Chapter 14
The weather was fantastic today.
Maybe it was because I slept well; I felt in great shape. And meeting an old friend yesterday lifted my spirits.
“Ugh.”
The only downside was that I had to walk all the way to the lecture hall.
‘Maybe I should find a warp point or two if I get the time.’
After acquiring the Spatial Movement ability, I’d grown to hate walking to places I’d already visited, unless I had no other choice. But since today was one of those unavoidable times, I endured the walk.
Considering I earned 50 million gold yesterday, this was a small price to pay.
‘Heh, 50 million… I could probably take it easy for longer than I thought.’
I hoped Addy would get that money soon. Thinking about yesterday, and specifically that 50 million gold, the walk to the lecture hall didn’t feel long at all.
By the time I arrived, the freshman lecture hall was bustling with students, a stark contrast from yesterday. Though it was only the second day, some students seemed to have already formed groups, chatting as they made their way inside. With all these people around, it was finally starting to feel like a real school.
‘…I wonder if I can find a warp point.’
But for someone like me who doesn’t enjoy crowds, the busy scene wasn’t exactly a welcome sight. Plus, searching for a warp point in such a crowded place seemed practically impossible.
“Uh… Ryu…”
“Hm?”
Hearing someone call my name, I turned around slowly. The girl who looked like she regretted calling out to me was none other than Cynthia Surplus. With her distinctive purple hair and the surname “Surplus,” she was a noble who had backed me up during yesterday’s incident with Kane Hover.
Because of that, Cynthia’s name stuck in my mind right next to Elaine’s.
“Oh, Cynthia! Is it alright if I call you that?”
“Oh, well, sure, I guess… you already did yesterday, though.”
“Did I?”
I tried to remember if I’d actually called her by name yesterday, but it didn’t seem too important to dwell on. The main thing was that I had a partner to navigate the crowd with on the way up to the second floor.
“Did you really leave the student council meeting early yesterday?”
“Ah, the meeting. I did. I’m sure our dear Elaine handled it well in my absence. To be honest, I think she fits the role of representative better than I do.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
Cynthia nodded in agreement. Though I was the one who brought it up, hearing her agree so easily that “Elaine is better suited to be the representative” gave me mixed feelings.
“But hey.”
“Hm?”
We’d barely taken a step onto the stairs leading to the second floor when Cynthia spoke up again.
“I had a question about what happened yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
Quite a few things had happened yesterday.
“That—how did you do it in the training hall?”
“How did I do what?”
I asked genuinely, unable to grasp what Cynthia was referring to.
“Hover’s Firebird, I mean.”
“Firebird…?”
“Yeah, the Firebird.”
‘Could that clump of flames really be called a bird?’
Thinking back, I vaguely recalled how Kane Hover’s fireball had strange protrusions on either side. It seemed he’d been trying to make it look like a bird.
‘…No way.’
“The bird…? Are you talking about how his magic fizzled out on its own, like that?”
I quickly added, not wanting to give her any space to counter. Cynthia grimaced slightly at my response before speaking again.
“That didn’t seem like it fizzled out from a loss of control…”
‘…Did she notice?’
“Oh, come on. It disappeared right in front of us, didn’t it?”
“…Hmm.”
When I acted as if I didn’t know what she was talking about, Cynthia tilted her head and frowned even more. Judging by her reaction, it seemed she wasn’t entirely certain.
I had to double down and push my version of events even harder.
“Maybe he cast the spell too hastily, and there was some error in the spell circuit or something. Plus, I’d punched him, so his concentration was probably thrown off.”
“That might be true, but… it didn’t feel like the mana just scattered. It was more like something swallowed up the Firebird from the front…”
‘Whoa.’
Maybe I’d underestimated the academy students’ perceptiveness. After all, Cynthia had seen the fireball disappear close up, from the side. Any capable individual might have noticed that I used some kind of trick.
The idea that an academy freshman could have witnessed that split-second moment was beyond belief.
“Is that so? I wouldn’t know… I was thinking, ‘I’m about to become a roast,’ when suddenly the fire vanished. So I jumped at the chance, haha.”
“Hmm… maybe I did see it wrong…”
Despite feeling flustered, I acted with all my might. Addy always insists, “Commander, you should never take part in missions requiring acting skills.” But sometimes desperation makes things work.
“Maybe you just saw it wrong…?!”
“…Hmm. For a second, I thought you did something. But, never mind.”
“Right?! I mean, what could I possibly do in that split-second… Besides, you have incredible eyesight, observing so much in that situation.”
