Her Reason

Lily and Sylvia were talking about trivial things on their way to the dorms with Mika trailing behind them.

However, Sylvia stopped in her tracks and turned to Mika.

"Tomorrow is the day when the bulletin board will be revealed to the first-years. How about taking a look at it first thing first in the morning?" she asked.

On said bulletin board, quests will be pinned on for the students to take. According to the teachers, the board will be located in the main hallway of the academy.

"Sure." Mika agreed casually.

"Count me in, too!" Lily said enthusiastically.

"Alright, then let's meet up before the first lessons start."

The other two nodded.

"Well, I will take my leave for now."

"Hm? Where are you going?" Mika asked.

"I'm going to the training grounds." Sylvia replied nonchalantly.

It seemed like Lily was hesitating to go with her, but then decided to stay.

"I see, then until tomorrow."

"See you, Sylvia…" Lily said goodbye with a strained smile.

Sylvia bid the two of them farewell and made her way to the training grounds.

Thus, Lily and Mika were silently walking to the dorms.

"Didn't you want to go with her?"

"No, I…"

She nervously grabbed the ends of her skirt.

"…I wanted to talk with you…" she admitted barely audible.

"With me?"

He stared at her with anticipation as she tried to find the right words.

Then, she took a deep breath.

"C-could you please tell me how to get stronger?" she begged with a slightly raised voice.

She could not look him in the eyes as she closed her eyes with her head hanging low.

Therefore, she was unable to see his perplexed face.

"W-what are you talking about? I'm an E rank, you know?"

Lily wanted to argue back, but before she could even make a sound, Mika held his hand in front of her mouth.

"Don't say something like 'But you won against Ms. Ross'. I told you; it was a fluke." he said as he tried to mimic her voice.

But Lily grabbed his arm and put it away poutingly.

"I – No, we're not so stupid to believe that!"

"…"

Mika broke into a cold sweat when he pondered how he could convince her that he did not win against Ophelia.

[It is sadly pointless. Your intelligence is not enough to come up with an excuse.]

A vein on his forehead was about to burst.

"Who are you calling dumb?!" Mika yelled enraged with a clenched fist.

On the other hand, Lily slowly moved her body away from him with a nervous facial expression.

"A-are you alright…?"

Then, Mika suddenly realized that he said his thoughts out loud.

After clearing his throat to suppress his embarrassment, he pretended like nothing happened.

"Well, let me ask you something, too. Why are you so desperate to get stronger?"

Looking back to their first interactions, her desire to fight him after the first exam, to get into the white class, and to team up with either him or Sylvia was more than ordinary.

"…"

She hesitated.

But Mika knew why.

He knew everything.

Her favorite food. Her height. Her weight. Her family. Her first words.

There was nothing he did not know about her.

And that was because of his reward from a previous quest.

Information about Lily Hayth.

Due to the reward, Mika learned everything about Lily up to now as if he was reading her life like a book.

But then why bother asking her why she wanted to get stronger?

Because it was necessary in order to get closer to her as a friend.

It did not matter if he knew everything as long as she did not put it into words herself.

Later on, it could get problematic if he acted like he knew everything about her without her saying anything.

"Have you heard about the Grand Order? It's an elite troupe consisting of strong people. Some say that members of that troupe are stronger than a nation ruler."

"In other words, they are the strongest people in the world…" Mika commented.

Under normal circumstances, one can be called a nation ruler as long as certain conditions were to be fulfilled like being the strongest in the nation.

For Mika, it was unimaginable how strong the Grand Order was if they were really stronger than a nation ruler.

"But why are you mentioning that group?" Mika pretended to be curious.

Lily lifted her head and stared into the horizon.

"I want to join the Grand Order." she declared determined.

"What do you gain from that?"

Fighting against evil. Saving people. Helping the weak. Carrying the people's hopes. Becoming a hero. Doing it out of goodwill.

None of that applied to Lily's driving force.

"Have you…"

She smiled faintly.

"Have you ever met an angel?"

Mika also stared into the horizon.

"An angel? Aren't angels just a myth?"

Having faced monsters and demons, it would not be a surprise if there were angels. However, as of now, there were no records of someone seeing an angel.

Nowadays, there were some cults or other organizations that were clinging to the existence of angels and worshipped them.

They were holding onto the belief that someday angels would descend and then obliterate everything that would make humans suffer.

Other people thought of them as crazy people, who just wanted to escape from reality.

"I see, so you're thinking like that, too…"

Her smile remained on her face, but it was clear that she was saddened.

"When I was a child, I was collecting herbs in a forest, however, I soon found myself surrounded by a group of monsters…"

"It was in that moment when I met that angel."

The only thing Mika did was listen to her.

"The angel had the appearance of a young boy my age back then. A bright halo was floating above his head and his long shining golden hair almost reached his waist. The eyes were sky-blue and his white pupils had a cross-like shape. And despite his old and worn-out clothes, he wielded a sword that was more elegant than any decorative sword I've ever seen."

"I've felt a mysterious and yet majestic aura emitting from him. But I was sure that he was clearly no human!"

"I remember clearly how he saved me by using some kind of unknown magic… It was as if the monsters perished instantly when they were enveloped by a pillar of bright light."

"And as soon as all monsters were defeated, the angel disappeared.

Mika knew exactly whom she meant.

"But in the end, nobody believed me, when I told them about that incident…"

"So I guess, you want to get into the Grand Order to meet that angel again?" Mika asked.

"Yes. I hope that as a member of the Grand Order, I can use my influence to search for him or that I can gain his attention…"

"I see."

The way she described that person matched with what was written down in the information Mika had about her.

However…

"Sorry, to disappoint you, but it's impossible to meet that angel again."

"Huh?"

Her eyes widened and her smile disappeared.

Shocked, she looked up to Mika's calm face.

"I know the person you're talking about."

"Then-"

"But that person doesn't exist anymore."

She stood still.

"After hearing that, will you still strive for more power?"

"…"

Lily was still shocked.

"I see."

Mika walked alone towards the dorms, which were already in sight.

"Angels? I don't believe in things I haven't seen for myself…" he muttered to himself.

[…]

He looked back one more time.

She still did not move from her spot.

[Were you not a little bit too harsh on her?]

"Harsh? I'm just trying to help her. Do you want to see a friend trying so hard just to be disappointed in the end? I just stated the truth, when I said that the person does not exist anymore." he complacently shrugged his shoulders.

[…]

'It was not the whole truth.', was something the system thought.