Take Responsibility
The drunk Seah staggered, her body swaying unsteadily.
“So, Ethan? Hmm? What was I saying again...”
“You’re way too drunk, Professor.”
“Am not! You know how strong I am with alcohol… Back in my prime, I could handle seven whole bottles…”
For the record, Seah had only drunk three glasses.
“I get that you drank seven bottles in the old days, so could you please just stay still?”
“Stay still? How am I supposed to do that…?”
“Ugh.”
After the club orientation ended, everyone went their separate ways. Isana, who usually enjoyed drinking alone, returned to the dorm with a perfectly sober face.
Katrina was just as composed. Rachel, who had been a commoner, didn’t touch a drop of alcohol.
I wasn’t even slightly buzzed either. Which meant the only one completely smashed was Seah, the notorious lightweight.
We couldn’t just abandon her at the bar, so we all played rock-paper-scissors as a group. The loser would have to take her with them.
Fuck. I should’ve learned mind reading.
I suffered a crushing defeat. The final showdown against Isana went to best of five, and I still got demolished…
Refusing to accept it, we played four more rounds. The result? Four to zero. Same outcome.
Did everyone else secretly learn mind reading except me?
Even Isana—the demon of rock-paper-scissors, my first and final nemesis—couldn’t get the upper hand against Rachel or Katrina.
“Ethaannn… I see stars. They’re shining so brightly. Did you take me to the stars?”
“Professor, those are just the tavern lights.”
“No way? They can’t be lights!”
This was driving me insane.
I hoisted Seah up again. Her body kept twitching and shifting.
“Don’t say another word.”
“No! Why should I!”
A woman in her thirties throwing a tantrum had an entirely different level of audacity.
“How does your stomach feel?”
“Absolutely perfect!”
“Please, for the love of god, just stay quiet.”
That “perfect” sounded far too ominous. I walked as carefully as possible to keep from making her dizzy.
That’s how we finally reached the lab. Using the magic Seah had taught me, I altered the surroundings.
In an instant, the entire room transformed into a bedroom. A king-sized bed came into view, surrounded by cute, cozy blankets.
I was about to lay her down and leave when a memory suddenly surfaced.
Something Seah had said in the past.
“Mana can break down alcohol, you know? So once you reach the level of archmage like me, it’s totally possible to never get drunk at all!”
She’d mentioned it casually, but I remembered it clearly.
“Professor. It just came back to me.”
Seah, who had burrowed into the blankets like a caterpillar, peeked out only her face.
“You definitely told me before. ‘Archmages don’t get drunk.’ That’s what you said…”
Seah froze solid.
“So then, the archmage who got completely wasted after three drinks, clung to her student, and acted all spoiled—is she really an archmage?”
“...”
Seah quietly pulled the blanket over her entire face. As if she could escape that easily.
I immediately yanked it back down.
“Professor?”
“Ugh… well, you see…”
Seah covered her face with both hands and mumbled.
“I just… wanted to experience something like this from my student…”
“You could’ve just said so.”
“How was I supposed to say something like that while sober…?”
“Sigh. I understand.”
I let go of the blanket. Like a cat, Seah snatched it from my hand and hugged it tightly to herself.
“So did you rig the rock-paper-scissors too, Professor?”
“That was purely because you suck at it.”
The sting of defeat dug even deeper. Did that mean I had lost fair and square, with zero manipulation?
My world was collapsing. The “too much” this and “take my life” that.
“But what were you going to do if I won the rock-paper-scissors?”
“Obviously I thought you’d be the one taking me! How was I supposed to predict you’d suggest rock-paper-scissors? I’d already done it, so I couldn’t take it back…”
Seah muttered, sounding genuinely upset.
“And could you keep this a secret from the others? If they find out, I’m in big trouble…”
“It would damage your authority, yeah.”
Though to be fair, Seah never acted particularly strict as a professor anyway. The problem was how she went berserk like a mad dog whenever magic came up. Her true nature was exactly like this.
That’s why, despite being in her thirties, she held an overwhelming first place in Rosewood Academy’s overall popularity rankings.
“You’ll keep it secret… right?”
“Depends on your behavior, Professor.”
“I’ll treat you even better.”
“What more could you possibly do? You already treat me so well that I’m grateful, so what else is there?”
On the surface it sounded like praise, but the real meaning behind my words was that if she didn’t treat me better, I might spill everything the moment an opportunity arose.
However.
“!!!”
The moment I finished speaking, Seah shut her mouth. She naturally burrowed deeper into the blankets, hiding her entire body.
No matter what I said after that, she didn’t respond.
“I’ll be going now.”
“…Safe travels.”
Seah’s voice was as tiny as an ant. I turned off the lights and left the lab (which was really just a bedroom).
There’s still a real problem left.
Linea hadn’t shown her face at all during the orientation. When I went to check on her at the dorm, she’d claimed she was sick.
But when I saw her with my own eyes, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong.
