Question
Question
Ian looked down at the girl in front of him.
Wide green eyes, round with unease.
Her mouth hung slack, her tongue apparently tied in knots.
Her fingers fidgeted endlessly, clutching the hem of his clothes.
Unless she needed the bathroom, she clearly had something to say.
Her drooping eyebrows made her look like a puppy caught misbehaving.
He guessed she probably wanted to apologize for her own mistakes.
Regrettably, what mattered to Ian right now wasn't hearing her feelings. It was confirming the facts.
When he said as much—
"...Nn."
—she hung her head low.
A heroine as pitiful as a rain-soaked dog.
'If this were before the possession, I might have felt guilty.'
But now that he was possessing this body, he'd already resolved not to act like a player anymore. No more looking after heroines like they were characters to raise, and no wishing for them to cling to him in return. Besides, one of them was the culprit, so the whole idea was absurd.
In short, to Ian, Rina Rosewell was just one of those people you pass by in life.
They were simply entangled in something, and he only wanted to resolve it.
That was why his voice came out cold.
"Do you remember? The question I asked during that live combat training."
"...Huh?"
"The day you threw that fire spell at me. The question I asked."
Rina's face went stark white.
The memory of that day had suddenly resurfaced.
"Th-that, that was..."
She had launched the fire at Ian's back when her consciousness was hazy from the spores. But Rina had no intention of using that as an excuse. Because no matter what, the desire to do something to Ian had existed in her heart. The mushroom spores merely exploited and amplified that.
'What on earth did I do...'
If she traced it back, it was an inferiority complex she'd let explode because Ian was kind and weak. Rina's hands trembled with guilt.
"Attacking you with magic was... I was wrong. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
But Ian shook his head firmly.
Did that mean he wouldn't even accept an apology?
As she gazed up at him, Ian spoke.
"Rina. It's not an apology I want to hear right now. It's an answer to the question I asked that day."
"A question...?"
His eyes resolute, Ian continued.
"The push off the rooftop. I asked if it was you."
"What do you... ah."
Rina's eyes, which had gone hazy as she fumbled through her memories, suddenly widened.
She understood now.
She grasped the meaning behind the words he'd spoken—the ones she had simply glossed over and forgotten.
"W-wait a moment. Ian, are you saying you didn't jump by yourself...?"
Ian gave a quiet nod.
His eyes held unwavering certainty.
Seeing that expression, a memory flickered through Rina's mind.
'Now that I think about it, in the anonymous chat room too...'
The anonymous chat room where they wore leaf masks.
There were definitely masked figures scheming to drive Ian out for good.
Even back then, when Rina had disliked Ian, she had thought their plan was too extreme. They'd coordinated their stories to get him expelled outright through the disciplinary committee.
Rina had definitely felt something was off at the time.
If Ian had done something wrong, why not just let him take the punishment? Why go so far as to coordinate stories just to force him out?
'So I argued it was absurd and opposed it...'
The sense of déjà vu she'd felt then seemed to be entirely explained by Ian's single statement.
'But... asking me that means...'
Ian suspected that Rina herself might be that culprit.
Rina hastily waved both hands.
"N-no! Never, I would never do something like that! My personality would never..."
She started to deny it, but then recalled the incident where she'd slammed a fire spell into Ian's back. And that wasn't all—after he confessed, she'd made her dislike painfully obvious.
It did seem plausible enough that Ian would suspect her.
"I-I mean, anyway, it really wasn't me!"
She shook her head furiously, left and right, left and right.
Just as the violent head-shaking was making her dizzy, Ian spoke.
"Got any proof?"
"Ah, ah..."
Rina frantically rummaged through her memories.
Innocence. Proof to prove her innocence.
The day Ian had attempted suicide.
Something had definitely happened that day...
'Ah, right!'
"M-my little sibling was sick that day, so I went back to my hometown! I-I can show you the portal transit record if you need it! I'll get a copy issued for you!"
Portal transit records couldn't be forged.
Wouldn't that be enough to convince Ian?
Rina looked up at him, her expression full of hope.
"Fine. Go ahead and request it then. You probably won't be able to go outside for a while anyway."
"O-okay!"
Rina let out a sigh at his calm expression. He didn't seem to be fully suspicious of her.
"Ah, and one more thing."
Ian, who had been about to ask something, closed his mouth. He looked somewhat hesitant.
'What in the world is he about to say?'
Rina was the one feeling anxious now.
"Wh-what is it?"
"Hah."
Ian let out a light sigh. He rubbed his chin once, then looked at her with a faintly bitter expression before returning to a serious face and asking flatly—
"Are you a virgin?"
Rina tilted her head, wondering if she'd misheard.
"Huh?"
"Are you a virgin."
Virgin. Rina chewed over the word, and her face instantly flushed hot. Her lips flapped in bewilderment, and oddly, her instincts made her press her legs together.
"That... that."
How was she supposed to answer?
Her head was so overheated it was melting.
"I-is that question really necessary?"
Rina asked, tugging at the hem of her clothes.
"Yeah."
Ian nodded.
Rina's face turned bright red again.
A truly, deeply embarrassing question.
If she'd heard it from anyone else, Rina would have ignored them or gotten angry.
But she felt it instinctively.
