The students of the Occult Research Club busily wander around the haunted house.
The various devices and models installed purely with the intention of surprising visitors, the set decorated to resemble a run-down house, and fake blood scattered around everywhere.
“Daniel, over this way.”
“Ah, Vivian. Put that in the box on the top left.”
“Senpai! I’ve finished everything!”
“This side too.”
“Great job! Chloe, Elin! You two can take a little break now!”
Daniel designates a box to store the recovered devices he collected from here and there, as various supplies pile up neatly inside the large box. They are dismantling the haunted house.
Of course, the reason for this is the fireworks that will soon take place. The students have planned for the operation time and dismantling of the club booth from an institutional level to enjoy the fireworks.
Currently, the dismantling is focused primarily on the booths that are large or have a lot of installed structures and devices. Our Occult Research Club, which runs a booth of massive scale, is no exception.
“Phew… finally done.”
Daniel approached me, wiping his sweat. I handed a cool drink to him.
“Good work.”
“No. The professor and the royal knights did more heavy lifting… Without Vivian, everyone else is weaklings… Haha…”
Daniel awkwardly laughed and brushed his frail arms. Indeed, it was left to me, Sir Jericho, Nina, and Vivian, the only combat student in the Occult Research Club, to take care of the heavy lifting.
“By the way, where did the royal knights go?”
“They said they had an urgent matter to attend to and stepped away for a bit. Both of them.”
“I see… By the way, Professor, aren’t you too warm? You’re not sweating at all…”
“I cooled down quickly.”
I have a physique that doesn’t heat up easily and tends to get cold more. Even if I do get hot enough to sweat, it doesn’t last long.
“Haah… Anyway, I’ll go finish tidying up. You stay here.”
“I’ll help too.”
“…No. You stay here. You’ve already worked hard enough. There’s only some minor stuff left. We’ll clean up everything.”
Daniel said vigorously, promptly tossed his empty drink can into the trash, and headed straight towards the haunted house. No one was left beside me.
Well, perhaps I wouldn’t go so far as to say that.
“Head Priest. I’m back.”
“Sub-Priest Sofia.”
Just then, Sub-Priest Sofia, who had finished the task I asked her to do, sat next to me. Now, there were two of us sitting on the long bench.
“Haah… I think we might need to store the spare key to the professor’s office somewhere else. Head Priest, it makes me anxious every time I use it, you know?”
“Isn’t keeping it under the flower pot thorough enough?”
“If that flower pot weren’t so openly visible to anyone passing by, perhaps.”
“…Hmm.”
The conversation paused there. I sat blankly on the bench, watching the haunted house booth being dismantled in real-time, while Sub-Priest Sofia kept glancing my way, sipping the drink I had handed her.
“…Head Priest, I told you not to overdo it.”
“…I didn’t overdo it.”
“That’s a lie. It’s all written on your face.”
Does it show? I touched my face.
“……”
“Ugh… Head Priest…”
As the wrinkles etched into my forehead were touched, what more is there to say? My face was slightly scrunched up. Sub-Priest Sofia sighed, then gently brushed my right shoulder.
“…Your shoulder is still okay, right?”
“Yeah. It’s still fine.”
“Still, that is…”
“…Yeah. It’s still fine.”
“Haah…”
I had felt for some time that Sub-Priest Sofia had been sighing a lot more recently. And it was quite clear that the reason was me.
“Sub-Priest Sofia.”
“Head Priest, what did I tell you?”
“…You told me not to apologize.”
“That’s right. And just now, you were about to apologize to me, weren’t you?”
“…That’s correct.”
“Don’t do it.”
“Yes.”
As much as I was getting to know Sub-Priest Sofia, she was doing the same with me. Now, she could pick up on my intention to apologize without me having to say anything.
Sub-Priest Sofia poked my side with a deliberately rude expression, then set down her drink can and exhaled lightly. Because she subtly shifted her hips, our distance also narrowed on top of that.
“…I’m glad.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Being able to enjoy the festival with you, and that the students of the Occult Research Club are able to finish the haunted house safely… it’s all of it.”
Having said that, Sub-Priest Sofia fell silent for a moment, staring blankly ahead. Her gaze held a mixture of resignation interwoven with complex feelings. That swirling mixture settled down easily into clarity.
“But… I don’t think we can just call it fortunate.”
“……”
“Head Priest, while I can endure with painkillers today… what will you do afterward?”
Sub-Priest Sofia’s question pierced me like an awl. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a proper plan afterward.
It’s just that to me…
“…I can just endure it.”
“You’re going to endure it.”
“It’s something I’m used to. If I just hold on tight and endure, I’ll get through somehow. This level of pain.”
