Chapter 5: Relationship between the Two
There is a saying, [Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% effort]. Although the phrase sounds like praise for effort, it actually means that without 1% inspiration, you are not considered a genius.
That's right. A genius is a talent given by God. It is not a realm that ordinary people can reach no matter how hard they try.
In this world, the position of talent is even clearer. It is believed that the blessings given by God, in other words, genius, define the realm that one can reach. There is a hierarchy in both titles and aptitudes, and it is the order of the realms that one can reach. The moment a person is given a talent, the order is roughly determined.
What should one do to break through this hierarchy? Thinking about it, he took a big gamble. A bet that he would be outside the framework of this world.
If there is a hierarchy in the blessings that are given, then it is better not to receive those blessings. Such a bet. He must be special to be able to come up with such an idea and carry it out.
It may be called an anomaly.
He didn't do it with any purpose. It's just that he doesn't want to be tied up in a framework, so he chooses to step out of it.
◇◇◇
The daily life of the hero candidates is a boring one. The only time set aside for lectures is one hour each in the morning and afternoon. The rest of the time is completely free, except for meals.
Even though they have a lot of free time, they are forbidden to go out and cannot leave the church grounds.
Most of their free time is spent chatting with friends in their rooms or walking around the grounds at most. Except for a very few. Ren Takashiro is one of those very few.
The library in the church. Since learning of its existence, Ren has spent most of his free time there. But what he gets from it is not that much. After all, it is a library where anyone can come and go. It seems that no important books are kept there.
Still, there might be a clue. With this thought in mind, Ren was reading through the books from one end to the other.
(I don't see any...... I guess this library doesn't have it, or there are no books written about it to begin with.)
No matter how many books he read, starting from books like the Bible in the Church, old myths and fairy tales, there was not a single book that contained what Ren wanted.
(Don't you know anything about this?)
He turned his attention to the man who looked half transparent, a clergyman. The answer to his question was no. His position before his death was that of a priest, but he did not seem to possess the knowledge that Ren was seeking.
(......Title. I thought if I knew what it was, I could find a way to go beyond it.)
The knowledge that Ren seeks is about titles. He heard from a friend that a title indicates the direction in which a person is going.
However, upon hearing this, Ren thought that a title is not a direction to go in, but something that frames a person. The moment he thought that, he could no longer tolerate the existence of titles.
And what he chose was the path of not receiving divine favor. When he entered the cave, He did not go one step further, but spent some time near the entrance and left. He didn't see any figures of gods.
But even though he should not have been granted the blessing, his title and aptitude were inscribed on the status board.
That is what Ren does not understand. There are two possibilities. One is that the blessings are forced to be given the moment one comes to this world, without any meaning to the god figure, or perhaps even to entering the cave. The other possibility is that what was inscribed on the status board is what Ren originally had. It is the latter that Ren hopes for.
If it is the latter, it is something from another world. It is not something within the framework of this world. There is the possibility of not being bound by the framework of this world.
(Maybe no one in the humans knows about it in the first place.)
If you know all the reasons of the world, you are called a god. It is only natural that there are more things humans don't know about. With this thought in mind, something begins to move back and forth in front of Ren's eyes. It is not clearly visible. It only appears to be a slight distortion of space.
(...Do you know?)
He tries to conjure up the question, but the other person's will does not come back to him like a friend's. In other words, something in front of him is not a spirit.
(......Is it still a spirit?)
The being in front of him was not visible all the time. He began to see it the moment he heard the priest's words during the lecture that spirits are everywhere, and he was strangely convinced that that was the case.
Considering the situation, it must be a spirit, but even if he wanted to confirm it, he couldn't communicate with it. It was not the same as with a spirit (soul). That was frustrating for Ren.
(Not being able to talk is inconvenient. I should look into how to talk to spirits.)
Since he was stuck on the issue of the title, Ren decided to look into the spirits. He put the book in front of him back on the shelf and started looking for books that might have something to do with spirits.
However, it was not easy to find them.
(...The priest didn't seem to know about spirits either.)
He looked through the shelves of the library from one end to the other, but could not find any books that seemed to be related to spirits.
(Not even this one...... then it's okay.)
Just as Ren was about to give up and return to the seat, the spirit-like being began to move violently.
(There is a will. But...... huh? Speaking of which...)
Then Ren suddenly realized.
"By any chance, do you understand what I'm saying?"
The movement stopped. It seems to be reacting to the sound of Ren's voice.
"Even if you do understand, it's still one-sided. Can you express yourself in words with your movements?"
As if in response, it begins to move violently in front of him.
"Oh. Then what's your name?"
