episode_0080

Meiru, her family… I don’t know them well either.

I don’t even know what her last name is, or which faculty she attends at the academy, to begin with.

To be more precise, she had never told me her last name.

It wasn’t that I had ever asked her directly, but I had never thought to ask, thinking there must be a reason why she didn’t normally tell me.

Judging by her conduct and speech, she seemed somewhat accustomed to noble life, yet showed a few clumsy parts in some aspects.

It’s a guess, but I heard that illegitimate children born between nobles and commoners receive ambiguous treatment, and perhaps she is also in a similar situation.

If not that, maybe she’s a commoner from a fallen noble family.

Either way, I thought it would be rude to ask directly, so I didn’t question her.

I don’t know much about her faculty, but she must be a student of the academy.

First of all, no student, including professors and staff, had ever questioned her existence.

I don’t know when, where, or what classes she takes, but she wears the uniform that only academy students can register and wear, and no abnormalities were found in her Mana-biological examination, so she is indeed a registered student of the academy.

However, because she appeared and disappeared so quietly and without a trace, and the people who met her didn’t remember her well, a rumor even circulated as a joke that she was a ghost.

Of course, even that rumor lasted less than a few days and was forgotten and disappeared. In a way, she has many mysterious parts.

Still, having spent quite a long time with Meiru, I could also notice her special aspects.

Her specialty is having the ability to see through others’ emotions.

Ah, of course, it’s not like reading minds like psychics from some manga or anything.

It just seemed like she didn’t miss even the slightest reaction of others and knew whether they were telling the truth or a lie, or what emotions they were hiding.

Well… she hasn’t said it herself like this, and it’s just a guess based on my experience.

Anyway, I was able to meet Meiru quite early, during my first year at the academy.

She is the third friend I made at the academy in this world, after Eligio Gremrina whom I met at the entrance ceremony, and Isabella Kshatri whom I met on Magic Ability Measurement Day.

It was our first meeting that happened by chance when I woke up unusually early one morning and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I went out to the plaza thinking I’d go for a dawn walk.

Ellie couldn’t go out often due to her personality, and at that point, I wasn’t that close with Isabella either.

Before I helped Lilith Tistina connect with Mark, I spent most of my time with Meiru.

Anyway, why is she, one of my precious connections, one of the few besides the main heroines from the original work, in the plaza at this hour?

“Meiru? You’re Meiru, right?”

I approached the woman crouching in front of the fountain.

In this other world, black hair like mine and Meiru’s is quite rare.

At least among the people I know, there was no woman with the same black hair except her and a certain landlady I met last year and was indebted to for a short time.

Although I only glanced roughly, even at the academy entrance ceremony yesterday morning,

To begin with, a normal person wouldn’t come to the plaza at this hour.

“….Huh?”

She raised her head towards my direction from where the sound came.

Perhaps she had been crying for a long time. Her face, with swollen eyes, was visible.

She had a strangely melancholic atmosphere, just like when we first met, and was even sniffing. What could have happened?

“Rophel..? Really.. Is it really you, Rophel..?”

Meiru blinked her eyes as if seeing a hallucination, then reached out her hand to me.

Well, it’s been a long time since we met at such an early hour, except for the first time we met, so it’s not strange for her reaction to be like this.

To begin with, seeing an acquaintance in such a quiet dawn would be very rare.

“Yeah, it’s really me.

What’s wrong, Meiru? You look so melancholic.

Did something happen?”

“Ah… Rophel.. Rophel..! It’s you.. It’s really you..!”

She, who had been hesitantly touching my body, suddenly rushed to me and wrapped her arms around my back.

To explain it more simply, she jumped into my arms and gave me a deep hug.

I was flustered, but I fully recognized that her state was unusual right now, so I didn’t reject her touch for the time being.

My one and only girlfriend, Lilith, would understand to some extent this time.

“Sob, sob.. Rophel.. I really.. Ugh.. Uwaaang…!”

Meiru, hugging me, started crying endlessly.

I wondered what was so sad, but quietly patted her back.

How long had passed like that? She seemed to calm down emotionally somewhat, along with her tears stopping.

