Sculpting

The second match ended. I cleared out the monsters I had cornered, upgraded my equipment with the cubes I got, and diligently collected the artifacts I had prioritized beforehand.

Perhaps it was for the spectators who had been bored for the last 30 minutes, but as I headed towards the exit of the labyrinth I had found in advance, the labyrinth suddenly collapsed and seawater poured in, startling me, but there were no other special events.

As I left the arena, the gazes of the triathlon participants, glaring at me with fierce eyes, didn’t leave my face, but because that was my intention, I returned a satisfied smile.

Passing through the participants who were exuding a menacing aura as if they would rush at me any moment, I headed to the waiting room.

“Ross.”

Ellie, who had been walking silently in step with me, stopped and suddenly called out to me. I, who had been thinking about the match for a moment, inadvertently turned my body in response to her voice.

Her obsidian-like black eyes gleam with emotion. I don’t know what Ellie is thinking right now. I’m not even sure what kind of heart she’s using to deceive me, the outline isn’t clearly defined yet.

Ttuk-ttuk.

I could smell a sweet fragrance from Ellie as she took a step towards me. Perhaps because of the sweat, the strawberry scent, which had become even stronger, stimulated my nose and made my stomach queasy. I lightly brushed my face with my hand and pretended to be calm, smiling.

“Why?”

Unlike the low voice that called me, Ellie’s expression was light. There was a faint smile on her lips that you would miss if you didn’t look closely.

Ttuk-ttuk.

Ellie took another step closer to me. Ignoring the distance that is tacitly kept unless you’re family or lovers, she simply raised the corners of her lips with a seductive face, like a female invading a male’s territory.

I suppressed the soaring embarrassment. I could have ignored Ellie’s actions and turned around to head to the waiting room. But curiosity grabbed my ankle.

To understand Ellie, I instinctively realized that I needed to obtain information through conversation. The reason why she’s different from the Ellie I set up must be because of some kind of unauthorized intervention in the plausibility somewhere.

To find the plausibility that created the current Ellie, I couldn’t avoid talking to her.

Ellie, who had come close enough for our school uniforms to touch, looked up at me and whispered.

“It was fun… doing bad things with you.”

A voice like a shy confession. My body reacted reflexively, regardless of my will, to Ellie’s gaze, which contained a faint tremor. My heart pounded, and my chest felt stuffy as if something was pressing down on it.

“…That’s good.”

Ellie gave a beautiful eye smile at my slow reply. And then, very slowly, she raised her hand and reached towards my face. I couldn’t react to her cautious approach and just stared blankly. By the time I came to my senses, Ellie’s snow-white hand was already caressing my cheek.

“Did Ross-do have fun playing with me too?”

Ellie’s eyes as she asked that felt very dangerous. My mouth dried up as if I had suddenly become thirsty, and I swallowed without realizing it.

As if forcing an answer, Ellie pinched my cheek slightly with the finger that had been caressing my cheek, and made a cute expression full of playfulness that I had seen sometime before. The Ellie in front of me now was the girl from back then, the one I had felt such ardent feelings for.

“I was satisfied.”

If it hadn’t been for Ellie’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to use the method of eliminating other academies using monsters.

Ellie even acted as promised, so that everyone watching the match could firmly recognize my arrogance.

Therefore, the answer that I was satisfied was pure sincerity. It was good enough to add that it was a 100-point score.

I had the illusion that Ellie’s shoulders trembled slightly for a moment at my answer. Ellie, who had been meeting my gaze without a word, smiled softly as if she was also thinking of the feeling of satisfaction. Ellie looked me over blatantly and said.

“Will you do bad things with me again next time?”

My heart sank for a moment. My heart reacted on its own, as if I had been captivated by that voice full of seductiveness. I felt like the blood vessels under my skin were heating up.

I felt like I had shrunk back without realizing it, so I straightened my back and said.

“Yeah. I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”

At my words, Ellie lowered the hand that had been caressing my cheek and hid it behind her back. Ellie, who leaned her chest, where I could feel the soft sensation under her clothes, against me while tilting her upper body slightly, smiled and said as if whispering softly.

“As expected… Ross-ssi is really the best.”

Ellie’s ecstatic expression as she said that was a strange expression that I was seeing for the first time, so I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

***

It was a waiting room where they were waiting for the winner of the match to return, but the atmosphere wasn’t all that good. Silence and awkwardness filled the waiting room, and everyone was saving their words because they couldn’t find anything to say.

Eventually, Cassius, a 3rd-year participant, couldn’t stand the atmosphere and opened his mouth.

“Hmm… somehow, doesn’t it feel like the more we win, the worse the atmosphere gets?”

As he said that, Cassius subtly looked at his junior, Roel. Even though Roel was his junior, he hadn’t earned any points in the first match and was being carried along. He was in a cautious position to bring up the words, ‘Isn’t my dongsaeng being too much?’

