Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping
What Angelica's eyes landed on were little stones.
They were grayish. Finished with boron and cadmium, but as far as Angelica's sharp eye could tell, that was it.
What kind of stones were they? Magic Stones?
No, that wasn't the important part.
Her instincts were telling her. That was a dangerous substance, something she shouldn't touch carelessly.
Angelica hurriedly closed the zipper. And she stepped back several paces.
Aether met her eyes and grinned.
It was a sly smile of unknowable intent. Goosebumps erupted down both of Angelica's forearms.
"Are you done now?"
"Wh-what is that thing? What are you giving your boyfriend as a present?"
"It's just a Magic Stone."
"I've never seen a Magic Stone like that!"
When it came to Magic Stones, Angelica was confident.
After all, she was a member of House Totsfel, renowned for Magic Stone studies. Before she had dreamed of becoming a journalist, she had intended to become a scholar researching Magic Stones, following her family's wishes.
She had studied Magic Stone theory to death as a child. Thanks to that, she could match the names or uses of most Magic Stones just from their shape and color.
She had studied that hard, and yet this was a Magic Stone that wasn't in her head.
There were two possibilities.
She had learned it and forgotten, or she was seeing it for the first time.
Her thoughts leaned toward the latter. Angelica looked at Aether and asked in a cautious tone.
"That's not dangerous, is it?"
Some Magic Stones could cause harm to humans. Usually, those had a dark, somber color.
"Not immediately. It's well sealed, so nothing should happen."
"That means it's dangerous if mishandled! Why are you trying to give that to your boyfriend?"
"Well, I said he's not my boyfriend."
"Just a moment ago, you naturally called him your boyfriend."
"Can't you take a joke?"
Aether let out a short sigh.
"Anyway, if you don't have more business, I'll be going."
"I do have business."
"What."
"Interviewing you and Horde."
The golden-eyed girl's expression crumpled at those words. A thoroughly annoyed air wafted from her faintly glowing golden eyes.
"Why. You told us not to take voyeur photos or anything, right? So doesn't that leave me no choice but to cover you openly?"
"And if I refuse even that?"
"Mm, I'd stick to you until you gave permission, I suppose?"
"I'll refuse until you give up."
Based on long experience, you had to throw bait at people like this. And as it happened, Angelica had precisely grasped what Aether wanted.
"Doing the interview would be good for both you and Horde."
"What do you mean?"
She asked.
With the corners of her mouth imperceptibly lifted, Angelica continued.
"I mean, it's obvious, isn't it? Both of you are claiming you're not having a secret relationship, so you can just explain that you aren't through an interview with me!"
"Explaining it and people sincerely accepting that explanation are completely different problems."
It was a fairly logical point. And yet, Angelica still had a rebuttal left.
That thought never made it outside, however. Just as Angelica was about to speak, Aether caught the signs and struck first.
"In the first place, if we try to explain anything, people who didn't know will find out. We'd be better off just staying quiet and letting it pass."
"Which means...."
"It means I don't particularly care what anyone on campus thinks. I've got more urgent things to worry about right now."
"That urgent thing being?"
"I can't tell you."
This was bad. She had lost the initiative in the conversation.
"Anyway, I'll be off now."
Aether seemed to know this too. The moment a point advantageous to herself arrived, she hastily ended the conversation. Her motive was to escape from Angelica somehow.
And Angelica didn't push further than that.
'No matter what I do here, she'll just run away using the same method.'
There was nothing to gain by pointlessly worsening the situation.
Angelica stood still and watched the direction Aether walked. The golden-eyed girl was heading toward the northwest side of the Imperial Palace, and it wasn't hard to recall what lay that way.
The inn where Vermel Horde was staying.
'Don't tell me they're close enough to be going in and out of each other's homes!'
She knew they held long clandestine meetings in the club room, but she hadn't known yet whether one stayed over at the other's place.
Everyone at Tillet Academy... maybe not quite everyone, but a great many people harbored doubts about Vermel and Aether's relationship.
How could a golden-eyed tribe member and an elf have gotten so close in such a short time?
