Who Do You Want to Go With?
"Luca, got any laundry for me?"
Tia knocked on Luca's door. It was time to gather the washing, but when no answer came, she cracked the door open and slipped inside.
"Luca?"
Tia found the sound of running water drifting from Luca's shower room odd enough to approach. Luca's daily routine was as regular as clockwork, and this was no time for a shower.
"Luca, you okay?"
When Tia pushed the shower room door open, she found Luca crouched on the floor, absolutely plastered in soap suds. In her hands she was diligently scrubbing a bundle of laundry.
"Tia."
"You're washing clothes yourself? What brought this on?"
Tia gasped and caught the bundle before Luca could drop it. The fabric was already ruined from being worked over by clumsy, overeager hands.
"You always do it for me, so… I figured I should learn to do it myself…."
"You could at least ask how first. You've worn the fabric right through. This'll need mending."
"Oh."
Luca stuck her lip out in an unmistakable pout.
"Here, give it over. I'll take it from here."
"I want to do it."
Luca's tone was resolute. Tia had never seen her like this before, and tilted her head in puzzlement.
"Why the sudden laundry?"
As Luca turned to face her, golden waves rippled through her eyes.
"Tia, how much do you like Master?"
"A lot."
"More than me and Yuri?"
"Um…."
For a moment, Tia hesitated to answer.
Does liking someone have a size? Can you split it up depending on who the person is? And then… compare it?
These were concepts she had never once considered in her life.
Mana could be measured. The purpose of a magic circle could be explained. Everything she'd studied—history, tactics—could be analyzed and applied.
But feelings could not.
Least of all the feeling of liking someone.
Luca, Yuri, and… Master.
For Tia, those were the only three people she'd felt it for in her entire life.
"Yuri likes Master more than we do."
Tia roughly understood what Luca was getting at.
"And I like him more too."
At Luca's unequivocal declaration, something in the corner of Tia's chest tightened.
"Are you… sure about that? Of course I love Master too, and I'm glad he still cares for us. But I love you and Yuri as well. The four of us being back together like this—it makes me happy…."
"I won't settle for second place. I want to be alone with Master. Just the two of us."
Luca's will was set. Tia couldn't bring herself to ask anything more, and had no choice but to leave the room with her thoughts in a tangle.
So that's what Yuri was up to.
Luca's reaction had given Tia her answer.
Until now, Tia had believed that as long as Master recognized them for who they were, she simply had to wait for his choice. He was aiming to become a Chair Professor—surely, she'd vaguely reasoned, the students he chose would be his finest ones.
But think it through—that's not it at all.
From the very start, this had been a contest for Master himself.
Yuri must have grown restless too, and finally made her move.
At this rate, Luca's going to burn herself out. She's never known her limits, not since the old days.
Luca had never once learned to hold anything back.
…Still, I'd rather we three stayed together a while longer.
At the very least, I need to keep Yuri from running wild until Luca is standing at the starting line.
Tia undid a single button at her collar.
"All units, assemble."
The students, fresh off exterminating a horde of monsters, gathered before me. Everyone was relaxing, wiping away sweat, and rehydrating.
All four parties were made up of Earth House students. Old loyalties ran deep, and I'd been giving these particular groups extra attention in their training.
"Bak, have your team keep a closer eye on equipment durability—that strap's about to snap. Andrea, learn bear transformation before next time and try your hand at the vanguard. Sana, your entry timing has improved. Keep it up."
The students answered back with lively spirit.
"Good work, everyone. Nearly all of Floor 1 cleared by week three—that's a fine pace. We'll call it here for today and head back."
I led the students back toward the dungeon entrance. Partway there, we crossed paths with Yuri coming out of the left-hand corridor, escorting her own parties.
"Professor! This side's extermination is complete too!"
"Well done, Yuri."
Yuri beamed. The students behind her showed not a trace of exhaustion—every one of them was brimming with energy. Her blessings must have been remarkably effective.
I'd judged that she could be trusted to manage parties on her own, and had sent her off with three of them. She looked like she'd handled it with room to spare.
With Yuri's healing prowess, I figured she could handle any emergency that arose. Thanks to that, my lectures, which had been running behind, were picking up speed.
Yuri came up beside me and reached for my hair.
"Orabeoni, let me brush the dust off your hair."
"I told you—outside, I'm 'Professor.'"
"Oh! Sorry. We were at the very back, so it just slipped out…."
"Careful. You may brush the hair."
"Hehe."
Yuri smiled and gently smoothed down my hair, stroke by stroke.
What on earth was so enjoyable about that? Come to think of it, Yuri could be staring blankly into space with her mouth hanging open, but the moment she spotted someone, a smile would bloom on her face like a reflex.
At the entrance, we met the next group waiting their turn.
"Next—parties eight through fourteen, you're up."
The called students stretched and shuffled into motion. From among them, Luca peeled away and came toward me with a faintly disgruntled look.
"Professor. Why won't you let me supervise?"
"Hm?"
"Yuri gets to supervise. I can do it too."
That was a little surprising.
Luca demanding what she wanted with blunt directness was nothing new, but this had a whiff of petulance about it. I decided to explain calmly.
"Yuri can heal anyone the instant they're badly hurt, so she can supervise several parties at once. You could watch just as well, Luca, but you couldn't respond in a situation like that."
"I'd just cut it down before anyone gets hurt."
"That would rob students of the chance to handle it themselves. So no."
"I can tell the difference."
"It's not that I doubt you—I just don't want to burden you that heavily. Keep doing what you're doing now: vanguard duty with your assigned party."
Luca bit down hard on her lip. In the end she seemed to accept it, and descended into the dungeon with her party.
