How Fortunate
How fortunate. How truly fortunate!
“I-Is this how you do it…?”
Hilde muttered to herself as she struck some bizarre pose.
In her own mind she was giving it her absolute all.
Yet the only thing the mirror reflected was the Saintess with her body twisted into an unsightly contortion.
“Kyaah!”
In the end her body declared a full-scale strike and refused to hold on any longer. Hilde collapsed where she stood and let out a long sigh.
It was far too difficult. She had been certain she had memorized every detail and even transcribed it carefully.
But the moment she tried to recreate it with her own body, she simply could not follow along.
I wanted to master it somehow before heading to the Academy so I could show Brother Kyle…
When she had said she wished to repay his kindness, he had told her to practice this exercise.
She had spoken of what she desired, yet even that request had ultimately been an expression of concern for her as the Saintess.
She was so grateful that she had wanted to show him she could do it, no matter what.
Alone, even striking the proper form was beyond her. Her mind could keep up; her body refused to cooperate.
Knock-knock—.
“Saintess. It is nearly time for you to depart.”
“Ah, yes! I’ll be right out!”
Hilde rose and checked her attire. The habit was a little wrinkled, which worried her, but fortunately it was not too obvious.
That was right. At this very moment the Saintess was attempting to exercise while dressed in these billowing robes.
Had Kyle witnessed the scene he would have shouted, “Your basic form is completely shot!”
The fabric was so long and flowing that she was liable to trip over her own feet. The sleeves were so absurdly wide she could probably hide dumbbells inside them.
She ought to have been moving her body in clothes suited for activity—yet the Saintess did not even know that much.
“May all those who catch your eye spend a peaceful day today through your mercy.”
After finishing a short prayer in a devout tone, the Saintess finally set out for the Academy.
A strange, inexplicable anticipation nestled deep in her heart.
Having parted from Elga, Kyle hurried toward the meeting place.
If he had possessed a little more time he would have taken a light cardio run around the area first—yet the schedule felt just tight enough that he had to abandon the idea. Truly a pity.
Tisha is… Ah. There she is.
Beyond the bench he spotted a young woman with violet hair. Judging by the slight bow of her head, she was already buried in another shamanism text.
A mischievous impulse stirred. Kyle silenced his footsteps as much as possible and slipped up behind her.
A quick glance confirmed it—she was indeed staring intently at something. He could not make out the contents, but with Tisha there was never any real mystery about what she would be reading.
“What are you looking at? Another shamanism book?”
“Hiiiiik!!”
Tisha jumped so hard she flapped both arms wildly before shooting to her feet. She was startled so thoroughly that Kyle himself nearly jumped with her.
“Ka-Kyle?! Y-You scared me!! At least make some noise!”
“Ah… Sorry. Seeing you so absorbed got my mischievous side going… I’m really sorry, Tisha.”
Faced with Kyle’s sincere apology, Tisha said nothing further. Then she gave a soft “Ah!” and hastily hid the book she had been holding.
So it was not shamanism material after all—something else entirely.
A clueless aggro-magnet would have asked what the book was right about now.
But he was different. When someone was earnestly trying to conceal something, the kind thing was to pretend not to notice. There were times people wanted to be asked, yet this was clearly not one of them.
Besides, something far more important than that book was unfolding right before his eyes.
“Tisha. Your clothes…?”
At the recent freshman welcome party and during the Transmission Festival, the outfits Tisha had worn had been beautiful and perfectly suited to her. He had already known her dress sense was well above average.
Yet looking at what she wore today made those earlier ensembles look like cheap rags by comparison. And why did her makeup suit her so perfectly? An involuntary sigh of admiration escaped him as a man.
“Ah, um… D-Did I go overboard?”
Tisha blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Honestly she had fretted dozens of times while getting ready, wondering whether this was too much.
But she had been unable to do otherwise. Honestly, how could she?
It was not a party day. It was not a festival day. Just an utterly ordinary weekday with nothing special about it.
And yet only yesterday Kyle had asked whether they could meet tomorrow.
How was she supposed to prepare carelessly for that? How was she supposed to half-ass it?
“So… why did you want to see me?”
“Ah, well. That’s…”
Inside, Kyle must have screamed I’m going insane well over a hundred times.
Tisha had clearly decided something very special might happen today and had put her full effort into her appearance—yet the place he actually intended to take her was the library.
She had dressed so prettily, done her makeup with such care… and he was about to lead her to the library. No matter how positively he tried to reframe it, only sighs emerged.
If he had known it would turn out like this, should he have at least mentioned earlier that they were going to the library?
Shaking his head at his own lack of sense, Kyle finally managed to speak.
“Well. There’s somewhere I need to stop by for a bit.”
“Is that so? Then! L-Let’s hurry!”
