“I’ll have to be excused for a moment. There’s something I need to deal with.”
Alicia gave her a surprised look.
“Huh? Really?”
“It won’t take long, so I’ll meet up with you later. I’d appreciate it if we could decide on a meeting spot.”
“Hm, how’s the courtyard in the intermediate division school building, then? While you deal with your thing, we’ll go pick up some lunch at the stalls. Then, we’ll meet up with you and we can eat together.”
There were a few restaurants where they could sit down, but the roadside stalls also offered more than enough variety for a satisfying lunch. Alicia and Marni both nodded. Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Melia nodded as well and got up.
“All right, off I go, then,” she said before strolling off toward the main building that housed the staff office and cafeteria.
“I wonder what it is that she has to deal with...” Alicia mused as she watched Melia go. “Any idea, Sain?”
“Nope. No idea.”
“Huh. I thought you would, considering the whole master and attendant thing. I guess you’ve got some sort of respect-each-other’s-boundaries thing going?”
“Eh, not exactly...”
In fact, his boundaries were constantly being intruded upon. Back when they were in Lightridge, every aspect of his daily life was arguably under Melia’s control. He wore the clothes she prepared, ate the food she cooked, and lived under the same roof as her. Day after day, he spent almost every waking moment with her from the time he woke up to the time he fell asleep.
Now, things were different. It was probably because their circumstances had changed.
“It’s not like before. Now, Maid is a student of this academy. Yes, she’s my attendant, but she’s also a student, just like the rest of us... And as time goes on, it’s only normal for her to have her own private life that I don’t know about.”
In a way, it almost made him proud, and he couldn’t help but cross his arms and look with distant eyes at Melia’s shrinking form like a parent seeing his beloved daughter off. Alicia looked at the expression on his face and pressed her lips together.
“You... really aren’t very possessive, are you, Sain? And I mean that in both the good way and the bad way.”
“Hm? I know what the good way is supposed to mean, but what’s the bad way?”
“It means... you should probably try a little harder to figure out how girls think. Right, Marni?”
“...Agreed.”
Sain scratched his head. For all it was worth to him, they might as well have been speaking another language.
“Okay, come on. Let’s go pick up some lunch before Melia gets back,” said Alicia as she got up and led them toward the food stalls.
With most of the matches concluded, people flocked to the booths out in the school grounds. A mishmash of students and guests roamed in every direction, weaving past each other toward whatever food or activity caught their interest. Some guests wore costumes complete with replica swords and armor to fit the battle expo theme. Sain was wondering where they’d found all those elaborate props, only to walk past a booth that sold exactly those articles.
“...Is it just me, or do they sell literally everything under the sun here?” he murmured.
“It’s not the first time I’ve heard someone say that,” answered Alicia.
People were free to enjoy the festival however they wished, so long as they weren’t being a nuisance to other guests. Staff were on hand to deal with troublemakers who, high off the thrill of a particularly intense match, would end up brawling. Adults and children alike were guilty of such conduct, with everything from fisticuffs to replica weapons being employed. It was mostly senior division students who were in charge of breaking up such altercations, and things usually calmed down once they arrived on the scene. Presumably, the academy’s reputation had a big role to play in these cases, as even adults would think twice before defying a sternly worded warning from older Jenifa students.
“Speaking of which, Sain, what’s Melia’s favorite food?” asked Alicia as she browsed the rows of stalls around them.
“You know, you’d probably never guess from how she looks, but Maid’s actually into some pretty niche stuff.”
“Niche? Like what?”
“Like, say... Smoked seafood.”
“...That is pretty niche.”
Melia had an inclination to take the kind of stuff forty-year-olds would order with beer at a bar and quietly nibble on them with the daintiness of a princess. She’d never acknowledged it openly, but Sain suspected that it was something of a guilty pleasure of hers. Those times when she got to sit down and enjoy some fine smoked seafood by herself were probably paradise for her. Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it — there just so happened to be a stall selling that very thing. Naturally, they picked up a few pieces for Melia. Just then, there was a voice from the crowd.
“Ahh!”
Sain turned in its direction to find a young child pointing excitedly at him.
