Maydare Volume 3 Other Side - Airi, Realizing.

 Last chapter!!! I'll be taking a break and start Volume 4 at the end of August. And I promise I'll work on the epubs/pdfs for real this time

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“Hey, Tanaka-san, are you a tuna mayo fan?”

On the school roof, the person who called out to me as I ate lunch alone was Oda Kazuha-san, who became my classmate for the first time in my second year of high school.

“Oh, sorry. Tuna mayo is my favorite onigiri filling, so I couldn’t help myself. But all he eats is umeboshi.”

“He?”

“I’m talking about Saitou from the class next door. We’re childhood friends, so…oh, there he is. Hey, Saitou!”

“...”

“Hey, Tanaka-san. Saitou and I always eat lunch together. So…if you don’t mind, let’s eat together.”

May Day. That day was a bright and sunny day at the start of May.

At that time, Oda-san seemed like a brilliant angel to me.

Because, if she spoke to me, who was being bullied by the strong girls in class, who knows what they’re going to say about her.

Normally, something like that would be terrifying. That was why they all turned a blind eye to the troublesome me.

But Oda-san befriended me.

She was a pretty and smart honor student. She was a bit of a pushover sometimes, but she was so pure, righteous, and straightforward that she was like the heroine of my favorite story.

I immediately fell in love with Oda-san. 

More than anyone else in this world.

However, Oda-san had a boy she liked. Her childhood friend, Saitou-kun.

Indeed, Saitou-kun was a good-looking, easygoing, and open guy who could get along with anyone.

He sometimes teased Oda-san, but it was easy to tell if you watched them together for a long time. Saitou-kun also liked Oda-san.

They liked each other, but for some reason, neither of them wanted to tell the other how they felt about them, and they remained in the lukewarm relationship of childhood friends.

I’ve asked Oda-san on several occasions to confirm her feelings towards Saitou-kun.

She gave in to my persistent interrogation and told me that she liked him. But she said she didn’t have the courage to confess.

…I knew. I was no match for Saitou-kun.

I was a girl, after all. No matter how much I loved Oda-san, there was no way these unrequited feelings would be rewarded. It would only trouble her.

If Oda-san and Saitou-kun got together someday, I would definitely just be in their way.

I was terrified of being driven out.

If that was the case, then I could at least become their cupid of love. I would be kept by their side for a long time by becoming the best friend character who brought them together…

At first glance, it might seem like I was butting into their relationship, but I told Oda-san that I was going to confess my feelings to Saitou-kun, lying to her in order to get her worked up.

Oda-san was extremely shocked.

But if I didn’t do this, their relationship wouldn’t progress.

I asked Saitou-kun to come to the rooftop where we usually had lunch, and I made a false confession. I wanted to confirm his feelings.

Of course, he rejected me. He said he already had someone he liked.

Is that person Oda-san? I asked.

Saitou-kun opened his mouth. I’m sure it was to tell me the name of the person he truly liked.

Yes. If Oda-san had come up to the rooftop at this moment, it would have been perfect.

It was supposed to be just like a shojo manga, the completion of a scene of love and youth——

That was awful. That was too awful.

It wasn’t Oda-san who came to the rooftop, but a completely unfamiliar blond murderer.

〇 

My name was Tanaka Airi.

I was the Savior Airi, who had holed herself up in a room in the royal palace.

“...I’ve been dreaming about Oda-san every day recently…”

It was as if the world over there was already nothing but a dream.

And to think that this dream-like world was reality.

The reason I kept dreaming about Oda-san was because Makia told me she was her reincarnation. That had always weighed on my mind, even though I denied it in my heart that it wasn’t possible…

Sometimes I would leave my room, making myself invisible with the power of the dagger, and wander around the palace. 

And so, one thing I noticed was that Gilbert had changed a little.

He had been looking tired and frazzled lately, but then after a certain day, he was always smiling, as though he had become unbound from something.

I knew why.

It was because Makia had helped him reconcile with his younger brother, Frey.

“I see. It’s like you’re the actual protagonist, Makia…”

But on the other hand, I found out something else.

Makia wasn’t Oda-san after all.

There was no way Oda-san could be so strong-willed, positive, and proactive.

In the first place, there was no way that such a pure and angelic girl would be reborn as the descendent of the worst witch in the world.

