[Who are you, grandpa?]

On a battlefield raining with blood, a robed figure stood there with his hood pulled deeply over his head.

[I thought there was a child crying, so I came.]

[This is a battlefield. There are no children here.

The young girl rode on her broomstick and floated in the air to avoid stepping on a charred corpse.

[Hmmm, strange. I swear theres one right before my eyes.]

[Im not crying.]

[Is that why you keep such a serious expression on your face? You do not cry, but you do not laugh either. I see. Just as the rumors say, you are quite the iron maiden.]

[What are you, grandpa? An enemy?]

[Im not your enemy, but Im not your ally either. I came to fulfill a promise to an old friend. I came to give you your freedom.]

[Youve been saying nothing but gibberish until now.]

[If.if you do not like now, then run here. Here. I have your admission documents prepared right here.]

[..........what is that?]

[Its admission papers to the Rolmod Wizard Academy. Its a Wizard Academy located in the The Kingdom.]

[.....................not interested.]

[Youll make friends there.]

[..........friends.]

In the fables, the heroes would always be surrounded by friends.

[Hey grandpa. There..

But for Alicia.

[No, never mind.]

Instead of being a weapon for killing...

[Yes, there is. Theres a man who can save you.]

...she wanted to be a princess.

[.........who]

[Oye, my grandson.]

[Whats his name?]

[Igni]

That was when The Hurricane Alicia and The Ultimate Light Lucas crossed paths for the first time.

This was the day before the entrance exam.

<<<<>>>>

Yoori: ..........THEYRE BACK!!!

Yooris voice echoed into the quiet air.

They finally returned back to the Kingdom.

Igni continued to monitor Celia closely without letting his guard down.

Celia: .....Ill..go home for now.

Igni: Please do.

Igni was able to keep his eye level even with Celia because of Alicias spell.

Igni: Youll withdraw for now. In return, I will not let the citizens of the Empire know that I defeated an [Extreme]. Do we have a deal?

Celia: Yeah.

Celia nods with a tilt of her head.

Igni: Then we have a deal.

Igni smiles.

Celia: Your legs Ill fix them.

Celia lays a hand on Ignis shoulder, and as soon as her hand touches, Ignis feet are restored. Even though he incinerated his thighs with his {FIREBALL}, no scars or wounds remained, and he was healed completely.

Celia: Alicia, you found a good man.

Alicia: .........yes.

Celia turns around. Her cloak waving gently in the air.

Celia: I see now. I understand a little of why the town girls chase after men.

Igni: ...........?

Igni tilts his head in response.

Celia: All I am saying is that strong men are popular, Igni.

Igni: Huh? Oh, yeah...sure

Suddenly, the conversation turned into something about popularity, and Ignis head tilts again.

Celia: You are dense, Igni. Im confessing my love to you right now.

Igni: ..wait, WHAT?!

Shock and surprise overtakes Igni and his voice flips an octave higher.

Igni: (Did my *season of popularity just arrive?!?!?!)

With his rusty brain, he tries to churn and crank his thinking into motion.

Celia: What a cruel man. I was staring at you for 100 years, you know.

Igni: Thats why..?????

Wait, what? Thats why? If you stare at a person for 100 years, would you fall in love with them?

Thats not written anywhere in the Rules of Popularity?!?!?

Alicia: Sis! You know you cant!!

But Alicia pushes her sister away from Igni.

Alicia: Youre the 1st Imperial Princess! You cant just choose your fianc just like that?!

Celia: If anyone objects, I will remove those obstacles.

Alicia: No! For crying out loud, just go home already!!

Alicia pushes Celia from behind.

Igni: (What?! Huh?! Whats going on..?!?!)

Magic Exhaustion was taking its toll and Ignis mind spun uselessly and

Igni: (Im.Im popular?!?!?!?!?)

But as he reached his answer, his mind completely shutdown, and the world blacked out.

<<<<>>>>

Alicia: Good morning, Igni.

Igni: Where..where are we?

Igni wakes up in a bed he didnt recognize.

Next to his bed, Alicia sat in a chair beside him. Next to her, Yoori slept with his face planted on the bed.

Alicia: Were in the schools nurses office. You suffered Magic Exhaustion so they brought you here.

Igni: ......I...see

Igni rises to sit up and looks at Alicia.

In the [Demon Kings Realm], Igni constantly underwent Magic Exhaustion, so to him, this was nothing, but to the average Wizard, Magic Exhaustion can lead to death.

Hence, that is why their care for Igni was so overboard.

Alicia: Yoori was awake until a moment ago, but he just fell asleep.

Igni: Alicia..are you okay?

Alicia: What do you mean?

Igni: Like school

Igni tries to remember the events before the Magic Exhaustion, but his memory is foggy, and he cant recall the details.

Theres.theres something really important that he cant remember.or at least it feels important

...a knight...a princess

Ergh, just kill me?........?

...no, thats not it.

Alicia: Dont worry about me. Because of Ms. Mila and Ms. Elenoir, Im going to be able to live in the dorms starting tomorrow.

Igni: Oh yeah..now that I think about it, where were you living before?

Igni assumed that she was commuting from home all this time.

Alicia: Um...well...a secret hideout.

Alicia lets out a giggle as she answers.

Igni: ......a secret hideout, huh.

Igni didnt know how to respond to her answer, and just repeats Alicias answer to himself.

Alicia: Um.Igni.?

Igni: Hm?

Alicia: I just wanted to say thank you.

<kiss>

A soft sensation lands on Ignis cheek.

Alicia: See you tomorrow.

Her face completely red, Alicia leaves the room.

Igni: ...........hueghhh..?

Being left alone, a strange sound escapes his throat.

Igni: Wh.....just now...wh, wh, what just..

Ignis brain explodes and deflates and only broken words form and spill out of his mouth.

Igni: What just..happened?

As Igni questions reality itself, the soft light of the moon quietly shone through his window.

<<<<>>>>

*Madam Saint. We finally found him.

In the Holy Nation of Santaruman...

In the center of the Capital lies the Great Temple. In the far back of the Temple, in a private room, an attendant disturbed the prayers of the girl inside. She had sky blue eyes and without turning around, she spoke.

I see. Where is he now?

He is located in the Rolmod Wizards Academy in the Anthem Kingdom.

.......a SCHOOL. So God did not abandon him after all.

At the age of 13, the girl was deemed to be compatible with the [HOLY] Magic Trait, and she lifted her gratitude to God and smiled.

Its okay. Its going to be okay. I have been praying all this time for this moment. Im sure.Im certain that he hasnt forgotten about me.

She speaks to herself quietly as if to convince herself of something.

We PROMISED, didnt we? Oh, Lord. I knew we were tied together by fate. .let us depart immediately. Make the preparations for the journey.

As you wish.

2 years...it was too long. It was way too long.

Her laughter was tainted with the sweet scent of insanity.

But it is all right now. Fate has brought us back together. No matter how much the world pushes us away, no matter how much they deny us, we are destined to meet.

She gazes as <EVERY INCH OF HER ROOM IS COVERED IN HAND DRAWN PICTURES OF IGNIS FACE>.

Igni, everything will be okay now.

Rose Aquilmarun smiled warmly towards the portraits.

Rose: Im here for you.

To be continued {{literally written in English in the raw Japanese text.}}

[END OF BOOK 1]