The Bird That Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (9)

[Professor Benue Graduates a Graduate Student

The renowned archaeology professor Benue has become a topic of conversation for awarding a graduation certificate to a graduate student. Dr. Sam Bridge (38), the first graduate from Professor Benue’s lab, said in an interview with our newspaper, tears in his eyes:

‘I thought I would never graduate, this is truly an honor.’

Professor Benue was infamous for strictly scrutinizing graduate students who entered her lab and not allowing them to graduate. When asked directly about what change of heart led her to award a diploma, Professor Benue answered:

‘I decided to think from a human perspective. That’s all.’

It remains to be seen what ripples this diploma incident from Professor Benue will create.]

“Oh, it’s Mom’s picture! Mom appeared in the newspaper!”

As Mille said, the newspaper contained a photo of Professor Benue. Her face, looking at the camera with tired eyes behind glasses, made my mouth taste bitter even after seeing it for the first time in a long while. I reached out to grab my coffee cup and looked out the window.

The city looked like a bird’s-eye view outside the window. A wide horizon and meadows beyond the city walls that couldn’t be seen from the inn. Mille, hanging on the window frame, said to me:

“I tried chicken skewers from that carriage over there and they were super delicious.”

“Oh really? How about we go eat some when we go out?”

“Sounds good!”

Mille nodded with a smile and threw herself back towards the sofa. Ashuria, who was reading a book while sitting askew on the sofa, gently laid Mille down on her lap and stroked her head when Mille rushed over. Then she said:

“Mille. Doesn’t it startle you when you rush over so suddenly?”

“But Ashuria always accepts me like this! It’s fine!”

Looking to the side, Lena was rolling around on another sofa. She was throwing a dagger into the air with one hand while lying down, but it didn’t look dangerous as it was in its sheath. Chewing gum and blowing bubbles, she looked up at the ceiling and said:

“Ah, we ended up staying in the royal palace after all.”

“It can’t be helped, can it? An assassination attempt occurred.”

The attempted assassination plot against the hero spread far and wide even though we kept our mouths tightly shut. Fortunately, thanks to the kingdom quickly announcing that the hero was safe, we were able to avoid false rumors spreading, but our freedom ended at that point.

Originally, we could move around from the kingdom’s pleasure district to the bustling areas, but now we were in a situation where we couldn’t go anywhere except our own rooms, this reception room, and the training grounds.

Of course, this life wasn’t bad. If we wanted something, we could get it just by ringing a bell once, no one said anything even if we lay around all day, and even nobles who wanted to meet us were all blocked under the pretext of ‘assassination risk’.

“Hey, couldn’t they let me go out at least?”

But the fact that we couldn’t roam the streets kept making us feel stifled. Even if it’s something you don’t usually do, once it’s forbidden, you want to do it, so how stuffy must our hearts be, trapped here after coming all the way to the capital? Ashuria said:

“When I asked for a place to pray, they hung a cross in my room. Since they won’t let us out even for religious reasons, going out is probably impossible. In the end, isn’t this all being done for our sake? From the kingdom’s standpoint, they can’t do nothing when the hero has suffered an assassination attempt.”

“But still-“

“I’m satisfied. It’s been a while since I’ve lived so lazily. Bathing in a fragrant tub every day, the food is delicious, and if I ask for alcohol, they give it to me. Isn’t this heaven?”

“That’s right! It’s also fun to bet on archery with the people here. Yesterday, we had a bet on hitting 3 targets simultaneously while blindfolded. I won!”

Ashuria smiled and responded to Mille’s proud boast, and I also praised her saying she did well. Lena, who was looking sideways in a slanted position, closed her eyes while listening to our conversation, then nodded and suddenly got up.

“Let’s go see the hero. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we’ve seen the hero’s face.”

As Lena said, we hadn’t seen the hero’s face since arriving at the royal palace. It was because the hero had locked herself in her room and wouldn’t come out. According to the servants, screams could be heard from the hero’s room every night, and sounds of commotion. Could there be some side effects from the drug?

“I was just getting worried thinking about the rumors. How about we go together?”

