Chapter 347 – Volume 70 – Project Pass (2)
After the video ended, while I was immersed in the afterglow.
The senior warrior, Ricard Gladys, opened her mouth.
“As your senior, I would like to make one request to you.”
The path of the passer is difficult, and there is a high probability that he will lose his life.
That will be the destiny of the heroes to fight against the enemies of this world.
That’s why I jokingly say that I can’t be a hero.
I knew it was a joke, but people couldn’t laugh.
It’s a thought that only she who has already lived as a hero can do.
“Because there is nothing left after that. No matter how hard you fight your enemies, no one will praise you.”
Because of the system where everyone wants to live under the illusion that this world is peaceful.
All previous warriors were sacrificed in an unseen place, and their entire history of active activities was erased.
So, no effort was rewarded, and I was not properly satisfied.
“There were many cases where we were forced to fight simply because it was the fate given to us.”
But now the world has changed.
Everyone knows that warriors sacrifice for this world.
Now, instead of sneaking up on those who deserve it and asking them to sacrifice themselves for the world.
By building an academy like this, we established a policy of conducting education openly.
“I’m better than before, so I won’t tell you to make sacrifices.”
Because sacrifice is more noble and great than anything else.
Because it is something great that can never be repaid.
This is something that cannot be resolved with such small ‘compensation’.
“But still, I will make sure you are praised as the hope of the empire and treated as heroes who saved the world.”
So, it is not the ordinary name of warrior that was previously used.
With the new name Passer, a completely different future was drawn.
“We will work harder to ensure that you are recognized. That is a very small reward that should be given to those who sacrifice for everyone.”
So, if you can feel the value of that glorious position.
If they have the heart to sacrifice for everyone who depends on them.
I will provide the best plan so that your heart will not be hurt.
“I hope you have the best flight on that board.”
Ricard Gladys bowed her head, and the incoming students cheered.
If you sacrifice, I will not let anyone touch the small price of that sacrifice.
It may be because I felt such a strong will.
“May.”
“… Yes?”
“What do you think? A passer.”
“…”
I came here without knowing anything.
As well as the project pass.
This was my first time hearing about heroes and passers.
One seems to understand and speak it.
I listened to that speech without knowing anything.
What do you think of me?
“I thought that if there was a job where I could be recognized like this without getting married… It would probably be a good idea to try it.”
I wanted to prove that I was not just a product in the name of a bride that the family was planning to sell off.
But now I know that what is terrifying is not the handling of such products.
“I always thought about that. I wanted to avoid marriage… Becoming a passer would make that dream come true.”
I ended up learning the truth that I would not have known if I had obeyed and followed.
The bitter truth is that such great value does not actually exist for me.
So now I’m not sure what it is.
“Isn’t that a little strange?”
“Yes?”
“If Mei marries someone and the family benefits, it means that Mei is worthy.”
“That’s not my value.”
Marrying someone whose face and personality I don’t know.
If you really want to ask, it means marrying based on family background.
In other words, it wasn’t me that was valuable, it was just my family.
“It’s strange. Mei’s talent and family name were decided at birth. Why do you see the two as different things?”
“… Yes?”
It certainly may be so.
I was hurt and despairing that I had no talent.
If you think about it, that talent is given at birth and is no different from your family name.
“Then, being a passer is also…?”
“It’s not fundamentally different.”
The family orders you to get married as if you were sold for the family.
He has the talent of a passer and becomes a hero for the empire.
The two sound fundamentally similar.
The moment I heard those words, my heart was pounding, thinking that something like this had happened to me just now.
I felt something cold.
Then what on earth am I made of?
“If everything is determined at birth, then what am I?”
“What do you mean? Mei is Meiji.”
“Yes?”
“Everything I’ve chosen so far has made Mei who I am today.”
Even now, I can give up this academy and go home and prepare for bridal classes.
And on the contrary, what is here is related to my past choice of running away because I didn’t want to get married.
“So it doesn’t make sense to become a loser because you don’t want to get married.”
Being a passer may also be something that someone is forced to do.
If you don’t want to be a passer, but your family forced you to become a passer because you have talent.
There will be people like me who try to run away.
“On the other hand, he might get away with marrying someone he doesn’t know very well.”
“Ah…”
So, you have to let go of those miscellaneous thoughts in the first place.
Because the really important things exist separately.
“Then what can I say is my ability?”
“Selection.”
“A choice?”
“Yes, doing what you value is the real you.”
In other words, if I want to become a passer, it shouldn’t be a reason to escape.
However, if you want to become a pure passer and dedicate yourself to the world.
It becomes the value I choose and act upon.
“I’m sorry. It was a problem I should have thought about properly.”
Only then did I realize what she was talking about.
One may have already found the answer to this question and are here.
I just happened to be here without it.
“Is it my choice to find another path because I don’t want to get married?”
“If you choose the passer that way, it’s your choice.”
And that is truly what I wanted to achieve.
Therefore, you should not choose because you are running away in a different direction.
By explaining its value, it helped me choose carefully.
‘It’s not what it seems.’
I thought he was a person who seemed pure and light.
Actually, I was thinking about the future that deeply.
… If you think about it, he inferred my ability from the fact that his ability didn’t work on me.
“You can quit the academy at any time, so think about it slowly.”
“Yes, thank you. I will think about it seriously.”
『In a world where erotic comics are legal』
“May quickly runs away.”
“Yes?”
“May hasn’t even decided to become a passer yet. She can’t stay in this dangerous situation. From here on out, we’ll go alone.”
“What are you talking about? We are,,,!”
This is nonsense.
If I leave out, stability is extremely low.
It’s still a very dangerous situation, so you’re willing to take even more risks?
“May hasn’t made up her mind, she’s just an ordinary person, right?”
“…!”
“Passers are people who risk their lives to protect the public. There is no problem.”
The determination on Hana’s face as if she was smiling as if everything was okay.
Trusting the sparkle in Hana’s expression, I turned around and ran away.
At that moment I woke up.
“Whoa, whoa… Is this a dream? Is it a dream?”
I was very embarrassed by the vivid dream, as if I had experienced it myself.
I’ve never experienced a similar situation, so I don’t know why I’m having such vivid dreams.
“Whoa…”
After washing my face with cold water, I felt like I came to my senses a little.
… A strangely deep feeling of regret and fear remains in my body.
It took quite some time to come to my senses properly.
“… What the hell is going on?”
Although I quickly left the dormitory before I was late for lecture.
The scene I saw in my dream was so vivid as if it had just happened, so it still felt strange.
And I felt strangely anxious from earlier.
Although the content of the dream was definitely ominous.
It’s not that something really bad happened or anything.
I just remembered one wonderful smile…
Why am I so anxious?
“May, good morning?”
“Ah, good morning… Ugh!?”
The moment I heard a voice and was about to look in that direction and say hello.
A throbbing headache went through her head.
At that moment, another image forms on top of the smile that greets me with a smile.
Not those sparkling eyes, but cold, lifeless eyes.
It is not a body that moves with vitality, but a body that has become stiff and cold.
A world filled with silence, unable to say warm words to me.
No matter how much you cry and talk to her, she doesn’t come back.
No one blames me, but I know.
Why did she meet such an end?
Because I ran away from that place.
Because I made that choice.
Because of me…
“May? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry. Because of me…”
One person died because of me.
That thought constantly fills my head…
Even though there was a living person in front of me comforting me, I continued to sob.
