Practical Exam (3)

"O... Owen...?"

"I've been wronged too, you know. Hey, you hid it that well — how was I supposed to notice?"

Owen stepped into the iron golem that was on the verge of collapsing. He extended a hand toward Lily, who sat slumped on the ground, quietly sobbing.

She hesitantly reached out — but she didn't take his hand.

Trapped in the flood of memories, she kept recalling everything she had done. She had used countless golems to kill the students taking the exam, and she had attacked Owen himself as he came toward her. How could she possibly deserve to take that hand?

She was afraid, too — afraid that deep down, he resented someone who only ever took and never gave. Terrified that he might come to dislike her, she couldn't bring herself to grasp his outstretched hand.

"So don't keep it bottled up. Just say it."

Owen snatched up the hand that couldn't bring itself to hold his, pulled her arm, and drew Lily up from where she sat. She found herself standing right in front of him, fidgeting with her fingers as she stole glances at his face before cautiously speaking.

"I— I don't have anything to give you."

"I never asked for anything."

"The reason I felt so burdened every time you gave me something... it was all because I was scared you'd get sick of me — someone who can't give you anything back."

"I gave because your reactions were worth it. Not because I expected something in return."

"I'm a bothersome woman. If I unload everything I've been keeping inside, I just whine all day about how exhausting it is. You wouldn't want to hear that kind of talk either."

"You're so quiet it's actually hard keeping a conversation going with you. From now on, you do some of the talking. Ramble a little."

Lily's face went blank.

What is he saying? There was no need to put it like that.

Sure, she was on the quiet side, but the conversations hadn't died out because she'd been trying too.

Still, she caught on quickly — that remark, too, was Owen's way of sparing her from dwelling on things. He was always like this. Unreasonable the day they first met, unreasonable ever since. He delighted in tormenting people, yet was endlessly kind to her alone.

If he kept treating her like this, she was going to get the wrong idea.

Should I just say it? Even if I lay it all out... with Owen, wouldn't it be okay?

Owen didn't rush her. He simply waited, letting her take whatever time she needed.

At the sight of him like that, Lily took a step closer and forced the words out.

"It's been hard for me."

Another step.

"I can't see my parents even when I miss them, I've got no friends because of the bullying, and the scholarship debt just keeps piling up."

Thump.

Her forehead bumped against Owen's chest. Fists clutching handfuls of his clothes, her shoulders trembled.

"Living each and every day was just... so hard... I wanted to cry every single day..."

"Yeah. That would be hard."

Owen gently patted her heaving back. At his touch, the resentment and grief she had hoarded for so long burst through the dam, and everything she'd kept locked in her heart came pouring out along with her tears.

Kwarururu—

The iron golems crumbled one by one. They were what the girl had activated to protect her parents in the loop of repeating memories. What she had kept at her side to soothe the loneliness of a heart left completely hollow. What she had built to hide her own weakness.

But it was all right now.

She had broken free of the memories the monster showed her. The ache that no warmthless iron golem could ever mend could finally be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soothed. There was someone who recognized her fragile self, so she no longer needed to pretend to be strong.

All of it was thanks to Owen.

Face still buried in his chest, Lily asked, "Can I... stay like this a little longer?"

She'd bawled her eyes out — her face was surely a wreck by now. Her eyes would be swollen to slits, the rims red and raw. She didn't want to show him such a pitiful sight.

"Stay as long as you like."

With his permission, Lily staggered and burrowed deeper into his chest. Arms wrapped tight around his waist, she stayed like that for a long while.

It was warm. For some reason, today of all days, her heart seemed to pound unusually hard.

So this is the monster that was controlling those students.

I seized the strange black lifeform that had burrowed into Lily's back. When I tightened my grip on it, its eyes flashed — zing! — and it seemed to attempt some kind of mana interference against me.

Oh ho.

Its interference was fairly strong, I'd give it that. About on par with Camilla's magic, maybe a notch stronger. It was hard even to fathom what the professors were thinking, implementing a monster like this.

A spell that invokes trauma, is it?

It appeared to be a creature that wormed into the cracks trauma left in its host and took control from within. Something stirred deep in my heart — a memory, old and faded to gray, trying to surface.

An immensely old memory, that one. From before I'd even met Muriel.

