Precious Time
It felt so liberating.
Yuri poured out everything she had been holding in, venting her bottled-up frustrations without restraint.
She had classmates at the Imperial Magic Academy. She had comrades and colleagues who had lived and fought alongside her at Belmont Security. But she had not a single true friend.
She could have made some if she had wanted to. After being torn away from her old friends and forced to watch over them from afar, though, the thought of forming new ones never even crossed her mind.
After that long, painful stretch of life, the story of how she had finally reclaimed her friends showed no sign of running dry. She had never told a soul about the Black-clothed Mister. The bond was simply too precious. She had wanted to keep it secret. She had wanted him to remain her private benefactor alone.
But with Charlotte and Yulia, it felt all right to share. Old friends would understand. They would grasp just how precious and immense the Black-clothed Mister was to her.
The story she pulled out of that feeling, however…
Black-clothed Mister? That sounds super-duper suspicious!
Why does it have to be Black-clothed Mister? A Red-clothed Mister or a Blue-clothed Mister would look way more lively! Black just makes him look super-duper dark and gloomy!
…prompted nothing but endless suspicion from Charlotte and Yulia.
Yuri was casually airing the tale of her anonymous sponsor. Judging by her tone, she held him in the highest regard, followed him devotedly, and even seemed to harbor a faint admiration for him. Yet when they listened carefully to the details, Yuri did not even know the man’s face.
And that was not all. She knew neither his age, nor his affiliation, nor his status—she knew absolutely nothing. All she knew was that he was a tall man who looked good in a black suit.
Did that even make sense? How could anyone trust and follow someone she had never met even once?
Yuri claimed she had come here because she suspected Aslan, but looking closely, the truly suspicious one was Yuri’s sponsor.
“Yuri. About that… Black-clothed Mister guy…”
“Yeah!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t rely on him too much? Tuition at the Imperial Magic Academy isn’t cheap. For someone to sponsor that much money… it feels like he must have some other agenda…”
“Ahaha! I knew you’d worry about that. You don’t have to. The Black-clothed Mister isn’t that kind of person.”
“How would you know that?”
“I’ve been exchanging letters with the Black-clothed Mister… well, I was. He’s someone who takes a huge interest in me. He keeps trying to get me whatever I need, and I even have to stop him from giving me way too much allowance. There’s no way someone that devoted would have some shady ulterior motive.”
She had started to say she was still exchanging letters, then hastily switched to the past tense. Come to think of it, she had cut off correspondence with the Black-clothed Mister…
What was he doing right about now? She desperately wanted to send a letter asking after him, but she barely managed to suppress the urge. They were in a cold war at the moment…! She had declared she would not write a single letter during the vacation, so she could not be the first to surrender on mere day two!
Yuri steeled her resolve once more.
“You exchange letters? How often?”
“Hmm. About once every three days? Sometimes every other day.”
“Guh…”
Once every three days… factoring in the postal service, that was basically exchanging them every single day. Every other day meant snatching the letter the moment it arrived, scribbling a reply, and handing it off before the postman left!
Yuri’s offhand answer left Charlotte and Yulia gaping in shock.
Just sponsoring her is already suspicious enough. But some middle-aged man exchanging letters that often with a kid like this…?
Isn’t this just him trying to seduce Yuri!? Giving her stuff she needs and trying to hand her allowance is him flaunting his wealth to win her over, right?
What had been suspicious became even more so. Secretly sponsoring her without revealing his identity already looked plenty shady. And the way Yuri described him “treating her well” sounded an awful lot like an old man creeping on a little girl.
They wanted to say right then and there that the guy was weird and she should cut him off. But seeing the respectful light in Yuri’s eyes whenever she spoke of the Black-clothed Mister, they could not bring themselves to.
She probably wouldn’t even hear us. As someone who’s been conditioned by him for so long, it’s already impossible for Yuri to even consider suspecting the “Black-clothed Mister”…!
Thinking the same thing at the same moment, Charlotte and Yulia locked eyes and let out a small sigh.
“So why did you approach us while hiding your identity?”
“Ah, that. No matter how I looked at it, Aslan Belmont seemed really suspicious… There’s no way a normal adult would just buy up little kids who got unfairly sold as slaves.”
“Your sponsor is way more suspi—! Mmph! Mmmph!”
“Uh-huh! And then?”
Just as Charlotte could not hold it in and was about to spill her true thoughts, Yulia desperately clamped a hand over Charlotte’s mouth and pushed the conversation forward. Let’s hear more for now.
“I know this might just be a coincidence, and it might be a bit of a stretch… but Aslan Belmont’s surroundings are also suspicious as hell. Like an undead legion. Or a necromancer.”