That was why she absolutely had to be wrong. She must have read my memories with her magical powers and used Oda-san’s presence.

“...So, she has to be a wicked witch.”

On the morning of Miladriede’s first snowy day, I snuck out of the palace all by myself.

I was in search of something that could refute the idea that “Makia was Oda-san’s reincarnation.”

But on the other hand, in a corner of my mind, I had the exact opposite feeling.

If she really was Oda-san’s reincarnation, then…

I left a scribbled note in my room.

I wrote down words that only those who knew me well would understand, in characters that only those who knew that world could read.

The dagger in a golden scabbard hung from my neck with a string. With this dagger, I was invisible to all.

I had used this power to go down to Miladriede by myself several times before.

Miladriede was bustling today with children playing in the thin layer of snow and the citizens with strong business spirit.

“Oh, yes, have you heard the rumors about the Savior?”

“I did, I did. She said she wanted to quit being the Savior. How irresponsible. The palace has stubbornly kept it a secret, but everyone already knows about it.”

“I heard that she was bullied by a certain noblewoman.”

“Is that true? So the palace has learned nothing from the incident with Queen Alicia and Queen Lara, huh.”

They all said whatever they want, just like the mean girls at school.

They really were all real people.

Nothing changed in the end, neither in the world over there nor in the world here.

“I have to find Makia…”

And, I had to find out who Makia was. 

“Oh, that’s right. Makia’s in school. Lune Ruschia Magic School…”

I couldn’t just wander around Miladriede. Makia was a student at magic school.

Come to think of it, I’ve never been to Lune Ruschia Magic School.

For me, it was a place I always just looked at from the balcony of my room.

Lune Ruschia Magic School was built on an island connected by a long bridge from the coast.

No one noticed me even when I trespassed into the school. Everyone was dressed in wizard-like robes, but other than that, they looked like normal students, excited by the rare snowfall.

I wondered where Makia was. I’ve heard from the person herself that she often hung out at her atelier, which was shaped like a glass bottle, along the seashore.

I went down to the beach and walked along the beach in a circle, and soon I saw it.

“There it is. I think that’s it…”

There were glass bottle ateliers of various shapes and sizes, but only one of them was lit.

Still invisible, I opened the door of that atelier and went inside.

My feet were freezing cold, but the inside of the atelier was filled with warm air, and a warm and gentle breeze wrapped around my feet in particular. I guess that was the power of magic tools.

Still, it was a strange place.

A gently arched glass window looked out on the snowy clouds and grey sea.

But this place was quiet and warm, filled with warm, soft lights.

It was full of medicinal herbs and sweet smells that somehow made me feel a little nostalgic.

I went down the stairs of the atelier.

There was one male student in the atelier, working silently on something at a large wooden table.

Oh, this was one of the students I met on that deserted island when I was kidnapped before.

“I know there’s someone there.”

The boy looked up, stared intently at me, and muttered in a detached tone.

No way. He knew I was here!?

That shouldn’t be possible. But he was definitely looking right at me.

I just stood there and held my breath.

“It’s no use. I can see you.”

“...Huh?” 

I let out an involuntary sound and pressed my hand against my mouth in a panic.

Could it be that he could really see me!?

“You’re the Savior, aren’t you? The one that came from another world.”

“...”

Oh no, he found me out completely. I let out a gasp, and then I removed the golden dagger from my neck and put it back in its sheath.

I fully exposed my invisible self.

“You figured out that I was here.”

He was a male student with pale platinum blond hair and somewhat sleepy-looking brown eyes.

I believe his name was Nero.

“Well, I was able to do that because you can’t conceal such a special magical energy. Even if you turn yourself invisible, you can’t the flow of magical energy.”

“...You can see that?”

“That’s right. I’m wearing contact lenses for that reason.”

Did he mean the contact lenses you put on your eyes? Did those exist in this world too?

I didn’t know what they were, but those had to be magic tools. There was no one in the palace who used such things, so I had no idea that there was something that could see through my invisibility.

”What’s the matter? Why is a special girl like you sneak into a place like this without an escort?”

The boy asked in a monotonous voice as he dropped his gaze again and worked on something at hand.

I answered, a little miffed.

“I’m looking for Makia. You’re one of her classmates, aren’t you? Do you know where she is?”

