Chapter 187 - Conspiracy (3)

“Generally, people wrote names of those from much higher social classes or from hostile families in this section, but in Trisha's case... it seems deep personal emotions are involved."

"..."

As my expression hardened, Candinella waved her hand as if it wasn't a big deal.

Could Trisha be getting bullied? If it were me, I would have just endured it, but since she was easily affected by her surroundings, it could be a problem.

Imagining Trisha being bullied made my blood run cold.

"What should I do?"

"Hmm, it's admirable that you're volunteering. Actually, when adults interfere in student matters, it always makes things worse."

"..."

"Keep a close eye on Trisha. And if you have the chance, look after Cecil and Sion too. They both seem to be in bad shape lately. They're the faces of their departments, you know."

"I was planning to see Cecil again soon... How bad is it?"

Candinella spoke vaguely, "Well... she seems a bit mentally confused. Students don't usually open up to professors about these things. Would you go talk to her?"

The image of her tearfully wielding a knife had been weighing on my mind. I should meet her again to find out what was going on. I should also think of ways to repay Cecil for all she had done for me.

"I'll meet Cecil soon. But Sion... I might be overwhelmed too."

"Don't worry about that. Sion considers you a friend too."

"What?"

Candinella rummaged through the documents and pulled out a parchment, pushing it towards me.

It was Sion's adaptation assessment sheet.

"I shouldn't show you evaluation sheets, but Sion barely filled anything out properly, so it shouldn't matter."

She seemed to have approached the evaluation very uncooperatively. Not a single question was properly checked.

"No need to look at the rest, just check the last question, will you?"

"...?"

The last question was about the closest classmate or senior/junior.

"Sion wrote your name there. Well, strictly speaking, it's a slightly different person."

What Sion had written wasn't my real name, but “Candy”.

I was speechless. Did she write me down because she had no one else to write? My relationship with Sion was barely enough to call friendship. We had almost no private interactions or contact.

Seeing this, I could tell for sure. Sion had no friends.

"There are quite a few witnesses. They say that unsociable Sion with her terrible personality went on a date with Candy."

This wasn't out of personal interest but done in exchange for the Sword Master's labor costs. The gold coins I received then were a considerable amount, enough that I still had some left even after spending a lot.

"...It's not exactly accurate, and there were some circumstances I can't talk about."

"Oh? I heard you even bought her earrings."

My heart sank. I had stopped by a jewelry shop once and gifted something to Sion. 

How did she know?

"Is the Masters Class under surveillance or something?"

"You're so unobservant. Don't you know that Sion wears the earrings you bought her every day?"

"..."

Actually, I hadn't had many close encounters with her, so I wasn’t sure. When I gave them to her, she seemed displeased, but had she changed her mind now?

Candinella muttered to herself as if finding it strange, "Come to think of it, it seems you only hang out with tough and temperamental kids... Don't you feel that way too?"

"..."

To be honest, strictly speaking, most of my human relationships started involuntarily. Even my most precious relationship with Teacher wasn't one I chose to form myself. The only relationships I voluntarily started were with Luna and Bibi.

***

After finishing my meeting with Professor Candinella, I sent Stitches to Cecil as Candy.

It didn't take long to receive her reply.

[I'm at the clock tower.]

Strangely, the handwriting was crooked and messy, as if written with feet. Cecil's handwriting was usually impeccable like a calligrapher's, what was going on?

They said she wasn't doing well, was she really okay? The image of her wielding that knife still flashed before my eyes.

I double-checked my attire for any mistakes and took the magic elevator to the top floor of the clock tower.

As the elevator reached the top floor, I saw Cecil's back slumped at the edge of the railing.

Her wavy dark brown hair hung limply to the floor.

"Cecil."

She slowly turned her head at my call.

"..."

Now I noticed a wine bottle in her hand, and her lips were stained purple.

Her cheeks were deeply flushed, and her eyes were half-lidded.

Cecil always looked mature and grown-up like a girl playing adult, but now she looked like... a little girl who had secretly raided her father's liquor cabinet.

"Caaandy," she called out softly and patted the spot next to her vigorously.

I sensed that this encounter with Cecil wasn't going to be easy.

As I sat down next to her, a strong grape wine smell wafted over.

"How long have you been like this?"

"Juuust, wanted to drink. This is a good place to drink secretly."

"Sure, and it's also a good place for accidents if you slip. Did something bad happen?"

"Something bad? How could I be sober after suddenly swinging a knife at and trying to strip the most unlikeable yet popular person among our classmates?"

