Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: For Tomorrow☆ (2)
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An afternoon on a summer day, with the sun beating down as relentlessly as ever.
Unlike Eir or Maya, who often came to visit, the guest who arrived at Central Prism Academy this time was an elegant young lady.
"My name is Erda. I work for the United Student Council."
Erda, the secretary of the United Student Council.
The elf girl, with her striking lemon-colored straight hair, was wearing a long-sleeved uniform even in the middle of summer. The fact that she wasn't sweating a single drop was terrifying.
Her personality was rigid in the game, but seeing her in person was incredibly intimidating. She exuded the aura of a flawless young lady.
"..."
'The kids from the agriculture department and Anna, The Verdant Greatbow, are so easygoing, but the ones from the theology department are the real stereotypical elf ladies.'
An elf maiden straight out of a painting.
She was drinking the cheap tea we had served her.
'Sorry. You're probably used to drinking only the best at Central, but this is all a broke school like ours has.'
However, Erda didn't seem to mind.
"..."
*Swish—*
With slender white fingers, she gently turned the teacup, her index finger and thumb touching. She then steadied it lightly with her middle finger before quietly bringing it to her lips to drink.
Complete silence.
Hearing only that,
It seemed as if she were just pretending to sip…
But if you looked closely, you could see the subtle movements of her cheek and neck muscles.
"..."
Even setting the teacup down was done in complete silence.
She had clearly taken a sip of black tea, yet her pink lips remained perfectly straight and unblemished, without a trace of moisture. Her slightly lowered, lemon-colored eyebrows remained perfectly steady, maintaining her composure.
'She drinks so quietly... Is she... not displeased?'
I couldn't tell.
Even Hilde, who others called stoic, revealed her mood through the arch of her eyebrows and the pitch of her voice. But this girl made absolutely no sound, gave no sign at all.
'I'd rather deal with someone like Eir or Freyja, who might be pushy but are at least clear about what they want...'
This kind of business-like demeanor was a rare type in the straightforward Academy City. The PTSD from high-pressure interviews in my past life was starting to creep back.
*Clink—*
A guest had arrived, and she was simply drinking the tea we offered. But for some reason, the strange pressure in the room made us all hesitate.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
It was chilling.
She was a guest who had brought news from the United Student Council, but…
'I want to start talking, but will she think I'm being dismissive if I get straight to the point?'
We were so crushed by the noble aura she radiated that we could barely lift our own teacups.
"Aah?!"
In the end, Kara, who usually chugged tea from her cup like a beer mug, dropped hers.
*Crash.*
The cheap teacup shattered into pieces on the quiet student council room floor.
Kara scratched the back of her head sheepishly and quickly stood up to get a broom.
"Ah...! S-Sorry!"
"..."
Seeing this, Erda set down her teacup. She folded her hands while still seated and quietly opened her mouth.
"...It seems I have arrived like an unseasonable wind and disturbed the peace within your hearts."
"What...? N-No! That's not it! It's just that we...!"
Alvitt waved her hands frantically in protest, but Erda nodded as if she understood and said.
"I had hoped you would regard me as a passing leaf, but I failed to consider that a leaf falling in a summer wind is an ill omen."
"W-Well..."
Hmm.
I couldn't quite grasp the sentence itself.
But I could feel the *something* in the *feeling* beyond it.
'Maiden's heart, catch her true meaning...!'
I understood her meaning not with my head,
but with my maiden's heart.
[Interpretation: Sorry for showing up out of the blue. Don't worry about it. I just came to tell you something, not to bother you.]
"...!"
I peeked into Erda's teacup.
'And she drank all the tea we served her... even though it probably wasn't to her taste.'
Except for a tiny droplet left where her lips had touched, it was completely empty. She had only started speaking after finishing the tea we'd given her.
'Did she drink it all because she didn't want to embarrass us in our obviously poor state?'
Hmm... I suddenly felt sorry.
Seeing the consideration hidden beneath her somewhat cold exterior, the sense of inner familiarity I had felt from the game began to bubble up again.
'In times like these, I should break the ice, right?'
Next to a flustered, stammering Alvitt, I spoke to Erda with feigned cheerfulness.
"Ooh-hoo-hoo—☆ My, my—☆ I'm so sorry—☆ A lady far more elegant than I'd heard came to visit, and I was just so surprised♪ Well, not cuter than me, the cutest girl in the Academy City, of course~☆"
"A beautiful flower does not overlap with others; it holds its head high to receive the sunlight alone. That is why it is so difficult to tend to, so that no shadows are cast... It must even be mindful of the leaves that rustle past in the wind."
Once again, my maiden's heart fluttered,
and quickly interpreted the hidden *something* in her *feeling*.
It was like a rainbow passing before my eyes.
*Begin deep learning, my maiden's heart.*
*Thump-thump—☆*
*Thump-thump—☆*
[Interpretation: I acknowledge you're confident in your looks, but don't make direct comparisons in front of a guest.]
'I can hear it...! I can hear the way a lady speaks...!'
It felt like an AI powered by a Pretty Filter was whispering in my ear.
Normally, this kind of roundabout talk would have gone in one ear and out the other. But strangely, Erda's intention came through clearly.
Come to think of it, in the original story, Clara would sometimes quickly read the inner thoughts of characters who were misunderstood for their cold attitudes…
Did she figure it out something like this?
'Or is it because I already know her speech patterns from the game...?'
In any case.
It wasn't a bad thing.
Now I could move on to the art of charming conversation to dissolve that inner distance.
"..."
I looked at Erda as I prepared my next line.
"..."
