Ch.55Chapter 55. Why So Complicated? (1)

“So to summarize, the Phrysis Family noticed suspicious movements within the Academy and took preemptive action?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what exactly were these suspicious movements that the Phrysis Family discovered?”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

“…”

Indeed, the name of one of the six great families in the Crescen Empire is quite convenient.

Just like how Uncle Lois believed my words at face value last time, Professor Amillion was the same.

When I repeated exactly what I had told Lois without changing a single word, Professor Amillion was nodding her head.

“Still, infiltrating the Academy under false pretenses could be problematic.”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

“What is it?”

“The Sinclair Family is also aware of this fact. You know Family Head Lois, right?”

“…What?”

Professor Amillion looked even more surprised when I mentioned the Sinclair name after Phrysis.

Well, it would be hard to imagine that I’d be connected to two of the six great families, no matter how you look at it.

“Family Head Lois also knows that I’ve infiltrated the Academy as a student.”

“Uh…”

It wasn’t a lie.

I had been caught last time and told Lois about it.

Of course, just because he knew didn’t mean that Lois Sinclair was working together with the Phrysis Family.

I just let her know that he knew.

However, Amillion wouldn’t interpret my words “he knows” at face value.

She probably took it to mean that the Sinclair Family, following the Phrysis Family, had also acknowledged me.

“…Could it be that these suspicious movements detected within the Academy are related to the Undead that appeared during the competition?”

‘As expected.’

Once I mentioned the Sinclair Family, Amillion naturally changed the subject.

This way, she’d probably overlook the issue of my infiltration.

Probably.

“Well, something like that.”

“…I thought so.”

“Do you know something about this?”

“…”

Professor Amillion hesitated as if she wanted to say something, but then stopped herself.

This person must have some suspicions about something.

“If you have any hunches, I’d appreciate if you shared them. After all, we’re all working for the Empire.”

“Hmm. For now…”

Professor Amillion couldn’t easily open up.

She was probably unsure whether she should tell me or not.

While it was rare for someone to falsely use the name of the six great families, you never know.

“You can tell me anytime later.”

“…”

Professor Amillion slightly frowned instead of answering.

Seeing her expression, I decided not to push her any further today.

I’d already put out the immediate fire anyway.

“Huh?”

Speaking of ‘immediate fire,’ something suddenly came to mind.

The flames blazing in the middle of the forest earlier, and Cynthia who had jumped into the fire.

I had taken Cynthia to my dormitory and completely forgotten about her.

“Why are you…”

“Argh! I need to go now!”

“What? We haven’t finished our conversation yet.”

“Let’s continue this tomorrow!”

The urgent fire wasn’t extinguished yet.

The Black Shadow Corps uniform I wore last night.

It was still in my dormitory.

**

‘What is this?’

Cynthia sat awkwardly on the bed, lost in thought.

The effect of the candy she had eaten when the incident occurred had already worn off.

With the help of the candy, she had tried to assist Professor Amillion and act more proactively than she had during the competition.

But once again, things didn’t turn out that way.

Instead, she had only been a hindrance this time too.

The massive flame she had seen earlier was beyond Cynthia’s capabilities.

There was nothing she could do except watch as the flames flew toward her.

Despite having eaten the candy.

Just as she was feeling helpless, Ryu appeared before her.

And when she came to her senses, Cynthia found herself in a dormitory room.

Presumably Ryu’s room.

“When is he coming back?”

Cynthia had tried to leave as soon as Ryu disappeared, but stopped when she heard boys’ voices outside.

Entering the dormitory of the opposite sex was strictly prohibited at the Academy.

If caught violating this rule, severe disciplinary action would follow.

Cynthia didn’t want to receive disciplinary action in her first year at the Academy.

Especially not for something so unfair.

So Cynthia waited inside instead of going out.

During that time, she naturally looked around Ryu’s room.

Or rather, she tried to.

There was absolutely nothing worth looking at in Ryu’s room.

While living in the dormitory was a personal choice, Cynthia had naturally assumed that Ryu lived in the dormitory.

After all, whenever they parted ways after class, Ryu always went into the dormitory.

But there was absolutely nothing in Ryu’s room.

It lacked any signs of habitation, as if no one lived there.

The only thing that could be presumed to be Ryu’s possession was a suspicious uniform.

An all-black, rather luxurious uniform.

It even had a hood that could cover the face.

She didn’t think she had ever seen Ryu wearing such clothes.

‘Still, I shouldn’t snoop around without the owner’s permission.’

She was tempted by curiosity to examine the black clothes but decided against it.

