Chapter 74: Oh?! What’s Wrong with Seron?

Morning School Time.

As I went to the front of the girls’ dormitory to meet Hania, she came out with Iris as usual.

Iris looked tired, probably because her insomnia had gotten worse lately.

As soon as she saw me, she raised her hand slightly, like the Steel Empress chasing warmth.

I can’t hug her here again.

When I shook my head, Iris wiggled her fingers regretfully.

“Hanon.”

Then Hania approached me.

“Can you change your appearance to mine again like last time?”

I blinked.

“Do you mean when I transformed into you last time?”

“Yes, that.”

“It’s possible.”

My gaze turned to Iris.

“It’s because of Iris, right?”

“…Yes, that’s right. She hasn’t been able to sleep well lately.”

Iris slept well when she hugged me last time.

It seemed she wanted to rely on that again.

“Alright.”

I have to manage Iris’s nightmares too.

It would be troublesome if she fell into nightmares.

“Wait, let’s go together!”

At that moment, Isabel appeared.

She approached us with trembling legs.

“Isabel, what’s wrong with you?”

Hania asked curiously, and Isabel glanced at me.

Then she scratched her side hair with an awkward expression.

“I was, um, doing something with Hanon in the morning.”

As a member of the martial arts club, she seemed embarrassed to have ended up in such a state from training, and she kept clearing her throat.

Hania looked at me and Isabel alternately with a puzzled face.

“…I felt something was off between you two. When did you become like that?”

Hania’s eyes looked strange.

“It just happened.”

Isabel made an excuse while watching my reaction.

“But we’ll keep doing it!”

When she showed her determination, Hania looked dazed.

“…Isn’t it better to stick to a student’s duties? What if something happens?”

“Huh? Isn’t it good if something happens?”

What Isabel meant by ‘something happening’ was muscles.

But what Hania meant was something more significant and precious.

“Well, it is good! But still…”

Hania’s face turned red as she made excuses.

Eventually, she bit her lip, losing her words.

“…Isabel, you’re bolder than I thought.”

“Am I?”

Their conversation didn’t match at all.

“You trained with Hanon in the morning.”

Then Iris stepped in to align their conversation.

Hania turned to me sharply, and I shrugged.

I understood the conversation from the middle, but it seemed fun, so I left it alone.

Hania’s eyes sharpened.

I might get a hit on my side later.

“Oh no, I’m going to be late. Let’s hurry.”

So we quickly started walking.

* * *

After the commotion in the morning, Isabel’s antics continued.

First, Isabel sat next to me.

Thanks to that, I had Hania on my left and Isabel on my right.

Seron was pushed to the far corner.

She looked at me with a face that couldn’t comprehend the situation.

Having two of the prettiest girls in the class by my side was bound to draw attention.

“Isabel, why are you suddenly sitting with that guy?”

“What wind blew you here?”

During break time, the girls flocked to Isabel to clear their doubts.

Isabel glanced at me and said.

“We should help those who are sick.”

Suddenly, I became the sick person.

“……Isabel, you have such a kind heart.”

“Well, he is quite sick.”

For some reason, the girls understood that.

Why are they understanding this?

Are they picking a fight?

Anyway, Isabel continued her antics.

During sparring classes, she was the first to come to me.

She followed me during lunch and guarded my side.

If I missed the lesson because I was daydreaming, she showed me her book.

She was incredibly enthusiastic.

Is this what it feels like to have a childhood friend who takes care of you?

I can somewhat understand what Lucas’s life was like.

Lucas’s clumsiness was probably largely due to Isabel.

But it wasn’t just the girls who started reacting to Isabel’s actions.

“Hanon.”

As I was coming out of the bathroom, some guys blocked my way.

They were my fellow second-year martial arts students.

Because I had such a bad image with the girls, no guys had bothered to mess with me.

They just looked at me with pity as I got scolded by the girls.

But today, for the first time, they blocked my way.

And they all had grim faces.

“We understood when you got into a relationship with Hania. We have always respected your skills and efforts.”

“But still.”

No, these aren’t grim faces. They are filled with sadness, grief, and unbearable anger.

“Not Isabel too!”

“What did you do? You two were enemies until recently.”

“No matter what, there should be some decency. This is too much!”

I looked at the shouting guys with a bitter smile.

The tears of blood flowing from their eyes didn’t seem like someone else’s problem.

The kids in the martial arts class are in their prime.

Most of them have never had a relationship with a girl.

Unlike ordinary noble children, the noble children who entered Zeryon Academy have been training desperately without time to look at girls.

At this age, just making eye contact can make them fall in love.

Such kids face beautiful girls in class every day.

