couldn’t be found in either Tremia Academy’s information department or even Kelberk Research Inst.i.tute’s headquarters.“In the end, using that……”
In the middle of his sentence, Zessel shut his mouth. The sound of footsteps resounded in the aisle. It went on at a fast tempo, as if the person was running. The footsteps gradually approached them.
“Kate-sensei!”
At the sound of knocking on the door, the female teacher whose name was called out stood up from her seat.
“Ouma? What’s wrong?”
“A student from another school riding in a different compartment started a fight with our cla.s.s, and before I could stop it, a girl from our cla.s.s was—”
“What do you mean?!”
Her expression stiffening, Kate quickly opened the door. Standing before her was an out of breath male student.
“A girl…… Was someone injured?”
But, contrary to her expectations, although he was breathing heavily, he appeared calm. Rather than seeming worried, his expression looked tired.
“Um, no…… Brave students such as Ada and Serges have already begun fighting back.”
“Ah, the daughter of the Yung family? That’s too bad for the other school then.”
Without bothering to hide a bitter smile, Zessel stood up.
Ada Yung. Because of her special family circ.u.mstances, there wasn’t a single teacher in Tremia Academy who didn’t know about her. In other words, her situation was even more unique than the boy who was studying Night Color Recitations.
The Yung family was famous throughout the continent as a family of elite warriors, and she was their only daughter. The girl should originally have become the lead Gillsheexorcist, but she drew attention to herself by attending a Recitation school. At that time, her circ.u.mstances had become a popular conversation topic among teachers. Even the headmaster himself had asked her about her intentions.
“Ouma, has the dispute itself ended?”
“Umm, first of all, none of the girls in our cla.s.s have been injured. ……Right now, our cla.s.s is drinking juicehigh-grade sake to celebrate our victory. But it seems like there were some victims from the other school.”
Aah, causing trouble already…… Kate closed her eyes with a worried expression. Patting her on the shoulder, Zessel stepped out into the aisle in her place.
“I was once an acquaintance with Klaus-sanher father, so I’ll go. It’s more fun doing something like this than sitting there and thinking.”
“You’d better not get into the fight as well.”
Did she mean that for real or as a joke? Her ambiguous tone of voice pierced her childhood friend like a nail. ……Yeah yeah, I understand.
“It sounds like the opponent’s att.i.tude could be problematic. You can read over some of the data that I’m supposed to look over. After all, you should know that I get sleepy when I read something longer than a thousand words.”
“I’ve looked over it already.”
As expected of someone who had known him for a long time. Before he had realized it, his section of the doc.u.ments had been stacked in front of Enne, who had just replied.
—Intervening in a fight, huh? It would be fun if the problem at the research inst.i.tute was also that simple.
Holding back the words that he had almost muttered, Zessel began to walk towards the train’s rear compartment.
The rear end of the train was designed to be a vacant s.p.a.ce resembling a terrace. It felt pleasant to stand beneath the summer sunshine with his uniform fluttering in the sudden gusts of wind.
“A trip with everyone, huh?”
Holding onto the railings meant to prevent falls, Neight absentmindedly gazed at the pa.s.sing scenery.
……But Arma isn’t here.
It was a change from the commotion inside the train. He couldn’t hear anything other than the roaring of wind blowing past his ears and the screeching of the train’s wheels on the rails.
In the hot temperature, it was pleasant to feel his uniform being swayed by the wind. However, he seemed to hear even the wind blowing with a somehow lonely sound.
Even though the trip’s liveliness should be enjoyable, the companion he felt closest to wasn’t here.
“—Hey, Arma. I’m riding a train for the first time in my life.”
Although his voice was drowned out by the gusts pa.s.sing over the terrace, he briefly spoke to himself. He didn’t receive an answer. He shouldn’t receive an answer. Even so, following his usual habit, he spoke in the direction of his shoulder.
“It’s really fast and seems really st.u.r.dy…… But hey, it’s also slightly the opposite.”
“Slightly scary?”
……That wasn’t him just now.
The voice had come from somewhere close to him. He didn’t even turn around. Because that voice belonged to someone he was very familiar with.
“—Kluele-san.”
