༺ A Pitiful Guy ༻
“…….”
Loberne Academy, which had just finished its midterm exams, was about to start summer vacation soon.
The students were all excited, engaging in cozy small talk while planning their summer vacation together.
Amidst this, there were two people who were looking at each other.
By pure coincidence, they ended up sitting at the same table with an empty seat, but since their eyes had already met, neither of them took a step back.
They were Aria Rias and Eleanor Luden Griffin.
Ever since they confirmed each other’s feelings towards Deus in Erica Bright’s laboratory, the two have often engaged in a war of nerves such as this.
As a result, the surrounding students awkwardly ate their meal without paying attention to whether the food was going into their mouths or noses.
“Did you know about this?”
Aria was the one who launched her attack first.
“Professor likes students who follow the rules well. You know, acting like a proper student.”
“….”
“He detests students who skip classes for no reason and use informal language.”
Grit.
The strength in Eleanor’s hand, which was gripping the fork, subtly trembled.
She already knew that fact extremely well, too; because she was called to Deus’ laboratory just yesterday, having received a scolding and a points deduction.
As a result, her position as the top student for the midterms was in danger.
‘How did she manage to know about this?’
After all, she heard that Deus hadn’t been teaching at the academy for long.
Aria arrogantly sneered, accompanied by a snort. However, Eleanor would not back down here.
“Deus seems to know a lot of unique knowledge. Among them, he seems to like something called ‘Magical Girls.'”
“Wh-what?”
Magical Girls?
What was that?
Aria was momentarily bewildered. Could this be about his past as Kim Shinwoo, something he had never disclosed, even to her?
Crack.
A crack began to form on the plate Aria was holding.
The fact that Eleanor knew about Deus’ past, information that even she had never properly heard about, had unintentionally darkened her emotions.
‘Should I kill her?’
She could tolerate it if Eleanor mentioned something about Professor. After all, she wasn’t such an aggressive woman.
However, she couldn’t tolerate it when Eleanor told a story about Kim Shinwoo.
On top of that, it was a story about him that she didn’t even know; but Eleanor knew about it? That had hit a sore spot and made her angry.
Did that woman know exactly who was currently occupying Deus’ body?
Did she know that when she talked about Deus’ preferences, she was actually referring to another person named Kim Shinwoo?
There was no way she could know that, right?
Probably not.
‘It will be better to do it right now.’
After all, Aria herself had stabbed a sword into Eleanor’s heart in the previous round.
Back then, Eleanor was an imposing princess who tried to incite students to take control of the academy, even going as far as to start a rebellion.
However, the possibility of this happening again seemed extremely low after Eleanor became friends with Deus.
But if Aria pulled tricks behind Eleanor’s back, could the latter return to her original state?
And if she did, could Aria be able to kill her with a justifiable reason?
“You don’t know what a Magical Girl is?”
“….”
Aria would truly explode if Eleanor continued to provoke her any further. She already felt a weird sensation in her head, as if a knife was stuck in it while she listened to the latter talk about parts of Kim Shinwoo she wasn’t aware of.
“Shall I tell you?”
Eleanor spoke with a sly smile. Aria, who had momentarily tried to conjure mana, took a deep breath and responded to her.
“Tell me.”
This was one step back in order to take two steps forward.
Because no matter how much she asked him, Deus wouldn’t reveal anything.
Even if it was shameful, Aria was determined to extract information from Princess Eleanor.
“Okay. But you also have to tell me everything you know about Deus. Why did you start having feelings for that person?”
“…Can you really talk about it?”
Though they were students, the two were not naive enough to share tender stories of love with each other.
Eleanor also hesitated for a moment. Should she tell Aria about her memories with Deus?
She didn’t want to.
It felt like opening her own treasure chest for someone else, so Eleanor shook her head.
“Alright, it’s a slip of the tongue. Let’s just purely share information.”
Just like that, the two female students had a conversation about various things regarding Deus while having their meal.
Sharing what they liked through conversation turned out to be more enjoyable than they thought, and the two unexpectedly spent time blossoming with laughter.
“E-excuse me.”
“Hey, can we eat together with you?”
And where there were flowers, bees would naturally be attracted.
Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, the male students who, for a long time, had wanted to become friends with the two girls discreetly approached them.
“Scram.”
With a sharp word from Aria, those male students could only yelp and retreat. Since Eleanor couldn’t say harsh words as a princess, she appreciated Aria for doing it on her behalf.
Even after finishing their meal, the two walked outside the cafeteria together to continue their conversation.
In a corner of an alley next to the cafeteria, their eyes caught sight of an oddly out-of-place person.
It was the star who emerged at Loberne Academy, quickly rising to popularity like a comet.
