Departure

"So when did you notice it?"

The question was asked by me and it was directed at Anya, who was sitting on the bed in front of me. Me? Well, I was on a sofa.

Some awkward things happened when I finally revealed to Anya that I'm not the real Zero but have been reincarnated in his body. The situation became so tense that I was not able to clear out many things and a ton of questions remained unanswered in my mind.

So here was I, it was nighttime now—around 10 pm—and after finishing dinner I called Anya into my room to have a little talk, or you can say I also want to clear out any possible misunderstandings.

And here we are, I started the question by dropping a question and the first thing I asked was when and how she started to notice that I am not Zero.

She pondered over it for a while and then spoke up.

"If I remember correctly then it was a few weeks after that incident five years ago, according to you my brother died that moment and you took control over his body so I guess I started noticing right after that."

In short, she immediately noticed the change when I took control of this body. But it seems like she was not done yet because after a pause she continued.

"As for how…well, I felt like after that incident you were a completely different person. The Zero I knew was a weak and fragile boy who spent most of his bed, leaving the house was almost impossible for him. But after that incident, it completely changed, he started going out, playing in the back yard, moreover, you also started training sword arts with me.

And then there was this thing when you started calling father and mother by their name; this was a thing that raised my suspicion the most. Also, it was not only me, but our parents also noticed this, but due to the happiness of you being alive—even after your heart stopped for a while—they ended up ignoring this change."

Hmm, I didn't care much but I was calling them by their names. It was not because of something like I don't see them as my parents, no, in these past years I *have* developed some feelings for them.

Maybe it is a result of my emotions getting overlapped by the real Zero and it caused those feelings to develop but it was sure that I did see them as parents, even if a little bit.

Me calling them by their names was simply the result of well, how can you call someone else "father" or "mother" when you remember that they are not the one who gave birth to you.

Yes, I can put up an act but that will be just me forcing myself, those words won't have even the slightest hint of emotion backing them up.

But that was not the case when I called them by their names so I thought I'll just stick to that.

After convincing myself that the actions I took had a reason, I returned my attention back to Anya.

"Even after that, the thing which confirmed my suspicions was the way you stopped my marriage. That plan was not something the Zero I knew could even make, leaving the matter of actually playing it out aside.

Though this situation was something I never imagined honestly. I thought that some kind of evil spirit or sorcerer have possessed my brother," with that, she finished.

Hmm, there are some unexpected parts, the reason she raised suspicion was mostly like I predicted.

Carrying out that plan and moreover revealing it to Anya was a mistake on my side. But well, what's done is done…can't do anything about that.

Still though, evil spirits? I mean, seriously!?!

Aren't those kinds of things a fantasy? No wait, this is also a world based on a fantasy setting so it's not impossible for them to exist in reality. If that so, then I would like to meet one in person, for research purposes of course.

I wonder what they will look like.

"So, what are you planning to do now?" asked Anya, dropping a question out of nowhere.

"What do you mean by 'what I'm planning to do now?" I replied back with a question.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

A sudden exchange of words happened, 'What? Am I messing up something again?'

A perplexed expression appeared on her face, then, after a while, she asked again in a more detailed matter.

"I mean, now that I know about your reincarnation, what are you going to do now?"

Oh, so that's what it's about, such an unnecessary question.

"I'm planning on doing just what I was doing until now; live a normal and peaceful life. For starters, I'm going to the magic academy with you, after that I'll see what to do," I replied, honestly.

She seemed surprised for a second. What? Was I saying something weird now? I don't think so.

"I see, I see," she said, nodding several times.

Our conversation more or less reached an end after that, since there was nothing else to talk about and there was misunderstanding left either.

We decided that we are not going to tell Ainge or Ron anything about this as this is likely to sadden them. As for how our relationship will be, well, you can we are in a kind of peace treaty.

At least, I would like to think that.

After that Anya left and now I was alone—in my own room obviously—, since it was nighttime and considering that I have to leave for that magic academy tomorrow I threw myself on the bed to get to sleep.

'Magic academy huh.'

Lying on my bed I closed my eyes and begin to think.

I talked about getting myself enrolled in the academy with Ron the time we were having dinner. My reasoning was "I can't help but worry if Anya is going there alone" or something emotional like that.

Since we were in a peace treaty, Anya just went along with it.

We had the money now—or the money from Walric's family—in our bank account so there was no concern for the enrolment fee now. A little bit of emotional blackmailing to Ron and I got the permission.

I mean, why won't he allow me? I was crying about learning magic ever since I found out my status, so maybe he was also tired of hearing about it all the time.

'Still though, a magic academy, I can't help wonder what kind of life awaits me there.'

As I thought about it, my consciousness slowly sank in, causing me to fall asleep.

***

The next day, I woke up in the morning and did the usual things like brushing my teeth and eating breakfast.

When I was done doing that, I and Anya as well packed our bags. From that day onward, we were going to live in the dormitories of the magic academy and the academy is not in this city but in the capital city of this kingdom.

So packing at least some stuff was a must.

I don't know what Anya has decided to take with her but as for me; my bag was mostly filled with several of my hoodies, some daily use stuff, and a few other personal things.

Done with that, I changed into formal clothing. Since this will be our first time making an appearance in the academy, we had to look good. After all, that academy is attended by the sons and daughters of higher-class nobles.

And so, I wore a grey colored suit-type dress and a pair of black colored hand gloves. Ainge is the one who suggested me these gloves by the way.

I left the house after I was done and waited for Anya outside. Two carriages were waiting in front of our house and beside one of them stood someone whom I have not expected to see.

It was the princess. I confirmed with her why she was here and turned out that she will be leaving for the capital with us, also, she wanted to confirm things with Ron—that she is really the one who gave Anya a seat in the academy.

A few moments later, Anya also arrived, dressed in a formal dress like me. Then we sat in our carriage and the princess in hers.

Apparently, Ron is going to escort us to the academy and after that, he will return. Considering how overprotective he is, I am not surprised at all.

The carriage moved and at the same time, I and Anya waved goodbye to Ainge from the window, to which she also waved back.

And thus, we left for the capital city and the Zaforths magic academy.