A Free-for-All
Time flew like a bolt of lightning, and before anyone knew it, the first day of the semester had arrived. In the end, Priest Wagner had failed to lure Rita away, and Bayul considered that a stroke of luck. The girl had refused on the grounds that she was terribly busy, but the truth was she simply didn't seem to trust a word the priest said.
If she got tangled up with him for no good reason and someone found out that Death was a demon, there was no telling what trouble would follow. If it ever reached his father's ears, Bayul didn't even want to imagine what would happen next. Keeping Rita as far from Priest Wagner's side as possible was, for now, the best course of action he could take.
I was too hasty.
Inviting Rita to the autumn festival had been a mistake.
It was regret that came too late. He still couldn't forget the look in Priest Wagner's eyes as he had gazed up at Rita. Bayul worried that the two of them might cross paths again at the festival.
"Bayul, is something the matter?"
"…Huh?"
At the familiar voice, Bayul turned to find Logan's golden eyes fixed on him. He hadn't seen Logan once over the entire break.
"Logan, it's been so long! How have you been?"
The joy of seeing him swept Bayul's worries away in an instant. Even while enjoying himself with his other friends, thoughts of Logan had drifted through his mind from time to time.
"Did you not get my letter about meeting at the night market? I waited until dawn!"
"I got it, but I checked too late. I only arrived in Carrington last night."
"Last night?"
"Yeah, there was some business at home that held me up."
"I see. I assumed you'd come a few days early, so I sent word to the Carrington estate."
"By the way, why were you standing there in front of your open locker like you'd lost your mind? Are you feeling ill?"
Once again, Logan's first concern was Bayul's wellbeing. Because Bayul understood that heart of his all too well, he answered with a smile.
"No, it's nothing like that. I was just lost in thought."
If it came out that Rita, on top of himself, had an affinity with the God of Despair, Logan would surely find it strange. Like a thief recoiling at his own legs, now that Bayul knew Death was a demon, he wanted to keep the matter of the affinity under wraps whenever possible.
"Thinking about what?"
Logan had asked without a second thought. But trying to cobble together a lie he wasn't suited for left Bayul's expression stiff and awkward. Logan's eyes narrowed in response, and Bayul scratched the back of his neck for no reason he could name.
What excuse can I make?
Other people could throw out any old thing without a moment's hesitation—so why did his own mouth refuse to open? Once again, Bayul was forced to confront just how bad he was at thinking on his feet.
"Hey there! Good to see you boys! It's been forever!"
Just then, mercifully, a savior appeared.
"Logan! Bayul! How was your break?"
"…Who is that?"
The voice was extremely familiar, yet Bayul couldn't place the person at a glance. Logan was in the same boat. Something about the face felt very familiar, and yet it looked like someone he'd never seen before.
"What, don't tell me you don't recognize me?"
"…Oh!"
At that moment, a name leapt to the front of Bayul's mind.
"Schubik! Sorry! You're so sunburned I didn't recognize you. Why are you this dark, anyway?"
"Because I surfed all break, obviously. Check out this bronze tan. Pretty impressive, right?"
He thrust his charcoal-black forearm out toward Bayul as if showing off a trophy.
"I may have no talent for horseback riding, but surfing? I'm a natural. When a monster wave comes crashing down and you carve right through it—man, that feeling is unbeatable! You have no idea how good it is! They should hold a surfing competition at the festival instead of that riding one. I'd win hands down! I'm a man of the sea! A man who doesn't belong on land!"
"I knew I'd find you doing this! I could hear nothing but your voice from way down the hall!"
As Schubik held Bayul and Logan captive and launched into a long self-satisfied monologue, Aidan appeared, clicking his tongue in disgust.
"Aidan, you're back?"
Beneath the greeting lay a quieter question: was everything all right at the house he'd returned to yesterday? After running away without a word and staying out for nights on end, he deserved a proper scolding, and there was nothing he could say in his own defense.
"Yep. Alive and well, as you can see."
I'll tell you the details later.
The sidelong glance he cast at Schubik was anything but ordinary. Contrary to everyone's worries he had come back in one piece, but it looked as though things had not been entirely uneventful.
"That answer's a little off, isn't it? I ask how you've been and you say you're 'alive and well.' Something happened, Aidan."
At any rate, Schubik was a born natural when it came to sniffing out a story. His eyes narrowed to slits in an instant as he began scrutinizing Aidan.
"Happen? Nothing happened. I was bored half to death the whole break, that's all."
"You live in Carrington and you don't even surf? Do you have any idea how fun it is, how fast the time flies?"
"You think everyone who lives by the sea spends all day splashing in the water like you? You simpleton!"
"'Simpleton'?! It's the first day of the semester and you're already insulting me?"
"Didn't I tell you to get your spelling right before you send me letters?"
"…Wait, what? It was wrong?"
Watching Schubik falter, Aidan let out a long, long sigh.
"If it had been one or two mistakes, I'd have let it go. I would have. Ugh! I nearly threw your letter and everything else in the trash, and I only wrote back out of respect for the effort you put in!"
There were eyes watching, so he wrapped things up there. The moment Aidan had first laid eyes on Schubik's letter, he had been genuinely speechless.
Can he possibly master spelling before he graduates…?
From the bottom of his heart, Aidan prayed that somehow, he would.
"You rotten brat! Air my dirty laundry in front of everyone, why don't you!"
