Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Visitor (2)
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“Who did what?”
“Theodor collapsed…”
Shirley trailed off, which was rare for her.
But who wouldn’t in a situation like this?
She was talking about someone collapsing in her own room, after all.
“Where’s Theodor?!”
The absurdity of it all made me forget everything she’d just said.
Only belatedly did I recall her mentioning the left dressing room.
Judith muttered something incomprehensible about sensing a presence earlier, then hurried past me into the left dressing room.
A moment later.
She emerged into the parlor carrying Theodor, who was limp as if truly unconscious.
“Theodor, you idiot. What’s going on? Shirley! Was it a close-range preemptive strike or a long-range one? You know attacking a mage up close comes with aggravated penalties!”
“Be honest, Shirley. If you ambushed a cadet for no reason, community service might not cut it this time.”
“What happened to my evaluation? Ugh, seriously. Why’d this guy have to show up here and make things complicated?”
My vision spun.
What had started as a casual sick visit felt like it had spiraled into another major incident.
‘Were they secretly dating, and we barged in…?‘
My thoughts went that far, but upon reflection, Shirley had no reason to hide a relationship.
I turned Theodor’s eyepatch, which had shifted halfway around, back into place, then—without asking Shirley’s permission—placed the kettle over the fireplace with trembling hands.
-Clunk, clunk, clunk. Clunkclunkclunk.
“No aggravated penalties, no aggravated penalties…”
“Shirley. If you don’t talk soon, Arma’s going to faint.”
“It’s not even something to faint over! Calm down first!”
With no time to brew tea, I poured three cups of hot water onto the parlor table and took a deep breath, bracing for Shirley’s shocking confession.
“Spill it now.”
“He showed up out of nowhere and just collapsed.”
“Perjury on top of aggravated penalties.”
“I’m going insane.”
Shirley clawed at her hair in frustration.
But I was the one with the headache.
For starters, I had no idea why Theodor had come here on his own two feet.
‘Huh?’
In that moment.
A memory from some past day surfaced—something Arthur had said.
-Theodor has sleepwalking.
-…What?
-It’s a severe case that developed rapidly in a short time.
A severe case of sleepwalking that had developed rapidly.
His perpetually pale face and the eyepatch half-covering it made it hard to notice, but if his sleepwalking hadn’t resolved since then, it explained why he’d come all the way here.
“Shirley. Everyone at the academy knows your status, so you’re not about to say Theodor picked a fight with you first…”
“Picked a fight? He showed up suddenly, sure, but he didn’t start anything. He just walked over there and collapsed.”
“Shirley’s telling the truth.”
Realizing her grievance too late, I gulped down the cooling hot water and set the cup down.
“Arthur once mentioned Theodor suffering from severe sleepwalking. That’s what it was. Sorry, Shirley.”
“How can something this ridiculous even happen?”
Even Judith couldn’t keep a straight face at this absurdity; her mouth hung open.
“Oh, sleepwalking, huh? That explains the muttering. He wasn’t making any sense—I thought he’d been drinking.”
Shirley, the person involved, nodded as if it finally clicked.
Her subsequent explanation went like this.
Hearing a knock, Shirley—assuming it was Judith and me—called from the parlor for them to come in, only realizing belatedly that the visitor was Theodor.
-Lady Shirley… I don’t remember anything. It’s weird, right? It feels like I was just here a little while ago.
-Lady? What are you talking about? Did you dream it? And you’ve been to my room? You?
-No, that’s not it… The place isn’t here, but… I definitely asked you to… Ah…
Then, as if he’d arrived somewhere else entirely, he wandered about before collapsing in the dressing room like a marionette with its strings cut.
“I was just about to slap his cheeks to wake him when you seniors arrived… Actually, I knew it looked bad enough to cause misunderstandings, so I was panicking over what to do, and that’s how it turned out.”
Now our gazes turned to Theodor, lying peacefully on Shirley’s bed, breathing softly.
“He said he didn’t remember anything?”
“Yeah. It’s pretty weird, right? He shows up on his own, then claims he was here just recently.”
“Yeah, I’m curious too.”
