#61
This was practically telling the truth. It felt a bit strange to consider the sword my friend, but it wasn’t entirely wrong either.
“Friend? You had a friend?”
That stings a little. Despite spending many days alone, I never thought I’d be seen as someone without friends. Of course, including my past life, I haven’t had many people by my side, but I did have friends of sorts.
There was Rikin who occasionally visited my home to play games with me, Rikin who kept me company when I was bored, and Rikin who shared various information when I was curious about the outside world. …Only then did I realize that the only person I could call a friend was Rikin.
This was truly unavoidable. From the beginning, I couldn’t go outside when I was young, so it was impossible to meet new people. Therefore, Rikin who visited my home was my only friend. Thinking about it, I felt I should take better care of Rikin.
I was considering playing an extra game or two if Rikin wanted, but perhaps I should consistently keep my promises with him for about six months. I could also hear various news from him while playing games, so it wasn’t a bad arrangement.
“Yes, I do.”
This wasn’t a lie either. I had Rikin.
“Don’t tell me you’re talking about Rikin?”
“No, it’s not him. By the way, hasn’t Rikin come to school yet?”
I felt caught, but I casually asked about Rikin to avoid getting stuck on the topic. It was clear that continuing this conversation would only be disadvantageous for me.
“He says he has something to look into. Anyway, Ana, you’re avoiding the question right now.”
Your perceptiveness has improved remarkably. I couldn’t even deny it and kept my mouth shut. Persis didn’t seem like he would back down until I answered. Just as I was contemplating how to escape this conversation, someone sat at our table.
“What’s this, shouldn’t you both be in class by now?”
“I don’t recall inviting you to sit.”
“Andelion, may I sit down?”
The one asking me with a bright smile was none other than Iria, who had just finished her swordsmanship class. I couldn’t help but nod immediately. There was no reason to refuse an opportunity to escape the conversation with Persis. Moreover, I couldn’t possibly reject Iria when she asked to sit down.
After sitting next to me, Iria gave Persis a triumphant smile. I could see Persis’s face stiffening in real-time.
I nodded slightly and thought to myself how fortunate this was. The relationship between these two was progressing properly. At first, they needed to be somewhat displeased with each other like this. That way, they would start noticing each other more, and over time, realize that their initially negative feelings were actually attraction.
“So, what about class?”
“It’s canceled.”
“What? It can be canceled? Why so suddenly?”
“The teacher said she had to attend to some business at her former workplace.”
Yaksi’s former workplace would definitely be the imperial palace. It seems that being a court mage, she had no choice but to respond to the palace’s summons.
“Ah, right. She was a court mage, wasn’t she? Have you met her a few times, Persis?”
“Living in the palace doesn’t mean you get to meet everyone.”
Persis and Iria are actually having a conversation. Somehow this situation felt like a dream. Without realizing it, I found myself resting my chin on my hand, staring at their faces.
Noticing my gaze, Iria looked at me and snickered. Only then did I realize I had been in a daze and quickly leaned back. I felt so foolish for losing my composure whenever I met Iria. Even though this wasn’t the time for such behavior, when I was with her, I found myself believing that everything would be alright.
“I thought there might be some connection, but there’s none at all. That’s disappointing.”
“Disappointing?”
“I heard great things about her class. I gave it up because I wanted to take swordsmanship, but I really don’t like the students in that class. I was wondering if I could ask the teacher to change classes even now.”
“That’s a very good idea.”
I nodded vigorously in agreement with Iria’s words. More time together for these two was a very good thing. If possible, I wanted to leave them alone so they could have a meal together right now. However, since the two were still awkward with each other, I thought I should act as a good buffer and watched them carefully.
Somehow, Persis’s face seemed to have stiffened even more.
“Don’t even dream about it.”
“I just thought it would be nice to spend a little more time with our Andelion. Wouldn’t you like to spend more time with me too, Andelion?”
As expected of the protagonist of a dating simulation game. Even casual words spoken over a meal were enough to captivate someone. Admiring her skill anew, I softly replied, “I would.” I could feel a sharp gaze coming from Persis’s direction, but I couldn’t look that way. I made a mental note to apologize to Persis later.
The food that had arrived filled the table to overflowing. Both Persis and Iria seemed to be good eaters, so they had ordered plenty. I picked up my spoon and started eating the stew in front of me. One mouthful of warm stew calmed my slightly excited stomach.
Only then did my rapidly beating heart settle down a bit.
“By the way, does that teacher go to the palace often?”
“You’re quite curious. If you’re that interested, go ask her yourself.”
Persis rebuffed Iria’s question, making it clear he found it annoying. Regardless, Iria picked up a piece of food to eat and casually remarked.
“No, it’s just that she seems to go somewhere often at night.”
“Think before you speak. No matter how urgent, the palace isn’t so short-staffed that they need to call someone in the middle of the night.”
Suddenly, all the suspicions I had harbored about Yaksi came to mind. Not only was she well-versed in demons, but she also appeared suddenly with the entrance ceremony incident. Yaksi, who had never appeared in the original story, suddenly became our homeroom teacher and played a significant role. Could all this be mere coincidence?
Perhaps Yaksi, who suddenly appeared, was behind all of this. Situations that had made no sense were gradually starting to fit together. I had been suspicious all along, but without certainty, I couldn’t rashly label Yaksi as a dangerous person.
I recalled when search magic was used to find the culprit. The magic power used then had all disappeared without yielding proper results, but one thing was certain: the culprit had been wandering around the school grounds late at night. For reasons unknown, they clearly needed to move around the school. If Yaksi had also been moving around the school like the culprit, then that meant…
“I don’t know what you’re thinking when you ask, but that teacher has nothing to do with these incidents.”
“…Hmm. I’ve been caught.”
Having her intentions exposed, Iria erased the innocent student face full of curiosity about the teacher and shrugged her shoulders. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who had been suspicious of Yaksi.
“A teacher who came to school right when the magical beast appeared. She knows a lot about demons, and she left her position immediately after yesterday’s incident. Isn’t that suspicious?”
When Iria mentioned yesterday’s incident, my body trembled involuntarily. Perhaps yesterday’s magical outburst was because of me. Although I couldn’t confirm it yet, there were suspicious circumstances.
But what did yesterday’s incident have to do with demons? What on earth did that mean?
“What do yesterday’s incident and magical beasts or demons have to do with each other?”
Persis asked. That was exactly what I wanted to know. I barely managed to steady my gaze as I looked at Iria. If I showed any sign of concern here, I would only draw suspicion.
“Are you pretending, or do you really not know?”
She seemed to know something I didn’t. I held my breath and listened carefully to Iria’s voice.
“That smell back then. Didn’t you smell it? That was definitely the smell of Clum going berserk.”
“So? What does that have to do with demons?”
“Wow, you’re going to keep pretending you don’t know? Someone who’s a prince can’t possibly be unaware.”
“And you, a mere commoner, seem to know quite a lot.”
The information exchanged between the two was something I could never have discovered no matter what I did. These were things that even a young noble couldn’t know. Moreover, I was rumored to be a son the Duke didn’t care about. Despite my efforts and running around, the information I could obtain was limited. In contrast, these two were different.
One was a prince of this empire, and the other was the heir to a country, albeit a small one. The information that reached them would be on a completely different level from what a young noble could access. I sat quietly like a mouse, listening attentively to their conversation.
“Being a commoner means there are things I can know. Anyway, please answer me. Shouldn’t we be worried about that teacher?”
“I don’t know what you’re worried about, but it seems clear you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
Saying that, Persis tore off a piece of bread and placed it on my plate.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
