Chapter 51
“Look closely, Professor Mella.”
Kadisha crossed her arms and moved so close to Mella she was practically touching her.
“?”
Mella set down her coffee cup and crossed her legs.
No, it wasn't like I was trying to start a contest of nerves over something like this.
Anyway.
“Do you know how many years apart Everchess and I are?”
Originally, Kadisha had meant to say that there was too great an age gap between her and Gilliam.
However.
“I'm three years older.”
“Pardon…? Th-that’s all?”
“Yeah. Three years.”
“…What constellation were you born under, Professor Mella?”
“Silver Tiger.”
“I'm under Windwing.”
“Then Professor Kadisha is one year younger than me, so you're two years apart from Everchess.”
“….”
The academy's entrance age wasn't fixed; it varied from person to person.
Besides, many professors had shown their genius from a young age and finished their studies early.
Kadisha and Mella were typical examples of such young geniuses. In different fields, though.
“But how did you know that, Professor Mella? Did you ask him?”
“I checked his identity when he was admitted as a patient.”
“Are you even allowed to do th-that?”
Strange?
It was perfectly normal for a healer to look at a patient's personal information.
But why did it feel like something illegal when Professor Mella said she'd looked at Everchess's personal information?
‘Why do you think? Because this woman sees a cadet as a man!’
It wasn't illegal, but it was a violation of professional ethics.
But… I see.
“Everchess and I are only two years apart…?”
Hmm.
Hmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
So that's how it was.
I see.
“I guess the age gap is smaller than you expected?”
“Yes… I thought he was younger.”
Everchess was handsome, but his features were delicate and princely rather than rugged and bearded, so she'd been mistaken.
Two years.
For an older woman and younger man, a two-year age gap…
‘Isn't that just right?’
A gap that let her show off an older woman's tolerance and composure without making her seem so much older that it would be a burden.
Of course.
Kadisha absolutely did not see Everchess as anything more than a cadet.
Rather, that was precisely why it was okay for her to think this way.
If she saw Everchess as more than a cadet and was thinking about an older-woman-younger-man dynamic, that would be a problem.
But she wasn't.
Therefore, safe.
‘Yeah. It's fine.’
And by the same logic.
‘Two years is better than three.’
There was absolutely nothing wrong with thinking that, either.
Mella thought coolly, her legs crossed.
‘No matter how I look at it, Professor Kadisha sees Everchess as a man, too, doesn't she?’
Was she trying to deny it?
‘Well, that could happen.’
Though she didn't think it meant anything.
With Kadisha lost in thought in front of her, Mella took another sip of strong coffee.
‘What should I do?’
She hoped Kadisha wouldn't interfere with her goal of fucking that filthy, slutty, trashy womanizer senseless.
‘Should I just pounce on him together with her?’
That didn't sound bad, either.
Twice the women meant twice as much to wring out of him. Twice the pain for the man, too.
‘It's not like I can have him all to myself at this point anyway.’
Because he was a filthy slut who treated his cock like a toy.
Even if the two of them wrung him dry until he was on the verge of death, he'd recover for a few days and then go around flirting with women with that refreshed look on his face.
Well, that was fine, too.
Mella didn't particularly want to ruin Gilliam.
She just wanted to teach a lesson to the bastard who had the nerve to make a woman ache and then run off.
“Professor Kadisha.”
“…Ah, yes?”
“I couldn't find any clause saying professors and cadets can't date.”
Kadisha blinked.
“How do you know that?”
“I looked it up. The academy rules.”
“Why would you look that up?”
“Who knows? Why would I? I'm not sure myself.”
“….”
“….”
“E-even if it's not in the rules, obviously you still shouldn't do it, right?”
She had a point. Conflicts of interest and so on.
So Mella didn't bother arguing with her.
Instead.
“Well, anyway, it's not in the rules.”
Just so you know.
Yeah.
Take note of that as you see fit.
“Come to think of it, Everchess asked me whether I had a soulmate.”
“…What did you tell him?”
“He didn't ask you, Professor Kadisha?”
“He did.”
“What did you tell him?”
“….”
At that moment, a meaningful glance passed between the two professors.
Clatter.
The infirmary door opened, and someone came in.
“Huh…? Has Mr. Everchess not come yet?”
Kocha Sillon.
The three professors at the academy who were most favorable toward Gilliam had all gathered in one place.
…Why were they all women?
