Someone From the Same Home (1)
"No. Absolutely not."
Ethan's hand clamped around my arm before Gehmajoshigi-gwat had even finished saying that he wanted to speak with me alone, refusing the request outright.
…Figures. Of course it'd go like this.
The moment those words left the Hero's mouth, I had more or less predicted Ethan would react exactly this way, so I just kept my composure. I'd already decided I'd have to talk Ethan around first, which was why I hadn't bothered to rise from my seat along with Gehmajoshigi-gwat in the first place.
The single biggest reason Ethan disliked the Hero was, after all, the sheer number of women constantly orbiting around him.
Not only had Serista and Silena been glued to his side since before the entrance ceremony even started, but Princess Seraphin had shown enough favor toward him to grant even his most unreasonable requests.
And while I myself maintained nothing more than a comfortable friendship with the Hero in this world—no romantic feelings involved—by all rights, Nathalie and Agnes had been heroine candidates in the original story.
So it was only natural for Ethan to keep a wary eye on Gehmajoshigi-gwat whenever he came anywhere near me.
"You were suspicious the very moment you said you'd let us, and now you're finally showing your true colors."
"Huh? True colors? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Did you think I wouldn't notice that you have designs on my Lilith? I found it suspicious how you kept letting your gaze drift toward her in every magic-swordsmanship class, and now that an opportunity has presented itself, you mean to seize it, do you?"
"Ah—no, no, that was just because she looked so much healthier than she does in the original—"
-CLANG!
"Healthier?! You dare pass judgment on my Lilith with that filthy mouth of yours?!"
"Y-Young Master Ethan! Please, calm yourself!"
"No, no! That came out wrong! I'll apologize, so just breathe for a second, all right?!"
"Kyaaah! Y-You mustn't swing a sword indoors, my lord!!"
Ethan, who had misread the Hero's slip of the tongue as an appraisal of my looks, had flared up and reached for his sword—meaning we'd come within a hair's breadth of an impromptu sword fight breaking out in Serista's dormitory.
Gehmajoshigi-gwat was certainly at fault for phrasing things so badly, but Ethan was equally at fault for going straight for the blade the instant he misunderstood.
"I'm sorry. Those really weren't words spoken with any impure intent. The reason I kept looking over so often was simply that the relationship between you and Lilith, Blackwood, doesn't look like an ordinary master-and-servant one. I was a little curious about it, that's all."
"…You still haven't explained yourself on the matter of her looking 'healthier.'"
"That was just an impression I got from seeing how well the two of you get along, compared to the typical noble and his personal maid. Usually, a noble devoted enough to enroll his personal maid in the same academy as himself is that much more authoritarian—he tends to treat his servants however he pleases. But Miss Lilith never once looked like someone being put through that. That's the only reason 'she looks healthier' slipped out."
"…Then mind your phrasing from now on."
"Yeah. I'll be careful."
And so Gehmajoshigi-gwat smoothed over the momentary misunderstanding with a reasonably serviceable excuse.
If he could fabricate an alibi that seamless, the least he could do was watch his mouth on a regular basis.
Unlike me, it was apparently known to others here that he was a being from another world, but still—I firmly believed that information regarding the original game, Luminor Academy, should be kept sealed behind his teeth.
However different his circumstances were from mine, that level of thoughtlessness was going too far.
"Also, I can tell you're misunderstanding something, so let me clarify—I don't have any romantic interest in Miss Lilith."
"And why should I believe that? I seem to recall women never leaving your side since the day of the entrance ceremony. Am I mistaken, then?"
"You're not mistaken, Blackwood, but none of them were gathered with romance in mind. I was assembling people to hunt down the Demonfolk, and it just so happened that a lot of them were women."
"A rather thin excuse to call this a 'misunderstanding.'"
"What more do you want me to say when there genuinely is no impure intent? You know as well as I do, Ethan—proving you didn't do something is harder than doing it."
"……"
"Besides, wasn't this whole gathering convened to protect Lilith from Prince McHart in the first place? Fine—suspect me if you must, call it a misunderstanding. But Prince McHart has already attacked Lilith once. Shouldn't you be at least dealing with him before you start questioning me?"
"…That is…, hearing it out, a fair point."
Thanks to Gehmajoshigi-gwat's rather logical argument, Ethan quieted down.
It was fortunate that Gehmajoshigi-gwat could lay out an explanation that calmly when it came to it. Even if I had borrowed the exact same logic to persuade Ethan, hearing it from me and hearing it from the Hero would have landed in entirely different ways.
"That said, I don't see how any of that explains why you and Lilith need to speak alone. Dealing with Prince McHart and his Demonfolk connection is something you want just as much as I do."