Especially in the case of Hania and Isabel, both are friendly and approachable to everyone, regardless of gender.

Naturally, any guy would fall in love with them at least once.

But somehow, I ended up with both of them by my side.

The boys who had crushes on them felt heartbroken, and I couldn’t blame them.

But what is the reality?

My relationship with Hania is strictly contractual.

All we do is hold hands and stick together.

Hania’s affection is entirely directed towards Iris.

Isabel is my rival.

Right now, she’s trying to heal me from the wounds caused by Nikita.

But the reality is far from what the kids think.

However, they don’t see this.

They just see me as a scoundrel who has charmed the school’s idols.

“…Yeah, I’m sorry.”

I had no choice but to apologize to them.

It hurts me too when a tender heart’s love is broken.

My sincere apology made the boys’ mouths open and close.

They knew it was embarrassing to argue about this.

So, they swallowed their tears and turned away.

“…Be happy.”

“Since it’s come to this, make sure to make them happy with all your might.”

“Be prepared for the day when we see tears from either of them.”

The boys left like that.

They weren’t bad guys.

They just wanted their crushes to be happy.

But here I am, the one who should be crying.

Others are crying for me.

“Lightning sweet potato.”

As I came out of the bathroom, Seron, who had passed by the boys, called me.

Seron’s forehead was shining as usual.

It seemed she cleaned it well every day.

Come to think of it, Seron’s name didn’t come up among the boys.

Was she not even considered a romantic interest?

Feeling sorry for her, I patted her shoulder.

“I’ll buy you a juice.”

“Why do I feel bad?”

Seron brushed off my hand from her shoulder and beckoned with her finger.

When I lowered my posture, Seron spoke quietly.

“Recently, something strange happened to me.”

“Did you blind someone with the light from your forehead?”

“Do you want to die? Seriously!”

I should stop joking.

“So, what happened?”

“You’re in the student council, right?”

“Yes.”

“Recently, some students are planning a boycott.”

It seems the news reached Seron’s ears too.

She must have thought she should tell me, being in the student council.

I tilted my head.

“Seron, you don’t have any friends besides me to hear news from.”

When I hit the mark, Seron bit her lip.

From that action, I noticed something.

“…You were invited, weren’t you?”

“Oh, uh, I didn’t join.”

Seron had unintentionally become a lone wolf.

Originally, Card and I used to hang out with her often.

But recently, Card seemed to have received a mission as a spy and rarely showed up in the martial arts class.

As for me, it’s needless to say.

The two top girls of the martial arts class were guarding my sides.

Poor Seron couldn’t even talk to me.

When I looked at Seron with pity, she got annoyed.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s making me angry.”

“It’s okay, Seron.”

“Ugh, don’t give me that ‘I feel sorry for you because you don’t know love’ look. It really pisses me off.”

I patted Seron’s shoulder again, and she brushed my hand off. How harsh.

“Ugh, I should get myself a boyfriend or something. This is ridiculous.”

“…You, a boyfriend?”

“Hey, if I set my mind to it, I could get a boyfriend in no time.”

“Sure, in some world, that might be possible.”

A world where Seron Parmia is popular… Does that exist?

“It does. It does! I’m waiting for my prince, after all.”

“What prince?”

“The most amazing person in the world, unlike you, Lightning Sweet Potato.”

“It’s amazing that you can imagine such things with your limited imagination.”

Seron started cracking her knuckles.

“Lightning Sweet Potato, you haven’t been hit lately, have you?”

I shrugged as I watched her.

“I don’t remember being hit by you.”

Then Seron lunged at me.

Of course, I dodged all her attacks.

My dodging skills have improved significantly.

Now, I can avoid all of Seron’s clumsy punches.

“Ah, just get hit!”

“Why would I get hit?”

Seron panted and then sighed.

She seemed to have given up on hitting me.

Then she glanced at my neck.

What is she looking at?

“What’s that pendant? I haven’t seen it before.”

Ah, it must have slipped out during the commotion.

I tucked the pendant back in.

“It’s like an asset for the future.”

“It looks expensive. Are you planning to sell it?”

“Something like that. I’ll use it for a deal with someone.”

Seron looked at me incredulously and then took a deep breath.

“Anyway, there are some students planning a boycott. I didn’t hear the details, but be careful.”

“Sure, don’t get tempted and join them just because there’s a handsome guy.”

“Hmph, do you think my standards are that low? If I followed them, I’d be an idiot.”

Seron, who claimed to have high standards.

And that day, I faced an unexpected scene.

In the abandoned building, on the third floor chemistry lab, Seron, who had followed Ailing, was shouting at me with a flushed face while I was in Vikarmern’s form.

“I-I’ll join the boycott!”

Seron was an idiot.