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I couldn\'t fathom why Fron had suddenly run off.

Samuel, equally bewildered by her actions, spoke in a perplexed tone.

[What\'s gotten into her? She\'s been acting strange lately.]

“……I have no idea.”

Samuel wasn\'t the only one curious.

I, too, was puzzled by Fron\'s behavior.

The other students in Class A, while not openly expressing their concern, undoubtedly worried for Fron.

After all, she was well-liked by her classmates.

As I grappled with worry, a burning question arose within me.

‘……This feels familiar.’

Shortly after we enrolled, the students followed Idea to the POW camp, Orgon, for practical training.

Back then, Fron couldn\'t bring herself to kill a human.

She barely passed the training by using her charm on another student.

At the time, Fron appeared…….

‘…tormented.’

Back then, we dismissed it as her being too young to handle taking a human life.

But seeing her current state, I realized it wasn\'t that simple.

There was only one commonality between then and now.

Fron felt an aversion to using her \'sword\' against someone.

……Or at least that was my assumption.

Nothing was confirmed.

All we knew was that Fron harbored some trauma, and it had worsened recently.

In any case,

“I should go after her.”

[……That would be for the best.]

Samuel, while expressing concern for Fron, also seemed apprehensive.

“I doubt Instructor Ares will allow it.”

[Hmm…….]

I glanced at Ares.

His gaze followed Fron\'s retreating figure, his face etched with worry.

As an instructor and educator, he must also be concerned for Fron.

After a moment, Ares approached us and spoke.

“……Go after Fron.”

Surprise momentarily stunned me, but I quickly understood his decision.

I was, at least formally, the class president of Class A.

It was my duty to look after and guide my classmates. Ares naturally concluded that I should intervene.

Besides, with Fron, my sparring partner, gone, the lesson couldn\'t continue anyway.

In the end,

“Understood.”

I agreed to follow Ares\' instructions.

Samuel\'s voice followed.

[……It\'s good that you got permission, but are we sure it\'s wise to go alone?]

His concern was understandable.

Judging by the direction Fron ran, she was headed towards the women\'s dormitory.

As males, we couldn\'t help but feel apprehensive about the implications.

I shared his concern.

Ideally, we would have taken Luna along, but that was impossible.

A single glance at Luna\'s current state confirmed that.

Both Samuel and I,

“…….”

[…….]

fell silent simultaneously.

“O-ow…”

Luna lay sprawled on the ground, having fallen victim to another female student\'s wooden swordsmanship.

I won\'t delve into the details of how it happened.

Suffice it to say, Luna was in no condition to move.

Therefore,

‘It\'s just the two of us then…….’

It was unsettling, but there was no other choice.

Thump-.

Samuel and I kicked off the ground.

‘Designate.’

Move-.

I used Position Exchange, trying to catch up to Fron.

Despite my improved mastery over the 4th stage of Position Exchange, closing the distance wasn\'t easy.

Fron had a significant head start.

I couldn\'t afford to hesitate.

We needed Ares\' permission to enter the women\'s dormitory, especially if she decided to go in.

……A part of me questioned if I was overstepping my boundaries by involving myself in Fron\'s personal affairs.

I considered her a friend and comrade, but I had no idea how she truly perceived me.

Perhaps, as she often claimed, I was nothing more than a lowly servant in her eyes.

However, Fron\'s trauma needed to be addressed, by any means necessary.

She possessed the potential to become the top student of Sytan.

If her trauma hindered her growth, it would be a significant loss of potential for Sytan.

Taking a deep breath, I shouted,

“Lady Fron, please stop!”

Thump, thump-.

Fron either didn\'t hear me or chose to ignore me, her pace only quickening.

Thanks to Position Exchange, we were catching up, but she had already reached the women\'s dormitory.

I was forced to halt.

This was a restricted area for men.

I had lingered around the entrance a few times while seeing Rene off, but I had never actually stepped inside.

Ares had given his permission, and I had no intention of causing trouble.

However, I couldn\'t shake off the feeling of uneasiness about boldly entering the dormitory…….

Woosh-.

I activated my Concealment magic.

Having reached a higher level of mana control, my Concealment had improved.

Even the most perceptive individuals within the women\'s dormitory wouldn\'t detect my presence.

