Episode 34
“Geld-kun…”
“……”
Monday, second period. As usual, I ended up in a one-on-one lesson with Millie-sensei during Magic Practice Alpha.
I had just told her on the way to school that we should stop talking at school, so this is a bit awkward. I can only shrink under Millie-sensei’s exasperated gaze.
“You really are bad at magic, aren’t you?”
“W-well, yeah. I told you that, didn’t I?”
“You did. …But you’re right, you wouldn’t set yourself on fire on purpose as an act.”
“……”
I’m glad she understands… but Millie feels a little harsh, or rather, less reserved.
It’s hard to tell if this is because we’ve become closer or because she dislikes me.
If I thought about it normally, I’d assume she dislikes me, but Millie is an Archangel even to those she treats coldly, so I can’t say for sure that her affection has decreased. Of course, it’s not impossible that she dislikes me far more than those guys, but her expression seems soft for that. It doesn’t look like the face she’d make towards someone she hates.
But I don’t know if we’ve become closer either. How could we become closer after something like that? Is it something like Stockholm syndrome, or a sense of solidarity that has sprouted from sharing a secret?
“Haa… well, whatever. Let’s do our best today.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m in your care.”
“…I might not understand you very well anymore, Geld-kun.”
What a coincidence. The truth is, I don’t understand myself very well either. Perhaps it’s the harm of switching characters depending on the person—villain mode, Family Head mode, senpai mode—but even I can’t gauge what kind of person the real me is. Only that I’m a lovable, nice guy, there’s no mistaking that.
“Right, right, manipulate the Excess Mana there… yeah. Like that.”
“Ununununu.”
“Geld-kun, it’s okay. You’re getting better.”
This time, I couldn’t master it perfectly even with Millie-sensei’s heart-pounding close-up lesson. I was suddenly told to shoot something like a homing bullet, and I spent almost half the time just figuring out how to do it. Class is almost over, so time’s up with the pathetic result of slightly curving a marble-sized magic.
“Okay, everyone, good work. We’ll do the same thing tomorrow, so make sure you review properly.”
The same content tomorrow, huh? It’s the first time I haven’t felt any progress after ninety minutes, so this must be a pretty difficult task as I thought. It seems certain that there are several other students besides me who can’t do it, even girls. But for some reason, Millie was assigned to me… maybe in that teacher’s mind, Millie is in charge of Geld. How pitiful…
“Mmmmmm…”
As the class ends and the students stream out of the Training Room, I decide to stay behind and struggle a little more. Even if it’s the same content tomorrow, I want to get a feel for it, even if it’s just a little.
I take out a baseball-sized ‘Mur’ from my fingertip and fill it with plenty of Excess Mana. Then I fire it, and curve it—it curves too much and flies towards me.
“Hoataa!”
I can’t afford to be set on fire again, so I hurriedly intercept it with my fist and blow it away. I’m a swordsman with a Sword skill level of eight, and at the same time, a martial artist who has raised his Fighting skill to level seven. This much is a piece of cake.
“What are you doing, Geld-kun…”
“Hmm? Oh, did you see the sharpness of that fist just now? A shoddy magic like that is easily taken care of with one punch.”
Millie must have been staying behind, and she witnessed the whole thing.
“Shoddy? That’s Geld-kun’s magic, right? You just curved it too much and it flew towards you, didn’t it?”
“Mmmmmm…”
She’s still harsh and unreserved. Millie isn’t an Archangel just to me… well, if I’m getting special treatment, that’s okay, isn’t it?
“You know, Geld-kun, should you just stop using Fire Magic? That’s your third uniform, right?”
“Well, yeah. As the heir to a great noble family, it’s bad for my reputation to wear the same clothes for more than a month.”
“It’s just because they got burned and you can’t wear them anymore, right? Somehow, Geld-kun is as dangerous to watch as Melissa-chan.”
“Isn’t that a little too harsh? Even I can get hurt, you know.”
I’ve been insulted terribly. Even if it’s Millie, I can’t forgive that statement.
“Then you have to get it right. Here, give me your hand?”
“Huh?”
“When you curve it later, you have to control the Mana flow like this—”
Millie-sensei’s heart-pounding close-up lesson ~After-school Edition~ began. I forgive her now. This girl is definitely an Archangel.
“Ah, Millie… you pervert! What are you doing to Millie!”
“Huh? …Gah.”
“Ah, Melissa-chan.”
I thought I heard a shrill voice from the entrance, and it’s Melissa, the blonde twintail who’s as dangerous as I am.
With me and Millie at this distance in the Training Room with no one else around, it’s no wonder she’s making a fuss.
Why is she in the Training Room during lunch break… but I feel like she came at this timing even when I was spinning naked. Was it a weekly thing?
“Kukukukuk… an interruption, huh? It can’t be helped, I’ll leave it at this for today.”
“So, you were lying about not getting involved after all…! You’re the worst…!”
“Foolish girl. To think you’d believe me so honestly. Kukukuk.”
“Geld-kun! Why are you saying such things! That’s enough already!”
“Ah, no, I just…”
I got scolded by Millie. She’s really angry.
“Melissa-chan, don’t jump to conclusions! Geld-kun isn’t a bad person!”
“Millie, you’re being deceived! He looks like a villain no matter how you look at him!”
“I’m not being deceived! Geld-kun is—”
“Now, now, calm down, you two. Don’t argue so loudly.”
I try to stop the two who are about to heat up, and I give Millie a warning look. I’m scared because I just got scolded, but I’d be in trouble if she said something unnecessary.
“Why are you mediating like a third party…!”
“In the first place, Geld-kun is… eh? What?”
“(I told you not to say anything unnecessary. Do you not care what happens to her family?)”
The warning look didn’t get through at all, so I had no choice but to whisper in her ear again. I don’t think it will have any effect, but I don’t think explaining the situation would have a good influence.
“(U-uh, that’s true… Also, that threat is still weird.)”
“Hey, you’re too close! What are you doing in front of me! Millie, why are you just standing there!”
Melissa barged between me and Millie and pulled us apart. Now that she mentions it, whispering in each other’s ears is very close. I might not be able to whisper anymore from now on because I’ll be conscious of it.
“Ah. Geld-kun, lunch break is already half over. If you don’t hurry, your lunch will—”
“Huh? Ah, I can eat during class, but Millie should hurry.”
“You got caught by the teacher and scolded for that once, didn’t you? And you can’t eat during class! Come on, Geld-kun, let’s go!”
“O-okay. I understand, so…”
Millie is unusually strict, perhaps because she’s still upset from being angry earlier. I was grabbed by the sleeve and pulled along, and I sent a pleading look to Melissa, but she just stared blankly as I was led away.