Summer (4)
Summer (4)
Thud.
Baek Ha-na collapsed onto the grass.
Not far away, Idni lay sprawled out as well.
Bwee-bee-beep—!!
An alert sounded from Claire's wrist.
"Maria."
"Y-yes...."
Maria, who had been trudging toward the collapsed Baek Ha-na, forced out a reply, her face drawn with exhaustion.
"Heal them, get them washed up, and bring them to the kitchen."
"...Yes."
Claire turned without hesitation and walked back into the manor.
Maria wiped the sweat dripping from her chin with her sleeve and sank down in front of Baek Ha-na. She poured out what little holy power she had left.
Twitch.
Baek Ha-na's finger moved, and soon her head trembled faintly as she turned it to the side.
"Pwah."
Clearing her airway, which had been smothered by the grass, Baek Ha-na muttered.
"Every single day during vacation...."
"Ha-na."
"...?"
Baek Ha-na shifted only her eyes to look up at Maria, who was sitting beside her.
"I think I'd rather just go pray at the temple."
"...Me too."
Idni, who had been lying a short distance away, rolled over and agreed with Maria's sentiment.
Four hours. They only had to endure four hours, no more, no less. Then they could spend a pleasant time in a cool, comfortable place. But after today's experience, they had absolutely no confidence they could last those four hours.
Baek Ha-na stumbled to her feet, looked each of her two friends in the eye, and shook her head.
"...Like she'd ever let us go."
"Ughh!!"
"This wasn't part of the plan...."
While the three girls were lamenting in the yard under the still-warm sunlight—
Rap! Rap!
Rap! Rap! Rap!
The sound of a window rattling came from beside them. All three naturally turned their heads and found a small, adorable Fairy perched on the windowsill.
**
"Professor."
Claire entered the study, an apron draped over her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"It seems the children will need a little more time before they come out."
"Then sit for a moment."
"...Excuse me?"
The unexpected suggestion made Claire's eyes widen slightly. I used a light touch of mana to draw a chair from the wall and set it beside me.
"Sit."
"...I-in that case."
Claire stepped closer with careful movements and settled softly into the provided chair.
"Claire."
"...Yes?"
She had been staring straight ahead stiffly, hands resting on her knees as if she'd committed a crime. She glanced over at me. I turned my head to meet her blue eyes.
"Your expression is poor."
"...."
Her blue irises wavered at my observation. She quickly moved a hand from her lap to cover her mouth.
"...I apologize."
"You're apologizing without reason again."
"Ah...."
Realizing her mistake, she hurried to explain, but I reached a hand toward her face.
"O-oh?!"
"Keep it like that until the four of them come out."
I gently lifted the corners of Claire's lips, then withdrew my hand. As soon as my fingers left, the corners of her mouth trembled as if they might drop at any moment.
"P-prof... fessor...?"
"If they drop, I'll extend the time. Little by little."
"Ngh...."
"Your eyes."
Claire, her lips quivering as she tried to lower her head, flinched, then turned her face back so I could see it properly.
'What an odd feeling.'
Now that I was free of Greed's influence, looking at that smile almost made me laugh. It felt similar to watching Baek Ha-na occasionally put on a stupid expression.
"Claire."
"Y-yes...."
Her face was gradually flushing red.
"If you wish it, I'll send the children back right now."
"...."
The blue eyes, which had been downcast, trembled once more before carefully rising to hold my face.
The reason for her dark expression.
It was because the Fairy, who had been attached to me all morning, had met new companions.
Maria and Idni.
Just as Claire cherished them and Baek Ha-na got along with them, those two could also see the Fairy. The moment the three exhausted girls spotted the Fairy, they sprang to their feet, and the manor erupted into noise once again.
The only reason it was quiet now was because the culprits were in the bathroom.
In short, Claire's expression had soured because she knew the Fairy would share its time with those two children, and her reluctance had shown on her face.
"...No."
