The dining table with the Princess and the Saintess in tow would have been enough to make anyone nervous, but to me, it just looked like a hilarious sitcom.
Despite all the fuss around her, the Princess remained calm, while the Saintess kept throwing all sorts of jabs at her.
The sight of the poor commoners meticulously attending to their every move was truly pitiful.
“It’s delicious.”
“Yeah, it is.”
When such an exchange happened between the two, the cheers from the kitchen were probably not a mistake.
—
A while later. After finishing the meal, we headed to the carriage to return to the Academy.
“Well, I’ll head back first. Good luck, Lilith.”
“Good luck. Just keep your mouth shut, and you’ll fit right in. Be confident.”
“Do you have some kind of disease that kills you if you don’t add unnecessary comments?”
“Lilith, what kind of disease is that? Don’t talk nonsense.”
“…I really don’t like you guys. Just go away already.”
I thought about taking Lilith back with us, but apparently, she had plans for the evening too.
Well… It’s not like she’s being forced, so I don’t feel too sorry for her.
Her abilities are often enhanced by religious means, and seeing how active she is in public activities, she must be aware of that.
—
So, leaving Lilith behind, we boarded the carriage back to the Academy.
On the way back, with a full stomach and the warm sunlight streaming through the window, I started to feel drowsy and ended up dozing off.
How long had it been? It wasn’t a deep sleep, so I suddenly woke up.
“…Hmm.”
“…!”
Opening my eyes, the carriage was still moving.
I didn’t think I’d slept for long, but just in case, I asked Seria.
“Oops, I dozed off. How long was I out?”
“Uh, well… About 10 minutes?”
She, who is usually very precise about time, was unusually evasive.
And it seemed like she had been sitting next to me and then moved away.
This, this, I can tell just by looking.
“Seria.”
“Y-yes?!”
“You dozed off too, didn’t you?”
“…Uh, ah… Yes! That’s right. I dozed off too. Ahaha.”
Yeah, no matter how strong you get, you can’t beat the post-meal drowsiness.
By the way, it’s dark. Now I see the window was covered with a curtain.
I definitely fell asleep with the sunlight, so why is the curtain drawn?
“I drew it because the light was too strong.”
The one who dozed off drew the curtain…
Did you hit the curtain?
Hmm… If you say so, then I guess that’s what happened.
Stretching a bit, I loosened up my stiff body.
Even though I dozed off for a bit, my mind feels crystal clear now.
“Should I pull the curtains?”
My mind is clear, but since the surroundings are dark, I thought I might have to go back to sleep, so I casually removed the curtains covering the window.
Then, along with the bright sunlight… I saw some very dark and gloomy-looking guards.
“…Why do they look like that?”
“Well, I don’t know? Maybe they’re not feeling well.”
“That’s not just a simple level of discomfort.”
At this point, it’s almost comparable to the reaction when Seria was sent alone into the heart of enemy territory.
This isn’t the kind of reaction you’d expect just from escorting a carriage.
“Rudion, are you pretending not to know?”
“What?”
“…I was hoping you wouldn’t notice, but now that you’re brushing it off like this, I feel a bit disappointed.”
“So what… Did something happen while I was sleeping?”
“I don’t know. Probably not, right?”
What’s there not to know? And why are you speculating when I asked you what happened?
Really, I have no idea, so I decided to just look at the scenery outside the window.
But now that I look, the Academy is close enough to be seen.
You said it would take about 10 minutes, but that was just a rough estimate. If we’re near the Academy, I must have dozed off for quite a while. No wonder I feel so refreshed.
Somehow, we arrived at the Academy, and as I got off the carriage, the guards, filled with gloom, lined up and saluted.
“Please be careful on your way in…”
Their voices sounded like they were on the verge of death, completely devoid of energy.
Why are they acting like this?
Actually, their current state is somewhat understandable.
A little while ago, this is what the guards saw.
While watching the two people visible through the window during the journey, Rudion suddenly started nodding off.
Soon, Rudion fell asleep and couldn’t hold himself up, unknowingly leaning on Seria’s shoulder.
Seeing this, the guards were naturally furious. They were about to draw their swords and say something, but then they saw it.
“Shh.”
Seria, with her index finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet.
After seeing that, no one could do anything further.
Then, Seria covered the window with the curtain.
Her intentions were so blatantly clear that the shock was even greater.
