Chapter 19: Wrong girl

this is a fictional story by realTensai

Alvis was still in his bedroom wondering why he had respawned. There was no doubt he had saved Nero. The two girls who had bullied her got suspended and if they were to do such things again, they would have been expelled. Also, since this incident, Alvis often saw Nero, together with Trez, hanging out.

Though the thing that reassured him the most was that he saw her smiling. This may sound stupid, but since that day Alvis saw Nero smiling way often, which proved her mental peace.

So why did I fail?

He could not understand what he had done wrong. There was no more he could have done to help Nero. Alvis opened up the blue box, hoping to get answers.

NOTIFICATION

[YOU FAILED!]

[TRY AGAIN!]

Experience is awarded for failing!

LEVEL 2: A lone girl

Mission: Save the girl

General:

Name: Alvis Silva

Race: Human

Class: Mage

Level: 3

Skills:

Basic mana manipulation Lvl. 4

Mastermind Lvl. 1-> Lvl. 2

Stats:

Mana: 86-> 91

Strength: 29

Intelligence: 75-> 80

Endurance: 36

Reflex: 32

Health: 45/45

Alvis tried to wrap his head around what had happened. After seeing the notification informing him of his failure, Alvis could not deny it any longer. It was a thought that had long crept into his head, yet he ignored it, not wanting to struggle even more. However, the truth was obvious.

Nero was not the girl he had to save.

It was something Alvis had realized after he had saved her. If she would have been the girl, a notification would have popped up after he saved her. Yet it never happened.

He had tried to delude himself into believing he just had to wait for the system to notify him, though now that he respawned, he had no choice but to accept it.

This was the worst-case scenario. Nero was not the girl he had to save, so he was back to square one.

He slammed his fist against the wall. The sharp pain which normally would have followed did not even register in his head.

“What am I supposed to do?!”

Alvis breathed in and out, trying to calm down and collect himself. He knew better than to let his anger take over. Only with a clear mind could he tackle this situation.

Even though Alvis thought so at first, the last loop was not completely wasted. He leveled up his mastermind skill and also got five stat points for his intelligence and mana. His daily effort of training his spell-casting abilities and learning new stuff bore fruits. Using mastermind had been a good way to understand complex topics like interference patterns in holograms.

All in all, he could not say the last two weeks had been for naught, which at least took a burden off of him. Yet the last thing he wanted was to spend another loop trying to save the wrong girl. Alvis would do everything in his might to find the girl he had to save!

——

“Damn, it’s way too full in here. I had to push my way through just to get a place.”

“Please don’t refer to pushing your way through in the future,” Alvis stated, knowing how dangerous Dane’s power was.

They were back in the hall, waiting for the entrance ceremony to start. It would be the third time Alvis would have to hear it, and he knew it probably was not the last. He would dedicate this loop solely to finding the right girl. If he managed that, it would already be a success.

That was why he did not even listen to the director’s speech and tried to create a list of candidates in his head. Alvis knew he would have to limit the girls he could focus on. With no clue who the girl was he had to save, anyone in this school was a potential candidate. Yet Alvis was sure that the girl was in his class, or at least grade. Well, he was not sure; it was more so a hope of his. Else he would never find her.

Suddenly, the crowd broke out into cheers, not letting Alvis think in peace. The entrance ceremony got to the part where the student council had their speech. And with Lia on the stage, the crowd’s reaction was given.

Alvis switched his attention to the stage, wanting to observe Lia. Even though Alvis thought it was unlikely, Lia still was someone who could be the girl he was searching for.

“I know this may come suddenly, but I will retire as the student council president. This decision did not come easy, yet it is the path I have decided on. Thank you, everyone, for all of your support last year!”

Lia’s soft yet confident words put the crowd in a sort of trance. The hall went silent, a byproduct of the people taking in the message. However, after a few seconds, saddened cries filled the hall.

Alvis’ face was indifferent, his eyes and ears already used to this scene. Though this time, he would fully focus on Lia’s expression.

Lia did not look into the crowd and had a downcast expression, a bit of guilt in her eyes. Her lips were trembling slightly, though the weak smile on her face did a good job hiding it. The strong facade of the confident girl everyone knew her for crumbled.

It was the first time Alvis noticed those things. Before he did not pay attention to it, but now he saw things from another perspective. Seeing Lia like that, he also understood why the people in their class were so worried about her retiring. Now even Sekki’s statement made sense.

At first, he thought it was impossible Lia was the girl he had to save, but now he put her on his list of candidates.

——

Just like he did in every loop, Alvis was in the workshop together with Dane. During class, he did not pay attention and instead reduced the number of candidates who could be the girl who he was looking for. Right now, he only waited for Joel to make his entrance so he could ask him about the girls in their class. If it came to girls, Joel was the one who knew the most.

Alvis acted as if he would work on his item, yet he knew he would get disrupted, so it was just for show. After a few more minutes, he entered.

“H-H-haha! I found you! One always can count on Victor’s information.”

Joel burst into the room and was visibly out of breath. His ears and tail were hanging down while he buckled forward, clutching his legs.

“What are you doing here, Joel?” Alvis asked, just for the procedure.

“We need to talk!”

Joel closed the door before then sitting down next to Dane.

“I already asked the other guys in our class, and you two are the only ones left.”

“What is it?”

Though before Joel could answer, Alvis did it for him.

“You want to talk with us about girls, right? More precisely, about the girl we are targeting.”

He took the words right out of his mouth. Alvis had to lead the conversation if he wanted to get information out of him.

Taken aback, Joel cleared his throat.

“Wait, how do you know that?”

“Well, we all know the only thing you would want to talk about is girls.”

“Haha, you are right!” Joel laughed, somehow proud of his reputation.

This is not something to be proud of.

“I don’t have a problem talking about girls. But there is something I want to know.”

Interested, Joel came closer, widening his dog ears. Dane did the same.

“Are there some girls in our class who seem different after the summer break?”

“Wait, you mean like glow-up different?”

“No, more like personality-wise.”

Joel held his hand to his chin, going into a thinker pose. It was obvious he did not expect this question. However, to Alvis’ surprise, Joel seemed to take the question seriously and was pondering about it.

“Today is only the first day of school, so it is hard to give an answer. But because you asked me the girl expert, I can give you a few girls who behaved out of character.”

“Wait what? For real?!”

Alvis’ excitement slipped through as soon as he heard Joel’s words. With his help, he could narrow his list of candidates even further!

“Yes. There are three girls I would say changed from before,” Joel said, holding up three fingers with his dog-like hand. “First is Fiona. She always was a serious nerd, though today she seemed even more serious. I did not even know that was possible, though the change was obvious. I bet she has a lot of pressure on her. Those noble families are crazy, after all.”

Alvis already had Fiona on his list. Even he noticed Fiona looked somehow nervous and stressed, though it took him three restarts to realize.

“The second one would be Maya. But I guess one can explain her behavior with the other girl I am about to mention. The last girl and the most obvious one would be Lia.”

So I am not the only one who noticed.

“Lia is still the most beautiful and perfect girl one can imagine, but her retirement as the student council president came way too sudden. Something must have happened to her to come to this decision. And Maya, as her best friend, is obviously worried about her.”

“Is this all?”

“Yes, this would be everything I noticed. But it’s only the first day of school, so take it with a grant of salt.”

“Thank you, Joel, you helped me a lot!”

Now Alvis had his list of candidates. He would focus on those three girls in this restart!