Ch.7676. Normalization of Speech Patterns

Time is said to be medicine.

When the awkwardness that seemed eternal was somewhat diluted, the silence became even more uncomfortable.

At that moment, Alkine called me hesitantly.

“…Ludion.”

“Yes, President.”

“When it’s just the two of us, can I speak more casually?”

“You’re already doing it.”

“Yeah. I’ll do that.”

…She’s suddenly coming out like this?

Thanks to that, the awkwardness that had finally diluted became thick again.

But at this rate, it seemed like we wouldn’t be able to do anything, so I decided to change the subject before the conversation broke off.

“By the way, did you come alone, President? Where’s Celia?”

“…So you’re looking for another woman in front of someone who confessed they like you. Impressive.”

“No, that’s not—”

“I’m kidding. Celia probably went back already.”

It doesn’t seem like a joke. Her eyes just died a moment ago.

Celia, did you really come to an agreement with this person? Really, sincerely? You weren’t threatened or anything, right?

Alkine isn’t the type to threaten others, and Celia isn’t one to give in to threats… Hah, I really can’t figure out what’s what. I never even thought this kind of situation would happen….

Well, never mind that. For now, the fact that Alkine was speaking comfortably could be seen as somewhat of a good thing.

From my position of knowing her real personality and that her speech pattern was just a concept, her way of speaking couldn’t help but be burdensome.

Isn’t that right? Someone who worries about which doll to hug before bed insists on speaking like an old person in front of others. There aren’t many things funnier than this.

Of course, there’s such a thing as social image, so it’s not strange per se… the problem is that I know her too well.

‘I see.’, ‘Understood.’, ‘I shall consider it.’

Whenever I see her saying things like this, I imagine something like a snapshot of Alkine in a full set of rabbit-patterned pajamas hugging a teddy bear… it’s really a struggle to hide my expression every time.

That’s why the normalization of her speech pattern was very welcome.

Of course, judging by her saying “when it’s just the two of us,” she seemed to plan on maintaining her concept in front of others… but due to all sorts of incidents, the student council, which had become quite tense, rarely gathered except for Rift attacks.

So the frequency of hearing her concept speech would definitely decrease… wait, is that not right?

“Will you speak comfortably in front of Celia too?”

“…There you go again. Don’t make me repeat what I just said.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine. In front of Celia… hmm, that’s right. I might try speaking comfortably.”

It’ll be interesting. Alkine clearly said so.

I’m not sure what would be interesting… but somehow I felt uneasy.

For now, since she’ll speak comfortably next to Celia too, is that a good thing?

While I was thinking about that, Alkine slightly changed the subject.

“By the way, how is it? Me talking like this. Isn’t it awkward?”

“Not at all. You seem quite natural, probably from practicing with your dolls every day.”

“Yeah. That’s ri—wait, what? How do you know that?”

“Ah.”

Had my heart softened due to her casual speech? Without realizing it, I teased her just like I would with Celia.

If it had just been teasing, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But what I just teased about was a secret that she kept hidden, that truly no one knew.

That makes sense. If you say you talk to dolls because you have no one to speak casually with, there’s nothing more pitiful than that.

“Answer me. Ludion. How do you know that?”

Having made a similar mistake with Celia before, I knew that trying to gloss over this would get me nowhere.

The only option I have here is to push through.

I declared confidently:

“Actually, I know your secret, President.”

“…How much do you know?”

“That every night, you select a few from the dolls gathered at your bedside, worry about which doll to hug while sleeping, and in the end, unable to choose just one, you end up hugging two or three at once?”

“Why… why do you know in such detail?”

Even Alkine, who was trying to question me, seemed dumbfounded as her secret was revealed so explicitly, and her sharp attitude softened considerably.

“You… then do you also know why I speak in that way normally?”

“…I’m sorry, President. I wasn’t trying to pretend I didn’t know.”

“Eek…!”

In the end, unable to bear the shame, Alkine started swinging her fists.

