Episode 61: School Friends

After confirming the room where we’d be staying, Eleanore and I decided to split up and act separately for the time being.

The reason being that I was officially here for the knight course expedition, so I had to at least show my face over there.

Well, I really was just going to show my face, so I didn’t think I’d be participating in training or anything like that.

As a special measure, participation in anything other than designated training was voluntary.

So with that being the case, Eleanore would wait at the hotel while I headed to the training grounds, which were a short walk away.

“Oraaaah! Raise your voices! Your voices!”

“Yes sir!”

A voice that could only be described as a roar reached my ears.

…Good grief, it felt like my body might get blown away just from the volume and fighting spirit alone.

This intensity, greater than usual, was probably because all three classes were using this training ground together.

It made sense that when roughly 60 knight candidates raised their voices together, it would turn out like this.

I was somewhat hesitant to enter, but well, it couldn’t be helped, so I quietly opened the door to the grounds.

Inside, there was clearly a group in the middle of training, and another group sitting around panting and out of breath.

They were just sharing the space but conducting separate training, so the latter was probably a class on break.

And that class currently on break was none other than my class.

“Ah! It’s Arcs!”

“Huh? …Whoa, it really is! Why are you here? I mean, you weren’t here!”

“You abandoned us!”

The moment my classmates caught sight of me, they began criticizing me loudly.

Well, this was probably what you’d call teasing with affection, but I think about 30 percent of it was their true feelings.

…Aside from the training itself, the journey to the training camp apparently was quite grueling.

“Now now, don’t get so heated. There are deep circumstances behind this, you see.”

“…Dammit, showing off that relaxed face!”

“This top student here…”

I spoke in a joking, deliberately provocative tone.

My classmates voiced their frustration with enough force to bite through handkerchiefs. Though that was probably also a joke.

I was secretly quite grateful that they treated me this frankly like this, when I tended to stand out for being a special student, top of the class, and acting independently.

“But really, why did you suddenly come here? I totally thought you weren’t even coming to Isan.”

After we’d finished our emotional reunion exchange, one of my classmates asked this.

“Well, I was told to at least show my face… By the way, is Kiril-sensei here?”

“Showing my face” essentially meant meeting with the teacher.

So I needed to meet with her, but I didn’t see that muscular woman anywhere at the moment.

“If it’s sensei, she’s probably in the faculty room. She’s on break too.”

“…Well, knowing how free-spirited Kiril-sensei is, she might be wandering around somewhere though.”

“I see, I’ll try asking. Thank you.”

***

“Oh, Arcs-kun?”

On my way from the training grounds to the faculty room, my name was called by someone again.

I had an idea who the voice belonged to and looked in that direction, and sure enough, her figure was there.

“Emma. What a coincidence meeting you here.”

“Wow, it really is Arcs-kun! It’s not really a coincidence or anything!”

There stood the protagonist, dressed in training clothes, giving off a somewhat worn-out impression, probably from moving around vigorously.

As expected, this was a side not shown in the main story of the otome game, I thought once again as I continued the conversation.

“I hadn’t seen you at all, so I thought you weren’t coming anymore.”

“No, I did mention it before, didn’t I? That I’d show my face occasionally.”

“But still… since you weren’t there for that grueling journey, it feels like I haven’t seen you in a really long time.”

Emma said this with a wry smile.

Due to circumstances, I had informed her that I was freely acting around as a special case.

After all, Emma was the one who had told me about the training camp in the first place.

And yet she had experienced such difficult events that made her think I probably wouldn’t come anymore…

No, just what kind of things happened on the way here?

To make her think that if I wasn’t involved in this event, I wouldn’t come again afterward, just how harsh was it?

I responded to her, who had probably gone through immeasurable hardships, with the best wry smile I could manage.

“…By the way, what brings you here, Emma? I was thinking of visiting Kiril-sensei.”

“Wow, what a real coincidence! I just came from visiting Kiril-sensei too!”

…Emma too?

I wonder if she had some business.

Well, she was friendly with everyone, so there was a fair chance she visited just to chat.

Even if that wasn’t the case, from her light demeanor, it didn’t seem to be important business.

“Is that so? …I’m glad Kiril-sensei was there. I was worried she might have gone off somewhere again.”

“Ahaha… I kind of get that.”

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of teacher it was when being elusive was a common perception, but well, I was glad she was there now.

If she had been absent, it would have been troublesome again.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Yeah! Let’s talk again somewhere!”

Gauging the right moment, we ended our conversation.

We waved our hands at each other and passed by, each heading to where we needed to go.

…Just as I was about to do that,

“───Hey, Arcs-kun.”

Suddenly, she opened her mouth again.

It wasn’t her usual energetic tone, but one that carried a somewhat solemn atmosphere.

When I turned to look at her again, Emma had stopped with her back still facing me.

“Arcs-kun, you…”

She began speaking haltingly… but nothing followed after that.

After sharing a long, silent pause, she opened her mouth once more.

“No… never mind. Once again, see you later!”

…However, those were words of dismissal.

Without revealing what was on her mind, she laughed as if to collect herself and left the spot with quick, running steps.

…I didn’t know what it was all about.

I just vaguely thought that even in this world, the protagonist must be carrying something.

Since there was no point in overthinking it, I started walking again, hoping she would talk about it someday.