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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Second Team Member
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Aisha's situation was safely concluded, thanks to Rexaron's eccentricities.
I had already promised her that we would go to the next Demon Palace together.
Aisha readily agreed this time as well.
"Oh, that reminds me, Aisha, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Yes, if it's something you want to ask."
"Midra Pennin, what's he usually like in martial arts class?"
Midra Pennin, the second-ranked student in first-year martial arts.
When I mentioned his name, Aisha tilted her head.
"What's he like, you ask?"
Aisha slowly stroked her chin.
"Honestly, I'm not very close with him. So, there's not much I can say."
As expected, that's how it is.
I had known about Aisha's friendships for a long time.
Aisha appears, at first glance, to be difficult to get close to.
The aura of the Bizvel family radiates from her entire being.
"Still, I have sparred with him once before."
They are the top and second-ranked students in martial arts.
It's natural for them to spar often during academy life.
"It's oddly difficult to follow his sword."
"Aisha, *you* find it difficult to follow?"
"Yes, I can't tell if he's intentionally holding back or what, but he uses a strange swordsmanship style. Senior Hanon, you wouldn't understand it until you experienced it yourself."
Strange swordsmanship, huh.
I leaned back in my chair, lost in thought.
Midra, that guy, is strangely unsettling.
Since my only interaction with him was through the student council, he kept bothering me.
"Should I look into it?"
"No. Aisha, you're not really suited for that kind of thing."
Aisha is a girl who loves the greatsword windmill spin.
Such a girl isn't well-suited for digging into things.
At that moment, Aisha grabbed my arm.
"Senior, I can do it too."
Aisha said with intensely serious eyes.
Why is she so earnest about something like this?
It seems I've touched a nerve with Aisha.
"...Alright then, could I ask you for this favor?"
"Yes, just leave it to me."
Something felt uneasy.
Anyway, with this, I had secured Aisha as a team member.
I picked up a chair and went to look for another class.
The one I sought out was Poara.
Poara Celin, the Spirit Lord contractor.
Poara looked at me quizzically as I approached with a chair, but after hearing my proposal, she quickly smiled brightly.
"Of course I'll go if Senior Hanon asks!"
"Are you sure? First-years can go to this Demon Palace too, you know. You must have made friends."
As for Aisha, other students find her intimidating, so no one asks her to join their team.
But Poara generally has a delicate appearance.
She must have received many invitations from all over.
"Oh, heheh, I already turned everyone down because I planned to go with you, Senior."
What a sweet and innocent junior.
I quickly accepted Poara into the team.
This makes four of us: me, Seron, Aisha, and Poara.
The remaining members to fill the roster were already decided.
I immediately took brisk steps and sought out the Special Studies building.
Climbing the stairs of the Special Studies building at a fast pace, I soon saw a familiar classroom.
Without bothering to knock, I slid the door open with a rattle.
"Grantoni."
"Oh."
As I called out to the person inside, I heard a thud.
I peered down, wondering what it was.
There was Grantoni, tumbling under a chair.
Grantoni was lying flat on the floor, face down.
"Grantoni, are you dating the floor now?"
At my question, Grantoni, still with his face to the floor, slowly turned his head.
"Heheheh, not exactly, I was just practicing my expressions."
Practicing expressions?
What kind of expressions could he possibly be practicing with a skull for a face?
I couldn't understand it at all.
"Oh my, darling husband, why are you carrying a chair?"
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me.
It was Binesha, wiping her hands with a handkerchief.
As always, Binesha was dressed in clothes adorned with many ribbons.
The pendant on her neck was carefully secured, like a precious treasure.
"Binesha, are you still calling me that?"
Binesha now knew that the feelings she had for me were not love.
So, there was no reason for her to call me that anymore.
But Binesha covered her mouth with hands adorned with sharp, long nail art and chuckled.
"But it's just stuck in my head. Or, since things are this way, why don't you actually become my husband?"
"Even though you have no intention of it."
"For the husband who saved this maiden's life, I'd marry him anytime."
Binesha seemed much more relaxed than before.
It seemed certain that many things in her heart had changed because of this incident.
"More importantly, Musika said something about tomorrow. Did you come early?"
"I came to offer Grantoni a spot on the team for the Autumn Demon Palace."
If Grantoni were with us, this Autumn Demon Palace would be considerably smoother.
So, I really wanted to take Grantoni to this Demon Palace.
"Ah."
At my words, Binesha showed a hint of hesitation.
Seeing that, I tilted my head.
"Binesha?"
"Darling husband, what do we do? Grantoni is…"
"I'll tell him."
