---

A shocking news spread through Jerion Academy.

Nia Cynthia, the heir of Duke Cynthia and the next Yellow Magic Tower Lord, went missing during a magic experiment in Magung.

The one who discovered this was Sharine Sazarith, who had been assisting Nia with her research.

As the daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord, she had shared opinions with Nia.

During that time, she discovered a question regarding Nia’s magic and entered Magung to meet her.

However, she couldn’t find Nia.

Instead, she found only Nia’s staff and the necklace that was given only to the heirs of the Cynthia family.

Only these two items were found.

A wizard lost their staff in the maze.

Though it was termed missing, for a wizard, it was akin to death.

In a hurry, she sent a student council led by her brother, Nikita, to investigate Magung, and the result was the discovery of traces indicating the birth of a new type of apostle within the maze.

Ultimately, they couldn’t find Nia’s corpse.

Several more searches followed, but Nia was nowhere to be seen.

Convinced of Nia’s death, the world fell into chaos, caused by the horrific events that transpired in Magung.

Just a year ago, the second Magung incident had ended with death among the student teams.

Consequently, the danger of the maze resurfaced in the world’s consciousness.

Moreover, those who questioned Nia’s death began to take action to investigate.

Just as the world was descending into chaos, I slowly closed the morning newspaper I had been reading.

“I did well to take the back road.”

Though I let Sharine enter through the front, I took a separate path through the maze that others did not know about.

The maze was constantly sprouting various entrances that appeared and disappeared each day.

Knowing this, I fortunately remained undiscovered.

“Since Sharine actually had contact with Nia several times, there shouldn’t be any suspicion.”

Nia was the next Yellow Magic Tower Lord.

So she must have exchanged words with Sharine, the daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord, multiple times.

This gave credibility to Sharine’s story.

It had been a week since Nia’s disappearance was made known.

Fortunately, Nia had managed to join the 1st Prince without being caught.

“My news will reach the 1st Prince, surely.”

I was a significant contributor to saving Nia’s life.

Nia must have mentioned my story for clarification.

Naturally, the prince would have questions about my existence.

“Although it might be a bit premature to be in this situation.”

It couldn’t be helped.

It was my choice.

Sharine, who accompanied me this time to save Nia, didn’t say anything specific about the matters at hand.

Instead, she was sure to maintain her silence.

Given Sharine’s nature, she wouldn’t be the type to gossip around.

She understood that a slip of the tongue in this situation would lead to trouble.

Thus, I decided to trust Sharine.

“Anyway, the world believes Nia is dead.”

Not precisely the world.

“Nikita must believe Nia is dead.”

The route for her to become the Chapter 4 boss, the Disaster Dragon Maiden, was set in stone.

Regardless of what happens, the story is surely progressing toward its own narrative.

A feeling of tumult rose within me.

For the narrative to unfold, Nikita must face a downfall and experience sorrow.

That fact was not pleasant for me.

“I certainly hold Nikita in high regard.”

Nikita had always been a character I cherished.

No matter the situation she faced, her unyielding spirit and determination truly appealed to me.

However, separate from that, I also felt unusually weak towards Nikita.

“Could it be…”

Is it the influence of Bickamon, the original owner of this body?

Bickamon harbored feelings for Nikita.

All the misdeeds he committed against Lucas stemmed from having feelings for her.

I, having taken over Bickamon’s position, pondered if his emotions might still linger in this body.

A sigh escaped me.

The real Bickamon was no longer in this world.

I had tried to learn about Bickamon, but all the information was already known to me.

“Bickamon, is it really that displeasing for Nikita to fall into sorrow?”

I raised my head as I questioned the Bickamon whose whereabouts were unknown.

Yet, this was something that had to be experienced.

Unless Nikita becomes the Disaster Dragon Maiden, we cannot proceed to Chapter 4.

I folded the newspaper and placed it back in the newsstand.

It was a stand set up at the entrance for students arriving in the morning to read.

I walked through the morning corridor.

Had summer creeped up? The rain drizzled with a damp warmth.

It felt like a precursor to the upcoming monsoon.

This marked the end of the first semester of the second year and the nearing conclusion of Chapter 3.

