Chapter 43: Comfort
Blackout. Or as they say, the movie stops.
I don’t know if it’s because I blacked out or because I lost my memory afterwards.
I’m sure it’s not a pleasant experience when your body is moving on its own and you’re wandering around somewhere.
‘I’m afraid I’m going to crash the instructors’ party…’
Reina’s personality is as unruly as her fighting style. Plus, she’s been drinking… She was not a teacher to be trifled with.
I pushed aside Aizel and Sierra, who glared at me, and continued to button the shirt.
About the time I finished buttoning the shirt I heard footsteps approaching the room. She stepped through the open doorway and spoke.
“You’re up?”
The voice was Priscilla’s.
“So this is… Priscilla’s house.
The interior is typical of her: clean and uncluttered, with no brightly colored furniture.
Priscilla was getting ready for work, so she was in her underwear and had only just put on her shirt. She wasn’t embarrassed by her attire at all, probably because she thought I was blind. Just like when she was teaching me acupuncture.
Priscilla’s naked body was enough to remind me of the sensations I had when she was teaching me acupuncture.
‘…Looking back, it’s a good thing there were no acupuncture points in critical areas.’
My face heats up as I remember Priscilla teaching me acupuncture since my sensory memory has actually improved quite a bit since my Superior Senses level increased.
I’m sitting up in bed, and Priscilla walks towards me with an enchanting gait.
She stood at the side of the bed, silently assessing my condition. Then she reaches out and touches my forehead.
“…I thought you had a fever because you were flushed, but thankfully you don’t.”
Priscilla seemed confused as to whether I was sick or not.
“I don’t remember, but what happened, my shirt is unbuttoned and Miss Aizel is sleeping next to me…”
I told her, trying to clear my head of the throbbing headache of my hangover and the tingling sensations of Priscilla’s flesh against mine.
“You passed out, and then Aizel passed out… I couldn’t leave you two there, let alone Kaliman or Raina, so I brought you home. I live alone and only have one bed so I’ve been sleeping on the couch, and I’ve got a knot in my throat.”
Priscilla then grabbed her throat and turned her head away, opening the closet next to the bed to grab some clothes.
“…”
Aizel, who was sitting next to her, looked at Priscilla, and without saying anything, she tucked the quilt in tightly.
“Normally, for something like this, it would have been better to put me, a man, on the couch separately, haha…”
“Still, it’s been a long time since you’ve been here, so you should give me a bed. Otherwise, I’ll feel uncomfortable. Besides, you’re both so drunk you can barely move.”
“Thank you for your concern. …Did anything else happen during the night?”
I smiled at Priscilla, thanked her, and then asked the most important question of all.
Had I, in my drunken stupor, mumbled something I shouldn’t have mentioned, or crossed a line between the sexes that shouldn’t have been crossed? Either way, it shouldn’t have happened.
The muttering, in particular, was important enough that I had to ask Sierra about it later, just to be sure.
“…Something else, like Aizel keep coming back to you at night? Nothing like what you’re worried about, I can assure you. As for your shirt, I don’t know.”
Priscilla glanced at my shirt.
I was worried about getting involved with two secretive people, but this was a relief.
Unless Priscilla was putting on an act, nothing really happened.
“What were you so worried about?”
Aizel, who was listening to Priscilla with me, said with a chuckle but I tried my best to ignore her question.
This confirmed that what had just happened was a prank on her part.
But…
“…Stuck?” I said, turning my head toward Aizel.
“I’ve gotten into the habit of sleeping with something lately, so…”
At the sound of my questioning voice, Aizel, who was still wrapped in the quilt with only her face peeking out, lowered her head and muttered in a small voice.
…The reason is cute, so let’s move on.
It wasn’t Kaliman with his graying beard, and there was no reason to dislike how Aizel was sleeping.
However, Sierra, who was behind Aizel, had a different opinion.
[Disciple, that was quite a sight to behold…]
I couldn’t tell if she was laughing or angry since there was a certain eerie quality to her languid voice.
With those words, Sierra plunged into the Spectral Sword.
She had taught me some tricks to keep my wits about me, and I wondered if I had let her down.
As I watched, I ran a hand through my hair, trying to figure out what to do next.
“So you guys aren’t going to go to school?”
As she gathered her clothes and left the room, Priscilla spoke to those of us who hadn’t gotten out of bed.
On second thought, if Priscilla, the Academy’s medical officer, was getting ready for work, we, the cadets, were most likely late.
First things first.
***
Sierra had entered the Spectral Sword and was still not coming out.
She hadn’t been in the Spectral Sword since she transferred her soul to it.
‘It looks like she’s stuck in there…’
I’ll have to wait until I get back to the dorm to talk to her.
I didn’t collect the reward until after I left Priscilla’s house but I had to put off the pleasant thought of what to do with the money…and as expected, I was late.
When Edward saw that we were late to school together, he exclaimed something along the lines of “‘Ho-ho?” and told us to hurry back to our seats.
I rushed back to my seat to avoid the stares of the Class A cadets, but Yuri was waiting for me with a question mark on his face.
She hesitated for a while after that, and then asked me a question in a small voice in the middle of class.
“Well, you two are late together, aren’t you?”
“Oh, well…”
I start to explain, trying to clear up Yuri’s question.
“Because Zetto and I drank together and slept together.”
Aizel, who was on the other side of Yuri, interrupted me with a misunderstanding, then tilted her head to look at me.
“Huh…? You slept with…?”
Yuri mumbled something like that after hearing Aizel’s words, and then jerked her head toward me.
“If that’s not a lie, I wonder what happened.”
Yuri’s eyes were dead as she spoke to me in a cold voice.
