Stella’s expression, however, remained clouded. “You don’t need to memorize it anymore,” she muttered.
“Huh?”
Stella, leaning on one of the walls, didn’t even try to look my way. The slamming of the leaves against the walls was all I heard.
“How can I understand your prayers if I don’t have the scriptures memorized? I need to if I want to—”
“It’s fine. After all, I’ve decided today is the last day I’ll ever use this staff.”
Say what?!
That shocked me so much I nearly forgot to maintain the orb of light. It shrank a bit, prompting me to hurriedly grow it back out.
“Or more precisely, until the end of this exam. I’m never using this staff again once I finish this practical exam.”
“But why? You already know that you can’t use miracles with any other staff.”
“There’s not a saint out there that can’t change staves. I should be able to do it too!”
“But I mean... Why am I not good enough? If you have any problems, say so. I want to stay as your staff.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? If you do that, you’ll be stuck as my spirit forever. You won’t be able to go back to your world.”
“Obviously! As an otaku, there’d be no greater joy than staying by my idol’s side f—”
“Quit joking around!” Stella screamed, her voice going hoarse. She clenched her fists, and her face twisted tearfully. “You said it yourself. You said you want to return to your old world! Otaku, you must have had things you wanted to do back there.”
“That’s...” I said, then trailed off. I had said I wanted to go back. There wasn’t anything I could argue with there.
Stella used my silence to steel her resolve. “There’s something I have to apologize to you about, Otaku. Before we met, I had a one-on-one meeting with Professor Speranza.”
A one-on-one meeting... Professor Elyena had alluded to something like that.
“She told me flat out I’d be expelled if I didn’t pass this year’s finals. She said Antohsa doesn’t need a student incapable of casting miracles. Obviously,” Stella said, sniffing with self-derision. “But I can’t let that happen. The town I grew up in and the orphanage that raised me are both gone now. A magibeast destroyed everything. If I’m kicked out of here, I won’t have anywhere to go.”
It felt like I was only just now understanding her wish to join the Opti Baculus and destroy all magibeasts on a real level.
“Wanting to avoid expulsion at any cost, I put my all into a wish: Any spirit will do, just let them inhabit my staff.” Stella looked up, regret pained on her face. “All that about me wishing for a Grand Spirit was a lie. I told the Goddess I just wanted a spirit.”
Her voice was shaking. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I knew that.
“I never thought it’d end up like this... I didn’t think my wish would come true at the expense of someone else. It’s my fault you came to this world, Otaku. It’s because I wrote that wish that the Goddess put a human like you in a staff. It’s the only thing that makes sense...”
It was guilt. Stella had deduced she was responsible for my reincarnation, and the guilt was killing her.
“I won’t blame you for hating me. But I promise you this—no matter what happens, I’ll get you to the Goddess. So that you can go back to your world...”
“And that’s why you want me to stop using me as a staff.”
“That’s right.”
Her cold shoulder hadn’t actually been an advanced tsundere technique. She had resolved to stop using me and therefore was distancing herself. Her refusal to use this staff was a reflection of her resolve—that one day, no matter what, she’d send me back to my world.
The sphere of light I made was steadily doing damage to the magibeasts. The leaves had stopped hitting the wall a while ago.
“I understand your perspective now, Stella. But let me just say one thing,” I spoke up. Stella tensed up as if she thought I was about to yell at her. “If I hadn’t come to this world, I never would have met you. I’m grateful to fate for bringing us together.”
“Ah...”
“I don’t consider myself as having been sacrificed for your sake, so please. Don’t feel any guilt on my behalf, Stella.”
“B-But...” she stammered, unwilling to accept that.
Naturally. No doubt she’d feel she had done something wrong until I was back in my old world. That was just the kind of girl Stella was.
“Let me take this opportunity to say something. Back in my old world, I thought my childhood friend was a tsundere, only for her to actually reject me. That happened right before I came to my world.”
“Um...?”
“And what do you know, this world has my ideal tsundere. I’m talking about you, Stella! I’ve already found an idol in this world, and what I want most is to rise to the top of the Opti Baculus with you.”
“But that’s my dream, not yours...”
“An otaku’s dream is their idol’s dream! An otaku is happy when their idol is happy! This is a law of reality. An otaku’s meaning in life is to support their idol,” I declared. Were I in a human body, I would dramatically clench my fist for more emphasis.
Could Stella feel my passion? The burning, flaming fervor that otaku only ever directed to their idol?
I heard the sound of cracking wood. The conifers had dried out, and they were collapsing onto the ground. Stella poked her head out from the walls to confirm, then instantly switched modes.
“Okay, let’s finish this in one go!” she called, lifting me high. “O Spirits of Fire, grant me blazes to burn mine enemies away. Ignaria Sein!”
Spirits, give it all you’ve got. Rain fire through the whole room and burn all the magibeasts.
The ceiling was engulfed in red light. The light morphed into countless blazing fireballs, which rained down like meteors.
Stella smiled with satisfaction. “Not bad.”
“I’d say the same for your strategy.”
“This is what you want your dream to be?”
“What could be better? I get to live the dream by my idol’s side.”
The conifers burned up, filling the room with the sound of crackling firewood. The swaying flames made for a dreamlike sight amid the dark labyrinth. Stella cast her eyes down shyly and hugged me to her chest.
“I see. W-Well... Thank you for...being my spirit, Otaku.”
And just as I was thinking Stella’s face was oddly close, I felt something wet and soft. I didn’t even have time to gasp. She immediately pulled back and put me on her back. Looking at her showed me nothing but a field of silver hair. Her hands were hot.
Is this a dream? Am I in a world of fantasy?
My daze was interrupted by Feena calling out. “Stellaaa, are you okaaay?”
“I’m safe! You can come on over. I killed the five-pointers.”
Seemed like magibeasts were just points in her mind now.
Feena came over and looked at the magibeasts-turned-piles-of-ash. “Incredible! You actually slew them...! Now our graduation won’t just be a dream!”
“Your expectations are too low, Feena. I’m aiming to be top of our grade after this exam. Now, let’s keep up the pace! Winaria Sein!”
The two of them got back on their staves, and we advanced farther into the dungeon.