I’m sorry, President. I’d like to take the hits, but if I get hit by your fist rather than Celia’s, I’ll really die.

“Don’t dodge! Stop dodging!!”

I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!

After about 80 evasions, she finally stopped swinging her fists, took a few deep breaths, and gradually calmed down.

But what she said next was quite something.

“Next time, I’ll give you a doll I made myself. Keep it by your bedside when you sleep.”

“…Suddenly?”

She’s surprisingly calm despite having her secret completely exposed.

Curious about this, I asked if she wasn’t embarrassed anymore, and she slightly averted her gaze as she answered.

“I am embarrassed. I’m embarrassed, but… it’s strangely pleasing that you know me so well. Even though I don’t know how you found out.”

Wow. You have a talent for driving people crazy with just words. Did you practice this with your dolls too?

Whatever it is, I should just pretend I didn’t hear it. It’s making me feel embarrassed too.

Despite wasting time like this, we still had work to do.

Report writing. It was something I should have done long ago but postponed until today, and I couldn’t delay it any further.

“Shall we continue with what we were going to do? Come on, sit down. Are you writing it?”

She seemed somewhat aware, as Alkine took the initiative before I could bring it up.

In the end, I couldn’t pass off the writing and had to do it myself, but I guess that’s unavoidable.

Writing a report isn’t actually that difficult.

It’s just a matter of writing down exactly what happened.

Of course, since I got involved, the reports have included various fabrications… but well, the conclusion is the same, so it doesn’t really matter.

Anyway, report writing is cumbersome but easy, but this particular incident was quite difficult to report.

Naturally. What happened in this Rift?

Diggers, who had been missing, appeared as a demon, and then he kidnapped Alkine and tried to harm her. And in the end, we had to deal with him.

Even the fact that a never-before-seen synthetic Rift appeared seemed insignificant in comparison.

So, well… even if the Academy somehow lets it slide, the people of Diggers’ family definitely won’t.

“There will be an uproar when the news gets out.”

I said it calmly, but in reality, it will be beyond words.

Starting with questions about whether he really became a demon, why we killed him, and accusations that we’re slandering a perfectly fine person as a demon to cover up his murder, all sorts of speculative criticisms will abound.

That makes sense because they’re Diggers’ family, right? Where else would his personality have come from?

Most personality issues are often family traits, and Diggers was no exception.

Alkine seemed to have similar thoughts as she let out a deep sigh.

“Right? Haah… can I ask you a favor?”

“Should I make you some tea?”

“…How did you kno— no. Yes, please.”

I wonder why she doesn’t just make it herself, but she has this strange habit of needing someone else to make tea for her to calm down.

And I know this, so I just follow along without saying much.

I slip out of her personal workspace and head towards the shelf where tea leaves are laid out.

I place a kettle of water on the fire and briefly look over the tea leaves.

Let’s see, these were the tea leaves from the north.

They’re tough enough to grow in that cold place, but when brewed, they have a characteristically soft taste… anyway, it’s Alkine’s favorite.

I tried it once before, and it tasted a bit like bitter milk diluted with water, which wasn’t to my taste.

Soon the water started to boil, and I, having prepared the tea leaves in advance, brewed it in the ratio that Alkine likes best.

I carry it back to Alkine’s workspace.

“Here you go.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

She took a sip of the tea and then looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.

“…Did I ever teach you how to brew this?”

“No.”

“Is this also part of my secrets that you know?”

“I… guess so?”

“And you can’t tell me how you found out, right?”

“…I’m afraid not.”

The story about the setting book is a secret I’ve kept even from Celia.

It’s partly because Celia hasn’t been particularly curious about it, but even if I revealed everything else, I intended to somehow hide the fact that this world was once a game.

After all, it’s a bit much to reveal that they were merely game characters, isn’t it?

I don’t know how they would react, but whatever the case, there’s no need to unsettle them with such information.

Alkine seemed to think about something for a moment, then added another question.