Now, where could Fron\'s dormitory room be?

As I hesitated, Samuel\'s voice reached me.

[It\'s that one over there.]

“That one?”

[……I sense traces of her mana emanating from there. It\'s unusually potent for someone who isn\'t actively using magic. She must be constantly channeling mana.]

Just how much mana did she possess?

While Samuel marveled at her mana capacity, I kicked off the ground and used Position Exchange to reach the room he indicated.

I stopped in front of a door with a nameplate that read "302."

Fron was inside.

“……What should I do?”

Barging in was out of the question. I couldn\'t intrude without permission.

As I pondered my next move, Samuel offered a simple solution.

[Knock first.]

“Right.”

Knock, knock-.

I knocked on the dormitory door.

― …….

Silence met my ears.

Was it impossible to uncover what was troubling Fron?

Just as I began to lose hope,

Creak-.

The dormitory door suddenly swung open, startling me.

I stumbled back a couple of steps, wondering if Fron had opened the door.

However, it seemed the door hadn\'t been latched properly and had swung open from the force of my knock.

This presented me with a dilemma.

‘Should I go in?’

What if my intrusion only served to alienate Fron further?

As much as I wanted to ask her what was wrong, her silence suggested a desire to keep her troubles private.

But,

‘……I owe her.’

During the Human World Invasion exam, she ensured the safety of the Sytan students, including myself.

She even went out of her way to help me when I was incapacitated.

Of course, she would have met the same fate had I not intervened.

Therefore, I couldn\'t ignore this situation.

What was the right thing to do?

At that moment,

“……!”

I gasped in shock.

Through the partially opened door, I caught a glimpse of Fron\'s room. It was initially ordinary, but it suddenly transformed into something entirely different.

As I stood frozen in surprise, Samuel\'s calm voice reached my ears.

[……The illusion magic has dissipated.]

Illusion magic.

Fron had been maintaining an illusion over her dormitory room, likely to conceal its true appearance from her roommate.

For some reason, the illusion had dropped, revealing the room\'s true state.

And what I saw inside shocked me to my core.

Countless papers, meticulously filled with notes from every single theory lesson, lay scattered across the floor, plastered on the walls, and even stuck to the ceiling.

But that wasn\'t all.

Blood-soaked bandages and several broken wooden swords lay discarded in a corner.

They served as a testament to the sheer effort Fron had been putting in.

Then why?

‘Why would she…….’

Had Fron been pretending to be incompetent all along? Was everything an elaborate act?

No.

That couldn\'t be true.

Fron was genuinely clumsy and forgetful.

She would often forget things I had told her moments prior.

Then what was the meaning of this room?

“…….”

Words failed me as I stood rooted to the spot.

Then,

Swoosh-.

Fron darted out of the room, her hand clamped over her mouth, and rushed towards what I assumed was the bathroom.

She must have been overcome with nausea.

At that moment,

Woosh-.

The necklace around my neck began to glow.

The light had completely filled the pendant.

It seemed the cooldown period since our glimpse into Samuel\'s past had ended.

As if in a trance, I uttered a single word.

“Activate.”

Click-.

Click-.

The sound of clockwork gears turning filled my ears once more.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, my vision was met with a completely different scene.

The thorn, Samuel\'s conduit, was gone from my wrist. It meant I was no longer in my own body, but inhabiting another\'s.

Given the circumstances, it was highly likely that I was now experiencing the world through Fron\'s eyes.

It was the same when I witnessed Samuel\'s past.

‘……However.’

While I could tell that I was experiencing Fron\'s past, I had no idea where I was.

Thousands of iron bars and young children filled my vision. Every single child had the same blue hair.

……Just like Fron.

As I blinked in confusion, a voice rang out.

“Ha ha, bow before this body……!!”

It was Fron, or at least a young girl who looked strikingly similar to her.

While she resembled Fron, there were subtle differences in her appearance and speech.

Who was this girl?

Before I could dwell on it any further,

Whoosh-.

My body was suddenly ejected from the scene, sending me sprawling onto the ground.

It seemed I hadn\'t witnessed the entirety of Fron\'s past.

As I sat there in a daze,

“…….”

I met Fron\'s gaze.

Her eyes, usually bright and lively, were now cold and distant, sending a shiver down my spine.

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