No Other Way
I had no answer. I knew exile was a pretty decent solution, but if Claire had to mentally collapse for that to happen… it would be far too cruel. Above all, after leaving for exile, Claire would only be used like a machine that slaughtered the Empire’s citizens. No matter what, I couldn’t nod my head.
“…”
Claire didn’t ask any more. Instead, she simply stared at Heste walking toward us. There was no anxiety, no trembling. Her eyes had turned completely black.
“…Don’t come near Reyan.”
“I have something I absolutely must give him.”
Heste handed me a single key. A small keychain shaped like the medical ward swayed gently. The word duty room was visible on it.
“Reyan, there’s a duty room right next to Claire’s special room. If you’re thinking of staying by her side, please sleep there.”
When I reached out to take the key, Claire snatched my hand away.
“…Reyan is going to sleep with me. We don’t need it, Heste.”
She had been fragile, her fingers and skin delicate, but this was different. From the hand overflowing with black mana the same color as her darkened eyes, I felt a power stronger than anything I had ever sensed from anyone before. For a moment, the pain was so intense a groan slipped out.
“…Ah!”
Startled, Claire hurriedly let go. As if she hadn’t expected it herself.
“S-sorry.”
Heste looked at Claire, then turned her gaze back to me.
“…Reyan will need it. Because I’m sure he wants you to rest comfortably, Claire.”
With that, she placed the key on the stair railing, gave me a short bow, and left. Even in that brief motion, her refinement showed, but because her wet uniform blouse made her underwear visible underneath, she didn’t look purely refined. Rather, the sight only highlighted the pitiful state of the girl standing soaked in the rain, drenched in guilt.
“…I need to prepare for the subjugation training. See you tomorrow at the training grounds.”
We only started walking after Heste had disappeared from sight. Even as we climbed the stairs, walked down the hallway, and flung open the door to the director’s office, we didn’t exchange a single word. I had nothing to say even if I had two mouths, and Claire was probably troubled because I had lied to her.
When I laid Claire down on the bed, she turned her back on me carefully, like a sulking child watching their parents’ reaction.
“…Forget what I said earlier, Reyan.”
“What I said earlier…?”
“…The part about going into exile. I know too. That we can only leave for another country after you graduate from the academy and I become someone useful. Who would take in an Artifare?”
A short silence fell.
“…Instead, I’m going to try finding happiness inside the Empire. Because I’m happy when I’m with you, Reyan. I can do anything for you.”
“…Me too, Claire.”
“…Yeah. It’s getting late. Reyan, go sleep already. You must be tired.”
Since Claire had said we would sleep together, I thought she would ask me to stay again this time. But her back looked unusually small. The thought crossed my mind that if I walked out that door, she might cry alone.
“Want to sleep together?”
When I asked, Claire’s shoulders flinched. That small tremor soon turned into steady shaking, and soon rough breathing and faint sobs leaked out. Every time the clock ticked, Claire lost more control of her emotions.
In the end, she sat up. She still had her back turned, but I could see everything through the mirror on the wall.
“…Really. I-I really… you and Heste aren’t anything, right? That’s the truth, isn’t it, Reyan…?”
“Yeah.”
Was it because of the pouring rain? Or maybe the softly glowing lights? The atmosphere was so unbearably sad that I rose from the bed, sat beside her, and spoke.
“Heste must be crazy. The rain was pouring like that outside, but she stood there for a long time.”
“…Hee.”
Suddenly, Claire let out a small breath. When I glanced over, the corner of her mouth had faintly lifted.
“You’re probably the only one who would call the young lady of the Meliard ducal family something like that, Reyan.”
“So, you don’t like it?”
“…No. I like it.”
“Then, shall we sleep?”
The moment I said it, Claire’s face flushed bright red. She stared at me with dazed eyes, her cheeks completely flushed.
“…Y-you’re really going to sleep with me?”
“Why, you don’t want to?”
“…S-sleeping in the same bed, t-together?”
“You said you wanted to try sleeping with a friend.”
Claire’s mouth opened and closed before she finally looked away and spoke in a tiny voice.
“A-aren’t you embarrassed? S-sleeping together.”
“…Nope. Not embarrassed.”
“T-that’s… N-no. T-today I’ll sleep alone. You must be tired too, Reyan, so that would be better.”
“…Why? You said you wanted to sleep together last time.”
“I-it feels inappropriate. For now. I-I’m not ready yet… S-so. G-get out quickly!”
Claire pushed me away, then slammed the director’s office door shut with a bang. I couldn’t understand why she was acting like this—why she had been so sad and then suddenly got angry—but honestly I was tired, so I opened the door to the duty room, lay down immediately, and emptied my mind.
“Once the subjugation training is over, I’ll get paid…”
Where should I go with Claire? What should we eat? The fact that every thought before falling asleep was directed toward Claire was honestly surprising.
…The next day, we headed to the training grounds as promised.
Claire and I left the medical ward under the sharp glares of the people who had come to work, but even the commoners learning medicine and a few professors only looked at us without openly criticizing or insulting us. Seeing Heste’s name come up every time someone glanced our way, it seemed the director of the medical ward had given them a heads-up.
No sharp criticism, no insults, and no one stepping forward to pick a fight. The morning sunlight was dazzlingly warm.