"That's true, but I still need solid grounds."
"…Grounds?"
"Whether Miss Lilith actually investigated the connection between Prince McHart and the Demonfolk, or whether she's simply saying all this because she dislikes the man—as a collaborator, I'd like to know at least that much."
"…Are you suggesting Lilith might be lying right now?"
"It's merely a possibility. I don't particularly think she's lying, but I can't act rashly on one side's word alone either. Not until I've at least verified that the claim is true."
"……"
…Well. When it comes to anything involving me, Ethan has this odd tendency to put his feelings ahead of his reason.
As things stood, Gehmajoshigi-gwat's logic was airtight to anyone looking on.
Ethan, by contrast, came across as someone digging in his heels out of personal emotion—he simply couldn't press his own argument with any force.
"I'm not planning anything strange. The Hero's sacred sword carries the power to discern truth, you see. I merely intend to place it in Miss Lilith's hands and determine for myself whether her words are true."
"Then what is the point of going outside to talk, just the two of you?"
"If anyone else is nearby, our mana overlaps and a perfect reading becomes impossible. And I'm the only one who knows how to check for truth or falsehood in the first place. It's as simple as that, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't read anything into it, Blackwood."
"……"
Confronted with the revelation that the Hero possessed such an ability, Ethan had no rebuttal and quietly shut his mouth.
Going by Gehmajoshigi-gwat's reasoning, there was no way for Ethan to stop me and the Hero from stepping out to talk in private—which, evidently, left him thoroughly unsettled.
He really needn't worry himself half to death. I wasn't about to fall for the Hero or anything.
Seeing him fuss over me like that was, in its own way, rather nice—but I had no desire to watch him suffer over pointless worries.
"It won't take long. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes. If it would set your mind at ease, Blackwood, I'll promise you this: once this McHart affair is properly settled, I won't come near your Lilith again."
"…Do you mean that?"
"If we've decided to sail on the same boat, the least you could do is trust me a little."
"…Fine. But you will keep that ten minutes exactly. It should be more than enough time to judge the truth of Lilith's words."
"Thank you, Blackwood. Miss Lilith, would you step outside with me for a moment?"
"Of course, Hero Gehmajoshigi-gwat. …I'll be back shortly, Young Master Ethan."
"…Mm."
Having barely managed to talk Ethan around, I followed Gehmajoshigi-gwat out of Serista's dormitory, and the two of us made our way to the corner at the far end of an empty corridor.
Once we were a sufficient distance from Serista's room, Gehmajoshigi-gwat thrust the greatsword at his hip toward me, sheath and all.
"Miss Lilith, would you take this? For the truth-reading, you need to be the one holding the sword…"
"Truth, my ass. Where in the world does a sacred sword come with that function? You made that up on the spot as a cover story, didn't you?"
"…So it really was you who changed the variable. Haa. Somehow, I had a feeling it would be."
Seeing my attitude flip the instant we were alone, the Hero's expression eased into something like understanding at last.
And for my part, meeting a fellow countryman for the first time in nearly seven years, I finally felt the knot in my chest loosen.
From the looks of it, tracking me down hadn't been easy on his end either.
"At first, I thought Ethan must have transmigrated or regressed like us. No matter how I looked at him, he was nothing like the Ethan from Luminor Academy. I couldn't imagine what method anyone could've used to turn that kid into such a well-adjusted human being…"
"No time for chit-chat, so let's cut to the chase. Ethan's expecting you back within ten minutes, so just ask whatever you actually need to. That's the whole point of this setup, isn't it?"
"Ah—right. Still, hold the sword for now. The others might sneak a peek on their way past, for all we know."
With that, I took the sacred sword he offered. Just as he'd said—if I stood there empty-handed, it might well look as though we'd slipped out for a tryst.
"We're short on time, so let's alternate—one question, one answer. Anything else you absolutely need to pass along, figure it out yourself."
"Easy to deal with, huh. Talking to the people here is exhausting enough to kill me."
"Save the small talk. My turn first. How many times did you clear Luminor Academy in your past life?"
"I've never cleared it. Not even once."
"Really? Funny, for someone who's never cleared it, you kept Serista from dying AND managed to keep Silena with the party just fi—wait, hold on. What did you just say?!"
The moment I learned he was a fellow countryman and let my guard down, the sense of betrayal came rushing back in, and even I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
He's never cleared it a single time—yet he's made it all the way here, to the midpoint of Part 2, on a textbook-perfect route? That's even possible?
Who the hell is this guy…?
Whether he'd started lying through his teeth the moment we met, or whether those words had truly come out of his mouth, one thing was certain in short order: this man was anything but ordinary.