Cooperation

I woke up on the bed in the clubroom. I blankly stared at the clouds on the ceiling moving as they pleased, then slowly roused my mind and body.

Nobody was in the clubroom. The table, which should have been full of uncleaned liquor bottles and snacks, was somehow neatly organized. I’ve never heard of sleepwalking that involves cleaning, so it seems Estelle tidied up while I was asleep. The guild leader of Modest is a house elf? What a surprising discovery.

I roughly swept my face, feeling a strange emotion. Estelle is probably the shortest girl in Transcendence Academy. She’s a year older than me, but I always thought of her as a cute little sister because of her small stature. But last night, she felt like an older sister for the first time.

I never expected Estelle, who’s always in the position of a *mesugaki* I want to give a *kkulbam* to, to sternly scold me for my mistakes and gently comfort me, so the shock I’m feeling might be even greater. Maybe this is the gap that makes you fall for a *mesugaki*. I shook my head violently at the useless thought.

Looking at the wall clock in the clubroom, it was 11 o’clock. An ambiguous time. I didn’t have any separate dinner plans with the members last night. It’s the weekend of the Triathlon festival. Everyone will enjoy themselves in their own way. Before worrying about what to do, I decided to wash up first.

I returned to the island, took a light shower, and changed back into my school uniform. Because other academies are returning next week, the school ordered us to wear uniforms even on weekends to distinguish between current students and outsiders.

Leisurely. Maybe this leisure will continue until the end of the second semester. Now that the Triathlon is over, all that’s left is the failing grade exam. But thanks to the joint victory, I got extra points, so unless I do something stupid, I don’t have to worry about failing.

Then what should I do? As I pondered, I decided to head to the library as it came to mind, and I opened the clubroom door to leave.

Deolkeok-

Something heavy was placed in front of the door, preventing it from opening properly. Reminded of the experience of a package blocking the door, I checked through the gap. An unusual orange curly hair came into view.

As I was about to close the door again, a pure white hand quickly came through the gap. With a sigh, I let go of the doorknob, and Eunice, who was sitting on the floor in the hallway, opened the door.

Eunice, who met my gaze, cleared her throat once and greeted me.

“Hello.”

“Yeah, from the morning… no, early lunch, what brings you to this corner where no one ever comes? If possible, state the purpose of your visit in detail all at once.”

Although the Messiah clubroom is located in the main building of the academy, it’s on the second basement floor of the hallway. It’s also at the very end of the hallway, with a small door so inconspicuous that you might mistake it for a wall if you don’t look closely.

Unless you’re visiting the Messiah club, no one would ever come here. I’ve never seen anyone with the unique adventurous spirit to come and see what’s at the end of this hallway out of curiosity.

Eunice slightly raised her chin at my blunt reply.

“I have something to say to you. And something to ask.”

It’s obvious what Eunice is going to say. It must be about the Triathlon. I scratched my forehead and nodded.

“After the second game… I looked into you. What your fighting style is like, how you became the top of the combat department, what the duel match that made you the runner-up in the first year was like…. So I evaluated you as you appeared to be. As an arrogant noble with a dangerous and daring personality who would burn down an island for their own benefit.”

A ridiculous guess. Without needing to say that, Eunice slowly shook her head as if denying her own words.

“After the game, I looked into you again. This time focusing on your personal life. What your academy life is usually like, what your relationships with your friends are like. Only then did I realize. The evaluation I made was just the image you wanted to show. I was hasty.”

Eunice gave a self-deprecating bitter smile.

“You weren’t an arrogant noble. You were pointed at for being a special admission student, and you were compared to your successful brother and ignored. At first, you were evaluated as a poor student, but you worked hard and became the top of the combat department. Burning down the island is evaluated as a trick, but you became the top of the combat department by causing an unprecedented incident that will be recorded in Transcendence Academy. But even after becoming the top of the combat department, you didn’t try to repay the past grievances, and you became the runner-up in the first year, but you never bragged about it to others.”

If I were to point out Eunice’s words, it’s that I don’t really have anyone to brag to. My friendships are limited to the club members, and I don’t have anyone I can have a casual conversation with.

If I had to include someone, maybe Navier, who I became friends with through another matter. But I wouldn’t do the embarrassing thing of bragging to Navier. The combat department classmates were awkward from the beginning because of what happened at the entrance ceremony, and I didn’t get involved with other departments because there were no overlapping subjects.

