Who Did She Fall For to End Up Like That?
Who Did She Fall For to End Up Like That?
Even as students nodded off one by one, there was always one who couldn't sleep.
The girl who smelled of jasmine, Trixie, was that very student.
"Haah."
Trixie set her glass down with a clack.
As the intoxication rose, her mood lifted ever so slightly.
Pritia.
This liquor, distributed by the Fritz family, was deep in both history and flavor. The fact that its proof was exceptionally high was both an advantage and a drawback.
It had been ages since she'd touched alcohol — the first time since the day she'd been toyed with on the Agora Board.
—Develop more charm.
Plan's words still rang vividly in her ears.
Trixie had never heard anyone say something like that to her before.
From the start, she had considered herself flawless, and in truth, all manner of flowery phrases had always trailed behind her.
Pretty, beautiful, a genius... it would be hard to list every kind of compliment.
She had never been starved for attention. If anything, she was the sort of person who'd found the deluge of attention so excessive that it occasionally became irritating.
"Develop more charm, he says."
Did that mean even this level of charm fell utterly short in Teaching-ssi's eyes? Did she need to cultivate still more just to learn magic from him?
She could only interpret it that way.
Plan's manner had been resolute too — there'd been no hint of a lie.
"Ugh."
She downed the high-proof liquor like water, brooding all the while.
Should she reveal that she was the eldest daughter of the Fritz family?
She shook her head side to side.
It was obvious he wouldn't show even a flicker of interest if she did. That was precisely why Plan had reacted that way.
Who in the world was Teaching-ssi? The endless worrying drew deep sigh after deep sigh from Trixie.
"Hnnn...."
Ultimately, those sighs woke Hailey, who was sleeping in the next bed over.
"Trixie... what's wrong? Wait, are you drinking?"
"No."
Hailey lifted her head slightly and gazed at Trixie through half-lidded eyes. Then she asked, point-blank.
"Are you lonely or something?"
"Lonely how."
"You keep fidgeting, you're drinking, you're making weird breathing noises..."
"Shut up."
Trixie dismissed the suspicion aimed at her.
To Trixie, the very notion of loneliness was impossible.
"Trixie, you talk so coldly, you know that? Aren't people scared to even try to talk to you? Anyway, go to sleep."
Muttering that, Hailey closed her eyes again. Trixie lay down as well and opened Trivia.
[ ▷ Pleathe pay attention to me ㅠㅅㅠ ]
[ ▶ If it's magic, naturally I pay attention. ]
[ ▷ I'm really interethted in magic too! ]
[ ▷ Pleathe teach me thome magic ]
[ ▷ Couldn't we meet and learn? ]
No reply had come yet.
[ ▷ I'm late introduthing mythelf. ]
[ ▷ I'm Trixie of the Fritth family! ]
Just in case, she had added that in the end. Still, no reply came.
"Why isn't he answering."
Frustrated, she muttered aloud.
"What isn't?"
In the end, Hailey couldn't contain her curiosity and sat up in bed. Trixie reflexively covered her Trivia screen.
"What are you looking at."
"Oh my god, you're waiting for a Trivia reply?"
"So what if I am."
"If it's romance troubles, you should've said so earlier! I'm a total expert. So who's the person you like?"
"There is no person I like."
"Oh please~ hiding it is pointless now."
Hailey wore a gratified smile.
"You can't sleep, you're waiting for a reply, and you expect me to believe there's no one you like? It's a guy, isn't it?"
"It's a guy."
"See!"
"I'm just trying to learn magic."
"Look at you. Fine, let me ask you this."
As if sleep had fled entirely, Hailey began chattering excitedly.
"How often do you think about him a day?"
Trixie rolled her eyes, taking a sip of Pritia.
Normally, she wouldn't have participated in this sort of conversation at all. But maybe because of the rising intoxication, her lips parted.
"Nearly all the time. Except when I'm asleep."
"Do you get happy when he replies?"
"Yeah."
"That's literally liking someone. Why are you denying it and saying it's not?"
"It's a little different."
Trixie shook her head side to side.
"We only talk about magic. I'm being taught."
"Could you ask someone you hated to teach you magic? You can do that precisely because the person you like is also good at magic. That's how I am with Louis."
"Noisy."
Frustrated, Trixie knocked back her Pritia.
Being taught by someone, waiting for someone... she had never experienced this kind of relationship before, so Trixie was simply confused.
Only one thing was certain: she couldn't go back to how things used to be. That kind of "learning" couldn't be experienced anywhere else.
She wanted to draw closer to Teaching-ssi, to see and learn more.
"Plan."
Trixie called to mind the name of that commoner student. Unknowingly, she muttered it aloud.
"Trixie. Why are you suddenly bringing up that name?"
An intense reaction erupted from the opposite bed. Trixie shot back.
"Why."
"Because I hate him, that's why."
"So I asked you why."
"Do I really have to spell it all out one by one?"
Hailey let out a deep sigh and continued.
"Cheating during the grade evaluation, a walkover win because Aria happened to bring a scroll, getting carried by you during the exploration assessment, and then if you leave him alone, who knows what else — he even proposed changing the standards when Louis could've been the representative just fine."
The reasons listed themselves endlessly. But none of them aligned with what Trixie thought.
Plan's skill was more than enough to suit A-grade status.
Even just the difficulty setting she'd encountered in the training grounds was proof enough.
Aria had lost by pure skill. Thinking back now, when they'd launched those mana crystals, Plan must have interfered from the very start.
