He said he was unconscious.
Almark opened his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
But Ain shakes his head.
"I don't know. He doesn't seem to be in imminent danger to his life for now, but he doesn't seem to wake up asleep"
"I won't wake up..."
"Thank you. The teachers still don't seem to know exactly why. Are you sick, are you magical, or"
Ein looks into Almark's eyes.
"Is it some kind of curse?"
"It's not calm"
Almark said, opening the door wide.
"Sounds like it's not something to talk about. Get inside, please."
"Sorry."
When Ain answered that, he quietly walked into Almark's room.
"It's a murderous room."
Say a word of spicy thoughts, then sit back in the chair.
Almark sits on the bed, facing Ain.
"Yesterday, you really told Ficke to go to the library."
"Oh."
Ain't nodding.
"Shortly after school. Listen, Ficke was amused at his usual rate"
"That means"
says Almark.
"So this isn't about fiction."
"Oh."
Ein looks at Almark as if he was a little overwhelmed.
"I get around to it a lot. Exactly."
"Did you hear from the blends who told Morgen this story?"
"Heard."
Ain't nodding.
"I hear you heard from a middle school student."
"Medium"
Almark frowned.
"Is Blenz connected to a middle school student?... Oh well"
As I say, I convince myself.
"I'm not connected at all because I've been here since this year, but for you guys, we went to elementary school together until last year."
"That's the thing. School buildings and dormitories are far from the middle quarters, but it's not uncommon to talk when you meet in the city."
Ain, he says, glances out the window.
Beyond the woods, the roof of the middle school building looks small.
"The story Brens heard is pretty much the same as you heard from Morgen"
Ain said.
"Almost."
Almark listens.
"So there's something different about it."
"Oh."
Ain't nodding.
"There is only one (...) attached by the blends"
Almark sees Ain's face.
Ein remains in a rugged face, looking back at Almark.
"As I expected. There is a glowing book with magic in the general library. That's all the blends actually heard. When I read it, it plucks my soul, and that's the one with the blend (...)."
"No way."
Almark exhales deeply and distracts from Ain.
"Well, that's what you told me yesterday."
Oh, and Ain snorts.
"I was confident in my standpoint, too. So I let Ficke go alone"
"But then why did Ficke fall? I can't believe I'm unconscious."
Almark swallows the word that it really looks like he's been plucked out of his soul.
That's too ominous.
"That's what I don't know."
Ain shook his head.
"But as a result, the same phenomenon happened as the Brens' story. Something happened. In that library. That's for sure."
Ain gets up from the chair.
"I'm going to the library to make sure of that this evening."
"What?"
Almark looked up at Ain.
"Big one"
"Of course."
Ain answers instantly.
"Did you tell the teacher? Ficke said maybe."
"No."
Ain shakes his head.
"The teachers don't seem to have come to the conclusion that there is any profound connection between Ficke's current state and the place that was falling down: the General Library"
"Then tell the teacher first"
"That's not how I take responsibility."
Ein blocked Almark's words in a strong tone.
In all its intensity, Almark accidentally flaunted his face, but Ain't mind continuing.
"Ficke is. No, it's not just Ficke. The people in my class follow me. That's not because I'm a class member. Because I'm right. [M] Because all of them trust me not to say anything wrong."
So, Ein says.
"My words come with responsibility. Follow my words with my own actions. [M] If I let Ficke do the wrong thing, and if Ficke is in danger because of it, it's up to me to rescue it."
Seeing Almark with a strong eye, Almark looked familiar to that Ein figure.
Oh, yeah.
Almark recalls.
Winter mansion. Wendy, who had the bodies of the guards lined up in the garden in front of her, also had these eyes.
I'm a kid, but I'm not a kid.
Somewhere, far away.
Time, not distance.
A sense of responsibility, as if it were coming from a far past.
I have the same look as Wendy did then.
Speaking of which, I heard Ein was also some nobleman.
Perhaps all the noble children know.
That my words and actions always involve responsibility.
And whether you want it or not, you're responsible for it.
"Don't get me wrong, Almark. I didn't come here to cry to you."
Ain said.
"If I screw up today. I mean, if I miss the responsibility, you tell the teacher then. Including my foolish failures, don't cover up this backdrop."
Ain't the first time there he loosened his expression and smiled.
"Today, I came to ask for it"
Almark looked somewhere envious at what Ain looked like.
This complacency of Ein will not come solely from his personal wit, strength.
Pride as a strong, honorable clan, hidden behind him. Proud.
Nobility.
Difference in identity with the Almarks.
Almark shook his head slowly.
"I can't ask that favor."
Ein's expression becomes more rude to the answer.
But now it was Almark's turn to talk regardless.
"I have my way too, just as you have your way"
Almark stood up.
Straight, look at Ein equally.
"I was the first person to tell you this story. I'm responsible, too."
"No, that's not it"
Ein tried to refute it, but Almark did not say whether or not.
"Tell me so much about it, and I'll go alone? I'm not kidding. You can show pride. [M] But the gods of the North do not bless men who do not show courage in situations where courage should be shown."
Don't act cowardly just because nobody's watching.
My father's words come back to life.
The gods of heaven are watching all the time. Your courage. How to show it.
Like the pride of that clan behind your nobility, behind me lies the pride of my father.
There is pride in northern mercenaries.
That is by no means inferior to the pride of the nobility, at least in me.
So I won't leave.
"I show courage. Whatever you say, I'm coming too. That's the northern human fashion."
Ain kept her mouth shut for a while with a distracted look on her face.
Slightly, nodding with bitter laughter.
"Okay. Let's go together."
And I added this like a loser.
"Well, you're two pairs. It's not my responsibility."