GVRS 6

Chapter : 06

Crash!

The vase shattered with a loud, explosive noise. Holding his breath, the servant hurriedly picked up the scattered fragments from the floor.

After gathering the pieces and stepping outside, he finally managed to steady his breathing—only to stiffen again as he encountered someone unexpected. He immediately bowed his head deeply.

“Y-Your Highness, the Third Prince.”

Instead of acknowledging the greeting, the man—Alphad—quietly stared at the broken shards in the servant’s hands.

Golden eyes, visible between strands of dark blue hair, slowly rolled toward the servant’s face.

“Is my eldest brother inside?”

“Y-Yes, he is. B-But… it would be better if you didn’t go in right now.”

The servant ended up speaking out of turn. But if he let Alphad enter and the prince happened to get hurt by the remaining shards, there was no doubt the servant would lose his head.

Crash! Bang!

As if to prove his words, another loud commotion erupted from inside.

Alphad’s brow twitched slightly.

“It seems my eldest brother is quite enraged.”

“Th-That is…”

“Or are the rumors spreading throughout the imperial palace actually true?”

There was a quiet rumor circulating within the Sepedet Empire:

“The Third Prince is immature, the Second Prince is drunk on blood, and the First Prince is driven mad.”

At Alphad’s sharp tone, the servant dropped flat to the ground.

“N-No, of course not! Those are just nonsense spread by idle gossips—you know that, don’t you?!”

As Alphad’s yellow gaze continued to bore into him, the servant felt cold sweat soaking his back.

It felt like standing before a snake as its prey.

“It is absolutely untrue that the First Prince suffers from madness!”

The moment he blurted that out, the atmosphere turned icy. The servant realized his mistake too late.

“I-I’m sorry! I spoke out of line…”

“No. That’s enough.”

Alphad turned around sharply.

“Shall I inform His Highness that you came? By tomorrow, the First Prince will surely—”

“No. I only came to ask whether the observatory has reported any movement of a new star.”

The mysterious sight he had witnessed last night lingered in his mind, prompting this brief visit to the palace.

Alphad clicked his tongue.

“But like this…”

Crash! Bang!

The servant cautiously glanced at Alphad’s face. He wondered what expression the prince would show upon witnessing the disgrace of the First Prince—widely considered the most likely successor to the throne.

But Alphad remained expressionless, simply staring at the door.

There was neither concern for the empire’s future nor greed at seizing an opportunity in his eyes.

Step. Step.

He turned and walked away slowly. The servant stood there blankly, watching until Alphad’s figure disappeared.

Then—

From the crack of the door came a faint voice.

“Is… someone there?”

It was the First Prince, Herman.

The servant didn’t hesitate and rushed inside.

“Did you call for me, Your Highness?”

“Ah… yes. You—come here.”

Herman, his hair completely disheveled, grabbed the servant’s hand and pulled him closer.

“Y-Your Highness!”

Startled, the servant lowered himself, but Herman’s grip was so strong he had no choice but to follow.

“Your Highness, how could I possibly stand beside you—”

“Shh.”

Herman gestured for silence.

Then he looked up at the transparent ceiling. The servant followed his gaze and looked up as well.

But all he saw was the usual night sky.

Countless stars scattered across it—beautiful, but nothing extraordinary to someone who wasn’t an alchemist.

However, Herman’s face as he gazed upward was filled with rare ecstasy.

“Haha… hahaha… Can’t you see it?”

Herman slowly turned his head.

His blue eyes seemed to pierce straight through the servant—as if exposing every corner of his soul.

His expression twisted into something eerie. It resembled a smile, but it was not something that could truly be called one.

“That brilliant starlight shining above… the miracle that has twisted fate itself. Can you not see it…?”

Herman looked utterly elated.

The servant glanced up at the sky once more.

As always, the dense starlight simply looked down upon them.

Blink.

When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

A white ceiling. A hospital?

A chill ran down my spine.

Did I… return to my original world?

“Cha-jun!”

I shot up, calling my younger sibling’s name. The things resting on top of me fell to the floor.

“Huh?”

Looking closer, they were thick clothes.

Why are these here?

…Wait. This isn’t a hospital bed either.

Instead of the familiar metal frame, it was a wooden bed—the kind in a dormitory.

“Awake?”

I looked up to see Flamel leaning against the window, watching me. Every little detail about him screamed “main character.” Annoying.

“This is…”

“My room.”

Ah. So I had taken over the owner’s bed without permission.

“You remember what happened last night, right?”

“Uh… more or less.”

