Over the next few hours, Rudeus continued drinking nonstop, swaying as he recounted everything that had happened since enrolling at the Magic University.
At last, Shirou understood why Rudeus had fallen into such a deep slump, why he had deteriorated into his current state.
Even though Shirou had mentally prepared himself beforehand, he still hadn't expected the reason behind Rudeus's collapse to be this explosive.
For a moment, he didn't even know what expression he should be making.
After all, impotence was a devastating problem for any man, something capable of directly destroying a man's confidence in himself.
Although Shirou couldn't truly empathize with it, he could fully understand why Rudeus was driven to such despair.
"..."
As Shirou struggled to find the right words, Rudeus had already drunk himself into a state where his blood was rushing and his mind had grown hazy.
He was barely holding himself together through sheer drunken momentum. Otherwise, even the gazes of the people around him would have been enough to make him completely collapse.
Fueled by alcohol, he broke down and cried out,
"Why… why did this happen? Nia, why did you leave me? What did I do wrong? If you'd just come back, even if I stayed impotent forever, I could accept it. But living like this is just too painful… I'm done for… I'm completely finished…"
"Nia? Is that the beast-folk girl who left you?" Shirou asked.
"Yeah…"
Rudeus replied in a dejected voice, still trapped in the wounds of the past.
"At the beginning, we got along so well. She respected me, admired me… but then, out of nowhere, she left behind that kind of letter and completely disappeared. What did I do wrong? Why was I treated like that?"
"..."
Shirou didn't know how to respond to Rudeus's words.
He couldn't understand why that beast-folk girl had suddenly left, nor why she would deliberately leave behind such a cruel letter.
From Shirou's perspective as an outsider, the entire situation was filled with a strong sense of wrongness. Every part of it felt off.
While he was thinking, Rudeus had already exhausted himself emotionally, slumping in his chair, reduced to faint sobbing sounds from his throat.
Realizing he couldn't leave Rudeus there alone, Shirou took him back to his room.
Before leaving, Shirou even tidied up Rudeus's room.
Though it had been a long time since he'd done any housework, his hands hadn't grown rusty at all, and he quickly cleaned the room from top to bottom.
Once everything was done, he began thinking about how to solve Rudeus's problem.
First of all, impotence was not something Shirou could fix.
He wasn't a doctor, nor did he know how to treat this kind of male condition. Rudeus had likely tried every method available over the past few years without success, which was why he'd fallen into such despair.
Aside from the impotence itself, Shirou also realized that Rudeus's decline was deeply connected to the very first beast-folk girl he had been involved with.
After all, Rudeus was his younger brother.
Shirou understood his personality well.
Rudeus might look like a lecher on the surface, but in reality, he was extremely pure-hearted. No matter how indifferent he pretended to be, once he truly fell in love, his feelings almost never changed.
The cause of his impotence was likely rooted there as well.
After his sincerity was betrayed, Rudeus lost confidence in himself entirely. He could no longer believe in the existence of love, and as a result, even the most direct expression of love, sexual intimacy, became impossible for him.
In the end, it all came down to that betrayal.
If there was any way to solve the problem, the best approach would undoubtedly be to find the beast-folk girl who had betrayed Rudeus and uncover the reason behind her actions.
Whether that reason was true or false, good or bad, once Rudeus obtained an answer, it would likely make it easier for him to find closure.
With that plan in mind, Shirou immediately went to see Principal Jinas and once again accessed the university's student records.
He searched using the name "Nia," combined with the condition of being beast-folk, but found nothing.
According to the records, the Magic University had never enrolled a beast-folk girl by that name.
Shirou wasn't surprised by the result.
After all, if Rudeus had been unable to find her back then, it meant there were no obvious leads to begin with.
He began considering other possibilities.
The first possibility was that the beast-folk girl had used a fake name, never registering under her real one at the university.
But why would she do that?
Shirou himself had used a false name to avoid trouble due to his fame as an adventurer.
But what reason would a beast-folk girl have to hide her real name and deliberately register under a fake one?
So what if he reversed the logic?
What if the name she registered under was her real name, and the name she used while dating Rudeus was fake?
Then what would her reason be?
At that moment, a possibility suddenly flashed through Shirou's mind. Recalling the various details described by both Cliff and Rudeus, he arrived at a hypothesis regarding Nia's true identity.
However, he didn't dare tell Rudeus directly.
After all, it was still just a conjecture, one that might not be true.