“Ahem…”
“Or a dark knight with a vicious-looking magic sword.”
“Hem…”
“Or a poop-colored great spirit that looks half-finished.”
“…”
Charlotte and Yulia could find no rebuttal and merely cleared their throats. The fact that everyone around Aslan was shady as hell was pure coincidence… yet those coincidences piling up on top of each other did make him look pretty damn suspicious.
“And most of all! He feeds people out of a dog bowl…!”
“…”
“…”
Yuri’s final decisive blow completely silenced Charlotte and Yulia. There was plenty they wanted to fire back with. The dog bowl Aslan had custom-made was designed from the start for easy human use. It was excellent for heat retention. And in terms of material, it had little risk of degrading and did not ruin the flavor or aroma of the food—it was a scientifically superior vessel.
But explaining all that one by one just felt… pathetic somehow. Visually it did look a bit weird, that was true. And you only realized how good the dog bowl was after using it for a long time…
In two months, by the time vacation ended, Yuri would come to appreciate the excellence of the dog bowl, right? Yulia decided to think that Yuri was only like this because the dog bowl was still new and unfamiliar to her.
“Anyway, this Aslan Belmont guy is suspicious…! You shouldn’t trust him too much, girls!”
“Yeah…”
“Uh-huh…”
Yuri whispered with a serious look in her eyes. Charlotte and Yulia could only mumble, their mouths itching to speak.
The suspicious one is your anonymous sponsor, the Black-clothed Mister! Who’s calling who suspicious here!
Charlotte and Yulia have spent too long, too close to Aslan Belmont—their senses have gone dull. They can’t even think of him as weird anymore. For their sake, I have to expose Aslan Belmont’s true face somehow…!
Yuri’s received too many favors from the Black-clothed Mister—she’s clearly lost the ability to see him objectively!
Yuri’s sponsor… does he hate the Mister!? Is that why he’s riling Yuri up and turning her against him?
Their thoughts all went in different directions. But they had one thing in common: their long-lost friend had been tainted by some weird old man.
I’ll definitely make Charlotte and Yulia come to their senses…!
I absolutely have to make Yuri come to her senses…!
In that resolve, at least, Charlotte, Yulia, and Yuri were all the same.
“Yuri. Why aren’t you taking the carriage?”
“Ah, well… I feel too bad using the mansion’s carriage just for myself…”
“Then if I ride with you, you won’t feel bad, right? Get in. Let’s go together.”
“Y-Yes!?”
Just as Yuri was about to leave through the front gate, he quickly dashed out, caught her, and called for the coachman. Was it because thriftiness was ingrained in her? Using a carriage for something as ordinary as commuting seemed to make her feel guilty. He decided to help ease that guilt. Once she started riding, she would be able to take it without hesitation for the whole vacation.
“There’s no need for the Count to go all the way to the Academy because of me…”
“Who said I’m going because of you? I happened to be heading to the Imperial Magic Academy myself. Get in if you’re getting in, or don’t if you’re walking.”
“…I’ll ride.”
Only then did she hang her head and climb into the carriage. Good. Smart choice. The more she refused, the more pressure he would have applied until she had no choice but to get in. She was avoiding putting herself in awkward situations on her own. He was thoroughly pleased that Yuri seemed to be gradually getting used to accepting his goodwill.
“….”
“….”
The carriage set off toward the Academy. Inside, only the occasional rumbling noise echoed. Aside from that, it was completely silent.
Was she still awkward around him? He had thought the awkwardness should be fading by now. But when he recalled how he had once gone on about man-to-man stuff with Yuri, the awkwardness made sense. Back then he never imagined she was a girl…
“A couple of letters arrived for you. Go claim them.”
“Ah. From my sponsor?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t need those. I’ll get them later.”
“….”
When he threw out a topic to lighten the mood, Yuri reacted immediately. Just thinking of the Black-clothed Mister still made her sulky; her expression turned pouty.
“Why. Did something happen?”
“No, just… a minor quarrel, I suppose… Or maybe a protest against my will being ignored… Or perhaps a childish kid’s rebellion… I declared in a letter to my sponsor that I wouldn’t reply for the entire vacation…”
“Looks like that friend of mine is throwing another fit. Just let him be. That guy’s always…”
Oh dear. Our Yuri was quite put out because of the Black-clothed Mister. He naturally shifted to sit beside her and offered warm words of comfort. It was the perfect opportunity to break the ice and close the distance.
The precious two months the Black-clothed Mister had created for him. He decided to put them to very good use in getting closer to Yuri.