She hadn’t lied, but she’d said something that could have been misinterpreted, and it was going to be a very long explanation.
Luckily, when the topic of the instructors’ dinner came up, especially that of the medic, Priscilla, Yuri’s face returned to its normal color as if the misunderstanding had been cleared up.
“Hmm… Zetto was a weak drinker, so he should have been drinking in moderation, and Aizel has a knack for misleading people.”
After listening to my explanation, Yuri spoke up, tilting her head to look beyond me to Aizel.
“…”
Aizel remained silent in response to Yuri’s words.
I was embarrassed to be caught between them, so I changed the subject and answered Yuri’s question.
“Instructor Reina’s personality makes it difficult for me to refuse, and since she was drunk…”
“…Well, if it’s Instructor Reina, it’s understandable.”
Yuri nodded as she remembered Reina, whom she must have met a few times in passing.
Soon after, Yuri glances over at Edward, who is teaching the class, to see if he still has any questions for her, and then, avoiding his gaze, Yuri whispers to me again.
“…By the way, Zetto, I heard you’re going to have a duel with a cadet from Class C. Is that true?”
“Duel?”
“Yes. Her name was Kaen…? I think she was also a swordsman.”
“And how does Ms. Yuri know that?”
“The rumors have been circulating among the cadets since this morning, but I think they’re more interested in the fact that class A and class C cadets are involved.”
Yuri’s next words made it clear that my plan had gone awry.
‘I’m going to assume this is a rumor that Kaen started on purpose…’
Only me, Kaen, and Sierra knew about the duel… Kaen was the only one who had a reason to start a rumor.
Normally, a duel between cadets wouldn’t generate such a heated response so I think it was largely due to the fame I gained from the Lycanthrope incident.
‘I wonder if she still likes attention…’
It seems that she spread rumors without explaining to me.
Considering Kaen’s character and purpose, the fact that she intentionally spread the rumor means that this duel was not just a duel.
This may have been her purpose from the beginning.
She had requested a duel to gain fame. But the important thing is that I can see Kaen’s purpose now.
She wants to defeat me, whose reputation has been enhanced and draw attention to herself once and for all.
I had planned to lose the duel at Sierra’s request, but now it seems like it won’t be so easy.
I don’t know if it’s because of all the events that have happened or my hangover, but my head is throbbing.
Perhaps I should have a face-to-face talk with Kaen.
***
“Are you sure you don’t mind if I eat it by myself?!”
The pink, bobbed-haired girl sitting across from me brightens up and looks at the slice of cake on the table.
“Of course.”
“It’s expensive, so I couldn’t eat it, but thank you, ehehe…”
Kaen grins like a fool without taking her eyes off the slice cake.
“Come to think of it, Kaen, you used to work part-time in the city…”
As for why she doesn’t have any money even though she’s the disciple of the Sword Saint, it’s because he doesn’t have much money in the first place.
However, considering his position, it’s not that he doesn’t have money, but rather that he doesn’t care much about money. He was very simple.
Right after class, I brought Kaen, who was in class C, to visit the cafe.
I already knew from the game that Kaen would love the desserts at this cafe.
Excitedly, Kaen pops a finely cut piece of cake into her mouth and her face immediately melts.
‘That’s pretty good…’
If nothing else, this reaction suggests she’s not acting.
“…Ms. Kaen, I heard a rumor about our duel.”
As I cut straight to the chase, Kaen stops messing with her cake and wipes the corner of her mouth.
“I was going to tell you anyway, but… hehe… a friend I go to school with brought up the subject of Cadet Zetto, and we got to talking about you…”
“I guess that’s why there are so many eyes watching the duel.”
“That’s right, it’s just an ordinary duel… It seems that Cadet Zetto has become much more famous than I thought… Oh, and I thought what happened in the Labyrinth was cool too!”
I barely suppressed a sigh that threatened to burst out of me as I watched Kaen’s dismal performance.
‘She’s like level 30 by now.’
As a special character, Kaen’s level is incredibly high to begin with.
My own level was only level 25, so she was five levels higher by simple math.
Kaen is very aware of her strength. That’s why she’s looking down on me.
However, I have Reverse Heaven, so as long as she doesn’t unleash her Sword Art, I have a good chance of winning.
I had no intention of hiding it, nor did I have any reason to. In fact, given Sierra’s fundamental reason for creating it, I might be able to win even if Kaen unleashed the Sword Saint Art.
However, to avoid complicating things, it would be best to defeat her before she could use Sword Saint Art.
Luckily for me, the first chapter of the Reverse Heaven is perfect for dealing a fatal blow to an unwary opponent.
Looking at Kaen’s clumsy performance, I realized that her objective was in line with what I had in mind.
What I needed to do then was simple.
“…So the duel is tomorrow?”
I tapped the table and turned to Kaen.
“Is that okay?! If you can’t make it…”
“No, we’ll do it tomorrow, I’m sure the other cadets will remember that, and the duel will be fun with a big crowd.”
I said, cutting off Kaen’s excited voice.
“Uh…”
Kaen was momentarily flustered, not expecting me to say yes so easily.
“…Yes!”
She replied after a few seconds, as if she had finished the math in her head.
I looked at her with a faint smile on my face.
I don’t know how or when my relationship with Kaen began to take such a twisted turn, but as much as she’s played me for a fool, I’m going to play her for a fool.
Kaen was using me as a tool to get the pleasure she wanted but I have no intention of letting her use me for long.
After we finished talking, Kaen went back to eating her cake.
Meanwhile, I was thinking about Sierra, who didn’t seem to have any intention of going out of the Spectral Sword, and casually fiddled with the handle of the sword at my waist.
‘I wonder how to make Sierra feel better…’