Chapter 29: Second Semester (2)

The first class of the second semester.

Selena sat rigidly in her seat. From the moment the teacher escorted her in and introduced her to the students, through taking an empty seat, right up until now—she remembered almost none of it.

'... Wh-what am I supposed to do...?'

Her posture was stiff, but her eyes swept rapidly around her. Anyone watching would have thought she was a schoolgirl who had entered an abandoned house alone at night. The tremors in her pupils promised repeated aftershocks.

Her motionlessness brought Aten to mind, but Aten stayed that way because she wanted to. Selena looked as though someone had imprisoned her inside herself.

Then came a break.

"Hey, you said your name was Selena, right? What a pretty—"

"M-my name is what?"

Selena whipped her head around like a radar-equipped gun turret. The girl who had spoken flinched.

"N-no, I just meant it's pretty."

"... Huh? Oh, uh, yes. Thank you."

That was that.

The girl tried to say a few more things to Selena, who had stiffened up again, but eventually gave up and left.

And Selena was dying inside.

'Ugh. What is this? What am I supposed to do? The only thing anyone ever taught me about dealing with people was how to seduce men.'

She had worked hard at learning even that, then tried it for the first time on Frondier. And failed spectacularly.

Thanks to that, her confidence in herself had been dwindling by the day lately.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Ah!"

Once again, Selena jolted and shuddered as though she had encountered an enemy.

She looked toward the voice and found another girl. Resting her chin on her hand, the girl regarded Selena through half-lidded eyes.

'... Who is she?'

Sunset-colored hair and blue eyes like a lake. Those unfathomably deep eyes were what first drew her gaze.

It wasn't simply a matter of being pretty or beautiful. Just looking at this girl seemed to change the scenery around her.

"Hi, I'm Elodie. Elodie de Richae."

"Elodie... You're Elodie de Inies Rishae?"

The name had stirred Selena's memory. At her question, Elodie's expression turned sullen.

"I left that out on purpose. You really don't need to add the 'Inies.'"

"Oh, yes. Of course."

"So, are you all right? You've looked lost for a while now."

"Oh, no, I'm perfectly all right. How could I possibly not be? All right is all I have left."

Did that mean she was all right?

Elodie sighed inwardly.

Normally, she wouldn't have paid much attention to a transfer student, but she couldn't leave Selena alone when she seemed so adrift, unable to fit in anywhere.

It was like looking at her past self.

'Actually, am I really any different now?'

It was less noticeable in Class Two, which was full of so-called monsters and geniuses, with Elodie foremost among them, but she had never had many friends.

She merely kept everyone at a friendly, comfortable distance. In Class Two, Aster was about the only person she could talk to freely.

There was Saibel in another class, whom she'd grown somewhat closer to recently.

And Frondier.

'... Sigh.'

What had gotten into her?

"Selena, would you like me to show you around the school?"

"Show me around?"

"Yes. Do you know where the cafeteria is?"

"Oh," Selena said, her mouth falling open. It was a very honest reaction.

* * *

At lunchtime, Elodie headed to the cafeteria with Selena, explaining the buildings and facilities they passed.

"Straight down this path is the auditorium. We use it for all kinds of events and indoor practical lessons. The athletic grounds are right in front of it, and that huge area beyond them is the 'field.' It's used for all sorts of training and classes involving simulated monster encounters, like mini-missions and exams."

"... Area?"

Selena frowned and looked in the direction Elodie was pointing.

"... All I see is a mountain."

"Yes. It's a mountain today."

Today?

Guessing what that meant, Selena turned to Elodie in astonishment.

Elodie smiled understandingly.

"That's right. That whole mountain is the field. It changes every few days. Sometimes it's a plain, sometimes a city. They say it's a combination of cutting-edge magic engineering and our magic professors' work, but I don't know the details."

Selena let out another awed breath as she looked at the field. That entire mountain belonged to Constel. They could turn it into open land or a city whenever they wanted.

With all that explaining, they arrived at the cafeteria before they knew it.

After getting their food and sitting down with their trays, Elodie cleared her throat into her fist, as though she had something to say.

"Ahem. By the way, Selena."

"Yes?"

"Um, you're the girl who came to school with Frondier today, right?"

Instead, it was Selena who asked in surprise,

"How do you know Lord Frondier?"

"... Lord Frondier?"

"I'm Lord Frondier's bodyguard. That's why I came here."

Selena said it as though it were nothing special.

"His bodyguard...?"

Elodie looked at Selena's face. In a single instant, her gaze swept over her silky hair, her clothes, and her figure.

"For a bodyguard, you're rather, uh, um..."

She couldn't bring herself to finish.

It wasn't something to say to a classmate she'd just met.

"So how do you know Lord Frondier?"

Elodie chuckled at Selena's question.

"There's no one at Constel who doesn't know Frondier's name. He's famous as 'Frondier the Human Sloth.'"

"... Oh."

Come to think of it, she'd forgotten. Frondier did have that nickname.

The Ten Thousand Capes had told her, but at some point she'd erased it from her mind. The reason was obvious.

Resting her chin on her hand, Elodie murmured,

"Well, really, Frondier isn't so bad that he deserves to be called the Human Sloth—"

"Absolutely not."

Selena's answer was emphatic. Elodie's eyes widened as she looked at her.

With an utterly unclouded expression, Selena declared,

"Lord Frondier is strong. All that 'Human Sloth' nonsense is nothing but a baseless rumor."

Indeed. Just how badly had she suffered after underestimating him because of that rumor? Selena still remembered kneeling before Frondier and trembling.

Elodie looked into Selena's eyes. There wasn't a trace of falsehood or deception in them.

She knew. Here was someone who knew how strong Frondier was. That realization made Elodie feel a certain tension.

"... You..."