The faculty's gender ratio was almost one to one.
‘We're not the ones at fault. Everchess is.’
‘That cock-slut bastard.’
Kadisha and Mella muttered to themselves.
They were thinking the same thing.
“What do you mean, Mr. Everchess hasn't come yet, Professor Sillon?”
“I happened to run into Mr. Everchess a little while ago.”
Kadisha furrowed her brows with concern.
“…Did he do something to you?”
“N-no… Mr. Everchess wouldn't do that! P-probably….”
Kadisha and Mella stared at her.
Sillon blushed as she explained.
“W-well, he said he'd encountered an enemy and fought them? And that he'd killed the enemy….”
“…What has he gotten himself into this time?”
Kadisha sighed.
“He must've gotten into a fight over another woman. Isn't that obvious? No need to hear the details.”
“Right.”
Mella readily agreed. Yeah, no need to listen to that slut's story.
Kadisha folded her arms even more firmly.
“When he comes in, I'll give him a talking-to. Even if it's his private life, someone like Everchess deserves to be scolded by a professor, by a teacher.”
“I-I can't really disagree with that….”
For the record, Kocha Sillon was known for being gentle and timid.
Even Sillon couldn't defend Everchess at all when faced with the claim that his womanizing was bad enough to warrant a scolding.
“From his expression earlier, it seemed like something serious happened.”
“Professor Sillon, don't let him fool you. I'm sure that was all a ploy to win your sympathy.”
“I-is that so…?”
“Yes. I'm sure of it.”
Footsteps sounded.
“This time, it really is Everchess.”
“How can you tell?”
Kadisha said confidently.
“I've memorized the sound of his footsteps so I can tell them apart.”
This time, Mella and Sillon exchanged glances.
“….”
Translation: Doesn't Professor Kadisha seem the most smitten, no matter how you look at it?
“….”
Translation: She probably won't listen no matter what we say, so let's not say anything.
And then.
“By the way, Professor Sillon, what constellation are you?”
“Oh, I-I'm under the Glass constellation.”
“Four years apart… So in order, two, three, and four years older….”
“Pardon?”
Before Sillon could press her for details, Everchess actually appeared.
A face so handsome it was irritating, no matter how often you saw it.
“Oh, Professor Sillon, you too… Huh? Why are you here, Professor Kadisha?”
“That's—”
Honest answer: Professor Mella seems to see you as a man, so I came to warn her.
“—That doesn't matter right now. Who on earth did you get into a fight with this time?”
“Ah… well.”
“Everchess.”
Kadisha adopted the tone of voice she used when sternly reprimanding someone.
“You need to stop causing a commotion over women.”
“I did cause an even bigger commotion over a woman this time. To be honest, I was pretty angry.”
“Do you know that the deaths you've been involved in around this city are making things difficult for the rest of us professors?”
“Uh….”
Gilliam lowered his head.
“I'm sorry.”
“….”
I sometimes think about this, but even setting aside his looks (bonus points) and his womanizing (penalty points), isn't Everchess just an ordinarily likable young man?
Whatever else, he works hard, too.
And he seems to help people, as long as they don't mess with his women.
Fundamentally, he's a decent person.
He's a pretty good guy.
‘Why does a man like this become so cruel only when dealing with women?’
Kadisha had seen it and heard about it.
How Gilliam tamed the women he often kept by his side—Maron Clearias, Elettra Xanthias, the Second Imperial Princess, and Lucy Merhantia.
Kadisha sighed.
“Haa… So which woman was it this time?”
“It was Maron.”
“…?”
That wasn't the answer she'd expected. She'd thought he'd gotten into a fight while trying to pick up some new woman.
Huh?
Could the situation be different from what she thought? Had it really been self-defense?
Kadisha felt a little cold sweat coming on.
“Th-then who did you fight and kill?”
Still, he hadn't fought some dangerous enemy, had he?
Surely this wasn't a situation where a cadet had fought a dangerous enemy in self-defense, and she'd immediately scolded him without even hearing his side first?
“Oro of Erosion, the tenth-ranked Guide of the <Cult of the Abyss>.”
“….”
Gilliam lowered his head again.
“For getting into an unnecessary fight over a personal matter and causing trouble for the professors, I—”
Kadisha slammed her forehead into the infirmary floor.
A magnificent dogeza, worthy of being an example to others.
As expected, she was an excellent teacher.