“Now then, Keti, let’s talk about your puppy love problem~”
After class, Keti sat on the sofa in Lynn’s private office with a speechless expression and let out a sigh.
“Hey, what kind of act are you putting on? You can’t play around like this. Aren’t you the fellow who entered this Secret Realm with me?! Did you lose your memory? Are you going to pretend you have amnesia now?”
“Eh? Keti, what strange things are you saying? I don’t understand you at all. What memory loss? What Secret Realm? Aren’t you a student of the Magic Academy? And I am your Class Advisor.”
Lynn looked very serious, which left Keti stunned for a moment.
‘No way? This guy… Did he not travel through with me?’
*Pfft.*
He was exposed in one second!
Keti had actually panicked for a moment, but Lynn couldn’t help but burst out laughing. The silver-haired girl’s lips twitched in annoyance, and she gave him a fierce glare.
“Can you talk properly? My mood is very complicated right now. If you’re going to play dumb with me here, I’ll only end up not knowing what to do because I’ll think I’m left alone in this Secret Realm.”
“Humph, it seems that way. After all, you only studied at the Magic Academy for such a short period. Returning here again, you must be a bit out of place, even though you’re already a Teaching Assistant now.”
Lynn spoke thoughtfully, but Keti sighed and shook her head helplessly.
“I’m afraid it’s more than that. Not only have I become a student again, but situations that never even happened are occurring… My feelings are a bit complicated.”
“Hmm… I think I know what you’re talking about, little cat. You’re concerned about… the fact that you and Alice are lovers in this world, right? Well? What are your thoughts? Are you happy?”
Lynn didn’t seem to care that, in a sense, he and Alice were romantic rivals. Instead, he enthusiastically helped Keti analyze her psychological state.
“After all, you’ve always seemed to care a lot about that girl. Out of your three comrades, she’s probably the one you care about most, right?”
“Although the real her still doesn’t know you turned into a girl, it seems that in this timeline, she would accept you even as a girl.”
“How, how should I put it? My feelings… I don’t know, they’re a bit complicated. Although I’ve fantasized about this kind of thing many times before, now I… I don’t know how to deal with her. Come to think of it, the two of us haven’t spoken in the real world for a long time, even though we’re childhood friends…”
Even though she was the one who made her leave the team… she was also the one dating her in the Illusion, and the one who said she would grow up to marry her when they were kids…
“Hey, Lynn, I have a question. What’s the point of these Illusions? In the last one, I only guessed Sylvia’s true identity and comforted her with what would happen in the future to leave.”
“Could that be considered helping her untie a heart knot? If that’s the case, is this Illusion meant to help Alice untie a heart knot?”
“Do you really want to escape what’s happening in this Illusion, or rather, avoid Alice? Is that why you want to leave this place so quickly?”
Lynn gently hugged the girl’s shoulders and asked calmly. Keti was caught off guard and became a bit shy, a blush rising to her cheeks.
“Ugh… let go of me! I’m not escaping. I just—I just want to leave this place. I hate Illusions that have nothing to do with reality even if you do something. Ultimately, Lynn, can you tell me what the point of these Illusions in the temples is?”
“Meaning? How should I put it? Rather than meaning, I think it’s more likely just a way of telling a story. You can see your comrades’ past stories, and you can see another story of your school life. What can you recognize through these stories? That depends entirely on you.”
Lynn smiled. His explanation made Keti pout. What was that? It sounded so profound. Why was her enemy acting like a riddle-maker today?
“Alright, instead of focusing on those little thoughts of yours, don’t just care about your childhood friend and neglect me, little cat~ My, this is the first time I’ve seen you in a JK uniform. Seeing you as a student again, and as a girl, feels quite wonderful.”
After a moment, Lynn gave a mischievous smile and held Keti even tighter. The silver-haired girl finally wanted to resist. She pushed against her enemy and shouted with a speechless face:
“Hey, hey, hey, you pervert, let go of me! Are you asking for another Personality Correction Punch? I’m telling you, I’m much stronger now than I was back then. Believe it or not, I’ll shatter your gold-rimmed glasses with one punch!”
The silver-haired girl seemed a bit shy, which was normal. When she was attending school, Keti had quite disliked this fellow.
Although they were still enemies now, her favorability toward him had increased somewhat compared to before, making her feel a bit awkward when interacting with him.
Even though Keti understood that they were no longer who they used to be and that this was just the Illusion creating their former roles as teacher and student…
Even so, with this teacher-student status, she felt a strangely abnormal throb. She even felt… a bit excited being held by Lynn in the office.
‘What’s wrong with me? Even if the sense of immersion is strong, don’t immerse yourself in your past self! This is so strange!’
“Alright, alright, stop messing around. How exactly do we complete the task in this Illusion?”
Keti asked the most crucial question. She didn’t want to stay in this place any longer. She felt that continuing to stay in this Illusion would lead to something serious.
The next second, hearing the girl’s complaint, Lynn revealed a mischievous smile. He pointed to Keti’s head and spoke:
“You’ll know if you just think back for a moment. After all, theoretically, this Illusion was born in your mind. Didn’t you hear the conditions when you touched that bubble?”
“Now that you mention it, let me think. The condition I heard at the time was…”
**[Trial Two: The Secret Realm You Can’t Leave Without Doing H]**
‘No, that’s not right, is it? Why was that elf’s announcement so strange back then?!’
Suddenly remembering something, Keti waved her hands hurriedly and retreated warily. Lynn showed a “just as planned” mischievous smile and spoke:
“Unfortunately, what I heard back then is probably the same as what you just remembered. In other words, if we want to leave this Secret Realm, it seems we have to do something?”