But if everything really was as Shirou suspected, then this situation was far more complicated than it appeared, and he couldn't simply stand by and do nothing.
…
With a possible lead in mind, Shirou went to see Rudeus again the next day.
After venting his emotions at the tavern the night before, Rudeus looked noticeably better. Combined with the fact that Shirou had thoroughly cleaned his room, he at least appeared outwardly similar to his former self.
Of course, the aura of deep insecurity clinging to him was still plainly visible.
Shirou had no intention of forcing Rudeus out of his gloom immediately, so he simply invited him out for a meal.
"O-Outside?"
Rudeus seemed frightened at the idea of leaving his room.
The day before, they had gone straight out of the academy, surrounded by strangers who didn't know him, so he had barely managed to stay calm.
But going to the academy cafeteria meant facing countless Magic University students.
Rudeus couldn't even imagine that scene.
After all, his reputation back then had been completely destroyed.
"Relax. That was over two years ago. No one cares about it anymore," Shirou said.
"B-But…"
Rudeus still looked deeply skeptical.
So Shirou simply grabbed him and dragged him out.
Without using magic, Rudeus's small frame stood no chance against Shirou.
At the cafeteria, Rudeus kept his head down the entire time, afraid to meet anyone's eyes.
Shirou didn't force him to do anything, just bought their meals and led him to an empty seat.
Even after all this time, no one pointed at him or whispered.
Rudeus raised his head in confusion and realized Shirou had been right. His bad reputation had long since been forgotten.
Or rather, after isolating himself for so long, most people at the Magic University had simply forgotten about him altogether.
Instead of feeling sad, Rudeus felt relieved.
The panic on his face eased slightly.
"Alright," Shirou said, "let's properly talk about what happened yesterday."
Seeing that Rudeus had overcome his fear of going outside, Shirou continued,
"There's no doubt that the root cause of your current situation is that beast-folk girl named Nia. She is the origin of everything."
"..."
Rudeus didn't respond.
Rather than sadness, it seemed like he simply didn't want to recall those painful memories.
Shirou wouldn't allow him to avoid it. He spoke decisively,
"Rudy, if I told you I could let you meet that beast-folk girl named Nia, what would you do?"
"Huh? You can do that?"
Rudeus stared at Shirou in shock.
Shirou nodded calmly.
A storm of emotions crossed Rudeus's face. Excitement, pain, resentment… and finally, resignation.
After everything, he spoke quietly,
"I… I want to ask her why she left me. What did I do wrong…"
"Just that?" Shirou asked.
"Yes. If I could know what mistake I made, maybe I wouldn't—"
Rudeus continued to blame everything on himself.
This stemmed from his deeply ingrained inferiority and introversion, as well as the experiences of his previous life, which left him without the confidence or courage befitting a Saint-rank mage.
Shirou understood this well, so he didn't explain further. He simply checked the time and continued eating with Rudeus.
Rudeus didn't understand why Shirou had brought up the topic only to do nothing afterward.
But he trusted Shirou unconditionally, so he stayed seated, even though he had little appetite.
Time passed slowly.
By the afternoon, when the cafeteria had nearly emptied, the figures Shirou had been waiting for finally appeared.
Two familiar silhouettes, wearing academy uniforms, with cat ears and dog ears.
The beast-folk princesses, Linia and Pursena.
When the two arrived, their expressions were cold, their eyes immediately locking onto Rudeus.
"So you figured it all out, nya?!"
"Hmph! After all this time, you think you can come get revenge on us?"
Their sudden appearance and words left Rudeus completely dumbfounded.
He stared at the two beast-folk girls, utterly confused about what was happening.
He turned to look at Shirou.
Shirou offered no elaborate explanation, simply saying,
"I sent a letter to their dorm yesterday, asking them to meet here at noon. I didn't expect them to show up this late."
"What? Why did you call them here?"
Rudeus still didn't understand, his face full of confusion.
Shirou said nothing more and instead addressed Linia and Pursena,
"Since you came, that means you're admitting it, right? You're the ones who pretended to be 'Nia' and deceived Rudeus."
"..."
Not to mention Linia and Pursena, Rudeus's face was completely frozen in disbelief.
He stared at the two beast-folk girls in front of him, and although they looked displeased, they still nodded in acknowledgment.
The instant the truth hit him, Rudeus didn't just collapse emotionally. It was as if his mind itself shut down, leaving him utterly blank.
---
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