After the Academy's day ended, I watched the students leaving for a moment before moving my bag from beside my desk to the tabletop.
Since the weekend was starting, I planned to take all the textbooks from Thursday and Friday classes to review and somehow catch up on my notes.
As I was packing my books, Yoon Ha-min, who hadn't been able to say much during lunch due to feeling awkward, quietly approached me.
"Kanna, perhaps today..."
"No, it's fine."
It seemed he thought I wouldn't be exploring the town today.
I should have told him in advance.
I swallowed a sigh internally.
While I had told him the facts via smartphone, I hadn't taken any evidence, which felt somewhat disappointing.
I had reached out immediately, driven by the need to eliminate the threat as quickly as possible, so it couldn't be helped.
Despite knowing when that thing would activate, I still felt uneasy.
This anxiety stemmed from not following the path the original owner of this body should have taken, and even altering the protagonist's course.
I knew the ending of this story, and while I wasn't sure if it had changed, one thing was certain: from now on, the future I knew wouldn't exist.
Of course, the identity of the mastermind and their methods would remain the same.
But because of my actions...
The Academy wouldn't be attacked, and simultaneously, one town wouldn't be in danger.
I couldn't say it was perfect since I needed to check if anything remained, but once you find one, the next would come quickly.
"I'll contact you separately."
I said that and started walking away.
"Oh, okay."
Ha-min nodded, seeming to understand.
I should be grateful that he understood.
The gazes around us became somewhat subtle, as if people were curious about what "contacting separately" meant, but there was nothing for them to understand here.
I was simply saying goodbye.
"See you next week."
*
Though I said that, I actually did need help—I just said it that way because of the sharp gazes of people around us.
I wanted to bring proper evidence to someone who trusted me, to make them feel they were right to believe in me.
For that, I hoped there would be other evidence.
Of course, it would be best if there weren't any more.
[Me: I found a totem yesterday.]
I sent the message on my device while standing at the bus stop.
The message sent to Ha-min was quickly answered.
[Yoon Ha-min: So your injured hand this morning was because of that totem?]
It felt strange to be communicating with someone, but it was just like him to be concerned about my injured hand from this morning.
[Me: More importantly, if you're not with anyone, could you help me?]
[Yoon Ha-min: Where are you?]
[Me: At the bus stop.]
After that, the last message I received was that he'd be there soon, and then the device went quiet.
Honestly, I thought he'd be with Orca, but maybe they don't hang out that much.
"...You came quickly?"
Seeing him arrive so fast, I noticed sweat trickling down his face.
I never thought I'd directly experience how incredibly fast the footsteps of someone who never leaves the Top Rank could be.
Well, however he walks, it would certainly be faster than my absentminded pace.
"Of course I came quickly. But about the totem... really? Where was it?"
His pupils seemed to shake.
He appeared terrified by the fact that something threatening the Wall existed.
And this was before I even showed him the totem or proved its existence again.
Yet he half-believed me and was looking at my hand.
"...Can I see your hand, just once?"
I flinched.
Then carefully extended my hand.
As I held out my bandaged hand, he gently touched the finished part.
With a light tap, the pressure binding my hand loosened.
It felt a bit more comfortable, but in the end, I couldn't help but wince.
Removing the bandage stuck to the wound was a bit painful.
And Ha-min's face also wrinkled slightly when he saw it.
"...My goodness. Is this a burn? How did this happen?"
"Well, the totem was shaped like a feather, and to eliminate it, I gripped it and poured all my ability into it..."
"You must have known this would happen... why didn't you call me?"
He shot a glance at my eyes, as if worried and wanting to scold me.
Feeling guilty, I groaned and then smiled bitterly.
"I thought I needed to remove it quickly... I couldn't think of anything else."
"...Are you okay?"
I raised my head, which I had briefly lowered, and looked at him.
As I stared at him with wide eyes, he spoke again.
"...Still, are you okay?"
"About what?"
When I expressed confusion, he hesitantly opened his mouth.
"No one will believe you with just that, are you okay with that?"
Well...
"I guess? Let's get going."
I spoke nonchalantly and quickened my pace.
I rushed toward a different scenery than before.
We arrived again at the town where I had discovered the totem yesterday.
I approached the Wall directly and absentmindedly looked around.
"...It's here. The totem was here."
I said that and quietly began to explain about the totem.
"It was shaped like a purple-tinted feather, and because it was in such a remote place, other heroes didn't know what it was."
Ha-min listened to me for a moment and then groaned.
"As I said earlier, no one will believe you with just that."
"..."
I knew that.
Who would believe me without any evidence?
"That's why I wanted to find evidence and came back. You never know, there might be something else?"
I said that as I placed my hand on the Wall and looked at the surface of the continuing barrier.
Honestly, I hoped there wouldn't be anything else.
