Rivalry Meets the Witch
“Lucian Theodore von Deodore. Right?”
“…Yes. Well, I am that Lucian, but…”
“Nox Babayaga. Third-year, your senior.”
Nox-senpai suddenly extended her hand toward me.
I stared at the woman in front of me for a moment, then realized she was still holding it out. I hurriedly clasped her hand and shook it.
Thanks to that, I got a detailed look at Nox-senpai, the youngest member of the Magic Tower.
Thick ash-gray hair, a gloomy expression, and eyes so deep I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. The dark circles beneath them only made the “Witch” nickname fit perfectly.
She had approached so stealthily that even Rie hadn’t noticed for a second.
Rie, who might soon claim the Sword Master title.
A strangely odd senior, as strange as her looks and aura.
“I came all the way to this noisy place. The reason? To meet you.”
“Me?”
Nox-senpai nodded. Rie, standing beside her, suddenly stepped forward.
If my eyes hadn’t deceived me, there had been a storm of vigilance on Rie’s face just moments ago.
To avoid misunderstandings, it was better to speak calmly and send her away.
“You came all the way here to the face-to-face meeting just to meet me. Does that mean you have business with me?”
“Yeah.”
Nox-senpai said that and immediately started rummaging through her clothes.
The spot she chose wasn’t her pants pocket but somewhere around her chest.
It looked like she was checking the inner pocket of her outer garment, but the shape was off.
Thanks to that, Rie’s vigilance sharpened even more and she blocked my front completely.
“…?”
Nox-senpai finally noticed Rie’s reaction and looked at her with hazy eyes.
They could look sleepy or, alternatively, dismissive.
At this point, a woman whose true identity was impossible to guess was standing right there.
Rie stared at her for a moment, then took her hand out of her chest and slowly opened her mouth.
“You too?”
“Yes?”
“You too, huh.”
Nox-senpai kept repeating “you too” after forgetting the explanations in front and behind.
I had no idea what this senior was trying to say, so I just watched.
Since she stood directly in front of me, Rie couldn’t see her expression properly and spoke in a deeply depressed voice.
“Go away.”
“That’s unfair. Me too. Give me a chance too.”
“I told you to go away, Nox-senpai.”
…Wait. Something feels off right now.
I instinctively realized the situation was full of misunderstandings while listening to the conversation.
First, Rie was reacting sensitively to Nox-senpai’s “you too?”
No matter what Nox-senpai meant, it was enough for Rie to hear “Did you confess to Lucian? Then I’ll do it too.”
Of course, if she thought about it rationally, she would realize it was impossible, but…
Unfortunately, our witch, Nox-senpai, didn’t give Rie any time to realize her mistake and kept saying her piece.
Before something strange came out, I felt the need to sort things out. I grabbed Rie’s hand and pulled her slightly to my side.
Thanks to that, Rie, who had been about to shoot something at Nox-senpai, got flustered and closed her mouth.
In the meantime, I continued the conversation with Nox-senpai to avoid misunderstandings.
“What opportunity are you talking about? Please tell me first, senpai.”
“Egmass professor.”
“Eh?”
“The magic formula you showed that man.”
“Ah.”
“…Eh?”
“That one too. Give it to me. Give me a chance too.”
Yes, if we did the conversation like this, we wouldn’t have unnecessary misunderstandings, right?
Just saying “you too” or “give me a chance too” would be enough for Rie to misunderstand.
Otherwise, with a crazy guy barging in during the most important moment of her life and proposing engagement, Rie’s mood would be very uncomfortable.
Rie also noticed she had misunderstood and did a “huh!” followed by clearing her throat, as if asking when she had shown such sharp momentum. She came back to my side.
While we were holding hands, I felt strength in her grip, so my face felt a bit warm.
If anyone felt uncomfortable, they could just let go of the hand they were holding, but…
I didn’t let go of the hand I was holding with Rie either.
“Here.”
In the meantime, Nox-senpai rummaged around her chest and handed me a fairly wide sheet of paper.
She had been rummaging to take that out. Thinking Rie would see it as just a suspicious movement, I was glad I had stepped in.
“It’s okay if I take it, right?”
“It won’t be difficult.”
Egmass professor had simply thrown the magic formula at me as if to eat it.
If you listened to the lecture, it was just doing exactly what matched his level.
It wasn’t guiding others who were a little lacking than himself to the path of learning.
It was just showing off his superiority by standing on the podium and rattling off what he knew.
Because of that level, there was no thought or desire to develop further.
If I gave a difficult problem, wouldn’t he just struggle and then explode?
But if it was Nox-senpai, a practitioner called the Witch.
Especially, a third-year magic genius with the qualification of the youngest Magic Tower member.
It would take a little time, but she could solve it without any major difficulty.
As Nox-senpai wanted, I wrote the exact same formula that Egmass professor had heavily eaten that day on the paper she handed me.