After a long silence spent deliberating, she shook her head.
"I don't want to bind that child for my own selfishness...."
"Is that so."
"...Yes."
The blue eyes that had been on me were now looking at me squarely. The problem was that, unlike her earnest gaze, the corners of her lips were still awkwardly upturned and trembling.
Maybe that was why.
"...?"
The reflection of my mouth in Claire's eyes was tracing a faint, small arc.
I placed my hand on the crown of her head, over the rich emotional shifts she'd shown in such a short time.
"Prof-fessor—"
"There's no need to worry so much."
I stroked downward over her lustrous golden hair, which held the light seeping through the window.
"Parting is much further away than you think."
I drew my hand away through the soft strands.
"Claire."
"...."
Her face blooming bright red, she didn't react even when I called her name. Looking closely, her pupils were slightly unfocused.
"I'm not sure you heard me."
Waiting for her to come back to her senses, I picked up the pen I'd set aside.
**
Day three of vacation.
"Na-young. Wake up. You need to eat breakfast."
"Ngh, nngh...."
Lee Na-young, who had been asleep with the blanket pulled over her head, made a sound like an undead exposed to holy power as she poked her head out.
"Nnghhh...."
But the bright light made it impossible to even open her eyes properly. Groaning in greater distress, Lee Na-young tried to shove her head back under the covers—
"No."
"Uwaah...!!"
Ultimately, her blanket was confiscated by Baek Ha-na.
Baek Ha-na folded the blanket neatly and placed it beside the bed, then tucked the caterpillar-like, squirming Lee Na-young under her arm and headed into the bathroom. Shortly after, a slightly more refreshed Lee Na-young stumbled out.
Whooosh—!!
"Aahhh~"
"Lift your head."
"Nngh~"
Under Baek Ha-na's hands drying her hair, Lee Na-young let out a long yawn and asked.
"But why breakfast all of a sudden...?"
"Because no matter how I think about it, leaving you alone would be a disaster."
"I-I'm an adult, you know...."
"I know."
Lee Na-young's hair, now close to a bob, was quickly tidied up. Just as she finished changing into simple clothes, someone knocked on the dormitory door.
"She's at it again."
"Wh-what's at it...?"
"Here, here. This."
"Uwaah...!!"
On the way to the cafeteria.
Lee Na-young flailed her arms against Idni's fingers poking firmly at the skin beneath her eyes. The four of them chatted idly as they settled into a quiet corner of the cafeteria.
"Still twenty minutes left."
"Standing on the border between heaven and hell must feel like this, right?"
Baek Ha-na and Idni sighed softly, glancing at the clock on the cafeteria wall.
The previous evening. The appearance of a Fairy so cute and precious that it made them forget their exhaustion had sent not only Idni but even Maria into a frenzy, forgetting where they were. The result: they had been fooling around during the meal and knocked over a plate of food.
More precisely, an event had occurred where Baek Woo-jin had caught the falling plate. Naturally, the two had squeezed their eyes shut, expecting Claire's scolding to rain down—but their superior, who had been strangely distant since lunchtime, remained just as dazed and vacant through dinner.
Just as they were breathing sighs of relief, Baek Woo-jin's mouth opened.
-9:00 AM.
An arrival time at which they were permitted to set foot in the manor was established.
-7:00 PM.
A departure time, with penalties for any violation, was established.
The three were, of course, horrified. But since they couldn't pin the blame on anyone else, they had no choice but to spend their time regretting their own mistakes. Naturally, the Fairy made them forget about it soon enough.
"Lee Na-young."
"...Hm?"
Lee Na-young, who had been eating the ice cream Baek Ha-na brought her, looked up, blinking.
"Are you busy today too?"
"Huh? Oh, well, I guess you could say I'm busy...."
She had already scheduled lab work starting from lunchtime today, but since no one was forcing her, she could make time if she wanted to.
"So are you busy or not."
"...A-a little busy."
