Chapter 1: Lian Trice

”… One year at most.”

I was given a terminal diagnosis.

***

Wherein-

The automatic door of the overly modern hospital opened, and a cool breeze greeted me.

It’s cool.

Maybe because it’s fall.

Since the second semester of the academy had already begun, the weather outside seemed like it was starting to feel like fall.

After looking at the clouds floating in the sky for a while, I suddenly became curious about the time and opened the watch the academy had given me.

[1:23]

“…”

Hmm.

When did it get this late?

I must have come to the hospital without eating as soon as lunchtime started.

The academy’s lunchtime was from 12:30 to 1:30.

This meant that unless I ran to the academy right away, I would be late.

“……Should I skip school?”

However, this fact did not make me feel alarmed at all.

If it had been me until yesterday, I would have rushed over, saying that I couldn’t be late since my image was already bad.

It felt like the line had suddenly snapped.

The moment the doctor told me a little while ago that it would be at most a year, something inside me felt like it had snapped.

I knew.

When would Lian Trice from the original disappear?

Because of his reckless behavior, his fiancée broke off the engagement.

After that, when that fiancée became close to the protagonist of the original work, she started picking a fight with him about everything.

And in the end, the protagonist of the original work couldn’t stand it anymore and gave him a real lesson, and at the same time, he was expelled from the academy.

The Trice family, who already hated Lian’s reckless behavior, took this as an opportunity to erase Lian’s name from the Count family.

That was the end.

Lian did not appear in [Sword of the Academy] after this.

“But this is the original work.”

Of course, that was just Lian’s ending in the original work.

I wouldn’t go around complaining to the protagonist of the original work because I was crazy.

I thought my ending would probably be better than that.

“……I didn’t expect this to happen.”

But I never thought I would meet a much different ending.

The setting that Lian Trice has an incurable disease was not even mentioned in the original.

That’s why I tried to get rid of the title of a loser.

I tried to get rid of the title of loser and live under the name of Lian Trice, not a loser.

“……It’s meaningless.”

Since I was given a terminal diagnosis, I wondered what the meaning of all this was.

In the first place, my loser image wouldn’t disappear even if I tried harder here.

“…”

Hmm, good.

I didn’t want to go back to class even more.

If this is a skill, then it’s a skill.

I was thinking about it a bit, but it really disappeared as if it had been washed away.

I wondered what use it would be to go back to class and attend the academy classes.

Whether I went back on time and attended class or not, people’s gazes wouldn’t change.

In that case, wouldn’t it be better to enjoy this peace that I haven’t felt in a long time?

I’ve been living a busy life.

That crazy guy Lian Trice must have caused a lot of trouble.

However, there was no need to worry about this anymore.

I had just finished the last part of Lian’s legacy yesterday.

“The timing is a bit ironic.”

It was only ironic, but honestly, the timing was ridiculous.

Why today?

How could I receive this notification today, the day after I cleaned up all of the original Lian’s shit?

“…”

Hmm.

I resent the world.

Until just now, I had been mentally victorious, thinking it didn’t matter.

But when I started breathing outside air again, the feelings of injustice that had been trapped inside me began to appeal.

“…… But there’s nothing I can do.”

Of course, nothing would change.

What if I was being wronged?

It was my fault for being possessed by this body.

It was my fault for being possessed by a body that was about to commit suicide.

If it wasn’t my fault, then whose fault was it?

If I had to be specific, it was the original Lian’s fault.

Since I had already been possessed by Lian, that meant it was my fault in the end.

And, this fact was painfully well proven by the scar carved into my right wrist.

A sidewalk with trees planted here and there.

Was it because the office workers were at work and the students were at the academy?

“It’s nice because it’s wide.”

I was the only one walking on this wide sidewalk.

Isn’t it?

Maybe there weren’t many people walking originally.

The background itself is a background where engineering is extremely advanced and there are means of transportation like portals.

Even on a weekday, there must be a reason why I’m the only one walking around here.

“I used a portal when I arrived at the hospital earlier.”

A world where engineering is advanced enough that people don’t need to walk.

And yet, a world where titles like count and duke exist and culture like engagements still exist.

…… Even a world where strangely shaped monsters exist.

“…”

Now that I think about it, the background is this chaotic.

The author really threw in all the backgrounds he wanted to include.

Well, I didn’t think it was bad.

If he wrote a novel that readers would enjoy reading, that would be the end of it, no matter what was in the background.

It’s just that I don’t like the fact that I’ve been possessed by a novel with a mixed background.

As I muttered like this and walked down the street, my legs started to hurt.

“…… Should I have just taken the portal?”

A small regret that came to me late.

However, I quickly erased it from my mind.

If I took the portal, I would have to attend class.

I was sacrificing attending class for the pain in my legs.

Mental victory.

It was literally a mental victory.

It was a mental victory that I would rather have my legs hurt than attend a meaningless class.

…… It was such a meaningless thought.

Boo-hoo-

As I was organizing my useless thoughts, a black sedan passed by me.

I wonder what the person in that car was thinking as he saw me.

What on earth is he doing that he’s walking here at this hour?

Squeak-

In the midst of that, the sedan that was about to pass me by suddenly stopped on the road.

What the heck.

Why did it suddenly stop?

Did it suddenly run out of gas?

Before I could figure out exactly what the sedan was trying to do, the sedan’s window slowly opened and a very familiar face popped out from inside.

“Get in. I’ll give you a ride to the academy.”

“…”

“Oh, don’t annoy me and get in quickly.”

“… Ellis?”

A woman with dark ash hair and bright red eyes was looking at me with a displeased expression.