The first-year dormitory was an eight-story building in the eastern district.
Every first-year, from the top class to the lowest class, lived here.
Since our classrooms were scattered across several student buildings, there were plenty of students we only ever saw in the dormitory.
“Oh.”
“Oh…”
I was heading down the stairs late at night.
A girl emerged from the corridor on the left of the sixth floor, and we came face-to-face.
“Eriol Valencia…”
“…”
It was Charlotte from the advanced class, whom I’d met in the cafeteria the other day.
Unlike last time, she was wearing a red dress instead of her uniform. It suited her blond hair.
“Wait. I went to the trouble of greeting you, and you’re ignoring me?”
“That was a greeting?”
“Ugh…”
Charlotte, who had frowned at the sight of me, screwed up her face even further.
“Eriol Valencia, where are you going at this hour?”
“I’m a little hungry, so I’m going out to buy something to eat.”
“Really? How common.”
That was a novel way to pick a fight.
I decided to pay her no mind and continue down the stairs.
“…”
“…”
But Charlotte kept following me.
She was still following even after we left the dormitory, so I finally spoke again.
“Why are you following me?”
“You said you were going to buy something to eat.”
“And?”
“So am I.”
“Doesn’t it seem a bit odd to keep trailing after me like this, though?”
“Don’t mind me. I’m not causing you any trouble, am I?”
“…”
On reflection, she had a point.
I decided to ignore her completely.
“…”
“…”
And so we went into a nearby shop.
There were shops around the academy that stayed open twenty-four hours a day, allowing people to buy whatever they needed even in the middle of the night.
Apparently, they had originally been intended for mages who stayed up all night doing research, but demand had proved surprisingly high, and they’d opened all over campus.
“Welcome.”
The person sitting at the counter gave us a halfhearted greeting.
Probably a student working part-time for some spending money.
Students who couldn’t enter the dungeon yet had no choice but to work part-time at places like this.
Let’s see…
I chose the cheapest corn snacks and a bottle of grape juice.
“…”
I noticed Charlotte picking up exactly the same things, but continued to ignore her.
“Thank you.”
Right up until we finished paying, Charlotte kept trailing after me, copying everything I did.
What was going on with her?
“…”
One possibility occurred to me, so after leaving the shop, I headed for a nearby park.
Then I sat on a bench and opened my bag of snacks.
“…”
I stole a sideways glance. Charlotte was sitting on a bench one space over, opening her bag just as I had.
It looked as though… I was right.
“Charlotte.”
“What?”
“Have you never bought yourself something to eat like this before?”
“…”
Charlotte flinched.
So my guess had been right.
She’d gotten hungry in the middle of the night and was wandering around, unsure what to do… when she happened to run into me and started copying me.
“That’s right. What of it?”
After a moment, Charlotte answered boldly.
“I haven’t caused you any trouble.”
“No, but following someone you barely know and copying them is a bit much. Don’t you have any friends in the advanced class?”
“No.”
“What?”
“I said I don’t have any friends in the advanced class.”
“…”
I had nothing to say to that.
“There’s no one I’m particularly close to. I’m not close to my roommate either.”
“…”
“That’s why I followed you. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No, not really.”
“Then that settles it.”
Charlotte turned her head sharply away and started eating.
“A very common taste.”
“They’re the cheapest snacks in the shop. What do you expect?”
“I didn’t say they were bad.”
“You keep going on about things being common. You must come from quite a family.”
“I’m from the ducal house of Strasbourg.”
Duke Strasbourg was a highly respected member of the high nobility.
Coming from that family, she certainly had reason to be haughty.
Monark Orson from the top class seemed to put on plenty of airs about coming from a ducal family too.
“Did you come to the academy to bring honor to your family too?”
“Of course not. My parents were against me coming here.”
“What?”
“They were planning a marriage of convenience for me to benefit the family.”
“How old-fashioned…”
“Nobles are old-fashioned.”
“I do come from a count’s family myself.”
“We’re different from provincial lords like the Valencia family, living among commoners.”
Charlotte snorted.
“If my parents aren’t satisfied with my grades, I’ll have to withdraw from the academy and be dragged home.”
“Then…”
“Since I ended up in the advanced class instead of the top class, I was already losing points from the start.”
“…”
Her circumstances seemed similar to Senia’s.
Senia had also said she’d have to go home if she didn’t make the top class.
“That’s why… I don’t like you people who got into the top class ahead of me.”
“…”
“And I have no intention of making friends with the people in the advanced class either.”
I understood why Charlotte had no friends.
She was incredibly frank and bold. She didn’t hesitate to expose even her own inferiority complex, and she was aggressive toward everyone.
With a personality like that, of course she had no friends.
And she wasn’t the sort to rein in her temper just to get along with people…
“Oh, wait.”
“What?”
“Aren’t you friends with Helios?”
“Why would I be friends with that foul-tempered man? Are you trying to pick a fight?”
I didn’t think she was in any position to call someone else foul-tempered…
“You seemed to listen to him when I saw you in the cafeteria.”
“That’s…”
Charlotte frowned.
“He acts as the class representative for the advanced class. We had an argument the other day and made a bet.”
“A bet?”
“He said that if he beat me in a sparring match, I had to cooperate with him from then on.”
