Love Letter From The Future

Recently, I had been feeling the unfairness of the rumors. Even at this very moment.

Every time I walked down the street, whispering voices trailed after me, as if it were only natural. However, I had gotten used to it enough to bear it.

The problem lay in the content of the whispers. My senses, heightened since losing my memory, could pick up even the subtle tones in their hushed conversations.

“Senior Delphine was unarmed and threatened with a hand axe, they say?”

“They say it was to humiliate her; does she hate high nobility that much?”

“Ugh, how scary… I can’t talk to anyone above Count from now on.”

It was an absurd rumor. The one who provoked was Senior Delphine, and I merely responded. Yet it spread as if I had committed the act out of hostility towards the high nobility.

What reason could I have to hate high nobility?

So far, the only conflicts I had caused with high nobles were beating Ceria until she was nearly half-dead, clashing with Tean’s gang, and also had a dispute with Senior Elsi, and now a confrontation with Senior Delphine.

Thinking back, it was somewhat a lot. Still, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of injustice.

There had always been reasons for everything. It just so happened all my opponents were high nobility.

The outrageous rumors spread like wildfire, and soon even people appeared debating the details of the rumors.

“They say thanks to Senior Delphine, it ended with a dagger aimed at the back of his throat…”

“What are you talking about? Lord Handaxe had a knife to her neck.”

“Hey, what hand axe would be a knife? Then it would be ‘Knife Lord.’”

“Uh, is that so?”

Having overheard the whispers of passersby, I could only swallow a laugh.

My primary weapon was a sword, yet the hand axe had become too famous. Consequently, Senior Delphine had also forgotten my sword’s existence inadvertently yesterday.

Still, the fact that an off-handed weapon gained more attention than my lifelong weapon wounded me. My shoulders slumped.

I too wanted to be a master swordsman, not a master of the hand axe.

Yesterday’s fight with Senior Delphine had given me many realizations. She was the top of the Swordsmanship Department among the fourth-year students of the academy. Her skills were genuine.

At that time, Senior Delphine had been unarmed, wielding a dagger she rarely used, had been drinking, and had even ambushed me.

Even so, the fight was likely to end in my defeat. In the last moment, I had managed to force a draw through unexpected tactics, but if I fought again, the only outcome I could foresee was my defeat.

That was true skill. Whether relying on unexpectedness or being caught off guard, or even ambushed, skill never lies.

I needed training. The fortunate aspect was that, even last night, I had felt my skills were gradually improving.

Every time I went through a battle, it was like this. At first, my senses became heightened, then I started to handle the hand axe; later, I became proficient in throwing, and lately I felt my judgment, as well as my swordsmanship, had improved to some extent.

It was as if with each real battle, I was regaining the skills I had lost.

However, my mana levels still hadn’t increased. Though swordsmanship had improved in many ways, my basics were still lacking. Ultimately, it meant both could not be rectified through shortcuts.

Only training was left. I secretly resolved myself. It had been a long time since I felt this passionate.

As it turned out, it was almost time for my dinner training with Ceria. Since I hadn’t seen her that morning after visiting the temple, I felt I should have a conversation about Senior Delphine too when we met today.

I could extend the training time as well. Just keeping up with Ceria’s training load would likely improve my skills beyond my current state.

But my steps paused in front of a bulletin board, as they always did.

There was a flyer posted there. As always, it was a promotion for the school’s events.

[Hunting Festival Schedule Announcement]

That title immediately caught my attention. After hesitating for a moment, I finally approached the bulletin board and examined the flyer’s details.

Most of it was already well-known. This event was the festival beloved most by the Great Conqueror Emperor I-dalos, where the person who caught the strongest prey among the forest monsters would be the winner, and separately, there would be a special prize for the one who hunted the most prey. And so on and so forth.

What caught my eye specifically was a short line conveying information I needed.

[Applications for the Hunting Festival will be accepted until 6 PM, one week before the festival.]

The Hunting Festival, I had to participate.

According to the letter, it was right that I would be participating. And as for winning, I honestly couldn’t envision such a possibility.

I also felt a bit cowardly. To coax Professor Derek with suitable words to handle the dangerous monsters.

No matter how named grade monsters existed, there were ranks among them. Professor Derek was a master who had caught some monsters well-known enough to shake the entire country.

I speculated that the monsters lurking in the forest were not high-ranked among the named ones. Otherwise, I couldn’t see any future where my team, including myself, hunted named monsters without performing some action.

Even then, I couldn’t quite gauge the possibility and impossibility. The future where that monster would appear, even knowing its weaknesses, remained unclear.

A sigh slipped out involuntarily. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I had to comply with the contents of the letter.

Otherwise, the world might end, but what on earth could the relationship between winning the Hunting Festival and world destruction be? For me, it was an issue that I couldn’t grasp.

The immediate crisis, preventing loss of life from the forest’s monsters, seemed sufficient. I felt such a weak sentiment, but still, there were two people weighing on my mind.

Ceria, and Senior Delphine.

Ceria wanted to prove herself to her family. She said this year’s Hunting Festival was her last chance. And Senior Delphine had dug up Ceria’s most fragile wounds to control the variable that was Ceria as much as possible.

Last night, due to the unfortunate event, it had turned to mush; yet it was clear that Senior Delphine had committed an unforgivable act.

Ceria had been weeping and staggering, as if about to collapse.

I wanted to help her, hiding such a fragile core within. This was also my true intention. Thus, my worries and concerns deepened.

Should I risk danger and help Ceria, or should I take the safe path?

Choosing between the two was always a painful task.