The World Is Unfair After All
The curtains parted, and the actors all lined up together at once.
They bowed as one, and thunderous applause rolled through the entire theater.
At the heart of it, Yuri's face was flushed as she savored the lingering afterglow, lost in the moment.
That was so much fun...
So this was how enjoyable a play could be.
Her seniors had shown them a rehearsal and insisted the real performance would be far more spectacular, so she had come with high expectations.
The actual show had left those expectations in the dust.
...Though, come to think of it, her seniors' acting really had been terrible.
Thinking that, Yuri elbowed the unnaturally silent seats beside her.
"Charlotte. Yuli—"
"Huh? Ah?"
"Ahh!"
"..."
Charlotte and Yulia, who had been sleeping with their heads stacked together and drooling, jolted awake and immediately began clapping with gusto as if nothing had happened.
Yuri held back a laugh at the sight.
Had they even watched the performance properly?
Hadn't they just been sound asleep the whole time?
Maybe she should test them.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Yeah! Um... what was it? The villain was so charming!"
"Th-the narrative was really deep and interesting, too...! Yeah, yeah!"
"..."
There hadn't been any villain in this performance.
It was circus-focused, so there was barely any narrative to speak of.
Charlotte and Yulia glanced at each other while spouting completely botched impressions, and Yuri had to struggle not to laugh.
I kept them out too late.
They would have been asleep by now normally.
She felt a little sorry for forcing them to sit through a performance they had no interest in.
B-but still...
This was a rare show they might never get to see again once the chance passed.
Maybe later they'd be grateful to her...!
Yuri allowed herself that quiet hope.
"Ehehe! It's so nice going out just the three of us for once!"
"Yeah... Right..."
Outside, lights poured down as bright as midday.
It was nearly midnight already, yet the bustling streets on a Friday night still pulsed with lively heat.
"We used to sneak out to the market together like this, just the three of us."
Walking side by side down the street, the three girls sank into nostalgia.
On hot summer nights like this, they would slip out of the orphanage and head for the night market.
Back then they had no money and nothing special to enjoy, so why had it been so much fun...?
"Yeah. We took turns stealing bread."
"Yuri was the best at stealing!"
"Ah..."
Ah. Of course it had been fun.
They'd been stealing like they breathed back then...
Hastily sealing away those "beautiful" memories, Yuri swallowed a bitter aftertaste.
Anyway, things are a lot different now than they were then.
Back then they had worn rags and snuck from alley to alley.
Now they wore fine clothes and walked the streets with their heads held high.
And they paid full price for things.
But there were things that hadn't changed, too.
"Hey. Kids. Where are your parents, wandering around by yourselves?"
"This area's dangerous, heh heh heh. Looks like you need our 'protection.'"
"...!"
Someone blocked Yuri and the girls' path.
At the sight of those massive builds, Yulia jumped and instinctively hid behind Yuri.
Charlotte clenched her fists but hiccuped and stepped back.
Naturally, the one who stepped forward was Yuri.
It's fine. I'm not the weak me from before. Neighborhood thugs like these are nothing...
Gulp. Yuri swallowed and stepped forward.
Then the shadows cast by the big men lifted, revealing their simple faces, and Yuri's expression turned dumbfounded.
"You guys are..."
"Huk! Student Yuri! Good to see you! Fancy meeting you here!"
"We didn't recognize you in casual clothes for a moment! Our apologies!"
"..."
The men snapped to rigid attention, sweating profusely.
Then they all bowed to Yuri at a perfect ninety degrees.
But you're my classmates from the same department...
And a lot older than me...
Yuri let out a hollow laugh, at a complete loss for words.
"But you... What was that about protection earlier? Don't tell me you were shaking people down—"
"Ahh! We're sorry! We mistook Student Yuri for a lost child who'd gotten separated from her parents!"
"We were going to walk around with you and help find your parents, but it must have been unpleasant! We were wrong!"
"..."
No...
They hadn't been extorting money from passersby under the pretext of passage fees or protection fees?
