Chapter 101

Episode 100: Tama Echo Sleep

After parting ways with Kei, Miuye headed towards the Student Council room with a light step.

She was in high spirits after meeting Kei in the morning and enjoying a delicious breakfast.

“Ms. Luka! I’ve come for the check-up!”

Slipping through the automatic door with a skip, Miuye snapped to a sharp salute.

But there was no response to her noisy action.

“…Huh? Ms. Luka? Are you asleep?”

The Student Council room was eerily silent.

Tilting her head, Miuye looked around but found no sign of Luka or anyone else.

Miuye had been told that the check-up would continue immediately after breakfast, so she hummed thoughtfully and clapped her hands.

“Ahh, she must be in the infirmary!”

Miuye knew that Luka suffered from something akin to insomnia, often overthinking before sleep and getting her brain all worked up.

It was common knowledge among those close to Luka that she relied on powerful sleeping pills manufactured by Jilnias Academy.

“Tch, she’s such a handful,” Miuye muttered as she dashed off toward the infirmary with a light step.

At the infirmary, Miuye paused mid-reach for the door handle, realizing it might be rude to disturb someone if they were resting.

“Excuse me…” softly opening the door as quietly as possible.

Inside, she glanced around cautiously and quickly spotted a head of golden hair.

However, it wasn’t the person she was looking for.

“Huh…? Toa?”

“Wha-!?”

Startled by Miuye’s voice, Toa turned around with a slight tremble, her eyes slightly teary from surprise.

“What brings you here? In a place like this?”

“Well, you see…”

With a heavy atmosphere, Toa finally spoke up.

“I got carried away eating too much and now my stomach hurts…”

“Eh…”

Miuye thought about questioning why Toa was even at Jilnias Academy but decided against it, remembering what Luka had taught her – commenting on a lady’s meal choices lacks tact. Incidentally, the one who gave that lesson ate nothing but nutritional supplements and jelly drinks at the time.

“I don’t have any antacids, so I thought I’d try this painkiller.”

“No way! That’s Jilnias Academy’s painkiller! It’s basically poison – it’ll numb your senses so much you won’t be able to walk for half a day!”

“Eh!? Why is something like that just lying around!?”

“It gets used pretty regularly,” Miuye explained casually.

Mainly either force-fed to students who don’t take breaks or those who get severely injured in crazy experiments. Either way, it’s always administered by someone else.

“This is the antacid you need,” Miuye said, producing a glass bottle. “Here, normal antacid.”

“Normal…?”

“We also have ones for when you eat monsters or relics,” Miuye added while shaking another bottle curiously.

Seeing this, Toa’s survival instincts kicked in and she vigorously shook her head.

“Just the normal one will do!”

Taking the offered medicine, Toa quickly swallowed it, then began rubbing her stomach.

“Still, Jilnias Academy’s infirmary seems pretty laid-back. There’s even a sign saying ‘Help yourself to the medicine.'”

“That’s not exactly something to be proud of…”

True, it did allow them to use things freely without hesitation, but the fact that the staff was often absent wasn’t good.

“By the way, why are you here, Miuye? Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I came looking for Ms. Luka.”

“Luka? She’s not here.”

Looking around the room as Toa spoke, Miuye confirmed it was empty. One of the beds showed signs of recent use, but appeared unoccupied now.

“Hmm, this is troubling…”

Luka rarely broke promises. Though she occasionally lost track of common sense, keeping appointments was important to her. Miuye’s physical examinations had never been delayed before.

This was partly because delays would cut into her own research time.

“I heard we were doing checks today though. If she’s not here, where could she be…?”

“When I arrived, everyone was already gone.”

“Hmm…”

Thinking for a moment, Miuye grabbed a rolling chair from the corner and placed it next to Toa before sitting down.

“I’ll wait here. She comes here at least once a day.”

“Is that really okay…?”

“She won’t listen even if you tell her not to. Neither me, Older Sister, nor Konie-senpai can stop her. Actually, we once tied her up and threw her onto a bed– wait?”

Realizing what she said, Miuye stopped abruptly and tilted her head.

“When was that again?”

“Eh? I-I’m not sure…”

Both girls tilted their heads in confusion, exchanging glances.

“Hmm? I clearly remember doing that with Older Sister and Konie-senpai…”

“Maybe…” Toa said seriously.

“Miuye is as exhausted as Luka…?”

