Vacation Ceremony
“Were you here?”
“Professor? What brings you here?”
The owner of the hand was Sara. She had been smiling, but my question made her scrunch up her face in displeasure.
“What? Am I not allowed to come find you?”
“It’s not that, but you almost never do. Weren’t you busy going on dates with Professor Verdan?”
You ignored me completely while you were flirting with him, and now you’re blaming me? My sharp counterattack made Sara switch gears instantly. The frown between her brows smoothed out cleanly.
“H-hey! Why would you say something like that? It was just a joke!”
“Really? Doesn’t seem like it.”
“Hey! You can’t use it if you suspect me! Anyway, it’s vacation now—what are you going to do?”
“I’m going back home.”
“Home? To the Priouli Territory?”
“Yes. Father apparently called for me. What about you, Professor? Since it’s vacation, are you going to go on a ton of dates with Professor Verdan?”
The topic I had barely managed to change snapped right back into place like a miracle! Sara flinched for a moment before awkwardly scratching her cheek and answering.
“It probably won’t be like that. Professor Verdan said he’s quite busy.”
“Really? How far have you two gotten?”
“Why would you want to know that?”
Sara narrowed her eyes and glared at me. The message coming through loud and clear was: This kid is such a pervert, only interested in dirty things!
As expected, Sara was far too conservative.
“I’m just curious. These days people say they check sexual compatibility within a week and then start dating. Don’t you think you’re way too slow?”
“What? Y-you check sexual compatibility in just a week? Aren’t you the one who only thinks about things like that?”
“Not at all? If you don’t believe me, go ask other people. They’ll all say it’s way too slow.”
My expression was completely sincere, without a single trace of falsehood. Only then did Sara seem to trust me; her face hardened heavily.
“Then what should I do? Isn’t it already too late?”
“Who knows? If you’re curious, why don’t you look for an opportunity and try seducing him?”
“Seduce? How?”
“Well, just get him drunk and cling to him. Then he’ll either take you to a hotel or dump you on the street. Or—”
When I playfully gave such extreme examples, Sara, who had been listening quietly, protested.
“Stop adding those weird footnotes!”
“So you’re not going to do it? At this rate, by the time you come to your senses, everything might already be over?”
“…Are you sure that method really works?”
“I’m telling you it does. She’s not some woman he just met—she’s someone he’s been on several dates with. If she gets completely wasted and collapses, and he just leaves her alone, he’s not a man.”
Unlike Earth, this place didn’t have those idiotic laws biased toward only one side. In other words, there was no chance of being falsely accused. My perfectly reasonable answer made Sara nod as if she had made up her mind.
“…Then I guess I should give it a try.”
“Good thinking. Do your best.”
“Yeah. Thanks. I’ll head out first.”
With no hesitation whatsoever, Sara left those words and dashed away like lightning. She was probably going to find Professor Verdan.
Then I should get going too.
I glanced around once before leaving the auditorium without any lingering attachment and headed toward the snack bar.
“Kain. I’m here.”
When I opened the snack bar door and stepped inside, Kain was sitting at the counter as always, absorbed in a magazine. He didn’t even glance my way. His attention only turned to me after he took a single bite of potato chips.
“What is it?”
“I came to say goodbye. It’s vacation now. I’m going home to get the spiritual medicine, so when I come back, you’ll have to help me absorb it.”
The spiritual medicine in the snowy mountains wasn’t something you could simply consume and digest. It required fulfilling very special conditions. After I had repeated this request several times, Kain waved his hand without much enthusiasm.
“I got it. I got it. I understand, so just go already.”
“Yes. See you in two weeks.”
Leaving behind words like a couple about to get divorced, I turned my back on Kain and left the snack bar. For a master-disciple relationship, we seemed to lack far too much affection, but this level of distance felt just right. We weren’t gay, after all—there was no need for two men to get any closer than necessary.
Now I’ll grab a quick lunch and head over to Isis.
I had already packed all my luggage into the subspace pouch the day before, so there was no need to stop by the dormitory. I quickened my steps straight toward the main gate.
Meanwhile, at that same moment, Deborah had finished saying goodbye to her friends and left the academy. She was riding a carriage back to the magic tower together with Roxana.
Then Roxana dropped a difficult question.
“Deborah. Now that I think about it, this master of yours heard an interesting rumor.”
“A r-rumor?”
“Yes. They say you’re in a relationship with Luan Priulri. Is it true?”
Roxana smiled playfully as she gazed at her lovely disciple.
The problem was that Deborah interpreted her master’s look as a kind of warning. You wouldn’t have dared to touch my man, would you?
In front of love, friendship and family all lost their value! Even if it was her own disciple, there could be no exception!
Deborah clasped her trembling hands together and shook her head.
“No! It’s a baseless rumor! The academy is full of all sorts of strange rumors these days!”
“Really? You were on the same team during the last practical exam. Nothing happened there, did it?”
If Roxana had been a man instead of a woman, she might have already been arrested for stalking. That was how much interest she had in Deborah.
When she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, Deborah’s face turned deathly pale.
Did she find out?
Deborah’s eyes darted around. After sneaking a glance at Roxana, she eventually concluded that wasn’t the case. If she knew, she would have already been tearing her hair out, calling her a vixen of a disciple who dared to covet her master’s man.
“N-nothing happened!”
