LDTOTSDML Chapter 10

"Ha, an ugly face raising its voice just makes it even u—"

Del was already leaning back in to say more.

"……."

Arphina eased him behind her with a light push and stepped forward. Del, startled for only a moment at being displaced, fell back obediently.

"Vesper Tillio."

Arphina said the name of her nightmare, clear and even.

"I know I'm a defect."

She named her own uglier disgrace more evenly than she'd named her nightmare. Something in Del's expression twisted, faintly.

"So what?"

Arphina, for her part, was perfectly calm.

"So does that mean you think the Academy's just a school for defects like me? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Arphina put deliberate weight behind it.

"A defect—me, sponsored by the Duke?"

At that, the not-especially-kind attention of the students who'd been half-watching from the hallway swung fully onto Vesper.

They'd already found the boy's carrying-on unpleasant enough before this. Now, at Arphina's words, that displeasure showed itself openly.

"Then why are you at the Academy?"

Under all those eyes, Vesper couldn't get a single word out, just seethed.

"Going around saying you'll be the greatest mage there is, and it turns out you didn't even have the talent to get into the Tower, so you ended up here instead?"

"……."

"And you're calling me a failure?"

A sudden grip.

Del, every nerve fixed on not missing a single word Arphina said, blinked wide-eyed at the warmth closing tight around his hand.

"I'm not a failure."

Arphina said it plainly, holding Del's hand tight.

"So apologize."

She warned him he'd regret it otherwise.

"…Fuck."

But Vesper offered nothing like an apology—only a curse dragged out of him by fury. Then he bolted, his friend close behind, and with his friend, he scrambled off like a dog with its tail between its legs.

"Wooaaah!"

The watching students burst into applause.

It was only at the roar of the crowd that Arphina came back to herself enough to remember she was still holding Del's hand—and let go of it fast.

"Um. Hey."

She said it carefully, aware of all the eyes still on them.

"…Y-yes? Ah, yes! Senior!"

Del, who'd been staring silently after the direction Vesper had fled, snapped straight at the sound of Arphina's voice, fumbling his posture into order.

"That, ah—hm."

Then he apologized without missing a beat.

"It wasn't that I meant to butt in, it's just—you looked a little troubled—"

"……."

"But I guess I didn't really need to get involved."

Del laughed, a little sheepish, and looked Arphina over carefully.

Arphina felt strange about it.

Vesper's stare had been open and filthy, and it had disgusted her. Del's eyes, roaming over her body the same way, felt unfamiliar instead—oddly embarrassing.

There was nothing filthy in his look. Only worry for her, brimming over, and nothing more.

"You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

Once he'd confirmed she was unharmed, Del took a step back.

"You were amazing back there, senior."

"……."

"And, um—I was a little happy too. Getting to talk with you again, after so long."

Del hovered a while longer before he made himself say the rest.

"Well, I should get going—"

"Are you all right?"

Arphina asked.

"That person—whatever he looks like, he's a noble and a Political Department student."

"I know. He's come and teased me before, too."

"Did he ever try to hurt you—"

"That part's fine."

Del smiled, telling her not to worry about it.

"I know I don't look it, but I've got someone in my corner."

He went on, cheerfully explaining exactly what that backing was.

"I'm pretty close with the young lord—the Duke's household. And my family has connections all over the place. Given the family trade, we carry a fair bit of weight even among the nobility."

'How would a commoner family carry weight among the nobility?'

It was a suspicious claim, but Arphina let it go.

Watching Del promise, so confidently, that nothing would happen to him, the urge to press further simply drained out of her.

'Right. I'll just have to make sure nothing does—and look out for him myself.'

Somewhere in that thought, a strange rush of confidence and responsibility rose up in Arphina. That I could actually help someone—

"……."

Arphina reined in the small, rising lift in her chest.

"…Thank you for helping me."

She'd stood there enduring the discomfort and embarrassment of everyone's eyes because she'd needed to say that much to him.

Del answered with a bashful smile.

"It was nothing."

The honor was entirely mine, actually.

He bowed at the waist to Arphina, courteous as any gentleman.

That afternoon.

"……What?"

The third-years gathered in the workshop, deep in their projects, jumped in surprise.

"You there! Who said you could talk!"

The professor, making rounds to check on the students' work, called out for quiet.

"S-sorry……"

Sonia stood, bowing repeatedly to everyone around her in apology.

But the moment she sat back down, she rounded on Arphina to press her—quieter than before, at least.

"The handsome lunatic helped you? No, wait, before that! That damn bat showed up and picked another fight with you?"

"Mm……"

Arphina answered absently, too absorbed in her own project to give it much attention.

Sonia, on the other hand, worked herself up as though it had happened to her, stamping her foot against the floor.

"I'm gonna go rip that bat bastard's hide off right now—!"

"Don't bother."

