Quest -1

[Cannon Fodder (crossed out)
Young Master (crossed out)
Magic Academy Elite Student (crossed out)
Strategist (crossed out)
Captain
Will Chapter]

The chapter displayed a series of very familiar titles. Each one before the last had been heavily crossed out by Will. From the pen strokes, it seemed he had crossed them out at different times.

Staring at the lines, the three women exchanged glances.

“Young Master… that’s what Eir often calls him…”

“Elite student? You’re too humble; Entark Academy probably only gets one student like you in a decade…”

“Strategist… So… not a fiancé…?”

However, compared to these details, what truly concerned all three of them was what was written in the very thin ten pages that followed. Even upon seeing this page, they no longer cared what Will would write in “their own sections.” Their focus shifted entirely to Will’s own content.

This wasn’t just because… the more they thought about it, the more they realized he was shrouded in mystery. They had spent so many years with him, yet he seemed to have never revealed his true feelings.

It was also because…

In Eir’s grey eyes, the words on that page seemed to glow.

In Leah’s red eyes, tiny hearts slowly bloomed.

In Treya’s usually calm eyes, a surging tide began to churn.

—Indeed, they cared for him very, very much!

“Then, let’s start here and keep reading?” Treya’s fingers trembled slightly, eager to turn the page.

“Mm! Okay.”
“Open it.”

Turning the page, the first section of content, separated by three or four empty lines from larger sections also marked “Quest,” contained a single sentence:

[Next, is your “fate,” a “fate” that will ultimately turn you into a comedic character and “cannon fodder.” But it doesn’t matter. You will drink the bitter pain of fate and laugh through it all with a mask of delight.]

“…”

The three fell silent after reading the sentence.

“So… so typical of Young Master! That proves he wrote this book!”

“This guy! He doesn’t just put on crazy performances in class when he’s supposed to be reciting chants; he writes this kind of stuff in… in his diary!”

“Don’t you… think it’s cool?”

Though they had only just opened his book…

For some reason, perhaps this was “seeing the person through their words”?
From this short sentence, all three felt as if he was right there with them again.

It was like a usual “Morning Star” meeting, with the three gathered around the table, listening to Will speak freely after a glass of fruit wine.

“But, ‘fate’… Young Master always talked about it. Hmm… Is it just a habit for him? Why is he so obsessed with it?”

“Yeah. He always brought it up. But always with such a playful tone, making you feel he was unhappy with it, yet… also accepted its existence.”

“I actually think… he was always serious. Even when he said things like a joke or a play, deep down, he was serious.”

Their discussion about Will’s “fate” and that sentence ended there. Though their interpretations were almost incompatible, none of them protested or escalated into a fight like they had downstairs. Instead, all three maintained a silent understanding, as if Will were still present.

“Alright, let’s see what the next few lines say.”

“Agreed.”

“Mm! Hurry.”

[Ongoing Quest 1: Complete one hour of physical training daily.]
[Ongoing Quest 2: Read one hour of magic history daily.]
[Ongoing Quest 3: Complete one hour of slime adaptation training daily.]
[Quest Duration: Until enrollment at Entark Academy.]

This was the first time they had seen the “main content” of the book. It wasn’t the frantic “heroine” page from the end, nor just chapter titles.
It was very simple…
Truly just “quests.”
Even like a child’s summer homework list.

The handwriting was also somewhat childish, like a child trying to write neatly but whose hand wasn’t strong enough, so the letters were still wobbly.

“Hmm… This looks like… quests he set for himself?”

“Yes. That description definitely fits. And it must be from before he met us.” Leah and Treya finished reading the “quests” and looked at Eir.

“Wh-What’s wrong?” Eir nervously placed her other hand on her chest.

“Heh… The plan is quite thorough. Did he complete them?” Leah and Treya looked at Eir, a hint of dissatisfaction that she had spent more time with Will than them.

