Restarting

 

"Nnn, hup—… whew."

I crawled on the floor, moving along the hallway using only the strength of my arms.

The wheelchair Mentor gave me is handy, but it can't handle steps and it's a bit noisy.

I prefer not to use it when I want to move quietly, like now.

"Phew… made it."

I'm heading to the mysterious room. It's some strange room that no one uses, but we're not allowed to enter.

The door's locked, but that's no problem. I opened the bag hanging on my waist and used a spell. The water floated gently, turning into a master key. I easily opened the door and slipped into the room before anyone saw me.

"Wow…"

The sight before me made me involuntarily exclaim in delight.

The room, decorated in vibrant blues and greens, adorned with shells and corals, had cute furnishings.

It was as if it was tailored for me, perfectly suiting my taste.

I've dreamed of living in such a cute room when I grow up. It's like that fantasy came to life.

I wondered who used to live here. Curious, I opened a drawer in the desk.

Inside was… an unbelievable mess.

Reddish stones, some leaves, blue pressed flowers, and silver hair of some unknown animal… It was hard to tell whether it was trash or something else, all jumbled together.

The visible areas of the room were meticulously clean, but the hidden parts were like this. I felt slightly disillusioned with the room's owner.

What else is there… As I rummaged through the desk, I found a thick red book in the back.

"Woooah—…"

I opened it casually and let out a gasp, this time for the opposite reason. It was even more chaotic than the drawer. Normally, books are written from the top left across or from the top right down.

But this one was a mess. The writing was vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and even upside down in places.

And the content was terrible. Probably the first entry was this:

Dragon Year 637, March 25. Received a book from that person. Happiness. Will start keeping a diary from today on.

And right below that, this:

Dragon Year 640, April 1. Strong forehead.

… A diary is supposed to be regular, but there's a three-year gap between the first and second entries. And what's with 'strong forehead'?

The rest was a mix of trivial notes, drawings, maps, and other indecipherable things. One page was entirely filled with "Hello". The book was used too freely.

But I couldn't take my eyes off this chaotic book. There were hardly any pictures, if any, and they were mostly unrelated doodles. They were all over the place, hard to read, often unclear…

Yet, it contained the raw voice of a woman unknown to me. Words she couldn't say, couldn't share with anyone, honestly written.

Especially the recurring 'that person'.

The writer must have loved 'that person'.

But 'that person' had someone else they liked, 'that girl'…

Both 'that person' and 'that girl' were precious to the writer.

Unable to confess, being together was painful. Yet, wanting to be seen. My heart raced as I followed the words.

Reaching the last page, I was stunned.

"For the small, cute girl reading this."

It's as if she knew I would read this book.

Probably a coincidence…

Detailed instructions followed, like those from Professor Tia.

Tia, being small, is overly meticulous. I prefer Lufelle, she's big and kind.

But my favorite is Professor Yuuka. So strong and cool, the epitome of an adult woman. Least favorite? Mentor. The red one. He's always getting scolded by Professor Nina, kind of pathetic.

Seeing Mentor scolded by Nina somehow annoys me. Besides, he seems to be the weakest.

… Would following these instructions make me like Professor Yuuka?

I pondered, reading on.

Instructions on organizing, grooming, magic use, good practices.

Though many made no sense.

Research on human transformation magic without sacrificing voice? For what?

I didn't understand, but maybe I'll start with organizing.

About to close the book, I noticed tiny writing at the edge of a page.

"Today, that person—"

It was crossed out twice, and even smaller below—

"This memory is mine. If you're upset, either remember or do the same."

I didn't understand… But my heart skipped a beat reading it.

"Unfair."

The word slipped out without me understanding why.

Unfair. Unfair. Unfair. Not knowing what or who caused it, the feeling overwhelmed me.

An indescribable, tiny flame kindled in my chest.