That night.
Geoffrey dreamed.
He woke up in a room that was so cramped, small, and uncomfortable. His gaze was momentarily somewhat dazed, then slowly Geoffrey got up and looked at himself in a small square mirror.
There, Geoffrey saw the figure that used to be himself. Blond hair that almost reached his shoulders, eyes that looked empty and spinning around.
Before becoming Geoffrey, he had once been Nao Stellard. A young man whose life was full of conflict.
Although returning to this very gloomy place, Geoffrey didn't show many reactions. He was just a bit dazed, but quickly regained his composure.
His gaze was fixed on a door. Geoffrey—Nao—stepped forward, touched the door handle, then pulled it until it produced a low creaking sound.
When the door opened, he saw the living room of his house, or what should have been the living room.
The smell of alcohol was everywhere, followed by the smell of stale food. There were so many alcohol bottles and vomit scattered and uncleaned for several days.
"....Oh Nao, you won't leave mother, will you?"
In a wooden chair, leaning with a slumped body, Nao saw his mother in a chaotic state. Nao's face wrinkled, approaching his mother with fairly quick steps.
"Mother drank alcohol again. That's not good for your health."
Hearing that, his mother laughed, appearing unconscious due to the strong influence of alcohol.
"Hehe~ it's okay. Besides, isn't Nao here?"
Seeing his mother's smile though, Nao replied with a thin smile. "Yes, I won't leave, so please reduce drinking alcohol."
His mother's smile momentarily stuck to her beautiful but chaotic face, but at that moment his mother's smile became sharp while her expression was full of pain and sadness.
Tears wet his mother's face, "I thought you had left. Where have you been all this time? Why did you disappear for almost three months? Do you.... Want to leave mother?"
Nao fell silent, there was no emotion on his face. Even so, his face wrinkled finely while his hands clenched.
Nao closed his eyes, hugging his mother. "It's okay, I've come back."
Nao then felt his consciousness slowly dissolving into darkness. When everything became dark for a while, he opened his eyes.
Not a dirty ceiling, not a cramped room, not a hard bed, nor a room full of various smells of something stale.
"Right... I am now Geoffrey De Lune."
Geoffrey woke up, he rubbed his face roughly. Then, his gaze was fixed on the mirror, where his purple eye pupils stared back at him.
"It's not that my identity matters. What matters is that I received an opportunity, and I will make the best use of it."
For Geoffrey, that was what mattered.
He didn't care about what his identity was, who he was, and how. As long as he still had all his current memories, his way of thinking, and what drove him forward, that was enough.
Geoffrey sighed softly, he felt his right hand throbbing, causing quite enough pain to make him grimace in pain.
Geoffrey's gaze went to the dormitory's outer window. He could see that the night seemed still long, but Geoffrey didn't have the slightest desire to go back to sleep.
Therefore, he got up from his place.
"Walking at night won't be that bad."
Geoffrey walked through the quiet corridors of the academy dormitory. Seeing the moon's current position, Geoffrey guessed that it was now around two or three in the morning.
Because of that too, once Geoffrey reached the academy garden, the cold wind pierced his skin extraordinarily. That cold sensation made Geoffrey shiver and inevitably, he might have to consider going back.
"Wow... I could catch a cold if it continues like this."
Of course, even though Geoffrey had strong resistance to such diseases, it didn't mean he was truly immune.
Unconsciously, Geoffrey had been walking in that garden randomly, until he reached a garden that was right next to the academy.
That made Geoffrey remember something.
"If I'm not mistaken about the place. There should be a giant tree with a clear lake here. I wonder if she's here at night?"
Of course Geoffrey was in a confused state of mind so he didn't consider that possibility. He walked confidently and found his destination.
A tree with a lake. Very consistent with the narrative from the original novel, then something Geoffrey should have avoided if only his mind wasn't confused, was right in front of him.
A girl with whitish blond hair extending to her shoulders, green eye pupils that looked so clean and sprinkled with something that looked like a sprinkling of stars.