A white-haired woman dressed in a maid outfit, which was the fantasy of male students.
It seemed like Findenai was having a conversation with a certain man.
Normally, they would have just passed by, but when Aria and Eleanor found Findenai, they hoped that Deus might have been nearby.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, which was a bit disappointing.
Aria focused intently on the man.
Then, she immediately nodded to herself.
‘He’s part of the resistance, huh?’
He seemed to have disguised himself as a working employee in order to enter the academy and converse with Findenai.
Although there was no particular resistance in Loberne, during Findenai’s stay in Graypond, she seemed to have established a cooperative relationship with the resistance there.
‘Hmm.’
Findenai, whom Aria remembered, was a rather hard woman to deal with.
She subdued the resistance, which had naturally infiltrated the kingdom, and drew them to her side. Not only that, in battle, she also displayed a sense of ferocity akin to that of a beast.
Fortunately, she didn’t have the weapon she used then. If she were properly equipped and the battle lasted long, the current Aria might struggle against her.
As the conversation seemed to have ended, the man left without looking back. Alone, Findenai pulled out a cigarette; seemingly aware of being watched, she turned to look at the two.
“Hm? What’s up?”
Inside the academy, smoking was not allowed anywhere except on the rooftop. Nonetheless, Findenai had too brazenly placed a cigarette in her mouth and lit it.
They could only let such audacious behavior, akin to that of a ruffian, slide by, as no one could stop her other than Deus.
“Ah, ain’t these Crazy Bitch and Nuisance?”
“Nuisance?”
“Crazy Bitch?”
Eleanor and Aria immediately recognized the terms referring to themselves and asked in unison.
Chuckling at their reactions, Findenai blew out smoke for a long time.
“Well, one always nags when she meets Master Bastard, and another one is the Crazy Bitch who is always ready to spread her legs for Master Bastard without hesitation.”
Both turned red in the face, feeling an irritation surge, but they couldn’t argue back.
Honestly, it was not wrong.
Eleanor was even willing to accept punishment when she persistently nagged Deus to talk about his past whenever she met him.
As for Aria… she was prepared to do it if not for Deus’ principle.
“Puff, give him a break. He’s more tired than you realize.”
Findenai spoke as she slowly blew out a thick cloud of smoke. Her words were quite shocking.
Hearing that from someone who seemed to give him the most stress, they felt a mix of embarrassment and a strange tension.
“To be exact, he’s such a pitiful guy.”
“Pitiful?”
When Eleanor asked what that meant, Findenai casually dropped the already extinguished cigarette butt on the ground, crushing it with her foot.
“So, isn’t he pitiful? I have no idea what that guy wants.”
“….”
“….”
“He ain’t after anything, but he’s got a whole bunch of duties to do.”
The two fell silent simultaneously. While Eleanor couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind Findenai’s words, Aria’s mind flashed back to the first round, replaying everything like a movie.
It was a valid statement.
Whether in the first or second round, Deus Verdi, no, Kim Shinwoo, was always moving for the sake of others. His grand purpose was clear, to save the continent.
Not only that, but she also could feel his excessive devotion to that purpose.
He acted as if he did not exist in this world. And seeing that somehow gave her a hint of unease.
That was why Findenai couldn’t understand him.
She probably would never understand, even if she died.
Because for Findenai, who was born into a state where even basic freedom was stripped away and she had to fight for it, Deus gave her a sense that he had willingly chained himself, and abandoned his own freedom.
“Well, he’ll probably leave the academy soon anyway.”
“Huh?”
“It’s been a week already, you don’t know it yet?”
When Aria and Eleanor exclaimed in surprise, Findenai responded with a mischievous smile.
“He received a letter from the Saintess, it said that there’s a particular place she’d like him to visit. He’ll probably head out again with the academy’s summer vacation starting soon.”
“…Huff.”
In her case, Aria considered accepting this arrangement. While it was regrettable, there was a certain place she had to visit during this summer vacation after all.
While the Libelungen Sword she currently possessed was comfortable to use, it didn’t quite suit her hand; so she needed a new sword.
This was another step back for the sake of advancing forward.
Although she couldn’t spend the summer vacation with Deus this time, as a Regressor, Aria had so much she needed to do and seize in advance.
She couldn’t help but sigh in regret.
“I-I was planning to ask him to go to Graypond with me together this time!”
Eleanor intended to take Deus along with her because it was natural for him, as the Soul Whisperer, to maintain his position in the Royal Palace.
Therefore, of course she wanted to take him along. However, if it was to cooperate with the Saintess, then not even the princess herself could intervene.
Seeing the disappointed expressions of the two girls, Findenai laughed, finding it amusing.