It didn't respond to that question.
"Hmm? Perhaps there isn't one? As affirmations move vertically and with a no, move horizontally.
It moved up and down, indicating affirmation.
"No name. Is it better to give you one? Or is that too much to ask?"
It didn't move either vertically or horizontally.
"...Oh, I see. Don't ask two questions at the same time. Should I give you a name?"
It started moving up and down again.
"Right. A name. In the first place, what kind of spirit... are you a spirit?"
It moved up and down. It was a spirit, after all.
"Is your attribute, fire?"
The spirit moved slowly from side to side.
"Water? Wind? Earth? Light? Huh? Is there nothing?"
The spirit just keeps moving left and right. None of them fit.
"……Dark?"
The answer to that question was neither vertical nor horizontal. It was diagonal.
"Um... you mean it's close?"
The movement was up and down.
"...Unexpectedly interesting. It's the opposite of light, but it's not dark... Ah, the opposite of sunlight, the moon?"
The spirit moved up and down in the largest motion ever.
"A moon spirit in the daylight? Well, it's fine. A spirit of the moon, yes. Then a name that has something to do with the moon."
Ren ponders for a moment, trying to remember the words related to the moon. The spirit began to spin around him. For some reason, Ren could clearly see that the spirit was happy to be given a name.
"...Luna. It's the name of the moon goddess. How about this?"
The spirit that had been circling around stopped just in front of Ren.
"......Don't you like that one?'
The spirit slowly sways left and right.
“It's not because you don't like it. Then, Luna is fine, right? I'm Ren. Luna and Ren. Something feels good about that."
As soon as Ren said that, the vague outline of the spirit began to gradually become clearer. The spirit was changing into a shape that somewhat resembled a human, but after some progress, it suddenly flew away from in front of Ren's eyes with great speed.
"...Huh? Did it hate that?"
This question is directed at his friends. The answer is unknown. It is. There is no way that a spirit (soul), a former human, can understand the feelings of a spirit.
(I see... ah, maybe the reason is over there)
The library was quiet, but he could hear people talking from the entrance. It was the first time since Ren started coming here. Realizing who the voice belonged to, Ren wanted to leave the place.
"I didn't know there was such a place."
"Yes. But do they have any useful books?"
"You won't know unless you look for it."
It was Shizuru and Mei's voice. Ren does not dislike them. It's just that Shizuru is one of the few people among his summoned classmates who talk to him, so it's a hassle.
The library is not a large place. Having no choice, Ren headed for the exit, prepared to be found.
"Takashiro-kun..."
Shizuru's eyes widen lightly as she spots Ren emerging from between the bookshelves. Mei's face looks a little amused as she watches. The two of them were paying attention to Ren, and Ren was about to walk past them.
"Ah, wait!"
"……What?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"There's nothing to talk about."
"...Just a little bit is fine."
"…………"
This is the part where Ren finds Shizuru bothersome. Shizuru, in her own way, feels inferior to Ren. That bothers him.
"Well, that's fine. Let's talk for a bit."
Intending to help Shizuru, Mei goes around on Ren's back and tries to push him towards the chair. Ren had no choice but to sit on the chair, feeling that it would not be good to go against it. Shizuru is in front of Ren, and Mei is next to Ren.
"What was Takashiro-kun doing?"
"Killing time"
"I know, right? We are the same way. I thought it would be nice if there was a book that I could use to kill time."
"Well"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Well, I'm sure there's a difference between a book I enjoy and a book you enjoy."
"Well, maybe, but that doesn't make for good conversation, does it?"
"If there is no conversation, I will just..."
As he was about to get up from his seat, Ren realized why Mei had sat down next to him. Mei's hand grabbed Ren's arm and wouldn't let go.
"I won't let you escape"
"You want to go that far?"
“Please talk to Shizuru properly. She's been feeling kind of weird lately."
Reluctantly sitting down, Ren turned his gaze to Shizuru.
"...What's the story?"
"Um... I thought I should apologize properly."
"Apologize? What did you do to me?"
"When we were in middle school..."
“It was a long time ago. Why are you saying it now?"
It is an event that Ren does not even care to recall. If she is going to apologize, she should at least apologize for trying to rehash it now.
"Right now, it's like when we first met."
“…I didn’t expect you to think back to when you entered middle school when you look like one now, so you remember that time?”
“Yes. I feel like I'm in middle school all over again."
"You can't start over."
It's just that her body has become young again. She can't redo the past with that. The past is the past. And she can't erase it or change it.
"I know that. But I don't like our current relationship."
"Our current relationship is the same as the old one."