In the middle of all that, Arphina raised her hand, having finished her project. The professor came over to check her finished work.

Today's practical exercise for the Technical Department's third-years was reassembling a disassembled pocket watch.

The professor set Arphina's reassembled pocket watch running with a click.

The watch hands, laid beneath the round glass face, began ticking away.

"Well done. Pass."

Satisfied, the professor marked the top score next to Arphina's name on the grading sheet.

"Now then, as for you—"

The professor gave Sonia, seated beside Arphina, a look that fell somewhat short of approving. Meeting the professor's eyes, Sonia looked quietly away.

"Perhaps put your hands to work instead of your mouth, hm?"

"Nnngh, watch repair is the one thing I'm absolute worst at……!"

"You're good at other things instead."

"Can't I just do the assignment in something I'm good at?"

"You build skill by gaining a range of experience."

The professor left without mercy, and Sonia, sniffling, forced her reluctance down and focused.

Beside her, Arphina, putting her tools away, spoke up out of nowhere.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"If it's too hard, you don't have to do it."

The words came out of nowhere, and Sonia's eyes went wide. Arphina's violet eyes, meeting hers, somehow held more force than usual.

"You could do what you actually want to right now instead—"

"Ugh, there you go again."

Sonia laughed it off, telling her not to say things like that.

"I'm plenty happy right now. And honestly, the professor's right. I can't just do the stuff I'm good at. You need a range of experience to actually get better."

Sonia turned back to reassembling her watch.

"Coming here was my choice. I didn't just follow you."

"……."

"So if it's bugging you that much, tell me again later—how you landed a good one on that bat."

With that, Sonia went back to focusing on the exercise. For someone who claimed not to like it, her hands moved through the watch parts with growing ease.

"……."

Left alone without quite being alone, Arphina opened the book she'd brought along separately.

Arphina, who always finished her practical work first and flawlessly, always brought something to read for whatever time was left.

But today, for some reason, she couldn't manage to turn a single page.

'…Guess I'm living all right, in my own way.'

Soft. Fluffy.

The warm, restless feeling tickling at her heart wouldn't settle—but Arphina found she didn't mind it, not really.

Thump! Thump!

That night.

"……."

Del, buried under his blanket, kept slamming his fists down on the bed under him—thump, thump.

He hit with such force the bed legs kept lifting off the floor, a little, a little, with every blow.

"…Is he still at it?"

Agnus, freshly washed, let out a long sigh.

Right on cue, Del stopped punching and switched to a new activity, rolling all over the bed instead. He looked exactly like some big dog, too thrilled with itself to hold still.

"I'm starting to be scared of him now……"

Boves, waiting his turn to wash up, sniffled.

But Del showed no sign of stopping his bizarre behavior even after Boves had finished washing, or even after Agnus's wet hair had fully dried.

In the end, the two of them summoned the young lord.

"……."

The young lord's eyes went colder and colder at the sight of Del wreaking every kind of havoc on the bed.

"Give us a minute here."

"Yes sir!"

"It's a mess, but make yourself comfortable."

By this point, handing their dorm room over to the young lord and clearing out was completely second nature to Boves and Agnus.

The moment the two of them had grabbed their coursework and headed down to the dormitory common area—

"You little freak!"

The young lord, dumping out every scrap of irritation he'd been storing up, planted a solid kick on Del's backside.

"Ow!"

Del rubbed at his stinging backside and turned around—and broke into a wide, foolish grin the instant he saw the young lord's face.

"Arphina says I'm handsome!"

"I heard the general gist."

"Don't just hear the general gist, listen properly this time."

"Ugh, forget it."

Aghast, the young lord dragged a nearby desk chair over and sat himself down in front of Del.

"What did I tell you."

The young lord ran through some scolding he'd lost count of by now.

"I told you to be careful."

"I was careful."

Del protested that he'd been wronged.

"I really didn't do anything! That bastard came up out of nowhere and started harassing her, and I just happened to be passing by and saw the whole thing—"

"Really just a coincidence?"

The young lord asked, deadly serious.

"……."

Del, who'd just been whining about how unfairly he'd been treated, shut his mouth and went straight-faced. But he didn't argue.

The young lord let out a long sigh.

"You think I don't know you've been trailing around to every spot that senior visits, these past few days?"

"Whatever your feelings," the young lord said, seriously, "following someone around like that is still a rotten thing to do."

"That's a little unfair of you to say, though."

For someone claiming unfairness, a distinctly sly smile was spreading across Del's face.

"I went to the places she goes and did my own thing there first. I never trailed her, never spied on her."

He'd simply shown himself. That was all.

"See someone enough, you grow fond of them. That's just how it goes."

At that, the young lord's brow furrowed.

"You crazy bastard."

"That's not exactly a first for me."

Del waved it off, unbothered, like it was nothing new to hear.

"But today, it really was a coincidence."