“It’s Mister Darkness Dork!” exclaimed his pint-sized fan.
This caused five more tiny figures to pop out of the throng of people and join the first one in encircling him, their eyes sparkling with starstruck enthusiasm.
“Look, look! It really is him!”
“Wow!”
He gave them a nervous smile.
“U-Uh... The mister is a nice touch, I guess?”
Alicia gave him a good-natured smirk.
“Didn’t you notice all the fans you were gaining during your last match? The junior students were all rooting for you.”
He definitely hadn’t noticed. Granted, he did vaguely remember hearing a lot of what sounded like children’s laughter when the female commentator had called him Darkness Dork.
“Hmmm... So you understand the appeal of this ominous aura of mine. Well, well, it looks like we have ourselves a couple of prodigies here.”
Feeling rather pleased with himself, he looked down at the children with a benevolent smile. They giggled loudly amongst themselves before shouting things at him in turn.
“Ahaha! Mister Darkness Dork!”
“Eww, what’s that stuff you’re wearing?”
“Dork! Dork!”
“That sounds so dumb! You’re dumb!”
It didn’t take long for their comments to degenerate into straight up insults. Sain gave Alicia a flat look.
“So, rooting for me, huh?”
“Okay, well, they had a lot of fun watching you, at least.” She looked at the snickering children and grimaced a little. “But maybe some of it was at your expense.”
They seemed particularly fascinated with his black coat and, despite his admonitions, kept trying to get their grubby little hands on it. His coat was imbued with slightly dangerous materials to seal in the blessing of the goddess, and for the children, touching the inner lining could prove harmful. In the end, their undeterred enthusiasm forced him to compromise by yielding to their desire but also issuing a stern warning to poke only at the outside of his coat.
“Mister Darkness Dork, are these your girlfriends?!” asked a little girl who pointed at Alicia and Marni.
Sain, without any hint of hesitation, answered, “No, they certainly are not.”
“No way!”
“Boring!”
That elicited a mix of responses, some shocked and others disappointed. The not-girlfriends in question regarded the proceedings with slightly sullen expressions.
“...You know, the way he just denied that outright is, honestly, a little upsetting.”
“...Yeah, he didn’t even have to think about that one.”
Their grumbling reached Sain’s ears, and he grimaced.
What am I supposed to say then, damn it?
When the children’s initial burst of excitement began to wane, one of them walked up to him and said, “Um, can I ask you a question?”
Sain turned to find a boy with wide, innocent eyes.
“Sure, go for it.”
“How come they call you Darkness Dork?” the boy asked in a tone of genuine curiosity.
Sain grinned.
“Hoh. Good question. They call me that, you see, because I am a denizen of darkness.”
“Of... darkness?”
“Indeed. A deep darkness swirls within me, grimmer than the underworld and blacker than the abyss...”
The boy’s eyes widened and he audibly gulped.
“Grimmer than the underworld... and blacker than the abyss...”
“Stop pulling innocent kids into your nonsense!”
“Ow!”
Sain yelped as Alicia smacked him on the back of his head. She then knelt down and clutched the boy’s shoulders.
“Don’t listen to what strangers tell you, okay? Especially not weird strangers like him!”
“Yeah,” Marni added. “You’ll end up stupid like him.”
While the two girls were trying to undo the effects of Sain’s influence, he rubbed at the tender spot on his head and grumbled, “Geez, a few more of those and I will end up stupid...”
Alicia silenced him with a glare before letting out an exasperated sigh.
“Come on,” she said as she stood back up. “Let’s go get our lunch already so we don’t keep Melia waiting.”
Marni nodded before frowning.
“What about drinks, then?”
“Oh, I forgot about that. But I mean, we can probably just get something at the school store. We’re coming back here after lunch anyway, right?”
“...True.”
While the two girls conversed, Sain and the boy had locked eyes again.
“Um, Mister, do you think... there’s darkness in me too?”
“Yes, there is darkness in everyone. But few can learn to wield it, and fewer yet can truly master it. Those who do... are the chosen ones, destined to rule the great abyss beyond...”