My Master Is Seeing Another Woman!
"Do I... look strange in this?"
The Sword Saint Aisha had utterly failed to adapt to the cool sensation of air creeping up between her legs.
The cinched tunic with its ruffled lace felt alien and awkward in every way. As for the embroidered skirt, why on earth did it have to draw the eye so relentlessly?
The bag in her hand held nothing but a single emergency dagger, and yet it felt like so much useless baggage. "God, kill me now… really."
Aisha heaved sigh after sigh. No matter what she did, the tension simply wouldn't leave her. The thought that she was about to spend the day with a man made it all the worse.
The glances being thrown her way had been weighing on her for some time now. The more she noticed them, the tighter her nerves wound, until her face had gone completely stiff.
As a result, everyone around her took her for even more aloof and untouchable than usual.
"The Sword Saint looks magnificent again today."
"What's this? Her outfit's a bit feminine, isn't it…?"
"That style suits her surprisingly well, actually."
"Surely she isn't meeting a man, is she?"
"Don't be absurd. She probably has some important business with the higher-ups."
It was in moments like these that fame turned odious in Aisha's eyes. Why couldn't these people just pretend not to see her? Their fault entirely for being like that — but still, she thought sourly, it was their own doing.
Come to think of it, I don't know a single thing about that professor.
Only now did the worry set in.
She had been so consumed by the simple fact of going out with a man that she hadn't spared a moment's thought for who he actually was.
What would we even talk about? Lucas? No — it's classified, so I can't let on that I know anything…. Maybe I could tell him about the time I blew a demon lord's head off? Would that even be fun? God, I'm losing it.
Aisha clicked her tongue without realizing it. She had been walking along in a haze of scattered thoughts when a shadow fell across her path.
"A pleasant morning to you, Sword Saint."
A slave merchant in an immaculately pressed suit bowed to her with perfect courtesy.
Aisha hadn't even noticed his approach — he'd ambushed her outright. Frozen stiff on the spot, she barely managed to move her mouth.
"…Good morning."
Wicker's expression was remarkably earnest. It was the bearing of a man with firm purpose and unshakable will — unmistakably masculine. Men with that kind of presence were rare even on the battlefield. Aisha imagined spending the entire day with him, just the two of them, and her heart began to race in spite of itself.
He asked her, "Did you happen to receive the notification from the Principal?"
What notification?
Oh — the one from last time, when I asked to reserve an entire restaurant on academy grounds and got turned down?
"Yes."
"Then I take it you understand the situation."
"I do."
So we're visiting restaurants without reservations. That's the situation.
But we've only just met.
So the professor is the type who eats a proper breakfast, huh.
I can't cook at all, by the way.
…And I oversleep constantly.
No, wait. He's a noble, so it should be fine, right? He'll have plenty of servants.
"Were you also the one who handled things yesterday, by any chance?"
"…I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Then it wasn't you. Hm. I wonder who it was."
Yesterday? What's that about? Did some other woman make a move on him while I wasn't looking?
Popular, isn't he.
Wicker swept his gaze over her — politely, without any unpleasantness — and gave a light nod. "An excellent choice of outfit. So you did prepare, after all."
"…Naturally."
"That said, the Sword Saint is famous. Your face alone will draw attention."
Wicker opened his Item Box, drew out a wide-brimmed hat, and set it gently atop Aisha's head. The fabric was soft to the touch — clearly a piece of considerable quality.
"Please wear it for the rest of the day. It will obscure your nametag to some degree and shield you from hostile eyes, so it should serve well for staying under cover."
…He startled me.
Reeling from the ambush of receiving a gift — and from having him place it on her head with his own hands — Aisha missed the rest of his sentence entirely.
"Shall we be going, then?"
"…Yes."
Aisha fell into step behind Wicker and promptly discovered that walking beside a man was harder than it looked.
His stride was so long that matching his rhythm slowed her pace, while matching his speed made her look as though she were impatiently hurrying him along.
Wicker noticed her difficulty at once and, without a word, shortened his own steps. At that small act of consideration, Aisha very nearly let a smile escape the corner of her mouth.
The place Wicker brought her to was a restaurant.
Was I that hungry? I'm the type who eats a hearty breakfast anyway, so I wasn't about to refuse.
And yet today, in hopes of trimming her waistline by even a sliver, she had deliberately come on an empty stomach.
Oh, right — I don't know table manners either.
All those forks and spoons laid out in ranks — I have no idea which goes with what.
…Am I going to look like an ignoramus?
Is there actually a reason nobles put themselves through all that nonsense?
Aisha's worries proved unnecessary almost immediately.
The restaurant's owner explained to Wicker that he would be unable to do business for the rest of the day.
His ingredient storeroom had been raided, he said. There wasn't a single dish he could put out.
"I see. Someone moved faster than we did. Who had access to the storeroom before the attack?"
Wicker carried on a leisurely conversation with the restaurant owner.
We've wasted a trip, and he's not even angry. Easygoing, I guess.
The more Aisha watched him handle the situation with perfect composure, the more she found herself liking what she saw.
"Your opinion, Sword Saint?"
"Mm."
Getting our time stolen is infuriating, but the owner's the one suffering here, and the professor is keeping his cool. Me losing my temper would just be strange.
"It's fine."
"It's fine?"
Wicker tilted his head, puzzled.
Seeing that reaction, Aisha realized her mistake a beat too late.
Does he prefer women who are tougher? Stronger-willed?
"Let's try the next restaurant."
"…Yes."
Her hands trembled as she walked. She had no idea how to carry the conversation forward.
"May I ask you one thing?"
"Of course."
"How do you assess me, Sword Saint?"
He asked it point-blank as they walked. Aisha was thrown by his directness.