At first Tisha’s smile was radiant with happiness. But when Kyle’s steps turned not toward the Academy gates but toward the library, her expression shifted to a puzzled “Huh?”
By the time they stepped inside she could only manage a soft “…Ah.” of quiet dismay.
“…?”
“…??”
Students who had been browsing and reading inside the library tilted their heads. A female student dressed as though she belonged at a party or festival had just walked in. She looked so thoroughly out of place that it was almost fascinating.
Embarrassing! I’m so embarrassed I could die!! Hwaaaaah!!
Tisha wanted nothing more than to drop to the floor and scream. The library! She had been certain they were heading to a café or a restaurant!
For a fleeting moment resentment toward Kyle flared—then vanished just as quickly.
I was the one who misunderstood. I got all excited by myself… Who am I to resent anyone…. Haah. What do I do? Right now Kyle is probably more uncomfortable than I am. He only wanted to meet briefly and I showed up like this… What if he never asks me again? What do I do for real!!
Once her thoughts reached that point she nearly wanted to cry. Why had she gotten so carried away? Why had she been such a fool? If she had only thought a little more carefully she would never have done something so stupid!
The climb up the library stairs that had always been so enjoyable now felt unbearably heavy. She wanted to fling herself onto her bed and wail, “Idiot, idiot, idiot!!” She even considered simply turning around and fleeing on the spot.
“Tisha.”
She lowered her head to hide her tearful face. But when Kyle called her name once more, Tisha lifted her chin without meaning to.
“Y-Yes. Kyle.”
“This way.”
Only then did Tisha realize they had arrived on the fifth floor—the floor she always frequented. Yet something felt off. Even if her presence here made sense, why had Kyle come to the fifth floor? He might be positive about shamanism, but he had no reason to browse the books.
Kyle pressed deeper and deeper inside. The library was so vast that people sometimes lost their way between the shelves; the stories were no exaggeration.
How far is he going? …Wait a second. I’ve never even been to this section. There was a place like this on the fifth floor? …No—more importantly, how does Kyle know his way around so well?
She wondered for a moment whether Kyle might have visited the fifth floor a few times before, then had to shake her head.
Whenever I had free time I was always here on the fifth floor, yet I never once saw Kyle.
Just as she was puzzling over the mystery, Kyle vanished with a soft whoosh into some further recess.
“Kyle?”
Afraid of losing him, Tisha quickened her steps as well. Passing between bookshelves that felt like a maze, she finally reached the place where he waited.
“Here.”
Kyle was holding out several old volumes.
“What are those…?”
“What are you doing? Hurry and take them.”
When he urged her again, Tisha reflexively accepted the books. At a glance they were extremely old, thickly coated in pale dust.
These were clothes she had bought at considerable expense. Makeup she had applied with such care. Just as she began to feel a twinge of discomfort at the thought of dust settling on them—
“Wh-What? Whaaat?”
Tisha, who had reflexively opened a book and skimmed the contents, let out a gasp. And those gasps soon transformed into continuous exclamations of pure delight.
“Hwaa?! Uwaaaaah!?! A-All the things I could never find no matter how hard I searched are right here!! Hwat?!”
The gloomy atmosphere from moments earlier had vanished completely. All that remained were eyes blazing with academic passion at the tremendous discovery.
“Kyle!”
“Yes, Tisha.”
“H-How did you find these?! How could you possibly find something like this!!”
“You know my brother and sisters all attended the Academy, right?”
Of course the only one who had actually succeeded in graduating was his brother Lia.
“My brother and sisters had so little to do that they toured all three libraries. Along the way they found a secret space on this fifth-floor shamanism level that almost no one knows about. So I came once following their directions and discovered a lot of interesting books. And I happen to know just a little about shamanism myself.”
“Is that so?”
“So I thought these would help you, Tisha, and set a few volumes aside. I hope they can be of even a little help. I did search pretty thoroughly.”
A little? A little help? No—this was tremendous help. It would not be wrong to call it a miracle.
The pages were packed with advice that would pierce straight through the exact points where she had been stuck, groaning in frustration. These were books that would lift her in a single motion past the massive wall she had been fretting before, uncertain how to proceed!
“Thank you—thank you so much. Kyle!”
Tisha leaped upward and hung around Kyle’s neck just like that.
Anyone else might have remarked on something soft and ample pressing against their chest, or staggered and grunted about how heavy she was. Kyle, however, merely reflected that something like this was easily managed with his core, and remained perfectly calm.
From the force of her embrace he could roughly estimate Tisha’s weight… Hmm. Never mind that.
“I’m truly grateful. Kyle. Truly… How am I supposed to repay this kindness…”
“Just work even harder from now on and achieve your dream. That’s enough.”
At the answer that reached her ears, Tisha hugged him even more tightly.
I’m so glad. That I came out looking this pretty today.
And I’m so glad. That this person is my friend.