*GASP*
I drew in a huge amount of air as I raised my body, reaching a sitting position.
My body reeked of sweat. Drops fell from my face.
Everything was blurry in my sight.
"Hey?"
A voice called out from beside me. It was soft and questioning, like the person was surprised by me.
I turned toward them. My blurry vision made me unable to discern anything.
All I could see were his short blue hair and small stature. He didn't even look sixteen.
"A-are you alright?" The person took a step back.
I took a few deep breaths to calm down before replying.
"Where am I?" My voice was extremely hoarse.
A shocked expression appeared on the small child's face.
"T-the infirmary, sir." He said.
The infirmary?
Oh.
The training with the blue-robed man.
What happened?
My mana reached out to a strange fracture in the air, then everything suddenly broke.
My head pulsed as I regained more memories.
The world broke apart when my mana came into contact with that fracture. Then a book appeared in the void.
"The heroine died?" A shaky breath left my mouth.
I didn't know what it was, but a feeling of unease filled my mind when I thought about it.
That strange book, the strange quote, everything that happened. None of it made sense.
Since I'm in the infirmary, that must mean I survived.
My eyes finally regained their focus.
The white walls covered by stripes of blue, the blue curtains surrounding the bed I was on, the medical equipment next to me.
It all seemed a bit familiar.
The blue-haired kid caught my attention.
He was looking uncomfortably at the ground.
"What time is it?" I asked, my hoarse voice causing him to shudder in discomfort.
"T-the lectures have just started, sir!" The kid answered me hurriedly.
A frown grew on my face.
Did an entire day pass while I was unconscious?
"What's the date?"
"I-It's the fourth of the month, s-sir."
The fourth of the month? That's the same date as when the blue-robed man trained us.
A thought appeared in my mind. The possibility made me shudder.
"...What's the month?" My voice cracked.
A confused look filled the kid's face.
"It's the first month of the year?" His voice sounded perplexed.
A cold sigh of relief left my mouth.
The kid's eyes then gleamed with light as he seemed to reach a conclusion.
A determined look filled his face.
"I'm sorry for your loss! I'll make sure to do my best to help you!"
Now it was my turn to get confused. What was he even talking about?
"What do you mean?"
"Y-you lost your memory, yes?"
I blinked at his words.
Lost my memories? That could be possible after coming into contact with such an anomaly.
My mind seemed unusually clear despite everything that just happened.
If I truly lost my memories, however, that would be a huge problem.
My name is Kyle.
I came from the countryside.
My parents are...
Huh.
Who are my parents?
My heart skipped a beat.
Did I really forget my parents?
Then it hit me.
A breath slipped from my mouth.
Right. I'm an orphan.
I shook my head to regain my bearings.
'I guess I'm not an amnesiac. That's good.'
*Click*
The door to the infirmary opened, and a middle-aged man with a well-shaven beard wearing priest clothes came in. Behind him was a twenty-year-old wearing an infirmary worker's uniform.
The blue-haired kid scurried over to behind a curtain.
'That was quick.'
I had just woken up, yet a priest already arrived to check up on me.
He sat on a seat by the bed I was lying on.
"So. What happened?"
I raised an eyebrow at his words. How was I supposed to know?
He seemed to note my silence as my inability to speak, and cast a spell.
I immediately felt rejuvenated.
"Care to explain now? I was told you got into a fight, but no punch or kick could cause you to become like this." The priest looked at me worriedly.
A frown reappeared on my face.
The priest sighed at that.
"You kids need to stop overexerting yourselves. It isn't healthy to keep working your bodies till death. Take a break every now and then." He got up from his seat and left with that.
The infirmary worker looked at me with disappointment before giving me a small paper.
It was to assure professors that I wasn't skipping classes.
I felt like I was going crazy. Was no one going to address the elephant in the room? Namely, the time that had passed while I was unconscious.
"Hey. Kid." I called out.
A head covered in blue hair popped up from behind a curtain.
"When did the academy admission exams end?"
"A few day ago. Why? And I'm not a kid." The kid said.
A few days ago.
Either I went unconscious for an entire year, or something is going on.
A dream? No. If it had happened once, sure. But twice? Not a chance.
"What's the year?" I asked the kid.
He looked at me with eyes so full of pity, I could almost touch it.
He was starting to get on my nerves.
"1302 in the Magic Calendar." He stopped hiding behind the curtain and sat on the bed beside me.
Okay so I didn't sleep an entire year. Neat.
But what happened then?
"Aren't you going to miss your lecture?" The kid glanced at me.
Right. Lectures. It felt like a monumental task now. I regretted even wanting to apply to the academy.
It was really cruel of them to force a student to go to lectures even after all that happened.
I got up from the bed and tidied my clothes a bit. I noticed a small patch of blood on my hand, as if I had coughed it up a few minutes ago.
"Wh-what's your name?" The kid jumped up to ask me.
"I'm Kyle." I smiled a bit as I ruffled his hair.
He was really cute.
"I'm Pram." He waved to me as I left the infirmary and headed outside.
Instead of immediately going to the lecture, I went to my room.
There was no one in the hallway or near the dorms. That was to be expected; no one would skip classes in such an obvious area.
The door to my room opened silently, and a pleasant scent filled my nose.
The sight inside wasn't as pleasant, however.
Clothes thrown around, and a book left opened on my desk.
I sighed and went into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, my face scrunched up.
I was extremely pale.
I washed my face and hands quickly, then styled my hair until it looked acceptable.
'The lecture can wait a bit. I even have a slip from the infirmary worker to confirm that I wasn't skipping classes.'
With thoughts like that, I treaded towards the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was completely devoid of students. Only a few workers were behind the counter preparing some food.
I took a tray and filled it with whatever was already cooked.
A lunch lady glanced at me while mixing some ingredients.
"Shouldn't you be at class right now?" She asked.
I showed her the paper slip the infirmary worker had given me.
She raised her eyebrows a little.
"That's only for 10:20. It's already almost 10:30."
A grunt left my mouth.
Even infirmary slips had a time limit?
"Well, you should still eat up. You look pretty pale and tired." The lunch lady said before turning around.
I stuffed the food into my mouth and left quickly.
Arriving at the lecture hall, the professor shot me a glare.
He stopped walking toward me as I raised the infirmary slip and put it back down before he could study it.
I walked to a desk near the middle unhurriedly.
My eyes drifted from student to student, before it fixed on one of them.
A red-haired girl in the corner.
She was sitting quietly, paying attention to the lecture. A book was floating beside her.
In an almost circular area around her, all desks were empty.
I looked at her for a few seconds before her scarlet eyes turned to me in confusion.
My breath caught for a moment.
Ignoring her for now, I went to my desk and sat down.
A student asked a question. It felt a little... familiar.
Not long after, the sense of familiarity grew to an unreasonable degree. I could remember almost everything that the professor was saying, like I had taken this lecture before.
All the details were the same, all the descriptions were the same, and all the movements mirrored exactly what I was remembering.
Unease crept in.
There was no doubt now. This was the same day.