At that moment, Grantoni interrupted our conversation.
Grantoni slowly got up from the floor.
"My soulmate, my soul magic is currently on the fritz."
"On the fritz?"
My eyes widened at the completely unexpected situation.
"Is it an aftereffect from the Otherworld?"
"That's right."
Grantoni lightly flicked his hands.
"I was away from my body for so long that my soul needs time to settle. It looks like I'll need about a week."
A week.
Then he wouldn't be able to enter the Demon Palace.
'Without the Flames of Valor, Grantoni is the perfect fit for that floor.'
I looked at Grantoni with regretful eyes, but then understood.
I couldn't ask him to exert power he didn't have, so there was nothing for it.
"Alright, that's fine."
"But I can't give up so easily for my soulmate!"
The moment I understood, Grantoni abruptly stood up on the chair.
True to Grantoni's usual eccentricities, his energy was boundless.
"If I'm alone, it's impossible, but if there are two of us, it's possible!"
"Two of you?"
"Sister Binesha."
When Grantoni called Binesha, she nodded.
Soon, light flowed from Binesha's pendant.
Following that, her eyes turned blue.
Musika had entered Binesha's body.
"Hello, hello? Long time no see!"
Musika smiled brightly through Binesha's face and greeted me.
"It was just yesterday when we met, though."
"A day is quite a long time, isn't it?"
She was so high-spirited, it made me wonder if she really had been devoured by the Grotesque Lord.
She grinned broadly and spoke to me.
"The 'two' Grantoni just mentioned is me. I can fill the part of Grantoni's soul that hasn't settled yet."
Only then did I understand Musika's words.
"Of course, I know this isn't a normal thing. Anyone with knowledge of soul magic would call it dangerous."
Musika continued speaking, unconcerned, even though I hadn't said anything.
Then, she approached Grantoni's side.
"But guess what! I had an amazing secret that others didn't know! Ta-da!"
Grantoni appeared from behind Musika and spread his arms wide.
His frantically flailing arms looked like he was doing a dance.
Musika, using Grantoni as a backdrop, casually propped one foot on the chair.
At the same time, she made a V-sign with her hand under her chin.
"I was none other than one of the heroes, Aquilin's reincarnation!"
Somewhere, firecrackers went off, and confetti fluttered down.
Upon closer inspection, it was confetti Grantoni had set off using ghosts.
"How about that, isn't it awesome?"
Musika turned to me, her eyes sparkling.
I met Musika's gaze for a moment, then raised both hands and clapped.
"Truly astonishing."
There was nothing surprising about hearing something I already knew.
More than that, I realized this was the story Musika had tried to tell me yesterday.
'As expected, Musika also became aware of the memories etched into her soul.'
Binesha had become aware of her soul's memories in the Otherworld.
Musika had been exposed to the Otherworld much more than Binesha.
In this process, Musika had realized the memories of her past life as Aquilin.
I had somewhat anticipated this part.
Aquilin, the Soul Warden, was a master of soul magic.
Aquilin's knowledge would be more than enough to assist Grantoni.
This set my mind at ease.
"Your reaction is weaker than I expected. As I thought, you already knew about our reincarnations, didn't you?"
The "we" Musika mentioned referred to the other heroes.
As she said, I knew about the reincarnations of the heroes.
"Because the time of the prophecy aligned with the present. I figured if the Grotesque Lord went to such lengths to kidnap someone, it had to be Aquilin's reincarnation."
"Incredible deductive skills! So, do you know who all the reincarnated ones are?"
Musika asked, her eyes sparkling.
For her, possessing Aquilin's memories, they were the heroes who shared her era.
Naturally, she would want to know who they were.
"No."
But even I didn't know everything.
To be precise, there was one person.
An individual whose identity was never revealed, even after playing the game to the end.
The Great Hero, Olfram.
His reincarnation was never revealed.
However, I knew the identities of everyone else.
"One of them, Musika, you probably already suspect."
At my words, Musika slowly offered a wry smile.
Musika was borrowing Binesha's body.
Because Binesha's memory core was once destroyed, her memories flow out erratically.
Therefore, Musika must have seen some of her memories.
And through this, she would have learned about one of the reincarnated individuals.
Because Binesha had already seen a reincarnated hero before.
A hero who, on the contrary, misused her past memories and fell into corruption.
Corrupted Flame, Rosalie.
The Mystic who revered mystery and sought to imbue all worlds with its essence.
The leader of this very mysticism.
The boss of Act 5.
Vulcan Zebra.
He is indeed Rosalie's reincarnation.