"That's not true. For me, Takashiro-kun was my first friend since entering middle school."
"……Was it?"
Ren looks fed up with Shizuru's words. Friends are friends because they think so. Ren never thought of Shizuru as his friend.
"Yes. We talked every day."
"Well. Compared to other students, I can say that we are on good terms."
He didn't even talk to the other students. Compared to them, they get along well. But only compared to the other students.
“And yet, I betrayed Takashiro-kun. I regret it so much, and that's why I want to start over......"
"We can't start over"
"I know that. But..."
"I'm not asking you to do anything you can't do."
"You don't have to be so stubborn."
Mei interrupted, perhaps feeling annoyed by the exchange between the two of them.
"Meaning?"
"Just because you were dumped once doesn't mean anything. Forget about the past and be honest."
"Dumped?"
“It is Shizuru, the most popular person in school, right? That Shizuru is saying that she wants to start all over again."
"...You have a tremendous misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?"
"Tojo-san and I are not dating, and neither of us remembers falling in love with each other."
Ren said this, but Mei's eyes saw Shizuru's expression clouded by Ren's words.
"……Is that so?"
"I... what I want to apologize for is, Takashiro-kun's... bullying."
Shizuru responds to Mei's question.
"Bullying? Were you being bullied?"
However, when Mei heard this, she was more attracted by the content than by the fact that the answer was evasive.
"Well"
"Eh? You don't mean, Shizuru?"
"I would never do such a thing!"
"Then what are you apologizing for?"
"I didn't help Takashiro-kun, who was being bullied."
"That's... I hate to break it to you, Takashiro-kun, when I say this, but is it such a bad thing that she didn't help the bullying?"
Hearing Mei's question, Ren twisted his mouth slightly. A line that can only be said by people who have never been bullied. That's what he thought.
Mei, who was just looking at Shizuru, didn't notice Ren's reaction.
"I'm sorry. The bullying won't stop unless someone around you stops it."
"That's true. But did Shizuru stop them?"
"...I don't know. But I had to stop it."
"Why?"
"That's……"
"Tojo-san is also making a big misunderstanding."
When Shizuru was at a loss for words, Ren spoke up. Since this happened, he thought that he would take this opportunity to erase Shizuru's preconceptions.
"What do you mean by misunderstanding?"
"Tojo-san thinks that the bullying started because she got along with me."
"Oh, it's because of jealousy."
"Because it's not. The bullying started when I was in elementary school. It didn't start in middle school."
"You mean all the way to..."
"Not so. I made the bullies stop before I graduated from elementary school. No one befriended me, but no one bullied me either."
"But it started again in middle school, right? Isn't that because you were on good terms with Shizuru?"
"That may be so, but I think it would have started even without that. And I don't feel being bullied in middle school."
In the first place, Ren has no awareness that he was bullied in middle school. Even though he is, he is responsible, and no matter what she thinks, he can only feel that her feelings are being forced on him.
"What do you mean?"
“They were afraid to touch me directly, so they bullied those who tried to be friendly with me. They tried to isolate me by making me inaccessible. But I've been alone from the beginning."
"...Even now."
"Well, yes. But I do it because I like it. It's perfectly fine."
Being isolated in class doesn't make Ren feel lonely. For Ren, his friends are other than his classmates.
"Then I feel sorry for the bullied people around you."
"All you have to do is stay away from me. That way there won't be any bullying in class. I guess it was nice to be around?"
"No matter what you think, the other party was trying to bully you, you know? That means bullying exists."
"...Katsuragi-san is surprisingly serious."
"Is that sarcasm?"
"A fact"
"That's sarcasm, isn't it?"
"Fact. How can it be sarcastic to be called serious in the first place?"
"...You're right"
She took it as sarcasm when she was called serious. Mei also thought that Ren was right and that it was a twisted way of taking it.
"Anyway, Tojo-san doesn't have a single reason to apologize to me. So there's no need for you to be concerned about it. We'll just be classmates as before. Oh, that's over too."
"......That can't be true."
Shizuru, who had been silent for a long time, denied Ren's words with a muttering voice.
"It is so."
"That can't be true! Then why doesn't Ren show his true self!?"
"......I am me."
(TN: The word used here is boku.)
Ren opened his eyes lightly. He was surprised that Shizuru suddenly started screaming.
"It's a lie! Ren doesn't call yourself "boku"! Not with that kind of hair! Not with those eyes!"
"Hey, Shizuru!? What are you saying!?"
Mei was also startled by Shizuru's distraughtness and yelled to try to calm her down.
"The current Ren is not the Ren I know! The current Ren is... my..."
