I’d attempted to cheer him up, but I’d made him worry about me instead...
It was true that it would be my first time living in a dormitory, even counting my past life. But as long as I had my magic, I knew for a fact I would be all right.
“I’ll be just fine. Who do you take me for? I’m the witch of legends!” I declared.
Yet, my words seemed to do little to ease his concern. It was like worrying about me had become his default state.
“That might be true, but...listen, if anything happens, come to me immediately, all right?”
Fouet chimed in, “Lord Char worries about you just as much as you worry about him, madam.”
“Yup. You two are husband and wife, it’s only natural you’d be concerned about each other’s well-being,” Barre added.
As always, the twins were of the same mind as each other.
I finally began to understand where Char was coming from.
“I see... So Char feels the same about me as I feel about him.”
“You really are dense about the strangest things,” Barre commented.
“What are you talking about? The madam is always dense,” Fouet quipped.
Ah, it seemed that on this, they disagreed. Well, they both seemed to think I was dense, just in different ways.
I didn’t hold it against them—thanks to them, I could finally understand Char’s feelings.
“Thank you, Char—for worrying about me. Um... You can also come find me if anything happens, all right?”
Char’s face finally relaxed. “I will. I’m counting on you,” he said before reaching forward and ruffling my hair.
“Hey! Here, payback!” I extended my arms and tried to tousle his hair too as revenge, but he was much too tall.
All I managed to do was flap my hands uselessly in the air.
I’m too...short...!
Char watched with amusement as I hopped in place, unable to touch his hair. The only part I could reach was the tip of his ponytail, but he nimbly avoided my hands.
“Th-That’s not fair!” I grumbled.
“Is it not? Although I have to admit, I can’t help but worry about you when it comes to everything except magic.”
He likely meant my body’s constitution. It was true that I’d spent most of this life without much physical exertion, so I was a bit weak. I’d stopped collapsing as often as I used to, but I had very little strength and nearly no stamina. My motor coordination was just as bad. Compared to the Mercures, what with their incredible physical prowess, my combat abilities were abysmal—excluding magic. I was even worse than the little children.
“Plus, your fashion sense is atrocious. I still can’t believe you wanted to wear potato-patterned training clothes today,” Char continued.
“Why are you bringing that up now? Plus, I’d prepared that outfit especially for today, yet you confiscated it from me.”
Thibault’s voice interrupted our bickering. The four of us were currently the only ones able to see him. I had made it so that once his illusory clone returned to the barracks, the original Thibault would reappear. “Um... I don’t know if you remember, but you’re supposed to be strangers. You should probably stop flirting...” he said timidly.
“F-Flirting?!” I exclaimed.
That hadn’t been my intention at all! I began panicking, but Char remained perfectly calm.
“They do look like a couple playfully teasing each other, don’t they?” Fouet interjected. “Barre and I are used to it, but the other recruits might think you just got together right after joining the order.”
“The madam is so dense, she probably had no idea that was the impression she was giving off. But you were absolutely doing it on purpose, Lord Char, weren’t you? Anyway, why is it so bad if they flirt, Thibault?” Barre asked.
The journalist glanced around to ensure no one was listening in on us before replying, “Two recruits getting involved right after joining the order will definitely raise eyebrows! I told you we can’t stand out!”
The twins nodded in understanding. “Ooh, I get it. Some people don’t like seeing happy couples, after all. They’d be like, ‘You two should burn in hell!’”
“Yeah, some guys get really upset over that kind of thing.”
With the twins on his side, Thibault grew a bit more confident and stepped in between the two of us. “Exactly! So, Miss Lam, Mr. Char, please stay away from each other!”
We eventually made it to the knights’ barracks. I was led to the women’s floor, and this was where I parted ways with Char and the others—for the time being, at least. Alongside the other women who had been cheering during the entrance test, I climbed the stairs, only to be greeted at the top by a group of women I assumed were our seniors. They didn’t appear particularly strong or robust like I’d been expecting; in fact, they were all heavily dolled up and draped in extravagant clothes. They didn’t even resemble knights.
One of them, a woman with slanted eyes, stepped forward—she must’ve been the one in charge. Her attire and makeup were even more showy than the others’. “Why are you coming up the stairs so slowly?” she asked us. “I can’t believe it. How dare you express such nonchalance when you’ve made us wait here all this time?”
The knights around her were quick to chime in.
“Exactly! Our squad leader’s right! You should all be running up to us!” one said.
“You’re just rookies! Are you looking down on us, is that it? What impudence!” another added.
They came to that assumption from us walking instead of running up the stairs...? Now, that was just a persecution complex. Besides, no one asked them to wait for us in the first place. In fact, we didn’t even know they would be there.