"Well…."
He didn't seem like a bad person. Lucas seemed to take to him, come to think of it. He struck her as diligent, too.
…Good body. Handsome, definitely.
And apparently yesterday's lecture was unbelievable — 'absolutely insane,' everyone was saying.
Aisha had refused to set foot in the Silver-Blue Festival, unwilling to be seen wandering the grounds alone, so she'd only heard about the presentation secondhand.
He must be terribly smart, too.
Unlike me.
So my kid's no fool, at least.
"Passing," Aisha answered.
Wicker nodded. "That's a relief."
A relief? What does that mean?
Does it mean the professor thinks the same way I do?
"This is regarding the favor I mentioned to you before."
"…I remember."
Aisha recalled the promise she'd made with him.
Requests that normally came her way were, almost without exception, from the Emperor — or from the Emperor — and consisted entirely of tiresome, thankless chores.
She hadn't known the word favor could make her heart flutter like this.
She found herself longing to hear what he would ask of her, the sooner the better, and could hardly bear the wait.
"Ah — we've arrived. It's nothing urgent, so I'll explain at leisure."
With that, Wicker called over the next restaurant's owner and began his inquiry into the circumstances.
Haaah….
For some reason her impatience only grew, and Aisha expelled the longest sigh of her life on the inside.
"Tia! Tia!"
Yuri's urgent voice rang down the corridor. Tia opened her door to find her standing there.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"Have you seen Luca at all lately?"
"Luca? Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her since the Silver-Blue Festival…. Did something happen?"
Tia frowned, a crease forming between her brows as though she had a suspicion of her own.
"She's meeting Master today, isn't she? If it's urgent, we could go look for—"
"Master's date today isn't with Luca."
"…Huh?"
Tia's eyes went round.
"Th-that's why something felt off, so I came to talk to you, but I couldn't find you anywhere…. No matter how intense their contest is, it can't be right that only Luca gets no chance at all…."
"No — this can't be right! Were we wrong about something? Did Luca just end up alone with no promise for the Festival…?"
Tia bit her lip. "Do you have any idea where she might be?"
"I-I spotted Luca's aura yesterday."
"Where?"
"…The culinary presentation. In the storeroom."
"I'm sorry — what?"
Yuri's mouth fell open into a gaping trapezoid of pure shock.
"Be-because of us, Luca had to go through something like that…?"
"…No. There has to be some misunderstanding."
"Uuu, what do we do?! We have to find Luca right now, this very moment…!"
"Right. We leave immediately."
Tia threw herself into frantic preparation. Yuri, stamping her feet in her haste, suddenly froze mid-motion as something dawned on her.
"Wait — hold on a second."
"What is it?"
"Then who is Master meeting today?"
"…Huh?"
Tia's and Yuri's eyes began to gleam — each in a different direction.
Both of them moved faster. In the blink of an eye, they were armed and ready, slipping out the rear entrance of Earth House.
"Hold on tight."
"I'm trusting you."
Yuri swept Tia into her arms and leapt high. A moment later, the two of them stood atop a towering spire.
The academy grounds glittered below them, pale blue petals shimmering across every courtyard and rooftop. The crowds packed between the dozens of castles and buildings looked impossibly small and distant.
"I'm starting the scan."
Tia raised a magic circle and swept her staff, distributing mana evenly across the field. Fwoom! The circle expanded, spreading across the entire academy.
"Did you catch her?"
"Maximum precision, but I can't be certain — Luca can mask her presence too. Though I did get a feeling from over there."
Tia pointed to the southeast.
"I smell something."
"Luca's scent carries all the way here?"
"No, it's a food smell. I can pick it up even from far away."
"Food?"
"Raw meat and sheep's milk, I think. Huge quantities, all sitting out in the open."
"The culinary presentation was attacked too. Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Yuri's thigh muscles coiled tight. The spire's bricks shattered beneath them as the two of them launched skyward.
They reached their target in an instant. Tia throttled down their speed and touched down safely — it was the dining hall of the Second Research Building.
The two hurried their steps. Circling around behind the building, they found what looked like a food storeroom.
Just as they'd feared — the lock had been sheared clean by a sharp blade, and the door hung half open.
"Don't tell me."
Tia clicked her tongue and kicked the door wide, charging into the storeroom. Yuri darted in close behind her.
"Ugh…!"
Yuri stopped dead at the scene before her.
Crates splintered into wreckage. Their contents — cooking ingredients — had been shredded to ribbons and strewn in every direction.
At the very center of that ruinous scene stood a single figure, her golden eyes glittering even in the darkness.
"…Luca."
Tia forced out her name with difficulty.
Luca gave the plain longsword in her hand a casual flick, shaking it out and lowering it.
The food scraps clinging to the blade left no doubt about who the culprit was.
"Hey."
Luca greeted the two of them with a face as expressionless as ever.
At the sight of it, Yuri's whole body went taut. A bead of cold sweat slid down her neck.
This was a standoff, a single spark from an explosion.
Tia was surely furious with Luca — the girl who had very nearly wrecked her presentation. But she wouldn't go out of her way to assign blame now, not at a time like this.
Yet Luca, for her part, had ample grounds for anger of her own: the two of them had gone off enjoying the town with their Master while leaving her out entirely. Even so, Yuri thought, none of that could justify this.
Neither Tia nor Yuri had deliberately shut Luca out. There had simply been the misunderstanding — they'd assumed Luca had made her own promise for the third day.
Where was she supposed to begin? Just as Yuri's thoughts tangled into knots, Tia shouted first.
"Master is out on a date with someone else!"
"We go now."
"No! That topic can wait a moment!"
Yuri threw herself between the two of them to keep them apart.