Ch.308102. Like a Thorn Caught in My Throat.

“Young master! Young maaaster!”

I open my eyes.

As if it were a lie that I had been keeping them closed until now.

I awoke immediately.

“Eek!”

Perhaps because I wasn’t on guard.

A shrill scream, though small, shook the room.

“……”

It feels familiar, yet somehow absurd.

But the sense of discomfort is only momentary.

A familiar scene vividly appears before my eyes.

“…Sylphia?”

“Y-yes, um, yes?”

She looks even younger than when I last saw her.

Judging by her maid outfit that still seems a bit short, I realized she must be in her growth phase too.

“……”

This shouldn’t be the issue.

Something feels familiar yet unfamiliar.

Doubt blooms in everything that seems natural.

“Um, young master? If… if you’re awake, you should start getting ready…?”

“Ready for what?”

“G-good heavens. It’s not the weekend. The Academy, you need to go to the Academy!”

“……”

Academy?

Somehow, it sounded like an extremely inappropriate word.

In my life, the Academy is…

“…?”

What is it? Something was about to surface but became vague.

…Did I have some bad dream?

“Ah, right. That’s right. I should go.”

“I-I’ve brought water for washing your face, please hurry.”

……

Something feels familiar, yet seems natural.

But this sense of discomfort just won’t go away.

“I feel like I’ve forgotten something.”

“What is it?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be troubled.”

Even that candid way of speaking feels somehow unnatural.

What is it? What’s the problem?

Like a fishbone stuck in my throat, the discomfort and uneasiness continued even as I left home and started on my way to the Academy.

“Did you oversleep again or what?”

As I entered the classroom, Seras snapped at me in an irritable tone.

“…Whether I oversleep or not is my business.”

“What? Should I wake you up instead? A splash of ice water would wake you right up, but poor Sylphia has to struggle.”

“Are you her?”

Just as we were exchanging words like this, class seemed about to begin.

“Where’s El?”

“If she’s not here, just assume it’s because of that event. Why are you asking me?”

“Just wondering.”

“Actually, that’s what I want to ask. What did you two do yesterday?”

“Yesterday?”

I can’t remember.

Yesterday? Yesterday was quite ordinary…

“Huh?”

Something, there seems to have been something quite important.

“Anyway, are you still not planning to do anything?”

“What do you mean ‘anything’? Don’t you know I’ve been completely absorbed in playing the lute lately?”

“You’re not going to be a minstrel. Or do you want to become some great musician? Then go study abroad at the Eden-Levan Alliance.”

“Come to think of it, I think I heard somewhere about recruiting those who want to learn instruments seriously, at a master level.”

At the recent imperial palace banquet, the spectacle of dozens of people playing various instruments was truly magnificent.

“They’re undoubtedly superior in the arts. We shouldn’t dismiss them just because they’re demons. Even cathedral architecture designs and sculptures now seek their consultation.”

“Come to think of it, weren’t paintings and art pieces from there also trending these days?”

If the demons had used art and culture as tools of invasion, the history of the continent might have been different.

In a way, this makes sense. They were marginalized and oppressed in the demon realm, so they could establish themselves here in the middle realm as if to prove themselves.

…The problem was that they adapted too well.

“Except for sculpture, the continent is currently on a losing streak in the arts.”

“Time will tell.”

Once we go through the process of learning and absorbing from them, the demons’ dominance will eventually fade.

…Well, to see that fruit in our generation would take at least several decades.

Maybe if some genius appears, it might take just over a decade.

As class began, the two of us ended our chitchat.

After consecutive classes, we headed to the dining hall for lunch.

“I see you two are conspicuously together again today.”

A guy a head taller than me flashed his pink eyes and threw a fresh smile our way.

“Dyke? What brings you here?”

Seras reacts as if surprised.

“What do you mean? Anyone would think I’m not an Academy student.”

“You’re already assigned to the knighthood, so I thought that would be your priority.”

“It’s my day off. Just because I’m resting from physical training doesn’t mean I should empty my head too. I’m already getting top-heavy from using only my body.”

“Wouldn’t ‘getting lighter’ be the appropriate expression in that case?”

When I nitpicked, Dyke chuckled.

“But my head is heavy.”

“Who says otherwise?”

“No, you just said something about my expression…”

…Was this guy always this lacking in comprehension?

While Kariel was looking disgruntled, Seras gestured that it wasn’t worth arguing about.

“I’ll save seats, so come quickly.”

Dyke, who had swiftly gathered his portion, joined me.

A man bigger than me sitting right next to me.

Out of petty spite, I gave him a piece of my mind.

“Why next to me? Are you planning to stand Seras up?”

“Don’t say such dangerous things! Am I crazy enough to date her?”

“Watch your words. I wouldn’t date you even if you begged on your knees.”

“See how she reacts just to words! And you want me to sit next to a girl? Do you have a heart of steel?”

“What’s the big deal about sitting next to someone, whether they’re a woman or a man?”

