Chapter 41
Every step toward the classroom felt like walking a thorny path.
Nervously scanning my surroundings, I suddenly struck Lia hard on the shoulder, overcome by irritation.
“Ouch!”
Lia turned to me while rubbing her shoulder.
“How on earth are you going to take responsibility!”
I pressed close against her side, gritting my teeth.
Lia briefly wore an aggrieved expression, then said as though it were no big deal,
“You can just tell her honestly. It’s not like it’s going to cause any real trouble.”
“It’s a huge problem!”
Ellie was the only person who knew that I was Evan.
From her perspective, it was like hearing that the older-brother figure she was close to had become a woman after an accident and spent the night with some man barely a month later. This was insane; it was horrifying just to imagine.
“Then what, should I tell her for you?”
“This isn’t something that can be solved with just that!”
“Jeez, aren’t you overreacting a little?”
Lia waved her hand nonchalantly.
“Besides, even if Ellie thinks you and Kairos are dating, it’s not a big deal, is it? It’s not like you’re Ellie’s girlfriend or anything.”
Lia wore an expression as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Ugh….”
I felt like I was going crazy from frustration. I couldn’t exactly reveal my identity outright, either.
“Forget it!”
I turned my head away as if to say I was done talking.
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself, then selected a few things to say to Ellie.
‘Should I just be honest with her about those brats?’
I thought I might be able to tell Ellie honestly, at least.
She had ties to Kairos, and regardless of who those brats were, she was someone who could support me.
‘But spreading it around too much….’
Kairos hadn’t explicitly said that ‘what happened today is a secret,’ but it was clear that his relationship with those brats was not an honorable one.
Considering his true nature—the way he had tormented that brat without changing his expression—I might be better off avoiding telling Ellie about this.
“This is driving me crazy… Seriously.”
“Ha, you’re worrying way too much over something this strange.”
Lia snorted and looked around.
Soon, I felt her fingers close around my elbow.
“Oh, there’s Kairos.”
“Kairos?”
My head shot up before I knew it.
Following Lia’s finger with my gaze, I saw Kairos walking along while reading a book on the other side of the street.
‘Right, first I’ll ask that bastard who those brats are.’
Once I knew the brats’ identities, I would be able to decide whether or not it was all right to tell Ellie about them.
I made up my mind. I really had to talk to that bastard first.
“I’m going to go talk to that bastard for a moment.”
“About Ellie?”
“That’s right.”
Lia didn’t try to stop me. She merely gave me a halfhearted farewell: “Have a good one~”
I pushed through the crowd and strode toward Kairos.
When I came within ten paces of him, Kairos subtly raised his head, as if he had sensed my presence.
“Good morning.”
Kairos greeted me with a bright smile.
“……Come with me for a moment.”
I grabbed his wrist tightly and led him toward a deserted alley.
“R-Rene?”
Kairos called my name in apparent bewilderment, but I dragged him along without a care.
Fortunately, perhaps because it was still fairly early, there was no one in the side path beside the road to school.
“Now explain everything properly. About what happened the day before yesterday.”
I quickly glanced around, then got straight to the point.
His wrist must have hurt from being gripped so tightly, because Kairos answered while rotating it in circles.
“Couldn’t you slow down a little?”
Kairos glanced back at the road we had come from.
“There were plenty of people watching.”
“That’s why I brought you somewhere no one could see us.”
I poked him in the chest.
“In any case, you have to keep your promise, right? Start by telling me who those brats are.”
There was still plenty of time before first period.
Kairos stared at me and groaned, then crossed his arms and continued as if he had finally made up his mind.
“They’re demons.”
“What?”
“Demonfolk. You know, like devils or demon kings—something along those lines.”
“No, I know what demons are….”
My head throbbed as if I had bitten into a chunk of ice.
I touched my forehead without realizing it, and an incredulous hollow laugh escaped me.
“Are you serious?”
There was no end to the things I wanted to object to. Demons, in this day and age? And he had defeated all three of them so effortlessly?
“Yes. I’m serious.”
But Kairos nodded, his expression unbelievably resolute.
‘How am I supposed to take this?’
I rubbed my face wearily and asked,
“So… you sensed the presence of demons hiding in the western forest and stopped them before they could come down into town and cause trouble? Like a vigilante.”
“Exactly.”
“Good heavens….”
Of course, there was no way those brats were ordinary humans.
Sending us flying that far with a single gesture clearly wasn’t an ordinary feat.
But even so, ‘demons’… I opened my tightly shut eyes again and asked,
“Fine, let’s say they were demons, as you claim. Then what on earth were the knights doing?”