“She was in this atelier until just a little while ago. She’s probably with her knight now.”

“Knight…?”

“I think his name is Thor. He’s one of your Guardians. He came to get Makia, and it looked like he was in a hurry. They left together.”

Oh. They were probably looking for me.

Thor must have come to Makia and showed her my note. I wonder if she would realize the true meaning of the note…

Grrrr.

“Ah…”

My stomach grumbled loudly. I snuck out of the palace today without eating anything!

I turned red and held my stomach.

“Do you want to eat something?” Nero asked nonchalantly without changing his expression. “Makia makes a lot of sweets, so I’m sure there’s something to eat if you look around.”

“Oh, but I’d rather eat something salty than sweet! I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

Anyways, Makia’s sweets sound too dangerous…!

Nero sighed a little, stood up and said, “Come here,” and then took me down another flight of stairs. In a half-underground space, there was a dimly lit kitchen.

When we went down there, the magic lightbulbs turned on by themselves and filled the room with a pale warm light.

“I think we have some cheese and crackers. Or maybe boil some pasta? I think we have some basil sauce Makia keeps in the fridge.”

Nero was rummaging around in the cupboards, jars, and baskets.

Food came out in succession.

“Do you guys live here?”

“Of course not. We usually eat in the cafeteria or in our dorms. But sometimes we have to work late into the night for assignments, so we eat here.”

One of the items Nero took out of the cupboard was a large glass jar.

Inside, it was packed with familiar-looking, wrinkled, red, round things covered in shiso. These were…

“Are these umeboshi? Why? Why would there be umeboshi in a western-style other world?”

“Apparently, they’re pickled apricots. You eat it with cooked rice. I don’t really like since it’s too sour, but…Makia made them.”

“...Makia did?”

“Mm. I think it was her knight’s favorite food. I don’t know the details, though.”

Thor’s favorite? Has he always liked sour things?

Just imagining the taste of umeboshi made me salivate, and I desperately craved them.

“Hey, can I eat them?”

“Huh? I don’t mind, but you shouldn’t eat them if you’re just curious about them. They’re really sour.”

“It’s fine. In my world, they’re a staple food. I wish there was rice too…”

“Rice…? Well, I guess we do have some.”

Nero’s gaze slanted upward as he thought about something for a moment and then said, “Well, I guess it’s alright” while nodding vaguely. He crouched down to rummage through a basket. Then, he took out a bag of rice.

“Wait, you can cook rice here?”

“Of course. I recently made a magic tool that can cook rice.” 

“Huh? You did?”

Ah. He took out a box-shaped rice cooker that looked somewhat familiar. I couldn’t believe it.

“Why? Why did you decide to make that? The staple foods here are bread and pasta, right? You’re not from the East.”

“Because Makia wanted a rice cooker.”

“...”

“For some reason, Makia really loves rice. Even though she’s a native Ruschian.”

Before I knew it, Nero had put the rice and water in the rice cooker and started cooking it. I didn’t think he washed the rice, but I thought, “Well, that’s fine.”

I never thought I would see a rice cooker in this world. Was this a magic tool too?

I mean, this didn’t fit into Maydare’s world setting at all.

“...Nero, do you possibly like Makia?”

“Huh?”

“You made this for her, didn’t you?”

Nero got a somewhat wondering look on his face and furrowed his brow.

“Well, she’s one of my teammates, and she’s always working very hard to keep us, Garnet Team 9, together. Without her, I think we’d all be doing different things, and we wouldn’t even be in the same team.”

“...”

“I think it’s a pretty miraculous team of people. So the rice cooker is more of a thank-you. Because soon, I’ll be…”

Nero was about to say something, but he lightly pressed his hand against his mouth.

For a while, there was silence. I gave a side glance at Nero and asked another question.

“Hey. What kind of person is Makia?”

“What kind of person? She’s like what I’ve told you.”

“But isn’t she the descendant of the worst witch in the world? She has to have something. Some sort of witchy part. Like tormenting people she doesn’t like.”

Just like the girls in class I hated…

“Makia wouldn’t do that. She’s so busy with the daily assignments that she doesn’t have time to think about bringing someone down or tormenting them. She does sometimes talk bad about other people and actively competes against her rivals in the same year, but…”

Then, Nero suddenly raised his gaze and narrowed his eyes.

