Chapter 56
“…Instructor Haru?”
Just as Kate was about to climb the stairs, an unfamiliar voice came from above her head.
Kate looked up. A silver-haired woman in the academy faculty uniform stood two steps above her on the staircase.
“…?”
Kate thought.
‘Is she an academy employee?’
But her face was too unfamiliar for that. No matter how hard Kate racked her memory, she had never seen her before.
‘Could she be the attacker from earlier today…?’
Since it was a holiday and the attack in broad daylight had not yet been officially announced, Kate naturally knew nothing of the details and turned her suspicions toward the woman.
The silver-haired woman frowned and muttered under her breath.
“Having just been attacked, how can she be so carefree….”
“Excuse me.”
As the woman muttered while stealing a glance at Haru slung over her back, Kate addressed her in a sharp voice.
“Who are you?”
“Ah… I’ve started working as an assistant instructor for the academy’s practical class as of today. My name is Estelle.”
“Estelle…?”
Her face was unfamiliar, but the name rang a bell. Kate had clearly heard it somewhere before, and she was just tilting her head in puzzlement when the name no aspiring magic knight could possibly fail to know suddenly struck her. She asked in surprise,
“You mean one of the Rounds?!”
“Yes, well.”
Estelle answered with an expression that looked somewhat bitter. Regardless, flustered Kate continued in a shrill voice,
“B-but why would a knight of the Rounds be doing something like that…?”
Of course, Rex was a bona fide instructor and the Rounds’ Second Seat. His job was to serve as the practical instructor in charge of supervising and managing the practical class attended by none other than Prince Maximilian, heir to the kingdom’s throne.
She was in a position so far above that of an ordinary assistant instructor that there was no comparison. The gap was even greater than the difference between the Rounds’ Second Seat and its lowest-ranking member.
Someone in her position ought to have been teaching at least a general subject, so Kate asked in surprise upon hearing that she was working as a mere assistant,
“I have my reasons.”
Estelle gave a vague excuse and looked at Haru on Kate’s back.
“If you don’t mind, would you let me take over from here?”
“O-of course I can trust you, Lady Estelle, but….”
Kate hesitated, trailing off.
“It’s all right. Carrying someone up the stairs is dangerous, so let me take her.”
Estelle shook her head and took Haru from the still-hesitant Kate.
‘Well, it should be all right. She’s one of the Rounds, after all.’
The fact that she had taken a job as a mere academy assistant instructor was shocking, but there was surely some reason for it.
Thinking so, Kate handed the passed-out Haru over to Estelle.
=
‘She doesn’t even smell that much of alcohol….’
As she held Haru in her arms, Estelle brought her nose close to Haru’s mouth and thought to herself.
‘Must be nice, having it so easy. To drink alcohol on the very day her life was threatened….’
A sudden sense of unfairness rose within her.
‘I’m one of the Rounds too.’
The stake fired by the enemy had been too fast for Estelle to even react to.
Rex, who had seen it, said that the enemy’s capabilities were greater than Estelle’s. He had told her to get out of the way because recklessly stepping forward would be dangerous.
‘Does Senior Rex not trust me?’
I’m one of the Rounds too. Even if I am the lowest-ranking member, I’m not so green that I’d be outmatched by some unidentified attacker who was too afraid of a full-scale battle to do anything but snipe from afar.
‘Right. There was no way they could use magic that powerful without any preparation.’
If it came to a fair fight, there was no way she would be outmatched.
I wouldn’t give them an opening to use such powerful magic.
‘Haru… this woman, too.’
Estelle looked down at Haru, who had completely let down her guard.
‘Even if she is unexpectedly skilled, there must be some reason she was never even mentioned as a candidate for the Rounds, unlike Senior Rex.’
Estelle swallowed dryly.
‘If I act now, perhaps….’
Estelle murmured inwardly, then flinched at her own thought.
‘…No, what am I thinking?’
Estelle shook her head sharply. Harboring ulterior motives while looking at someone who was completely unconscious was not a thought befitting a knight.
Estelle laid Haru down on a bench and, looking down at her, said,
“Get up.”
“Mmm….”
“Get up, Instructor Haru. What kind of disgrace is this?”
Still, she could not help letting a little emotion seep into her voice.
After all, she was dealing with a romantic rival.
Rex had flatly said that he and Haru were not that kind of relationship, but Estelle was not the sort of person to take those words at face value.
Even if Rex said that, what Haru thought about it was another matter entirely, wasn’t it?
There was also every chance that he had lied to get out of that moment’s situation.
‘I want to believe Senior Rex wouldn’t do that, but….’
“…Sorry….”
