The Anomaly's Path

A few minutes earlier, before Leo found himself trapped in that narrow gap...

”Where the hell is the stage?!” I growled, staring at yet another blank white marble wall. ”Is this a school or a maze designed by a madman?! Why the fuck this damn academy is so big?!”

[Host, perhaps it is time you finally admit that your sense of direction is not just bad, it is completely gone.]

”Shut up, Nova! I am not bad at locations,” I argued internally, throwing my hands up in frustration.

”In the game, navigating this place was a joke! You had a nice, glowing mini-map attached to the top right corner of your vision, telling you exactly where to turn. Now? I’m walking through an endless maze of pillars, arches, and corridors that all look the same!”

I kept moving down the massive administrative wing, my boots clicking sharply against the polished floor. The size of this academy was just wrong. It felt less like a school and more like a small country pretending to be a building.

Which might be true in some sense.

I turned a sharp corner, ready to shout at the next statue I saw, when I suddenly dead-stopped in my tracks.

My soul perception flared, picking up a familiar mana signature just a few feet away. I blinked, my eyes locking onto a large stone pillar sticking out from the wall.

”Nova...” I muttered mentally, my jaw dropping. ”Tell me I am seeing things. Please tell me my eyes are playing tricks on me.”

[Negative, Host. Your vision is functioning at one hundred percent accuracy. That is indeed her.]

I just stood there, completely dumbfounded.

There, positioned directly beside the massive pillar, was Seris Lunaria.

She was crouched down into a tight, deadpan ball, pulling her knees up slightly and holding them to look as small as humanly possible. In her own mind, she was probably executing a flawless, master-class stealth move.

The only problem? Her ”hiding spot” was in the middle of a wide-open hallway.

Anyone walking down the hallway could clearly see a high-ranking girl curled up on the polished floor like a lost child. It was, without a doubt, the least effective attempt at hiding in human history.

I slowly walked up to her, stopping just a couple of feet away.

Noticing my shadow falling over her, Seris slowly tilted her head up, her deep crimson eyes locking onto mine.

”...”

”...”

A long awkward silence stretched between us in the middle of the empty hallway.

We just stared at each other. She didn’t move an inch, and I forgot how to speak. I opened my mouth, fully intending to ask what the hell she was doing, when I heard footsteps and voices from down the hall.

”Split up! Check the side halls!”

”Find her quickly! Vice President Sylvia said whoever finds Lady Seris and brings her back to the office first will get a massive merit reward!”

The student council patrol was running right toward us.

I naturally started to turn my head toward the sound, realizing that if they rounded the corner, they would see me standing here next to a crouching noble girl. But before I could even process the thought, I suddenly felt a sharp force slam into my uniform coat.

”...Huh?”

Before a single word could leave my mouth, Seris forcefully grabbed the lapel of my jacket and violently yanked me downward.

The momentum dragged me straight into the ridiculously narrow gap between the pillar and the stone wall. Within a fraction of a second, I was completely pulled into the shadow of the architecture, my large frame squeezed tight into the absurdly cramped space.

Our bodies were instantly pressed completely against one another. With her front flat against my chest, her crimson eyes stared straight up into mine from mere inches away.

How the hell does this keep happening?! I screamed internally, my mind flashing back to the garden disaster weeks ago. Out of thousands of people in this damn academy, I somehow manage to run into her again?!

I opened my mouth to demand answers, but Seris instantly raised a single, slender finger, pressing it firmly against my lips to cut me off.

My mind went entirely blank.

The soft brush of her finger, the warmth of her breath against my neck, and how close we were locked me in place. Our eyes stayed glued to each other, neither of us looking away as the footsteps grew louder, right on the other side of the pillar.

”Nothing here! Move to the next block!” the council members shouted, their voices echoing loudly before their footsteps faded away down the opposite side of the wing.

They were gone.

I swallowed hard, my chest rising and falling against hers. ”Ahh... um... they left,” I mumbled, my voice sounding completely unusual, a rare awkwardness completely taking over my usual composure.

Hearing this, Seris slowly released her grip and removed her finger from my mouth. We both stepped back, creating distance between us in the narrow gap.

With her face completely devoid of emotion, she casually brushed a piece of dust off her uniform sleeve, acting as if absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.

I, on the other hand, was anything but calm. I was internally cursing my terrible fate.

