A Glass of Water for the Teacher
The long-awaited end of vacation had finally arrived. The students, who had rested and played to their hearts' content, all wore satisfied expressions as they welcomed the new semester… Or at least, they should have. There was no way that was true.
"Haa..."
"...My head hurts more than usual today."
"I wish we could've had just one more week off..."
No matter how much rest they had gotten, it was only human to want even more. The students at the Academy were no different, so it was only natural that they were suffering… In that regard, Hestia and Arie were truly remarkable. Their expressions, and even their behavior, showed no difference from usual at all. When you considered that they had probably worked nonstop even during the break, it became even more impressive.
Hestia had taken on mercenary jobs, while Arie had been busy handling the backlog of work from the Holy Kingdom. Perhaps, for them, attending classes at the Academy actually felt like a form of rest…?
While I was lost in such trivial thoughts, the professor who had entered at some point was already calling roll. Though he didn't show it on the surface, if you looked closely, the professor seemed to be in just as bad a mood as the students… No, actually, he looked far worse. Well, the professors had probably been tormented by the headmaster even during the break… Whatever. Since it was their own fault, I didn't feel particularly sorry for them.
That aside, where was Yulia? After what happened the other day, I hadn't been able to meet her separately, so I couldn't ask why she had come looking for me that day. Since we were in the same class anyway, I had planned to meet her on the first day of the new semester and talk then… I scanned the classroom, searching for her figure.
But for some reason, I could only see Arie today. Yulia's figure was nowhere to be found. Now that I thought about it, the last few times Arie and Yulia had come to see me, they had each come separately. I hadn't paid much attention to it before, but for two people who were so close to have come separately three times now, including today, was definitely strange.
Could they have fought…?
Harboring that question in my mind, I stared intently at Arie, who was listening to the professor's lecture. It looked like I'd have to ask her directly.
After blankly wasting time that meant nothing, the day's classes had somehow all ended. Seeing everyone busily coming and going from the first day of the new semester, I got the feeling that the Academy was finally regaining its vitality. It finally felt like people were actually living here…
After entering the new semester, I had switched a few classes, which left me with quite a bit of free time. Thanks to that, I had plenty of time to talk with Arie. I secretly approached her from behind and whispered softly.
"Boss. Do you happen to have some time?"
"...Hehe, is this a date request?"
"Stop talking nonsense and follow me."
"......My assistant seems to be getting more and more rude as time goes on."
Avoiding the eyes of others, I led her to a park bench. I had once sat Sabina here when she wasn't feeling well…
Recognition. The barrier spread across the area is like a mirror…
Perception. The presence of the barrier becomes extremely faint.
"Hmm…?"
"Is there some problem, Boss?"
"...Hehe, it must have been my imagination."
It was a power I had lightly set up in case anyone approached… Fortunately, I had succeeded in deceiving Arie again without her noticing. As expected, my power was still in top shape!
While I was lost in those thoughts, Arie, who was sitting on the bench, smiled with her eyes and asked me.
"So, Assistant. What is your business? I don't recall you ever calling me out directly like this before…"
"It's not really that important… But I thought it wasn't something good for others to hear, so I brought you all the way here."
Arie slowly nodded her head as if telling me to continue. So I carefully brought up the topic of Yulia.
"...Has something happened to Miss Yulia by any chance?"
"......"
"It's just… The person who always used to say, as if it were a habit, that she had to stay right by the Saintess's side suddenly disappeared, so I thought it was strange…"
I trailed off at the end, creating an atmosphere that suggested even I wasn't entirely confident in what I was saying. This way, even if I ended up jumping to the wrong conclusion later, it would be less embarrassing. I was inwardly proud of my perfect plan when Arie's gaze turned toward me. And at her following reaction, I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
"...Assistant..."
"......?"
A faint trace of sorrow lingered in the corners of Arie's eyes.
"Yulia… She's very sick, apparently…"
"Y-yes?"
