EDM 10

10

The incident of the great fight between Soren and Aisha happened earlier than originally. Could it be because Maria was trying to build a relationship with Soren through him?

Since he hadn’t read the novel version of 『Knight of the North Wind』, he didn’t know what the relationship between the Sonder siblings was like in the novel. Whether they got along as well as now, whether it was bad, or just lukewarm and distant. Either way, Kafka cast his vote that he had made a mistake. As long as this world was inside a webtoon, regardless of the reason, he shouldn’t have become close to her.

A character who was deleted and didn’t exist in the webtoon had become close to the female protagonist, so big or small issues were bound to arise.

In the webtoon, that great fight incident occurs about a month after the second semester begins, triggered by Soren seriously injuring Regina, Aisha’s friend, during a sparring class. Not “because he called Kafka Sonder an idiot and disrespected him.”

If he hadn’t built an intimate sibling relationship with Aisha, she wouldn’t have cared whether Soren disrespected him or not, and wouldn’t the great fight incident have occurred at the appropriate time following the original flow?

Then Maria wouldn’t have bothered asking him to build a bridge with Soren either. Before Aisha deepened her friendship with Soren through sparring, Maria would have also gotten acquainted with Soren.

‘Without realizing it, I’ve interfered with the original work too much.’

Because he used his knowledge about millenka herb, he built bad blood with Soren, and because he got along well with Aisha, the timing of events changed. As a result, even unprecedented events like receiving a request from Maria to build bridges occurred.

Kafka got up from where he was lying and stood in front of the table. A note written in Aisha’s characteristic long, slanted handwriting came into view. Cute memo paper with flowers and rabbits drawn on it.

Aisha had particularly loved rabbits since childhood. There was no special reason. It was just because in her eyes, they were the cutest animals in the world.

Several childhood memories randomly passed through his mind. There were good ones and sad ones. Generally, the good memories were stories of just the two of them, while the bad memories involved family members.

‘Aisha…’

Kafka traced through the good memories with his sister one by one, then crumpled the paper in his hand as if he had made some kind of decision. Aisha’s note, which instantly became trash, rolled into the wastebasket.

He remembered feeling bitter while smoking millenka on the emergency stairs not long ago. He had feared that soon Aisha and Soren’s relationship would deepen, she would grow distant from him, and he would become alone.

But thinking about it, that too was wrong. Aisha was a child who should just be happy with Soren without worrying about her twin brother’s loneliness. She wasn’t someone who would earn the nickname ‘Sonder family’s troublemaker’ by fighting on behalf of someone who was everyone’s punching bag.

Kafka returned to his bed and lay down as if collapsing. Perhaps because his mood was down, his body felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton. On the mysteriously damp sheets due to the humid summer weather, he curled his body into a ball and comforted himself.

‘At least I realized it now.’

If he gets more deeply entangled, he might not be able to escape then.

Kafka slowly closed his eyes again. A world based on a story of destruction and ruin. However, a world that was revived by someone’s hand and was now facing a happy ending. A fictional world swayed by external forces.

He didn’t care about the ending of this world. Whether Soren’s party successfully defeated the demon lord and achieved a happy ending, or somehow failed and everyone died.

It would be nice if things went well, but if not, it couldn’t be helped. Both success and failure should be the main characters’ responsibility. Therefore, there was really only one thing Kafka could do as a foreign element in this world. Not getting unnecessarily involved. Not striving and running around like other protagonists. Not having a mission.

Not harboring hope and struggling to change fate.

He couldn’t become a protagonist in his previous life or this life. Knowing that, he had to live quietly in a manner befitting his position as an extra, as a foreign element.

If one doesn’t harbor hope, there’s no despair either. In the ocean called life, without a single storm ever rising… Kafka earnestly wished for it to end in just calm waves.

Kafka took a small deep breath while driving Aisha’s existence from his mind. Hadn’t he thought before? Sibling affection was bound to become awkward as they became adults and their perspectives on the world broadened.

So there was no need to be sad. Kafka recalled his previous life, which was now almost faintly remembered. Due to repeated hospitalizations and discharges from childhood illness, having no proper friends wasn’t much different then or now. Thinking that far made him feel a bit more at ease.

‘Everything is returning to its proper place.’