“That’s right, Ross-ssi went too far and gave the other academies an excuse to gang up on us. Thanks to that, the annihilation battle was terrible….”

Marie, another 3rd-year participant, said with a dissatisfied face. She thought that if Ross-ssi hadn’t been so extra, the 3rd-years could have earned enough points.

“Well, it’s true that his remarks were a bit strong. But he shows his skills that much… In the first place, everyone was prepared for the academies to unite, even if it wasn’t Ross-ssi, right? Rather, everyone knows that the heat of the spectators watching the match has become hotter than last year thanks to Ross-ssi becoming the villain.”

Edward skillfully quelled the atmosphere of trying to assign blame. But Roel blew wind into the dying embers, as if to create an even stronger fire.

“Isn’t it a little… unseemly to pass the blame for what happened because of their own shortcomings… onto a 1st-year who is participating in the triathlon for the first time?”

Marie frowned and jumped up from her chair at Roel’s words, who said that with a pure smile as if she truly thought so.

“What? What did you just say? Say it again.”

Cassius also stood up from his seat and glared at Roel, speaking in a strong tone, as if agreeing with Marie’s words.

“We admit that you guys are more skilled than us. But we’re your seniors. Show some respect.”

After hearing those words, Roel simply stared at the two of them without saying anything. Her beautiful blue eyes were a gaze that didn’t feel any emotion, as if she was gauging something.

Cassius and Marie felt a strange anxiety at that gaze, and fidgeted with their hands and feet without realizing it. Suddenly, cold sweat flowed down their backs, and their breathing became rapid. The survival instinct that had been imprinted in their blood since a long time ago awakens. Their hearts raced like crazy. As if warming up to be able to run away at any moment.

An inexplicable fear and terror gnawed at Cassius and Marie’s minds.

“Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo… hoo….”

“Hah-ahk, hah-heuk… ha….”

Edward and Ophelia looked at the two people who were suddenly breathing roughly with puzzled eyes.

“What’s wrong, what’s going on with you guys?”

Even at Edward’s call, the two of them had their gazes fixed on Roel’s eyes. The reason why the inexplicable situation ended was because of Ilia, who silently placed her hand on Roel’s thigh.

Edward glanced sideways at Roel as the two people, who were gasping for breath as if exhaling, retched when Roel turned her gaze away from them.

Roel didn’t seem to have done anything, judging by the soft smile she was giving as she looked at Ilia. He couldn’t feel any magic power either.

Actually, he wanted to think that way. He didn’t want to get caught up in other people’s problems anymore. Edward just hoped that the triathlon would end without any problems.

Ophelia approached Marie with a worried expression.

“Marie, are you okay?”

“Y-yes, yes…! I’m, I’m okay.”

Marie, who answered in a flustered manner and desperately expressed that she was okay with a face distorted in pain, didn’t look okay to anyone, but Edward and Ophelia kept their mouths shut, befitting their status as graduating seniors who didn’t want to cause unnecessary problems.

***

“…?”

When I finished my short conversation with Ellie and returned to the waiting room, the atmosphere was somehow strange. I thought that the seniors who had suffered unnecessary damage because I had gone too far might complain, but… for some reason, everyone didn’t have any particular reaction. No, it was more like they were looking at each other’s reactions.

I felt a sense of unease for a moment, and then Roel patted my shoulder repeatedly with eyes that said she was proud that I had won the match.

“You did well. As expected of my dongsaeng!”

As I pushed away Roel, who was sticking to me in a burdensome way, Edward approached with a piece of paper.

“Good work. Can you check the artifacts you got on the paper?”

His attitude was very businesslike, but the most important thing in this match was the acquisition of artifacts. Just by not being swept away by the atmosphere and not forgetting what he had to do, I felt like I understood a little why Edward was the student council president.

When I checked the artifacts I had acquired on the paper, Edward patted my shoulder again with a satisfied smile, saying good work once again.

I was thinking that I needed to take a shower quickly because I had been sweating, so I picked up the bath bag I had put in the locker and turned around, and then Roel, who had been talking to Ellie for a short time, suddenly grabbed the nape of my neck tightly with one hand. It was as if she was trying to keep me from avoiding her gaze.

The gazes of those around me were focused on Roel’s sudden action. Roel, who read the bewildered look in my eyes, had a soft smile on her lips.

I tried to get out of Roel’s hand, but Roel instead pulled my hand and pressed my forehead against hers. The skin of our foreheads felt cool against each other.

“Ross-ssi, anything that’s half-assed is worse than not doing it at all.”

“What are you suddenly….”

I was about to ask if she was talking nonsense. But Roel’s expression as she looked at me… was exactly the same as the ecstatic expression Ellie had shown me in the hallway a little while ago, and I felt an unknown fear that seemed to scan my whole body.

But Roel, regardless of how I felt, just ruffled my hair roughly, as usual, with a playful smile.

“Then, I’ll be back. Cheer me on hard!”

I just stared blankly at Roel’s back as she left the waiting room with Ilia, at a loss for words.