Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

196 – The Secret of Strength (3)

Meanwhile, it wasn’t just

Jennison and Ardein who were

out and about from early morn.

Since time immemorial, the morning is the start of the day.

Students, of course, wishing to

use the day’s beginning as

efficiently as possible, and even

professors, burdened with overdue

work they needed to tackle quickly.

The Academy’s mornings were surprisingly bustling, and

here, was an elf, with her pointed

ears perked,

catching that current.

Cheep, cheep.

The sweet song of birds,

tickling her ears.

A skylark, from who knows where,

chirped beside her

all through the day, and at

her feet, a cluster of cats

rubbed, purring for attention.

A number of animals that felt

impossible for such an early hour.

A sight that would make the

sleep-fogged eyes of other

early-rising students widen,

yet it wasn’t that she had deliberately

gathered these creatures.

She merely

desired a quiet

morning stroll.

Having always lived in the forest as elves,

she had developed the habit of

waking early to observe

the forest’s movements, and she

held a slight dissatisfaction

with the Academy’s schedule,

which started rather leisurely.

That was precisely why one’s natural rhythm getting disrupted was such a problem.

Of course, waking up early was

its own kind of torment, even for her,

but that didn’t mean she desired

leisure to *this* extent.

For her, leisure was

synonymous with boredom.

Time, for her, was always

overflowing.

While others couldn’t even

live a hundred years before crumbling to dust,

she could live alone for over a thousand,

so no matter what she tried,

what she experienced,

they inevitably contained

an end,

and ultimately, all that remained for her was boredom.

That endless time and leisure

that everyone envied

instead worked as a

source of suffering for her.

And even now, the same held true.

Even though it was only a few hours of leisure,

she disliked even that.

If only this place were a forest,

she could at least converse with the spirits.

This place, with so much

human energy, was not

a suitable place to be with spirits.

“Haa…how tedious, at least if

*he* were here, it would be a little less so.”

Feeling the refreshing morning air with her whole body,

she thought of a certain boy.

That dark-haired boy who always had a

dissatisfied expression and tired-looking eyes.

Those dark eyes, filled with surprise

when she had suddenly appeared.

She found those things quite pleasing.

Every time, with such marvelous

Amusing sight it was,

to see him so startled, as if

I had only just reappeared before him.

Divertissement indeed.

A laugh escaped me unbidden.

To think, the boy who single-handedly

vanquished that vile beast, a horror

beyond contemplation, would be so discomposed

merely at the sight of me.

Of late, the events that had unfolded

weighed heavier on her memory than

all that had gradually transpired

over these past years.

All because of that one boy.

“I wonder what Jennison is up to now…”

Chirp, chirp chirp chirp!!

“…Hm? The people nearby seem

to be gathering somewhere?”

Chirp chirp, chirp, chirp chirp!!

“…Heh, very well. It has become

rather tedious to remain here. Let us go then.”

Meow, meow meow meow~

“You stay put.

It could be dangerous, unnecessarily so.”

Having nothing better to occupy me,

I followed the lark’s guidance,

slowly dashing through the heavily

descended morning mist towards

parts unknown.

Praying, of course, that something

capable of stirring my interest

awaited me there.

*

Finding the Academy’s dining hall

presented little difficulty.

I was, after all, a student who

had resided within these walls

for quite some time,

and approaching the magical

circles sketched intermittently

would grant one a rough

Since the maps came out,

it was almost impossible for Academy students

to lose their way here.

Well, it was vast, and the paths were intricate enough

to get lost in, but still,

if a student knew even a modicum of magic,

wandering about lost here

would be difficult unless they were remarkably directionally challenged,

and decisively, I was not directionally challenged.

Back then, memorizing the surrounding geography

and the approximate location of buildings

was practically essential, too.

‘Whether that’s a good thing or bad, really…’

Anyway, just like that, at long last

we managed to reach the Academy’s dining hall,

and the moment we arrived,

we had to endure the stinging gazes pouring in from all around.

Well, even though it’s

still early and there aren’t many people around,

if a girl dressed

in such extravagant clothes

were to come to this

Academy dining hall, a place where commoners usually end up,

it’s only natural that everyone would take a look.