“But Makia herself might have been bad-mouthed often. As you say, she’s the descendant of the　〈Scarlet Witch〉...I wonder if that’s the reason. She looks confident on the surface, but after spending a long period of time with her, I realized that she has an underlying, unconscious lack of self-confidence…”

“Lack of self-confidence?”

“I wonder. She doesn’t seem like it, but she’s pretty timid. And a crybaby.”

“...”

Those words greatly overturned the image I had of Makia.

And it overlapped a bit with my image of Oda-san.

It was strange. This was weird…

“Hey, are you going to quit being the Savior?”

Nero suddenly asked me.

“H-How do you know that!?”

“Everyone knows it. In Miladriede, gossip can spread all around town in just a day.”

I plainly averted my gaze.

“Hmph. You’re probably going to say I’m being irresponsible, aren’t you. Even though this world is getting into a crisis.”

All anyone said to me were careless words. Always.

“But I don’t know anything anymore. I don’t have anything I want to protect! This world…”

“What about your Guardians?”

“I don’t know! But they’ll probably leave me. I said awful things to them. To Lionel, to Thor…and to Gilbert.”

And more than anyone, to Makia.

“After all, these are forced bonds that the world has decided upon. It’s not something I found and wove myself. It’s the same for the others. No one really cares about me. Everyone has someone else who they treasure the most.”

I didn’t know how it turned out like this. I was planning on doing my best.

Somewhere, a switch had been flipped off. And I had no idea how to turn it back on.

“You must also be disappointed in a Savior like me.”

“...Not really. I didn’t expect anything from the Savior from the start.”

At those words, I raised my hanging head.

Nero wasn’t looking at me in particular, just watching the rice cooker. The beep of rice that was done cooking resounded from the magic tool.

“Here.”

Then, Nero offered me the cooked rice, still in the rice cooker.

I gulped down my saliva.

At the royal palace, I sometimes ate rice dishes such as paella and risotto, but I had never eaten rice that was simply cooked and pure white. 

“How does Makia eat this?”

“I think they’re called onigiri. It’s a strange dish where you close up pickled apricot inside of rice. For some reason, Makia makes them in triangular shapes…Oh, but the other day, instead of using pickled apricots, she made tuna mayo onigiri. I liked those.”

“...Tuna mayo?”

My heart skipped a beat. Those were the onigiri that appeared in my dreams every night.

They were my and Oda-san’s favorite onigiri.

“Me…Me too. I’ll make onigiri.”

“Huh, you know onigiri?”

“I do. They’re a dish in my world. I was a latchkey kid, so I can at least make onigiri.”

I rolled up my sleeves and washed my hands.

“Also, you should tell me about it earlier if you have canned tuna and mayonnaise. I like tuna mayo better than umeboshi. Saitou-kun was the one who liked umeboshi onigiri…”

I was taken aback by the words that came out of my own mouth.

That sudden realization made my heart pound.

“...”

My hand began to shake gradually, and I clamped it over my mouth. I blinked a few times and fearfully turned my gaze towards the pickled apricots jar, then opened the lid.

I smelled a nostalgic scent.

I took out one of the umeboshi and made an umeboshi onigiri without saying a word. 

I wanted to taste this before my favorite tuna mayo.

The onigiri was done. It was an onigiri made with shaky hands and shaped like an oval.

I took a bite out of it.

“...”

It was sour. And salty.

Along with that nostalgic taste, I remembered the precious and irreplaceable time when the three of us ate lunch together on the school rooftop. That lost time.

I see.

I see, even now, Makia still loved him.

That’s why she wanted him to eat this.

“Ah…”

Tears dripped down my face, and I crumpled down on the spot.

Because I realized it. I no longer had any doubt.

It all connected. I finally figured it out.

That frustration I felt before when I saw Makia and Thor looking at each other.

Makia was Oda-san.

And Thor was Saitou-kun.

I didn’t recognize the girl I loved most in the world until now.

I didn’t recognize the girl who saved me.

“...Uu…Uuuu”

That’s not all. That’s not all.

Until now, I had always arbitrarily decided that Makia was an evil witch and viewed her as an enemy.

I was trying to pull her away from Thor.

I tried to get between Oda-san and Saitou-kun once again.

I was an irredeemable fool who was a Savior in name only.

I was finally made to realize that.

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