Chapter 60: What did you do you idiot?
’Oh.’
Erness showed up looking effortlessly refreshing. Instead of her academy uniform, she’d opted for a classic-style outfit that looked genuinely comfortable. Of course, the academy allowed that, even though most students preferred wearing the academy uniform since the fabric was comfortable and easy to wear.
Basically, Erness’s charm was in no way lacking, as always. Her face still looked delicate and beautiful, and this time her hair was braided, resting gently right in front of her.
For a moment, Eiros had no idea what to do. So he just stayed quiet, watching Erness, who paused for a moment and looked back at him. The two of them locked eyes for a few seconds before Erness finally looked away, letting out a low huff.
"Hmmp."
"........?"
Eiros had never once been this shocked in his entire life. He couldn’t even control his own expression, watching Erness ignore him completely, sitting down and acting as if he weren’t even in the room.
’W-what? Wait... why is she like this?’
Had what happened earlier actually made her that furious?
But it hadn’t been that bad, right?
Besides, wasn’t Erness supposed to be working to keep her own emotions stable?
But what was this?
’If she keeps acting like this, it’s not going to help at all with keeping my thoughts from turning negative. If anything, she might end up being the actual cause of it.’
And that absolutely couldn’t be allowed to happen.
"Ugh...."
Right then, Eiros heard someone’s voice, sounding oddly pale. He blinked, glancing toward the end of the sofa, and found Alen with a darkened expression, cold sweat pouring down his face.
His gaze, fixed on Erness, froze for a moment, then he glanced at Eiros, his neck stiff, forcing a smile.
Then, his lips moved, speaking without a sound. But just like during that final evaluation, Eiros somehow managed to understand exactly what he meant.
’....What.... did you do.... you idiot?’
His face went pale.
’How would I know.... I only... just....’
He had no idea what to say, until it finally made Alen let out a sigh.
’Anyway, don’t drag me into this.’
After that, Alen turned his attention elsewhere, flatly refusing to engage with Eiros, who was left completely frozen in place.
He glanced at Erness again—that smile he always saw on her wasn’t there. Her expression was completely flat, unnervingly calm.
’...I really need to do something about this.’
This was incredibly awkward, and their strange, complicated relationship right now was genuinely making Eiros uncomfortable.
’Right. I just need to tell her that her attitude right now is making the seed in my body grow, because—’
"Hmm... Sorry to keep you all waiting."
But Eiros didn’t get the chance, since the head of the academy finally closed the document he’d been reading, tucking it under a brown-covered folder before setting it down at the edge of his desk.
Seeing just how badly his timing had failed nearly made Eiros click his tongue. Luckily, he pulled himself together fast.
Eiros drew a breath, and just like the others, turned his focus to the head of the academy, who looked over each of them one by one with those golden eyes.
"I heard about it. All of you acted as heroes, saving your friends who were in danger. That was a commendable effort, an achievement absolutely worthy of recognition, given the academy’s own negligence in the matter."
His calm, dignified voice genuinely reflected the Imperial family. Yes, Eiros thought, this was exactly what the Imperial family should look like.
Not someone bursting into tears over his sister giving him the cold shoulder, or... someone who liked playing with living dolls.
Either way, watching Lefandel’s composure and presence, Eiros couldn’t help but feel genuinely impressed.
"Heh. I might be getting old, but that doesn’t mean I’ve grown foolish when it comes to judging people. I can see clearly that all of you carry talent well above average."
Ending with a relaxed little laugh, Lefandel then pulled something out of his desk drawer. It was a pair of glasses, though clearly not an ordinary pair. He put them on and smiled.
"Either way, as head of this academy, I owe you all my deepest thanks for the wisdom and effort you showed during that incident."
Watching Lefandel bow his head made Eiros and the others feel genuinely uneasy. After all, Lefandel came from the Imperial family itself.
Ah, except for Valkas and Erness, though. By the way, those two didn’t so much as blink at Lefandel’s gesture.
"A-ahaha, you don’t need to do that, sir. We just did what needed to be done, right?"
The one who answered was Alen, clearly feeling awkward with the silence hanging in the air, elbowing Godon hard beside him, forcing him to speak up too.
"H-haha! That’s right, so there’s no need to worry, sir."
