Chapter 21

"I don't seem to dislike lakes either," Eileen muttered, sitting upright on a rock on the mountainside, several kilometers away from the academy. She faced the hot air coming out of the cave above, wondering why this thought came to her.

Everyone likes the clean and beautiful lake in the school, don't they?

Hmm...

- I really don't dislike the lake.

Instead of saying I don't dislike it, it would be more appropriate to say that I like it candidly. When I first saw that lake, I had the same emotions as everyone else and had the idea of walking around there when I had nothing to do, right?

But now, I am not by that tranquil lake surrounded by vegetation. Instead, I am sitting next to a volcano that is quite a distance from the school, facing the hot air that could roast me.

Then why do I come to this magma vent for no reason?

Is it because there are too many people by the lake?

No, for the School of Balancing, ranked among the top in the continent, the lake built for students would certainly not be small. Even if a hundred or so people were squeezed in at the same time, it wouldn't necessarily be possible to run into someone. Moreover, most students are busy doing their own research in their own corners, and only about twenty people would go to the lake at the same time, and even that would require organizing a gathering. A place like this is certainly not noisy.

Besides, I don't dislike crowds. Just like what I have been taught since I was young, standing out in a crowd and contributing my own strength to others is a very honorable thing.

"So why don't you go to the lakeside when you have nothing to do and come to the magma vent instead?" Eileen muttered to herself, continuing to approach the boiling redness.

It is early morning now, and the sky may or may not lighten up. The rainbow light emitted from the volcano can be seen from far away at the foot of the mountain. And the closer one gets, the more intense the heat waves felt.

Rather than saying it's for relaxation, it feels more like training...

Eileen wiped off a drop of sweat from her forehead and continued to approach the volcano without using any magic.

And then, she finally arrived.

There was nothing particularly special about the view. It was just the usual slowly flowing magma, giving off an extremely dangerous heat wave.

There was nothing to do next, just looking at it for a while. Staying here for too long would cause problems for her body.

Just simply looking at it.

Eileen took a deep breath of the sulfur-scented air, sat down cross-legged, and adjusted her posture, hugging her knees to her chest.

This was an inexplicable action that Eileen would do every ten days or so.

As for the reason, Eileen herself couldn't explain it. Just as mentioned earlier, there was no specific reason, just that she happened to come here once and inexplicably developed this habit.

Why?

Eileen lay down and grabbed a stone from beside her, closed her eyes, and blindly threw it in a direction.

There was no sound of it landing, so she probably threw it into the magma successfully once again.

Eileen silently praised herself.

As her body gradually became uncomfortable, she knew it was time to stop this time...

Just then, Eileen felt someone grabbing the back of her collar. Just as she thought she would be lifted up, it seemed that the person behind her wasn't tall enough, so it became an awkward height.

"Huh... someone is actually in a place like this..."

A slightly childish female voice came from behind.

They probably thought she had come to the volcano to commit suicide. Well, it's not like that, kid. Rather, I wanted to ask what brought you here.

Eileen reluctantly opened her eyes, adjusted her mood, elegantly stood up, and bowed slightly to the person behind her. However, before she could speak, the "kid" continued with the previous statement.

"Someone intentionally threw stones at my head in a place like this. And they were lying on the ground pretending to be dead. Unforgivable!"

Eileen's mouth twitched, unable to maintain that perfect arc of her smile. She couldn't help but raise her head to take a closer look at the person in front of her.

Silver hair cascaded down like a waterfall, porcelain-like cheeks so delicate they resembled a doll's, and a white gown that stood out from the surroundings.

Even Eileen, who had been praised as growing up beautifully, couldn't help but feel a sense of inferiority.Just as Eileen was about to explain, the silver-haired girl in front of her started talking to herself again--

"No, no, no, you shouldn't shoot me in a place like this! I didn't even know I had to come here to sweep volcanic ash today. How could anyone else know? Unless...”

"Well, I..."

"Could it be that they saw me by chance and decided to shoot me out of annoyance? That's too much! I don't remember my face being so annoying..."

"No, I..."

The girl walked up to Eileen, tiptoed and reached out her hand to press Eileen down to her height, locking eyes with her for a few seconds.

"..."

"..."

"Ah, I see now."

"..."

The girl grabbed Eileen's arm and pulled her dangerously close to the crater.

"......Hey, wait...wait a minute!?"

The delicate silver-haired girl in front of Eileen seemed fragile, but her strength was surprisingly strong. Eileen was pulled to the edge of the crater before she even had a chance to react.

Eileen pulled the girl back a little, slightly annoyed.

"This is too dangerous, even if it's just a prank..."

"...?"

The girl in front of her had a serious and confused expression, saying--

"What? So, you're not trying to kill yourself, after all?"

"..."

"I thought you wanted to die but were too afraid to jump, so you wanted to provoke me to help you jump. Well, that's not okay. If you want to jump, you have to do it yourself; otherwise, it's not considered suicide."

"..."

After a brief silence, Eileen smiled gently.

"No, I'm just here to relax. The scenery here is rare, and the air has a nostalgic smell. And walking here on my own is a kind of exercise."

"Oh...is that so," the girl adjusted her hat, "Then forget it. Do as you please. I'll continue sweeping the volcanic ash."

"By the way, why did you think I wanted to jump?"

"Huh? Didn't you say you don't want to jump? Why are you still babbling?"

"You're right, I'm sorry..."

Although she said that, Eileen didn't leave immediately. She occasionally encountered people who came to observe or monitor the volcano, but it was her first time seeing someone sweeping volcanic ash. Moreover, it was unlikely that one could sweep it all clean.

And she still hadn't figured out the girl's earlier question.

Seeing Eileen didn't leave, the girl frowned and said--

"Eyes, your eyes. Your eyes look dead."

"...Dead eyes?"

"Because you're not thinking about anything. Only dead things don't think."

"I...I'm not thinking about anything?"

"You're so annoying. Are you trying to provoke me to help you jump? Fine, I'll ask, what do you want?"

"I...I just wanted to come here and see."

"It's not about wanting or not. It's something stronger. Like right now, I just want to finish cleaning up and collect a bucket of volcanic ash to throw at Damia's head."

"I..."

"You see, you're not thinking about anything."

"But then...what if I want to help you sweep the ash?"

"It's your own business. If you help me, you're just a tool to sweep faster. You still aren't thinking about anything, right?"

"My own...thoughts?"

My own thoughts...

I...

The girl felt relieved for refuting the troublesome person in front of her and continued sweeping the volcanic ash. She even whistled as she worked--

"Hush~~hush~~~hush~~~~hush~~hush~~~hush~~~~The crimson demon~Emile, that's my name~Emile. Killing without blinking~sweeping the floor~beating the immortal. When I go back~~I'll throw a bucket of black ash on your face~~..."Accompanied by this non-rhyming and non-eloquent whistle, Eileen unknowingly returned to her dormitory, lying on her bed and staring blankly at the ceiling.

The voice of that girl echoed in her ears.

- Dead eyes.

- Not thinking about anything.

- Her own thoughts.

- "My name is Emile, killing without blinking, sweeping surpassing fairies..."

What I really want to do is...

I want to...