I thought it would be better if there was just this one.
If there were two, one might think there could be three, and if there were three, then four, and if four, then five—I would have to move forward with endless anxiety.
But still.
I was unconsciously searching for something I should have been praying wouldn't exist, wanting to make the trust I had barely gained—or rather, the trust I had been given almost for free—truly mine.
I blamed myself for erasing it too hastily without leaving any evidence and regretted yesterday's actions.
Trudge, trudge. I walked forward without energy.
Ha-min silently followed behind me.
"...Kanna."
"Yes?"
"Is it true that a monster will invade next Wednesday?"
Ha-min asked, as if tracing back what I had said.
And my answer was obvious.
"...It would be true, but if there are no more totems, then probably not."
What I was saying now was just the kind of bluster a mentally unstable person might make.
Who would join in when I was doing everything myself—beating the drum and playing the gong?
If I suddenly said that monsters would attack, but then I erased the totem by myself, so now there's a higher chance they won't come—who would simply say, "Oh, I see," and accept that?
I just felt so sorry for Ha-min who had tried to believe me.
What a poor reward for his trust—something that just disappears like a lie.
In the end, nothing would happen, and peaceful days would continue.
If that's the case, why was I so desperate, why did I have to go around like that, why did I have to get hurt?
The questions would remain without answers.
"I'm sorry."
That was all I could say.
"I'm not someone you should trust, am I?"
I continued walking with a playful smile.
Unlike Ha-min, I didn't know why I had reached out with such urgency, feeling like "as soon as possible."
Such actions were only appropriate for someone capable like Ha-min, who had earned sufficient trust from those around him.
For someone incompetent and without any trust like me, no one would believe such actions, and it would just be an absurd story.
"No, that's not true."
A voice cut through my self-deprecation.
I stopped walking and turned to look at Ha-min who was following behind me.
"What?"
"...If you tell me why you're so serious about this, I'll continue to believe you."
I felt like my thoughts momentarily froze.
"You want me to tell you why I'm serious about what?"
"About continuing to search like this. I haven't seen any evidence. Even when I arrived, you were just about to start looking. You're searching, saying there might be something else somewhere. But, do you really need to go this far?"
Ha-min slightly moved his arm, demanding an explanation from me.
His arm moved from inside to outside, as if urging me to answer.
Yes, my reason for going this far.
"...You're not seriously doing this because you dislike exams, are you?"
"No."
Ha-min erased his first anxious concern.
"...You're not saying this because no one believes you, are you?"
"No."
It could be considered a somewhat rude statement, but given the current situation, it was understandable, so I answered calmly.
I wasn't crazy enough to do such things just because I asked someone to believe me without any evidence.
Two questions, two answers.
I readily denied both, letting him know that I was sane, not causing a disturbance because no one believed me, nor playing tricks to avoid exams.
Unable to find a third question, he narrowed his brow and looked at me painfully.
"Then, why...?"
"..."
I remained silent.
It was truly difficult not knowing what I could and couldn't say.
The current teachers will die, the mentor and seniors you'll gain as a hero will die, your classmates will die, and even Orca, whom you love, will die.
Everything you cherish will crumble and scatter, and nothing will remain in your hands.
Telling him that he would lose everything he had built around him would be nothing more than a curse to him now.
It would all be malicious words directed at him.
And the most painful thing was,
I would have to tell him that he would survive through all of this.
This was something that should never happen to a hero like Yoon Ha-min.
He would cry out that if someone had to die, it should be him, and if someone had to live, it shouldn't be just him.
Of course, that would never happen.
What should I tell him?
I couldn't tell him about the future.
It would only provoke resistance, so I had no choice but to hold my tongue.
Yes, I just needed to tell him why I was doing this.
After hesitating for a moment, I answered his question with a small smile, trying to hide my bitterness.
"Because I want you to smile."
Even knowing it was a completely unexpected answer, that's how I responded.
The reason I was so diligent in this world was partly to prevent my own death, but my ultimate goal was also to protect everything around him so that the smile would never leave his face.
After all, Yoon Ha-min was my hero.
Even beyond the text, he was someone who could be called a hero—upright, kind, and capable.
It was as if he was showing that no matter how difficult things got, there was always a way through.
No matter how tired and exhausted he became, he would eventually stand up and defeat his enemies, which was so admirable that I cheered for him.
To the point where I would imagine, "If it were me..."
I simply thought that a protagonist who overcame adversity needed a smile.
After all that effort, losing everything and falling into despair was unacceptable.
At the very end, I wanted to wipe away the tears he shed after losing everything.
I wanted to approach him and tell him that all of this was actually just a nightmare.
Hearing my answer, Ha-min stared at me with wide eyes.
Surprised by the sudden, strange response, he remained silent for quite a long time.