What can be undone should be undone while it still can be.

As he inhaled, the characteristic herbal smell of millenka filled his lungs. However, the pain subtly lingering around his chest didn’t easily disappear. Did millenka herb also develop tolerance if smoked too much? Lying straight on the wide bed, Kafka clasped his hands over his stomach.

A song he used to sing often in childhood suddenly came to mind. When he got tired from playing in the garden, he would rest with Aisha under the shade of a large tree. At such times, his sister would lie down using Kafka’s thigh as a pillow and beg him to sing a song. Though he acted annoyed, when he sang, Aisha would soon make various sounds and fall into an afternoon nap.

“The water-colored narcissus blooming by the lake is the color of my first love…”

The petals containing the clear blue sky are the color of my first love.

That person from my hometown village, rippling in that person’s tear-wet eyes,

The color of the water narcissus is the color of my first love.

Kafka slowly closed his eyes again. The window rattled in the fierce wind and rain, and a faint breeze leaked in through the gaps.

* * *

Rigel Academy’s meals were usually buffet-style, but during vacation periods when most students went home, they operated by serving individual portions on plates. Today’s lunch menu was a sandwich with tomatoes, onions, and ham, spread with apricot jam and mustard, making it refreshingly sweet and excellent.

After finishing his meal with the sandwich, baked potato, and orange juice, Kafka sat with an empty plate in front of him and read a book for a while. It was because he felt stuffy staying in his dormitory room all day. Since there weren’t many students left anyway, the dining hall was very quiet and peaceful. There would be no problem with him occupying a seat for about 30 minutes.

The book he was currently reading was a volume from the legal code of the Nehalem Empire, specifically the part dealing with magic-related laws. He planned to take the civil service exam when he graduated from the academy, then be appointed to office and become independent upon graduation, so he needed to study related laws in advance.

‘There are many problems arising from differences in regulations between the Empire and the Magic Tower…’

Since he was aiming to be an administrator, he had to memorize the imperial laws thoroughly first. Kafka concentrated on imprinting the content in his mind while underlining important keywords. Occasionally, when his throat got dry, he took sips of the leftover juice.

“Hey.”

After concentrating for who knows how long, a shadow suddenly fell over his slightly bowed head. Feeling a sense of déjà vu as if something similar had happened before, Kafka looked up. Of course, the person standing before him wasn’t Maria. She had long since left for a trip with her family for vacation.

“…”

Upon confirming the figure before him, Kafka’s expression slightly twisted. It wasn’t someone particularly welcome.

“I have something I want to ask you.”

It was Soren. The red eyes still filled with hostility looked at Kafka. Though he was clearly showing his displeasure, he patiently maintained eye contact. Kafka’s pale blue eyes also reflected an unwelcoming expression.

“Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk for a moment.”

I don’t want to. Kafka answered inwardly.

He desperately wanted to actually answer that way, but since the other party was being relatively polite, if he picked a fight, he would end up entangled with Soren in a ‘bad way.’ So there were two choices. Choice one: comply with the request obediently.

“Sorry, I’m a bit busy right now.”

“…”

“Could we talk next time? I have an appointment with a professor soon.”

Choice two: strategic retreat.

Having made up his mind, Kafka hastily closed his book as if he hadn’t been sitting leisurely, cleared the empty plate and juice glass, and stood up from his seat. Soren watched this with a dumbfounded expression and tried to say something, but his intended conversation partner had already fled quickly, even with his robe hem fluttering.

‘Why would he want to talk to me?’

Meanwhile, Kafka, who had escaped from Soren by walking almost at a run, hid in the third-floor bathroom of the dormitory. After closing the door of a stall and catching his breath, he thought that if he had used teleport again, he wouldn’t have been this out of breath.

‘I’m still unqualified as a mage.’

Kafka let out a deep sigh and sat on the toilet for a moment. Staring blankly at the ceiling in the narrow bathroom stall, he somehow felt his circumstances had become pitiful. Of all the many places, why did he choose the bathroom?

‘It didn’t seem like he was following me…’

If Soren had made up his mind to catch him, he would have been caught immediately. However, when he glanced back, Soren was just making a dumbfounded expression without taking any particular action. Kafka slightly bent his waist, rested his elbows on his thighs, and propped up his chin.