84. Good News and Better News
84. Good News and Better News
From morning until afternoon, through all the elective lectures, Stella—whom I ran into now and then—still looked drained.
As if that weren't enough, after the lectures ended she even turned down an invitation to dinner, then shut herself up in her room.
Pina, who always stuck to Stella like a set, left saying she hadn't been able to follow today's classes properly and needed to take supplementary lessons.
Eurasia was sluggishly packing her things.
"Ugh... I should get going soon."
Today was the day Eurasia headed down to her family home.
Normally she wouldn't have been able to leave because of the off-campus ban, but thanks to the influence of our First Princess and Second Princess, she'd apparently been able to leave the academy without any issue.
How impressive.
"Right. You said you're coming back next Friday?"
"Yep... Should I come back a little earlier?"
"No. Rest up and come back. But don't skip your morning training. You have to keep up your morning exercise consistently so your routine doesn't fall apart and it becomes a habit. Once that happens, eventually it'll be like breathing—"
"Uwaaaaaah, I get it!"
"...Huh, what's with her?"
Eurasia, not backing down even under my sharp glare, puffed out her cheeks.
"I'm going to be away from you for a whole week, and you're going to nag me right up until I leave?!"
"Nagging? This isn’t nagging, you dope. It’s all for your own good."
"...Whatever."
"Whatever, my ass."
I pinched her fully puffed cheeks.
Then, looking at Eurasia with her cheeks stretched out, I giggled and said,
"Have a good trip. Don't get hurt."
"Yes."
"Watch out for carriages on the way, and watch out for people."
"Hehe... my lady."
When I let go of her cheeks, Eurasia's expression softened into a smile.
"Hm?"
"You're seventeen, two years younger than me, and you look all dainty and pretty like this, right? So why... when I just look at the way you talk, do you seem like my grandmother?"
"What's this? Is today the last time we're seeing each other? Are you writing your resignation today, Eurasia?"
"Eek... That's not it. It's just a little... um... Anyway, sometimes when I look at you, my lady, you seem way older than me."
Because I actually am...
About thirty years older, maybe?
Of course, I can't say that.
If Eurasia looked at me like I was some lunatic, I'd be pretty hurt...
"If you read a lot of books, you can become mature too, Eurasia."
"...If reading a lot of books makes me like that... then I'll read less."
"You're saying an awful lot of cheeky, adorable things today. Are you getting it all out of your system since you're leaving for a week?"
"Ehehe."
Eurasia smiled, slung a backpack bigger than my body over her shoulders, and stood up.
"Hug me before I go!"
"No."
"Hmph!"
Eurasia spread her arms and lunged at me, squeezing me tight like I was some kind of doll.
This wasn't the first or second time she'd hugged me however she pleased. So I'd gotten used to it.
"...If you were going to do this anyway, why did you ask me to hug you?"
"Because me hugging you and you hugging me are different!"
"I'm smaller than you anyway, so even if I hugged you it wouldn't mean much."
"But the feeling is different! Hnnngh—!"
Eurasia, having spoken firmly, squeezed me even tighter once more, then let go.
"Recharge complete...! I'll be off now!"
*****
After seeing Eurasia off to the academy's main gate, I headed to my own private training hall that Leona had set up for me, to enjoy some rare time alone.
And in front of it.
"You're finally here."
"...You really are clingy."
I ran into Silina.
"Clingy? How rude."
"How long have you been waiting here?"
"Who knows? Maybe about an hour?"
"...You're starting to scare me."
"That's normal."
"Not in that sense. I mean scary as a person."
"Better than being looked down on. Think of me that way from now on."
A truly shameless response.
Apparently, Silina has figured out how to deal with a person like me.
This is why I hate perceptive brats.
"So, what did you want to do that you came all the way here? What, you want me to spar with you?"
"Spar? Sparring... would be nice too. But there's something more important, isn't there?"
Silina glanced around with sharp, darting eyes, then gestured toward the training hall door with her chin.
"I think it'd be better to go inside and talk."
"No."
"...Why not?"
"It's my private space."
Silina's face crumpled.
"...You actually care about that kind of thing? From the way you carry on, you don't seem like you would at all."
Eurasia and now Silina—why is everyone picking a fight with me today?
"Still, I think it'd be better to go inside and talk. If you haven't cleaned, I'll wait until you do. I already waited an hour; can't I wait thirty more minutes?"
"Haah... Fine. Just come in."
I placed my finger on the training hall's lock. Soon, with a rumble, the door slid open, and Silina slipped through the gap first.
Standing in the middle of the training hall, Silina looked around with her platinum-gold eyes gleaming.
"It's quite spacious for two people. No sweat smell, and it's quiet. You're lucky, Eliarnes. Having a place like this all to yourself."
"I am lucky."
Half-listening to Silina, I pulled a drink from the fridge and tossed it to her.
"...What's this?"
"Mint chocolate milk."
"You drink this stuff?"
"Why are you making a face before you've even tried it?"
"Because I know it's gross without trying it."
"Just try it. It's better than you think."
"What's so good about squeezing toothpaste into chocolate?"
"Toothpaste and mint are different."
Everyone who sees this stuff calls it toothpaste, and I genuinely don't understand why.
How could mint possibly be the same as toothpaste?
If anything, toothpaste copied mint.
On top of that, if anything, the clean taste of mint neutralizes the cloying taste of chocolate.
Even Father said it was delicious.
At first he seemed pretty shocked and disgusted, but when I fed him a bite, he smiled brightly and kept asking for more.
And so, from mint chocolate milk to mint chocolate shaved ice, mint chocolate cake, and mint chocolate pie—I fed him every single mint chocolate item on the restaurant menu.
