Chapter 202 - Conspiracy (18)

The ball was still in full swing, but Cecil left it behind.

Brilliant fireworks exploded and lively music from the ballroom spread to distant places.

Cecil was walking towards the dormitory with reddened eyes.

It took quite a long time for her to accept her situation.

She had been abandoned.

Her calculation that Candy would gradually cling to her over time was completely wrong.

She had never failed to get what she wanted in her life.

Solid family support, along with full backing from academic sponsors. Thanks to her unrivaled talent, she had never experienced failure.

The concept of deprivation was something she understood intellectually but had never experienced personally.

Whatever it was, if she put in more effort, she achieved the best results.

Her admission to Eternia and top rank in the Magic Engineering Department were part of that, and the attention of the opposite sex came naturally without much effort.

Things in the world had been that easy.

She thought she could win the attention of the person she wanted.

Along with the sense of loss from being abandoned by Candy, she was also feeling a bitter sense of defeat for the first time in her life.

What had gone wrong?

Cecil kept thinking as she headed to the dormitory.

Tears welled up in her eyes, pressed down by sorrow. Thinking this appearance was unsightly, she casually wiped them away with her arm as if nothing was wrong.

"I'll do better next time... next time..."

***

"There he comes."

"It's true. He's alone."

"Oh my, did he really get dumped?"

"Who says that?"

"Serves him right."

As Damian entered the ballroom looking neat before the second part of the event started, some girls in the corner muttered.

Zenia and Haley, who were listening nearby, frowned in displeasure.

Unlike at the beginning of the semester, there were now almost no female students who spoke favorably of Damian.

Now many were openly targeting him, and those who didn't have confidence to win in that fierce competition had stepped back like that. To them, Damian was no longer an object of desire but just someone to gossip about eagerly.

Zenia rested her chin on the railing and observed the ballroom. Looking down from above, she now noticed things she hadn't been aware of when she was down there.

Few people were openly looking at Damian, but countless people were glancing at him while pretending not to. While chatting with friends, drinking beverages, and even while dancing, they were eyeing Damian.

Zenia sighed and said, "Women are so fickle. Right?"

Then Haley gave a meaningful answer, "Right. Fickle. You're fickle too."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

At this, Zenia spoke as if slightly irritated, "I don't look at the first-year that way, you know?"

"Would you reject him if he asked you to dance saying, 'All the girls my age seem childish. I prefer mature seniors'?"

"Yes. The first-year feels like a little brother now, so I'm not interested."

"Really? I think he's too childish to dance with too."

Zenia looked at Haley with half-closed eyes.

"..."

Haley avoided Zenia's gaze and turned her eyes downward.

"..."

They were silent for a moment.

Then Haley spoke as if surprised, looking at Damian's movement.

"Wait. Is the first-year... going there?"

Haley pointed with her finger. Zenia looked and was equally surprised.

"No, that... it can't be, right?"

Damian was walking towards Sion.

A moment later, Damian spoke to Sion as he stood in front of her. Sion answered coldly.

After exchanging a few words, Damian headed elsewhere.

"As expected, it's not."

Zenia sighed in relief.

Then Haley, in turn, narrowed her eyes and gave Zenia a suspicious look.

***

I finished a brief conversation with Sion and headed towards Luna.

The incident with Cecil was still on my mind, and I honestly wanted to end the ball early, but I couldn't hurt another friend just because I was in a bad mood.

And being with Luna might provide some comfort.

Luna had fixed her gaze on me from afar, as if she had already sensed my location.

As I approached, Luna stood up demurely with her hands clasped.

"Did you wait long?"

"No. More importantly... what did you talk about with Sion?"

"There was something to tell her related to Sion's master."

"I see..."

To be precise, I approached her like the boys who were flirting with Sion and smoothly said "The dress suits you well" and received a "Get lost" in response.

"What's that note in your hand?"

Luna had a small piece of parchment in her hand.

Luna looked at the parchment as if she had forgotten about it and hurriedly hid it behind her back.

"...It's nothing."

Soon after, the wolf spirit walked up behind her and took it in its mouth, chewing it like a snack.

"...?"

Then Luna asked an unexpected question.

"Do I... look any different?"

Luna twisted her hair nervously. Compared to what I saw earlier

"Your scent is different. Did you change your perfume?"

Luna's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes...! It's my favorite perfume."

"It smells nice."

"It's one of the Witch series made by the alchemist... Rubicon Margini."

