Brigitte had a feeling that the chick’s face was expressing terror at the offering. That reminded her of something.
“By the way, I want to come up with a name for my spirit, but I can’t think of anything good.”
The truth was, she couldn’t think of anything the spirit liked, so she was hoping they might have a good suggestion.
Nival tore another piece of steak off his skewer and looked up. “A name? …How about something that reflects your power and authority? The Splendid Spirit of Miss Brigitte or The Great Miss Brigitte’s Chick?”
“Peep…?”
What hideous taste!
“Let’s see… I think Roasty Toasty has a nice ring to it! Or maybe Rotisserie Chick?” Kira suggested.
“Peep…!!”
She’s just as bad…
Brigitte wasn’t sure, but she thought the chick’s beady black eyes were pleading in metaphorical tears. The chick couldn’t talk, but it was clearly displeased. She knew that much.
“Sir Yuri, what do you think?” she asked.
“Why not something like Peep?” he suggested nonchalantly.
Everyone groaned.
“Sir Yuri…”
“Yuri, I swear…”
“Sir Aurealis…that’s just…”
“…What?”
He couldn’t get much less creative.
But one member of the group seemed pleased by it.
“Peep!!”
Fluffing its feathers, the chick spirit hopped around the table.
Brigitte stared in surprise.
But when I suggested names it ignored me!
Her eyes welled with tears of shock and frustration.
And so it came to pass that the chick spirit was named Peep.
The two days at Nival’s vacation home flew by. They toured the imperial stock farm and the factories where dairy products and fruits were processed. The garden party on the sprawling estate was delightful, and Brigitte had a feeling Nival and Kira got even closer that day.
Nival had two sisters who were quite a bit older than he was. He said they pushed him around, so he had been overjoyed to move to the dorm when he had started at the academy of magic. He was not only president of his class but also of his dorm, which was a surprise to Brigitte, who commuted.
Kira was smiling much more. Before, she had hidden behind her long bangs and talked in a whisper, but now she made eye contact with Brigitte and Nival and spoke clearly. She still seemed nervous around other people, but Brigitte was confident that she would be all right in class.
On their last night together, the four of them were lounging in one of the spacious guest rooms. Kira was sitting on Brigitte’s left, Yuri was facing her, and Nival was to Yuri’s right. Textbooks and workbooks were spread on the table among them.
I’ve never studied with friends before…!
Brigitte felt like she was walking on air. She had spent her whole life until now without friends. She had toiled endlessly over her homework in her room at the cottage. But not now.
Nival looked around the group.
“So, everyone, how much homework do you have left? I’ve only got a few pages of applied magic.”
“I’m done with everything,” Yuri said.
“I’ve just got human sciences left,” Brigitte said.
“I have six worksheets for fundamentals of magic, half the workbook problems for applied magic, the report for history, and…,” Kira said.
Everyone fell silent.
It went without saying that Yuri was the top student in their grade. Brigitte had ranked thirtieth on the last exams, and Nival had been sixteenth.
Kira was despondent. “Compared to you, I’m by far—”
“The dumbest,” Yuri said bluntly. Kira covered her face with her hands.
“Sir Yuri!” Brigitte blurted.
“I was just pointing out she’s no good at planning.”
There was no denying that. Given that they had only a few days left of summer vacation, Kira must have had awful time management skills to leave such a mountain of homework. For her part, Brigitte approached assignments methodically and had intentionally left the human sciences assignment so she’d have something to work on at their study group.
“You ought to be kinder with your words!” she scolded.
“I’m sorry, Miss Brigitte. You don’t have to defend me…,” Kira said, shrinking back in embarrassment.
“Peep! Peep, peep!”
The chick spirit popped its head out of Brigitte’s breast pocket and began chirping energetically. It appeared to be poking fun at Kira. Brigitte felt like it was actually laughing at her. Come to think of it, Kira had been very thoughtful toward the chick for the past two days. Brigitte wondered why but decided to change the subject.
“Kira, do you like birds?” she asked.
“Oh yes,” she answered. “My family was poor nobles, and when I was little, we ate all sorts of meat.”
“Oh…”
Kira glanced hungrily at Peep.
“Peep…!!”
The chick began to shake. It tried to burrow into Brigitte’s pocket, but in its panic ended up with its round rear end sticking out. She tapped it down helpfully before turning back to Kira.
“Kira, would you like me to help you with your homework?”
“Oh, would you?!” she answered, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. “I would love that. But I couldn’t ask that of you. Our class president will help me!”
“He will?” Nival echoed.
“I mean, I hope he’s able to…”
“That’s even worse!” he moaned.
Ignoring him, Kira opened her workbook. Brigitte watched them, brushing her hair from her face.
“Th-then…Sir Yuri…”
“Huh?”
“I wouldn’t mind…if you helped me with the human sciences homework.”
Ack, I didn’t mean to say it that way!
Her nerves were hardly an excuse for putting her request so rudely. Yuri stared at her as she mentally debated restating her question.
“What the hell was that?” With no warning whatsoever, he laughed.
Nival and Kira looked flabbergasted. Meanwhile, Brigitte was so stunned, she dropped the textbook she was holding onto the ground.
“Hey, are you all right?” Yuri asked.
“I’m f-f-fine…!!” she answered, although her stuttering gave away the fact that she was not at all fine.
Yuri stood and walked around the table. Evidently, he was going to pick up the book for her. And then sit down next to her to help her study. Brigitte’s heart was about to pound straight out of her chest.
“You’re a beast, Yuri!” Nival howled.