“Look at this! This! As expected of a champion at making women cry, you never run out of things to say. This bastard.”

“What’s the fuss about sitting next to someone? Is that some kind of capital offense?”

“What if rumors spread and you get blamed for making knighthood training tougher?”

“Is that something to be blamed for?”

The knighthood isn’t someone’s pet dog or cat.

“This guy, this deceiver. Sheesh!”

Still, I don’t understand why he’s making such a fuss.

“Is this new? Getting angry only hurts yourself.”

Pushing her bluish long hair behind her ear, Seras grumbling while focusing on her meal with sparkling blue eyes is truly a sight so endearing I’d want to capture it in a painting.

“Oh, and El asked me to tell you.”

“El?”

“She said she might not be able to show her face for a while because she has a cold.”

“That’s her way of asking us to visit her, right?”

“Interpret it as you wish, you deceiver.”

Dyke finished a portion twice the size of mine at an unbelievable speed and promptly left.

“Then this gentleman will go mingle with poor souls, enjoy your romance.”

“What romance? That’s ridiculous.”

Seras suddenly got angry and made a fierce gesture at Dyke’s retreating back.

“Sigh. When will he grow up?”

“Kids should act like kids.”

“That’s something you need to hear. Why are you saying it to others?”

“Is that so?”

“Just stop. Sheesh!”

After finishing our meal, we took a light walk around the Academy grounds to aid digestion, and began recruiting for an expedition(?) to visit Elhermina.

Since Dyke had his own business and was only acting as a messenger rather than being invited, we refrained from inviting him, taking that into consideration(?).

“Me, me, me! M-me too, please?!”

“Eras, why are you so nervous? Is this your first time seeing Kariel’s face? Are you going to have a heart attack if you run into him at the mansion later?”

“Heeek! W-why would K-Kariel be at the m-mansion?! D-don’t tell me you two?! Are you already thinking about m-marriage?! H-have you told your father? And your mother?!”

“Don’t jump to conclusions.”

Despite saying that, Seras didn’t seem particularly displeased with that speculation.

“P-Princess El! No, no! Big sister Elhermina! No, sister! Is s-sister… injured?!”

Seras folded her arms and rested her chin at Eras’s overreaction.

“Is catching a cold considered an injury?”

“T-that counts as an injury too! Illness falls under the category of injury, doesn’t it?!”

“Is that so? El… she’s always been frail…”

Seras trailed off, still seeming uneasy.

“Many people are like that during their growth years and become healthy as adults. Is there any need to worry already?”

“T-that’s right! And royal family members have access to all kinds of tonics and elixirs! Compared to the poor who cough and wheeze in small shacks exposed to wind and rain, even that worry is luxurious… isn’t it?”

Seras pinched her forehead and chided him.

“Eras. That kind of comparison could easily be misunderstood as belittling and degrading them, so try to avoid such analogies.”

“T-then, like those born with dark skin or scales who desire smooth skin…”

“That could be misunderstood as racial discrimination or contempt. And assuming they aspire to have white skin is a terrible prejudice beyond misunderstanding. On the contrary, there are races who take pride in their scales and openly despise our weak skin—”

Eras began to whimper “Hueeeng!” at Seras’s nagging.

“That’s enough. He didn’t mean any harm.”

“I know. But if he’s misunderstood—”

“Isn’t it your role as the older sister, born just seconds earlier, to guide him properly?”

“T-that’s right! If you w-want to be treated like a big sister! Act like one!”

“……”

“Hueeeek!”

Thanks to him hiding conspicuously behind my back, the vein on Seras’s forehead grew even thicker.

“You’re not children anymore.”

“We are children! We haven’t even had our coming-of-age ceremonies yet! Of course, that’s because our Berk Empire has high standards for recognizing adulthood, but at our age, many people elsewhere already have two or three children!”

“Alright. I get it, so calm down.”

“I am perfectly calm, what are you talking about?!”

This is the thing about Seras—she seems mature but frequently acts like this.

She’s an interesting one, in many ways.

Anyway, we recruited Eras and a few others, planning to head to the imperial palace on our way home from school.

“But El would prefer if just you or a few of us went, rather than a whole crowd.”

“If we did that, rumors might spread that El only hangs out with us hero’s children. Would it make that already fragile-hearted person feel good or bad if such malicious gossip circulated?”

“Y-you were considering all that? Someone like you?”

What do you mean, “someone like me”?

As if sensing our plan to visit the palace, a royal carriage was mysteriously arranged, allowing us to travel there comfortably.

“……”

“Why the long face again?”

“What long face?”

“I was wondering if you’d become a philosopher or something.”

“What nonsense?”

Even as he said this, Kariel still couldn’t shake off his doubts, or more precisely, his sense of discomfort.

Morning grogginess was one thing, but…

“Hmm?”

Something seemed about to surface, but even by the time we got off the carriage and arrived at the place where Elhermina was resting, I still couldn’t shake off this unsettled feeling.

The fishbone continued to tickle around my throat.