ALL NOVEL Chapter 111 - Uneasy Order☆ (1)
In the distance, the morning broadcast of the
[As a week has passed since the Combat Festival, many schools are returning to their normal routines. However, the festival where seven [Unique Ether] ability users gathered for the first time in history…]
Alvit was learning things she needed to know as the next student council president at the
‘Bell and Sieglinde seem to like Alvit since they’re close…’
My sweet honey and strict secretary Erda just treated her as my junior.
Anyway, Alvit finished her education and returned home. I had a scenery I wanted to show her, so I was riding up a hill road with Alvit on the back.
Ching☆
Ching☆
Of course, it wasn’t the hill road where
Red Hare was climbing up there.
After awakening the cheat movement skill [Bifrost], it had been a while since I rode the bicycle, but I rang the bell out of habit.
Ching☆
Ching☆
The bicycle bell ringing as clear as ever.
But there was a subtle noise heard in between.
Creak…
While riding up the hill road, the bike frame was shaking amidst the bumpy ride. But beyond that, a definite shaking of the bicycle frame could be felt.
It wasn’t the natural shaking of a moving vehicle.
This was the precarious movement shown just before something breaks. I could tell instinctively that something was off.
“…Oh my☆”
So I pressed the brake handle and stopped.
Screech—
Alvit sitting behind was startled and swayed from the inertia. Then she poked her head out towards me.
“Whoa?! What is it?”
“…”
The frame rattled.
All kinds of parts were screaming.
This bicycle won’t last much longer.
It wasn’t from precognition or any other superhuman pink airhead vision… but an intuition one has for an object used for a long time.
‘So it’s going like this.’
It could be repaired if I wanted to, but I would basically have to bring a new frame and attach it.
Without bringing up the ‘Ship of Theseus’ story, since the sum of all parts was Red Hare.
It could be said that Red Hare had completely ended here.
“…”
The day I fell onto the road staggering from a heart attack due to overwork.
The day I woke up as a girl in a rainy hill town.
The day I kept my mouth shut because the pretty filter popping out was disgusting.
The memory of the first day arriving in the academy city, which was more terrible than expected… when no school would accept me and I wandered around.
That red bicycle was there too.
-Hey! Are you the middle school graduate who just came to the academy city? The entrance ceremony is still far off, but… Anyway! Since there’s a lot of spring rain, do you want to come to our school and take shelter from the rain?
-…
-Huhu, you’re quiet. I’m Frida. And you?
-…Clara.
-Nice to meet you Clara! I’m so glad to meet you!
-…
The medium of memories that had been with me since that day.
The game character name I blurted out in fear became my real name, not an alias, and the bicycle’s name became ‘Red Hare’.
“…”
For a moment my heart sank.
Red Hare wasn’t just a bicycle to me. It was a means of transportation that allowed me to freely roam this game world, and a token of memories.
‘Honestly, I did use it roughly…’
It was a strangely sturdy bicycle.
To withstand a [Unique Ether] ability user’s BPM for 3 years.
Still, when I was about to leave
“…”
I accepted it quickly.
Farewells come suddenly, don’t they?
“Phew…”
I stood up from my seat, then turned around and grinned. There was Alvit with a puzzled expression.
“Red Hare broke down~☆”
“Ah, is that so. Should we take it to Kara? Or to Senior Maya or the mechanical engineering department people…”
“Hmm… it might be difficult?”
I said that while lightly pressing the part where the sound came from with my hand. It was the thickest and sturdiest part of the frame.
Creaaak…
It was full of cracks and wobbling as if made of sponge. Along with that damage, the old parts were twisting in a chain reaction.
It clearly looked beyond saving.
It would be faster to just buy a new bicycle.
“Ah…”
Alvit stood up from the bicycle seat and stood on the grass. Then she touched the bicycle nostalgically.
Smooth red body.
It bore scars from traveling all over the academy city.
Looking closely, I really had ridden it roughly.
Alvit murmured sadly.
“Rota will be upset if she finds out. To Rota, the senior and the bicycle seem to be an inseparable image.”
“Hm? Rota? …Ah, right~☆ The kidnapping incident. That did happen…”
It was already becoming hazy in my memory.
I did treat Red Hare particularly roughly that night.
“Was that incident also actually
“Yes—♪ But I didn’t expect the priest to come out directly after that…”
Alvit and I chatted like that, talking about events from barely half a year ago as if they were great old memories.
Since each day was so dense, they felt like stories from over 10 years ago.
‘It really feels like I’ve spent over 10 years in this academy city.’
It was surprising that there was only about two months left until graduation. Of course, the fight with the prophet would come before that.
Alvit suddenly looked at me and said:
“By the way, Senior. There’s something I’ve been curious about.”
“Yes~?”
“This bicycle’s name, Red Hare… what does it mean exactly?”
Oh my.
I refrained from making Three Kingdoms references because of Prophet Jinsu.
But since she’s asking directly, I guess I have no choice.
“Well, it’s from a novel I enjoyed reading…”
Ah, you mean the Three Kingdoms.
I could talk about it all day.
I confidently put my hands on my hips and was about to start explaining.
…
…
…
But I couldn’t.
‘What was Red Hare again?’
I suddenly couldn’t remember well.
It was the name of some horse from the Three Kingdoms, I think.
‘Huh, to think I’d forget about the Three Kingdoms.’
Actually, it’s been over 3 years since I last read through the Three Kingdoms in this world. I was gradually forgetting minor extras and unimportant details.
‘If I graduate safely, I was planning to write a novel copying the Three Kingdoms in the outside world. But that seems difficult now.’
