The Lake of That Day
"Aidan, Eli, Logan — congratulations, all three of you! Topping your departments side by side like that? That's amazing!"
Stepping out of the dining hall, the din faded at once. Thanks to Schubik's tireless efforts, the hallway outside was mercifully quieter than the chaos within.
"I did work pretty hard, I suppose."
As Eli puffed up his chest, the crimson sunset melted away behind him. For an instant, his hair and eyes caught the dying light in an uncanny shimmer, wreathing him in an almost mystical aura.
"Aidan, thank goodness you're getting the scholarship. You've been working and studying at the same time — it must have been exhausting. Really impressive."
"So all that whining about failing your exams was a load of rubbish, huh? You sly little wretch!"
Apparently aggrieved at having been fooled all this while, Eli ruffled Aidan's hair into a complete mess.
"Ah, come on, why are you grabbing my hair! It's curly enough as it is — one drop of rain and I'm miserable already!"
Now that he mentioned it, the boy's hair did look wilder than usual today. He probably had no idea that it only made him that much more endearing.
"And for the record, I really did bomb the exam. I blanked on questions I actually knew and got two extra wrong. And I'm the one who supposedly knew nothing."
"Hey, that was me saying you did well. You placed first and landed the scholarship — mission accomplished. What are you being so touchy about?"
"…Eli."
Bayul moved to stop him, but the next words had already spilled from Eli's lips.
"Or is it that you couldn't take first place all by yourself? Tied with Logan, was it?"
Silence, as they say, is consent. Aidan stalked ahead without a word, his back radiating pure sulk. He had wanted so badly to beat Logan, and failing to do so must have stung all the more. Bayul felt sorry for him — but there was no one to blame for it, least of all Logan.
"Logan. Congratulations."
Bayul offered the words in a whisper low enough that Aidan couldn't hear. Aidan was Aidan, but his heart ached for Logan too, who was being resented for no reason at all.
"Thank you, Bayul."
Logan smiled and shook his head, as if to say he didn't mind a bit.
"But are we sure we can trust this?"
"Hm? What do you mean, Quinn?"
At Quinn's sudden suspicion, everyone stopped mid-stride, as though on cue.
"The results haven't been officially announced yet. Isn't it a little early to take Schubik's word for it?"
"Don't tell me you're doubting this because *you* didn't place first, Quinn?"
"How pathetic. I couldn't care less about rankings."
"Schubik may be a nosy little weasel, but he's never once brought us bad information. It can't be a lie."
"True or not, it's no concern of mine. But sneaking in to peek at official documents is a nasty habit. One of these days, it's going to land him in serious trouble."
"Oh? Are you actually worried about Schubik right now, Quinn?"
"Apparently it can come across that way."
Quinn was a prince of the Mermaid Kingdom. Having personally handled royal affairs, he found it absurd and outrageous that a mere student had secretly gotten his hands on official correspondence like a cooperation directive. The Academy, for failing to properly guard its documents, was at fault as well — and from Quinn's rather fastidious standpoint, Schubik's unauthorized leak of information did nothing to improve his opinion of the boy.
"So… do you think we'll actually get to go to Vergara?"
"Oh, so the mute finally speaks?"
Aidan, who had done nothing but sulk since leaving the dining hall, finally joined the conversation.
"What choice do I have? I'll just have to accept it."
He shot a sidelong glance at Logan as he made his vow.
"Next semester, I'm taking first place all on my own. No matter what."
"That's all you have to show for your silence?"
"What would a selfish hog of the top spot know? I'm worried they'll split the scholarship down the middle again."
"Is that why you didn't even bother to congratulate him?"
"…Didn't I already?"
"Nope."
Eli folded his arms and settled in to wait, radiating an air of hurry up and say it from every pore.
Only then did Aidan look a little sheepish. He'd been so busy fretting over tuition money that he'd forgotten what actually mattered. And Eli's own finances were hardly flush, either.
"That hot temper of yours is always the problem. Congratulations, Eli. Honestly, I'm jealous!"
"They say if you're jealous, you've already lost. So does that mean I win?"
It was a shameless bit of posturing, but there was no way Eli missed the sincerity beneath it. Teasing him back in kind was simply Aidan's way of offering comfort.
"Well then, I'm glad you won!"
"Nothing wrong with that. Eek!"
The ground was soaked and squelchy after the rain. Eli picked his way across solid stones and asked, "Weren't you the one who never cared about the imperial palace, by the way? Why bring it up now?"
"That document said they're inviting outstanding students, didn't it? Obviously they'll select by grades."
"So I could go too? Logan will be there, and it'd just be you and Quinn left behind?"
"Honestly, I'd rather stay here."
"Duke Randert will be there too, you know. Don't you want to see your father?"
His friends would never guess. That it was precisely that father who made it impossible for him to go. Bayul was not yet ready, in his heart, to face his father.
"If we go, we all go together. Why should just you two miss out? There has to be a way."
"A way?"
