Catching a Scent
The next class was history. The moment they stepped into the corridor to head to their new lecture hall, countless students' eyes swiveled toward Bayul all over again.
I should have stopped by the dorm and changed into my uniform.
He couldn't stop regretting not having been able to visit his room first.
"I've got mounted combat next, so I'd better get going. Rai, you're in the same class as Bayul, right?"
"Yeah, we're together all day today."
So rest easy. That was exactly the look on Eli's face as he patted Aidan on the shoulder.
"See you at the dining hall later, Bayul."
"Sure. Take care, Aidan."
"Take care? Of what?"
Aidan froze mid-turn at Bayul's parting words.
"Mounted combat means riding horses, doesn't it?"
"That's right. Sometimes we even drill with lances and swords."
"So, then……"
"Don't tell me you're worried I'll fall off a horse."
To Bayul, horses were among the most dangerous of animals. It wasn't that he couldn't ride — it was simply that mounting one took a fair amount of courage. The height alone was intimidating, and one wrong stumble could mean getting trampled by hooves, or worse, losing your life entirely.
When Bayul gave a careful, cautious nod that said exactly that, Aidan's face darkened at once.
"Bayul, aren't you underestimating me? Just because I'm shorter than you, you're looking down on me. Aren't you?"
"No, that's not—"
"In case you didn't know, short as I am, I could easily rank in the top ten of our year on skill alone. And more than that! When it comes to riding, there's no one in my year — no, in the whole school — who can touch me!"
"Hey, hey, why are you getting so worked up? He was just worried about you. Riding's a scary thing, you know. How frightening is it when a horse really starts to gallop? Right, Bayul?"
"Mm, yeah… that's actually why I'm not very good at riding……"
Catching the signal in Eli's eyes, Bayul hurried to add the explanation. He had no idea why a simple "take care" had sounded like an insult, but he wanted to clear up the misunderstanding as quickly as possible. A small dread crept over him — that he might lose the friend he'd only just made.
"…Oh. Is that really it?"
"It's not that I dislike horses. Riding itself is just a bit……"
"Plenty of people are scared of horses. It's fine, it's fine."
Eli patted Bayul on the back and comforted him at his cowed reply. Which meant the flustered one was now Aidan.
"Sorry, if that's what you meant. Some old memory of being mocked just flashed through my head and I couldn't help myself……"
"This guy got teased something awful early in the semester for being so small. He still hasn't gotten over it, so he blows up like this sometimes. Go easy on him, Bayul."
"I'm sorry, Aidan. I didn't mean to cause a misunderstanding over nothing."
"No, now that I think about it, coming from your situation it was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. This is all on me and my hot temper. I'm the one who's sorry."
"I'll be more careful next time. I really am sorry for making you feel bad, even for a moment."
"How many times do I have to say it wasn't? I was the hasty one. If anyone should apologize……"
Pfft.
Watching the two of them wallow in mutual embarrassment over absolutely nothing, Eli couldn't hold back a laugh.
Because they're adorable, that's why.
"Can't you both just drop it now? The sun's going to come up at this rate. We need to get moving before the bell rings."
"Oh, right, look at me. I've got to gather my riding gear, there's no time for this. Anyway, Bayul — see you later! Watch carefully what kind of show this guy puts on and tell me all about it!"
"Will do. Off you go, now."
"…Show?"
At Bayul's puzzled look, Eli slung an arm around his shoulders and started walking.
"Well, who told you to demolish the Ga Kingdom language so spectacularly? The others' expectations have probably skyrocketed by now."
"I never thought I was particularly good at it. So……"
"I know. From what I saw earlier, you were the most surprised one of all. Heh heh. Well, I'm looking forward to history class. You confident you can answer well? Professor Rothius likes to ask a lot of questions. And his specialty is hounding you until you actually produce an answer, too."
As for questions — he'd already received his first one the moment they'd met. Though he hadn't known it was the man's specialty.
"Still, don't be too nervous. It'll be a fun time."
A picture-perfect smile bloomed on Eli's face, but Bayul couldn't bring himself to smile back. He'd somehow managed to get through the first class, but he had no confidence he could repeat the trick for the next one. And Professor Rothius, of all people. Remembering their first encounter, he couldn't even begin to imagine what the class would be like.
Please, just let the questions be ones I know.
Anxiety smoldered slowly to life in the back of Bayul's mind as he made his way to the lecture hall.
"Skipping class again, I see."
The only one genuinely disappointed was Eli. He pouted his lips and grumbled away. Judging by his tone, this was clearly a regular occurrence.
He can't still be asleep… can he?
It took precisely one second for Bayul's "surely not" to become reality.
"I bet he's sleeping, safe bet. Hm. I just hope the Chairman doesn't catch wind of it."
A student worrying about his teacher — it felt like something had been turned upside down, yet somehow strangely natural. Every now and then, Eli gave off an adult maturity that didn't belong to someone his age.
"Professor Rothius is wonderful in every way except one — he loves his morning sleep far too much. He skips Monday classes constantly."
Eli seemed genuinely bummed about being stuck with self-directed study. Everyone else was in high spirits over it, yet he alone kept grumbling on and on.