Just as Elodie was about to say something—

"Huh?"

Selena made a sound at the sight of someone entering the cafeteria.

The most astonishing sight she'd seen at Constel today filled her vision.

"Th-th-th-that person is..."

"Hm? Oh."

Following Selena's gaze, Elodie spoke as though it were nothing.

"Yes, Aten Terst. An imperial princess."

Aten was truly white from head to toe.

Selena had never imagined she'd see Aten here after meeting her in Teibeon. All the more so because Selena had always stayed in the background as Frondier's bodyguard.

But there was something even more astonishing.

"Th-the princess is, right now, over there..."

"Yes, she is. I suppose it's surprising the first time you see it."

She was trailing after a young man. Both he and Aten moved naturally, seemingly quite accustomed by now to the distance between them and each other's strides.

"Aten always follows Frondier around. Nobody knows why."

"B-but, why, no, how...?"

"I told you, nobody knows why."

Elodie and the other students had seen it countless times by now and were used to it.

Since it was the first day of the second semester, it was a sight they'd missed, but not a surprising one.

"Wh-why would Her Highness Aten Terst, Third Imperial Princess of the Terst Empire, behave like that...?"

"Isn't that a bit long?"

"Even if you don't know why, surely you can make some guesses?"

Hmm.

Selena clearly couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't focus on her food at all.

Elodie searched her memory for a few plausible explanations.

"Well, this is just a rumor going around school, but Aten is famous for her kindness and compassion."

"Oh, yes. They say she's known for that even in the Imperial Palace..."

"So some people say she feels sorry for Frondier because he's an outcast and keeps him company."

In other words, she pitied Frondier.

In fact, opinion at Constel was so strongly in favor of the explanation Elodie had just given that it was treated as an established fact.

Regardless of the truth, it was the theory that put everyone most at ease. The prevailing view was that Aten's personality made it entirely plausible.

"Did Lord Frondier eat alone before that?"

"... Mm, yes."

Not just meals. He had done everything alone. Elodie averted her eyes, knowing she'd played a part in that herself.

"I don't think Lord Frondier would care about that."

"... You know Frondier quite well."

There was also the way she'd rejected the Human Sloth nickname earlier.

Elodie found herself wondering what side of Frondier Selena had seen.

"Oh, come to think of it, there's another theory."

"What is it?"

"That Frondier has something on Aten and is blackmailing her."

That was the theory Robald Rief, known as Constel's biggest troublemaker, had once believed.

He'd believed it enough to go after Frondier, so that theory had a fair number of supporters too.

"B-blackmail..."

"Ahaha, ridiculous, isn't it?"

"That might be possible..."

"Ah, what?"

Selena nodded, seriously considering it.

Elodie broke into a cold sweat.

'Does she actually know Frondier or not?'

While Elodie was suddenly thrown into confusion, Selena spoke.

"In any case, as long as Lord Frondier isn't deliberately keeping people away, I know what I have to do."

"Hm? What's that?"

In answer, Selena picked up her tray and stood.

"I'm Lord Frondier's bodyguard. Naturally, I should eat with him."

"... Huh?"

And with that, Selena strode toward Frondier and Aten without a moment's hesitation.

Elodie watched, dumbfounded.

* * *

Please don't come over.

Around the 137th time I'd shouted that in my head, Selena stood up.

Damn it. Had that not been enough times? Why hadn't she picked up my telepathy?

Selena walked over to us quite normally and sat beside me.

Aten was sitting across from me, so their eyes met.

"Oh, Selena. You've come to Constel? How remarkable to see you here too. We both went through quite a lot in Teibeon, didn't we?"

At Aten's words, Selena turned her perfectly serene face toward her like a robot. I could practically hear the grinding gears.

"H-h-h-h-hello, Your Highness Aten Terst, Third Imperial Princess of the Terst Empire."

"Too long."

If she was nervous, I wished she'd stop pretending to be calm. It was frightening to watch.

"I-I-I-I'm S-Selena, Lord Frondier's b-bodyguard."

"Yes, I know."

Since when had her name become S-Selena?

I sighed inwardly.

Well, there was no helping it. Having brought Selena to Constel, this was bound to happen eventually. That day had merely arrived a little early.

... Or so I thought.

"Hi, Aten! Oh, you're the one from Teibeon!"

"Ah, my name is Selena."

"Wow, nice to meet you! I'm Saibel Forte! What a surprise seeing you here! Are you going to Constel now?"

This time, Saibel had approached us while passing by. With an ease and friendliness Selena couldn't begin to match, she sat beside Aten.

That made four.

"Elodie! Why are you eating alone? Come eat with us!"

Spotting Elodie, Saibel waved her over. Of course she was alone. Selena had been sitting with her until just now.

Elodie heaved a sigh and sat beside Saibel.

That made five.

"Oh? Elodie, this is an unusual group. I had something to ask you about combining Mana."

Runia Frisel, the heroine of Etius, spoke when she spotted Elodie.

"If I'm the right person to ask, by all means."

With Elodie's permission, Runia sat across from her—in other words, beside Selena.

That made six.

"Aster! Over here! Let's eat here today."

"Hm? Well... sure."

Without giving it much thought, Aster sat beside Runia.

... Seven.

"Hey! Aster! I heard you've learned to use Aura! Trying to surpass me, are you?"

"Just eat when it's time to eat. Stop spouting nonsense."

Robald Rief, the 'troublemaker,' sat across from Aster.

"... Eight."

I muttered with a hand on my head. My eyes drifted shut before I knew it. Ah, everything had gone dark, so I'd closed my eyes, but it was still dark. Of course it was, idiot. Your eyes were closed.

Our lunch table, its numbers swelling in an instant, was brimming with life.

It felt as though all that life had been drained out of me.