“I also snuck out of there.”
The girl’s scarlet hair fluttered in the wind. Before he could reply, she came over and stood beside him.
“Kluele-san, it seemed pretty tiring for you this morning.”
“It’s always like that.”
She gave a bitter smile like it couldn’t be helped. For a few seconds of silence, they stayed like that—
“I’m kind of relieved.”
Gazing at the changing scenery, the girl beside Neight gently nodded.
“Eh?”
“I often hung out with you during summer vacation, but sometimes you would have a pained expression. I wondered what could be so painful……Although I expected it for the most part, you never confirmed my suspicions.”
He never realized that about himself. He had simply been working hard on Recitations because he wanted to meet Arma and Mother again. He had intended to practice with that in mind. —At least, that was what he believed.
“Did I really have such an expression?”
“That’s what you looked like before I called out to you just now.”
Although she was smiling gently, her eyes seemed glow with a somewhat sad color.
“But I understand your reason for that, so relax. ‘I want to hurry up and meet Arma again’. You seem to be facing your worries straight on.”
Sensing other feelings hidden behind those words, Neight lowered his gaze.
……I see. I made her worry so much.
“—I’m sorry.”
“I understand how lonely you feel, so you don’t need to apologize. But hey.”
She gently looked in his direction.
It was the same as always. It was the same as when they had been together during summer break. It was similar to Mother’s serene expression.
“Mio and Kate-sensei and I, we’re all here for you. It’s fine if you rely on us more.”
Could it be, that’s the reason why Kluele-san had stayed with him throughout summer vacation?
“—The wind feels good, doesn’t it?”
It seemed that she hadn’t noticed his thoughts. No, perhaps she had noticed them long ago.
As if searching for something, the girl before his eyes lifted her head and gazed at the clouds.
“Since we were lucky enough to get the chance to go on this trip, we have to enjoy it, right?”
Part 3The wind is……moist?
After he exited the train, Neight immediately felt a sense of discomfort and stopped in his tracks.
Immediately after he had left the station, the humid air touched his skin. The wind carried along a strange smell that seemed somehow nostalgic. That was probably due to being beside the sea.
—Speaking of which, did it feel like this when I rode on a boat?
His mother had taken him onto one just once. That time, he had gotten seasick and could barely look at the ocean, but he definitely remembered the smell.
“Oi, Chibi-kun. If you don’t come quickly, you’re going to get lost!”
Hearing the voice coming from somewhere far away, he reflexively corrected his pace. In the time he had absent-mindedly stopped walking, he had been separated from his group of cla.s.smates.
“Ah, coming!”
Shouldering his armful’s worth of luggage, he chased after his cla.s.smates.
“Eh? Ada-san, that’s…”
She carried her luggage in her left hand and held something long and narrow in her right hand. Wrapped in black cloth, its height exceeded that of her body.
“Hm? Ah, this? It’s an old habit of mine. If I don’t carry this, I won’t feel relaxed.”
So it really was the spear. But no matter how you put it, wasn’t that a bladed weapon? In the first place, it was strange that their teacher Kate had given her permission to bring something so large.
“……It’s because the teachers at school know about it.”
About what? Before he could ask that, the girl suddenly quickened her pace.
“Well, various things.”
Muttering hastily, the girl remained quiet from then on. She stayed silent, so Neight didn’t ask any further.
Please, don’t touch it— her small back seemed to be saying that.
Looking up from the reddish-brown gate, a large grey school building shone under the sun.
Tremia Academy’s branch school. Unlike the gra.s.sy lawn of the main school, the road here was covered in fine sand.
“Alright, let’s disband here for now.”
The homeroom teacher who was in charge of the cla.s.s looked over her shoulder at the lobby of the building.
“The rooms for the boys in our cla.s.s are the first and second ones on the east side of the third floor. The girls have the third and fourth rooms, on the west side. Go put down your luggage, and meet back in the central hall in thirty minutes.”
Unlike the main school, this place had only one building. Therefore, it was twice as large as the first-year school building in the main school. The first floor was the lobby and the second floor had cla.s.srooms. The third floor seemed to have been turned into a living area.
