Chapter 69 Volume II – Chapter 35: A Girl’s Hand

I couldn’t help but sigh as I looked at Olivia.

Well… it’s quite normal for her to be so shy, I guess. At least she seems a little more relaxed than before.

“Put your bloody clothes on a dimensional button, and when you get into your own room, wash them as much as you can. Don’t wear them, and don’t throw them away. In fact… it would be best if you just burn them to ashes.”

“O- okay…”

After this brief exchange of words, silence fell over the room.

“Okay… I’ll tell you what we’re going to do now, so listen carefully, Olivia.”

I cleared my throat with a slight cough and turned serious.

“After Justin’s disappearance, they’ll logically check the CCTV footage to see where he was last seen. So they might find that they went into the woods and there’s a good chance you’ll be seen with them.”

This was the only troubling part of it. It was clearly seen that everyone involved, including me, had gone into the woods.

I need to get my hands on these records before Justin’s disappearance can be investigated, which will probably take until the day of the awards ceremony.

The reason for this is that if Justin suddenly disappeared, there would be no one to look for him.

No one would dare question where he disappeared to. And his parents aren’t the type to see him every day. They are both very busy and it cannot be said that they are very close to Justin.

“I’m going to erase all the CCTV footage of Justin, not a hair of either of us will be seen in the footage, but they will still come to question you as someone who had a relationship with him in the past. You have to tell them you knew nothing about it. In fact, you have to look extremely surprised and shocked. It is even okay to look a little nervous. Apart from that, tell them that you were at home all day long and that you were resting. Bring the CCTV footage as proof, I’ll take care of that too.”

Olivia listened to everything I said with great concentration. When I finished, silence fell over the room again.

Olivia noticed the silence and bowed her head slightly. Then she spoke timidly.

“I know you’ve already answered, but… why are you helping me so much? I’m… a murderer, a bad person… I’m just curious.”

I took a deep breath and leaned back in my seat.

So that’s what she wondered, not how I could change the camera recordings of the most advanced academy in the kingdom…

She still has her doubts, I guess.

“I think the most accurate thing I can say is that you resemble me and my sister. You resemble me with your past, and my sister… with your face and your behavior.”

I narrowed my eyes, and something logical came to my mind about why I might want to help her.

“If you want, you can think that I’m using you to confront my sister or something, maybe I’m really doing it for that… I’m not sure, but something inside me tells me to help you, so I do; that’s it.”

I know I’m giving the same answer as before, but there’s really no other reason.

“Okay…”

She doesn’t seem very satisfied, but I’m not lying.

“Anyway… According to the CCTV footage I will arrange, you should be in your room right now. I will leave you in your room in the same way so that there are no eyewitnesses to contradict us.”

Her eyebrows raised after what I said.

“In the same way?”

Ah… That’s right, she was unconscious while I was ‘flying’. I had forgotten.

“I came in through the balcony to avoid being seen, so I’ll do the same with you. That’s all.”

“From the balcony?”

“Yeah, from the balcony.”

Olivia curiously approached the window and looked down, in the next second her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly stepped back, pushing herself away from the window.

I guess seeing that we were on the eighth floor was not good for her mind, which was already not in a very good condition…

“Can you fly?!”

Haven’t you lived in this world for eighteen years? Why are you so surprised?

Although… Flying is not very common in this world either, unless one has wind, gravity mastery or a skill directly related to ‘flying’…

Gravity magic is not something that is easy to find, and if we are talking about wind magic, it takes a lot of work to be able to ‘fly’.

The reason why I can do it even half-assedly is because my magic power and mana reserves are high.

Normally, to be able to fly with wind magic, one must have a D grade or higher mastery. Factors such as my ‘The One Who is Close to Spirits’ skill and the fact that my soul acts as a catalyst for the processing of mana help me to overcome this limit, albeit just barely.

“I mean, I’m kind of flying, but not quite. Never mind, put a coat on. I’ll drop you off in your room and I’ll take care of everything myself. I’ve got things to do at the academy anyway, so I’ll just let your business slide into the mix.”

Olivia looked thoughtful for a moment, then sighed.

“Okay… Thank you.”

With that, I put a coat on myself and gave her a particularly large one, and opened the balcony door.

“Hold my hand, we’re going to land a little hard.”

The last time I tried to ‘fly’ I used too much mana, so now I don’t want to ‘fly’, I just want to slow our descent.

Olivia took the hand I held out to her without saying anything. When I felt the tiny size and delicacy of her hand, I realized something.

This is what a girl’s hand feels like, huh… Interesting.

I shook my head from side to side, pushed unnecessary thoughts aside, and asked what I forgot to ask.

“Which room are you living in?”

“Building six, number one hundred and seven.”

So it’s on the first floor. And her balcony faces the back of the building, just like mine!

Now that’s pretty nice.

I approached the edge of the balcony with a smile on my face and looked down. Since we were on the eighth floor, we were ‘quite’ high, but unlike last time, I was more confident this time.

“Okay, let’s go.”

I checked on Olivia one last time before jumping down.

She had her eyes closed and was shaking a little.

Is she scared of heights? Although, considering how she was cowering away from the window a few minutes ago, it’s quite possible.

Dammit… I was planning on landing a little hard to save mana.

