Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Theodor's Move-In (2)
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“Um… you two did actually talk properly, right?”
“Talk, you say?”
“Arthur’s been really worried about you these past few days.”
“He always is, with me.”
Judging from Theodor’s indifferent reaction, the two of them might not have even exchanged proper greetings.
Regardless of how I’d been keeping some distance from Arthur (after all, I was the one who got shot during our arm-wrestling match), what was with Theodor’s nonchalant attitude?
‘Dude… Arthur was boiling inside over you.’
I wondered if I should stick my nose in here.
But surprisingly, the answer was already there.
“Lately, Arthur’s been acting strange. He seems sensitive and anxious. I was planning to have a proper talk with him once we had some time, and I’ll make sure to do that soon.”
“You’re a more thoughtful guy than I thought.”
“How do you see me?”
I ended up clamping my mouth shut at Theodor’s counterquestion.
How did I see Theodor? I’d never really thought about it specifically—
‘Let’s see. Sometimes he seems more like a cookie than a human…’
And quieter than Shirley…
The longer the silence stretched, the more expressionless Theodor’s face became.
“Hmm, you actually seem more like the little brother than our Riche.”
“Riche? Oh, Lady Cruise.”
The Riche whom Theodor called “Lady Cruise” was a prodigy who had graduated early from the prestigious Victoria College in the capital, one year older than Theodor.
From my perspective, both Shirley and Riche sometimes felt like kids playing in the dirt, and Theodor, who was younger than them, went without saying.
“I’ve heard Lady Cruise is a famous prodigy even in the capital. I’ve only caught a glimpse of her from afar once.”
“I’ll introduce you properly later. I think your personalities would mesh well. Riche is an old soul, too.”
“You keep calling me little brother or kid, but Riche Cruise and I are only five years apart.”
“Ha, ‘only five years’? It’s a whole five years’ difference.”
Arthur disappearing in the opposite direction nagged at me, but for now, my priority was isolating Theodor from Thorn Crown House.
‘For the sleepwalking, we’ve decided to take turns watching him…’
Thanks to Shirley and Judith volunteering for Theodor’s sleepwalking shifts, that worry was off the table for now.
But that didn’t mean all problems were solved.
‘Theodor’s memories keep floating to the surface.’
Right now, they were just strings of cryptic words, but who knew what would happen as time passed.
What I feared most was Theodor’s memories fully returning, and in that moment, the true nature of the guardian angel I’d barely suppressed coming to light.
I could keep it in check now because I was fighting a formless darkness, but what if that darkness took on a true form?
The thought alone was horrifying.
“Riche Cruise.”
How long had we been walking?
As the Crucifix House dormitory came into view, Theodor spoke up.
“Yeah?”
“If what Riche Cruise is worried about is in here.”
Theodor tapped his head with his free hand while holding his bag with the other.
“……”
It was something I hadn’t even anticipated.
I’d assumed Theodor had some inkling of the weird things happening around him, but hearing him state it so directly left me at a loss for words.
“Activating my seal might be the right answer.”
“What are you talking about?”
The sudden self-harm blackmail caught me off guard for a moment, but I composed myself and replied.
“I do have worries, but it’s not because of your memories—it’s because of you. No, more precisely, because of me.”
I was in a state where I didn’t know when or how I might snap.
Deep down, I wanted to flee to some wasteland where not a single human hair could be seen and live alone.
The reason I didn’t was that if the future horrors I’d witnessed were truly caused by the guardian angel, running anywhere would lead to the same end.
“Putting together Riche Cruise’s actions, it seems like Riche Cruise believes she’ll eventually harm me, Shirley Spencer, Senior Judith Taylor, and Arthur someday.”
“You’ve seen it plenty of times yourself. How my mind wavers.”
“Yes, I have. But do you know why we still don’t leave your side despite that?”
There were all sorts of reasons.
At first, it was because of the magic circle Theodor had left on my chest, and after that, because they’d gotten dragged into incidents because of me.
But Theodor shook his head as if he’d anticipated my answer and said.
“It’s because conviction guides Riche Cruise’s actions.”
“Conviction…? What conviction? It’s not like my actions are driven by conviction.”
This was a ridiculous misunderstanding.
At first glance, it seemed like he was under the same delusion as my self-proclaimed followers.
“Ever since getting caught up in that murder case, we all know you’ve been fighting something nonstop.”
“……”
“Why not run? Because you have to pass the baton to someone, right?”
Had everything I thought I was handling well actually been incredibly sloppy?
Theodor seemed to guess the reason for my speechlessness on his own and turned to walk ahead as he said.
“I’m already deeply entangled, and I just think I need to see and judge what’s coming myself. So Riche Cruise’s reasons are probably nobler than mine, as are Senior Shirley Spencer’s and Senior Judith Taylor’s.”
