Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Mark of Tribulation (2)
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The wind's temperature had shifted rapidly, to the point where now it felt slightly chilly without a cloak fastened at the shoulder line.
A week had already passed since the Autumn Thanksgiving Festival, meaning about a month and a half remained in the academy's second semester.
Since it was the weekend, I had no desire to wear the uniform cloak, so unlike usual, I stepped out dressed in a white shirt topped with a turquoise cravat and a black frock coat.
And no sooner had I done so...
"Good day to you~!"
"...Good day, Dylan."
"I stopped by because I heard there might be some good news today. Haha!"
"It's the same as always, I suppose."
"The same as always! Got it."
I received a greeting from Dylan, who was dressed in his casual training clothes.
Starting from the day after he received the invitation to the Ashen Dawn Society, Dylan had come to greet me every single morning without fail, including today, the weekend—four days straight so far.
Only four days had passed since then, so where on earth was all this eagerness coming from?
'He's graduating next year anyway. What's with all this dedication?'
When I eyed Dylan suspiciously, he grinned so widely his cheeks dimpled deeply and waved his hand.
"Then have a great day today!"
"I hope you have a great day too, Cadet Dylan."
I responded to Dylan's hand wave with a silent nod.
With some inscrutable comment about how nice it was to see such an upright person, Dylan turned and headed toward the northern annex.
He was like that even on weekdays—when exactly did he make it to class?
Even when I first enrolled, Dylan had already been an upperclassman.
Unless there was some special reason—like he couldn't swallow anything but academy food, or he couldn't sleep anywhere but in this geography—such lax attendance was odd.
"Arma Cruz."
Right on cue, Theodore appeared, taking Dylan's place.
Theodore approached me with his usual inscrutable expression.
"There seems to be some progress with Arthur?"
This was the garden located between the Wooden Cross Class main building and the dormitory, a place non-majors rarely had reason to pass through.
As far as I knew, Arthur had remained deeply asleep since that day and still hadn't woken.
For now, the story had been neatly wrapped up as him overexerting himself during solo training in the forest ahead of his promotion exam.
"The concussion has long since healed. He's in a state of deep sleep. Just like Arma Cruz was a few weeks ago."
A few weeks ago—what could that refer to? I could think of three possibilities.
Not wanting to say something unnecessary and put Theodore in a tough spot, I simply nodded.
"Yeah, no need to rush."
I felt a prickly discomfort, like I'd swallowed a thorn, but I didn't let it show to Theodore.
While I was in that sleep, I had witnessed a future utterly destroyed.
If what Arthur was seeing in his dreams was the landscape of that ruined world, was it right to wake him?
Or...
"Arthur..."
As I wrestled intensely with the question in my mind, Theodore spoke first.
"He's fine. Tough as iron."
Yeah, that figured.
Considering he survived you smashing his head against a rock...
"...That's a relief."
The image of Theodore mercilessly bashing Arthur's head flashed in my mind, sending a chill through me for a moment.
"I was planning to bring him straight to you once he woke, but it seems he'll need a bit more time. When he briefly opened his eyes, I tried talking to him, but he was rambling incoherently."
"Rambling? Like what, for example?"
"I don't think there's much room for interpretation. He kept asking if someone was here. Like the opening line of that 'Prophet Game' we played as kids."
The Prophet Game was a lame occult game that every kid got obsessed with during puberty.
Two people place their hands together over a board with words written on it, ask questions, and get answers from some unknown entity.
It was also a game that kids naturally grew out of once they got a bit older.
"...Looks like childhood memories are still affecting him. I do have questions, but nothing worth forcing out of him."
"Yes. Besides, I know Arma Cruz plans to stay at the academy over winter break anyway."
"Compound fracture."
"..."
"No, I mean, take care. I've got an appointment, so I need to go. If there's more to discuss, come find me this evening?"
Caught off guard and verbally thrashed, I bid Theodore farewell with a sad expression.
At my words, Theodore wished me a good weekend and vanished.
'He means he won't come by.'
If Arthur woke, I planned to ask him about the things he'd said before we tussled.
But Arthur showed no signs of waking, so my anxious grace period was only dragging on.
I passed through the garden and headed to my original destination, the dormitory annex.
*Knock knock.*
"Judith. It's me."
Judith opened the door almost the instant I knocked.
Today's Judith had her hair tied low with no accessories, dressed in just a shirt and pants in a relaxed manner.
"Come in."
"It's been a while since I visited."
The dormitory annex where Judith lived was reserved for top-performing cadets among the special admits, from upper classes.
The room layout itself wasn't much different from the main dormitory building, but with far fewer residents, it felt much more comfortable.
*Click.*
Judith poured tea from a teapot engraved with exotic blue patterns.
I set out the plates and teaspoons she'd prepared and sat at the small table opposite her.
The pale blue silk wallpaper with white sea-foam patterns matched perfectly with Judith's cool, oceanic image.
"There was some commotion from the dorm monitor this morning. Did you commit some crime or something?"
"Not exactly a crime. But I think I've been marked."
"Marked?"
Before I knew it, Judith had crossed her legs and sat across from me, sipping her tea.
I took a sip of mine as well and swallowed.
"You remember that book I got from Dylan a while back?"
"Oh, that was a book? Makes sense. What else could something like that be?"