I rolled my eyes and refocused on what was in front of me, then slowly pulled Olivia to the edge of the balcony and counted down from three out loud so she could jump in synchronization with me.

When I reached zero, she jumped down with me, albeit hesitantly. Then I quickly rotated my mana inside me.

As we were rapidly falling down, a layer of wind surrounded us, pushing us upward and slowing us down in an instant. So much so that when we touched the ground among the trees and bushes, it was as if we had jumped onto a soft cushion only slightly above the ground.

“You can open your eyes.”

Olivia slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Then she put her hand on her chest and sighed deeply.

“You could have said you were afraid of heights.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s not something you need to apologize for… If you had told me at the beginning, I would have told you what we were going to do and calmed you down a bit. At least you wouldn’t have been so agitated.”

“Ah… I see…”

She looked away, unable to look at me. A slight smile appeared on my face.

“Anyway, follow me.”

In this way, we walked through the bushes and trees until we came to the back of building number six. It wasn’t too difficult, to be honest, it wasn’t overly difficult to avoid the cameras. Of course, even if we were seen, it wouldn’t matter much.

“Which balcony is yours?”

Olivia pointed her finger at the balcony directly above us and a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

The balcony is low, directly on the first floor, as the number indicates. So I won’t have to go up much.

“Close your eyes again if you want.”

I said with a smile on my face.

Our ascent was no more than five meters above the ground. I was making fun of her, which she already realized.

“That’s funn-”

Before she could finish, she was suddenly swept off her feet and thrown upward.

A scream echoed in my ears. So as soon as I stepped onto the balcony, I threw myself inside with her. It would have been a big problem if someone had seen us.

“Fuck you!”

Olivia looked at me, panting, wide-eyed and furious. I only reacted with a short laugh.

“You were so moody, I wanted to lift your mood. Blame yourself.”

Olivia opened her mouth, wanted to say something to me, but then fell silent.

“Okay, okay. I apologize. I’ll wash my face and then go anyway.”

The design of the room was the same as mine. So I knew where the bathroom was, so I stood up and went in to wash my face without waiting for an answer from Olivia.

I wasn’t very sleepy, but I felt a little tired and wanted to freshen up, after all, I’d barely slept at all tonight, and I wasn’t going to be able to sleep this morning because I had a lot of work to do.

So, after splashing cold water on my face a few times, I went back into the kitchen where the balcony was and looked at Olivia, who had plopped herself down on the chair.

Well… I suppose I should invite her?

“We have a study group. Would you like to join?”

She shouldn’t have too many friends. I’m sure Justin wouldn’t let her. If I really wanted to help her, I’d have to lend a hand with that too.

“Study group?”

“Yeah.”

She stared off into space for a while, deep in thought.

She was aware of why I had suddenly invited her to such a group. She knew it was a good thing, too. She was just thinking, maybe wanting to be sure.

“How many of you are there?”

“Just Adrian Caleo and Julian Virhen for now, but I’m guessing Celine Potenbea and Lucia Quie will be joining us next week.”

Olivia stiffened at the names I mentioned.

Ah… I think she was hesitant because our group was made up of not so ‘normal’ people… Should I not have told her who was in the group?

“It’s just an offer, you don’t have to join, but I think it would be good for you. You can make real ‘friends’ after all the things you live through.”

“Would they… Would they consider me a friend?”

I paused after her hesitant words, realizing I had made a mistake.

It wasn’t because she was uncomfortable with them. On the contrary, it was the fear of rejection.

“No lie… Lucia and Celine are not in the group yet, but there is a ninety percent chance they will join. And if I know them a little, which I think I do, I’m sure you’ll get close if you don’t stay too nerdy.”

Neither Celine nor Lucia, unlike Justin, have a problem with ‘ordinary’ people.

Well… Celine may be a bit like that, but that’s because people are always afraid of her. So if Olivia is friendly to her, there shouldn’t be a problem.

“Anyway, let me know if you want to join. I’ll bet no one will turn you down.”

I smiled slightly and approached the balcony, thinking it was time for me to leave.

The sun was slowly starting to rise, I had to be quick, but I still took one last look at Olivia before jumping down.

Olivia had her eyes fixed on the floor. She was just standing there, and I frowned.

“Olivia?”

After I called out to her, she jumped a little and turned to me.

“It’s nothing…”

Nothing is it…?

“Are you sure? You can tell me if something is bothering you.”

“No… There’s really nothing.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at her face. The thoughtfulness that seemed to be bothering her had already disappeared.

“Well… okay. See you then.”

I let out a deep sigh and headed for the balcony again. When I was sure that there was no one outside who could see me, I was just getting ready to jump when I paused at the sound coming from behind me.

“Sue…”

When Olivia said her middle name, I turned to her curiously.

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t use the name Olivia much. It was the name my mother gave me when she left me and my brother.”

Ah…

“Got it. See you then, Sue.”

“See you…”

I smiled at her one last time before leaving, our eyes met and then we waved to each other. Then I jumped off the balcony with a strange feeling growing inside me.

As I was walking through the bushes, I saw Sue’s figure in front of my eyes, and an involuntary smile formed on my face.

Then, as I was quickly approaching my dormitory room, I remembered something.

When I realized what I had forgotten, I put my hand on my face and sighed deeply.

Great… I didn’t ask for her number, how do I contact her?

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