Chapter 38
Tens of thousands of people lived within the Academy grounds. This was because not only enrolled students, but also faculty and staff, employees of businesses operating on campus, and various administrative personnel stayed there as well.
With so many people living there, the Academy was inevitably always bustling. More than half of those staying there were vigorous young people, to boot. With countless friends to meet whenever they went outside, they were all the more prone to roam about.
However, no matter how crowded the Academy was, it was impossible for crowds to gather everywhere. The Academy was vast, and naturally, there were a few quiet places as well.
For instance, the southern forest of the Academy and the backyards of the old buildings around the edge of the grounds were like that. They were places students had no particular reason to visit and that lay far from the Academy’s center.
Before long, such places came to be used as meeting spots by delinquents like Tean’s gang. As a result, students visited them less and less, until they became secret places known only to those in the know.
One such place was where I had called Seria.
Several old buildings stood along the road leading to the forest. They had once been used as research facilities, but over time, either they had been scheduled for reconstruction or their related fields of study had fallen into disuse.
The Academic Affairs Office seemed to be drafting plans to put these buildings to use somehow, but as was typical of administrative procedures, progress was sluggish. As a result, they had become places students sometimes used when they wanted to have discreet conversations.
It was also a suitable place for Seria and me to talk. I stood facing Seria in the vacant lot behind one of the old buildings.
She was fidgeting, as though she did not know how to act toward me.
I was her first friend. So she probably did not know what to do when a friend was angry, either. A small sigh escaped my lips.
I had not been genuinely angry with Seria, either. If anything, I might simply have needed an excuse to clear my head after becoming somewhat on edge.
Thinking that I should reassure her, I opened my mouth.
“Seria, you’ve been following me around since this morning, haven’t you?”
At my pointed remark, Seria’s body flinched and trembled. Her eyes fell to the ground, trembling so pitifully that it hurt to see.
That was exactly what had happened. Seria had been following me around ever since I got angry at her that morning.
She even seemed to have lingered around in front of the dormitory after I went inside. The moment I left the dormitory, she had secretly followed me again.
In fact, I had noticed her even before then. Seria had hidden herself, but my senses, which had become sharper than ever lately, quickly detected her presence.
It also helped that Seria had not made a serious effort to conceal her presence. In broad daylight at the Academy, where countless people were walking about, completely suppressing her presence would have drawn strange looks.
She had followed me for such a long time. Naturally, she must have had something to say. I stared at Seria for a moment, then asked in a low voice,
“Do you have something you want to say?”
Seria cautiously lifted her head to gauge my mood, but the moment her eyes met mine, she started and lowered her head.
I had meant that I did not mind either way, but she seemed to think that I was still angry.
This was troublesome. All I could do was consider how to reassure her. If I waited until Seria spoke first, we might be late for our next lecture.
So I took a step toward her. Seria’s body flinched. Her startled gaze turned toward me.
But there was still quite a distance between us. I stopped where I was and looked at Seria again.
It was a signal for her to say whatever she wanted. If she did not, I could simply go to her myself. I could reassure her appropriately then, but I wanted to hear what Seria herself wanted to say to me.
It was a valuable opportunity. I could not keep looking after her forever on the excuse that she was inexperienced. She, too, needed to grow.
Seria squeezed her eyes shut. A trembling voice spilled from her lips.
“S-s-s-s-sorry…….”
‘I’m sorry’? She seemed to be trying to apologize.
It was not a bad choice. Apologizing first, without arguing over who was right or wrong, helped ease lingering resentment.
Of course, some people hear an apology first and then get angry all over again, insisting that the other person is still at fault. Such people tended to be rather emotional, so it was better to give them more time and try to improve the relationship gradually. Otherwise, one had to cut ties with them.
Fortunately for Seria, I was not the sort of person who held on to a grudge for long. Above all, I also thought I had been partly at fault.
If I heard Seria’s apology, apologized in turn, and made peace with her, that would be the end of it. Then we could return to training together and making small talk as we had before.
Perfect. I wore a satisfied smile as I pictured that future in my mind.
Seria would learn from today that friends sometimes fought, but also became even closer by making up afterward.
But Seria’s next reaction went far beyond anything I had imagined.
“S-sorry, hng… I’m sorry, sob, hng…….”
Tears welled up in her aquamarine eyes.
The tears that fell in droplets struck the ground and shattered like finely crafted jewels breaking apart. I was so flustered by Seria’s reaction that I could not say a word.
Was she crying?