"What? Dirty laundry? Do you even know what that phrase actually means? Want me to lay it all out right here?"
The moment Aidan reached for his bag, Schubik scrambled in front of him in a panic to block the way.
"Don't tell me you brought it with you?"
"And throw it away? What do you take me for?"
"Y-you said the spelling was all wrong anyway! Just toss it, why don't you!"
"And waste perfectly good leverage? Something I can hold over you for years? Why on earth would I throw that away? Are you insane?"
"…You spiteful jerk!"
"Heard it before."
"You heartless fiend!"
"That too."
Every time Schubik hurled an insult, Aidan nodded solemnly with his eyes closed. On the surface it looked like Aidan tormenting Schubik, but to Bayul, the boy was clearly enjoying a bit of playful teasing. He must have missed Schubik terribly after so long apart.
"So keep that mouth of yours in check. I'll publish these letters any time I like!"
Victory belonged to Aidan. Under that threat, Schubik surrendered with a full-body shudder. He burned with a fierce glare that swore vengeance, but nothing was ever going to go the way he wanted.
"There, now that we've settled that—time for you to earn your keep. Any news?"
"News?"
"Yeah, anything interesting happen over the break? Digging that stuff up is your specialty, isn't it?"
"Hmm. Nothing particularly special this time around, seeing as it's the first day of the semester. The only thing I've got is that the Gentleman of the Wind has returned to work."
"The Gentleman of the Wind?"
Only one person in the whole world was known by that name, and everyone knew exactly who he was.
The Gentleman of the Wind, who appeared without fail whenever the Academy faced a crisis, resolved it, and vanished again.
It was the name given to Rayegar—Eli's adoptive father and the Chairman of Carrington Academy.
"What business does the Chairman have here? Normally he'd be nowhere to be seen, right? I heard he couldn't care less about running the Academy."
"That used to be true. I guess he's had a change of heart."
But that's a problem…
Rayegar was the one person guaranteed to set Eli off. The image of Eli gleefully declaring he'd never have to see the man once the break ended flashed through Bayul's mind, and suddenly everything went dark before his eyes.
"Probably on account of Rai, if you ask me?"
"Hey!"
"Schubik!"
At Bayul and Aidan's simultaneous shout, Schubik staggered backward in alarm.
"Go ahead and say that to Rai's face. Hmm? You'll know better then, won't you?"
Aidan's expression said it all. However badly Schubik ran his mouth, even he had his limits. There was no way he didn't know that Eli flew into a rage whenever the Chairman came up.
"Aw, come on, I told you I don't go after people's families, didn't I? I only said it because Rai isn't here! What do you take me for?"
"…You never know when he might show up, that's why! Just be careful. Don't slip up."
"I'll keep my own mouth in line, so how about you rein in that hair-trigger temper of yours?"
"Schubik, Aidan only said that out of consideration for Rai. So don't take it to heart. I—"
Bayul was just moving to smooth over the awkward atmosphere when—
"Hey! You lot, this is no time to stand around!"
A student sprinting past spotted the group and shouted.
"There's a fight outside!"
"A fight?"
"The Magic Department and the Divine Studies Department—sounds like it's a full-on brawl between them!"
"Huh? Why on earth would they?"
It was the first day of the second semester. With some students not even having arrived at school yet, who in the world had started a brawl?
"I only caught it secondhand, but supposedly the Magic Department trashed the Divine Studies students' herb garden? So the Divine Studies crowd stormed over in a mob!"
"Hold on—speaking of which, where's Rai? I don't see him anywhere!"
"Don't tell me…!"
"Quinn isn't here yet either."
Thankfully, Quinn belonged to the Administration Department, so he surely wouldn't be caught up in the brawl. But the odds that Eli had been swept into it were high. Without a word about who went first, everyone bolted.
By the time Bayul and his friends reached the Magic Department hall, chaos of the highest order had broken out. Dozens of students tangled together in a storm of fists and shoving—it was a spectacle to behold.
No one carried a weapon, and yet skin tore and blood flew. Students already sprawled on the ground, unable to move, were beyond counting.
The one mercy was that no one had resorted to magic or divine power. Had they done so, the incident would certainly have escalated into something far worse.
"Ah, for the love of—I said knock it off already!"
"Everybody calm down!"
Just as expected, Eli was in the thick of it. True to his model-student reputation, however, he wasn't fighting—only trying to break things up—but there was no telling when a stray fist might find him.
"Quinn!"
For some reason, it was at the very fringe of the battlefield that Bayul spotted Quinn. The distance between them was considerable, yet Quinn's disdainful expression was crystal clear.
"Brawling on the very first day. I can't just stand here and watch this nonsense."
Quinn swept his gaze across the hall and shook his head slowly. Then, in a heartbeat, his eyes turned ice cold. The blue hair swaying at his hip seemed to deepen in color, and in the next instant, a torrent of water came crashing down from the sky.
WHOOOOOSH!
It was like a colossal waterfall. Water from the nearby fountain arced through the air and came down in a drenching shower over the heads of every student caught up in the brawl.
"There. Much quieter now."
The hall fell silent at a stroke, and the shouts of the students who had been trying to break up the fight rang out crisp and clear in the sudden stillness.
Quinn walked past the hall as if nothing had happened at all. The disturbance was over, so the rest was their problem to sort out—was the message his unhurried, solitary exit seemed to send as he strolled away.