It must be connected to how she’s been acting strange since yesterday.
I needed to have an honest conversation with Linea. There had been a chance before, but Ray had interrupted us then.
This time, no one would get in the way.
Creak—
The sound of a door opening echoed through the quiet hallway. The lights inside were off.
Linea was lying in bed with her eyes closed, pretending to sleep. Or rather, pretending to try to sleep.
Her breathing was rhythmic, but unnatural. It was obvious to anyone that she was forcing it.
I knew because I’d slept with Linea many times before. When she was actually asleep, her breathing didn’t sound like that.
“…Linea.”
Still, just in case, I called out softly. There was no response, but the blanket twitched.
“Want to talk? About what we couldn’t discuss before.”
“…You knew?”
Linea stopped pretending and spoke.
Click!
I turned on the light and looked around before dragging a chair over and sitting down. By then, Linea had sat up in bed and was looking at me.
“Before that, I have one question. Why have you been acting like this since yesterday?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Right now. You’re different from usual.”
“I’m the same as always. If you’re that curious, why don’t you just use the imprint…?”
“No. I have no intention of doing that.”
“Why not? I’m nothing but a slave.”
Linea let out a bitter sigh.
“That’s right. You are a slave. But I’m your master. How I treat you is entirely up to me.”
“...”
Linea fell silent at my words.
“Why…”
She bit her lip hard. When I glanced down, I saw her clenched fist rubbing against her thigh.
“Why… do you keep confusing me, Master? Over and over.”
“If it’s about why I made you my slave, I can explain from now on—”
Linea got down from the bed. She walked toward me with heavy steps, her face crumpling like she was about to cry.
“You’re definitely going to lie, Master. I know. You’ll just keep pouring sweet words from that wicked tongue to deceive me.”
Linea, who had slowly approached, grabbed the back of my chair with one hand. Then she lightly clutched my collar.
Since it wasn’t an action that would harm me, the imprint didn’t activate.
“Because you must have circumstances that prevent you from telling me the real reason. Isn’t that right?”
Linea stared at me with trembling eyes. They looked sad somehow, and deeply confused.
That’s why I swallowed the question that had risen to my throat. Because it seemed like she wouldn’t tell me either.
“Even if I told you, you probably wouldn’t understand. That foundation is already there. I’m not someone who doesn’t know that. But.”
Linea shook off the hand gripping my collar. It looked as if she were forcibly tearing it away.
Looking closer, I saw that Linea’s hand was shaking.
“I’m not curious about that reason anymore.”
“…Why not?”
“Because that’s not what’s confusing me now.”
What did she mean by that? Was there another reason she felt confused by me?
“Why are you so good to me?”
It was a fundamental question. When I thought about it, even when she had poured her emotions onto me last time, the core meaning was the same—just the form was different.
Why are you so good to me when I’m your slave?
Before, that question had branched into “If you were going to be like this, why make me a slave in the first place?” But this time it seemed different.
Her expression suggested there was some other reason.
“Because I’m pretty?”
It was an embarrassing thing to say, but Linea’s expression didn’t change at all.
“To win my favor? No. You have no romantic interest in me, Master. You’ve never laid a hand on me. Not before, and not even now after all this time.”
Just as Linea said, she had asked the same question last time. Why I hadn’t touched her even after making her my slave.
Back then I’d tried to deflect by bringing up the collar, but it had failed. She’d said it was far from enough.
That meant I had to speak my true feelings. Excuses wouldn’t work anymore.
“I don’t want to lay a hand on you.”
“Why?”
I had made Linea my slave. But I didn’t want to become a truly heinous person.
So I had drawn a line inside myself. I wouldn’t cross the bounds of morality.
This was for the sake of the world, not to satisfy my own selfish desires. Because of that, I felt repulsion at the idea of forcing myself on Linea.
It was also why I didn’t use the imprint often despite having planted it. Not because I was especially good to Linea, but because I didn’t want to truly become trash.
That was all there was to it. I conveyed that to her.
“…Master, you really are trash.”
Linea’s fist flew at me.
Thump—
I let it hit me.
It didn’t hurt.
Thump—
Her fist kept coming. It still didn’t hurt.
“You don’t want to become trash? That’s ridiculous. You already are.”
Even as she said that, Linea looked at me with tears welling in her eyes.
“You made someone’s heart so complicated. You showed me that kind of joy from the very beginning.”
Suddenly, instinct whispered to me. I gave myself over to it.
“Huh…?”
I pulled Linea into a tight embrace. Startled, she let out a short cry mixed with confusion.
I gently patted her back.
Linea, held in my arms, buried her face deeper into my chest. A warm heat spread across my heart.
“…Idiot.”
Linea tightened her arms around me.
“It’s all your fault. You’re the one who did wrong… so take responsibility.”
Honestly, I couldn’t understand Linea’s behavior right now. The hug had simply been my body moving on instinct.
Even so, I silently continued the embrace.
There wasn’t some grand reason.
I just…
wanted to.