At my words, Shirley replayed the scene in her mind, wondering if she’d missed something.
But Shirley wouldn’t uncover anything more.
If anything, the real clue seemed to lie in my dreams.
-Theodor White conveniently lost his memories, putting us in a tough spot. It’s not entirely his fault.
Theodor White’s memories.
The words from the sleepwalking Theodor and the mature Shirley in my dreams began to connect in strange ways.
If all this had restarted because something Theodor should remember had vanished… then perhaps the broken link was closer than I thought.
‘No way—isn’t my memory the key, but Theodor’s? Though he himself seems confused about it.’
No, the lead had been provided long ago.
‘The magic circle engraved on my chest: [Remember No Matter What].’
And regarding that magic circle, hadn’t Theodor himself told me to dismantle it during the devil summoning incident in the literature club?
With Theodor now plagued by sleepwalking and memory confusion, maybe I could use him to control what happens next.
Then a thought flashed like lightning.
‘Hold on. The Theodor who wakes from the dream remembers nothing. So… couldn’t I learn about [Yvonne’s existence]—a way to counter the guardian angel—through him?’
Lost in thought, I watched Judith gently prodding Theodor, trying to rouse the deeply sleeping boy.
“He’s sleeping like he hasn’t rested in days. It almost doesn’t look like he fainted.”
“I really didn’t touch a hair on his head. He couldn’t even stand because of his legs, he said.”
Because of our initial suspicions, Shirley desperately proclaimed her innocence.
The false accusation had already been cleared, but the earlier events clearly still stung.
“We can’t just dump an unconscious guy in his room, so let’s take him to mine.”
My decision was more pragmatic than anything, but Judith nodded in agreement.
“You’re already famous, Arma—going all the way to Thorn Crown House would be tough. And me carrying him there would draw eyes too.”
“True.”
“Leaving him in Shirley’s room like this isn’t ideal either, so we’ll put him in your room and call Arthur.”
That seemed like a fair compromise.
I hoisted Theodor over my shoulder, posing as if I were supporting a staggering companion.
“This should pass for walking. He’s surprisingly light.”
“He didn’t even make much noise when he fell. Like a scarecrow toppling.”
Even so, he had to weigh more than a scarecrow…
I dragged the stumbling Theodor along step by step.
Finally losing patience, Judith grabbed his clothes from the right and hauled him upright.
“Oh.”
“He is light. They say White family members shoot up like poles after adulthood, but he’s not there yet.”
“Yeah, I heard that. Theodor growing into a pole? Hard to picture.”
“I saw his sister from afar once—she was a head taller than me. The men are probably even bigger.”
A head taller than Judith’s 170-something cm meant nearly two meters.
Whether Theodor would reach that height was questionable, but the tale of the White family all growing enormous was famous even in the kingdom.
Judith draped the hooded robe she’d been wearing over Theodor’s head, carefully checking that his face was hidden.
“This should do.”
We left Shirley’s room in a trio formation, supporting Theodor between us.
Shirley, exhausted from everything, rubbed her bleary eyes as she saw us off.
Then she hopped on one leg back to her bed.
Outside, unlike when we’d arrived, the sun had set—making it hard to distinguish faces even without Theodor’s robe.
“Perfect timing, just before the streetlights. Hurry, Judith.”
“Right.”
The darkness granted us freedom, letting me observe the academy’s changed landscape in finer, more precise detail since my hospitalization.
Cadets carrying swords, bows, shields, and such on their backs were no longer unusual.
Some wore misty-glowing artifacts as bracelets or necklaces—likely magical tools. A few even had familiars perched on their shoulders or riding them.
“Well, even if it’s wooden crosses, everyone has some magical aptitude. It’s finally sinking in.”
“Don’t worry too much—I’ll protect you.”
“Reliable.”
After so many incidents, whether they carried weapons or not barely fazed me anymore.
Two of my near-fatal injuries here had been from my own gun, after all.
If anything, it might make it easier to fight back against things trying to kill us, like in the recent familiar incident.
A sudden thought: was everything unfolding exactly as Makina planned?