But for some reason, even though her crying stopped, she didn’t leave my arms.

She was still deeply burying her face in my chest, covering her face.

I could also feel the grip of her arms behind my back getting stronger.

Ah… this is troublesome.

“…Sniff…”

“…Meiru? Are you calm now?”

Hearing my calm voice, she gently nodded her head, indicating affirmation.

“Okay, that’s good then.

So, about that… if you could slowly release your arms now…”

Ack!

Before I could finish speaking, she suddenly hugged me tightly.

The force was so strong that for a moment, my spine tingled.

No, more than that, was Meiru this strong?

Compared to Seraphina, it wasn’t much, but her arm strength was quite powerful.

To begin with, Seraphina is beyond the scope of humans, so it would be inappropriate to compare.

“…Rophel.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Meiru?”

“Rophel… have you started dating someone… recently…?”

Huh?

I was momentarily speechless at the unexpected question.

But why is she asking such a question?

“Judging by your reaction… I guess it’s true…”

Saying that, she buried her face in my chest again and let out a deep sigh.

“..Then can you at least explain…?

Why… are you dating her…?

What part of her do you like…?

…Compared to me.”

“Meiru…? Why are you suddenly asking that?

To begin with, why were you here alone at this hour in the morning…”

“Stop changing the subject and answer straight!”

She shouted loudly, as if somehow resentful.

“What makes that bitch better than me?

Is it because she’s good at magic? Because she has a good family? What part is it!”

Perhaps because I had never seen her like this, I was stunned out of bewilderment.

“Answer! Isabella Kshatri, what about that bitch is better than me!”

Isabella Kshatri.

…Why is her name coming up here?

Well… I was with her in the dorm just now.

Although it happened unilaterally, I did something that shouldn’t be done unless it’s a romantic or marital relationship…

Looking only at the unexpected situation that happened today, I can assert that my relationship with her is just friendship.

And I have a real girlfriend, a woman named Lilith Tistina, separately.

“…What are you talking about…?”

Perhaps due to my genuine reaction of not understanding at all, Meiru, who had been shouting in excitement, also seemed a little flustered.

“You started dating someone recently, didn’t you? That famous Isabella Kshatri from the Magic Faculty.

….Isn’t that right?”

“No, it’s not?”

Hearing my answer, which contained not even a hint of falsehood, Meiru’s eyes spun as if she was in confusion.

“Huh? Wait, no, it’s not. Then why was that bitch there…? It definitely wasn’t a lie back then… To begin with, what was that photo anyway…?

Why were you in that state, Rophel…? What on earth… how did…”

She rested her chin in her hand and started muttering something in a small voice that I couldn’t hear.

Then, she quickly regained composure and started firing questions at me again in a cold voice, looking at me.

“But the part about dating was true.

Rophel, who are you dating?”

“I was just about to tell you. You’ve met her often, so you’ll know.

Recently, I started dating Lilith Tisti…”

“Lilith Tistina?”

Meiru showed a greatly surprised reaction. To the point of cutting me off mid-sentence.

What is it…? She looks quite displeased about something.

“By the way, Meiru, why were you like that just now?”

“..Huh? Like what?”

“I mean… when you seemed to think I was dating Isabella?

You were asking things like what about Isabella was better than you back then.

Why would you ask such a question…”

“More than that…! Congratulations on starting to date Lilith!

Uh… how did you start dating?

I know you two knew each other, but I’m so curious about the circumstances of how you started dating that I can’t stand it!”

Huh? Such a question?

I was speechless once again.

The circumstances of how Lilith and I started dating?

‘Yeah! I got really drunk and couldn’t control my desires towards the Duchess’s daughter and ended up covering her and defiling her purity! Hahaha, isn’t that funny?’

There’s no idiot in this world who would answer so honestly.

“Huh? Huh? Ah, no, more than that! It’s really nice to meet you after a long time, Meiru! How have you been?”

“Huh? Huh? Me… I’ve been doing well! I’ve just been doing this and that, haha!”

And so, she and I tacitly agreed not to ask detailed questions about each other and busied ourselves changing the subject.

To the point where we forgot what parts we had been questioning about each other in the first place.