Season 1 Side Story Chapter 3. Ran (3)

Suddenly, a student with a mischievous appearance appeared from behind the teacher. He energetically gestured to Almond, calling him Lete.

"Quickly! Quickly!"

He was signaling for him to quickly come. Almond ran to him without hesitation. Despite the suspicion of a prank on his face, it seemed certain that he was an ally. Almond dashed with the sound of his hooves ringing out.

"Run a bit quietly, Lete!"

The running student seemed upset and lifted Almond.

"Ugh…!"

Could this small student carry him despite him being a sheep?

"La… Lavente!"

Whoosh…!

Almond became light as a feather after the boy chanted some spell.

The boy ran even faster while carrying Almond.

'Is he a magician?'

Almond grew curious about how he used such a strange spell. Was this a magic school or was it natural for the clergy to learn such marvelous skills?

"Haah… Haah…"

Thud.

The student entered a bathroom stall, closed the door, and panted.

Then he whispered into Almond’s fluffy ears, "Damn it. Did you really turn your brain into a sheep too? I used the lightweight magic meant for Ran on you… Damn it… today is ruined…"

"Baaa…"

Not knowing anything, Almond apologized for causing trouble even though he didn’t understand.

"It’s okay. Let's go back for now."

"?"

"Puri-Beket."

Boom.

A white smoke rose and Almond instantly turned back into a human. The problem was that he was stark naked.

He momentarily turned on his stream microphone and asked, "I’m just asking in case. Everyone… is it censored?"

— Yes

— Yes

— No

— We can see everything!? Ehehehehe

— LOL Almond is exposed!

Seeing the responses, it seemed to be fine.

"Lete, why are you really like this? Don't you remember anything?"

The student grabbed and shook his shoulders, thinking it was strange that Almond kept moving his lips while looking into space.

"Auaaa…"

Almond could barely nod while his head heavily shook.

"What, what?!"

"Memory… not there."

"Memory? So you don’t remember going to the underground dungeon?"

"… I don’t even know your name."

"!?"

The student was shocked at his words, stumbled back, and even hit the wall.

"What, what did you say?"

He couldn't believe that the side effect of his magic was this severe.

“D-Don’t fool around. Anyway, I have to get back to class before Beret gets here… I’ll get you some clothes later.”

“?”

Thump.

He irresponsibly just left the restroom like that. If Beret regained consciousness and returned to the classroom with only that student missing, it would immediately be obvious who the culprit was…

“No. No matter what. Still,” Almond scratched his head in disbelief.

— What about the clothes? Just give him one robe before leaving…

— Admiring Almond's abs are totally a bonus ^^

— I don’t know who that student is, but he seems to know something hehe

— He’s not coming back, is he? If he forgets and doesn’t bring it like an old sitcom 20 years ago, it’ll be legendary kekeke

“He wouldn’t not bring it. This is a game.”

— Oh. He's reading the chat!

— Gradually trying to get a hint, nut ke ke ke

— Focus on the nuts!

Almond didn’t think that boy would forget to bring him clothes.

“Hmm…”

He started looking for something to do while his friend left to get clothes.

“The first condition was a secret.”

— Yes

— Suddenly streaming?

— Don’t stream and just play the game keke

— Born to be a streamer

The first star clear condition was a secret. It was only clearable by finding out some secret.

“It seems like a secret about this school…”

— &@&@

— Is that so~~

— Do it yourself~~~^^

The fact that the school had a basement dungeon meant it wasn’t an ordinary place. This bathroom was also part of the school. If he closely examined this place, there could be something too. Although the probability was very low…

‘Hmm…’

First, he looked around because he couldn’t just run naked outside. Some scribbles caught his eye.

“Let's look at these scribbles.”

[Beret is a fucking bitch]

[Beret will go bald within a week]

The contents of the scribbles felt familiar.

“Hmm… It feels nostalgic.”

— LOL

— Expressing it like that, haha

— The realism is really there, haha despite the fantasy theme

Skipping countless written insults to Beret, he finally found something useful.

[Ran. Saw you with Seri in the village. Don’t get carried away~]

“Oh. Seri.”

— Ran that bastard… is he with a girl?!

— Is it Seri?

— Is Ran being punished because of Seri?

Seri seemed like a girl's name. Did Ran get disciplined at school for contacting a girl named Seri?

“But it’s surprisingly not a boarding school.”

Since Ran could play with Seri in the village, that meant they weren’t at a boarding school. It felt like the children were being confined, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

[Sigh. There’s really nothing in Tribua… I wish I were assigned to the downtown church.]

He read one more scribble. ‘Assigned?’ The children were being assigned somewhere. Was Ran also assigned to the village where Seri was?

“It's a boarding school, but they’re assigned to village churches… and something happened with a girl there.”

Ding.

[A step closer to the secret.]

"Oh."

He finally made some sort of progress since entering this story mode.

"Oh… I really guessed it."

Admiring his own intelligence, Almond continuously uttered ‘Oh’ while glancing at other scribbles.

— Oh…

— Oh, LOL.

— Oh…

— Almond, admiring his own nuts.

[If you have the resolve, go to the underground dungeon. Isn’t it a proper path? Seriously, pretending to be noble.]

[This case, I will take it — Lorang]

[Clyde, you bastard.]

… Bang!

Suddenly, the bathroom door violently opened.

"Phew. You were waiting, right?"

The student from earlier returned. Realizing that he hadn’t locked the door, Almond hurriedly put on the clothes with gratitude.