Even the Empire's duke couldn't resist it. Truly a flawless existence.
Gulp, gulp—
"...Haah."
Silina reluctantly drank the milk along with me, then grimaced and shuddered.
"If I were emperor, I'd have the person who invented mint chocolate tortured."
"If I were emperor, I'd make the person who invented mint chocolate a count."
Shaking her head, Silina plopped down on a chair set up in one corner.
"Let's talk a bit before we spar."
"I never said I'd spar with you."
"...Eliarnes. Why do you dislike me so much?"
"I don't dislike you."
"Then why are you like this?"
"Because you're a hassle."
Silina narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
"I don't think I've ever been a hassle to you. If anything, haven't I helped you?"
"True. But to other people, it looks like I'm cozying up to the Second Princess's faction for no reason."
"Today I learned for the first time that you're the type to care about other people's eyes."
"I'm a duke's daughter."
Silina let out a snort.
"And yet, you don't seem to care at all about the rumors going around the academy right now?"
At that, my head tilted.
"Rumors?"
"Rumors about you. Haven't you heard?"
"Well... I've kind of picked up on it. The kids avoid me. But I just figured it was because I'm a Eustetia, so the rumors... I don't know about those?"
Silina looked at me with an odd expression, then immediately pulled out her Device and tapped away at the screen.
Then she gestured toward me and held out the Device's screen.
"Here. Come look."
I tossed the milk carton roughly into the trash and walked over to Silina. The text on the Device began to come into view.
It wasn't messages, and it wasn't a notepad.
"What is this?"
"The Community that opened today."
"Ah, so this is that."
Nodding, I sat down across from Silina and peered closely at the screen she held out.
[Is it true a first-year made second-years do punishment drills?]
It's true. I'm too scared to name names, but anyway it's true.
The student council president, the student council president's sibling, and 'that first-year' came together and grilled the second-years hard.
But that's not the end of it when it comes to 'that first-year.'
The rumors going around are seriously brutal too.
Called to the dean's office during the Entrance Exam
Cussed out the vice dean during the Entrance Exam
Probably because of that, called to the vice dean on the first day of class
Next day, tore up the schedule the homeroom professor handed out
Probably because of that, had a private meeting with the homeroom professor (rumor has it there was a really loud noise from inside that professor's private office)
Parents summoned to the academy
And today, one of the group she hangs out with was seen leaving the academy (there's an off-campus ban, so seeing them leave probably means suspension?)
Actually, some of this isn't just rumor, but since I heard it secondhand, I'll leave it as rumor.
↳ They didn't write the name, but everyone knows who it is lol
↳ I heard that story too
↳ Wow, that's insane... She did all that?
↳ Wait, haven't the first-years been enrolled for less than a week? lololol
↳ Wow, that's badass
↳ Holy... that's terrifying for real;;
↳ So what's that first-year's deal? A secret weapon?
↳ Isn't the one who got punished just an idiot?
↳ It wasn't that she called second-years over to punish them. The second-years called a first-year over and were giving her shit, so she helped her out. Don't talk nonsense.
↳ That's right. That person did that to help us. Don't say bad things.
↳ Why does this guy talk like such a dick?
↳ So is she pretty?
↳ Pretty as hell
↳ Oh
↳ But... she's kind of small
↳ What is?
↳ Overall
↳ Gasp... nuooooong lolololol
↳ You crazy bastard lololol
"Nuooooong...? What is this?"
"Rumors about the first-year delinquent that spread through the Community."
"No, I get that... but isn't this about me?"
"Who knows."
"Who knows?"
I scrunched up my face and glared at Silina.
Silina shrugged and smirked.
"Why are you glaring at me like that?"
"No, shit... Can't something be done about this?"
"About what?"
"This, this... it's all... not exactly lies, but fuck, the way it's written makes it sound weird."
"What can you do? Just leave it alone. Karelai Academy's Community has always been like this. And if you try to track down whoever wrote this, the academy might take action against you."
"...Why? Isn't this... what's it called. Defamation of a noble... or something?"
"Where in this post does your name appear? And this is the academy. Just like you casually speak informally to me, they can casually shit out garbage posts like this. Of course, writing posts about someone whose identity can be identified like this isn't a good thing, but what can you do? They insist on writing it."
Silina giggled as if she simply found the situation amusing, gently waving her Device.
"And, just in case, let me tell you. You shouldn't do anything stupid like commenting on this post or writing a rebuttal. Famous people like you and me are easy targets to get torn apart here and there. So I recommend seeing posts like this and just pretending you didn't."
"...But even if I wrote a rebuttal or whatever, no one would know, right? It's anonymous."
"That kind of thing always gets found out eventually. This place, Karelai Academy's Community, is full of idiots with nothing better to do and time rotting on their hands, more than you'd think. So rather than writing some weird post and embarrassing yourself even more, just stay quiet."
Having said that, Silina tapped her Device a few times and showed me a new post.
"It's better to just let them run their mouths on their own like this. If you step in yourself for no reason, things could get even bigger."
I took the Device Silina handed over and looked over the titles of the posts crammed onto the screen.
[That popular post is slander]
[If it weren't for 'that first-year,' the first-years would've had a rough time]
[Don't know about the rumors, but 'that first-year' is pretty as hell]
[The thing scarier than the student council president's sibling is 'that first-year']
Just as Silina said, they seemed to be going back and forth about me among themselves.
But.
[A Beastkin going outside at a time like this]
"...Beastkin?"
Among them, a title that bothered me in a slightly odd way caught my eye.