Ughhhhhh....

　I wake up. I was thrown onto the cold ice. And slowly my memory comes back. That's right, I had been ... sent away ... by transference in that place of twenty layers. The hand that reached out to Elle never reached her.

　Elle grabbed Aria's hand first, and from there she reached out to me.

　Why did I come after her? I know that. Aria would die if she was left alone. So Elle's decision is reasonable. There's nothing wrong with it.


''........Huh?''


　The next thing I knew, tears were flowing.


'Oh, that... why... why... I'm not sad.


　Yes, I am not sad. Elle hasn't abandoned me. It was a rational decision and this is what happened. But even if I was convinced of that, I couldn't stop crying.


　At the same time, I was remembering. When I met........Elle. The old Elle was a more free-spirited and cheerful boy. No, he hasn't changed that much even now, but the expression on his face when he reached out that hand. I'd never seen Elle's face like that before. A look of regret, as if he were somehow unemployed and regretful.


　It was the first time I'd ever seen Elle like that. When I remember that, my heart also hurts. When I met Elle like that, yes ... more so, I had other feelings.


　And I was reminded of the past.



　◇


Nice to meet you. My name is Elweed Willis.
This is the second time you've seen him, right?
'Yes, it was. I look forward to working with you.


　The first time we met was, yes, when he took the entrance exam. After that, he passed the entrance examination with an unprecedentedly perfect score and entered the institute with great joy. And he was assigned to be in charge of my seminar. When I think about it now, I thought it was impossible for me to play such a big role, but I could handle it surprisingly well...but still, there is no doubt that Elle was a person who was too blown away to make sense.


'So what are you going to research?'
I'm thinking of majoring in full-fledged artificial intelligence.
Hmm?　What did you say?
A fully independent artificial intelligence.
What was that for?
It's for farming.
Okay. I know you're from a farming family. But you use alchemy for farmers?　With so much talent?
"?　I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I'm here to take over the farm.
Well, then, don't you have to use alchemy?
You can also use alchemy to improve breeding. I have already successfully used alchemy to breed crops.
'What?　Isn't that great?
Well, but we're still in the prototype stage, so...
So, why artificial intelligence?　A lot of researchers have given up on that one, though.
"To secure the labor force...I guess. And I think it's useful to introduce AI instead of humans to do simple labor. After all, that's the kind of work that goes into farming, too.
''Nah, I see... that's why you came to the academy, isn't it?
'Yes. That's right.


　I don't understand.


　This Canovarian Alchemy Academy is difficult to enter and graduate from. And those that are enrolled in the school, without exception, are studying with a lofty purpose. And yet, using alchemy for agriculture?　


　Alchemy has a large genetic component. Effort is of course necessary, but there is definitely a talent barrier. That's why most of the people who enter this academy are aristocrats with a high aptitude for alchemy, and although there are people from ordinary families, there's not a single farmer in this academy.


　And yet, perhaps the most gifted talent since the beginning of this academy is from a farmer's background and studies alchemy for agriculture?　The aim of our alchemists is the search for truth. That is why this academy exists and has made its name known in the world until now. And yet, you use alchemy for such a trivial thing?　Is that even allowed?


　The emotions I had at this time were more like anger than disappointment. How could such a farmer boy have so much talent? Isn't talent only talent if it is used properly?


　I was thinking this from an irreverently narrow perspective at the time.



'Elle!　Elle!
Ahhhhh... fee.
Shit. Staying again?
I'm sorry. I've been busy with my research.


　It's been a month since Elle entered the school. Lately, Elle's existence has begun to be recognized by those around her, and people have been making a lot of noise about a genius, but being from a farmhouse, I heard that she's being hit pretty hard, though not to the point of being bullied. It can't be helped because nobles care about such things, but I didn't feel like stopping them in any way. It wasn't from the unreasonable anger I'd felt before.


　This man is a hot mess.


　And that's because I've learned that over the past month. Within the first week of enrollment, we started calling each other by our first names, and we started talking to each other in a reasonable way, but inexplicably, the only thing on his brain was the crops. We've been holed up in my lab (technically, the one next door that we're not using), and lately we've been holed up trying to make artificial intelligence a reality.


　It's something he'll do in perpetuity if left to his own devices, so I periodically bring him in, build him a nap room, etc. And most surprising of all is his courage.


　I've seen the scene of torment. It was a noble student trying to cover Elle with water. I could have stopped it, but I decided to take a look at it for a moment and something amazing happened.


Are you not getting enough power out of your pledge, Prima Terrier?　The module itself is solidly built, but...


　Elle is walking down the corridor of the academy, mumbling. She has a paper in her right hand and is walking around with a consideration. That's where she seems to have been targeted.


　And in the next moment, a large amount of water is poured on Elle. It seems that the aristocrats have a reasonably high level of alchemy skills, and a large amount of water was about to pour down from the alchemy formation that appeared above their heads.......but it was easily resisted and the alchemy formation was shattered into pieces.


''........hmmm. Let's see if we can take a more different approach next time.


　As it is, Elle walks away mumbling and mumbling. The opponents who were looking at it open their mouths with a poke. I resist almost unconsciously without checking the coordinates of the target. That alone says a lot. That Elle is a true genius.


　And with that in mind, Elle's reputation was going to grow even more.



''Elle, you're still at it?　And...



　Unusually, he was asleep. He usually bites and studies them, but he was tired and seemed to have fallen asleep. Seeing Elle like that, the irrational anger he had before was gone. I genuinely respected her. I thought it was amazing that someone could work so hard for something. When I was in school, I was called a genius and acted aloof, too. But I never worked as hard as I did. I was just using my talents somehow. The position I'm in now was just a flow of things.


　But not Elle. She learns alchemy for agriculture and uses it to her advantage. That's what he does every day, and he works hard for it. Who can look at a person like that and make fun of him?


''Hm?　Oh, Fee. Sorry, I think I fell asleep.
Are you all right?　Isn't that a bit much these days?　I need to go home and get a good night's rest.
I'm almost ... almost ... I'm almost there and I'm going to make it work.
Hmm. Really?
'Oh. So let me be free for a while longer.
'I hope you say so, but...'


　I believe Elle's words like that, but I didn't understand them. That this research of his would be the greatest achievement in the history of alchemy. And that this was the first step to him becoming a Blue Star Grade [Bluesteller].