During the exploration assessment, if anything, it was closer to the truth that Trixie had been carried by Plan.
Looking at it this way, once again she was struck by how extraordinary he was.
And on top of that, Plan had grown even more since then.
Hadn't he now reached the point where, before anyone knew it, he'd been chosen as the Magic Department first-years' combat representative?
'I thought he might be the Scouter, but he's not.'
Trixie took considerable pride in her sharp senses.
From what she'd observed, Plan and Elysis didn't even seem to know each other. When she ruled out the Scouter possibility, the only remaining answer was one.
...It was thanks to the Teaching Auction.
Teaching-ssi had taken Plan, who had been nothing more than an F-grade student, and molded him into a monster in a short span of time.
"Haah..."
She emptied the rest of the Pritia, bottle and all. A strange jealousy made her clench her fist.
Why wouldn't he look her way? If he would just focus on Trixie, she could prove herself many times over.
'No helping it.'
She'd have to see for herself.
It was simple. If she examined Plan's Trivia directly, the whole problem would be solved.
Trixie's analytical abilities were in no way inferior to anyone's. Or at least, she herself was confident of that.
What phrasing he used in his messages, what sort of questions Teaching-ssi liked, what kind of words would get a faster reply... she would analyze all of it.
In the meantime, Hailey added one more remark.
"Trixie, you ignore that Plan guy too. There's no benefit in getting close to him."
"You."
Trixie quietly parted her lips.
"Yeah? What?"
"Are uncivilized."
Hailey pointed her index finger at her own chin.
"...Me? I'm uncivilized? Is she drunk? Her tongue's completely twisted."
"You don't know Plan at all."
Just then, a reply arrived.
[ ▶ Are you sincere about wanting to learn. ]
[ ▷ Yeth! I'll be a dithiple or anything! ]
[ ▶ It will be extremely difficult. ]
[ ▷ I can endure it! ]
[ ▶ Then defeat Plan first and come back. ]
At the completely unexpected reply, her head tilted reflexively. Trixie moved her fingers immediately.
[ ▷ Plan??ㅅ? ]
[ ▶ Yes. ]
[ ▷ That perthon theemed like the Thcouter though! ]
[ ▶ Scouter, nonsense. ]
[ ▶ He is merely my disciple. ]
"Ah!"
The mystery was resolved.
Trixie shot up from her seat. She even let out an exclamation without realizing it.
Of course. Trixie's guess had been mostly correct. Teaching-ssi had forged Plan into a monster.
"Why are you suddenly shouting?"
Trixie cleanly ignored Hailey and threw on her outer garment first.
Who knew? Plan might still be at the storage room.
"Trixie, you're seriously going out in that state?"
Hailey blocked Trixie's path.
"I think it's better if you don't go out... your eyes are completely unfocused."
"Move."
Trixie shoved Hailey aside and stubbornly marched out.
Judging by her staggering figure from behind, she'd already lost her wits. Her tongue was twisted too.
Hailey quietly murmured to herself.
"Who the hell did she fall for to end up like that?"
As Hailey replayed the conversation they'd just had, one piece at a time, her eyes suddenly went wide.
"No way, Plan?"
◈
"Hmm..."
At the entrance of the witch-like storage room across from the Magic Tower, Becky stood with her arms folded, a displeased look on her face.
She couldn't help it.
Someone other than herself had also come looking for Plan. It was none other than Louis.
"Becky. What brought you here?"
Louis asked Becky first.
"Huh? Oh, uh... what about you, Louis?"
"I wanted to get some advice from Plan. The way he performed during the assessment really left an impression."
"Oh, I see? I, I'm... uh...."
Becky scratched her cheek. She couldn't exactly come right out and say she was bothered that Yushia was alone with Plan.
"To do the glow-in-the-dark cube together. I'm absolutely crazy about glow-in-the-dark cubes."
"The one Yushia has? That's not a cube, it's a puzzle."
"Pu, puzzle? Uh. I just said puzzle, didn't I?"
"Right, you did. Let's head in together for now, then."
The two of them entered the storage room at the same time.
In the distance, they could see Plan sitting in a chair, deep in concentration.
Bathed in the storage room's light, the boy's shadowed figure was unfailingly lofty.
He looked less like a living person and more like a piece of art sculpted into the pose of someone sitting and reading something.
Both of them stared at Plan's form in silence for a moment.
Elegant.
...Even though all he was doing was fitting together a glow-in-the-dark puzzle.
"Yushia, for every fact you memorize, one puzzle piece. How should a naturally occurring mana disaster be classified?"
"Lord Plan... I don't know anything like that..."
"Am I not teaching you right now? Simply fitting pieces together will yield no development."
"Lord Plan... can't we just fit them together?"
"I won't permit it."
A teary-eyed Yushia, and Plan fitting the glow-in-the-dark puzzle with a dead-serious attitude. The two of them blankly gazed at the somewhat ridiculous scene for a moment.
Suddenly, sensing their presence, Plan turned his head. And the moment he saw the two, his brow furrowed.
"...Oh, oh? Good heavens!"
Yushia, seated across from Plan, wore an expression as if she'd just met the messiah.
"So many people! This is wonderful! Glow-in-the-dark puzzles are more fun with more people!"
But Plan returned his gaze to the glow-in-the-dark puzzle. In the end, Yushia did the same.
"Focus, Yushia. Disasters are generally considered unpredictable phenomena, but if you understand this concept of 'purity