Just then, while Estelle was lost in other thoughts, a faint murmur in her sleep escaped Haru’s lips as she lay sprawled out.
At the almost sobbing tone, Estelle stared at her in surprise.
“I… I truly meant it then….”
‘Tears?’
As the flustered Estelle fumbled for words, a tear glistened in the corner of Haru’s eye.
“…Rex….”
At that single word that slipped from Haru’s faltering lips, Estelle’s expression hardened instantly.
‘…As I thought.’
What had been no more than suspicion moments ago became certainty.
Estelle thought.
Rex had not lied to get out of the situation.
At least, Rex had spoken the truth from his own perspective.
But Haru didn’t seem to see it that way… or so it seemed.
=
“…That concludes today’s lecture. If you have any questions, ask me privately. You may also leave.”
The moment I finished speaking in a hoarse voice, the classroom became noisy with students scrambling to leave.
I suppose they really were children, none of them even twenty. Not a single student came up to ask a question.
I was a little disappointed, but given the subject matter of today’s lecture… and my own less-than-ideal condition, I couldn’t complain.
I sank limply into a chair at one side of the classroom.
‘Ughhh.’
Without daring to let that undignified sound escape my lips, I let my body go slack and thought,
‘What happened to this body of mine?’
To think I would be like this for half a day just because I had taken one swig straight from a bottle the day before.
I hadn’t even finished a whole bottle. It had been just one sip—I hadn’t even emptied a third of it, judging by the bottle’s height.
‘At least I don’t seem to have gotten drunk and caused a scene….’
Apparently Kate had carried me to my quarters yesterday; when I woke up after falling asleep atop the wall, I was in my bed.
‘I should buy Kate a present later.’
Thinking that, I rose from the chair.
An academy instructor’s job wasn’t a leisurely one. I had no time to lie there limp like a towel left slack after steaming.
‘Oh.’
As I trudged along, I spotted Estelle from behind.
‘Perfect timing.’
I needed someone to help prepare the practical class’s mission briefing for tomorrow.
“Lady Estelle?”
“Eek!”
Estelle spun around sharply with a scream, as if startled.
What? I hadn’t startled her that badly.
“W-what is it?”
“Did I startle you? Sorry. There’s something I wanted to say.”
“Something you wanted to say…?”
Estelle asked in return with a somewhat anxious expression. Now that I looked more closely, there was something odd about how she seemed unable to meet my eyes properly.
‘Did I do something wrong to her?’
I considered asking that, but soon gave up on the idea.
There was no point antagonizing someone I was about to put to work for me.
“Have you seen Miss Kate?”
“Kate?”
Ah, now that I thought about it, Estelle still didn’t know who Kate was.
“Oh, yes, she’s here. You just don’t know her yet….”
“You mean the student with the prosthetic hand?”
“…How did you know?”
I asked in surprise. I hadn’t expected the two to have already introduced themselves.
When on earth…?
‘Oh, wait.’
Before I could even finish that thought, Estelle answered.
“Well, yesterday… there was a student who brought Instructor Haru, who was completely unconscious, to the women’s faculty dormitory.”
“Ah….”
My face grew hot. Had Estelle seen me in that disgraceful state too?
Kate was one thing… but Estelle was someone I had met less than a week ago.
‘How did I end up like this….’
I felt like crying. Forcing back my tears, I said to Estelle,
“I’m sorry about yesterday… I didn’t cause you any trouble, did I?”
“No, not because of that, exactly….”
Muttering something loaded, Estelle shook her head.
‘So did that mean I caused trouble in some other way?’
But since I couldn’t think of anything in particular, I assumed it was just a slip of the tongue.
‘Or maybe I did cause trouble while drunk, but she felt awkward saying so outright….’
Ugh, who knows. I banished the memories of that time from my mind and asked Estelle,
“The thing is, with the practical class’s mission coming up, I need someone to help prepare the briefing.”
“Ah, I understand.”
“Could you help me?”
Estelle nodded briskly before I had even finished speaking.
Seeing that, I was relieved that she did not seem to resent me yet. If I had done something wrong, wouldn’t Estelle have shown some sign of it too?
I relaxed and said,
“Then would you follow me?”
=
Walking behind Haru, who led the way, Estelle thought,
‘Instructor Haru is a good person, but… I’m sorry.’
Personally, Estelle rather liked Haru.
But….
‘I wasn’t about to stand by and let Senior Rex be taken from me right before my eyes, either.’
If Haru was a romantic rival rather than an ordinary academy staff member, that was another matter.
Harboring thoughts Haru could never even begin to imagine, Estelle followed behind her.