I always loved magic.
Its power was mysterious, beautiful, and fun.
It could surprise others and make them smile. They would praise me and call me amazing. Thank me. Pat me on the head.
That’s why…I loved magic. And that’s why I studied magic with everything I had.
I wanted to use magic to make everyone smile.
But…the world was in an era of chaos and strife. An era when the weak were ravaged and the strong did as they pleased.
And so I fought, using the power of magic. To protect my beloved family. To protect the friends I loved. To protect my cherished hometown.
To, at the very least, bring smiles to the people around me. To protect those who would be killed simply because they were weak.
I kept on fighting, using that magic I loved so much.
And so—to protect them, to make them smile, I sought more power.
More.
More and more.
In this world, you could not protect anything without power. Without it, you could not make people smile.
But I wasn’t able to protect those people, and one by one, those I loved fell like sand through my fingers…and each time, I sought further power.
As I prayed that next time I would be able to protect them, I sought greater and yet greater might.
As I grew stronger, more of my loved ones were lost. So I became even stronger. But I lost them yet again.
As I wept for them, I sought further power.
I repeated this cycle over and over…
When did it begin?
The next thing I knew—once my sole mission became seeking further and greater power—I had become the Dusk Demon.
My tears had long since dried up, and my means and my ends had completely changed places.
I was intoxicated by the pleasure of gaining power, by the exaltation of reaching greater heights, and by the joy of overpowering others.
I slaughtered the weak, consumed their life force, and gained even greater power.
For that purpose, I incited more warfare, more carnage, more destruction—and once I had more power, I did it all over again.
Even after there was no one left for me to protect, no one left to make smile. Even after the homeland to which I was supposed to return had long since been destroyed.
I sought power—I killed and murdered and brutalized—destroyed everything in this world that I could.
And I was yet further empowered by the mages who, in their righteous indignation, attempted to defeat me and save this world that I had plunged into darkness. But I defeated them and consumed their power for my own.
Then one day…
…suddenly, he appeared before me.
“I’ve come to save you.”
You? Save me? Why?
“Because you’re crying. You’ve been crying this whole time.”
I am not crying. What’s wrong with you? Gross.
“And yet you are. As you kill everything, annihilate everything…you’re always crying. You’re not shedding tears or making a sound, but you’re always shouting out, like a wailing child… ‘Somebody save me!’ ‘Somebody stop me!’ I can tell…though it’s just a feeling.”
Impossible. I just kill and lay waste to everything for the pleasure of slaughter and destruction.
Look at you, acting as if you know me… You’re just plain disgusting. Do you want to die?
“You don’t have to cry anymore. That’s why…I’ve come to you.”
That man—the Dawn Swordsman—unsheathed his sword before me.
And so to eliminate this foolish, disgusting man—a mere mortal, not even a mage—who dared challenge me, I summoned the Great Beings of the Seventy-Two Pillars.
And then—I realized.
After a struggle to the death, he defeated all the Great Beings I had called upon.
Then that man’s shining sword struck me—and I knew:
Ah yes…I’ve truly been saved.
Finally, there is an end to this hell.
I was overcome with deep understanding.
And then—after it was all over…as I perished, he spoke to me.
“You committed sins. Sins this world will never forgive. But I have judged you. And through this punishment, your sins in this life have been vindicated. Live your next life and enjoy it. Find your own true happiness.
“How about you start over and learn that magic you love so much again from the very beginning? And this time, I’m sure you’ll bring a smile to someone’s face.
“It’s all right. I know you can do it. I pray…that in your next life, you’ll be reborn as a kind and gentle girl who can naturally reach out to others… That is my sincere hope.
“…Well, I’ll be seeing you.”
And that…that was my final memory of my past life as the Dusk Demon.
“So, Rix! It turns out you were an Ego all along!”
Headmaster Jake’s passionate shout echoed throughout his office.
“Yeah, um…so what does that mean?” Rix asked.
“It means you are the owner of an extremely rare type of Sphere, one which is opened, yet closed off,” the headmaster began. “I have no doubt your existence will contribute greatly to the research and clarification of the nature of the Sphere, which is still largely unexplored! And I also hear that you can wield the same flash of light the Dawn Swordsman used, in a limited capacity! I must say, as a mage myself, my interest in you is endless! It seems the nomination by the Annals of the One-Horned Goddess was on track after all!”
“Hmph. While it vexes me, it seems the fool does have a certain magical value after all,” Darwin grumbled.
“And to think he really was an Ego… The magic world’ll have a field day over this,” Crawford griped.
Rix tried to get the attention of the teachers, who seemed to be going off on their own conversation.
“Um, so what’s gonna happen to me, after all?” he asked.
“Of course! You are too valuable to throw back out into the wild!” Headmaster Jake bellowed. “And besides, you have met the minimum requirement for enrollment in this academy, that is, to have an unlocked Sphere! Therefore, I permanently revoke the temporary suspension of your expulsion decision from the academy! Congratulations! As of this moment, you are officially a student of the Estoria Academy of Magic!”
“Tch… I still haven’t agreed to that,” Darwin muttered.
“Hey, Darwin. Don’t be like that,” said Crawford. “Thanks to Rix defeating the person behind it all, we were able to lift the Otherworld Barrier quickly, and the damage was minimal overall. Can’t you give him a little credit?”
“That has nothing to do with the matter at hand… Though if that is the academy’s decision, I will comply.”
Rix sat there awkwardly while the teachers had this back-and-forth.