"Yeah, and there was an invitation inside. Something about joining their Classical Culture Club?"
No sooner had I finished speaking than Judith's face crumpled.
"Classical Culture Club?"
"You know it?"
"It's famous. Like that incident where they fought the Literary Society and plastered posters everywhere for no reason. Dylan's known as this undying fixture who never graduates, and every member is just as eccentric."
"Aren't there too many weirdos at this academy? But members? I only saw one."
"I don't remember the name, but there's another provisional member. Twins, I think."
If there were twins who looked exactly like Dylan, I'd know about it too.
So the twin must be Elia Allison.
I pictured Elia with his heavy dark circles, pale and gloomy-looking, and wondered if the twin had the same vibe.
"Anyway, seems like everyone's feeling lonely these days? Getting all fired up about club activities."
"These days?"
"Since the quarantine, I guess? All sorts of unofficial clubs have been popping up like mushrooms."
"I had no idea."
Judith chuckled at my words.
"You've been busy."
The words carried many meanings.
"They're not really clubs so much as groups of friends hanging out."
"If they're banding together anyway, wouldn't it be better to make them official clubs? I heard the Classical Culture Club is unofficial too."
"Valid question, but you're missing one thing."
Judith warmed her fingertips on her perfectly cooled teacup as she continued.
"Missing something? What?"
"Makina Christi. To get official club approval, you need to recruit members and get permission from the Student Council, but Makina won't approve anything that's not 'wholesome and progressive.'"
"Makina's president doesn't do anything halfway, huh. So what does it take to be wholesome and progressive?"
"That's exactly what no one knows, so they can't apply for official status."
"I see..."
Even as I said it, I couldn't think of anything that qualified as wholesome and progressive off the top of my head.
Judith, having finished her first cup, poured a second round.
Her tone and expression were the same as always, but I could sense she was quite anxious.
In the end, since Judith wouldn't broach the subject first, I threw out the topic.
"By the way, what happened back then? During major class."
"Oh, that."
Judith paused for a moment.
Then she let out a groan like "Urgh."
"A scout from First Princess Ariel's palace came for a knight attendant."
"Pfft!"
"You're spilling."
With desperate effort, I managed to keep the tea inside the cup.
Stunned, I set down my teacup and shot to my feet.
"Isn't that amazing!?"
That lady from yesterday was a princess!
I tried to recall the princess's face from that day, but it wouldn't come to mind.
Of course not—I'd never seen it.
She'd hidden it behind a hat with an unusually wide brim, and turns out she was highborn royalty.
Seeing my excitement, Judith gave a slight smile and shook her head.
"The circumstances are a bit off."
"...Circumstances? It's not the Royal Guard like you aimed for originally, but it seems like a pretty good offer."
"The princess is about to get married. After the wedding, she'll go to the Titan Duchy, and I can't understand why she'd pick a foreigner like me as her guard knight."
That was definitely strange.
On the verge of emigrating to a distant foreign land, choosing a foreigner like Judith as a guard seemed like something only someone with nerves of steel could do.
"Normally, wouldn't she bring knights from her own country? Especially a princess heading alone to a far-off land."
"Yeah... you're right."
Judith usually didn't make a big deal out of being a foreigner.
But this time, she couldn't help but fixate on the fact that the offer had come specifically to her, a foreigner.
"Anyway, I turned it down."
"Rejected flat-out, huh. Even a black obsidian blade would be blunter than you."
"Hmm. Let's chalk it up to a young heart not ready to leave my beloved academy just yet."
After that, we talked for a good while as Judith returned to her usual laid-back self.
Both she and I had questions we wanted to ask, but neither brought them up.
Probably the same question for both of us.
What the hell is going on with you?
After receiving Judith's generous hospitality and escort, I left the annex.
"I should at least grab a quick bite before heading back."
My chat with Judith had gone longer than expected; when I set out, the morning sun was blazing, but now there was no trace of it.
The shortening days were proof that winter was coming.
I followed the streetlamps flickering on one by one toward the dining hall.
***
"It's Arma Cruz."
The moment I entered the dining hall, I heard someone whispering to a fellow cadet as if we were friends.
Ever since becoming this unwelcome celebrity, this always happened whenever I went out alone or to places with lots of unfamiliar cadets.
"Hello."
I deliberately greeted the table that had called my name, then went and sat at the banquet table piled high with luxurious food.
Soon, a clean plate and utensils were set at my place, delivered by young employees with their faces covered.
"Thank you."
I gave a light greeting, and the employee nodded slightly before vanishing silently and swiftly.
The Aegis Academy staff glided through the dining hall like quiet ghosts.
'Come to think of it, I've never heard one speak.'
From vague memories, I recalled that part of their employment conditions was to pretend not to see what they saw, not to hear what they heard, and not to know what they knew—keeping their mouths shut.
Personally, I thought it was an inhumanely harsh work environment, but the pay was sky-high, and it led to favorable next jobs, so the positions were quite popular.
*Clink, clink.*
Using the communal serving utensils, I portioned smoked duck and stir-fried mixed vegetables in duck fat from the large bowls onto my plate and began eating.
That's when I noticed the dining hall had fallen into an eerie silence.
Pretending nonchalance, I glanced around sidelong.
Every cadet in the dining hall had their eyes fixed on me.