Even Claire, who had spent every day staring at the ground or watching people’s moods, looked up at the sky. We hadn’t changed. The only thing that had changed was the person by our side. Sadly, the changed situation seemed to soothe the hearts that had suffered for so long.
So we slowly walked through the academy, a place we normally wouldn’t have dreamed of strolling through. Only today did we realize the flowers were in such full bloom and that blue blossoms had always been dancing in the breeze.
After looking around for a long time, we headed back toward the training grounds. As we drew closer, nobles gradually began to appear. The training grounds were located in the main building since commoners used them too, but it seemed the nobles’ gazes hadn’t changed yet.
“…That male whore, what the hell did you do to Lady Heste!”
Those who admired her often picked fights with me. Each time, Claire would check my expression, then step in front of me just like she had in the library.
“…Don’t touch Reyan. If you apologize, I won’t demand a duel.”
She protected me and demanded they apologize. Since most of them had seen Claire literally trample Gerox, they usually kept their mouths shut. The academy’s upperclassmen didn’t want to risk a duel with Claire and possibly lose points or ranking, and the new students like us couldn’t even think of fighting back in the first place.
That was how it was when we found Heste and entered the training grounds.
With her pure white hair fluttering, Heste stood surrounded by nobles and a few wealthy commoners. She covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed, politely exchanging refined noble conversation with the men who fawned over her for trivial reasons—Oh, is that so? What an interesting story.
Only then did I truly feel that she was the protagonist. The young lady of the Meliard ducal family, standing in direct opposition to Claire and loved by everyone, seemed to shine all on her own. Everyone liked her.
“…Ah, over here!”
Heste spotted us somehow and waved her hand widely. Since she usually carried herself with modest elegance, the training grounds’ gazes all snapped toward us, wondering who could make her greet someone so enthusiastically. The reactions were quite varied. Everyone recognized the commoner who stayed close to Claire, and the Artifare family’s red eyes would have been visible even from far away. Yet Heste didn’t seem to care at all as she ran over to us.
I glanced at Claire worriedly, but she was staring at Heste with tightly clenched fists. It looked closer to anger or wariness than pain.
“I’ve been waiting a long time, Reyan. There’s a private training ground further inside. Shall we go?”
We followed Heste to the private training ground. Square paving stones, practice wooden swords, and practice staves were laid out. Unlike the public training ground filled with noise from countless people tangled together for tests and drills, the private one was literally overflowing with luxury. I wondered if I was seeing things. Why were there jewels embedded in the handles of the wooden swords? The moment I saw the elegant carvings and decorative jewels lining the edges of the training ground, my mouth fell open. But what surprised me most was that the entire ceiling was made of glass. Even though we were inside a building, warm sunlight poured down.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Heste said, lightly waving a straight tree branch—no, a staff embedded with jewels. Since we had gathered to discuss the subjugation training, it was obviously time to check each other’s skills.
“Claire, are you okay? If it’s too hard, just tell me.”
When I asked while looking at her, she shook her head as if to say she was fine, looking quite admirable.
“First, we should check Reyan’s skills. A one-versus-many match wouldn’t mean much anyway.”
“You’re right.”
With that, I picked up a wooden sword and stepped onto the training ground. As far as I knew, Heste possessed talent on par with Claire. A duel against someone who was merely a ‘Stone’-rank adventurer like me would be something she could handle as easily as grabbing a snack.
“I’ll begin.”
Even though it was for subjugation training, monsters were dangerous. If I didn’t show my true ability, I might end up picking an overly strong monster and getting hurt, or I might choose a weak one and suffer a penalty to my grades. That couldn’t happen, so I intended to go all out from the start.
“Yes, please begin.”
The moment the duel started, I kicked off the ground and charged—then closed in and thrust the wooden sword at Heste. But.
“…Ah.”
Heste didn’t even react. Or rather, it looked like she deliberately chose not to. She simply stared at me as I drove the sword toward her. I didn’t know if she was intentionally letting me hit her or if her skills really were that lacking, but the wooden sword was heading straight for her face. If she actually got hurt, it would cause a huge problem.
I forced myself to let go of the sword in my hand. The wooden sword flew into the air, and unable to control my momentum, I wrapped my arms around her with all my strength to keep her from falling backward. Then I barely managed to twist my body and crash to the ground.
It was better for me to get hurt than to injure Heste.
“Reyan!”
Claire came running in a panic, and
“Th-thank you…”
Heste, still in my arms, thanked me.
“Reyan, are you okay!?”
The moment Claire approached, I quickly let go of Heste. My back throbbed quite a bit, but I thought reassuring Claire came first. Well, I also wanted to show her I was fine.
But Heste didn’t give me the chance to speak.
“C-Claire. I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
This time she couldn’t even say my name. Heste called Claire’s name and apologized again. Claire’s hand, which had been gripping the hem of my clothes until just now, fell limply away.
“…You did it on purpose.”
Claire no longer looked at me. With an unusually aggressive expression, she glared at Heste and shouted.
“…You could have dodged it! You’re not that weak!”
When Claire grabbed Heste’s hand, even though no black mana flickered and her eyes didn’t darken, a groan still escaped Heste’s lips.
“Ahh—!”
“Claire, what are you doing!”
When I stopped her, Claire released Heste’s hand, bit her lower lip, and walked out of the training ground.
“Heste. Let’s talk, just the two of us.”
For some reason, I couldn’t shake the thought that a smile had appeared on Heste’s lips when she glanced back at me.