I was thinking Clara’s life path would be like
Looking at the novels Senior Selma was always conceptualizing, there seemed to be a lot of light popular novels.
But it seems a silly pink airhead writing an author musou is too difficult after all.
“…”
Anyway, what was Red Hare again?
Red Hare…
Red Hare…
Umm…
Uh…
Was it some obscure horse?
An obscure general riding clop clop…
‘I guess it wasn’t very important content.’
I finally failed to recall it and shrugged.
“…It was a horse name from a novel, but I forgot what kind of horse it was—☆”
“Heh… A horse name from a novel. Unexpectedly, Senior has a romantic side.”
“Huhu, despite how I look, I’m a literary girl—☆”
Though I only read the Three Kingdoms, wuxia novels, and comics.
We walked down the remaining hill road like that, talking about trivial things we all knew while pulling the bicycle.
The scenery we finally arrived at was the same pastoral scene as that day.
The sight of
“I can see our school over there… It’s certainly a healing place that feels quiet. How did you know about a place like this?”
“…My Senior showed me.”
“Senior’s Senior? Ah~ That… The 3rd year seniors you told me about meeting on the first day when you were a 1st year?”
“…Yes. Seniors Frida, Selma, and Nina.”
“I see…”
Alvit remembered.
Though everyone in the academy city had forgotten them, and even the classrooms of
Alvit remembered them because of me.
She remembered those who disappeared because of me.
What was happening at this moment was my small rebellion against fate.
“Before the seniors graduated, Senior Frida brought me here. She cheered me on here so I could participate in the Combat Festival.”
“With Senior Hil- Hilde?”
Alvit spoke with an awkward tone, scratching her cheek as if unfamiliar with that name.
It seemed more like she was hoping to become close by using it, rather than using it because they were close. It seemed she had talked with Hilde during the handover process.
‘She’s probably opening up to others little by little.’
Though it was too late and she was approaching in a somewhat strange way, I chuckled seeing that.
“Yes.”
Peaceful wind.
The academy city spread out.
The scenery before us was the same as back then.
My real story began here.
“So I wanted to congratulate you on winning the Combat Festival here—☆ And also congratulate you in advance on becoming the
“Haha… That was only possible because Senior Eir came exhausted. I still feel dazed.”
Alvit scratched her cheek shyly.
“Still. I’m going to take the lead so that no one looks down on
“Yes♪”
I hope your ‘real’ story also begins here.
[Three Heroes]
[Dragon Crouching in the Abyss]
The main story of
And not the fate created by the prophet…
I look forward to your real story unfolding next year.
Wishing that, I asked Alvit the last question I wanted to ask.
“Alvit, were you happy with your school life so far?”
“Hmm, well. The first impression was really the worst. No matter how much Senior said she was a priestess following a goddess, that she received a revelation… The school was old, the location was the worst, and all kinds of commotion kept happening…”
“…”
Unexpectedly, she didn’t immediately say she was happy.
This kid.
After I treated her so well.
Wuu, Clara is upset.
Give back the specially made sword~
Not noticing my gaze gradually narrowing, Alvit quietly continued speaking while recalling memories.
“Something like
“Hmm…”
“…But.”
Alvit furrowed her thick eyebrows and grinned, saying:
“It was really a super fun school life. To the point I wondered if this was okay.”
“…”
I held Alvit’s hand.
“Senior?”
“I’m glad. I’m so glad if you, if all of you were happy. Like you said, it was a mess, but I hope it was a good memory.”
“It was a good memory.”
“Yes, I see.”
I drew a small spiral on Alvit’s calloused palm. My fingers also had calluses that clacked against each other.
Though I couldn’t express it with nice words and pictures like Senior Frida, I just wanted to convey the meaning as my heart dictated.
“Even if it’s a mess, going round and round like a spiral.”
“…Spiral.”
“The spiral-like memories that bloomed from our meeting were quite nice. …Right?”
“Yes.”
I drew a spiral on her palm, then closed her fist.
Another spiral is formed and engraved in the heart.
“If you cherish these memories, do the same for the juniors who follow… Give them wonderful memories too.”
“…”
“Can you do that?”
Alvit nodded.
“Yes.”
I gave that fist back to Alvit.
“Thank you.”
And we went down the hill.
No one suddenly disappeared.
* * *
Kara raised an old stick and shouted:
“This is it!! This must be it—!!”
Then [Nameless Hawk] and Rota hurriedly ran across the field.
“Peep! Finally, the fate of [Rider of Rebellion] in this land…!”
“Where? Let me see!!”
Rota perked up her two ears and examined the old stick. She had already memorized all the patterns from doing this hundreds of times.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Please let this one be the winner.
Please let us stop wandering the plains, suddenly finding sticks appearing from the fog.
Please…
A sigh flowed from Rota’s small lips.
“…The end pattern is a bit different.”
“Ahhhhh—!! Whether it’s rider or singer, why on earth are there so many similar objects scattered in the fog—!!”
Kara’s scream echoed across the foggy plains.
“Haah…”
Kara slumped her shoulders. Then she got up again wearily and was about to set off to find a new stick.
“Hm?”
He saw a female student passing by in a corner of the distant plains. She was a blonde girl wearing glasses, holding a sketchbook in one hand.
“…”
If she had been a student from another school, Kara would have thought nothing of it.
But she couldn’t help feeling something was off.
That female student was wearing the uniform of
“What on earth…”
When Kara looked carefully at that spot again, the female student had disappeared somewhere again, leaving only a vague form.
_
Tl/note: The Red Hare was a famous horse owned by the warlord Lü Bu, who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.