A Regressor's Guide to Hunting in the Academy

Chapter 28

-Thud!

The moment the front door opened, Amecitia was struck by the flying club and collapsed.

At the sound of someone falling, an old man came rushing out from inside the house.

"Good heavens..."

He muttered quietly and hurried to check on Amecitia's condition.

"She doesn't seem badly hurt, but I'm still concerned."

"Um..."

As Grimory stood awkwardly alone at the entrance and opened her mouth to speak, the old man hoisted Amecitia onto his back and said:

"I sincerely apologize for causing such trouble right from the start, miss. I am William, serving as butler and steward under Young Master Carmine. It's been routine for the young master to set up traps whenever he returns home as a substitute for that day's training, but I never expected guests to arrive."

"Ah... I see..."

Grimory glanced over at Amecitia's condition.

Though she was dazed and struggling to regain her senses, she didn't appear to be seriously injured.

"I told you."

Carmen emerged from inside the house and addressed William.

"My apologies, Young Master..."

"Come in, for now."

As Carmen nodded toward Grimory, William carried Amecitia inside.

A small house with a butler.

A merchant family's son training by avoiding traps.

Everything from start to finish was suspicious and strange, but Grimory shrugged and went inside.

She had already learned from attending classes together that it was impossible to know what Carmen was thinking.

* * *

-Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak.

The sound of a knife chopping on a cutting board echoed from the kitchen.

From one side came the sound of a pot boiling, from another the sound of something frying in oil.

-Sizzle!

The sounds tickling her ears were enough to stimulate her appetite.

Amecitia groggily opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

A small swaying chandelier and a ceiling built from luxurious wood, not a speck of dust in sight-it was clear considerable care had been taken with maintenance.

-Scratch-scratch.

From the right came the quiet sound of a pencil moving.

Turning her head, she saw Carmen and Grimory sitting together at a table, studying.

As if she'd been struck by something, Amecitia clutched her aching head and sat up. Grimory rushed over like a shot and supported her.

"Amecitia!"

"Where... where am I?"

Looking around, she saw a tasteful house with a bear skin carpet, a warm fireplace, and even a plush sofa.

The interior design exuded a simple yet luxurious feeling that left an impression.

"My house."

Carmen remained seated at the table, looking at Amecitia as he spoke.

"Your house...?"

At his words, Amecitia tried to retrace her memories.

But as if her memory had flown away, she remembered arriving at someone's house, but couldn't recall at all what had happened after that.

"Ah."

As she stared blankly at Carmen, the memory suddenly returned to Amecitia.

She had opened the front door at Carmen's house, and a club had come flying at her.

She knew full well it hadn't been aimed at her, but the unexpected ambush had caused her to lose consciousness.

"What on earth do you do in your house that clubs come flying at people?"

When Amecitia glared at Carmen reproachfully, he turned his head away indifferently and continued studying.

But perhaps feeling inwardly sorry toward Amecitia, he briefly said:

"I'm sorry."

"..."

She'd been about to press him further, but seeing Carmen bow his head apologetically softened her heart. Amecitia smiled slightly and stood up, taking a seat next to Grimory.

"You don't need to be sorry. I was the one who opened it when you told me not to."

"..."

"But I still need to hear what that was all about. What happened that would cause that kind of noise in your house?"

"Ahem! Allow me to explain!"

Just then, an old man's voice came from behind.

Dressed in neatly arranged butler's attire, the body visible between his collar was quite robust-his physique suited the description of a veteran warrior.

"I am William. I serve as Young Master Carmine's butler. First, I must bow my head in apology to the young lady who suffered unexpected harm from the young master's training. I am truly sorry."

William bowed at a right angle toward Amecitia.

"Oh, no. It's fine. But training, you say... what do you mean by that?"

At Amecitia's question, William glanced at Carmen. When Carmen shook his head, William cleared his throat once more and spoke.

"The young master is destined to become the clan head who will succeed the MacClane Clan. Therefore, so that he may at least defend himself as a merchant, I conduct training by ambushing him whenever he returns home each day, teaching him to respond."

"Ah... I see..."

Is that really so necessary?

The question crossed Amecitia's mind, but since it was the butler's explanation, she didn't pry further.

"Oh, right, the cooking! Look at me."

Amecitia jumped up and looked for her shopping basket.

William then grasped Amecitia's shoulder and seated her again.

"Don't worry, miss. Seeing the ingredients, I could guess what dish you intended to make, so I've been preparing it in your stead. Please sit and rest a bit more."

"No, it's fine! I'll help from the side. I'm actually pretty good at cooking, you know."

"Indeed, what a domestic young lady! Very well. This William, though lacking, will learn from the young lady's skills."

"Oh, it's not quite to that extent."

As William and Amecitia entered the kitchen, Grimory glanced sideways at Carmen.

Carmen was organizing and copying both Grimory's and Amecitia's lecture notes into his own notebook.

"Carmen."

When Grimory called out quietly, Carmen silently raised his head.

"I'm not as easygoing as Amecitia, and I can't stand not knowing things."

"Yeah."

"So I'm going to ask-what exactly are you?"

"......"

Grimory was suspicious of Carmen.

He had tracked down her location with uncanny timing and even negotiated a deal using exactly what she wanted as collateral. To Grimory, Carmen seemed deeply questionable.

She couldn't believe he was just the son of a merchant family.

His soundless footsteps, his extravagant spending habits-none of it fit the profile of a merchant.

And above all, Carmen knew precisely what she wanted, which made him all the more suspicious.

She even wondered if he might have seen through her true identity.

"Do I have any reason to answer you?"