“Wait. Then do you also know all my food preferences?”

“Yes.”

“…I see. I was wondering why you matched my tastes so well. You already knew everything?”

“Huh? What happened?”

“Don’t you remember? Last time when you came over with Celia, you lost a bet and went alone to buy dessert.”

Ah, she’s talking about that time. I remember.

It was when I occasionally visited the student council with Celia, and that day we decided to buy something sweet for Alkine, who seemed particularly stressed from her studies.

Of course, it was Celia’s suggestion, and the bet was also proposed by Celia, and the result was manipulated by Celia so that I ended up running the errand… anyway.

Since I was buying it anyway, I thought it would be nice to get something they liked, so I carefully selected items that matched their tastes.

That seems to have been something of a mystery to Alkine.

“Now I understand.”

She said that as she drank all the tea in her cup, then sighed once more.

However, this sigh was filled with relief.

“Maybe it’s because my secret has been exposed. Suddenly, I’m not afraid of anything. Ludion, write everything exactly as it happened in the report.”

“Are you sure I should just write it as is?”

“Yeah, I’ll take responsibility. You know who my father is, right?”

“The great Black Wolf of the North.”

“My father doesn’t really like being called by that title.”

“Oh.”

I didn’t know that.

“You only know a lot about me, huh?”

Well, the setting book mainly focuses on major characters, right?

Of course, in terms of pure strength, Alkine’s father is one of the top-tier powerful figures in the world, but he wasn’t a character who played a significant role in the story.

But however she took it, her mood seemed to have improved quite a bit.

“Anyway, just write it. Don’t worry if any problems arise. Who am I, after all?”

She seemed to be in a good mood, so I did as she said without making a fuss.

Indeed, no matter how much Diggers’ family might struggle, they’re just a baron family at best, so what could they possibly do?

They don’t have the ability to directly confront the Academy, so they’ll soon turn their eyes towards more vulnerable students, but what if that student is a duke’s daughter? They’ll swallow whatever they were about to say.

My prediction was almost spot on.

However, there was one thing I overlooked….

“That commoner boy can’t be trusted! Detain him for interrogation immediately!”

Unlike Alkine, who is a duke’s daughter, I’m just a commoner.

Haha, is it because I’ve never been challenged about this before? It feels quite fresh.

But don’t worry. The duke’s daughter and student council president, Alkine, told me to trust only her.

If she’s as smart as I think, she would have anticipated and prepared for this kind of situation.

With that thought, I looked at Alkine… oh, her expression doesn’t look prepared at all.

Alkine stared at me with a bewildered expression.

I asked her:

“Didn’t you say not to worry?”

“…I wasn’t in my right mind then and just said whatever. You know what kind of atmosphere we had yesterday.”

Fair enough. Even though we pretended to be fine, we couldn’t even make eye contact.

But this is too much. Even if it was said when she wasn’t in her right mind, is she really going to let me be taken away like this?

“I trusted you, President… and you betray my trust like this…”

“Don’t say it like that. I’m really hurt.”

“…Wait a minute. Alkine. What’s with that speech pattern?”

In the end, I, being seen as the most vulnerable, was dragged away by them.

The truly funny thing was that Celia didn’t seem interested in responding to this situation. Rather than responding, she only showed interest in Alkine’s speech pattern.

“Is my speech pattern important right now? Ludion is being taken away!”

“Doesn’t he have something in mind since he’s letting himself be taken? If not, Ludion isn’t the type to be captured so easily.”

“…What? Was that it? I felt bad for nothing.”

“So, what’s with that speech pattern, I’m asking?”

…Now I see, she just knows me too well.

It’s almost scary at this point.

“At least help me…”

“When?”

“Today’s the end of the holiday, right? We have lectures tomorrow.”

“Alright. See you later.”

Just before being dragged away, after having that final conversation, I was thrown into a corner of a cargo wagon with my hands and feet tightly bound.

They’re really treating me poorly because I’m a commoner.