The Bond (2)
"Come now, sit down and make yourself comfortable. What shall I pour you? Honey tea? Black tea? Or perhaps a sweet hot milk? Children's tastes these days change so terribly fast. It wasn't nearly this bad even ten years ago, you know. When everything whirls about like that, how is someone like me supposed to keep up? Well? Don't you think it's a bit much yourself?"
"Haha..."
I sat on a sofa in the principal's office at the top of the western tower. Before me, an elven woman muttered without pause, deliberating over which tea to serve me.
"I was out admiring the crownflowers in full bloom in the garden when your voices carried all the way over, so I came to see what the fuss was about. And I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I'll apologize in their place. One of our priests returned to their hometown last week, you see, so we're temporarily short-staffed."
"And Eloise wasn't always like that, but the poor girl has been rather on edge lately. Would you believe she broke up with the man she was seeing last week? A wandering eye, was it? I've lost count of how many times this has happened... She's certainly old enough by now, and yet she still has absolutely no eye for men. It's a real problem. A real problem indeed."
Eloise, I gathered, was the staff member from the Academic Affairs Office I had met earlier. The principal muttered to herself a while longer, then shook her head and returned to humming as she focused on steeping the tea.
Afternoon sunlight seeped through the westward windows, bathing the entire office in a gentle warmth. Peace hung thick in the air — yet I could not enjoy a shred of it.
This woman is especially troublesome to deal with. What on earth is this...
At a glance, the principal possessed the blooming looks of a spring maiden in the flower of her youth. That, however, was nothing more than wrapping. I could not afford to be taken in. There was not a soul in the present Empire older than this woman.
As though to testify to the long years she had lived, she held a great many titles. Principal of St. Clifford Academy. Seeker of the High Forest. Daughter of the archer who had served in the first Hero Party. Third seat among the Empire's Ten Strongest, as ranked by those who kept such lists. And still more besides.
She held no official peerage — she had steadfastly refused every offer — but that was simply because such things were unnecessary to her. The titles above alone already overflowed with prestige.
And according to the knowledge I possessed, one more line would be added to that list in the near future. The title of Ally of the Hero Party.
Which also meant she was a major character from the original story — someone I had very much not wanted to get involved with.
Unlike me, who was watching for any chance to bolt, the principal was still in thoroughly high spirits.
"I can't even remember the last time a student came to visit the principal's office. Everyone else takes one look at me and starts trembling. A student who actually meets my eyes and greets me? It's been so long. I've always believed I treat the children with genuine sincerity, but perhaps I've been making some mistake? After all, they might feel something quite different from their side. What do you think?"
"Haha..."
I offered a vague laugh and let the question slide past. Meet her eyes? When did I ever do that? And I didn't come here — you dragged me here by force.
One might mistake her for nothing more than a bright, artless personality, but something entirely different lay hidden beneath that exterior. She had not held the principal's seat of this academy for over a hundred years by accident. Who in this nation could possibly contend with the deep cunning accumulated over such a vast span of years?
And it was not merely cunning. She possessed a formidable innate ability to back it up: the Judgment Eye.
This isn't going to work. I was half-forcibly dragged here after she caught me, but if I slip up even once while talking to this woman, every last card I have might be laid bare. Forget the paperwork — I need to get out of this seat.
"Ah, Principal, pardon me, but I have an urgent—"
"Oh dear, look at me. A student visits for the first time in ages and I got so excited I talked only about myself. Right, you needed the dormitory withdrawal documents, didn't you? Simple paperwork can be handled from this office as well, so I'll help you with it. Let's see, the name is Edwin... Edwin Reed...? Oh my..."
Just as I was about to flee on a convenient excuse, the principal seemed to remember the original business at last. She clapped her hands together and read the name off the nametag attached to my uniform jacket.
"Edwin Reed... Edwin Reed..."
The principal's expression had shifted into something strangely subtle upon seeing my name.
I've got a bad feeling about this... Wait.
As principal, she would receive regular reports on major incidents within the academy. The disciplinary action I had received had been a severe one by academy standards, so of course the details might have reached her. If that were the case, the report would naturally have included information about the parties involved, and she might still remember my name. That would explain this peculiar reaction.
This was a principal who cherished every student of the academy, regardless of status. If she confirmed that the ringleader of those incidents and the person sitting before her were one and the same, I had no idea how she would respond...
Unlucky. This is far too unlucky. I never should have been dragged here in the first place... Why did the principal have to be out looking at flowers at that exact moment...
"Hmm... Edwin Reed... Class D..."
While I was burning up inside, the principal leisurely murmured my name as she searched for the documents, and before long she seemed to have found what she was looking for. As she flipped through my file, her expression began to change by the moment.
"Hmm... I see..."
She continued turning pages, then paused. Suddenly she began looking back and forth between the documents and me. From the feel of it, she was comparing the portrait in my student records with my actual face. She seemed to be experiencing the same confusion the Academic Affairs clerk had gone through earlier.
After staring back and forth for a long while, she abruptly sank down onto the office sofa and addressed me.
"Our student — Edwin, was it? Shall we have a little talk?"
The principal's voice seemed to suddenly grow heavier, and a bone-chilling gaze pressed in from directly ahead.
This is... she's unfolding her innate ability on me?
A piercing gaze unfurled, peering into color, deceit, and the soul itself.
⟨ Judgment Eye ⟩
No.
Confirming that the portrait in the student records and I were the same person was something I wanted as well, of course — but nothing beyond that. I closed my eyes to evade her gaze, desperately praying that she would not be able to see through to my most secret parts.
A moment later, I felt that chilling gaze vanish. I carefully opened my eyes and looked at the principal before me. She was tilting her head with a puzzled expression, as if something were not quite working.
"Is it off today as well...? No, that can't be..."
"Good grief. So this is what it means to have grown old. Even I am helpless before the years, it seems. But I'm certain..."
"Um... Principal...?"
"Ah— ah?"
When I spoke up, the principal finally came back to her senses and returned to the real world. She cleared her throat, composed her expression, and looked back at me.
But the kind, dignified manner from our first meeting had vanished somewhere, replaced by a look that was businesslike and distinctly cold.
"...Well. You are indeed the same person, that much is certain. I am curious what could have happened in two months to change a person this much, but that is a student's private matter, so I ought not to pry. It isn't as though you used any illicit sorcery, after all. I shall put in a word with Academic Affairs, so go and have your portrait replaced when you have the time. Unless you enjoy this sort of nuisance repeating itself."
"...I will keep that in mind. Then I shall take my leave—"
She stopped me as I tried to read the room and quietly stand. Judging by her expression and tone, it felt as though she was about to pour out a full sermon...
"...Yes, Edwin. According to your student records, your return to the academy is in two days. Well? Have you done some reflecting in the meantime?"
"...Reflecting, you say?"
"You are asking the obvious. I am asking, of course, whether you have reflected on what you did to your fellow students. I said it clearly at the entrance ceremony. The moment you enroll in the academy, the distinctions of your former status cease to mean anything. And this is not merely my own will — it is a matter protected by the solemn law of the nation."
"That being so, is it truly right for a mere student such as yourself to dare disregard all of that, and oppress your fellow students for no better reason than that they did not please you personally? Edwin Reed. I would like you to answer my question."
It seemed the principal had no intention of letting me go easily.