The western forest was plainly part of the city, and naturally, a powerful barrier had been erected along its boundary to keep intruders out.
“They must have found a gap in the barrier. They were a scouting party, after all.”
“Scouts…?”
“Yeah. They look like us and speak like us while monitoring human society. They must have been lurking around the barrier while pretending to be human until they found an opening.”
……This sounds like something from a fairy tale.
“Sigh.”
Kairos didn’t seem to be lying, at least.
That didn’t mean I could bring myself to believe him completely.
I lowered my head with a sigh, trying to sort out my thoughts.
After a moment, I sensed him draw a little closer.
“……Huh?!”
A warm touch met my forehead. Startled, I raised my head and found Kairos’s palm resting against my forehead.
“W-what are you doing!”
I shouted angrily and instinctively slapped his hand away.
Kairos looked slightly flustered and answered with an awkward smile.
“I was checking whether you had a fever.”
“A fever?”
“You looked really pale.”
……It’s all because of your ridiculous explanation.
I glared sharply at him for a moment, then sighed and continued,
“Then did you tell Teacher Justina honestly, too?”
“Yeah. The barrier had been breached, and countermeasures were necessary.”
“And she believed you?”
“Of course. I showed her proof, too.”
“What proof?”
“Proof that I’d come into contact with them.”
“You had something like that?”
“Yeah. I prepared it in advance, knowing this might happen.”
He didn’t seem inclined to explain what the proof was.
Well, since it had nothing directly to do with me, I didn’t press him.
“So that’s why even the vice principal let us off so lightly….”
If what Kairos said was true, it explained the slap-on-the-wrist punishment we had received.
They both knew how capable Kairos was, and ‘thwarting a demon invasion’ was a far stronger justification than an unauthorized overnight stay.
“You still look like something doesn’t sit right with you?”
Kairos asked with a slight chuckle.
“Who could hear that explanation and immediately say, ‘Oh, I see,’ and just let it go?”
Honestly, I still couldn’t accept it emotionally.
An honor student who had personally gone out to slay demons for the sake of citizens and fellow students.
That was… I mean… so… um… cool.
‘If I were in Kairos’s shoes….’
Of course, even after seeing that brat with my own eyes, I hadn’t realized they were a demon.
Even if I had known, I definitely would have avoided confronting them head-on.
‘That Kairos guy really is… better than me….’
I felt gloomy for some reason. My head drooped without me realizing it.
After a while, a gentle touch settled on top of my head.
“Of course, without your help, Rene, I would have been finished there. I didn’t expect the other three to join up so quickly.”
His voice sounded as though he had read my mood.
Besides, the comforting touch was… strangely reassuring.
“Shut up.”
I spoke gruffly, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to swat his hand away.
After I remained there with my head bowed for quite some time, Kairos seemed to grow flustered as well; he cautiously bent his knees and peered into my face.
“You’re not still in pain because of mana depletion, are you?”
“I’m not.”
Only then did my senses return with a jolt. I hurriedly slapped his hand away.
The relief I had felt just moments ago made my skin crawl with disgust.
I took a step back and glared daggers at him.
“Fine, I’ll believe you for now.”
“What do you mean, ‘for now’….”
“In any case, if we’re dealing with demons, we’ll have to keep this incident a secret.”
“Yeah. Teacher Justina said she’d investigate it herself. Keep it secret until then.”
“Got it.”
For now, I also had to put off telling Ellie.
Not only could nothing good come from getting mixed up with demons, but if Ellie reported this to her older brother-in-law, the entire Empire would be thrown into turmoil.
I gave a short nod, then faced him again.
“And stop casually putting your hands on me. It makes me uncomfortable.”
“Sorry.”
Kairos awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
He glanced around once, then jerked his chin toward the alley’s exit.
“You go out first, Rene. There’s no point in letting people see us leave together.”
For once, he was being unusually considerate. I never knew he had it in him.
“You go first. I have something to think about.”
I appreciated his consideration, but right now I needed to organize my excuses for Ellie.
“Something to think about?”
“It’s just something.”
I had no reason to explain it to him. This was a matter between Ellie and me.
“All right. Still, don’t take too long.”
Kairos nodded obediently and waved goodbye.
He immediately walked out of the alley.
I watched his retreating back for a while, then fell into silent thought. How could I possibly clear up Ellie’s misunderstanding?
But… at that moment.
“Huh?”
Footsteps sounded from the opposite end of the alley, on the other side from where Kairos had exited.
I tilted my head without realizing it and turned to look that way.