“Hmm… that’s suspicious. Should I go ask him myself?”
Roxana turned her head toward the academy. Deborah had reacted far too dramatically, which only made her more suspicious. Come to think of it, her behavior seemed to have changed since the practical exam. Her aura had become more mature, and her skin looked better. Wasn’t there a saying that women become prettier when they fall in love?
Roxana simply hoped that Deborah wouldn’t suffer because of some bad man. Unfortunately, that feeling never quite reached her.
“It’s true! Please believe me! With Luan, we just happened to be on the same team and survived together, that’s all! I wouldn’t mind at all even if you said you were going to marry Luan right now, Master!”
Deborah had already come to a conclusion about Luan. He was far kinder and more trustworthy than she had first thought. Therefore, unlike her initial worries, there was no chance that Roxana would suffer.
At that statement, Roxana’s eyes widened in surprise. She let out a small laugh.
“Hehe! Deborah, really. Marriage? Do you even know how big the age difference is between that boy and me?”
“What does age matter! As long as both people like each other, that’s enough!”
“Is that so? Thank you for saying that.”
Roxana let Deborah’s words slide. She had no intention of getting married. Ever since her terrible master had stolen her youth and thrown it all into magic research, she had given up on such things. The only thing left for her was for Deborah, who was like a daughter to her, to be happy.
That was certainly true, but…
I’m a little curious.
What would it feel like to be married? Living in the same house with the man you love, eating together, sleeping together. She didn’t know exactly, but it seemed like it would be incredibly happy. Could there really be greater happiness than what she felt spending time with Deborah right now?
Roxana, who had been imagining it, shook her head.
Stop it.
She had zero intention of getting married, so there was no point in indulging in such fantasies. She had received countless proposals so far, but she had rejected them all. And she had no desire to go out and meet someone herself. In the end, the only way for her imagination to become reality was to wait for a prince on a white horse to fall from the sky. And that prince would have to be so wonderful and handsome that she would fall for him at first sight.
There’s no way such a person exists.
Even she thought it was ridiculous. Who would take a woman who was this picky and had such unreasonably high standards? Roxana looked out the carriage window.
The scenery flew by rapidly. At the moment, I was riding in a carriage with Isis, heading toward the magic tower. Aside from the greeting we exchanged when we first met, we hadn’t spoken a single word. It seemed Isis was quite conscious of the fact that I had learned about the surveillance order our father had given her.
I don’t really care, though.
I was curious why she was watching me so closely, but that was something I should hear from the person who gave the order, not from Isis. So I had no intention of asking.
After that awkward silence continued for a while, Isis carefully opened her mouth.
“Luan, is there anything you want?”
“Something I want? What do you mean all of a sudden?”
“You did well on the end-of-term evaluation this time. It looks like you worked very hard, so I wanted to give you a reward. Is there nothing you need?”
Isis gave me a warm smile. Since when had it started? At some point, Isis had begun to feel like a mother to me. She had gradually taken over more and more of the things our parents should have done. As a child, I must have known that, because I had always acted spoiled toward her.
When I stayed silent with complicated feelings, Isis seemed to misunderstand and hurriedly waved her hands.
“Ah! Just so you know, I didn’t do any background investigation. I watched all of your matches too, Luan. That’s how I know. Please don’t misunderstand.”
“…I’m not misunderstanding. I already knew. Your seat was always noisy, Sister.”
“R-really? That’s a relief. So, is there nothing you want? You can tell me anything.”
Anything at all—did Isis realize how dangerous those words were? She probably thought it was fine because I was her blood-related little brother. I wondered how she would react if she knew I was actually a completely different person wearing her brother’s skin.
I slowly looked over Isis’s entire body. Her blouse and cardigan looked ready to burst from her voluptuous breasts. Below that was a narrow waist and the alluring curve of her hips. On top of that, her thighs were firm and her calves long—her overall proportions were flawless. Isis’s figure was enough to make me want to defy even the laws of heaven.
If I could just do whatever I wanted…!
I wanted to indulge in her as much as I desired, but if I made such a request I would only earn her contempt. So I held myself back.
“Just give me anything.”
“Anything? There’s nothing you specifically want?”
“Yes. I already have everything I need.”
“Hmm… I see. Then I’ll pick something appropriate for you.”
Isis fell deep into thought. She kept taking out a notebook, writing something down, then erasing it. If someone who didn’t know her saw this, they would think she was wrestling with some incredibly difficult problem.
I don’t get it.
If it were me, I would have gotten annoyed and cursed at someone who said “anything,” but how could she be this enthusiastic? There was clearly something hidden behind Isis’s devotion toward Luan Priulri that I didn’t know about.
Isis worrying and me watching her. In that situation, time passed quickly, and the carriage arrived at the magic tower.
I got out first and was about to escort Isis when I suddenly looked into the distance.
It’s Deborah and Roxana.
They must have arrived a step ahead of us; they were just disappearing into the building.
“Luan?”
At that moment, Isis called my name, apparently finding it strange that I was staring somewhere else. I came back to my senses and held out my hand to her.
“Take my hand.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Isis smiled brightly and took my hand. Once she stepped onto the ground, we left the carriage behind and hurried toward the teleportation gate.
Since we had reserved it in advance, there was no wait. We immediately stepped onto the gate and moved to a city in the north.