“This… Well… some of them, Young Master… he probably…”

Just looking at the lines, Eir could recall mornings when Young Master woke up with her, not only urging her to train diligently but also going for runs and sword practice himself. However… she also remembered that Will would often get breathless and collapse after just one lap, needing Eir to quickly bring him water. Later, it seemed he didn’t stick with it, or perhaps realized he lacked athletic talent, as Eir saw him reading more in the mornings.

“…He probably didn’t stick with it to the end.” For some reason, her gaze softened as she looked at the book. But because of this, she seemed to discover something.

“Wait, Treya, this page has more than just quests.”

“…What?”
Eir moved Treya’s hand aside slightly, revealing more lines of text on the page:

[Completion Status: All completed diligently except physical training. Was bedridden numerous times from over-training… with no improvement.]

“Truly… classic him.”

[Reward: When the time comes, find Carver to claim your staff.]

“Staff? So that strange black-and-white staff was from Carver?” Leah was more interested in this line.

“No immediate info here. Let’s keep going.” Treya flipped a few more pages.

The intervening pages were crossed-out drafts, containing many strange entries. For example, [If Quest: Find a witch hiding in the crowd and become her disciple.],

[If Quest: Assassinate King Edward using a child’s identity.],

[If Quest: Rush to Entark Second Academy and become sworn brothers with Shu.]

For some reason, he had crossed them out one by one.

It wasn’t until two pages later that new quests appeared:

[Quest 1: Resolve the small group incident in the cold storage on Monday of the second week of school.]
[Quest Reward: Complete the series up to Quest 3, and you will gain a comfortable, superior campus life.]

Eir seemed to remember something and looked at Leah.

“Leah! This… this is…!”
“You don’t have to tell me. I know.” Leah’s expression was grave. She remembered being trapped in the cold storage with Will, how he was targeted by a small group in class, and how she was somewhat involved in it all.

“You… you knew this would happen from the start…?” Leah bit her lip. “Then… was your constant desire for me to take you as a student… also part of your plan?” She seemed to guess where the answer to that question lay—it must be described in the “Witch Leah Chapter.” She remembered him using various methods, almost guiding her from the beginning, and also remembered… Will trying to pull her out of her isolation.

“Continue. Next page.” Treya spoke coldly, turning the page.

Further on, besides the still visible crossed-out strange [If Quests] and [Ongoing Quests] that had gone through several revisions, the quest numbers suddenly jumped, skipping to the 800s.

“These are newly written. Even the paper quality is different.” Treya said, stroking the paper.

“No wonder the numbers jumped so much. I haven’t seen the previous content, but I guess the numbers are related to chronological order?”

[Quest 801: Obtain the name of Morning Star. Quest Reward: Get yourself a beautiful little cottage.]

“…Is it talking about here?”
“Why ‘obtain the name of Morning Star’? From what I know of Will, he… doesn’t seem like the type to come up with that name.”
“Eir understands! If it were Young Master, he would name it something like ‘Messenger of Fate’!”
“You’ve been marinated by him, haven’t you?”
“If Leah’s guess about chronological order is correct, then the content after this… will be different from the reality we know now.”

Treya flipped to the next page. Will’s writing habit was to leave plenty of space for changes and additional rewards—they noticed this just by looking at these few pages.

[Quest 803… Find… find Novis Town’s new dungeon, Galaxy Summit… and say hello to the Empress there…]

“…Novis Town.”
“Isn’t that here?! But the dungeon here…”
“Right, the last dungeon was Greenfield Maze. Now…”
“Now, there’s no dungeon here. Eir already found that out.”

A bad feeling rose in their hearts. This page seemed to be just a “diversion,” as the next three pages were blank, as if leaving room for a “series quest.”

Then…

Treya anxiously flipped the page.

On the page right before the final quest, they saw—

[Quest -1: Accept Death (try to avoid if possible).]

[Important Info: Dungeon name where you are crushed by a slime: Dustbone Corridor.]

A yellowed page, childish handwriting, seemingly an old quest.

But it was more shocking than anything they had seen.

—