"What's it called?"

"This one is... Witch's Lust."

I was momentarily speechless. I hope I didn't hear that wrong. It was an unusual name for a perfume.

"If it's a series... I guess there are others?"

"Yes... I personally like the Witch's Nude and Moans series too."

The scent itself suited Luna well, but the perfume names were very incongruous. Especially for someone with Luna's personality to mention so casually... the words were too provocative.

Looking at Luna's calm face without a hint of embarrassment, I wondered if she didn't understand what the perfume names meant.

She must have said it without knowing. 

Without knowing...

Luna looks up at my face with curious cat-like eyes. I had no idea what she was thinking.

I naturally changed the subject, "There's still a lot of time until the finale, should we go out for a bit?"

Luna nodded.

"...Okay."

"Let's go."

As I turned around, Luna immediately grabbed me.

"It's customary for partners to link arms... they said."

I offered my arm without much thought. Luna hesitated and timidly placed her hand lightly. It was more like just resting her fingers than linking arms.

It was really strange that words like "Witch's Moans" came out of Luna's mouth when she was so cautious about physical contact.

"There were quite a few people playing outside."

After entering the second part, small-scale events were held to further boost the excitement.

"Yes, I... want to go to the maze garden."

"Is there something you want to see there?"

"Just..."

***

Following Luna's request, we left the bustling ballroom. Then we headed to the maze garden, feeling the cool breeze.

Unlike the quiet first part, the maze garden was quite crowded.

Seeing an organizer at the maze entrance and couples lining up in front of him, it seemed some event was being held here too.

As we got closer, we saw some students blocking the entrance and controlling movement.

A student stood on an apple box like a platform and shouted loudly to those gathered at the maze, "...The prize is a bronze tree stem couple bracelet made by our Horticulture Club. I'll say it again for those just arriving. The winners of the 'Find Your Partner!' race will receive a bronze tree stem couple bracelet."

It seemed to be a small event planned by a special activity club.

The Horticulture Club, huh?

Being so overshadowed by the Dance and Drama Clubs, I had almost forgotten about the existence of such small special clubs.

"If it's jewelry made from a bronze tree..."

There was a high probability it was a fake. Having been involved in metalworking myself and possessing knowledge about botany comparable to the Alchemy Department, I knew its value well.

The hardness of a bronze tree was similar to iron, and its unique subtle fragrance was said to last over a hundred years. It was a species traded more expensively than gold of the same weight because it grew slowly for a long-lived tree. It was too precious an item to give away for a one-time event.

Since this was a place to enjoy, and the Horticulture Club students showed no signs of trying to profit from this, I didn't feel like questioning it.

Above all, Luna's eyes were sparkling so much looking at the bracelet that I didn't want to break the illusion.

"Luna, do you want to do it?"

She nodded twice. It seems she had been aiming for this from the start.

The organizer on the makeshift platform continued his explanation, "We'll take your partners to the deepest part of the maze and restrain them. Then the remaining person has to quickly find their partner within the time limit."

As the rules of the competition were announced, the waiting students started murmuring with their partners.

I examined the maze walls. Although the walls were as tall as a Plantera, the overall area wasn't very large. It didn't look difficult.

Everyone seemed to have no regard for the value of the bronze tree bracelet and just wanted to enjoy themselves. If we tried too hard, we might receive disapproving looks.

"Now. Those who will wait in the deepest part of the maze, raise your hands!"

Most of the female students raised their hands high. Luna was one of them.

"Isn't it boring for men to always be the rescuers! All these people will remain at the entrance. The men who didn't raise their hands will go into the maze together!"

As the rules twisted strangely, laughter erupted among the waiting participants.

I looked at Luna. She lowered her arm sheepishly and nodded at me.

"Will you be okay?"

"Damian... I'll rescue you."

"It might be boring if we just do it normally, should we make a bet like the others?"

Around us, partners were talking about finding each other within a few minutes or what to bet.

"Luna, if you come in first... is there something you want?"

"Yes. There is."

"What is it?"

"...A wish coupon?"

"Huh?"

"A wish coupon... would be nice."

A wish coupon was something often exchanged between couples. If the relationship was bound by contract or money, it could cause big problems, but in relationships with strong bonds, unreasonable requests were rarely made.

If Trisha had said such a thing, I would have pondered for days, but with Luna, there was no difficulty. She wouldn't create a situation that would put me in a difficult position.

"Okay. If you come in first, I'll give you a wish coupon."

