Episode 128: Did You Have Fun Last Night?
“Hyuuuu…”
A voice calling my name echoes in a pleasant doze.
Opening my heavy eyelids, golden hair reflecting the morning sun shines into my vision. I blink at the brightness, and a giggling voice follows.
“Good morning, Hugh. It’s morning already, you’ll be late for training, you know?”
“Ah… good morning, Tia.”
Lucretia, who usually wakes up later than me, had risen from her prone position and was looking down at me. She must have been shaking my shoulder with her left hand. Because of her leaning posture, a slight gap was created at the neckline of her exposed shoulder and collarbone, and her lime-green negligee, and my gaze was drawn to it.
No, no. My thoughts are going in that direction because my brakes almost broke down yesterday. Keep calm, keep calm… For now, let’s head to morning training.
Thinking so, I tried to get up, but my body stiffened.
“What’s wrong?”
Lucretia tilted her head, looking puzzled at me, who had gotten up but wasn’t getting out of bed. I wanted to get out of bed and change, but there was a physiological reason why I couldn’t.
It must be because I fell asleep with my emotions running high yesterday. This morning, the Wild Horse is at an uncontrollable level. There’s no way I can show this to Tia.
“Um, Tia-san. Could you turn around while I change?”
“Okay!”
Tia replied cheerfully, covering her face with both hands and peeking through the gaps between her fingers with her azure eyes.
She doesn’t understand at all…!
W-what should I do…? If I stay still like this until it calms down, I’ll be late for morning training. Alissa-san will definitely tease me. But, standing up and being seen by Tia is incredibly embarrassing.
…I guess I have no choice.
“Tia. There’s a physiological phenomenon that men can’t resist, or rather, there’s something I want you to understand.”
“Fueh…?”
“J-just, please don’t look, because it’s embarrassing…”
“…Ah.”
Tia wasn’t completely ignorant either. She made a noise as if she had realized something, then turned her back to me. The nape of her neck, peeking out between her exposed shoulder and golden hair, was flushed red.
“S-s-sorry! Y-yeah, Hugh is a boy, after all! I-if you sleep with a girl, you’ll feel strange, right!”
“Well, yeah…”
It’s not necessarily because I slept with a girl, but denying it felt wrong, so I nodded. I wonder if it was just my imagination that Tia’s voice sounded somewhat happy…
Well, anyway. Tia turned her back, so I grabbed my clothes and rushed to the changing room. I finally managed to calm the Wild Horse and change.
I called out to Tia, who was fidgeting on the bed while holding Nokoko-san (a plush toy of an animal called Horsedeer that lives in this world), and then headed to morning training.
As soon as I left the Dormitory, I felt the heat of the sunlight shining down from a slightly higher position than usual for the morning. The chirping of insects could be heard from afar, carried on the wind that still retained a bit of coolness. Somehow, I felt the signs of summer approaching.
When I went to the vacant lot behind the faculty housing as usual, Idiot was swinging a wooden sword by himself. Alissa-san, who always comes here first to train, was nowhere to be seen. I don’t think she overslept, but…
“Hmm. You’ve come, Hugh. Good morning.”
“Good morning, Idiot. Is Alissa-san not here?”
“Yes. Yesterday, right after that, a messenger from Prince Lucas came from the castle and summoned her back. She said she would be back by today’s class.”
“I see…”
Something urgent must have come up. If she’s coming back by class, it probably isn’t a big problem, but I’m a little worried. I hope it doesn’t turn into something troublesome again…
Feeling a slight unease, I started training with Idiot. Since Alissa-san wasn’t here, we didn’t do the usual practical training, but instead did basic training such as checking the movements when swinging a sword.
“That’s the way, Hugh. You’ll put more power into the tip of the sword if you move your dominant foot half a step back.”
“I see, like this…!”
“Hmm, not bad at all.”
When I’m taught Swordsmanship by Idiot like this, I can see that his swordsmanship is by no means solely based on his Skill.
Constant effort and the basic Swordsmanship built up through it. The power of the «Chevalier» Skill is combined with that to form Idiot’s current strength.
Besides, Idiot is good at teaching people. Alissa-san is all about practical training and doesn’t give any technical advice, so I realize that my movements are getting much better by being taught the basics by Idiot.
Also, Idiot’s good point is that he’s honest in saying what’s good and what’s bad, which makes it easy to understand. If he wasn’t the head of House Hortness, he would be suited for a job as a Swordsmanship instructor.
After finishing a fulfilling morning training session for the first time in a while, I returned to my room and took a Shower. Then, I headed to the School Cafeteria with Lucretia, who had returned to her Rouge form.
It was the time of day when it was crowded with many students. As we were receiving our breakfast and looking for a seat, hands were raised towards us from two places. One was at the table where Lily and Lecty were, and the other was at the table where Rosalie and Cicely-san were. Both had two seats available.
It would be best if we could all sit together, but there’s no place where six people could sit…
“Shall we sit separately, Rouge?”
“Yeah. I’ll go to Rosalie and the others.”
I watched Rouge head to Rosalie’s table, and I headed to the table where Lily and Lecty were waiting.
“Good morning, Hugh-san.”
“Good morning, Lecty.”
After exchanging greetings, I sat down in the chair next to Lecty. Then, Lily, who was sitting opposite me, leaned forward and brought her face closer to mine.
“Did you do it?”
“No, I didn’t.”
What is she asking so early in the morning…?
Lily, hearing my reply, breathed a sigh of relief and settled back down.
“That’s good then… I suggested it myself, but I was worried about whether your reason could withstand it. I’m sorry, I couldn’t refuse because I felt indebted to that child…”
“No, don’t apologize. I think it would have happened sooner or later.”
We should have both felt the limit of pretending not to notice (role-playing). Even if Lily hadn’t put the idea in her head, it would have been a matter of time before Lucretia started spending time in her original form when she was alone with me.
“It makes me feel a little better that you say that. But, really, nothing happened?”
“Ah… it’s not like nothing happened.”
It’s not something I can talk about in a place like this with so many people.
She must have sensed something from my hesitant words.
“R-right. You can’t talk about that kind of thing in a place like this.”
Lily’s cheeks were slightly red, and she spoke in a flustered manner. No, it’s about Rouge’s true identity, not for indecent reasons…
I thought about denying it, but that would make me seem desperate… Well, it’s not a complete misunderstanding, so I’ll leave it as it is.
After that, the three of us ate breakfast for a while, and then Idiot with a tray came into view. I excused myself to Lily and Lecty and called him over.
Actually, there was something I wanted to discuss with the three of them here.
“A consultation, you say?”
“Yeah. I think it’s about time I properly faced my Skill.”