When I spoke, the others nodded as if agreeing with my words. And so, a group of visitors led by the bored Lena was formed.

---

Knock

Knock

Knock

The large door had a golden handle. Lena touched the handle and grumbled:

“I guess they don’t make doorknobs out of pure gold even in the royal palace.”

“That would be wasteful. I understand His Majesty is cautious about such waste.”

At Ashuria’s words, Lena shrugged and retorted:

“But this isn’t even gold-plated, it’s just painted gold. I’m a bit disappointed.”

Since we couldn’t keep waiting for them to argue about the gold plating issue, I called out to the hero through the door.

“Hero, are you there?”

Mille also touched the doorknob and said to Lena:

“I can’t really feel much difference, can you tell just by touching it, Lena?”

“Of course. I’m a first-class thief and assassin. I can even appraise jewels.”

“Wow, Lena, you’re so smart!”

Hearing Mille’s words, Lena stretched her neck and shrugged her shoulders. Ashuria shook her head at the dance-like movement, and I focused my mind to avoid getting caught up in the conversation happening behind me and called out to the hero again.

“Hero. We’ve come to visit you. Are you still unwell?”

Ashuria, having escaped from the pure gold debate, said to me:

“She can’t be that unwell, it’s strange. The aphrodisiac had all worn off, and she was quite healthy on the last day we stayed at the inn.”

“That’s true. I wonder if there’s some psychological issue…”

“Ah, I, I’m fine.”

The hero’s voice interrupted our conversation. Though stuttering, it was definitely the hero’s voice and there was no sign of illness. Ashuria’s eyes widened, and Lena and Mille, who had been chatting, closed their mouths and looked at the door.

The door opened carefully, and the hero awkwardly greeted us, saying:

“Ah, um…”

Lena, who had been grumbling about the doorknob, looked at the hero with a gentle expression. Ashuria and Mille also welcomed the hero with bright smiles. The hero, seeing those smiles, awkwardly smiled back and scratched her cheek, saying:

“Sorry. Um… I was just resting a bit because I haven’t fully recovered yet.”

“Are you feeling very unwell?”

As Ashuria stepped forward as if she was about to cast holy magic right away, the hero shook her head and said:

“Ah, no! Ashuria! Don’t worry! I’m all better now! Yeah!”

And then the hero looked at me. Just as I was about to say something for the hero’s sake, the hero’s face turned bright red and she quickly intercepted my words like a pickpocket.

“Ah…! Uh…”

Bang!

And the door closed again, and the hero shouted:

“S-sorry! Let’s talk tomorrow! Tomorrow!”

The hero’s voice came through the door. Mille said with a gloomy face:

“The hero didn’t make eye contact with me.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure it’s not because she dislikes you.”

Lena looked at me with a broad smile, and Ashuria shook her head. I wanted to say I was innocent, but since it was dangerous to bring up this topic here, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut and move forward.

Ashuria said:

“You’re a beast.”

“…I’m not.”

---

The hero’s face was flushed red, and her heart was pounding. The hero vaguely knew about the meetings between men and women that appear in popular novels. A woman in a fluttering dress walking down the street, her skirt blowing in the wind, and a knight passing by, standing there with a flustered face.

The woman who has suddenly been embarrassed sits down and starts crying.

[Waaah! Now I can’t get married!]

Then the clumsy and handsome knight grabs the woman’s hand and pledges:

[I, I’ll take responsibility!]

“…As if I’m that stupid.”

The hero couldn’t understand this ‘responsibility’ that knights in these novels talked about. She also couldn’t understand how princesses or noble ladies would forget their embarrassment and grin at that one sentence.

But now, she realized that all of those were simple metaphors.

Metaphors that simplified the process of love while minimizing stimulation to sell even to young children.

How alluring is the phrase that a man who has seen an embarrassing sight accepts even that shameful act of the woman and takes responsibility for it?

“Really… As if I’m that stupid…”

Even while calling that pathetic process of love stupid,

[I’ll take responsibility, Hero.]

The hero couldn’t deny that the porter’s voice was ringing in her ears like that.