Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma

Stay away? What kind of nonsense is that?

I didn’t have the luxury to worry about that strange mana or Cassiel’s attempts to stop me any longer. Ignoring Cassiel’s grip, I dashed straight toward Acteon.

At least the cadets here were quick to respond to anything related to the Awakened, which was a relief. When the unexpected incident occurred, an upperclassman immediately rushed out to call the medical staff. The faculty, who had been overseeing the entrance ceremony, hurriedly gathered around Acteon to assess his condition.

One familiar professor stepped forward.

“I’ll take a look first.”

He was a Guide who taught the classes on guiding. He was also a B-Class like me, but renowned for his precise mana control and stabilization.

He checked everything from Acteon’s breathing to the pulse in his neck—where you could most clearly sense the flow of mana—as well as the heartbeat near his chest. After examining him, the professor gave his diagnosis immediately.

“This is a second awakening. But it’s a little strange.”

“Strange… how?”

The voice that cut in was someone I also knew. It was my own supervising professor.

“I’ll need to take a closer look to say for sure…”

“I see. But for now, guiding comes first.”

Starting the guiding session here and now was dangerous. There weren’t even any control stones in place. So, permission was given to transfer Acteon to the Garden of Oaths.

Some people quickly went to find a stretcher, while others disappeared in the direction of the Garden of Oaths. In the meantime, even with his consciousness fading, Acteon was struggling. He was clenching his teeth so hard, I thought his jaw might break.

When I’d guided Acteon before, his emotions had surged into me.

I wondered if I could help, and instinctively reached out… but then pulled back. There were too many eyes around us for that here.

Watching Acteon try to contain his own mana with his remaining willpower, I barely managed to compose myself as someone approached beside me.

“Hys.”

“That punk, he was acting off since this morning. I thought he was just unusually nervous or maybe getting motion sick like you.”

Even if they weren’t on good terms, it was clear Hyacine was still worried. He couldn’t continue speaking easily.

No.

Actually, I was the one who’d subconsciously noticed that Acteon wasn’t well.

But with his second awakening coming up, I didn’t want to make things tense, so I’d brushed it off as nothing.

I didn’t want to get involved and end up dead.

‘…No, I’m not going to die.’

Even Acteon’s first awakening changed, didn’t it?

I was there in Brondearn when I wasn’t supposed to be, and I helped during his sudden first awakening, just like today.

If I saved him once, there’s no reason I can’t do it again.

‘And I don’t want to shove someone else into danger in my place anymore.’

I recalled again what I’d thought the first time I met Millia.

I didn’t want to push someone else into a deathtrap just because I was the one fated to die.

It’s not as if everything must go according to the original story. Just because you’re the protagonist doesn’t mean you can’t die.

There are some things you can’t change, even if you want to.

What I didn’t want was regret.

Maybe that was true for the original Liliope as well.

‘…Let’s stay sharp.’

Less than five minutes later, the medical staff arrived inside the auditorium.

Among them were a couple of researchers, who, while the medics talked with Cassiel, checked Acteon’s control stone bracelet.

Frustrating. Now wasn’t the time for that.

They needed to move him to the Garden of Oaths first.

Unable to wait any longer, I was about to speak to the researchers when something completely unexpected happened.

“Wait, I think I just saw a crack form in the control stone…”

“A crack? It’s supposed to suppress mana above a certain level, how could that—”

The two researchers turned pale at the same time.

They jumped up and shouted,

“Everyone left inside, evacuate now!”

People in the auditorium began to flee outside, just as a thick, dense mana instantly spread through the building.

It was like before, like a single drop of black ink spreading through clear water, dragging everything along helplessly.

Acteon’s second awakening had begun, even before they could move him to the Garden of Oaths.

“Liliope!”

Without a second thought, I ran for Acteon, but someone grabbed my wrist.

“Are you out of your mind? If you get caught up in that, you’ll die!”

It was Hyacine by my side.

His words shook me, and I wanted to shout that there must be something I could do.

But before I could, a dull blow struck my neck, and everything went dark.

Did they really just knock me out?

I wanted to get angry, but I couldn’t.

As my body collapsed in the last slice of vision I caught, I glimpsed Cassiel, his hands trembling.

* * *

The sensation of waking up after being forcibly knocked out is indescribably awful.

It felt like someone had pried open my skull and flipped a switch in my head, dragging me awake against my will.

I groaned at the throbbing pain rattling inside my head.

‘What’s going on…?’

It was daylight when I lost consciousness, but now the sun was already setting.

Damn, no wonder I felt cold.

Something was draped over my hand. It was a white school uniform jacket.

It didn’t seem like it was from Hyacine. Cassiel, maybe?

As I struggled to regain my senses, the first thing I heard was the noise nearby.

“All the high-ranking Guides on campus are currently stationed at their posts, so we’re limited in how many we can summon.”

“So you’re saying there’s no one? The highest rank we can call right now is B-Class? B-Class is our best option?”

The angry shouting made my head ring.

Once my vision finally cleared as I woke up from slumber, I realized the one shouting was the academy headmaster, a high-ranking officer trusted by the crown prince.