked over to me.

“Oh, you two! What have you been doing until this time? I was worried you weren’t coming today!”

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Sonia. Is it okay if we eat lunch together?”

“Of course!”

Fiera and Shuvina took seats beside me, and Fiera pulled out two portions of lunch from her magic bag and placed them on the table.

“That’s an impressive amount as usual…”

“Yeah. Shuv eats a lot.”

“N-no, I don’t! I’m totally normal!”

Despite Shuvina’s slender frame, she eats quite a lot, but she always insists she’s just ordinary.

“Right. Shuvina is normal. Now, let’s hurry up and eat since we don’t have much time.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

“Alright, let’s dig in.”

With Shuvina’s cue, we started eating the lunches we brought, and by the time I finished, Shuvina, who had eaten the most, also finished at the same time, while Fiera happily finished off a dessert as well.

“That magic bag is really convenient.”

“Yeah. Eir got it from someone before. I’m using it now.”

As she said that, Fiera wagged her tail happily, probably because it was something she received from Eir.

“By the way, where’s Eir? Is he taking a break today?”

“He got called by the headmaster, so he’s over there. We came here because we wanted to talk to you.”

“Talk about what?”

When I asked, Shuvina began speaking with a slightly serious expression.

“Sonia. I’m sorry for the sudden news, but we’ve decided to drop out of this academy, and we’ll be leaving this country tomorrow. We’re here to handle the paperwork for our withdrawal today.”

“W-what… drop out?”

I couldn’t immediately grasp what Shuvina had just told me and looked over at Fiera for confirmation, but she merely nodded.

“W-why?!”

“I think I mentioned this when we first met, but we’re adventurers. We came here because Eir had business in the academy’s forbidden archives, but it seems that purpose has been completed recently. We’re leaving to head to our next destination.”

Indeed, when we first met, Eir and the others had introduced themselves as adventurers.

However, I thought they would take a break from adventuring and be together until graduation, so I never considered that they would drop out and return to being adventurers.

“C-can’t you do something about it? I want to graduate with everyone!”

“I’m sorry. This decision was made by Eir, so there’s nothing we can do.”

“Then, what if just the two of you stay? You don’t have to force yourselves to come with us, right?”

Not wanting to be alone again, I found myself saying such things even though I knew it was selfish.

“Sonia. Don’t be so selfish.”

“…Fiera?”

Then, for the first time, Fiera, who had remained silent until now, spoke to me in a low voice I had never heard before.

“Sure, we’re friends. But you don’t have the right to interfere with our decisions. We are following Eir of our own will. Trying to force your emotions on us to stop us is just bothersome.”

There was an anger I had never seen before in Fiera’s eyes, and seeing her like this made me lose my composure even more.

“I didn’t mean it like that! I just think Eir’s way of thinking is dangerous, and if you stay with him, it could be risky!”

“Calm down, both of you.”

As I got emotional and said that, Shuvina clapped her hands to interrupt me and spoke to us seriously.

“Fiera. I understand you’re upset about Eir being spoken ill of, but no claws, okay? Transform back now.”

“…Fine.”

Fiera agreed and, having been reminded by Shuvina, returned her sharp claws to their original shape.

“Sonia, you’re getting too emotional and losing control of your magic. If you continue like this, you’ll end up with a magical surge, so take a few deep breaths and calm down.”

Following Shuvina’s instructions, I took several deep breaths, and my mind started to clear up, allowing me to rein in the overflowing magic.

“Feeling better now? But listen, Sonia. I’m upset too, though not as much as Fiera,” Shuvina said.

“Why!!!”

“You heard Fiera earlier. We are following him of our own volition. This means we know the risks involved in following him.

While I appreciate your concern, this time it’s just unnecessary.”

“Even you, Shuvina…”

I couldn’t accept the words from the two I considered friends, clenching my fists tightly and looking down.

“Sonia. You tend to impose your feelings on others. You’re very kind, but you sometimes assume everyone else feels the same way you do. That’s not good.

Just as I can’t fully understand your feelings, you can’t know everything about how I, Fiera, and Eir feel.

People’s values and ways of thinking change based on past experiences and surroundings. We’re not all the same.

I don’t know what you’ve experienced until now, but you don’t know what Eir has gone through either.

So, it’s not right to unilaterally deny someone else’s thoughts and values.”

Shuvina’s words echoed what Eir had once said, and I found myself unable to speak anymore.

“Listen, Sonia. Understanding someone else’s feelings is completely different from thinking you understand them and imposing your feelings on them.

You’re just pretending to understand their feelings and are trying to impose your own.

If you continue like that, you will never truly understand how others feel.”

“…Then, what should I do?”

“Start by getting to know the other person. Ask why they think the way they do and what led to their beliefs. Rather than viewing them through your own preconceived notions and values, learn about them first, then try to understand their values and way of thinking.”

Shuvina said this, gently holding my hand and continuing with a smile.

“You’re going to be alright. You can do this. You’ve spent so much time alone because of your magical seal that you just don’t realize it yet. If you interact with more people from now on, you will surely grow.”

With Shuvina’s smiling face resembling that of a real older sister, I felt as if my troubled heart was calming down.

However, what I truly wanted to understand was not about others…

“…Then, can I follow Eir and you two? I think I could understand you better that way, and I’d grow too.”

“Eh…”

Upon hearing my words, the two looked surprised, as if it was unexpected, then quickly changed to apologetic expressions.

“Probably not.”

“Why?”

Fiera paused for a moment, then looked into my eyes and clearly stated it was impossible.

“Because Eir has no intention of taking you along.”

“…I see. As Fiera said, Eir has no intention of taking you with him at all. Even though we make a party together, it feels more like Fiera and I are forcing ourselves to keep up.”

“I’ve actually got permission.”

“Huh? Is that so? Then it seems I’m the only one struggling to keep up… Ugh…”

Shuvina, who had earlier given off an adult-like atmosphere, looked a little teary-eyed at this unforeseen truth.

“What do you mean by struggling to keep up?”

“Well, you see, Eir, as you can see, is indifferent to both himself and others. He doesn’t care if he dies or if others die. There’s no way someone like him would let you join a party without issue. He immediately said no when I first asked.

So, I half-threatened him, saying I’d use Dōna’s powers to chase after him. As a result, he must have realized I had some value, so he set me a challenge.

And after somehow clearing that challenge, I was allowed to join the party.”

“I asked if I could follow, and he said if you want to come, that’s fine. Plus, I’ve also been entrusted with taking care of Eir by his parents.”

“Eh?! Fiera, you were allowed so easily! And you even met his parents and were entrusted with him?!”

Shuvina looked extremely shocked at Fiera’s story, her eyes widening and her body freezing in place.

“Anyway, that’s the situation. Shuv is allowed to accompany Eir because she can be useful for his goals. But Sonia, you don’t have that. So, it’s probably impossible.”

Fiera’s words felt like they were telling me I had no value, and my chest hurt, but the truth was that I currently didn’t have the ability to follow the three of them.

“Sonia, first of all, even if we leave this country, there’s no guarantee we’ll meet again. We might never see each other again. So, I don’t think you need to worry so much about Eir.”

Indeed, as Fiera pointed out, I had no idea where the three of them came from, where they were going next, or what they were going to do.

“Even so, I still…”

Even so, I wanted to understand these three.

Rather than the people of this country, who had looked down on me and oppressed me, I wanted to be with them, my first friends.

So…

Just when I solidified my feelings, Eir, who had returned from the headmaster’s office, entered the classroom.