"Do you really not remember my name?"

"… Yes."

"I am Lorang. You don’t need to know the surname."

"I understand, Lorang Don’tneedtoknowthesurname."

"No…"

— This is the level of our nut;

— I don’t know Saint Lorang?!

— LOL

— You have to be doing this on purpose.

Lorang firmly spoke with a flushed face, “I won’t tell you even if you say that.”

"What?"

“… Ugh, never mind!”

— LOL

— Haha

— Communication barrier

"Come out for now. I have to get your memories back somehow."

"Where are we going?"

"Would you even know if I told you? You didn’t even know my name," Lorang spoke while leading the way.

The corridor bustled. It seemed all the classes had ended. They cut through the crowd and headed somewhere.

Almond had been worried since earlier and asked, “Earlier, the teachers were looking for Lete, or rather… me. Is that okay?”

“Just gonna get some penalty points. That’s all,” Lorang answered indifferently and kept walking without looking back.

"You turned me into a sheep, so I couldn’t go. Why should I get the penalty points?"

“…”

Thud.

Lorang stopped.

— Almond, not conceding a word.

— Is, is this what social life is like in Ahsung??

— I’m going crazy

"Sigh… You don’t remember because of that. But you know, we agreed on this? You said you wanted to save Ran too."

Lorang whispered in a hushed tone so as not to be heard by anyone, “We decided to enter the underground dungeon where Ran is confined. You were supposed to hear the exact details from Ran.”

“… Details?”

“Yes. There’s no way Ran, whether it’s Seri or whoever, would let this happen because he fell for some girl?”

“Everyone was saying that.”

“… Have your memories about Ran been erased too? Ah, never mind. You wouldn’t say these things if you could recall Ran’s pure energy. Even after they claimed Ran was playing with Seri, his innocence was still perfect.”

“Does innocence have to do with not meeting girls?”

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“…?!”

With a miserable expression, Lorang put a hand on Almond’s shoulder.

“Haa… It's not my place to say this. Stop the irreverent talk and just follow me. I’m sorry, Lete.”

“??”

Apparently, their mana became stronger the more they maintained their purity.

— Single players are the strongest in this world

— What is this? I was born in the wrong world.

— How much pure mana do I have?

— ForeverAlone should’ve gone there, LOL

— Almond will have dark mana coming out

Almond spoke again while following Lorang, “But…”

“What now? Again.”

“My name is Almond.”

“??”

“Just call me that. For convenience.”

“… Haa. What curse is on this magic? Got it.”

Nodding his head unwillingly, Lorang made a bored expression.

— LOL

— He’s a greedy streamer

— He said he wouldn’t do that during the stream, LOL

Lorang led him to a place that looked like a nurse’s office. It seemed like a place called the purification place.

Lorang explained the situation to the clergyman there and showed them Almond.

"Turn into a sheep…?"

"That, that’s a secret. You know?"

"Lorang. You've dabbled in strange magic again. Do you intend to create purity?"

"It wasn’t a goat. It was a sheep, so it’s magic. It's clearly magic."

“We learn not to use such things, don’t we? We’re moving away from the goddess by doing so. Don't you understand that it begins with such things and leads to a weak spirit indulged in lust?”

“Oh, such a prophet. Look at my face. Do I look like I'll fall for lust? I belong to the goddess forever regardless of my will."

Hearing Lorang’s words, the clergyman sighed deeply and examined Almond.

Wooong…!

His hand emitted white mana and it felt like physical wounds and the heart were being healed when he touched Almond.

‘This is the mana of purity…’

The white mana that Ran used was for attacking. Did this person develop it for healing purposes?

"Hm. There is no particular problem. It might be confusion in memory due to a momentary shock… I'm not well-versed in magic… better check again when you go to the village."

“Yes. Anyway, it's not caused by a demon, right?”

The clergyman narrowed his eyebrows at that word and firmly asserted, "If that was the case, you would have died the moment you stepped into this room."

"Is there such a thing~"

Lorang, acting smart, took Almond and went outside.

"Phew. Luckily, Le… no, Almond. For now, you have no problem. That old man may nag a lot, but he has a discerning eye."

"… It doesn’t seem like he said there was no problem."

"Anyway! You're not possessed by a demon right now, so it’s fine."

Lorang answered in a high voice and kept saying, “Right. Then it's fine,” while nodding.

— This guy is really crazy

— Almond's expression is legendary, LOL

— What is this? haha

Lorang held Almond’s shoulders and spoke again in a serious voice, "First, our plan must continue."

"What plan?"

"What do you mean…?"

Bling.

[One step closer to the secret.]

“We have to meet Ran.”

Dudung!

Drums rang out consecutively.

[Objective: Rescue Ran!]

The task of rescuing Ran had been assigned.

‘Rescue?’

Almond felt puzzled.

Ran was under discipline at school. Wouldn’t it become a much bigger matter if they rescued him? If he escaped from punishment now, it would naturally result in a bigger punishment later.

More importantly, Lorang said he would meet Ran. He didn’t say how to rescue him.

"Are you thinking of rescuing Ran?" Almond asked just in case.

Lorang raised his lips and eyebrows, "Eh? What crazy talk? Has your intelligence also become that of a sheep’s?"

— LOL

— Disparaging walnuts

— That expression comes out just because he asked a question haha

— Lorang is so likable!

"… No. Let’s go for now."

Then why did the rescue quest come up? What was going to happen?

Almond steeled his resolve and followed Lorang.