…Who am I talking about?

Isn’t it obvious?

“…Um, why is everyone

staring at us like that?”

“..Haa.”

Whether she genuinely didn’t know whose fault it was,

she, along with me, had to

put up with the gazes of the other students pouring in,

and even though she was the

daughter of a Marquis,

being on the receiving end of so many stares

wasn’t something she was particularly used to, it seemed.

Up until just now, she was at least

keeping her distance as she followed along, but

before I knew it, she had started sticking right behind me.

Even grabbing at my collar, no less.

In the end, I found myself, quite suddenly,

carrying what felt like another load on my back,

and she began to follow close behind,

matching her pace to mine.

‘…Well, like a hamster, so she’s

kind of cute, but still, way too noisy—’

“You! You were having rude thoughts again, weren’t you!”

“….”

I’d been thinking this for a little while now…

Did she possess some kind of

magic or something?

How could she possibly call me

rude every time I even thought something bad about her?

‘Is my expression really that obvious?’

“Don’t ignore me!”

Oblivious to the lingering gazes of

the other students, fixed upon me and the girl behind,

we continued on, deeper into the dining hall,

and, as expected, even though it was

still quite early,

we were met with a surprisingly

large number of students.

Most likely, the majority of them.

No, nearly all of them, would be commoners.

The nobles, far from waking up at

such an hour,

were mostly the type who diligently

worked at being as lazy as possible.

Besides, nobles wouldn’t have a reason to come to a place like this.

Every day, their servants

prepared and served their meals,

so why would they bother to come all the way here?

Especially when it meant they might have to

mingle with the commoners they looked down upon so much.

Of course, it was a regrettable situation, as far as the

Academy, who had established this dining hall, was concerned, but…

In truth, hardly any aristocrats even *used* this place.

And the common folk, too,

found it unsettling to sit

and dine alongside nobles, you see.

‘…Thinking about it like that,

it’s all because of *her*, isn’t it?’

“…What is it? Why are you

staring at me like that?”

“…No, nothing.”

Doing my best to avoid her gaze,

filled with what seemed like suspicion,

I ordered my own meal

and settled down at an empty table.

It seems she still wasn’t quite

comfortable in a place like this,

for she, too, ordered her meal

and sat across from me,

looking quite hesitant.

No matter how I looked at it, she was

displaying a vastly different side than her first impression.

Perhaps she’s just quite shy,

I thought, and was about to ask her if she was alright,

when a few students approached me,

cutting me off.

“Uh…you seemed to have

dropped this, so I thought I’d bring it…”

“Y-yes…? Ah, yes…Thank you…”

Several male students came

to our table and handed her something,

and with surprisingly meek

greetings, so different from her initial air,

she expressed her gratitude to them.

“….”

“What… again, why are you looking at me like *that*?”

“…Well, truthfully, I didn’t think you’d be capable of saying thank you.”

When we first met, she’d acted

as if she would *never*

deign to offer a word of thanks.

To think she’d act so timidly

towards commoners she’s never

even glanced at, offering proper

words of thanks, even.

For a moment, I nearly thought her a typical bigot,

so starkly did her current demeanor

contrast with that first impression.

“..Is she shy, perhaps?”

“Y-yes?”

“..No, it’s just you seem quite

different from when we first met.”

“..Large crowds just make me

a little uneasy, so please,

don’t pay it any mind.”

But even after hearing her words,

I couldn’t shake the feeling.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen such a look.

Someone gripped by intense trauma,

exuding a palpable unease.

That was precisely the expression she wore.

A look as if begging anyone,

anyone at all, to hurry and help her.

An expression that seemed to weep,

though not a single tear fell,

was etched across her face,

and the moment I saw it, I rose from my seat.

I didn’t know why, but

leaving her like this was sure

to bring about something awful.

First, she had admitted herself

that the crowd made her uneasy,

so I figured I’d get her outside.

Outside, at least, there wouldn’t be

so many students packed together like this.

“..Let’s talk outside, shall we?”

“..Yes.”

“Excuse me, miss? Your order

is ready…”

“….”

In the end, breakfast that day remained uneaten.