But that was all. The memory the monster showed me couldn't deal me a single shock — partly because I was defending with mana, and partly because it was something I had already overcome.

The monster's eyes, which had been glowing that eerie light, flinched. Apparently it was rattled that its magic wasn't working on me in the slightest.

I squeezed my fist again. Crunch—! A deeply unpleasant sensation, like crushing a giant tuna's eyeball barehanded. The unidentified creature's body burst like a balloon — no blood, just a cloud of powder that scattered and vanished into nothing.

There we go.

With the parasitic monster dealt with, Lily should be fine now.

"...How long are you two planning to stay like that?"

Luna. The girl was peeking out from behind a nearby hill, head poking over as she stared at us.

"...!"

Startled by a third voice cutting in out of nowhere, Lily peeled off me like a cicada and dropped to the ground, head hanging, fingers wriggling as her neck flushed scarlet. Now that she'd calmed down, the embarrassment seemed to have hit her all at once.

"Why do you have to show up with such terrible timing? Lily was enjoying my body to her heart's content."

"I-I wasn't enjoying anything...! I just — my face is a mess right now, that's all..."

"No need to sound so disappointed. We can do it again later."

"How many times do I have to tell you, that's not what this is about...!"

Lily jabbed a fist sideways and gave her shoulder a few little taps.

"Anyway, Bedwetter."

"Hey!!"

Luna shrieked. "Hey, am I the only one who uses the bathroom? You go too! Who doesn't go, huh? What kind of person just doesn't go? Calling me a bedwetter!"

Someone who doesn't go, you say?

"I actually know someone like that."

Muriel never goes. As I've mentioned before, she isn't her real body — she's in a doll body, so bodily functions aren't necessary for her.

"Liar. Where on earth would you find someone like that? What is wrong with you? Do you have some fantasy that women just don't have bodily functions at all?"

"No, I'm telling you I really do know someone like that. Anyway — why did you come out here?"

"Some of the students nearby seemed to be coming to. Thought I'd let you know."

Presumably the ones who'd fallen victim to the monster I'd just disposed of. Judging by her implication that some still hadn't woken, it seemed there'd been more than one of those things lying around.

Useful information, I'll admit. But I refuse to acknowledge it. Why? Because Luna rubs me the wrong way, that's why. I graciously arranged things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so she could sleep under my sleeping bag's warmth, and the ungrateful wretch went and hogged the entire thing for herself?

Absolutely unforgivable.

"Tsk. So you stole Lily's happy time over something that doesn't even matter. You're truly rotten to the core."

"Wh... what?"

Luna blinked at me, utterly dumbfounded.

Well, what are you going to do about it? All you can do is scribble "He's infuriating on purpose." in your notebook.

Anyway. I'd found Lily, and her golems that had been wrecking the exam grounds had all stopped. Now all that remained was to sit back and wait for the exam to end.

Venomous insects, man-eating plants, cannibals? What threat could they possibly pose as long as I was here?

And so I made my proposal, entirely at ease.

"Let's set up camp here."

I was getting tired of jerky and chocolate anyway. Catching one of the beasts I'd spotted nearby and roasting it over a bonfire didn't sound bad at all. Every so often, a man ought to taste the wild like that.

I hauled the tent I'd stuffed back into my bag out again and spread it on the ground. Then something occurred to me, and I asked Lily.

"Hey, Lily — where's your bag?"

"Ah... I probably lost it when I blacked out. No idea where it went."

"I see."

Hmm.

Three of us. What we had was one tent so cramped that two people barely fit sleeping in it, and one sleeping bag just wide enough for two. Someone was going to have to make a sacrifice. The one to be cast aside was—

I stared at Luna, dead in the eye.

"You know what this means, right?"

"Wh-why don't we take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turns standing watch? Then everyone can sleep comfortably."

She met my gaze and shamelessly changed the subject. The sheer audacity of her poker face was genuinely impressive. I'll give her that much.

"I can stay alert even while I sleep. So there's no need for a watch."

"Then we can all sleep together! Getting to sleep between two girls — aren't you a lucky man."

"Huh? Sl-sleep between...?"

At Luna's words, Lily's face went crimson. She stole a sidelong glance at me.

It wasn't a displeased look.

"W-well, yeah. There's only the one tent, so... I-I guess we don't have a choice, do w-we..."

Look at this sly little minx.