“Well then, we’re on the east side, so it’s this way.”
Gripping the room key, Ouma walked towards the staircase on the right.
“The layout of the hallways is the same as Tremia Academy’s, isn’t it?”
“It is a branch school, after all. Ah, the third room……the second room……Is it here?”
He opened the door to their room. The sunlight that unexpectedly shone into his eyes made Neight involuntarily close his eyes.
“Oh, this is amazing!”
The boys said as they entered the room. Their gazes were focused on the window in front of them.
Peering through the gla.s.s— Looking down from the third floor, the scenery was completely dyed in blue.
In the distance, the horizon could be seen. A large, transparent azure sea seemed to stretch out past the ends of the world. Before that was a beach of white sand that extended out in a straight line.
……They could hear the sound of the waves. So it was that close.
“It’s perfect weather for going down to the ocean. Hey, since it’s the first day, how about we go play?”
Leaving their luggage in a corner of the room, what should have been all the boys in the cla.s.s spread their arms.
“Eeh, don’t we have cla.s.ses from now on?”
“Oh, um. It was a joke, just a joke.”
In a joking manner, he took out study materials from his bag.
“But hey, the girls must be feeling like that too. Only the teachers want to give a lecture.”
“Is that so…?”
Kluele-san and Mio-san, he had simply thought that all of the girls would want to diligently listen to a lecture.
“Uwa, the weather’s amazingly nice today. It really is the best for playing in the sea! There’s barely anyone down at the beach. Could it be, is this Tremia’s private beach?”
Setting down her mountaineering backpack, Serges ran to the window.
“Amaaazing! It feels like it’s calling us to go and take a swim!”
Ada took off the top layer of her school uniform. What she seemed to be wearing below that wasn’t a turtleneck sweater, but a swimsuit.
Holding swimming goggles in their hands, the two started running.
“Hey, hey. Wait, you two.”
Instantly, Kluele grabbed their collars.
“Weren’t you already told that it isn’t allowed? And don’t you guys understand that if I let you go, the teachers will get mad at me as a cla.s.s representative? Or did you plan to go even knowing that?”
“Eh, aah. It was a joke, just a joke. ……Kluele has a really scary look in her eyes.”
“Hey. Amazing and diligent people like us would never do such a thing.”
Standing across from each other, the two spoke at the same time.
……Really now. Saying things like it was a joke and all that while wearing a swimsuit beneath their clothes.
“It didn’t sound like you two were joking, that’s why I seemed scary.”
“Kululu, it must be tough being a cla.s.s representative.”
While taking out studying materials, Mio cackled.
“……Who would recommend me to be cla.s.s representative instead?”
“Ehh, me, me!”
Really, was she serious or just being impudent? It was hard to judge from her smile, which contained not a shred of guilt. Well, she didn’t dare confirm it.
“But won’t the teachers also feel that way? There’s no way they would give a lecture on such a hot day.”
Putting on her uniform over her swimsuit, Ada complained.
……That’s what I think too, but no teacher would openly say that, right?
“Ooh, is there really such a magnificent beach this close to us?”
As he held onto an armful of luggage, Zessel vigorously opened the window.
“There’s barely anyone there! Let’s get the students to do some self-studying and go down to the sea to pla—”
“Zessel. The students are waiting in the cla.s.sroom.”
The door to his room. He turned around and realized that before he knew it, the figure of his colleague had been standing there carrying a textbook in her arms.
“……H-Hey, Enne-san. So you were here?”
“Would you like to tell the headmaster what you just said?”
The female teacher gave him an unusual smile that he had never seen before. Although the weather should have been boiling hot, a chill shot up his spine.
“N-No, I’m fine. It was a joke, just a joke.”
“In that case, hurry up and go to the lecture hall.”
“……Yes, right away.”
Reluctantly, he took out his teaching materials.
“While the students are studying hard, we can’t neglect our duties either.”
—Surely the students want to go out and play!
Grumbling inwardly, Zessel hurried after Enne.
When I think about it now.
At that time, wouldn’t it have been good to relax a little? I think so.
At least to Enne and I, that day— the first day of camp was the first, last, and only time we could have fooled around.