“Eh!? That’s outrageous! What I did back then was practically slow suicide!”

Absent Luka didn’t deserve such harsh words.

“Hmm, I can’t quite recall… I think we ended up knocking her out with Konie-senpai’s headbutt?”

“Headbutt…?”

“Yeah, Konie-senpai’s headbutts are brutal. She leans way back and puts all her momentum into it.”

Though Toa wanted to ask more about these headbutts, she refrained. Meanwhile, Miuye’s expression darkened as she continued thinking.

“Why… why does everyone dislike me now?”

Miuye remembered having a good relationship with Konie-senpai.

Her outgoing personality matched well with Konie’s straightforward nature. They seemed like a good senior-junior pair from the outside.

“Did I do something wrong…?”

Noticing Miuye’s dejected shoulders, Toa hurriedly responded.

“N-no! There must be some reason!”

“Some reason…?”

“Yes! Some unavoidable circumstances…”

Deciding against revealing that she was called by Konie in the middle of the night (to maintain unity with Kei’s actions and avoid adding uncertain elements), Toa kept quiet.

“And anyway…” Luka’s voice interrupted from the doorway.

Standing alone in front of the infirmary entrance was Luka, who had likely been listening for a while without interrupting.

“Luka-san!”

“Miuye… you shouldn’t dwell on Konie too much. Just forget about it, alright?”

“Eh?”

“If you keep thinking about it, you’ll only end up hurting yourself.”

Saying this, Luka’s face revealed deep exhaustion. Miuye sighed, assuming she hadn’t slept recently.

“Heh, you stayed awake again, didn’t you? That’s no good, Luka-san needs sleep–”

Before finishing, Miuye found herself suddenly embraced by Luka.

An unusual action for her usually composed demeanor left Miuye speechless except for calling her name.

“Luka-san?”

“…I’m sorry, Miuye. If only I were as wise as Hishou or Kanon… as strong as Konie… I…”

“Wh-what’s wrong, Luka-san?! That’s not like you! Did you mess up another spell and cause an explosion?”

Confused, Miuye began patting Luka’s back. Watching this scene, Toa could only nervously fidget.

After a moment, Luka suddenly came to her senses and stepped back from Miuye.

“…If only I were more reliable, I wouldn’t have put you through such hardship.”

Though smiling, Luka’s eyes appeared slightly bloodshot.

“Luka-san… you’re really exhausted, aren’t you.”

“Perhaps.”

“I’ve already received plenty of help from you, Luka-san!”

“……Is that so.”

Responding briefly to Miuye’s cheerful smile, Luka walked unsteadily toward the bed after taking one of Jilnias Academy’s painkillers.

“Miuye, let’s move your examination to this evening. Please pass the time until then.”

“Eh? Alright then…”

Clearly very sleepy, Luka flopped onto the bed. Seeing this, Miuye motioned to Toa to leave the room.

“Goodnight then.”

Quietly leaving the room, Miuye closed the door behind her.

Alone now, Luka curled up and closed her eyes.

“–We must act solely through reason, measure all things with intelligence. We must be beasts of reason.”

To whom was that statement directed?

It would take a little longer for her to fall asleep.

■

Meanwhile, in a dorm room at Factom General Academy…

“Strawberry milk, check! Potato chips, check! Game, check!”

Currently the only Demon’s Gear member with absolutely nothing to do, Ciel sat in her assigned room happily checking off her items for passing the time. There was no trace of Demon’s Gear dignity in her current state.

“Today, I shall ascend one rank higher!”

Gaming was Ciel’s forte. The game purchased for her by Mizuki, whose funds had improved since reaching S Rank, could be described as a fateful encounter.

To her, who was essentially a walking calculator, any game became professional-level mastery.

Since arriving at Factom General Academy, Ciel’s days had consisted of either organizing documents with Miroku or playing games. She was verging on becoming a completely isolated young girl who only played games.

“Miroku appears to be waiting for something. In that case, I shall remain quiet and not disturb her.”

Having logically constructed a justification for gaming, Ciel sat on her bean bag chair and reached for the controller, preparing to start a match…

“Hm?”

A teleportation magic circle suddenly appeared in front of the monitor.

“Eh, is this… Big Sister? What’s going on? Don’t pull me! Please explain the reason… I’m in the middle of a ranked match! I need to reach Diamond rank today!”

With those final words, the room was left empty.

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