“Eh, it’s kind of a habit…”
Srrrk—
As I put on the best performance I could muster for Cynthia, we finally reached the lecture hall. My silent plea to change the subject seemed answered; as soon as we entered, something else caught my eye.
Elaine was sitting upright, facing forward with perfect posture. Cynthia and I had arrived fairly early, but Elaine had gotten here even earlier. Lucky me.
“Elaine! You’re early!”
“Oh, Mr. Ryu.”
“…Like I mentioned yesterday, speaking formally is more comfortable, isn’t it?”
Elaine nodded firmly.
“Yes. And Miss Surplus is here with you as well, I see.”
“Uh, right… I did say yesterday that you could just call me Cynthia… and, you know, speak informally…”
“Hmm. Since formalities between classmates could cause distance, I’ll try to work on that as well.”
‘Well, speaking formally is a pretty effective way of creating distance…’
Still, Elaine had thankfully changed the topic, so I couldn’t complain. With Cynthia still holding some suspicions, any further discussion could lead to trouble.
“There were some topics brought up during the student council meeting yesterday. Some are minor and can be overlooked, but there are others you should know as the freshman representative.”
“Oh…”
Watching Elaine speak up the moment I arrived reminded me of Addy. It was like I’d gotten a new assistant here at the academy, down to the formal tone and actions.
“For now, would you like to sit beside me?”
Elaine offered me the chair next to her with such politeness that I couldn’t refuse.
“Sure, what’s it about?”
“First, I expect there might be some talk about you leaving early yesterday… Anyway, the first item on the agenda is…”
It really felt like a work report from Addy.
‘Sigh.’
But it was much better than having to put on an act for Cynthia.
***
‘This is definitely suspicious.’
From her seat in the front row, Cynthia watched Ryu and Elaine Sinclair discuss yesterday’s student council meeting. While she’d initially questioned her own perception, wondering if she’d been mistaken, her conversation with Ryu earlier left her 99% convinced.
Ryu had put on a clumsy act to appear innocent, but it was painfully obvious. His awkward answers practically screamed, “Yes, I did something!”
The incident with the Firebird yesterday was clearly connected to Ryu.
As the eldest daughter of the Surplus family, Cynthia Surplus was known among her peers as a “champion of equality.” But that wasn’t her only reputation. Cynthia had managed to rank within the top seven among all the other candidates in the entrance exam—despite the impressive talents from the Six Great Houses that entered this 158th class, including the Sinclairs.
Her specialty was archery, which her father personally taught her from a young age. The Surplus family, despite the society’s favoring of knights and mages, wielded substantial influence thanks to archery alone, and Cynthia had inherited her father’s talents to an impressive degree.
‘If I wasn’t mistaken, it really looked like Ryu absorbed the Firebird.’
Cynthia, particularly gifted with strong visual acuity, had witnessed everything clearly. She wasn’t entirely sure of her own judgment due to her limited combat and field experience, but…
“And there will be meetings scheduled every other week from now on.”
“Whaaat? Every other week?!”
“Yes, they’re planned for Mondays…”
“Ohhh… You’ll go with me each time, right?”
“…Excuse me?”
While pondering what kind of technique Ryu had used to make the Firebird disappear, Cynthia snapped back to attention upon overhearing Ryu and Elaine’s conversation.
“You’re really just asking her outright…?”
“What? Is that too much to ask? Isn’t that right, Elaine?”
“N-not at all. If the freshman representative requests it… And Mr. Ryu is a commoner, so it’s understandable if you feel uncomfortable in such settings…”
Elaine Sinclair’s reply to Ryu’s request made Cynthia temporarily forget about the Firebird incident. Ryu and Elaine were remarkable.
‘Is Ryu really a commoner… And he must know who Sinclair is…’
“Wow! As expected, my assi—uh, Elaine!”
‘Sinclair is as impressive as they say… but to treat a commoner like this…’
“I assure you, it’s no trouble. There’s a lot I can learn from attending the meetings as well.”
Not only did Ryu speak informally to a noble of the prestigious Sinclair family, but he made such a bold request without hesitation. And Elaine accepted it without a second thought.
Rumor had it that Elaine Sinclair respected talent without regard for social status or rank, but Cynthia never imagined this extended to commoners too.
‘This… this is how it’s supposed to be, but…’
As she listened to the conversation between commoner Ryu and noble Elaine Sinclair, Cynthia found herself distracted from the Firebird incident. Instead, she was left wondering just what kind of society she had known until now.
—
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