Erda's face remained composed. But I could tell she was inwardly displeased with me for openly commenting on her appearance in front of a guest.
*Rustle—*
She brushed back her hair with a dissatisfied gesture.
And beneath the neatly arranged lemon-colored hair was skin that shone like glass... As expected, whether they're dark or light, elves have an insane appearance buff.
'A direct compliment won't work... I'll have to twist it a little.'
With that in mind.
I delivered my masterstroke of a charming line to lift Erda's spirits.
"Mhm♪ I see~☆ Sorry, sorry~ You said to think of you as a leaf, so I thought Erda was already a flower tree, way~ up high~♪ So could you please look kindly upon this little flower trying its best down below—☆"
"..."
"If the flowers don't hold their heads up high, they can't even talk to the tree~☆ So please, Miss Tree, make yourself comfortable too—♪"
"..."
I am a flower.
You are a tree.
Putting aside all the hidden meanings and nuances, there was no better line to instantly capture the hearts of the fair-skinned elves.
I flipped her self-description of a 'leaf' to respectfully call her a 'tree,' while also slipping in the message that her stiff attitude was making us tense.
'Is this... the art of speech that a maiden's heart can produce...?'
My chest swelled with pride.
The Pretty Filter had finally evolved into a deep learning AI.
"..."
"..."
As expected, Erda looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.
Then her hand rose quietly.
She perfectly covered her elegant jawline and closed her eyes.
A faint laugh escaped from her.
"...Pfft."
"...!"
"Honestly, I thought you were being rude. Hehe... This, I did not expect."
Charm successful.
A line like that always has more impact when you throw in a little drift.
As Erda's shoulders trembled slightly with laughter,
the uncomfortable atmosphere instantly dissipated.
Once the conversation started flowing.
We laughed, maintaining the pleasant mood.
"Ahaha...♪"
"Hehe..."
I could feel Alvitt and the other underclassmen staring at me with wide eyes.
'Hmph... What's with that? It's just us...'
Have I not always relied on my masterful intellect to succeed, rather than brute force?
'This is the art of a lady's conversation.'
I received their gazes with confidence and puffed out my chest as much as I could. Of course, my shoulders were shrugged in a 'what can I say' manner.
*Shrug, shrug.*
'Take note, my juniors...! The answer is to catch the *feeling* inside the *something*...!'
*
"...And so, we would like to invite you as members to the 'United Conference' to be held in a few days. This is a rather unusual occurrence, so please forgive us for the suddenness of this notice."
*Swoosh—*
The invitation Erda held out was for the 'United Conference' in a week's time... a summons for the representatives of the schools belonging to Academy City Yggd.
One representative from each school.
But unusually, Central Prism Academy had the names of two students written on it.
[Central Prism Academy Representatives: Student Council President Alvitt, Clara.]
"...?"
Alvitt took it, tilted her head, and looked back and forth between me and Erda. Then, she carefully opened her mouth.
"Um... Of course, I understand why Clara, a Unique Aether user, would be participating... but won't her participation in this different capacity cause opposition from the other schools? Wouldn't it be better if the other schools also chose a second representative to bring along..."
"Ah, you need not worry about that. While it is true that Clara is The Pink Spiral, she has been invited for a different purpose this time... I believe everyone will understand once they hear the reason."
Alvitt and I couldn't help but ask at the same time.
"A different purpose?"
"A different purpose, you say...☆"
Erda took another envelope from a separate bag she was carrying and pulled out a letter.
*Flutter—*
It was a very ordinary piece of stationery.
But... for some reason, I felt an inexplicable murderous aura radiating from it. At the same time, I felt a tingling sensation on the nape of my neck and my stomach, where Hilde had touched me.
Feeling an unknown sense of dread, I stared intently at the letter.
'What is this...? It's like the feeling you get right before a surprise gross-out pic gets dropped in a group chat...'
Erda began to read the letter in a voice as refreshing as a summer breeze.
"...Before the United Conference begins, there is a fact I wish to convey to everyone in the Academy City. The world is fundamentally composed of two types of energy, and the balance of all things is always stabilized by a two-sided weight. The relationships between people are surely the same."
"...No way."
"I, Brynhildr, representative of the United Student Council and concurrently the Student Council President of Aesir Girls' High School, have deeply explored this principle of the world. At last, as a single student, I have succeeded in finding my own answer to this question. Therefore, to our esteemed guests attending this conference..."
I couldn't listen anymore. I threw myself face down on the student council room sofa and covered my ears.
"Waaahhhh—☆ Ababababa—☆ Arololololo~!! I can't hear you♪ Can't hear you~ Waaaaahhh—☆"
"...I would like to announce my romantic relationship with the student of Central Prism Academy, Clara. As a student, and also as a woman, I, along with the aforementioned individual..."
"Aaaahhhhhh—☆ Alalalelele~☆ Orolololo—!! [Red Flower Dazzling]~! [Blue Sweet Macaron]~! [Pink Lemon Sherbet]~!!"
"...Therefore, I earnestly request words of congratulations from all of you in attendance."
"..."
...
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...That is all."
...
Hello, Clara. I've liked you since the moment I first saw you. I wanted to confess before summer break, but like a fool, I didn't have the courage back then...
...
"..."
"..."
"..."
I leaped out of the student council room window.
"Waaaaaaaaah—☆"
*Crash—☆*
"Senior!!"
"Comrade Senior!!"
"Senior, come back—!!"
"Oh dear..."
Even as I fell to the first floor,
I could faintly hear them whispering behind me.
"...Now who's going to go with her?"
"..."
"..."
Ah.
I want to die.
Ratatoskr, if I find you, you're dead.