It was also the time when the story of the Fire Butterfly began to unfold in earnest.

The sound of my steps echoed down the corridor.

I could hear kids chatting about Nia.

For the children, Nia’s death was a significant topic of discussion.

I passed by these kids and arrived at a familiar door.

The Student Council room.

As I knocked twice on the door, I slowly opened it.

Creeeak—

With the door opening, a girl came into view.

Unlike her usual self, she stared blankly out the window at the rain.

Upon seeing her, I stepped inside slowly.

“Nikita Senpai.”

As I called her name, she turned to look at me, albeit delayed.

A glimmer of light returned to her once dull eyes.

Tears stains marked her cheeks, as if she had cried through the night.

A week had already passed, yet the marks left by tears showed no sign of fading.

Upon hearing the news of Nia’s disappearance, Nikita led the student council directly to Magung.

She searched the maze vigorously.

The only thing learned in the end was one single truth.

Nia Cynthia was dead.

Her beloved elder brother had perished.

The brother who had been just fine until midday was dead.

No matter how strong-willed Nikita was, this loss was enormous enough to break her.

In the week that followed, Nikita’s face had grown gaunt, yet she managed a faint smile.

“Junior, there’s not much to handle in the student council lately, so you don’t need to come early in the morning.”

“No. It’s not about work. I came solely to see you, Nikita Senpai.”

Upon hearing my words, Nikita didn’t protest as she usually would.

She simply fell silent.

Even without any particular council matters, she was here regularly.

Perhaps in her grief over her lost brother, she had simply arrived at the student council room by habit.

“Ah, I see.”

Her response was much weaker than usual.

Boom—

The thunder roared loudly.

The sky seemed to mirror Nikita’s heart.

Without saying much, Nikita took a seat and began to move her pen.

I sat down beside her, watching her with fascination.

Scratch scratch—

Only the sound of the pen passing between us echoed.

This was the first time I had spent time with Nikita in complete silence.

Yet I didn’t dare break the silence with words.

I knew all the truths.

Nikita’s brother, Nia Cynthia, was alive.

I had saved him with my own hands and had even determined the direction of his future.

Nia was surely busy trying to uncover the circumstances while currently joining the 1st Prince.

Then, was it right to keep this truth hidden from Nikita, who was suffering so?

Should I hide it from her when she was so heartbroken?

I pursed my lips and questioned myself.

The narrative was moving towards fitting the established plot.

I saved Nia Cynthia.

Thus, the future must have altered somewhat.

But it wasn’t the narrative.

The future defined by Nia Cynthia’s death would come only at the conclusion of its predetermined scenario.

For now, only Nia Cynthia’s death remained.

“At least for now, it’s progressing according to the narrative.”

Therefore, I willingly resolved to save Nia Cynthia.

I would save everyone I intended to save, guiding the narrative along the correct path.

It was the realization of that firm resolution, the first step.

My gaze met Nikita’s.

“To truly save Nikita…”

Nikita Cynthia must become the Disaster Dragon Maiden.

Only then could I exclude her from the narrative, allowing her to lead the life she truly desires.

Thus, I must conceal Nia Cynthia’s death from her.

“Nikita Senpai.”

So,

“If anything happens to you, I promise I’ll be the first to rush over.”

That was all I could offer for now.

Nikita’s gaze met mine.

A slight smile broke across her tear-stained eyes.

It was the biggest smile she could muster at that moment.

“That’s quite a kind word.”

And it was a smile that deeply etched into my memory.

*

Even after Nia Cynthia’s death became known, time continued to flow.

Nia had impacted the academy more than expected in a fortnight.

Among the children, there were some who wept for Nia.

They were those who had secretly fallen in love with Nia at first sight.

Of course, there were also those who indifferent to the matter.

They had heard the name at least once, yet they remained detached from feelings of sorrow over someone else’s death.

And thus, time passed.

Somehow, summer was nearing.

The sound of cicadas hanging on trees buzzed painfully loud.

Mornings were filled with training sessions with Aisha.

After morning classes, it was lunchtime, followed by student council duties.

After afternoon classes, there was magic engraving training with Sharine in the evening.