***

The male students followed the organizer to the center of the maze. Actually entering it, the feeling was different from looking down from above. The structure was so complex that one could easily get lost for hours if not careful.

"Alright. You can wait here."

They tied ropes around the bodies of those waiting. Perhaps because it was a formal restraint, the knots were loose and there was almost no sense of pressure.

Like that, we sat leaning against the maze wall, spaced out one by one. The organizer left people here and departed again.

A firework exploded signaling the start at the entrance, and shortly after, a guy sitting in front of me facing me started to squirm.

"Damn, why did they tie it so tight?"

A handsome, well-groomed guy cursed and twisted his body.

Then he spoke to me, "Hey, can you help me out?"

He didn't seem like someone who would cause harm.

I took out a dagger from behind my waist and tossed it in front of him. The guy made a surprised expression and then cut his restraints with the dagger.

"Phew, that's better."

"..."

The man stared at my face for a moment and asked, "Have we met before?"

Honestly, I wanted to ignore him, but the space between the walls we were leaning on was too narrow to do so comfortably.

I shook my head, showing my annoyance.

"No, ah, I get it. I've seen you before. Damian."

"...Have we met before?"

"I saw you in Rigved. It's rare to see someone who attracts so much attention."

"I've never done that."

"No, you did."

"..."

"I'm Hubert. Mutant. Oddball. I'm called by various nicknames, but that's my real name."

"Not very friendly nicknames."

"Dwarf blood flows in my heart. People usually call me a mutant, or if not that, a half-breed."

"You don't look anything like that."

Even at a glance, the guy had quite long limbs and his face was quite handsome, unlike the rough impression given by the word dwarf. Rather than a half-breed, he gave off the impression of a high-class stud.

"My father is closer to a typical dwarf than I am. Well, I'm pretty good for a descendant of a race despised just for their appearance."

"..."

He didn't seem to be lying, though he looked completely unrelated to dwarves. And I didn't dislike this guy's unrestrained honesty.

Hubert suddenly asked me, "You... what are you?"

What does he mean? Does he think I'm a descendant of some different species too?

"What are you asking?"

"Are you... human?"

It was out of the blue, but I felt it was right to respond to this guy's honesty in kind.

"My mother is human, and I don't know about my father because I've never seen him."

Hubert grinned good-naturedly. It was closer to a response to my honesty than mockery.

"I like that. Who did you come with?"

"A friend."

"Is she pretty?"

"One of the top beauties in the academy."

Hubert shrugged as if he had expected it.

"Well, I guess so. Is she a first-timer with you?"

"..."

I didn't answer. The guy nodded to himself as if he felt some inexplicable inner agreement with me.

"Ah. That kind? I'm the opposite."

I couldn't understand what this guy was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

"What else, I'm saying I don't like virgins."

"..."

"I can tell that's your preference, but you seem less experienced than me. You'll get burned that way. Women's obsession with their first man is frighteningly strong. Can you handle it?"

"What about you?"

"I prefer experienced women. They don't cling, it's less burdensome to break things off, and it's comfortable. It's clean so there's no... you know?"

"Not at all."

I shook my head.

This guy was a typical playboy type.

What was strangely irritating was that he was treating me as if I was the same kind as him.

"You have to experience many people to develop a good eye for people. Don't you think?"

"If you meet the best one, there's no need to wander around."

Hubert chuckled.

"That's fine too. You're quite interesting. I'll invite you to a party later. I'll introduce you to my friends."

"If I have time."

"By the way. Have you ever hit on Senior Isilite?"

"Who?"

"My partner. The senior said you were aggressively courting her and it was troublesome."

I shook my head wearily.

"I've never even seen her."

"Ah, don't worry, I'm not doubting you. I already knew it was a lie. I just asked to confirm."

"Why would she tell such a lie?"

Hubert rubbed the back of his neck and said, "What else? Because the relationship is unstable. Isn't it obvious? She wants to take the lead, but she's anxious because her partner seems unpredictable. So she brings up other men to stimulate him."

"..."

"Ha, that senior acts like she's experienced, but when you see things like this, she seems clumsy and inexperienced. Her obsession is terribly strong, like a first love."

"You have to handle what you've chosen."

"I just want to enjoy it lightly. But the other side has such burning determination to do anything... even looking towards marriage... do you know what I mean? You'd feel suffocated if you saw it. How strong the obsession is. I guarantee, the senior is the type who will do anything to come in first."