“Before being eliminated in the last game, you bothered to reveal to me that Roel is a Transcendental. If you had hidden Roel’s power and aimed for a thrilling come-from-behind victory, you wouldn’t have done that.”

I playfully asked at Eunice’s words.

“I was just sad to be eliminated like that. It could be an impulsive act to laugh at you guys.”

Eunice raised both hands and waved them in the air as if pushing them towards me. It’s like she’s throwing something invisible.

“No, it couldn’t have been impulsive. Right before you were eliminated, you secretly raised your finger and pointed to the sky. The intention was to check the score floating in the sky. If Roel had caught the Kraken as it was, Elassium would have won the sole victory. If so, your plan to send Roel alone to the Kraken would have failed, and the plan of the other academies aiming for a joint victory would have failed too.”

Eunice, who spat out words quickly like a detective explaining a deduction, raised her index finger with a firm expression and pointed at my face.

“If you didn’t know our goal of joint victory, your actions can’t be explained. From the beginning, you created a common enemy to turn people’s attention to yourself, and you worked behind the scenes on a plan for a joint victory for the four academies. How about it, is my deduction wrong?”

At Eunice’s appearance, confidently raising her head and looking at me, my lips twitched without me realizing it. Is this how Watson feels listening to Sherlock Holmes’ deduction? I want to admire and applaud, but I’m not roommates with the orange curly-haired Holmes yet. Now that it’s come to this, it might not be bad to get help from Holmes.

I pointed to the hallway.

“I was thinking of going to the library.”

Eunice tilted her head slightly at the irrelevant words and asked, looking at the hallway my fingertip was pointing to.

“So?”

“I’ll give you a choice. One is to get the short answer you want here. The other is to come to the library with me and help me with my research. In return, you’ll get lunch and hear a kind and truthful explanation from the person who hid the scheme.”

Eunice made a strange expression at my suggestion. I added, seeing her slightly frowning as if trying to figure out my intentions.

“Of course, I’m willing to answer your questions sincerely too. How about it?”

Eunice, full of freckles, smiled at my question.

***

Even though the Triathlon is over, the atmosphere of the festival was still continuing outside the academy. And today is the weekend. Even people who were too busy with work to watch the Triathlon had to make time for their families today, even if they were tired.

Thanks to that, a large crowd gathered, not only filling the temporary tents set up in the academy but also waiting in long lines. Just watching it makes me feel like my energy is being sucked away.

The library, which was far from the bustling atmosphere of the academy, was fortunately quieter than usual. Eunice, who occupied a corner table in the quiet library, looked at me and asked.

“So, what are you trying to research?”

At Eunice’s question, I briefly organized what to explain in my head and answered.

“Hmm, how to break a curse that binds a target? Or how to get out of a restriction?”

Eunice frowned at the vague answer.

“You have to explain it somewhat accurately to even find something similar.”

I couldn’t tell Eunice everything right now. I worried and explained as similarly as possible.

“It’s a curse that activates a restriction if you do a specific action to someone. The condition of the restriction is fainting.”

Eunice, who heard my explanation, pondered for a moment and then got up to find a book. Instead of Eunice, who couldn’t use the forbidden book area, I searched for the Ring of Covenant using the librarian’s book in the forbidden book area, but there wasn’t much that came up. I narrowed the search range and found books about covenants and curses and returned to the table.

Eunice, who was sitting next to me as if she was speed-reading, stopped and turned her head to me, flipping through the pages quickly.

“According to most books, breaking the curse itself is quite difficult. The method varies depending on the type of curse, and the power is also different. Killing the target who cast the curse or destroying the items related to the curse is also a method… but there is a risk that the curse will become even stronger or that you will be cursed even more.”

I scratched my forehead at Eunice’s words. Is it impossible to use tricks after all?

Eunice, who was staring blankly at the book, suddenly said.

“Based on your words, I thought about it simply by deductive reasoning. If the assumption that the activation method of the curse is a special condition of an action targeting a person is correct, it may be possible to solve it in a different way than breaking it. It’s a kind of trick, though….”

Soon, after hearing Eunice’s explanation, I unknowingly exclaimed without filtering. Eunice’s hypothesis had enough potential.

“You’re a genius.”

Eunice’s freckled face turned a little redder, as if she felt embarrassed by my admiration.