"Damian?"

"...Hmph."

"Are you worried about him?"

Cecil suddenly turned her head and looked at my face with bleary eyes.

"What about you!? Are you worried about me being worried about Damian?"

"I am worried. You're hanging out with a bad guy."

"Then why didn't you treat me better? You know I like handsome guys, why are you so relieved? It's more annoying that Damian seems better than I heard."

"That's unfortunate."

Cecil put the bottle to her lips and gulped down the wine. Then she pressed her lips to my shoulder and wiped her wine-stained mouth on my clothes as if it were a napkin.

"Then treat me well, hic! You should be grateful that a pretty girl like me is being friends with and treating well an ugly guy like you. Right?"

"..."

"Why do you keep wearing that mask and making me confused?"

"There are people after me. If they see you're close to me, they might harass you too."

Cecil put the bottle to her lips and gulped down more wine.

"Fine, don't worry, I'll get my fair share for the risk I'm taking."

"..."

"I've recorded everything in my ledger. Everything I've done for you. From the frost wind bomb to decoding strange research papers to artifact processing, I've written it all down without missing anything. I'm going to collect on all of this. Be prepared."

"I'll pay it all back. Don't worry."

Cecil pressed her finger against the lips of my mask repeatedly as she continued, "Do you think it's just a small amount? It won't be enough even if you spend a whole semester paying it back."

"..."

"But especially, I'll—hic—considering our bond, I'll give you a chance. Just once. If you manage to move me, I'll consider it all paid back. Well, considering our loyalty so far."

"Manage?"

"This tastes bad, you drink it."

Cecil suddenly seemed to come to her senses, pushed the wine bottle to me, and stood up.

"Think carefully about what you can do to pay back all your debt at once. I'm going now. Candy, you're annoying now."

"..."

Cecil left me and stumbled onto the elevator.

Then she suddenly turned back and said one last thing, "Oh, and this is something only I know, but this time it's going to be a masquerade ball."

***

"Do you know what Blanc did? He secretly came into the dormitory and kept knocking on Beth's door. Asking her to be his partner."

"Why does he keep coming when she refused? Ugh, I really hate it."

"So now Blanc is on disciplinary action, and if he makes one more mistake, he'll be suspended right away."

"See, class is important after all. If you grow up in a cultured family, you understand when someone speaks politely. Commoners don't know that."

"Ah, I don't think so? Won't Blanc inherit a title?"

"Oh, never mind then. Well, even if Blanc is an exception, most commoners were like that. No matter how great they are, I don't think I could dance with someone from the commoner class."

"Why? It's not like you're going to marry them, there's nothing wrong with it."

"What if they think they're on your level and come on to you? No matter how great they are in Eternia, they'll end up working under nobles after graduation."

"Is that so?"

"Think about it. If you marry a commoner with an open mind, you'll have to do all the laundry, meals, cleaning, and mansion management yourself. Could you handle that? Could you rub your underwear in the stream every day?"

"You can hire people with money. Would that be a problem after graduation?"

"Sure, you might have to move to a remote area to follow your employer to make money, and to maintain our standard of living, you'd have to draw money from your family anyway."

"I might consider it if it's a commoner like Victor or Damian."

All the girls there burst into laughter.

"If it's Damian, I might have to think about it a bit."

"Shouldn't Damian be grateful if we accept his dance invitation? Not to mention the class difference. We'd have to teach him every dance move and etiquette. Do you know how embarrassing it is if you get tangled up on stage?"

Trisha stood quietly in front of the Dance Club’s costume room door, silently listening to their conversation.

They were talking about Damian here too. He wasn't mentioned this much before the sparring evaluation.

When the voices quieted down for a moment, she knocked on the door.

Knock knock.

"Who is it? Come in!"

Trisha opened the door and bowed slightly.

"Hello."

The Dance Club girls looked at Trisha with unpleasant expressions. As if they had known her for a long time.

"Why are you here?"

"I came to retrieve the costumes borrowed by the Drama Club."

"Oh, those?"

One of the Dance Club girls brought a basket and threw clothes into it haphazardly.

"Hey! Put all the borrowed clothes in here!"

Other students also came lazily and threw clothes in. Soon the basket was filled to the brim.

"Tell the Drama Club President we said thanks."

It looked too heavy for one girl to carry. 

Trisha said without complaining, "I'll be going then."

Trisha struggled to lift and carry the basket, grunting as she left the room. She heard giggling behind her back. She didn't know why they were laughing, but it felt like they were mocking her.