When I heard that I was going to be sent along on the Sacred Maiden’s journey to purify the Cristallo Sacro, I prepared a few notebooks. Honestly, they were a bit heavy, but I needed some paper and pens to write down my research findings along the way, so I didn’t care.
I’d packed as few changes of clothes as possible, a spare crystal, a crystal lamp, a few monster repellent crystals; medical salves and cold medicine; and of course, a mana measurement device and lots of mana restoratives.
“This should do it...”
Once I got all my stuff together, I put the dark red Academy robe I’d taken off back on. I’m ready! I had decided that I was going to research the Sacred Maiden’s powers while on our journey, and hopefully, the Cristallo Sacro too. Both were rare and wonderful research subjects, so naturally I was interested. Even if I couldn’t do any experiments, I’d be able to observe and think up some hypotheses — that was what the notebooks were for.
While the idea of bringing them was good, unfortunately, I didn’t have any reason to use them once we finally got out there. We were still far from the trees, and the Sacred Maiden wouldn’t show me any light magic. Seriously! The center of our purification journey, the Sacred Maiden, wouldn’t use her magic. No matter how strong the monsters we encountered, she wouldn’t even leave the carriage — she just left all the fighting to us. She’d only come out once the corpses were all burnt up, then she’d act all important and flirt with the men. Honestly, it pissed me off.
It only got worse once the servants and soldiers had been sent back to the capital. I hated selfish people. I hated people who expected to be waited on. I hated people who got in the way of my research. And justly so, I hated the Sacred Maiden.
She was lauded by others as the Sacred Maiden who would save our world, but the reality was different. I couldn’t stand to look at her while she flirted with the prince, the captain, and any other high-ranked, attractive men. But then, something happened to show me that I had also been acting just the way I hated.
Of course the Sacred Maiden is gonna save our world. Of course she’s going to go on a journey. Of course she’s going to use her light magic to fight. That’s what I’d always thought.
Of course I’d get into the Academy, since I’m the youngest and strongest mage. And of course I’d get sent on the journey of purification and have to pause my research. There weren’t many people who could become mages, and there were even fewer who could become researchers at the Academy. It was a given that I’d be fighting and sent off to help save the Cristallo Sacro.
But my “of course” and the Sacred Maiden’s “of course” couldn’t be any more different.
I was embarrassed when that was pointed out. I’d thought she’d been acting that way because she was selfish, that she’d been hiding away to make us worry. I regretted it. Unfortunately, that’s where my memories stopped. There was actually a lot more stuff that happened after that, and I even did some stuff, but because I drank some spiked water once we got back to the inn, I forgot it all.
Thank goodness I still remembered how selfish and immature I’d been. I should never forget that.
As soon as I woke up again, I went to apologize to the Sacred Maiden. While I was bowing, she just accepted my apology with a laugh, saying how serious I was. I didn’t see any of the harshness or pride that I had at the beginning of our journey. I saw a normal girl, fragile, full of smiles. This is the person that I — that we’d — all forced to save our world. It wasn’t her world, but because she was the Sacred Maiden, “of course” she’d save it.
I wondered why I had thought that way. I realized how shortsighted I had been, and how much my emotions had swung me around. Observing things with prejudice, what am I, a novice?
Once I got back to my room, I pulled out an unused notebook. I’d thought I would use them for researching light magic, or the trees, but I decided that I could spare one to start writing a travel observation diary. That way, even if I didn’t remember something, I’d have a record. Instead of judging things, I’d just calmly write exactly what happened. If I had anything to consider, I’d just write it at the end.
And that was how I got absorbed in writing in my notebooks.
Observation was so fun! Since I was just calmly observing, I didn’t get cranky, and I started looking forward to our journey. Usually, I didn’t leave Arldat, so it was interesting seeing new things, and I could see how magic really worked on things. Since it was so dangerous around the Cristallo Sacro, no one could get close, so I’d never have another chance to go!
The Sacred Maiden really was just a normal girl. She laughed, played, got scared, but she never stopped. Once I looked at it another way, her determined spirit was a positive thing. She was doing her best.
The prince was always smiling. But since he was always smiling, I wondered if that was just his “Crown Prince” face.
The Commander was always with the prince. He must be worried, since he’s the only prince we have.
The Commander’s aide quietly did his work. And he talked to his brother, the bear, a lot. They looked like they were close. I was an only child, though, so I wasn’t exactly sure.
The bear was loud and annoying. But even though he looked rough, he was surprisingly attentive, so I’d been hanging around him a lot lately. It was fun. Everyone always had their nose stuck in their research at the Academy, so I never had anyone I could just play around with like I did with him.
The thing that I was most interested in was the relationship between the Captain and Lucia, who joined us later. They were obviously in love with each other, but neither of them seemed to notice. And because the Sacred Maiden kept getting in the way, it was starting to get irritating that they weren’t together yet.
When were they gonna notice? I couldn’t even tell if there was any progress being made. I’d never been around anyone who’d been public with their romances before. The world was huge, and there were so many people. Their natures and relationships were all different.
Once this journey was over, I wanted to leave the Academy and investigate lots of different places. Maybe I’d start studying the Cristallo Sacro, since we didn’t even know if they were alive or not.
Dreaming of the future, I kept observing. Everything started with observations. I’d observe, make up a hypothesis, and test it. The end result was important, but so was how you got to it.
There was nothing bad about broadening your horizons!