"Yeah. I can't think of one right now, but I'll work on it. If we're not all going together, I don't want to go."
"Why do you seem so eager to go, Eli?"
"I am a little curious. Who knows — maybe I'll end up making friends with the Crown Prince?"
If something like that actually happened, life might get a good deal more entertaining.
"Surely there won't be other conditions attached, right? Grades are one thing, but they might weigh family name and background too."
"Could you not pour cold water on the meal just as it's served? Oh, right — you've all got such wonderful backgrounds, don't you? Well, the truth is I just haven't bothered to mention it, but my own background is pretty tremendous, thank you very much! One day you'll find out and keel over in shock!"
"Then tell us now. What is it?"
"No. Not yet."
What kind of secret was that, to blurt out so carelessly?
Eli tilted his chin up with a derisive sniff, and his face seemed to say exactly that.
"Bayul."
Somehow they were nearly at the dormitories. Before they parted, Logan stopped Bayul as if he had something to ask.
"I've been puzzling over this for a while. That affinity of yours — shouldn't it normally only arise in the faithful? It makes no sense for a god to choose someone who doesn't even believe in him."
"I don't understand it either. Until recently, I didn't even know the God of Despair's name. And then suddenly I have this affinity… Honestly, it baffles me more than finding out I was a Spirit User did."
"Are you two idiots?"
Aidan cut in, as though the answer were painfully obvious.
"Keep it simple. You passed out a while back and got treated at the temple, remember? And after that, the affinity suddenly appeared. So what does that tell you?"
"What?"
Even Quinn, who'd been drifting along half-listening, stopped and focused at Aidan's tone of utter conviction.
"Simple. The god took a liking to you."
"…Took a liking to me?"
"Yep! You caught his eye the moment he saw you. You remember that day at the temple, when the spirits went wild?"
The nightmarish, skin-crawling scenes of that day surfaced in everyone's minds at once.
"The god must have been acting strange too, just like us. Out of curiosity, maybe."
"So he marked you down for later?"
"Yep. Makes sense, doesn't it?"
The eyes of everyone but Aidan tangled together in a wordless exchange.
Could that really be possible?
Does that boy even have a brain?
Astonishing that he topped his department with that head.
"What's with this creepy silence?"
"I genuinely thought about it for once. I asked myself what I would say if I were you, in this exact situation!"
"Ugh, I told you my guess would be right! One day you'll all admit it!"
"Oh, right — guys. There's something I need to tell you."
The affinity aside, Bayul had a more important matter to settle. It was something he couldn't do without his friends' help, so he needed their agreement first.
"I think I need to train again."
"Training… you mean go back to that place?"
The livestock paddock — that beloved, loathed ground thick with the stench of animal dung. Eli shook his head over and over, insisting he couldn't.
"I heard about this in geography class."
Bayul laid out before his friends the true conditions of the people living in the Zaia Coal Mine. None of them had known, and their faces showed genuine shock.
"It's shameless of me to ask, but please. I can't do this alone."
"Why are you even asking? You have my full support!"
"Thank you, Aidan."
"How much practice will it take to put out that fire, I wonder?"
Quinn's roundabout way of saying he was in.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Of course, Logan. You'd be an enormous help."
"And Eli?"
Every gaze turned naturally toward Eli. Whether he knew it or not, he was wearing almost exactly the same expression as he had on the day the paddock was first chosen as their training ground.
"Eli, if you really hate it…"
"You do realize that without me, you can't even begin?"
"All too well."
In everyday life Eli was gentle, considerate, almost avuncular — but he had a delicate stomach and a fastidious streak that couldn't endure the slightest filth.
That was exactly why Bayul felt sorry for him, and all the more grateful. However much Eli shuddered, he still stood by them, and Bayul was moved by that kindness every time.
"You'll repay me a hundredfold later. Promise!"
"Absolutely! Thank you, Eli. I swear I'll make it up to you!"
Just as Bayul happily made his vow, rain began pouring down once more from the quiet evening sky.
"Eek, it's raining again."
"Don't we have outdoor class tomorrow? What if it gets cancelled because of the rain?"
"That's what you're worried about right now? Run, already!"
Eli had always abhorred getting caught in the rain. He bolted first, Aidan on his heels, then Logan and Quinn, and finally Bayul — each dashing off toward their own dormitory.
"My shoes are filthy."
Quinn was just tugging off his mud-caked shoes when his gaze snagged on Bayul's legs.
"…How are yours so clean?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Your shoes. Did you call on Innocent just now or something?"
Not a speck of dirt, let alone water, marred Bayul's shoes — a jarring contrast to Quinn's sodden pair. They had walked and run over the exact same ground, which made it all the stranger.
"No, I didn't—"
"I'd better wash up too, then."
Bayul was still trying to insist he'd never called Innocent, but Quinn moved faster. The moment he vanished into the bathroom, the sound of running water followed. And through all of it, Bayul stood staring down at his own shoes, looking as if something about them made no sense at all.