"Good. In that case, let’s get straight to the point. Words of thanks don’t really carry much weight here anyway, so I’ll be giving you all a reward."
Once Lefandel raised his head and gave a calm nod, he said something that made both Valkas and Lovia snap their heads up.
""A reward?""
Both of them spoke at once, as if that single word were more interesting than anything else in the room. But realizing that their enthusiasm bordered on outright greed, both Lovia and Valkas ended up coughing awkwardly.
Luckily, Lefandel seemed to brush off that reaction with a small laugh.
"The reward will be given tomorrow. Ah, and you, Eiros, right?"
"Huh? Y-yes?"
Eiros, suddenly singled out by Lefandel, was genuinely caught off guard, unprepared for it. Their eyes met for a moment as Lefandel’s smile widened.
"I heard you ran into Crimson?"
’...Crimson? Ah, right, that’s the name of that bastard who gave me that hallucinogenic liquid.’
His muscles tensed, recalling that whole incident. But Eiros quickly steadied himself, since it seemed like Lefandel actually had some information about that guy.
"Do you know him?"
Chances like this didn’t come often, so if possible, Eiros wanted to be a little blunt about it.
Lefandel shrugged, letting out a long sigh as he closed his eyes, his voice sounding somewhat heavy as he gave a bitter smile.
"Of course. You were lucky to survive him—well, actually, calling it luck feels a bit off. Because not only did you survive, but you also managed to save my niece and the current would-be Saintess. That’s a genuinely remarkable feat."
"Forgive me if I’m being too forward, but do you have any information on Crimson?"
The moment Eiros asked that, he could feel an intense stare coming from Erness. He had no idea what that look meant, but he kept his focus locked on Lefandel regardless.
"No. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single piece of useful information about him. I’ve only ever met him once myself, and even that only lasted a few seconds."
Hearing that, Eiros gave a bitter smile. It was genuinely a shame that even Lefandel didn’t have anything useful to offer.
That was disappointing, but it also seemed fair enough. After all, given the state of this world, the existence of Black Genesis itself remained a closely guarded secret, known only to a select few.
After that, the conversation flowed on naturally. Lefandel spent nearly a full hour talking, not just asking about each of them individually, but also sharing a few things meant to encourage them to be more careful going forward.
There were also bits of knowledge and other odds and ends thrown in.
And just like that, the meeting wrapped up. Eiros and the others left the head of the academy’s office, thoroughly exhausted.
Right then, finally free, Eiros immediately turned to look at Erness. But he didn’t get the chance to say a single word before Erness’s body simply vanished into thin air.
"....."
He felt a pat on his shoulder—it was Alen.
"You need to go after her."
"....Is your brain okay? There’s no way I could ever catch up to her."
With her stigmata, Eiros was fairly certain not a single student at this academy could ever hope to catch up to Erness—not even a third-year, for that matter.
But Alen’s expression remained firm.
"I don’t care about that. The point is, you genuinely need to go after her. You know what? I’ve got sharp instincts, and my gut’s telling me Erness is terrifying, genuinely terrifying! If this keeps up, I’m honestly scared she’s going to show up in your room in the middle of the night and...."
His grim expression left Eiros with absolutely nothing to say.
Then, as if he’d just delivered something incredibly important, Alen walked off calmly, dragging Valkas along by the wrist, the guy still looking utterly gloomy, having completely lost his usual cheerfulness.
"Come on, Lizard, quit sulking already, you got fourth place, that’s not bad at all."
Right after, Eiros felt a pat land on each of his shoulders. One from Godon, the other from Lovia, both of them looking at Eiros with expressions that seemed to say, ’You’ve got this!’
Of course, that was just Eiros’s own interpretation, since what the two of them were actually saying was more like, ’drop dead.’
Left completely alone, Eiros scratched the back of his head.
’Alright... I need to go after Erness, but where?’
After thinking it over for a moment, he glanced toward the girls’ dormitory. Well, he could probably wait right at the entrance of that dorm, but it’d be a problem if Erness just teleported straight into her own room instead.
In that case...
Could he just ask to meet her with the help of the dorm supervisor there?
Sure, there was a good chance Erness would refuse. But what else could he do?
So, that’s exactly what Eiros ended up doing.
He never once imagined he’d end up waiting so terribly long, just for the chance to see Erness.
***