Why does this keep happening? I screamed internally. Why is it always her? Why do I keep running into the same girl in the most awkward situations possible?

”Um, well,” I coughed, scratching the back of my neck. ”By the way... were you actually trying to hide from Sylvia?”

”No,” Seris replied instantly, her voice entirely flat.

”Are you sure?” I deadpanned, looking down at her. ”Because you looked exactly like someone crouching on the floor to skip out on paperwork.”

Instead of answering my question, she quietly shifted her crimson gaze up to my neck, staring directly at the absolute disaster of a knot I had tied earlier.

”Your tie,” she murmured calmly. ”...It suits you.”

My lips twitched.

Was that sarcasm? Yeah, that was definitely sarcasm, I thought, a wave of annoyance washing over me. Is she seriously still mad at me just because I rejected her offer to dance at the gala weeks ago? Can a lady truly be this petty?

I swear I saw the corner of her lips curl upward slightly. Just a tiny bit. Maybe I was imagining it. Or maybe she was actually enjoying this.

Before I could voice my thoughts, Seris suddenly moved forward. Reaching up, she forcefully pushed my shoulders down to bring me to her eye level, her hands immediately grabbing the crooked silk fabric around my neck.

I froze as her fingers moved quickly, undoing my messy knot and fixing it into a perfect one. She straightened my collar, smooth and easy, then let go and stepped back.

I blinked, genuinely surprised. ”Well... thanks,” I muttered, adjusting my coat.

Seris didn’t say anything. Instead, she slowly extended her right hand toward me, palm facing upward, as if she were silently demanding something.

I tilted my head in complete confusion, my mind completely misinterpreting the gesture. Wait, is she asking for a dance again? Right here? In a cramped hallway?

Hesitantly, I raised my gloved hand and gently rested it flat on top of hers.

Seris stood entirely still. She lowered her eyes to stare deadpan at my gloved hand resting on her palm, then slowly looked back up at my face. For a brief second, a distinct flicker of pure annoyance danced within her crimson eyes.

”...What are you doing?” she asked flatly.

”Uh... holding your hand?”

”I want payment for correcting the tie,” she stated matter-of-factly.

My mind completely blanked.

I quickly snapped my hand back, a heavy wave of absolute embarrassment hitting me like a physical truck. Oh my god, just kill me now, I thought, screaming at myself internally. That was so incredibly embarrassing!

Hiding my burning face, I quickly reached into my spatial storage and pulled out a single wrapped chocolate, resting it gently onto her open palm.

Seris didn’t move. She just stared at the chocolate, then slowly looked back up at me, her eyes clearly communicating that a single piece was not going to cut it.

I let out a defeated sigh and reached back into my storage. I had brought these sweets all the way from the Frost Hollow.

I usually kept a bunch in my void pocket, but even that space had limits. If I left things in there for too long, they would eventually start to decay. Plus, most of my stash had already been eaten by Mia.

The chocolate I had just given her was my second-to-last one. I only had one left.

I really, really hated to part with it. I slowly pulled out the final piece, holding it tightly between my fingers for a long moment, staring at it with genuine sorrow before slowly dropping it onto her palm next to the other one.

Ugh, I really hate this, I grumbled internally. I need to restock my supply soon. Later, I’m definitely telling Lyra to bring me more.

Seris quietly closed her fingers around the two chocolates, her expression remaining entirely unreadable. I watched her, completely bewildered. Is she really this easy to sway? Can you truly just give her chocolate to successfully ask for her favor? She is honestly worse than Nyra.

In the original game, Seris Lunaria barely ever appeared. The player base didn’t know much about her other than the fact that she was a powerful lady, who absolutely despised the Astra Union and was an apostle.

But seeing her standing here in reality... she felt completely different. The game notes really didn’t capture how bizarre she actually was.

”Alright, I need to get out of here,” I sighed, turning around to walk down the corridor. ”Time to find that stage.”

”You are going the wrong way,” Seris’s voice called out from behind me.

I paused and looked back.

She had already neatly unwrapped one of the chocolates and casually popped it into her mouth, chewing with total elegance. She lazily raised her left hand, pointing her finger in the exact opposite direction of where I was heading.

Realizing I was about to walk into another dead end, I turned and ran down the hallway she pointed at, trying to outrun the bells before Sylvia officially turned my new room into a grave.

I didn’t look back.

But I could feel her crimson eyes watching me until I turned the corner.