"Yeah?"
"But why...?"
At Lee Na-young's question, Idni answered while munching on a biscuit stick.
"Nah, Ha-na's place has this super-cute little thing. We thought seeing it might help chase away some of your fatigue."
"Na-young already saw it before either of you, you know."
"Wow... You saw that and kept your mouth shut? You're seriously tough. If it were me, my lips would've been itching like crazy."
"Heh, heheh...."
Lee Na-young laughed, scratching her cheek. Maria, sitting beside Idni, gently stroked Idni's back and whispered quietly.
"You know to watch your mouth, right?"
"...You think I'm that thoughtless of a bitch?"
Since Claire herself, the Executor, had given them a specific warning, Idni had no intention of blabbing about the Fairy anywhere.
"Um...."
While they were chatting lightly, waiting for 9 o'clock to arrive, Lee Na-young, who had been fidgeting with her fingers, spoke up.
"D-do you... by any chance... get a sparkly marble thing from that child?"
"This?"
Idni slipped her hand into her cleavage and pulled out a sphere tied to a thin thread.
"...Is that chest of yours a storage locker?"
"No, I just felt a little uneasy leaving it in my room. Seniors drop by sometimes."
Idni was about to push the softly glowing sphere back between her breasts—
"Th-that...!!"
Lee Na-young rose from her seat, her voice climbing.
"Ah, s-sor... sorry...."
But the moment three pairs of eyes turned toward her, she hunched her shoulders and quickly sat back down.
"No, it's not something to apologize for. What about it?"
"U-um, that... W-would you entrust it to me...?"
"Entrust it? What's that supposed to mean."
"Nngh, well, um...."
As Lee Na-young hesitated, chewing on her words, Idni's eyes began to narrow. But knowing Lee Na-young had always been timid by nature, Idni calmly waited for her to speak.
"Th-the truth is...."
And then came Lee Na-young's explanation.
"You're saying that sudden change back then was because of this?"
"...Yeah."
Lee Na-young, always worn down by exhaustion.
There had been a day when that same Lee Na-young had suddenly regained her vitality overnight.
At the time, she had laughed it off awkwardly and brushed past it, but now, for the sake of the goal she wanted to achieve, she needed to reveal the truth.
"So."
"...Yeah."
"You want to turn this into a potion?"
"...Yeah."
"Alright."
"...Huh?"
Lee Na-young, who had been mentally organizing the potion's manufacturing process to make it easier to explain—assuming she would be rejected outright—was thrown into confusion.
"What are you doing. You're not taking it?"
"N-no... I-it's... i-is it really... o-okay...?"
Idni nodded and held the sphere tied to the thread out in front of Lee Na-young.
"On one condition. You absolutely cannot fail."
"O-okay!! D-don't worry! I'm literally just going to dilute it in water and add some flavoring to it!!"
Lee Na-young nodded like a madwoman as she accepted the sphere.
"Thank you!! I'll have it finished in two days at the latest!!"
"Hey, wait—?!"
Apparently overjoyed, Lee Na-young abandoned her own tray and sprinted out of the cafeteria.
"Are you really okay with this?"
"With what."
"Turning it into a potion. From what you just heard, just eating it as-is seems like it would be better."
"Tsk, tsk."
At Maria's worried question, Idni wagged her index finger back and forth.
"Hey. Think about it. If you just eat it, you get a boost for a few days and that's it, right? But if she makes it into a potion and you only take it when you need it? I can train under the Executor until the end of vacation and still play energetically with that adorable little thing!!"
"...!!"
Maria's eyes went perfectly round with genuine surprise as she stared at Idni. At that reaction, Idni puffed out her chest a little further, wearing a satisfied smile.
Watching the two of them, Baek Ha-na reached for the ice cream sitting on Lee Na-young's abandoned tray and thought to herself.
'I hope it works out.'
Because if it didn't, Idni would not let Lee Na-young off easy.