Her gloomy appearance didn't look like an act at all… It was a sight I had never seen before, so unfamiliar that I could only stammer, unable to respond properly. Even as I did so, Arie kept her head bowed low and continued speaking.
"She hadn't looked well for a while, and in the end, she returned to the Holy Kingdom two days ago."
"Two days ago…?"
Two days ago would be the day right after Yulia suddenly came to see me. When I met her that day, she hadn't looked unwell at all. In fact, she seemed no different from usual… But she suddenly got sick and returned to the Holy Kingdom? From what Arie said about her not looking well for a while, it seemed she had been sick even before coming to see me. What on earth was going on?
In other rounds, I hadn't paid much attention to Yulia, so this was something I genuinely didn't know about. I pretended to be worried and probed a little more about Yulia.
"I'm worried. Did she catch some serious illness?"
"I don't know. I examined her myself, but I couldn't find anything unusual."
I had wondered, but the Saintess really couldn't heal her? If it were an ordinary illness, Arie would have cured it long ago. Sending her all the way to the Holy Kingdom was definitely strange. Were the symptoms more serious than I thought…? But seeing that Arie wasn't greatly agitated, I thought it might not be the case. No matter how good she was at acting, if the person closest to her, Yulia, was sick, she wouldn't be able to completely hide her troubled heart. Since she hadn't shown any sign of it until I asked directly, it probably wasn't that serious after all.
In that case, there was no need to worry too much…?
"Before Yulia returned to the Holy Kingdom, she told me… to not worry about her and to focus on my Academy life. So… I forced myself to act like nothing was wrong…"
"Ah."
"For some reason, in front of you, Assistant… I seem to become honest."
"......"
Okay. I needed to make a quick trip to the Holy Kingdom.
Yulia, who had returned to the Holy Kingdom through the warp gate, was lying in the Holy Kingdom's highest-grade hospital room, passing the time.
"Ugh……"
As she let out a painful groan and trembled all over, the priests moved in a hurry at the sight.
"I'll call for the Cardinal!"
"We should contact His Holiness the Pope as well…"
"Even the Saintess's treatment didn't work. Is there any point…?"
The priests left the hospital room, each saying only what they wanted to say… However, what Yulia wanted wasn't treatment to ease her pain.
"My throat… It's so dry…"
The cold sweat she had shed all over her body while enduring the pain had drained a significant amount of moisture from her. What she longed for was a cool glass of water. But the priests had already all left the room, and Yulia's earnest voice seemed to reach no one.
It was then.
- Rustle.
"Huu…?"
A warm touch carefully lifted her body. Yulia, unable to even think of holding onto her hazy mind, entrusted her body to that touch.
"Water…"
"I'll give it to you, so drink slowly."
A curt tone that contrasted with the warm touch… At the same time, a cold cup touched her lips. Yulia, who had been gulping down the water, remembered the words she had just heard and began to swallow it slowly. As the cold liquid flowed down her throat, it felt like her overheated body was cooling down.
"Haa… Thank you…"
"That's enough. Rest now."
The hand that had given her water laid her back down as she had been. As her fever subsided and she regained a bit of clarity, Yulia slowly lifted her eyelids.
"T-teacher…?"
And what entered her eyes was the practical combat instructor for her and the Saintess—the one she had gone to see separately the day before she collapsed, to ask him to take good care of her older sister, the Saintess. Why was he here? Before she could even wonder, his eyes turned toward her.
"Don't worry about anything and sleep."
"......"
"Sigh, I really shouldn't get into the habit of stepping forward like this…"
His tone felt slightly different from usual… There was clearly someone here who shouldn't be, so how could she not pay attention? Even as Yulia surrendered her body to the sleepiness slowly creeping in, she tried her hardest to stay awake by clinging tightly to her consciousness. But it was impossible with her sick body… In the end, she couldn't endure the drowsiness and fell into sleep.
"That's strange. Why is she in pain?"
The last voice she heard seemed somewhere confused.