The material looked expensive, and she could faintly sense mana from it—clearly an expensive outfit.

Better not touch it.

After turning her gaze away from the clothes, Cynthia eventually grew tired of waiting for Ryu and sat on the bed.

It felt awkward to sit on a boy’s bed, but no one was around anyway.

Besides, like everything else, the bed showed no signs of use.

When she touched the neatly folded blanket on one side, dust rose up, suggesting it hadn’t been used for a very long time.

“Sigh.”

It was stifling being confined to this small room.

By now she was considering just going outside, but the sound of boys chattering outside quickly dispelled that thought.

If she waited, Ryu would probably come.

‘He will come, right?’

Though she wasn’t certain.

Click-

“Oh!”

“Cynthia?!”

Cynthia was startled by the suddenly opening door and instinctively jumped up from the bed, grabbing her bow.

As expected, it was Ryu who entered, but Cynthia was surprised despite knowing it would be him.

“Hey, you’re still here?”

“…How am I supposed to leave with boys outside?”

Cynthia felt relieved to see Ryu, regardless of what had happened.

She had never thought Ryu would be harmed by anyone, but seeing him in person at least confirmed he hadn’t been hurt by that flame earlier.

And now that Ryu was here, she could finally leave this place.

“Sigh. Sorry, I forgot about you.”

“…”

Cynthia wasn’t sure how to respond to Ryu saying he had forgotten about her, so she ended up saying nothing.

Instead, she changed the subject.

“What happened with that fire earlier?”

“It’s been resolved.”

“…That’s good.”

She had expected as much when Ryu entered the dormitory looking fine, but hearing it directly from him left her feeling a bit bitter.

Once again, Ryu had resolved the situation without her help.

Even after eating the candy given by the Vice Chancellor, she couldn’t be of any help to Ryu or the professor.

The fact she had been trying to ignore hit her again.

“This is your room, right?”

“Yeah.”

Cynthia quickly changed the subject.

She didn’t miss how Ryu’s gaze wandered before settling on the uniform hanging on the wall.

“What’s that outfit?”

“Huh?”

“It looks like some kind of uniform.”

“Uh…”

Surprisingly, Ryu didn’t answer immediately.

Actually, Cynthia had asked without much thought.

That uniform-like outfit was the only thing in the room that showed any signs of use.

So she just asked casually, but Ryu was excessively flustered.

‘Right, he’s not good at lying.’

Seeing his reaction reminded her of a past memory.

The first day of the semester, when Ryu was pretending that Cain Hover’s flame magic disappearing was a coincidence.

At that time, Ryu was flustered and fumbling, clearly lying to anyone who saw him.

“Just, uh, something I got because it looked cool?”

Just like now.

“Hmm?”

“Anyway… shall we go? I’ll take us to the classroom.”

“How?”

“Oh, I can teleport. You know that.”

As much as she wanted to keep asking about the outfit, Cynthia also wanted to leave the dormitory.

It would be a big problem if someone came in and discovered her here.

“Alright, for now.”

“Here.”

Cynthia naturally took Ryu’s outstretched hand.

Woong-

With a floating sensation, she instinctively closed her eyes, and when she opened them, the surroundings had changed.

It really was the classroom.

‘Teleportation magic is really convenient. Why don’t magic students always use this?’

“Um… you two?”

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

While she was admiring the convenience of teleportation magic, a familiar voice came from behind.

It was Elaine.

“W-why are you two holding hands…?”

“Ah! That’s for teleportation.”

Only then did Cynthia release Ryu’s hand at Elaine’s observation.

She had been so amazed that she hadn’t even realized she was still holding his hand.

“Why are you here, Elaine?”

“…After everything that happened today, I was just organizing my thoughts.”

“Ah.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, Miss Cynthia doesn’t know.”

Elaine’s voice was very dark as she said this.

Cynthia felt ominous at Elaine’s gloomy tone.

She had thought everything ended well since Ryu seemed fine, but maybe that wasn’t the case.

“I saw the burning monster appear earlier.”

“Monster…”

“Why, did someone get hurt?”

Cynthia felt even more anxious as she watched Elaine struggle to answer the question about whether anyone was hurt.

Could it be that someone was harmed by that monster earlier?

Come to think of it, Emily wasn’t around.

“Where’s Emily?”

“Miss Cynthia, that fire wasn’t a monster.”

“Huh?”

“It was Cain Hover. Our classmate.”

“…What?”

Cynthia frowned in disbelief.

How could the burning monster she saw earlier have been Cain? Was that even possible?

“…”

Though it was hard to believe, Cynthia sensed from Elaine and Ryu’s reactions that it was true.