-Thud, thud.
Theodor strode into the Crucifix House dormitory building.
Our dormitory life with Theodor, which I hadn’t expected to resume after the winter storm, was starting again like this.
-Creeeak.
I wasn’t sure if giving my room to Theodor was the right call.
Truth be told, this room had been frequented by those obsessive cultists without my knowledge.
‘Where the hell did they even get my hair from…’
I’d never been one to keep my room messy, but since the day before yesterday, I’d developed a habit of cleaning up thoroughly… leaving no traces.
If I could, I’d storm their hideout right now and scream that I was just a normal human like them, that I’d never heard Aegis-sama’s voice or anything.
“…Anyway, make yourself at home. They’ll move you to an empty room in the annex soon, so just bear with it until then.”
“I don’t mind either way.”
With that, Theodor slipped into the dressing room—the space he’d stayed in during the storm.
To make room for him, I’d cleared one wardrobe and one nightstand from my bedroom for my use and moved the rest of the miscellaneous items to the parlor (which was really just a slightly larger room).
It was an attempt to give him as much personal space as possible, and the result was cozier than expected—I was satisfied.
“So, Theodor, you’re on the same schedule as me this semester, right? No issues?”
“I’d like to change a few. I’ve organized it, so I’ll pass it along soon.”
Theodor poked just his arm out from the dressing room and handed me his newly made class schedule.
‘Jeez, already acting like he owns the place.’
I took the schedule from him and roughly compared it to mine.
“You lazybones… You ditched every single first-period class.”
“……”
My major, Shooting, inevitably made a lot of noise, so the classes were mostly scheduled for the first period, which students avoided.
Since he wasn’t transferring majors this semester, Theodor seemed content to just take enough credits haphazardly.
The differences between his schedule and mine were only my major <Shooting> classes and [Magic Engineering II], so with this, we’d be together about three days a week.
‘This’ll make monitoring him easy enough.’
Like Theodor had done, I didn’t enter the dressing room and just shoved my schedule through the door to return it before washing my hands of the matter.
Starting tomorrow, I’d be attending classes with Theodor.
I hoped this solved everything, but we’d see.
.
.
.
The next day.
Fortunately, there were no odd signs from Theodor.
He slept until dawn and didn’t get out of bed until I was prepping to head to my major class.
‘Since the Magic Tower Lord Maha is coming, I should ask if there’s a magic tool that can weaken Theodor’s sleepwalking.’
I packed my two guns into my sturdy, angular bag and headed to the Crucifix House main building.
The air was chillingly cold, like an abandoned house, but Hazard Island, the southernmost point of holy Aegis, saw spring earlier than the mainland.
The grass scent mixed in with the salty wind proved spring was coming soon.
“Senior—!”
“Oh, Shirley.”
Surprisingly diligent and early-rising Shirley seemed to have just finished her personal training at dawn.
Dressed in activewear similar to riding clothes, with her purple hair tied high as always, she waved her arms wildly as she ran toward me.
“Th-there’s big trouble, big trouble!”
“Big trouble? I’m not running away. Calm down and tell me.”
At my words, Shirley’s eyes widened as she said.
“So, what’s the big trouble?”
“Well, I just overheard it while passing by, so it’s not exactly confirmed.”
“Not exactly?”
“A while back, Professors Melberry and Jacob tried to escape, right?”
“…Oh, yeah. They did. I heard they’re still in the interrogation room. Did something happen to them?”
“No, it’s not them. Lord Norfolk and Sir James escaped too.”
“…What?”
What the hell was going on?
Of course, professors escaping from the academy shouldn’t happen, but I’d been willing to let the first two slide.
But while those two captured professors were suffering, another escape attempt?
This was truly bizarre.
“No, why on earth… More importantly, why no alarm?”
“W-well… those two got caught already.”
Perhaps the Aegis Academy had tightened security after the precedent of the first two.
Lord Norfolk and Sir James’s escape ended anticlimactically, not even worthy of the name.
“I was worried they’d lock everyone down again so no one could move, but at least that’s a relief… right?”
“Huh? Lock us down?”
“Yeah. The day Professor Melberry escaped. The staff blocked the doors so no one could leave.”
“What are you talking about? Why lock up the cadets?”
“……Didn’t Crucifix House do that?”
Shirley and I stared at each other in bewilderment.
I’d been at Thorn Crown House on the pretext of a new project that day, locked in the Thorn Crown House main building with Theodor.
Thorn Crown Class’s class rep, Camilla Summer, had thought the same.
But apparently, Crucifix House hadn’t.
They’d locked down the Thorn Crown Class cadets even while lying about it, but not Crucifix House.
What was the difference?