RYOG Chapter 24

Ever since that incident, I’ve frequented the dormitory library. I don’t care if people think I’m a lonely person with nothing better to do.
To my great surprise, Lily came to the library the next day and the day after, and we talked about many things.

At first, it was mostly about school life and classes.
Lily seems to be having a really hard time, especially in her academic studies where she can’t keep up at all with some of her classes.
That’s true. It’s wrong to expect students to skip four years and understand fifth-grade lessons when they have no prior knowledge.

“The teachers seem to think it’s unavoidable that I can’t keep up, so they don’t call on me or ask me to do assignments during class.”
Lily said with a complicated tone.
It’s troublesome when she is asked to make high demands, but it’s no fun to be completely ignored. She seems to be quite strong-willed, which doesn’t suit her face.
“That… You’d like them to pay attention to you.”
“Yes.”
That’s a good answer. I personally like motivated students, but as the dorm director, they are also people worth taking care of.
“I can teach you about history if you want. If you can grasp the general flow of events that have led to this lesson, you can leave memorizing the details for later. As for languages, I think you have no choice but to read books… Ah, no, you need to be selective first. It’s difficult to study all subjects at the same time, so narrow it down to the one you’re interested in…”
As we were talking, I was thinking about what I should do next.
First of all, I need to find a way to use the department’s class time more effectively. Just listening to lectures you don’t understand is a waste of time and can even discourage students from learning. This is something I can’t do on my own, so I’ll have to consult with my professors.
Still, it’s frustrating that I can’t spare any time for Lily during the day.
I don’t want her to make the same mistakes I did, so I can’t be so caring that it becomes known to others and her friends start to distance themselves from her.
This means we cannot do something as bold as going back and forth between each other’s rooms in the dorms (which is impossible to do without being seen by other students).
But sneaking around in secret is fun in its own way.
It’s also fun to make various study plans.
It’s also fun to chat with people at random.

Even though we were just chatting, I didn’t know what kind of topic would interest her, so I started by talking about Wolf, Shade, and the others, her “targets.” I was interested in Lily’s reaction, and since they were often discussed in the girls’ dorms, I thought it would be an easy start.
Lily listened to them with interest, but didn’t seem particularly interested in them. I felt both relieved and disappointed.

What was impressive about Lily’s story was the story of her dream.
Her dream is to prevent children of common birth who have magical powers from having their freedom unfairly restricted. That is why she wants to join the association.
It’s a noble dream, but if there are actually children who are harmed by it, it’s a problem that cannot be ignored.
Apart from that, this topic got me thinking a lot.

One is her past. I thought that “having one’s freedom unjustly restricted” was her own experience. In fact, she doesn’t like to talk much about her past, especially her family.
Her mother is not home, she doesn’t like her father very much, that’s all she ever said about her family.
When I asked if I could call her Lily, she hesitated for a moment.

“Thank you. …When I introduced myself in class, I said, ‘My nickname is Lily’. But the truth is, there’s no one who calls me by that name anymore. My mother used to call me that, though.”

Saying this, she touched the pendant on her chest. It was probably a memento of Lily’s mother.
Please don’t look like you’re about to cry. I’m going to cry too.
By the way, after that I also managed to get her to promise me that she would call me “Licorice” when there were no people around.

Another thing Lily’s story got me thinking about is my own future.
Have I ever seriously thought about my future? It may be embarrassing for someone in the highest grade of my school life to say this, but I probably haven’t.
I had vaguely thought that this is probably what it would be like, but it wasn’t something I had any dreams or resolve for.
Before coming to this school, the future was when I would enroll in the school.
Until Lily came along, the future was when the game’s timeline began.
What comes next? What do I want to do? What kind of life do I want to live? I need to think about it.

Another day something extremely exciting happened.
A small bird that had a nest in the forest surrounding the school came to visit Lily. At that moment, the words that filled my head were:

What is this? She looks like a heroine!!

“Oh my. How passionate of you to come all the way out here looking for me. Let me introduce you to Licorice. This girl will be my lunch companion.”
Saying this, Lily opened the window to the library, and a small sapphire blue bird flew in. The little bird circled the room before landing on Lily’s shoulder.
“This guy seems to be really used to people. Once I gave him some bread crumbs, he kept coming back to me at lunchtime asking for them.”
She seems to eat her lunch outside, making sandwiches or something. You shouldn’t see her in the cafeteria at lunchtime. We eat lunch in the cafeteria inside the school building, so I usually eat with Wolf and Shade.
but.
A beautiful blonde girl in a light blue dress is eating lunch under the bright sunlight. A small lapis lazuli bird is flapping its wings and landing on her shoulder.
Ah, like a heroine.
She seems more like a heroine from a World Masterpiece Theater than a heroine from a girls’ game, but in any case, it’s a scene that would rank highly in my internal “heroine behavior ranking.”
I was so excited that I tried to peek at the little bird, but it avoided me and flew away. I’m sorry for getting carried away.

Just like that, time passed in the blink of an eye.
Each day was fun and fulfilling.
One day, I was talking to Lily about the upcoming dance class the day after tomorrow, and I realized something. It was the first co-ed dance class since the start of the semester, and therefore Lily’s first. Lily was worried that she might make a mistake on the spot.

“Huh?” I thought, as if I had some sort of déjà vu.
Could this be the event where Wolf and Lily meet?

Sorry for the slow updates.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!