38. We're Friends, Right?
38. We're Friends, Right?
"Ugh... nngh..."
Whimpering, I barely managed to finish my bath, then flopped onto the bed and sprawled out.
The fluffy blanket wrapped around my whole body, tickling me. The gentle scent of the fresh blanket spread softly, kneading my mind into drowsiness.
"Haaah..."
Back at the main house, whenever I lay naked on the bed like that, Sara would nag me like crazy. But being alone was so comfortable it was ridiculous.
I rolled over and hugged the blanket tight with my arms and legs. The blanket hugged me back, snug and warm.
In that state, I blinked slowly, my heavy eyelids moving.
A light came into view—not dazzling, but not shabby either, just a decent size.
Around it, ornate golden trim was set into the ceiling, reflecting the light.
It didn't hurt my eyes even when I stared at it for a while, so it must have been finished with a Mana Stone.
When I turned my head, a wall that looked plush and soft at a glance came into view.
When I touched it, it really was plush and soft.
What kind of material could possibly feel like this?
Pulling my eyes from the wall, I looked around broadly, and the room didn't fit in a single glance.
It was spacious. Not as much as my room at the main house, of course, but far too spacious for a private room given to a student.
"Nice..."
The bathroom was inside the room too, and the bath had a tub. It was the kind of tub where you filled it with water, pressed a button, and it bubbled away while giving you something like a massage.
And next to it, there were six kinds of bath additives.
Four scented ones. Two bubble ones.
One of them supposedly contained medicinal herbs, so I dissolved it and soaked in it. I couldn't tell whether it had any effect, but the smell was incredible.
Seeing things like this, the thought that I'd made the right choice joining Signia kept growing and growing.
And most importantly, room cleaning.
Apparently, if I told the head maid in the central hall of the Signia building, they'd even clean my room before class.
It was such incredible service that I almost wondered if it was spoiling the kids rotten.
Ah, well, for the kids who were nobles anyway, this was all just normal, so maybe it's the same for them.
"Heh heh... hmm..."
I shifted my body a few times, rubbing my scent into the bed and blanket, then sat up.
I hugged a big pillow against my empty-feeling body and replayed what had happened earlier.
Leona Megenberta.
What exactly was that Beastkin, to use martial combat so similar to Arisa's?
...At first I wasn't sure, but after getting pummeled by those fists over fifty times, I couldn't help but recognize the resemblance to Arisa's movements.
She was strong. Really strong.
Maybe not as strong as Arisa, but if a Beastkin like her had existed four hundred years ago, she'd have been strong enough to leave an impression.
And she had a lot of secrets.
But even if I asked, she wouldn't tell me.
Whenever the topic of the master who'd taught her came up, she gave off a sharp aura and hid it.
And after beating me down harder than before, she'd grin and taunt me, saying she'd tell me if I beat her.
She hid her age, and she hid her hometown.
But she didn't hide her hatred for the Demon King, or her hatred for Demons.
I didn't know her real personality either.
I knew the playful personality she showed on the surface wasn't her real one.
The more I thought about it, the more it felt like I was being sucked into deeper questions.
Still.
Still.
Because it felt like I'd found a trace of Arisa.
Not a trace left behind in some damn fairy tale, but a real trace of us.
Because I couldn't shake the thought that maybe, just maybe, Leona knew something I didn't.
My heart pounded, just a little.
Well, that's that.
"Tch... I'm hungry."
Right now, I'm starving.
I should've eaten meat instead of noodles.
Still, it's too late now, so maybe I'll eat tomorrow.
If I factor in washing up and heading out, I'd need to wake up at seven, but it's already four.
It doesn't matter much if I don't sleep, but thinking about tomorrow's spar with Leona... it'd be best to sleep as much as I can while I can.
"Mmm..."
Should I just give up on sleep and go work out?
One day without sleep should be fine, I thought, and was just about to get up when—
Ding— ding—
"What the...?"
My Device rang.
Not just once, but over and over, again and again.
Who's calling at this hour?
"Nngh... haah..."
I crawled over and picked up the Device that had fallen by the shoe rack.
On the screen, Eurasia's name was displayed, along with a green square and a red square.
I was supposed to press the green one, right?
I flopped onto the bare floor, then pressed the green square firmly.
And then.
[Oh, were you sleeping, u-um... uh...?]
Eurasia's face appeared on the Device screen. Not only that, but in the left corner, my own image appeared, very small.
"What the. Your face shows up?"
Wasn't it supposed to be voice-only?
I rubbed my bleary eyes and looked at Eurasia on the screen. Her face was bright red, and her eyes were darting around—she looked uneasy somehow.
[Ah, a-ahhh... m-my, my lady... my lady?]
"Why are you still up? Did something happen?"
[Um, well, th-that... ha, haa... hee...]
"What's wrong with you?"
She raised her hand to cover her eyes, then lowered it. She scrunched up her face, then trembled. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them wide.
After gaping like that for a while, Eurasia quietly closed her eyes and whispered.
[...My lady. You... you should put some clothes on.]
"...Clothes?"
Ah, right.
I was completely naked.
"Oh..."
[I-I'm sorry. I should have said something right away, but I was so, so flustered...]
Even while apologizing, Eurasia's eyes were fixed straight ahead.
"You say you're sorry, but what's with you staring straight at me?"
[What?! Ah, I mean, u-uh... eep!]
Eurasia squeezed her eyes shut.