I followed with Yuri as the supervising instructor, checking our headcount as we took up the rear.
Floor 1 was nearly cleared, so the walk to where the next monsters appeared took a while.
"Um… Orabeoni, may I ask you just one more thing?"
Yuri murmured to me in a low voice.
"You should be focusing."
"Just one thing."
"Fine."
Yuri hesitated a moment before finding her words.
"Um, about the Silver-Blue Festival. Once everyone in Earth House has finished their presentations, the last day leaves you with some free time, doesn't it?"
"I suppose it does. The festival runs three days."
"Th-then, if you're free, would you like to come with—"
"Professor Wicker!"
Just as Yuri was finally getting the words out, I felt something latching onto my shoulder.
Tia's arms were wrapped around my neck.
"Huh…?"
Cut off mid-sentence, Yuri froze in flustered confusion.
I chided Tia.
"Tia, you're supposed to be with your own party."
"Hmph, I know. Everyone's got reinforcement magic on them, so they're fine. More importantly, Professor Wicker."
Tia whispered right at my ear.
"The Silver-Blue Festival. Won't you come walk around with me?"
"Ah…."
While Tia flashed a triumphant grin, Yuri's mouth fell open into a perfect trapezoid.
"Going to the festival together?"
"Yes! You'd misread it anyway, so I'll say it straight: let's go on a date."
"Cute choice of words."
"…I was… first…."
Yuri muttered something, but it was too quiet to catch.
The Silver-Blue Festival, huh.
"I'll have to check my schedule. The Earth House students' presentations are spread fairly evenly across the first two days—there are jousting exhibitions, art displays, sparring matches."
"You're coming with me no matter what. A man who works on a festival day just looks pathetic."
"With you around, no such rumor will ever spread."
"Hmph, naturally. You should be grateful. So—we leave the dormitory together on the morning of day three, yes? Oh, and of course, if there's anything I can help with before then, I'll be there!"
Tia spun around in front of me and gave a deep bow. Even in the gloom of the dungeon, her golden hair caught the light and swayed, glittering.
"…Tia? Why—why now, of all times?"
Yuri's crimson eyes wavered as she stared at Tia.
It was an interesting offer. But.
"Day three is out. I already have a prior engagement."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Bewilderment crept over both their faces.
"Why? Orabeoni? Who—who is it with? If even Tia's… then me too, I wanted to see the festival with you, Orabeoni…."
"Oh—I get it. He already promised Luca. Hmm, so I did all this for nothing? No, I still want to go all the same. Umm…."
Both Tia and Yuri lapsed into frantic muttering, so I decided to settle it definitively. We were nearly past the cleared stretch of floor, and it was about time to wrap up the conversation anyway.
"Tia, I'll meet you on the first day of the festival, and Yuri, you get the second day. Sound good?"
"Ah… yes! The second day. I'll be ready!"
"Mmhm, planning to have me help with the other students' presentations, are you? Well, fine by me. I'll be looking forward to it."
They both agreed. Just as Tia said, I did intend to ask for some assistance here and there—but walking the festival with them was something I genuinely looked forward to.
"And about the third day…."
"Professor! Monsters!"
An urgent shout rang out from the vanguard, and I immediately broke into a run.
"It's a Floor 2 monster!"
"Did it climb up the stairs?!"
"Where's the vanguard?!"
I wove through the panicking students. Sword in hand, I fixed my eyes on the target—a golem of considerable size.
"Hmph."
Three steps of momentum. The instant I closed the distance, I cut it crosswise. With a whistle of cleaved air, the golem was cleanly quartered and toppled to the ground.
"Whoa!"
"In a single stroke…."
"The veteran really is something else."
I flicked the blade clean and turned back to the students.
"As you can see, near the stairways, monsters from the next floor sometimes come up. At your level, Floor 2 is well within reach—so don't panic when it happens. Just respond."
A rousing chorus of yes-sirs came back. Satisfied, I continued the lecture.
"The hour of our vengeance draws near."
Night. On the outskirts of the Academy, two men and one woman hid in the darkness, gazing up at the towering walls.
"That damned slave-trader bastard got us expelled. Isn't that an abuse of authority?!"
"And the Academy that approved it won't be forgiven either. We'll burn it all to the ground."
They were the villains of Fire Hall, expelled at Wicker's hand. Each of them harboring vicious, destructive arts, they were plotting to return to the Academy and strike at it from within.
"So—did you make contact?"
"Barely. We found out who lent their power to Vext Rusatma, the Black Sorcerer. They handed this over, saying they'd cooperate with us in full."
One man spread his palm. From the curse-mark etched there, a torrent of black mana seeped out.
"Good. We use everything we've got! We'll kill every last one of them."
"The day we begin is the Silver-Blue Festival, when the Academy will be packed with ordinary sightseers. Khekhekhek. We'll show them what happens to those who touch the Evil Chapter Association… GYAAAGH!!"
The man collapsed to the ground before he could finish his sentence.
"Wha—GYAAAHH!"
"GRUUUEGH!"
The other two died on the spot, without even a moment to grasp what was happening.
Beside them, Aisha and Luca—who had materialized out of nowhere—leisurely cleaned their blades.
"Another batch of black magicians scheming away. Hey, Lucas—did word get around that the Academy serves something tasty? Glad we did that patrol."
Aisha rummaged through the corpses for anything that could serve as evidence. When Luca gave no reply, she glanced back at her.
"Lucas? You've been in a mood lately."
"It's nothing. I'm fine."
"Really? Then what possessed you to tag along on patrol?"
Luca fixed her blade back onto its harness and muttered to herself.
"…I have to try harder."