When dinner rolled around that evening, Colny dragged me off to some seats she had reserved behind a partition. I guessed she knew I had been summoned by an older student. As long as you make sure to say something in advance, you can get seats out of view from everyone else.
Why does the dorm cafeteria even have something like this?
Seating aside, it was going to be just me and Colny having dinner together. Thanks to a noise-canceling spell used on the partition, we couldn’t be overheard, nor could we hear the rest of the cafeteria.
No, really, why are there tables like this?
To begin with, it was weird that magic tools were just fine when the academy and the royal capital banned casting spells. All sorts of spells and tools carried the risk of exploding, among other things, yet magic tools were permitted because only items determined to be safe were allowed into the city at all, or something like that. It was very unreasonable.
“So? What happened?” she asked the moment we sat down.
“I’m not sure how I’m supposed to answer that...”
“Don’t get evasive. Tell me everything.”
“Okaaay. All that happened was Zodian apologizing for what his older brother Reswell did.”
“Is that really it?”
“Also, he had a warning, I guess. He told me to watch out for Reswell.”
“Hmm...”
When I thought about it, I realized what a strange conversation that was. It wasn’t often that people from different factions, especially opposing factions, talked at the academy. All the more so if they were from (or connected to, in my case) high-ranking houses. Not only that, the younger brother wanted to warn me because he thought his older brother might do something nefarious. Since we were on opposite sides, he could’ve left me alone.
What’s Zodian after?
“What’s the matter, Colny?” I asked, noticing how grim she looked.
“Lera, tomorrow you’re going to have lunch with Loks and me. Turn down any invitations from your friends.”
“Huh?”
“Do you understand me?”
“I understand...”
I can’t really say no when Colny gets like this.
Classes at the academy were pretty slow during the first days of a new term. Starting the next week or so, things would be back to normal, not that I realized this last year, being a new student and all.
After a somewhat leisurely morning, it was time for lunch.
“Let’s have lunch together, Lowell.”
Lanmia’s usual cheeriness was blinding. Normally, I’d love to have lunch with her.
“Sorry, I promised to eat with Colny today,” I told her.
“Colnesia? Does that mean you’ll also be with Loksusad?!”
“Hm? Yes, most likely.”
That was an understatement; Colny literally told me he’d be there. The two were probably eagerly awaiting my arrival, which scared me. Speaking of scary, Lanmia was getting a little too riled up.
“I wanna goooo! I wanna have lunch with Loks!”
“It’s nothing special. It’s just lunch in the cafeteria.”
“Stiiill! I take it I can’t join you?”
She was giving me the puppy dog eyes. Too bad this was the one day she definitely couldn’t join us.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She hung her head with disappointment. “I get it...”
I’m really sorry.
Loks was probably joining us so we could talk about the previous day’s incident and consider what to do about those brothers. She’d have to endure it so she wouldn’t get dragged into this mess. While Luchirs consoled Lanmia, I left the classroom.
I need to get going, I thought, moments before bumping straight into Colny. Or maybe she came to get me?
“Oh, how wonderful,” she said. “Just the person I was looking for.”
“Just the person...”
“For today’s lunch, we’ve prepared a private room. Let us make our way there.”
C’mooon.
The academy cafeteria had several private rooms available. I was told these were originally for sensitive little lords and ladies who couldn’t stand being seen when they were eating. Except now they were used for students of friendly families to eat together without having to be wary of watchful eyes. To put it more bluntly, children of connected families used private rooms to exchange information while having a meal. It was common for private repasts to be held among students of the same faction.
Speaking of which, I had never heard of the Aspozats hosting one of these private repasts. Asking Colny about this earned me a look of exasperation.
“Well of course not. Our faction already holds a major event.”
“Oh, the hunting festival.”
“That’s right. So there’s no need to trouble ourselves with hosting meals at the academy. The other children attend the hunting festival, remember? We can socialize with them then.”
So that was it. Since children weren’t allowed to participate in the hunting, they had their own separate area, where they would play with other children their age. I would go off on my own, so I had next to no interactions with them. There was also the whole issue with my birth house. Sheila and the other adults probably knew about it and just looked the other way.
According to Colny, the other factions, particularly the noble faction, didn’t have any big events like the hunting festival.
“After all these years, there’s very little chance Marquess Bilbroza will allow it. He has a deep-seated distaste for the royal faction.”
Oof. So what could it mean that one of that man’s distant relatives—well, not really; it was his great-grandson—approached me?
While I thought about it, Colny hit me with a warning.
“While it may not be clear to us yet, there must be a reason if someone from the other side approached you. Exercise utmost caution around the viscount’s sons. Use magic if necessary. After all, you do have permission to cast on academy grounds.”
“Okaaay.”
After the little dorm room mishap at the beginning of last year, I took advantage of some minor confusion to get permission from the headmaster himself. Following that, nobody said I had to stop using magic, so I had been very liberal with it for my convenience.
Being a boy, the older Nogdeid couldn’t enter the girls’ dorm, so I was safe there. If he tried to use violence or anything in that vein on academy grounds, then I could strike back in full force. Though he might scream and try to play the victim, like Miss Cucumis did when she had me brought out behind one of the buildings. For times like those, I had a camera installed inside the brooch I wore. With that, I recorded everything, giving me solid evidence!
I actually forgot to record the encounter at the cafeteria, but I made sure to get everything when the younger brother called me over. Next time something happened, I wasn’t going to forget to keep the camera rolling.
Colny and I chatted for a bit, then Loks arrived to round out our party for lunch.
“Now then, let’s hear about what happened with Zodian,” Loks started.
“Actually, it started with a visit to my room.”
“Huh? Zodian was in the girls’ dorm?”
If he did, it’d be a huge deal, wouldn’t it?! Loks, do you hear yourself? Ah, Colny’s prodding him.
“Brother, don’t interrupt! Lera, continue.”
“Right. The visitor was a fourth-year girl. She said someone had asked her to fetch me.”
“So then you followed her just like that?” Loks said. “Lera, you need to be more careful.”
“Oh, I’m sure Lera would’ve been just fine,” Colny objected. “Isn’t that right?”
Please keep me out of your sibling bickering.
Well, it’s not like they were serious about it.
“Still,” Loks said, looking serious all of a sudden, “I knew those brothers didn’t get along, though I didn’t think something like this might happen.”
“What do you mean, brother?”