Time flew by amidst the still hectic schedule.

I did catch a glimpse of the 3rd Princess, Iris Haishirion, but she didn’t say much about Nia at all.

Being perceptive, she might have suspected that Nia was already alive.

On the other hand, if she believed Nia was dead, that would simply disappoint her.

She probably wasn’t planning to speak to me at all.

For me, I was relieved that I hadn’t gotten entangled with Iris, whom I still found difficult to associate with.

Getting involved with Iris could have waited until the latter half of Chapter 3.

Before I knew it, we were at the end of Chapter 3, Act 4.

The episodes with the heroines were nearing their conclusion.

Then, I faced an issue I truly had not anticipated.

“What the hell is that nonsense!”

A voice, filled with heat, rang in my ears.

After finishing the morning lecture, as I was heading to lunch, I spotted a commotion among a group of people.

Among them was a girl with honey-blonde hair reminiscent of the sun.

However, her face was contorted like never before.

Her face was flushed with anger.

Isabel Luna.

She was set to be the main heroine of the Fire Butterfly.

I felt puzzled by the scene.

If she had really been scolding Lucas directly, it would make sense.

But I had never seen Isabel get this furious with anyone else before.

“B-bed, why are you so mad? We were just curious and asked a question.”

The women who had inquired wore perplexed expressions.

They hadn’t expected Isabel to react so fiercely.

“It finally erupted.”

At that moment, Seron, who was beside me, let out a snort.

Seeing that, I shot him a glance.

Did he have any idea what was going on?

As our eyes met, Seron shrugged lightly.

“Those guys from that class are the main instigators linking Isabel to everything. More accurately, they love to make connections.”

A center of gossip.

So that was it.

“Recently, Isabel has only been focused on training and hasn’t engaged with anyone else, right?

It seems those girls went ahead and asked directly.”

However, despite that, my confusion didn’t dissipate.

From what Isabel’s character would dictate,

Even if she let out a sigh internally, she would have surely corrected them to say that it wasn’t so.

There was no way she would get so heated over it.

“I get the general idea.”

But Seron spoke as if he was in on the situation.

Perhaps being girls, they understood something.

“What is it?”

“Isabel was incredibly down after Lucas’s death for a time. After which, Spud made an argument and helped her recover her lost strength.”

That aligned with my intentions.

Anger could also be a form of sustenance.

“But when did that happen? Was it after the maze incident? Isabel has become just a bit more venomous since.”

After that, Isabel hadn’t even cast a glance my way.

Yet, I knew she was treating everyone around her the same way.

Instead, she had focused solely on her training.

“While she’s been training obsessively as if possessed, it’s no wonder she blows up when someone mentions dating or anything.”

The moment Seron said that, Isabel turned around and stormed off.

The girls watched each other with incredulous looks, trying to gauge the atmosphere.

Perhaps the boys were equally puzzled, tilting their heads to understand the situation.

I rubbed the back of my neck for a moment.

Indeed, anger could be a form of motivation for many.

But I also understood the darker side of that anger.

If it flares up too much, burning everything away,

Then there would be nothing left to burn, and it would extinguish.

“From the maze incident onward, I don’t know why Isabel suddenly changed, but.”

There must have been something resembling an impactful event that significantly affected her mental state.

“I’ll head out first.”

I left Seron behind and started to walk away.

Seron asked, “What about lunch?” but I replied vaguely that I’d manage.

I already knew where Isabel would be.

There was a place she habitually went to when feeling down.

After exiting the Martial Arts building and walking for a while, I arrived at a park surrounded by the walls of Jerion Academy.

Upon examining the walls closely, I spotted some stone stairs that had been left out by laborers when constructing the wall.

I lightly stepped on the stone stairs as I ascended.

There, atop the wall, I spotted Isabel sitting far off, blankly gazing at the sky.

“Isabel.”

As soon as I called her name, Isabel looked back at me belatedly.

She stared at me with her empty gaze before releasing a long sigh.

“How did you find this place?”

Her reaction was different from before.

Seeing that, I realized something.

The rage that had once reignited her life.

That anger was now flickering and fading.