Like he did every late evening, a member of the Royal Academy's staff was cleaning the training grounds.
He was just doing his job, not bothering himself with thinking over the circumstances of how some things ended up the way they did.
That's why he thought nothing while picking up pieces of a log and a metal rod that were originally stuck on when they were whole.
The wood and metal that BOTH were sliced apart.
"...hmm…?"
Still, it wasn't as if the staff member was completely unaffected by curiosity, so when he spotted a thin groove extending form the spot he was cleaning, he let out a surprised voice and raised his brow.
"..."
After looking around for a moment, he seemed to make a decision and started following the groove, with the last piece of wood still in hand, soon leaivng the beaten ground of the training field and walking on the grass.
The groove continued, cutting through the vegetation, which meant that it was a new addition to the area.
The man walked over the pieces of a beetle bisected by the groove swarmed with ants and his interest only grew.
Finally, he ended up at the wall surrounding the Academy grounds…
"What the hel…?"
The closer inspection wasn't necessary, as the groove in the ground not only continued to the wall, but actually end into a crevice cutting the stone structure clean in half, to the point that it would be possible to see the light passing through from one side to the other.
Curiously enough, the wall had two more cuts, although a lot shorter and shallower than the one that the staff member followed.
One diagonal and one horizontal to the perfectly vertical initial one, all three intersecting in a single point.
"...there's… no way…"
The man flinched and muttered, first looking at the piece of wood that he was holding onto, that still had a fragment of sliced metal rod in it, and then turning back to look at his starting point.
"There's just, no way… right…?"
—-----
She was melting in his caring embrace, feeling the safest in the world.
Oh, how she wanted for the two of them to stay like that forever.
With his breath ticlking her ear, and their heartbeats syncing up into one.
But then he moved, showcasing the swordsmanship move and he tore the world apart.
Only that it wasn't the word, it was her tearing apart.
The stagnant and blocked mana pathways burst open, forced by an unrelenting torrent of mana, swallowed by blinding light.
"...!"
And then she woke up, jolted awake by the by the sensation.
"I told you that training with him was a bad idea."
"?!?!"
She didn't even have time to look around when a strict and disappointed voice called out to her from her right, causing her to flinch so much she jumped on the mattress.
"Y-young M-Miss?! P-please forgive my rudeness!"
"Don't act like that. We're supposed to be classmates."
The petite maid cried out in panic and hurriedly bowed her head deeply towards none other than Amelia Edemsworth who rolled her eyes and shook her head at the girl's behavior.
"Just so you know, no one can know what actually happened. The official version is that Rotsard simply bullied you, Mira Vultress's maid-in-waiting. I already arranged for the only other person who had an inkling of an idea about the truth to be silenced."
"..."
Amelia, straightened her back and leaned on the chair next to the maid's bed, crossing her arms and declaring while the petite maid kept her head low, clenching her fists in silence.
"Don't make that face. I mean I paid him to keep his mouth shut!"
"..."
Amelia glanced at the silent maid and rolled her eyes before scoffing and explaining in an annoyed voice… but that didn't cause change in the other girl's behavior.
"Hmm? Oh, don't tell me that the person you're worried about is that trashy third-rate villain!? Didn't you openly hate on him not that long ago?!"
"...!"
Amelia raised her brow before letting out a gasp of disbelief and causing the petite maid to tense up and start pouting, all without ever raising her head to look at the blond-haired girl.
"You're supposed to be Justin."
"!!!"
Amelia breathed out before nodding to herself and addressing the maid directly, causing her to jolt up and look at her properly for the first time.
"You are the only person I ever told about the Nordenthele Kingdom Hero's Anthology. Back then you told me that you believe that the being of light, the Grand Fae, has imparted on me the knowledge of the only future in which our world can survive and thrive. You promised me that you will do everything in your power to help me keep the world that course. Are you going to go back on that promise? Are you going to abandon me and doom our world?"
Amelia glanced to the sides making sure that the two of them were alone before leaning in and whispering in a voice filled with seriousness and urgency.
"...N… no… No, I'm not, Young Miss… "
The petite maid trembled, biting her lips to the point of almost drawing blood, but eventually she lowered her head again and shook it, letting out a small, pitiful cry.
"That's the spirit! Remember, you're supposed to play as a man. And a man has to have conviction."
"...yes…"
Amelia cheered out, reaching out and patting the petite maid's shoulder while the other girl only muttered a response giving her a small nod.
"Well then, I'll be going. Can't really hang around somebody else's maid without reason~"
The blond-haired girl stood up and immediately started leaving the private room in the hospital wing, not bothered by the petite maid's mood.
"Oh, that's right. Just in case…"
"...?"
But she didn't leave. Just before opening the door, she looked back and spoke, getting the maid's attention again.
"Rotsard is nothing. Just a trash that's meant to keep the future hero on his toes and force him to keep training. Eventually, he will sell his soul to a deofol for power, unable to cope with the inferiority complex. It is something that MUST happen. The Grand Fae of Light made it clear."
Amelia declared with a stern expression.