That wasn’t a dream, right? No matter how I thought about it, it was way too unrealistic.

A shark appearing in a lake… Even in a movie, that would get criticized.

‘Ah, the necklace?’

I quickly searched inside my clothes and found the half-broken fragment of lightning.

Well… it did its job by giving me a chance, I guess.

As I removed the necklace and set it aside, something familiar caught my eye on the bedside table.

“This is…”

“It was lying next to you when you collapsed.”

A pearl?

Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember seeing a pearl oyster in that weird nature-documentary-like scene…

“It’s yours. Take it.”

“Huh? You’re giving it to me?”

“Didn’t I just say it’s yours?”

Damn. If this is a natural pearl, how much is it worth?

I carefully slipped it into my pocket.

“It’s a byproduct from the domain you manifested, so it shouldn’t harm your body. At most, it might temporarily increase your elemental affinity.”

What is he even talking about?

But Flamel didn’t seem interested in explaining further. Fine. I didn’t expect that much from him anyway.

Oh right. I should thank him first.

“Thanks for saving me.”

“…What?”

“Yesterday. The shark.”

Flamel’s expression turned strange—like he was wondering just how stupid I could be.

“Well, it was just you and me there, so obviously—”

Besides, didn’t he use some ability that looked like he brought a piece of the ocean itself? In the original story, his contract power could manipulate space and time freely, so something like that would be easy for him.

…Wait. Is he worried I found out?

“Don’t worry! I won’t tell anyone you have a contract ability!”

I hurriedly added that, just in case he decided to silence me.

Honestly, it would’ve been nice to publicly accuse Tom, but that would mean revealing how we escaped that giant octopus… which would be a problem for the hidden-overpowered protagonist.

“Tch.”

He clicked his tongue openly.

“It wasn’t me.”

“Huh?”

“I said, I wasn’t the one who caused that.”

Then who was? There was only me and Flamel at the lake.

As I blinked in confusion, Flamel stared straight at me.

Wait… don’t tell me—

“Me?”

“Who else would it be?”

“No, I thought it was you…”

He wasn’t the type to lie about something like this, so if what he said was true… then I did it?

I stared at my palm, but it looked completely normal.

“…I should be the one thanking you.”

“Huh?”

Did you eat something weird? The main character isn’t supposed to act like this.

“What exactly do you think I am?”

Flamel frowned deeply.

“If you hadn’t helped, I might have actually died.”

Yeah right. You’re secretly overpowered.

“I at least know how to thank someone who saved my life.”

“Uh… sure.”

It felt awkward, probably because I knew he wasn’t being entirely sincere.

“And… I suppose I’ll trust you a little.”

Flamel looked straight at me.

“That you’ve changed.”

Our eyes met—his violet eyes, a reminder that this wasn’t my original world.

“W-Why all of a sudden?”

“At first, I thought you were working with him to set a trap. But… for that, you seemed far too desperate.”

“Yeah, well, I almost died because of that bastard Tom too.”

“He probably intended to deal with both of you at once.”

Damn it. Just because we had a falling-out, does he really try to kill us?

‘This world is terrifying.’

They act civilized on the surface, but in things like this, they’re completely savage.

As I trembled slightly, something flickered in Flamel’s eyes.

“I have no intention of letting this go.”

“What?”

“I don’t avoid fights that come to me.”

He stared directly at me.

“As you know.”

I didn’t do anything like that… but arguing wouldn’t help.

I swallowed my frustration.

“Yeah. If we let this slide, I won’t be able to sleep out of anger.”

And what if he tries to kill me again?

Next time, I won’t have that lightning fragment.

‘Better to eliminate future trouble now.’

At that thought, using Flamel to take down Tom didn’t sound like a bad idea.

“…So what’s the plan?”

Flamel narrowed his eyes slightly, then began explaining.

I nodded along enthusiastically.

Yeah, as expected of the protagonist—sharp.

“Alright, let’s do that!”

Even though he looked like he still had more to say, he eventually agreed.

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“What?!”

Before I could protest further, he stood up.

“I’ll inform the professors that you’re absent due to illness. Rest.”

“Hey—wait, isn’t this too sudden—”

Click.

I scratched my cheek while staring at the closed door.

‘Well… I almost died, but I guess things are still following the original story?’

The only issue was that I used the power, not Flamel.

‘Whatever. As long as we reach the same ending, it’s fine!’

The original story will sort things out.

I believe in it!

…At least, that’s what I thought at the time.

A mistake I made because I underestimated just how insane the original protagonist really was.

Damn it.