The day of the outing arrived before long. Abel remembered Alyssa's invitation. As he came down from the dormitory, the person on duty gave him a slight pause. Lilith was standing there, a gentle smile on her face.
She assumed he was heading to the library as usual, but Abel held out the completed leave form. Lilith's smile froze instantly on her face. She asked quietly whether he was going out with their classmate Alyssa, because she had just received another leave form with nearly identical details.
Abel didn't understand. Was there something wrong with that?
Lilith bit her lip and forced the bitterness back down. In the end she just shook her head and told him to have fun. Abel turned to leave, completely missing the disappointment on her face.
Just as he was about to push the door open, someone caught his sleeve. Lilith's eyes were lowered, her voice barely above a whisper. She asked if he could perhaps find time to take her out for a walk sometime, too.
Abel was a little surprised, but he agreed. Lilith immediately lifted her face and broke into a radiant, brilliant smile.
The smile stirred something in Abel. He was reminded of how she had looked as a child. Even having lived through two hundred years, she still showed that childlike expression every now and then. And just then he suddenly recalled the earnest confession she had made two years ago. He supposed that was probably just the fond affection a child had for someone older.
Out at the plaza, Alyssa had already been waiting for some time. Abel apologized for being late, which seemed to catch her off guard. She laughed and teased him, saying she hadn't expected him to know how to say sorry. Then she declared with full confidence that today she was going to take him through every corner of the royal capital.
Their first stop was a towering memorial clock tower. Abel was completely captivated by the intricate interlocking gears. Alyssa, meanwhile, leaned against the window and called out to him excitedly to look at the view.
Under the clear sky, the line of sight stretched all the way out to the distant horizon of the sea. Abel's gaze was caught by a moving black dot on the water. The ship's stern was trailing a long plume of dark smoke. Alyssa explained that it was a steamship. Didn't he even know what that was?
Abel thought back to what he had read in the books. A wave of genuine curiosity washed over him. Alyssa watched him as he gazed out in concentration, and something quietly took root in the depths of her heart.
After that they listened to a new style of music and watched a romantic film. Abel quietly took in the kind of aliveness that no book could capture.
As they passed through a lively street, a shop with a dazzling sign caught his eye. Alyssa explained it was what they called an amusement hall, a place for entertainment, usually somewhere idle people went to burn through their money and time. To her surprise, Abel was immediately interested. His eyes lit up as he said he wanted to go in and have a look. Alyssa was caught off guard but agreed to go along anyway.
Unknown to them, Emerson's surveillance drone was following their every move.
The two stepped inside, immediately swallowed by a wave of noise and crowds. The bizarre and colorful attractions left Abel feeling both foreign and fascinated.
Then an unpleasant voice suddenly came from behind them, followed by a skeletal hand landing on Alyssa's shoulder. The skeleton lurched forward and Alyssa let out a startled shriek. On pure instinct she spun around and grabbed Abel, pulling him into a tight hold. Abel reassured her it was just a magic prop. Alyssa came to her senses, mortified, and quickly pulled away from him.
The skeleton cheerfully pointed them toward the attractions area. The moment the two stepped inside, Alyssa's eyes lit up immediately. Right there was her favorite series of monster claw machines. She excitedly explained that the plushies were made to look like magical beasts.
Abel looked at the figures and found them oddly familiar. Quite a few of them looked exactly like monsters he had once fought himself.
Alyssa pointed to her favorite, Gemmas. Not exactly what one would call an adorable magical beast, but it looked incredibly powerful and had to be a formidable fighter. Abel nodded in unconscious agreement. Gemmas was indeed powerful. It could turn anything and everything to stone. It had taken wind magic and great effort to bring it down back in the day.
Alyssa threw a questioning glance his way, and his chest tightened. He realized in that instant that he had let something slip. He scrambled quickly for a way to explain it away, but then Alyssa suddenly laughed and said what a strange joke that was. He went along with it and let that be his cover.
But Alyssa grew unexpectedly self-conscious, asking whether he found her odd. All the other girls liked cute things. She was the only one who liked something fierce.
Abel shook his head and said sincerely that it suited her perfectly. He thought inner qualities mattered more than outward appearances. That stopped Alyssa in her tracks, and a quiet warmth settled into her chest. She said brightly that she liked Gemmas even more now.
Abel asked if she wanted the plushy. Alyssa fidgeted a little, admitting she did, but complaining about how tiny the claw was.
Abel quietly put his magic to work, analyzing the machine's mechanics. He found that the grip strength had been set to the absolute minimum, and the controls deliberately made sluggish. He laughed coldly inside. A setup this crooked was exactly what he needed.
He dropped in a coin, ready to turn the impossible into the inevitable. Magic settled silently onto the mechanical claw, strengthening its grip. The claw descended steadily and locked firmly around the Gemmas plushy. Alyssa held her breath, watching the figure be lifted securely into the air, and then it dropped cleanly into the slot.
Abel's second encounter with Gemmas ended in victory once again.
He took out the plushy and held it out to Alyssa. Alyssa's cheeks flushed a visible shade of red. She took the plushy and instinctively held it up to hide her burning face. She promised she would take very good care of it. That flustered expression was not lost on Abel at all.
They walked into a dessert cafe afterward. Alyssa closed her eyes in contentment, praising the waffles out loud. It was Abel's first time trying one. Alyssa's eyes drifted to his portion, and she asked if she could have a bite. Abel agreed. He cut off a piece and offered it over, but Alyssa simply ate it right off his fork without a second thought. She gave a thoughtful assessment of the waffle's flavor.
Abel began eating his own portion. The taste really was quite good. Then he remarked that he was a little surprised. He had expected her to mind the indirect contact.
Alyssa froze, and her face turned red at an alarming speed. Abel realized only then that she hadn't even registered it at the time. He apologized for saying something unnecessary. Alyssa composed herself as best she could and insisted stiffly that it was nothing worth making a fuss about.
Seeing her embarrassment, Abel dropped the subject. He turned to look out the window instead and noticed something distinct about the atmosphere of the street. Alyssa agreed that the vintage aesthetic here had a particular charm, but Abel said quietly that the scenery made him feel something closer to nostalgia.
That stopped Alyssa cold. She pointed out that finding something charmingly retro and personally feeling nostalgic were completely different things.
Abel was suddenly at a loss for words, realizing he had let something slip again.
Alyssa looked directly at him and asked the question she had held inside for a long time. Just who exactly was he?
The question sent Abel into silence. He had no intention of telling anyone about his secret of reincarnation. All he wanted was to live a peaceful school life.
Just at that moment a glint in the not so far distance stung his eyes. It was a surveillance magic tool, pointed directly at them. He decided to deal with the annoyance first and cut the questioning short.
Alyssa watched him, puzzled. The next instant Abel's face drew close to hers with startling speed. Close enough that she could feel his breath. Her heart lurched into a sprint, but Abel's target was the sky behind her. A silent fireball launched and shattered the surveillance device. The explosion made Alyssa snap her head around, and then she suddenly understood.
He asked her what she'd been about to say. She lowered her head and said quietly to forget it, and apologized for prying into his private matters, her expression unable to hide the sting.
Though avoiding further questioning was a good thing, Abel still felt unsettled. Alyssa bit her lower lip, a wave of bittersweet feelings surging through her. She didn't want to see that look in his eyes again, the one that deliberately closed off and shut her out.
And in that moment it became undeniably clear to her. She was afraid she had actually, genuinely fallen for Abel.