“…”
“I don’t need to tell you the result, do I?”
I more or less understood.
“I can’t stand him. So don’t get the wrong idea.”
“You seemed to do what he said. I thought you might be dating.”
“As if! Do you want to die?”
Charlotte looked utterly disgusted.
“Still…”
“…?”
“He’s very good. You’d better watch out.”
Charlotte spoke as she drank her grape juice.
“You’ve heard they’re deciding the final rankings for the new-student competition through mock battles, haven’t you?”
“I have.”
Apparently, the top four would be selected in the preliminary round, then compete in a knockout tournament of mock battles to determine their final rankings.
“Unless something unexpected happens, Helios and I will qualify from the higher class. We’re good enough for that.”
“…”
“You’ll probably make the top four too. That means you’ll have to fight at least one of us.”
Charlotte seemed to think the outcome was obvious.
“A word of advice. Neither Helios nor I will be easy to beat, so you’d better be prepared.”
“I never thought I’d be getting advice from you.”
“I owe you.”
“What?”
Charlotte checked her snack bag and looked disappointed to find it empty.
“I did get something to eat thanks to you. I should repay you for that.”
“…”
“Thank you.”
That was a little unexpected.
But a moment later, it struck me as only natural.
Charlotte was frank and bold.
Thanking someone who had helped her would be the obvious thing for her to do.
Even if that someone was the detestable Eriol Valencia.
“By the way… what do I do with this rubbish?”
“Oh, that.”
I’d just finished mine too, so I tossed my snack bag and empty bottle into a nearby bin.
“Put it in here.”
“That’s a rubbish bin?”
She really was a sheltered young lady…
Sheltered noble girls do turn up in novels sometimes. I’ve never seen one with a personality like hers, though.
Oblivious to my thoughts, Charlotte approached the bin and tried to toss in her bag and empty bottle.
But perhaps because she’d never done it before…
The bottle had enough weight to land inside, but the bag blew away.
“Oh…!”
Charlotte looked flustered.
“S-stop right there!”
The sight of her foolishly chasing after the windblown bag made me laugh before I could help it.
Oh, well.
The moment I gave a discreet flick of my hand—
Whoosh.
The wind blew in the opposite direction, carrying the snack bag toward me.
“Huh?”
As Charlotte looked on in bewilderment, I caught the bag and put it in the bin.
“There. All done.”
“Oh, yes.”
She nodded, looking a little awkward.
Then she turned her gaze away and murmured,
“Thank you. I keep owing you more.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“…”
After studying my face for a moment, Charlotte gave a small sigh.
“You’ve helped me a lot tonight. I have no intention of being friends with you… but if I get a chance to repay you, I will.”
“Didn’t your advice settle that already?”
“It wasn’t much.”
With that, Charlotte turned her back to me.
“Well, I’m not hungry anymore, so I’ll be going.”
“All right. I’ll head back a little later. Go on ahead.”
“…”
Charlotte gave me one last sidelong glance, then walked toward the dormitory.
He’s not walking me back to the dormitory.
Returning alone, Charlotte was lost in thought.
At social gatherings among nobles, it was customary for one of the men to step forward and escort a woman home when she left.
Of course, Charlotte considered it an outdated custom. It wasn’t as though she particularly wanted Eriol to escort her, either…
Well, he is the son of a country lord. Perhaps he doesn’t know his manners. I suppose it can’t be helped.
She was entering the dormitory with that thought when two girls from the advanced class spoke to her.
“Miss Charlotte, do you have a moment?”
“…?”
They were girls she hardly ever spoke to.
Had something happened?
“Didn’t you leave the dormitory with Eriol Valencia from the top class earlier?”
“What?”
“Were you perhaps… on a late-night date?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?!”
Charlotte flushed and shouted.
“Of course not!”
“Oh, is that so?”
“See? I told you. They just happened to leave at the same time.”
One girl chided the other.
“If they’d been on a date, they would’ve come back together too. Why else would Charlotte have come back alone?”
“You’re right… Sorry for the misunderstanding, Miss Charlotte. See you tomorrow!”
The two walked away, chattering to each other.
Left alone, Charlotte could only stand there in bewilderment.
Oh, wait.
She recalled what they’d just said.
What would have happened if she’d returned to the dormitory with Eriol?
People really would have assumed they’d been enjoying a secret midnight rendezvous.
Even if Charlotte denied it, things would become quite troublesome if the more talkative students spread rumors.
Could Eriol Valencia have… anticipated this and deliberately sent me ahead?
Charlotte caught her breath.
Was he looking out for me… without saying a word?
Alone at last.
Once Charlotte was out of sight, I gave a little stretch.
The truth was, I hadn’t left the dormitory in the middle of the night just for a snack.
I’d wanted to practice on my own at night, when there were few people around.
All right, then…
In the quiet park, late at night.
I took a deep breath and focused on my surroundings.
Then I read the countless elements that made up this world.
“…”
Regular polyhedra beyond number.
Among them, I focused my awareness on the regular octahedra floating in the air.
Recalling the contents of the grimoire I’d borrowed from Professor Klein.
Blow.
Whoosh!
A cool wind swept through, and my body took flight.
0 Comments
Sign in to join the discussion
Sign In