Originally, I would have had to let go of the hand holding Rie to support the paper, but thanks to Rie quickly catching the paper with her own hand, I didn’t have to.
After a moment, the formula was finally written on the paper.
I handed it to Nox-senpai, and she snatched it and started staring at it intently.
The hazy gaze from before disappeared, and an intense gaze that seemed like laser beams would shoot out from her eyes immediately was pouring out.
How intently she was staring, perhaps making a hole in the paper with just her gaze.
Or maybe doing an experiment to burn it, I thought stupidly.
“Hmm.”
Finally, after checking everything, Nox-senpai’s eyes returned to the hazy look from before.
Then, she lifted the paper a little and said while waving it.
“Can I take this?”
“Of course. But only for personal use. If it spreads everywhere, it’ll be troublesome.”
“That goes without saying. Why show this precious thing to others.”
Nox-senpai said that and rolled up the paper and pushed it back into her chest area.
Then, like an agent who completed her mission, she lowered her head and immediately left the grand hall.
No greetings like “goodbye” or “thank you.”
“…She left.”
“…She did.”
We said that and looked at the hands we were still holding each other.
Without anyone saying first, the two hands we were holding very tightly, perhaps to not let go.
I was a bit worried that if Rie screamed and pushed me away right now.
This side is a place where students’ eyes don’t reach well, but the world has “if” in it.
The son of the Deodore family and the daughter of the Haniel family are enjoying romance!
It was obvious how pleasant this gossip would be.
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence passed and touched Rie.
We had exchanged first kisses, gotten close enough for each other’s breaths to mingle and done some lewd things.
We had confessed that we liked each other before, and now we liked each other.
When I thought about that far, I strongly wanted to do a little more even if someone caught us now.
Was this the freshness of first love?
I hadn’t felt this thick and warm in my previous life either.
Was this really love, or just an extension of light affection?
I had thought that things everyone was busy living and hard, so they were just passing emotions.
I had first realized that these parts were so beautiful, warm, and soft.
“Lucian.”
The blonde celestial being standing beside me called me.
When I turned my head to look at her, that celestial being was looking at me with a slightly worried look in her eyes.
“Just in case, but…”
“Yeah.”
“Are you not liking any other woman besides me? Or maybe planning to like her later.”
Liking another woman. Or planning to like her later.
In that part, I could answer that I wasn’t as bold as now.
There was a woman I admired. Honestly, I couldn’t say she was a woman.
Anyway, until Rie came to me like this, there was no one I liked as an opposite sex.
Later, maybe not, maybe it could happen.
But because of the strong influence from my previous life, I thought that one man and several women was a sin.
Love is like a mutually agreed contract.
If one side loves, the other side must show love in return.
If that is not kept, it can’t be called love anymore.
It was said that even while living together for a lifetime, it’s hard to take care of people.
Wouldn’t it be difficult to take care of everyone else and keep that contract?
“There isn’t. And there won’t be in the future. There’s no way I’d look at someone else while you’re here.”
“…People’s hearts are unpredictable, you know.”
“I said I’d like you. I’m too busy to focus on that to have time to care about others or want to.”
Not just words, but the maximum sincerity I can show to the one who came to me first.
If you’re anxious, I want to tell you it’s not necessary, to give you confidence.
While holding Rie’s hand I’m holding even tighter, I said that.
“…No more words about other things later.”
“Okay. If I say anything else later, hit me on the head with your fist again.”
“I won’t do that at all. It’ll be a big problem.”
Seeing her shake her head, it seemed the shock from earlier was huge.
After all, if I almost broke the head of the person I had a one-sided crush on, that alone would be enough to make it an unforgettable memory.
I told her several times that it’s okay, patted and touched the small hand I was holding several times, and comforted her who was startled, saying it was a little painful.
After soothing the celestial being for a while, this time I was the one to ask a question.
“Rie. Can I ask one thing?”
“Yeah.”
“That crazy guy… I mean, Forbes-senpai. He was definitely going to pick a fight with me again, right?”
“The word choice is a bit bothersome, but… yes. Because his personality is like that.”
“Typical strong-weak-strong.”
“Strong-weak-strong?”
“A person who is weak to strong people and strong to weak people. In short, a person is really not good.”
When I said that, Rie looked around.
As if someone else listening and telling Forbes would be quite troublesome.
But eventually, Rie nodded as if she acknowledged that part too.
“Why is there a story about getting engaged to such a guy or not.”
“I said I don’t know exactly.”
“Do you want to know the reason?”
“Yeah?”
“If you want to know, I can investigate.”
Then Rie asked if it was possible.
Her father didn’t mention the details, and moreover, the King was strangely connected, so it would be hard to dig deep.
If the royal family is involved, even a great noble family would have a burden. But…
“I’m not that kind of person.”
Magic and swordsmanship are not the entirety of “power.”