Their intentions had been far more wholesome than she'd imagined, leaving Yuri too stunned to say anything.
Soon the burly men kept bowing to Yuri as they retreated into the distance.
Only then did Charlotte and Yulia, who'd been stuck tightly behind her, peek their heads out.
"Are they gone?"
"Did they leave?"
"Yeah. It's okay now."
"Yuri's so cool...! Those huge grown-ups were all flustered in front of you!"
"They're not grown-ups, they're students..."
"Yuri must be someone really important at the Academy! I'd heard the Combat Magic Department has a strict hierarchy and iron discipline, but I never imagined it was this bad!"
"They're not in Combat Magic either. We're all in Magical Arts..."
Charlotte and Yulia burned with looks of pure admiration.
Yuri felt a little burdened, but also proud.
This part is the same as before.
Yeah...
Some things hadn't changed between then and now.
Whenever trouble started, like just now, Charlotte and Yulia had always relied on her.
At the orphanage, she'd been known as the fist leader or problem-solver.
Compared to then, Yulia had grown much stronger handling spirits.
And if Charlotte drew her magic sword, she could take down anyone who wasn't a Sword Master.
But in a moment of fear, they seemed to forget how strong they'd become.
Nothing's changed at all, after all.
She'd thought a lot had changed during their brief separation.
She'd even worried that the Charlotte and Yulia she'd reunited with after so long might not be the friends she knew.
But Yuri was certain now that those worries had been baseless.
Their clothes had changed.
The food they ate had changed.
Their personalities had changed, their confidence grown, enough that they might look like different people.
But their relationship as a trio hadn't changed one bit from the old days.
They might have some differences of opinion.
They might fight over topics they never used to argue about.
But the fact that they understood and trusted each other best remained exactly the same.
I should thank Aslan Belmont again.
To Aslan it might have just been ordinary theater tickets.
But for her, it had been a truly rare and precious chance to spend time together with her two friends after so long.
She'd thanked him already, but she'd been so flustered then that it had probably been lacking in manners.
She'd properly thank him again later...
Thinking that, Yuri started walking again.
It would be rude to keep the coachman waiting too long...
"Hup! Hold this for a sec, Yulia!"
"O-okay!"
"How did you two buy so much already...?"
"Ehehe!"
When they arrived at the carriage and tried to climb in, Charlotte and Yulia's arms were already full.
Somehow it was all snacks...
Grilled skewers, fish-shaped buns, all sorts of varieties.
"Mmm...! So this is what it tastes like!"
"We always just stared from far away. We had no idea what it tasted like..."
Soon the carriage set off.
The kids popped snacks into their mouths one by one, letting out cries of delight.
But this... how should she put it...
It was tasty enough, but not something she'd want to buy and eat again?
With all the delicious food that came out at the mansion, this level of snack didn't leave much of an impression.
Back then these street foods had looked like the most delicious things in the world.
But after actually eating them, they were a little disappointing.
As expected, the maids' cooking was the best.
The children once again learned that eternal truth.
"But did Yulia always eat this much? I don't think she had this big an appetite before."
"Hmm? Really? I eat way less than you two, though?"
"..."
"..."
We move around a lot more than you do.
Factoring that in, Yulia was eating far more.
How did so much food fit into the stomach of a kid who seemed to walk fewer than three thousand steps a day?
"You barely exercise, either. How do you eat so m—"
"Yuri..."
"Huh? Ah."
Charlotte quietly called Yuri's name and pointed somewhere with her eyes.
Following that gaze, Yuri immediately understood and shut her mouth.
Yulia had something they didn't...
And she seemed to be in the middle of a growth spurt—she looked bigger than when they'd first seen her.
In contrast, they were exactly the same...
Heads bowed, hands pressed to their vast-plain-like chests, Charlotte and Yuri's expressions hardened.
"The world really is unfair..."
"Yeah... So, so unfair..."
"What's wrong with you two?"
"It's nothing..."
Strange.
They'd all been about the same back at the orphanage.
How had it ended up like this?
Tears of sorrow welled at the corners of Charlotte and Yuri's eyes.