Some of the guards might have seen it. At that moment, Seria smiled an enigmatic smile.
She was saying something.
At least, it wasn’t the pure smile they had known.
“Princess… why…?”
For those composed of Seria’s followers, that scene must have been a shock akin to the world collapsing.
Thus, the current guards have suffered significant psychological damage and have ended up in this dazed state.
From a position where they couldn’t possibly know the truth, they could only be bewildered.
“Leave those fools behind and let’s hurry inside.”
Before any further questions could arise, they had no choice but to return to the academy, led by Seria’s hand.
Anyway, now that they were back at the academy, the first thing to do was to treat the injured arm.
Although the new clothes prepared by the royal palace had long sleeves, hiding the injury, there was still a wound that seemed to have been cut.
It was fortunate that the body’s sensation was dull, and there wasn’t much pain, just a bit of nerve-wracking.
And thanks to the injury, one thing was realized: the natural recovery system doesn’t apply.
It didn’t really matter. It’s just a matter of not getting hurt in the future.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Thinking about not getting hurt in the future.”
“Please keep that promise.”
Exchanging such trivial conversations, they headed towards Professor Reina’s lab.
Fortunately, Professor Reina was in the lab.
“You’re early?”
“It just happened that way.”
As they entered with a knock, Professor Reina greeted them with a surprised expression.
But as soon as she saw me, her expression slightly stiffened.
“…What? What did you get hurt by?”
Even though it wasn’t visible, she immediately noticed. Truly, the scion of a healing family is different.
“Just something brushed past me.”
“So, what brushed past you?”
It was a bit awkward to explain in detail, so I tried to gloss over it, but the reaction was more intense than expected.
Normally, she would have just treated it and moved on. Why is someone who doesn’t care unless it’s life-threatening acting like this?
She stared at me for a while… perhaps thinking I wouldn’t answer straightforwardly, she subtly gestured for Seria to come closer.
Seeing this, Seria went to her side, and soon they began a conversation too quiet for me to hear.
“So? What happened? There shouldn’t be anything at the royal palace that could get you hurt… Did you get into a fight with the knights?”
“Not likely.”
“Then what caused the injury?”
“Well… I don’t know either.”
Whatever was said, that Professor Reina’s expression…
Can you really make someone look that dazed?
While I was lost in thought, their conversation continued.
“But the only thing for sure is that she got hurt enough to be injured.”
“How would I know why she got hurt?”
“…There’s something like that.”
Seria was aware that she was saying something strange.
But honestly, isn’t it absurd to even bring it up? Getting injured while single-handedly stopping the apocalypse.
It felt like she’d just be treated as a weirdo if she said anything, so she had no choice but to brush it off.
Professor Reina, who hadn’t gotten a single proper answer, was incredibly frustrated, but she didn’t seem to want to dig deeper. She sighed and stood up.
“If you come back injured like this again, I won’t treat you, so keep that in mind.”
With those words, she began treating the wounds.
The uncomfortable sensation I felt under my clothes disappeared in an instant, as if it had been a mistake.
When I immediately rolled up the bandage wrapped around my arm, a clean forearm was revealed.
“Your answer?”
“I don’t plan on getting hurt again, so it’s fine.”
“…Not a single one of the guys who talk like that ever comes back unhurt.”
Why are you saying such unsettling things? But I’m different from those guys.
I have both invincible evasion and parrying. It’s harder for me to get hurt.
…Of course, this time’s injury is an exception. If it were anyone else, they would’ve been sliced to pieces.
Maybe that’s why. Even though I heard some flag-raising nonsense that made me anxious, I had enough confidence to offset it.
In that insane storm of blades, only my forearm got grazed. What kind of attack could possibly harm me?
Evasion and parrying are godly, and I’m invincible.
While I was busy clearing away those flags with my mental victory, Professor Reina casually changed the subject.
“Well, let’s talk about that later. For now, head to the Student Council.”
“Suddenly?”
“Five students have already come to me for treatment from the Student Council just yesterday and today.”
“Ah, I see.”
It seemed like something had happened again while I was away.
I was planning to rest a bit now that I’m back, but she’s not giving me a chance.
Since there wasn’t much else to discuss, I immediately stepped out of Reina’s lab upon hearing that.
“You’re going right away, right?”
“Of course.”
“I knew it.”
What do you mean, you knew it? Obviously, I’m going.
Without delay, Seria and I headed toward the Student Council Building.