"Tojo-san doesn't really know me. You just think you know me."
"I……"
"The me that Tojo-san knows is not me either. Then there is no problem if I am not me now."
"...Don't say that."
"And you don't have to try to know me. I'll tell you one thing. Even if they didn't say anything, I would have distanced myself from Tojo-san sooner or later. Even without the bullying, Tojo-san and I couldn't be friends."
"Don't say that!"
"How can you not see that? It is Shizuru's selfishness to try to get closer to me."
"…………"
"I don't think anything of those days. So there's no need to force it or worry about it. Katsuragi-san said. She felt sorry for the people around me. I don't know what will happen in the future in this world. That's why you should stay away from me."
After getting up from his seat and saying that to Shizuru, Ren left the library. Even Mei cannot stop the clearly expressed rejection.
"What is the truth?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Were you two dating?"
"......It seems it was a one-sided love of mine."
"I see. You call him Ren. He also called you Shizuru. Are you really not dating?"
Ren denies it, but Mei cannot believe that nothing happened. At the very least, Shizuru is someone that Ren, who has very little socializing with him, calls out.
"Ren doesn't like people. He doesn't want anything to do with people."
"I can understand that without being taught. Is it because of bullying?"
"You may not believe it, but Ren seems to have an unusually strong psychic sense."
"Huh? I know there are people like that, but how does that relate to his dislike of people?"
"Ever since he was little, spirits have been around him, and his parents were afraid of him, and her mother eventually developed a nervous breakdown and tried to force him to commit suicide."
"No way……"
It's not just that he is a psychic. Mei is surprised at Ren's past.
"Ren was almost killed by his mother. That's not all. It seems that there are many spirits that hold grudges that stay in this world. Of course, that's a grudge against humans. How many terrible things can a person do to another person? Ren has heard that to the point of disgust.”
"When it comes to talking about spirits... how can you know such stories?"
"Ren told me himself."
"Look, Shizuru is special after all."
"He talks about it. That's Ren's test for anyone who comes close to him. I think I reacted a little better. That's why he talked to me afterward."
"To go that far... you've fallen in love with a man like that?"
"Actually, I've only seen it once."
"Eh? What did you see?"
What she saw from the way this story unfolded. But Mei couldn't bring herself to accept it as it was.
"The spirits gathered around him."
"You're kidding, right?"
"It's true. I don't know why I saw them. It was the only time I saw them. But I was sure that I saw them. I don't know what it was, but there was something swarming around him, something terrifying."
"I'm not good at ghost stories"
"But he kept talking to it."
"Can you even talk to them?"
"Perhaps. Before long, something that I had felt nothing but dread gradually began to feel like a luminous existence."
"…………"
"Finally, it became a really bright light that enveloped him and then slowly ascended to heaven. What had been a ghost was now shining like an angel as it ascended into the heavens."
"…………"
"When I saw that, I couldn’t stop crying for some reason, and Ren noticed me. After making a slightly surprised face, he smiled happily at me."
"I see……"
It's not like Shizuru would lie about something like this. It was unbelievable, but Mei thought it must be true. At the same time, she feels fear. Mei felt fear because of Ren's mysteriousness.
"I only saw his smile at that moment. I'm sure that's the real Ren's smile.
"And that's what fascinated you. Is it an angel or a devil?"
"That's terrible!"
"How could he steal your heart with just one smile?"
"Ren is not a devil."
"...Do you still like him?"
"……Yes"
Shizuru affirmed Mei's question. Mei's head ached as she wondered how much repercussions this would have on those around her if this fact became known.
"I see... now I'm in trouble. Can I give you one terrible piece of advice?"
"What do you mean by terrible advice?"
"Shizuru should keep your feelings hidden unless you can find a way to make them come true."
"...I'm not going to say it in public."
"No, it's not that. It's just that you can't show it."
"...It doesn't matter."
“You are popular. You're popular enough to convince people that it was Shizuru who triggered the bullying."
"That's not true."
Although she speaks modestly, Shizuru herself thought that she was the cause of the bullying. There's no way she can't tell from the male student's attitude towards her.
"School life will start in a year. Are you going to repeat the same thing again?"
"I want to start over."
"...There's that too. I'm in trouble."
"Why is Mei in trouble?"
"There are various things here too."
Shizuru is popular. Not only in appearance, but also in personality. How can any boy near Shizuru not fall in love with her? Mei knows. A close friend of hers likes Shizuru. She also knows that the boy is actually extremely jealous.
For Mei, who thought they were a perfect match, the truth she learned today was a huge miscalculation.
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