Could this have been the sight of them directly inheriting the old, old legend of the hero and saintess who graduated Tillet as valedictorian and salutatorian, repelled the Demon King's army, and even married?
The questions weren't just one or two.
Above all, both of them had top-tier looks. That single fact alone was more than enough to become drinking fodder for the academy's female students.
'Ah.'
Walking while entertaining these thoughts, she found herself in front of Vermel's house before she knew it. Angelica hurriedly hid herself in some nearby bushes.
Knock knock. Aether rapped on the front door.
"Hey, I'm here."
The door flew open the instant her words fell. Inside, a tall elf appeared, rubbing his eyes.
Vermel Horde. He was an elf whose looks could've left a trail of weeping girls. His face was overflowing with charm, enough that even Angelica found herself gazing at him in a brief daze.
"Ah, uh. You're back. Sorry, I'll get ready and come right out."
Aether waited ten minutes in front of the entrance. For a normal person, that would be a boring stretch of time, but for Angelica—habituated to stakeout reporting—it was time that flew by in the few lines she jotted into her notebook.
Soon, Vermel dashed out, throwing on a coat.
"Let's go."
The two moved pressed close together. At that sight, Angelica's hand trembled.
Really, just looking at them like that, they were definitely lovers.
Or not? Since they weren't linking arms, should she still consider it safe?
Angelica moved without being able to organize her thoughts. The place Vermel and Aether headed for was none other than Tillet Academy.
The two entered the Alchemy Club room—specifically, the tiny single room attached to one side of the club room. It was the exact same place she had confirmed before when she received a request from the Literature Club.
It was strange.
"Why the club room, of all places?"
If they wanted a private place, there were plenty besides that. For instance, they could have hung out at the one-room where Vermel lived.
But the fact that they deliberately went into a place like that....
"Did the house not have soundproofing?"
At that shameless thought, Angelica's face flushed crimson in an instant.
To cool her burning face, she rubbed her cheeks with the fabric of her clothes. For some reason, the sleeve of her shirt became damp.
That was when it happened.
"What's not soundproofed?"
At a third party's voice heard while she was off guard, Angelica's body sprang forward like a spring. Unable even to scream, she had to calm her startled heart.
When she caught her breath and turned around, two girls were standing there.
"Oh! It's the Newspaper Club president!"
"Totsfel, what are you doing here?"
She knew both of them. No, it would be strange not to. Angelica had nearly every student's name memorized.
"Saliere, and Miss Shelkerni, I see."
"You know us?"
"Of course."
Angelica brought her index finger to her lips and made a shushing sound.
"I'm in the middle of covering a story."
"A story?"
"Is it about Vermel and Aether?"
"Oh. You know? Have you by any chance heard the rumor that the two are having a secret relationship?"
"I heard it the moment I got back here. That's why we came too...."
The fact that Vermel and Aether's main rendezvous spot was the Alchemy Hall club room was something anyone in the know already knew.
"Still, I don't think eavesdropping on others is good. This won't do, Frey. Let's just go back."
"After coming all the way here? Come on, a little bit won't matter!"
While the two whispered among themselves, Angelica had already crept up to the iron door.
Beyond this thick door alone, she could learn what the two were doing in that secret place. But abruptly opening the door and entering was a terrible thing to do, so she decided to quench her thirst by pressing her ear against the door.
"I'm telling you, eavesdropping isn't such a huge sin! As long as you don't blab it to other people, it's fine!"
"Even so...."
"I'm too curious about what the Literature Club kids were saying earlier to stand it. If you don't like it, you go back to the dorms first. I'll listen here and tell you afterward!"
"Haa...."
Before long, even Rote, having been persuaded by Frey, pressed her ear to the iron door and waited.
[.......]
Sound was coming through. Infinitely faint, but dim voices.
The three held their breath even more. Frey secretly lifted the large conical hat she had been wearing pulled down low.
And then.
[...Hey, don't take it off!]
[What's the big deal. It's not like peeling it will wear it out right away, right?]
[Wait...! I told you not to touch it! That spot's sensitive, so if you mess up it's dangerous!]
[I told you it's really fine. Things like this are meant to be left to someone with experience.]
"What on earth... am I listening to right now?"