The girl wore a clean white nightgown, extending to cover her legs. When Geoffrey's gaze met with the girl, he was momentarily surprised then fell silent.
"...Are you lost, junior?" The girl was the first to speak. Under the beautiful moonlight, her smile was truly captivating.
'Adeya Minstar.'
Geoffrey thought of that name.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Maybe yes, maybe not."
How should Geoffrey say it?
If the girl in front of him was actually his favorite character in that novel.
When Adeya heard Geoffrey's answer, she momentarily froze and seemed to be trying to think about the meaning of those words. Then, as if finding nothing, the girl giggled.
"What was that? You're silly."
Hearing her laugh made Geoffrey's mind more relaxed, his body even got the same effect.
With that, whether it was his thoughts or his headache, everything subsided quickly as if it had never existed.
'I shouldn't have met her like this...' because of that too, Geoffrey quickly realized the mistake he had made. Even so, although he considered it a mistake...
Most of him considered that it was something he should have done. So much pressure he had experienced since moving to this world. Perhaps compared to others, Geoffrey could humbly be confident that his pressure wasn't much.
But in the end, pressure is pressure. He felt experiencing such prolonged stress. Including with his previous life and now.
Then, just by talking briefly with the character he idolized, succeeded in alleviating all kinds of Geoffrey's anxieties, even if only for a moment.
"You're not like what's rumored."
Hearing Adeya's voice awakened Geoffrey from his reverie. He looked at Adeya for a moment, then chuckled with amusement.
"What do I look like anyway?"
"Don't ask me, I don't want to answer it."
"...?"
"....What's clear is, I'm not someone who judges someone based on rumors, okay? So I'm not a bad senior, okay?"
"I don't understand, but okay."
Geoffrey's lips twitched, he tried to hold it back when he almost laughed a little. Adeya seemed to catch that and immediately turned her face away while snorting annoyed.
"What was that? What's so funny?"
Geoffrey shook his head, "Nothing, nothing at all. Really."
How could Adeya possibly believe just with words like that?
Geoffrey was about to add something, but he stopped when the ground he was stepping on and around him suddenly shook with an incredible explosion sound.
That made Geoffrey startled. He turned his body and looked toward the academy dormitory filled with explosion sounds.
At that million, the academy dormitory's special shield had been activated and blocked that bomb.
Geoffrey's hands clenched from shock.
'Wait...! This happened faster than it should have? But why?!'
This attack pattern clearly came from the demons.
Geoffrey froze in his place, but he immediately calmed himself.
'No problem. Even if they do it faster than they should, there still won't be a problem as long as the academy head and the protagonist are still there.'
Geoffrey calmed his rapidly beating heart. At that moment, he heard Adeya's gentle voice beside him.
"Junior, it seems there's an attack. I have to go help the others there. You should go evacuate, okay?"
With that characteristic smile and eye pupils curved like a crescent moon, Geoffrey saw Adeya get up from her place, wiping the dust off her nightgown.
For a moment, Geoffrey froze again in his place. Something else, another variable happened once again.
Because Adeya Winstar should never have intervened in this demon invasion issue because she was confident that everything would be handled safely.
So why is Adeya now intervening?
"Hmm... The distance between the academy and the Empire is quite far. Maybe I have to go all out to be able to hold on as long as possible until the academy head arrives."
Hearing Adeya muttering, wrinkles appeared on Geoffrey's face.
"Senior... The academy head isn't at the academy right now? Wait, why is he at the Empire?"
Adeya turned around and smiled, "Hehe, I don't really know myself. But it seems the emperor needs the academy head's help for something important."
At that moment, Geoffrey didn't know what to answer. His smile froze in place with his flat face, while Adeya? She had already left and disappeared from Geoffrey's view.
The variable that occurred now...
If not handled properly, it could be the end for the entire protagonist group.
Geoffrey's face became dark. He had no desire to intervene at all. But in an uncontrolled situation like this...
Geoffrey laughed.
"Screw it."
What could he do anyway?