I watched her and giggled.
"What's the big deal if you see a little? It's fine."
Anyway, I'm in a woman's body right now, aren't I?
The same kind of body as Eurasia.
Is there any reason to be embarrassed about showing my body to someone of the same sex?
Well, sure, there are things to be embarrassed about, but I didn't show the parts that should be embarrassing.
At most, all she saw was my upper body.
There's nothing weird about showing your upper body to someone of the same sex.
In my Past Life, when I was living as a mercenary with Paulo—no, not just the two of us, but every member of the mercenary band went shirtless in the summer.
So showing your upper body to someone of the same sex is no big deal.
Which means I have nothing to be embarrassed about.
I was startled for a second, but that was because Eurasia overreacted. I don't actually feel embarrassed.
If I saw Eurasia's body, I'd probably be just as shocked as she is, but showing a little of my own body? Whatever.
Honestly, there's nothing to see.
"So, did you have something to say?"
[Y-yes?! No, I mean, that... um... uhh...]
Eurasia's lips were trembling, and her eyes kept drifting downward.
I mean, sure, I said it was fine.
But when she keeps sneaking glances like that, it makes me feel a little weird too...
For now, I raised the arm that wasn't holding the Device and subtly covered my chest.
There's nothing to cover, but I covered it anyway.
[Hah... I-I, uh, haah... hah...]
At that, Eurasia's face turned even redder.
"Stop making weird noises and tell me if you have something to say. Oh, look at that. Now you're just openly staring?"
[N-no! That's not it! Haa, um... what was I going to say... say?]
"How should I know?"
[Awww... haa, I-I forgot. If I remember later, I'll... tell you then!]
In the end, Eurasia's image appeared on the screen with her eyes squeezed shut and her head bowed.
"Hold on."
[Y-yes...?!]
Eurasia's tightly shut eyelids slowly opened.
"Want to work up a sweat together for the first time in a while?"
It had been a long time since Eurasia and I had done morning training together.
Before coming to the academy, we'd always done it together, but it had already been five days since we'd stopped.
[S-sweat... sweat, sweat...?!]
"Yeah. I don't think I can sleep anyway. If you're up for it, put on your training clothes and come to my room."
[Y-your, room, room... your room...? Huh? Training clothes? Oh, no... you meant exercise... haa... I-I don't think I can today... I'm sorry...]
"Yeah? Then it can't be helped."
[Yes. I'm... sorry. Tomorrow, let's definitely go together...]
"What's there to be sorry about? Got it. Rest well, and I'll see you later."
[Y-yes... I'll h-hang up now.]
"Yeah."
I nodded, and about ten seconds later, the screen clicked off.
During those ten seconds, Eurasia kept sneaking glances at my face and the chest I was covering with my arm.
"What's there to look at that she keeps staring like that?"
I giggled, rolled around for about thirty more minutes, then got up.
*****
"Hmm, hm hm. Hmm hmm—"
The Signia building dormitory.
In one of its rooms, Stella Verheigen lay on her stomach on the bed, wearing nothing but a loose white T-shirt, humming the lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was little.
"No matter what, I told her to send a confirmation message, so at least a short one should come, right?"
Hm hm— the humming started again.
In both her hands, she clutched her Device tightly.
Earlier, at lunchtime.
Stella had subtly given Eurasia her number. It hadn't been easy, but she'd managed to pass it along as naturally as possible!
Not only that, she'd even shown the composure to ask Eurasia to pass it along to Eliarnes too.
And after giving her the number, she'd said, slowly.
Slowly!—emphasizing it—that she should just send one confirmation message once she got back to the dormitory.
Not clingy, not pathetic, but aloof!
"Hm hm. It was perfect."
It truly was perfect.
Honestly, if Eliarnes had been at the table during the meal, it wouldn't have been easy, but fortunately she wasn't there, so it had ended perfectly.
According to Eurasia, she'd gone off to talk privately with the Vice Dean, though she didn't know what about.
Either way, it was a relief.
Because she'd been able to exchange numbers naturally.
Smiling broadly, Stella tapped her Device—tap, tap—and took in the still-empty contact list.
Not yet. Not yet! Soon, two people's numbers would be saved in it.
Believing that with all her heart, Stella hummed continuously for one hour, two hours.
Three hours.
She waited until it had been four hours.
No message came.
"...Why?"
She'd definitely given Eurasia her number.
And.
'It's not like I particularly want to give it to her, but Eliarnes might be curious, so could you pass it along for me? It's not that I want to give it to her myself, but knowing Eliarnes's personality, she might not ask because of her pride.'
She'd even said all that.
So why wasn't there any message?
Even giving a hundred concessions, she could accept that Eliarnes might not contact her.
That foul-tempered brat would absolutely do that.
But... why wasn't Eurasia contacting her...?
The humming that had been trailing off weakly came to an abrupt stop.
Her two feet, which had been swaying gently above the bed, also stopped moving.
A heavy silence.
Even the Device was quiet.
The only thing visible was the messy fingerprints smudged on the black screen.
"...Was I... the only one who thought we'd gotten close...?"
Stella's murmur came out wet.
"She... she must have forgotten... right...?"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"E-Eurasia would never do that..."
Sniff. Sniffle.
Stella forced back the runny nose, then waited another forty-eight minutes before falling asleep.
In the hands of Stella, who slept curled up like a shrimp without even pulling up the blanket, the silent Device was clutched tightly.