"You already got what you wanted, right? Are you planning to keep hiding yourself like this?"

Grimory glared at Carmen.

"I'm not a threat to you, and we're not connected in any way."

"That may be true. But I need to know. How did you find out I was searching for 'my parents' whereabouts'?"

The deal Carmen had proposed to Amecitia was as follows:

Keep him company and help him study.

In return, he would tell her about the whereabouts of Grimory's parents.

At first she'd been extremely wary, but for Grimory, who had finally found her first lead on her parents, it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

Abandoned at the Church as an orphan, she had struggled for so long to find the truth about her parents.

Despite all that, she hadn't found even a single clue-yet Carmen knew it so easily and was offering it as payment for the deal.

"Merchants have wide-reaching ears."

"......"

But even under Grimory's interrogation, Carmen slipped away like an eel.

"That's you, all right. You and the professor both. You're exactly alike......"

Grimory grumbled and flopped down on the table.

"Still, keep your background checks on me to a minimum. You already seem to know, and it doesn't look like rumors have spread, so I don't think you plan to tell anyone......"

"Or did you want me to hold it as leverage?"

"As if. Just stay quiet like this. I'm already compromised enough as it is."

-Fwump.

Grimory pulled her hat down over her face.

"It's fine. Most orphans who come out of the Raphael Church are like that."

"Even so, there's such a thing as public perception. I plan to live quietly like this."

"Whatever."

Carmen shrugged as if he didn't care.

"Hey! Clear all those notebooks off the table!"

Just then, Amecitia emerged from the kitchen carrying a massive plate.

"It's a giant schnitzel! I used to eat this all the time when I was little!"

"Wow......"

"......"

"Truly magnificent, Young Lady! I, William, am in awe of your culinary skills! House Flammeur truly has such refined tastes! Young Master! You must learn from the Young Lady of House Flammeur! She is truly a capable person! For a Count's daughter to cook at this level is truly remarkable! A first-class chef!"

William's eyes sparkled, a rare sight.

Since cooking was his hobby and he had no one around to share the topic with, he seemed quite excited to have cooked with Amecitia.

-Thunk!

When Amecitia set the huge plate down on the table, it held an enormous schnitzel.

The thin, wide, crispy-fried schnitzel gleamed golden.

Frying at the right temperature for the right amount of time-that process was never easy. For a noble child who had never learned to cook to produce food at this level was astonishing.

"Not bad."

Carmen gave Amecitia's cooking brief praise as he looked at it.

He'd been slightly dismissive when she said she could cook, but seeing the result, it was worth boasting about.

Amecitia's cooking skills were comparable to William's.

"We're supposed to...... eat all of this?"

Meanwhile, Grimory was horrified by the giant fried dish.

"Of course! We can't eat this kind of thing unless it's a day like this! Let's soak our stomachs in oil for one day! Wine! Bring the wine, Carmen!"

"You haven't even had your coming-of-age ceremony yet, what wine?!"

"Tsk, Grimory, you're too uptight. My birthday already passed, so I'm an adult! I don't really need the ceremony to be an adult, so I can drink!"

"No! You're only an adult after the coming-of-age ceremony! William, absolutely do not give him any wine!"

"Y...... Young Master?"

"Do what you want."

"Yes......"

For the first time in a long while, Carmen's house was filled with the lively voices of people. And it was also a momentous day-the first meal shared among fellow students taking demonology.

Carmen quietly savored this commotion as he spent the day.

'For the Young Master to make friends.......'

William thought as he looked at Carmen.

'I was worried he wouldn't do well at the Academy because he's so quiet, but it was needless concern. I, William, have no more regrets.'

Quietly rejoicing where no one could see, a single tear rolled down William's cheek. He quietly turned his head back and wiped the tear with his handkerchief.

* * *

Time passed, and the day of the written exam arrived.

The three sat one floor apart from each other, ready to take the test.

"Grimory! What do I do! I didn't memorize anything!"

-Bang!

Amecitia slammed her head on the desk and said miserably.

"......You brought this on yourself. When we all got together to study, you just kept cooking with William. Anyone watching would think you're aspiring to be a royal chef."

"But! It's food! Free food! I can make whatever I want?! You expect me to resist that?!"

"......"

Though it was brief, they had continued to gather at Carmen's house for study sessions. Grimory and Carmen definitely felt the results, but Amecitia was somehow worrying.

"It won't be bad."

Carmen spoke up.

"Your notes were clean. A lot of that will be on the exam."

"Carmen...... you! You stay so quiet but drop these little comments!"

Amecitia jumped up and vigorously ruffled Carmen's hair.

Carmen scrunched up her face in annoyance and dodged away from her touch.

Slide!

Finally, the classroom door opened and Henrik walked in with heavy steps.

The same black suit as always, the same cold expression.

He stood before the blackboard and spoke.

"Did everyone prepare well for the exam?"

"Yes!"

The three answered in unison.

"......."

Henrik quietly observed them.

Somehow, the atmosphere suggested they'd all grown closer, which puzzled him slightly.

'Do children naturally become friends when they spend time together?'

A soft chuckle escaped him.

He had a feeling that if these three worked well together, they'd make an excellent team.

"Then we'll now begin the demonology written exam. This will be reflected in your credits, so take it seriously."

"Yes!"

"When you receive your test paper, flip it over. When I say start, you may begin solving the problems."

"Yes!"

Henrik slowly approached them and distributed the test papers one by one.

"By the way, any student who achieves an excellent score-a perfect score-on this written exam will receive one item of their choice. So do your best. Now, begin."

Flip!

At Henrik's word, the students opened their test papers and began solving the problems.