Right now, in Ian's heart, the stake he held in Rina herself was infinitesimally small and insignificant.
On the other hand, Rina had so many things she wanted to tell Ian, things she needed to tell him.
To avoid slipping back into that dark world within her consciousness, she needed Ian.
So...
'I have to be at least a little helpful.'
Rina hung her head.
—Rustle, rustle.
Rina fidgeted her fingers against the poor hem of her skirt. She dawdled like that for a while, then parted her lips with great effort.
"Do you... want to check?"
◆
To give the conclusion first, unfortunately, he wasn't able to go that far.
The voices of professors and staff who'd belatedly grasped the situation could be heard searching the dormitory.
Ian handed a black handkerchief to Rina.
"You've got fingermarks on your neck. Cover them."
The scenario wrapped up with the sight of Rina Rosewell wearing an expression of inexplicable emotion.
The transit records, as she'd said, confirmed she had visited her family home located in the Central Great Forest.
Her aggression had ultimately been due to the spores as well, so the likelihood that Rina was the culprit had effectively dropped significantly.
To fully eliminate that last possibility—well.
It seemed he'd have to wait until Rina Rosewell's confinement was over.
Two days after the scenario concluded like that.
At a high-end tea house in the upscale shopping district east of Lichten Academy, Ian sat across from Sylvia.
"Sebastian told me you were quite fond of this place, anyway."
Having opened the conversation that way, Sylvia chattered about various topics.
The disciplinary committee convened over the "Median House Incident."
The Blood Rock Sect followers were all dead long ago, leaving Rina Rosewell as the sole surviving suspect. But when it came down to it, there wasn't a single student who'd actually been victimized by her.
"That child, Mercy, was rather passionately defending Miss Rina too, you know? She said she felt good, or something along those lines. How utterly unsightly."
The sole victim had apparently refused punishment.
Moreover, students all across the academy insisted it was their own fault for not looking after Rina and requested that if she was to be punished, they should punish them instead.
In the end, Rina's punishment reportedly concluded with a slap on the wrist: five days of dormitory confinement and a month of community service.
Rina's kindness certainly played a part, but someone must have been pulling strings behind the scenes. And from the context, it was fairly clear who that was.
"Why did you help her?"
"Because someone like Rina Rosewell is worth holding onto."
Sylvia set her teacup down elegantly and continued.
"It was quite strenuous. Sweet-talking the professors. Some lobbying too. But there were no real parties with conflicting interests involved, so it was manageable. Because Miss Rina Rosewell has no enemies."
She placed peculiar emphasis on the word "enemies" as she looked his way.
"I feel like you're telling me this for my benefit."
"Yes, that's right."
Sylvia's expression grew serious as she continued.
"Ian, you already knew, didn't you? That you've been referred to the disciplinary committee."
"How do you know about that?"
"Don't underestimate the intelligence network of the Laurent Trading Company."
"So you've got professors planted here."
"What a scandalous thing to say!"
Sylvia hurriedly glanced around, then leaned her upper body forward and whispered.
"We usually call it research sponsorship. Ahem."
"..."
"Of course, they don't tell me directly. But there are nuances, you know. That they'd prefer I not get too close to you... that sort of thing? If anything, I'm curious how it is that you know about it, Ian."
Ian shrugged in his seat. Sylvia sighed and then asked—
"In the Median House case, your contribution was actually rather significant. Which means this is because of a separate matter... would you tell me why the disciplinary committee is convening? It seems to be something from quite a while ago. Miss Rina's case was lucky; it's not easy to slip out of a disciplinary committee. The average outcome is expulsion."
She'd only avoided showing it, but Sylvia's question was brimming with genuine worry.
She had reason to worry. The level of punishment issued by the disciplinary committee was notoriously harsh.
Ian hesitated for a moment. Should he explain his current situation to Sylvia and ask for help?
Sylvia was a remarkable person.
But the heroines held high reputations.
It wasn't that he suspected Sylvia, but even Ian himself, if he heard such a story from someone, would assume they were just slandering a heroine.
So Ian shook his head.
"Hmph! I figured as much. In exchange, I'll give you one piece of advice."
Advice.
He'd already formulated a plan for the disciplinary committee but his conversation partner was the heir of the Laurent Trading Company. Seeking her advice wouldn't be a bad idea.
"What is it?"
"Something excessively big doesn't collapse."
At his expression asking what that meant, Sylvia smiled triumphantly.
"Whatever it takes, Ian, inflate your presence."
"...Presence?"
"Yes. I'm telling you to become famous. In a good way, of course."
"My image is already at rock bottom, though?"
Ian knew better than anyone that Pongpongi's reputation was terrible.
"Of course, your image right now, Ian, is garbage."
"...Hey."
It stung to hear it said to his face like that.
Pfft—
Sylvia chuckled once, then spun her finger in a circle.
"You know what? Infamy is a form of popularity too."
She tore off a napkin and drew a big downward arrow. Then she smoothly rotated the napkin around.
"You're aware of the grade-wide Common Ability Assessment coming up soon, right?"
Hmm, now that she mentioned it, that was correct. And he'd also grown quite a few abilities through this recent scenario.
"Make a splash there. From what I can see, this ability assessment will be a good opportunity for you, Ian."
Sylvia beamed a radiant smile at him, as if telling him to trust her.