It was a flimsy excuse, but Bayul found himself remembering Professor Rothius's complaint about having to wake up early on his account. Taken at his word, then, Bayul had inadvertently contributed to this very truancy — and felt a small pang of guilt toward Eli.
But really — could a professor get away with skipping class like this? Students accrued penalty points, and if those piled up, they could even be held back a year. Wasn't there some consequence for professors as well?
The question nagged at him, but it wasn't really Bayul's business. For now, he was simply glad to have escaped the barrage of questions.
Dong! Dong!
The bell announcing the start of class rang out. The scattered students shuffled and drifted to their seats.
Just as Bayul was wondering whether he should at least open a book, the door creaked open and he walked in.
Quinn, was it? The merfolk boy who had stared at him with that strange, unsettling look. At his entrance, Bayul swallowed involuntarily.
"Hey, Quinn!"
Just then, Eli called out to him in a friendly voice.
Bayul nearly jumped out of his skin. Were the two of them close? What would he do if Quinn came this way? What should he say if that boy stared at him strangely again?
His pulse shot up at the sudden turn of events.
"……!"
But all of that worry proved to be for nothing. Quinn simply passed by as if he hadn't heard a thing. He must have heard the call perfectly well, yet without so much as a glance at Eli, he made his way to a corner of the lecture hall and sat down.
Is it because of me?
"Hey, fish-breath! Why the hell are you sitting over here stinking the place up?!"
The seats around Quinn were almost entirely empty. Even so, one boy sitting a full two seats away suddenly sprang up cursing and moved himself somewhere even farther off.
Bayul's and Eli's faces hardened at the same instant. It had been the same in the plaza — the sheer nakedness of the hostility, the way these people flaunted their disgust so openly, never ceased to astonish Bayul.
Different lineage does not mean lesser. That's what I was taught.
They were higher beings, capable of the same thoughts as humans, possessed of the same emotions. Unlike humans, they could even breathe underwater — one might argue they were far superior to humankind. To suffer such humiliation for no reason other than being merfolk made no sense at all. Bayul couldn't understand the children who spat such cruelty without hesitation, and they frightened him too. And above all, his heart ached for Quinn, who took it all without any defense.
"He could just come sit over here with us, but no, he has to go over there and get cursed at. I keep telling you — stubborn as a mule, that one."
"Aren't you one to talk, Eli?"
A girl materialized in front of Eli out of nowhere. Her beaming, smiling face was almost oppressively cheerful, and she wore her feelings openly — affection for Eli, unmistakable curiosity toward Bayul.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
For the first time, a curt note crept into the voice of Rai, who had maintained his politeness all day. Yet the girl only tipped her head back and burst out laughing, as if nothing could delight her more.
"You're just as stubborn as he is. Khek-hek. So am I, for that matter."
"So why does that make us the same?"
"You pretend Quinn doesn't even exist, yet he comes up to you every single time. I come up to you every single time, and you never give me the time of day. Aren't we exactly alike? Some people would call that destiny made in——"
"It's not destiny, so shut it and go sit down. You'll give the transfer student the wrong idea."
"Oh, now that you mention it, I forgot to greet the transfer student. Hi there! I'm Alice. Nice to meet you."
Alice greeted Bayul while brushing off Eli's words entirely.
"Mm, I'm……"
"I know — Bayul, right? Son of Duke Randert. The news that you'd enrolled at the Academy is today's big story. They say you speak the Ga Kingdom language brilliantly?"
It's already spread that far? A faint blush of embarrassment warmed his cheeks.
"What's your secret? I found the Ga Kingdom language impossibly hard."
"Is there anything that comes easy to you, Alice?"
Another jab, most unlike Eli. Judging by the situation, Alice clearly had feelings for Eli, and Eli clearly found her — and her attentions — tiresome and annoying.
"Of course not! Which is exactly why I'm asking you to help me, Eli!"
"How many times have I told you to call me Rai."
"Nope. It's my choice."
Eli's red eyes raked over Alice coldly. A gaze that seemed indifferent on the surface, yet somehow sent a chill down the spine.
"E-everyone calls you Rai. If I'm the only one calling you Eli, it makes me feel… special, you know?"
She faltered for a moment, but Alice was not one to give up easily.
"What good does being special all by yourself do you? Take delusion too far and it becomes a sickness."
"You're one to talk about regret, Eli — what if you end up regretting this later? My mother always said there's no tree that won't fall after ten knocks!"
"My tree won't budge an inch. It's far too big and too sturdy for that. So don't get your hopes up — fold them away. You're not my type."
It was a rejection of a sort — polite, even — but Eli's expression was utterly frigid. Cold enough to bring to mind Lanasa's face from their encounter on the train.
Perhaps that was why. The color drained from Alice's face, which had been all smiles until now.
"Eli, don't you think you're going too far? After everything I've said, you could at least just accept it. What's wrong with me, exactly?"
Her voice climbed higher and higher, caring nothing for the students who had begun to turn and stare.
"My family is distinguished, and by any standard my looks don't fall short anywhere I go. And compared to that, what are you? All you've got is a pretty face. A gypsy with no roots, no pedigree — where do you get off holding your nose so high?"