Wasn’t this the proud Seria? Even if she harbored an inferiority complex toward her half-sister, the pride and haughtiness she herself possessed were genuine.
That was why, after losing to me, she had challenged me to another duel—to regain her pride.
This was only the second time I had seen her cry.
The last time I had seen Seria being bullied, she had desperately wiped away her tears. She must have felt miserable and wretched, but she had not wanted to show me how pitiful she looked.
But the tears falling today seemed far more plentiful than the ones she had shed that day.
That meant the storm of her emotions was raging fiercely. Dumbfounded, I could do nothing but stare blankly at Seria, unsure what to do.
“I’m sorry, hng… I’m sorry… P-please forgive me…….”
The waves of emotion soon spread from her eyes to her entire body. Her body trembled slightly. It was a pitiful sight, so I could not help but approach Seria.
The body sometimes conveyed more than words. That was true of Seria now. Her voice carried nothing but deep sorrow, yet her trembling body was telling me something more.
Anxiety, impatience, and fear.
The thought that the precious relationship she had painstakingly built might collapse had made the proud, haughty girl grovel. I could not bear it.
Seria bowed her head to apologize to me. I took hold of one of her tightly clenched hands.
Seria’s head jerked up in surprise. Her tear-filled eyes held my whole reflection.
With a sigh, I wiped away her tears with my free hand, then scolded her.
“……Are you an idiot? It’s not worth crying over.”
I brushed beneath her eyes with my thumb, and Seria wore a flustered expression. After I wiped at her eyes a few more times, her tears finally stopped.
Seria let out a dazed sound.
“U-um, S-Senior Ian……?”
Her pronunciation was slurred. But neither Seria nor I paid it any attention. Seria stared at me with startled eyes, as though she had just hiccupped, while I was still flustered by the tears that had suddenly burst from her.
I stared at Seria in silence for a moment, then scratched my head.
“Why are you crying? It was just a little fight… If you keep this up, how much more are you going to cry in the future?”
“B-but this was the first time Senior Ian had gotten angry at me…….”
Seria fidgeted and lowered her gaze to the ground again. A faint sense of anxiety once more passed through her eyes.
So that was why she had been anxious. At this rate, I could not even get angry at her without worrying. I gave an incredulous laugh.
“What’s so bad about me getting angry? I was on edge then too, Seria. I’m sorry.”
At my smooth, natural apology, Seria lifted her head again to gauge my mood. Only after she became certain that my anger had subsided did she let out a sigh of relief.
Even so, a faint moisture remained in her eyes. She kept sneaking glances at me.
“……Are you still anxious?”
Seria did not answer my quiet question. But the way she lowered her head again spoke for her feelings.
I swallowed a groan. I had never imagined that getting angry just once would put me in a situation like this.
I thought for a moment, then asked her carefully,
“Then what should I do for you?”
In truth, it was a somewhat cowardly question. Since I had no idea how to solve the situation, I was passing the choice on to someone else.
But under the circumstances, this was the best choice. I did not know how to comfort a crying woman, and I had never made a woman like Seria cry before in my life.
My only experience making a girl cry was making Celine cry a few times when we were children. Besides, I could not even guess why Seria had burst into tears.
Because I could not even figure out why Seria had been so anxious, I had no idea how to reassure her, either.
At my abrupt question, Seria’s eyes widened for a moment, then she glanced aside as though thinking. Soon, her eyes took on a resolute look.
Even so, it seemed difficult for her to say. Her lips opened and closed several times. It was only after a little more time had passed that she finally opened her mouth.
And the words that spilled from it were—
“……P-please hug me.”
It was once again a statement so far beyond my expectations that I could not say anything.
A sweet scent rose from Seria’s skin. Her breath was moist, her eyes were still wet, and her cheeks were slightly flushed.
The flowing curves of her body caught my eye. They were alluring curves that only a woman’s body could possess. My mind went hazy for an instant.
There was a strange allure to a crying woman—a magic that drew men in and made them want to pounce on her at once.
That was why I could not carelessly open my mouth. I simply stared for a long while at Seria, who was looking up at me without saying anything.
Her beauty was downright criminal. From her beautiful features to the curves of her body, she seemed to have unconsciously mastered the art of bewitching men.
When her soft breath tickled the tip of my nose, I finally came to my senses. It felt as though I had awakened from a dream; my dazed mind snapped back as if doused with cold water.
And with my senses finally returned, the first thought that came to mind was this.
……This cheeky junior?