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"YO... KEVIN LOOK UP, YOU DUMBASS."

Zach pulled out his swords and used a buff spell on the entire group to increase their speed, so Ruby, Irene, Lily, Kevin, Liam, Alya, and himself all sprinted toward the looming figure of the World Tree.

Throughout the streets, the elves, who still hurriedly rushed to their houses, stopped momentarily before blinking to confirm their eyes were working.

The scene of seven students, all clad in school uniforms, sprinting through the streets could be seen—one of them even had a snow cone!

Why were they evacuating and forced to take cover while a bunch of little humans were free to roam the city..?

Sighing, the elves continued their trip back to their homes, albeit less stressful and slower, as they no longer assumed they were in dire danger.

As Ruby followed behind Alya, who was leading their group, she carefully examined the expressions of each Elves they passed on their way to the tree.

Those were not the expressions of Elves who had seen demons...their expressions seemed more annoyed than scared and nervous.

But how was that possible?

For the demons to have reached the World Tree, as Albert implied in his message, they must have crossed these same streets on their way there.

There weren't even any signs of fight or damage; everything looked the same as yesterday.

Slowing down her pace, Ruby fell to the second last place or right in front of Irene.

Running alongside Irene, Ruby was about to ask Irene about her suspicions when she saw Irene running ahead with an unusual smile.

Curious at the change in attitude, Ruby turned to Irene mid-stride and asked.

"Are you coming to help them fight even if there are more demons..?"

During the carriage ride and dinner, Ruby and Irene developed a sense of camaraderie as they were in similar situations regarding the main cast.

Ruby just didn't want to join the main cast, but she was practically being forced to be. Lily bombarded her with invites and requests every second.

On the other hand, Irene did want to join the main cast... just not this way. Sure, she had been invited months ago, but Irene knew it was a pity invite.

It was clear that, unlike Alya, Liam, and Kevin, she had done nothing particularly special to prove herself.

After the cruise ship incident, Lily asked if she would like to join their group without giving any tests or asking questions.

Irene didn't even remember being useful at all during the cruise ship incident, whereas Liam was able to block the final attack, and the others were each able to at least contribute to the fight.

It was clearly a pity invite...but was that so bad?

At this point, Irene herself didn't know what she wanted.

Life had been much simpler when she could simply force herself to cling to Kevin and follow him around.

At least then... she had a purpose, even if it was a dog or something like that.

But as she spent more and more time at this school, she discovered that she could no longer force herself to do things like that.

Did she even want to join Lily's group anymore...? Was that just another thing that she had forced herself to do?

She had lost her sense of identity, grappling with the thoughts in her head, trying to discover which memories and thoughts were forced and natural.

However, she could never find the answer... because it was right in front of her all this time.

Even if the thoughts were forced, there were still her thoughts.

Whose head were those "forced" thoughts in? Irenes and nothing in the world could ever change that.

Whether forced or not, those thoughts belonged to only Irene; thus, they were part of her, a foundation on which her personality and behavior were built.

So, why did it matter if the thoughts were forced or not?

Irene's thoughts were still there at the end of the day.

After this realization, Irene was finally able to realize what she wanted.

Using BOTH her forced and natural thoughts, Irene concluded that... she didn't want anything.

Why did she have to want something? Why did she have to have a goal that she needed to complete? Why did she have some overarching goal that made all her decisions?

Why couldn't she live in the present instead of worrying about the future?

Live moment by moment and make decisions based on what you want, not on how they will affect the success rate of your goal.

And at this very moment, Irene wanted to kill some demons and save some elves.

Was there some moral obligation that forced Irene to decide that? Was there some peer pressure from the main cast?

Nope. It was just what Irene wanted to do.

Decisions didn't need to have reasons behind them. Why did she have to prove herself and defend her decision against anyone?

At the end of the day, who cares?

It's her life and her decisions.

Turning to Ruby, Irene shrugged her shoulders, a small grin appearing, and replied.

"I guess I am!"

Seeing the unusually motivated Irene, Ruby dropped all thoughts of revealing her suspicions out of fear that it would dampen Irene's attitude.

Friends.

They were a weird thing for Ruby... but she was certain of one thing about friendship.

She didn't want to lose it.

The times she had spent chatting to Irene in the corner of the carriage while the rest of the main cast were off discussing antics about saving the world, the times she had spent playing hide and seek with Irene yesterday when the main cast was off talking to the elven queen, and countless other memories surfaced in Ruby's head.

It brought a sense of serenity and peace to her always stressed and chaotic mind. A peace that she didn't want to lose.

Replying to Irene, who had suddenly sped up, Ruby said.

"Well, someone looks joyful today."