Chapter 68
"Monica, would you like to go shopping on our next day off?"
At lunch one day, a week before the school festival, Lana made that suggestion.
Apparently, Lana was thinking of going shopping for things they would need for the school festival.
On a day off, they could file an outing request and go shopping in a nearby town. But Monica shook her head vigorously while gnawing on her bread.
"S-sorry, I have... something to do that day..."
"...The chess tournament."
At Claudia's muttered words, Monica choked on her bread with an "ngh."
Lana blinked and stared at Monica.
"The student council has work even on the day of the chess tournament?"
"Um, well, I..."
As Monica faltered, Claudia muttered again beside her.
"...Representative player. First board."
Monica looked at Claudia with teary eyes, nearly choking.
The representative players were only posted discreetly on a bulletin board, so surprisingly few people knew about them.
The chess tournament itself was not particularly large. Although it was called a tournament, apparently it was closer to an exchange event where players from other schools were invited. Consequently, most students had no interest in it.
It seemed Lana had not known Monica had been selected, either, and she stared at Monica with her eyes wide.
"What? Monica, were you chosen as a player!?"
"...I-I suppose so."
Monica found it difficult to tell people that she had been chosen for this sort of representative position.
──They'll say I'm getting carried away, that I'm not even that skilled, that I'm a failure.
Thoughtless words that had been thrown at her long ago spun round and round in her head.
Whenever she remembered the cold eyes of the boy she had once believed was her friend, it felt as though her heart were being crushed... but...
"That's amazing!!"
Lana's chair scraped loudly as she leaned forward to look at Monica.
Then she excitedly launched into a torrent of words at the dumbfounded Monica.
"Oh, come on! Why did you keep something like that quiet? I'm allowed to go cheer you on, right!?"
"...Even though you don't know the rules of chess?"
At Claudia's observation, Lana stuck out her lower lip.
"I know the names of the pieces, at least."
"...And you call that knowing the rules?"
"I-it's fine, isn't it!?"
Lana blushed bashfully and looked at Monica.
Monica didn't know what to say and opened and closed her mouth, but eventually nodded hesitantly.
"Yeah, having you cheer me on... would make me happy."
When Monica said this softly, Claudia huffed through her nose with an exasperated expression.
"...If you say that so honestly, this idiot who doesn't know the rules will shout encouragement from the sidelines."
"As if I would!"
While shouting angrily with her eyebrows raised, Lana looked at Claudia as though she had just remembered something.
"Come to think of it, didn't you compete in last year's tournament too? And the other two were student council members..."
"...You remember that?"
Claudia groaned, her beautiful face twisting resentfully.
She looked as though one of her past mistakes had been pointed out.
"That's right. I failed to take it easy... Neil said, 'Let's do our best,' so I carelessly ended up doing my best... What a blunder..."
Miss Claudia Ashley was exceptionally intelligent, but she was also extraordinarily lazy.
Basically, she hated being relied upon. She usually kept others at a distance with her gloomy aura and did not bother hiding her caustic attitude from anyone except Neil.
Surely she had participated in last year's tournament because Neil was there.
(I wonder what kind of chess Claudia-sama plays... She probably wouldn't agree to a match even if I asked her, but I'm curious... maybe...)
Last year, Elliot had said that Serendia Academy won by an overwhelming margin, so Claudia had to be very strong too. Maybe Monica should ask Elliot or Benjamin what kind of chess Claudia had played.
As Monica thought this, Lana muttered as though she had just remembered something.
"Hey, come to think of it, is this year's opposing school the same one as last year's?"
"...I imagine so. It's an exchange event for the Three Great Schools."
(...Huh?)
At Claudia's words, Monica's heart gave an unpleasant leap.
The Three Great Schools of the Riddill Kingdom were Serendia Academy, a prestigious school for the sons and daughters of nobles;
the Institute, under the Temple's authority and renowned for its legal studies;
and, last of all, the pinnacle of institutions for training mages....
(...Minerva.)
The fork slipped from Monica's hand.
A sharp clink rang strangely far away. Her heartbeat was deafening, and her palms were slick with sweat.
"Monica?"
"...Ah... s-sorry..."
Monica hurriedly climbed down from her chair and reached for the fallen fork... but she could not make her fingers grip it properly. The fork she picked up slipped between her fingers and fell to the floor again.
──The mage-training institution Minerva was where Monica Everett, the Silent Witch, had once been a student.
Monica had skipped grades and graduated at fifteen, but many of her former classmates should still be attending Minerva.
(...It's okay. Surely nobody remembers me...)
Monica always kept her head bowed and hardly ever spoke in front of people.
After learning to cast spells without incantations, she had spent almost all her time shut away in the laboratory and had not shown her face at academic conferences or research presentations, so only a tiny handful of people would remember her.
(...It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.)
Despite desperately telling herself this, she could not stop trembling.
What flickered through her mind were the contemptuous eyes of the boy she had once believed was her friend.
──You're not my friend.
Monica's throat seized with a strangled squeak.
Not knowing how to breathe properly, Monica kept taking short, sharp breaths. These were the warning signs of hyperventilation. She hurriedly covered her mouth with one hand.
"Monica!?"
Lana noticed something was wrong, climbed down from her chair, and knelt beside Monica.
(I don't want to make Lana worry.)
Pale and shaking, Monica moved her lips.
"I-I'm fi-fine... yeah, it's nothing."
"You don't look fine at all!"
Lana groaned, grimacing, and Claudia muttered.
"...Do you know someone at the Institute or Minerva?"
"──!"
"...Judging by that reaction, it looks like there's someone there you have some unpleasant history with."
Monica vigorously shook her head while clutching her chest.
(No, no, that's not it. Bernie isn't to blame. I'm sure I was the one at fault. I was the one who made a mistake. So it isn't some unpleasant history. Everything is my fault.)
Every time that familiar face flashed through her mind, Monica blamed herself.
Because she felt that he would not forgive her otherwise.
She felt as though she wasn't even allowed to live.
(I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for coming out of the cabin... I shouldn't have appeared before people... I should have done as Bernie told me...!)
"Monica."
Lana placed a hand on Monica's shoulder and called her name in a firm voice.
Monica slowly raised her face and looked at Lana. Lana told her with a determined look,
"On the morning of the chess tournament, get up a little early and come to my room. Understand? You absolutely must."
"...?"
"Promise."
When someone spoke to Monica in such a firm tone, she couldn't help but nod.
As Monica nodded hesitantly, Lana reiterated firmly, "Absolutely."