I couldn’t know if what I said was correct. At least, it seemed it wasn’t correct for Sub-Priest Sofia.
She wore an expression as if she was holding something in. I wanted to read something that couldn’t be deciphered from her expression. Though, that would not be possible.
“…Head Priest, I…”
Just then, as Sub-Priest Sofia, who wore that restrained expression, was about to open her mouth as if to finally reveal it.
“Hmph…!”
A sound of pain escaped me unknowingly. Sub-Priest Sofia shuddered and hastily checked my shoulder again.
“A-Are you okay, Head Priest?”
“…I-I’m okay.”
In an instant, my shoulder felt burning. A throbbing, sharp pain like being pricked by a needle. It was that kind of pain that momentarily turned my vision white.
Truly, it was a vicious pain. In a situation where I could barely find any tension, it suddenly pierced through and burrowed in.
Fortunately, the simple and brief pain that lasted a few seconds quickly subsided, and all that was left in front of me was Sub-Priest Sofia, looking at me with a worried expression.
“You really don’t look okay…!”
“I’m truly fine. Phew… maybe what I just experienced was due to the painkillers wearing off.”
“If that’s the case… then shouldn’t we find Professor Moritz quickly instead of just sitting here?”
“…It should still be okay for now.”
It hadn’t even been half a day; in other words, not even twelve hours. Professor Moritz said that he needed to inject me when the effect completely wears off. He explained that overlapping injections would exacerbate side effects.
And, it seemed he hadn’t been lying about that. My head had started throbbing, and my stomach began to lightly ache, making me feel like my condition wasn’t good. It went without saying that this was the side effect Professor Moritz had warned me about.
Perhaps seeing my condition at a glance, Sub-Priest Sofia narrowed her eyes and stood up. I stared blankly at her.
“…This won’t do. We shouldn’t just sit here…”
“Professor Antorelli…?”
At that moment, I heard a voice behind me.
“Ah, Professor Antorelli…”
An oddly familiar voice that rang in my ears.
It silenced Sub-Priest Sofia and brought my thoughts to a halt, albeit momentarily.
A voice that should not be heard here at this moment. It reached both Sub-Priest Sofia’s and my ears.
“Are you okay…?”
No.
No, it can’t be. The owner of that voice, the person making that sound, cannot possibly be the girl I know. No way. Please…
I had asked both Priest Luciana and the Adelhaid Duke, as well as Professor Moritz. I had strictly requested them to keep this child a secret.
Both Sub-Priest Sofia and I slowly turned our heads in unison.
“…Lady Laura.”
“L-Lady Laura…?”
“Prof-essor….”
A girl standing behind us. Laura von Adelheit.
Her bright eyes shining red and sparkling with moisture gazed this way.
The end of that gaze pointed directly at me.
*
Laura von Adelheit thought.
Perhaps this cursed situation… was a penance she had to bear herself.
And that speculation made Laura… feel something unbearable rise within her.
“Prof-essor….”
Staggering, she approached him. She took a step forward. His face, Professor Antorelli’s face, came a step closer.
Just that alone made Laura’s heart tighten as if it would burst.
“…Lady Laura.”
Professor Antorelli wore a dull expression. As if he had seen something impossible, it was as though the very fact that Laura was here made no sense to him.
At this moment, it seemed he did not want to see Laura. He stared blankly, seemingly wishing to deny reality.
The moment it entered Laura’s sight.
‘Did I come to see him for no reason…?’
Laura suddenly had that thought.
Laura wasn’t like this. She displayed an endlessly arrogant attitude towards others. One that could not be criticized by anyone, grounded in reason.
But the Laura of now was not like that. No, she could not be.
Her eyes shook unforgivingly. A step closer toward the Professor Antorelli in front of her.
“Professor Antorelli….”
“……”
Professor Antorelli’s expression remained unchanged. However, the waves emanating from his furrowed brow slowly transformed his expression.
First came resignation. Professor Antorelli had given up on this situation. He wore an expression of surrender.
Next came acceptance. An expression that acknowledged Laura’s presence here. It bore a trace of exasperation, somehow.
And then Professor Antorelli’s attitude showed.
“…I’m sorry.”
As if he seemed to know everything.
That he knew what she was thinking, what she was worried about… all of it.
“I’m sorry, Lady Laura.”
He was extending an apology to her. Even though it wasn’t a situation that warranted an apology, he seemed to apologize first without reservation.
No, perhaps from Professor Antorelli’s perspective, he may truly think it was necessary to apologize. Given his demeanor, he had been attempting to deceive and trick Laura regardless.
But, but…
“Ugh…!”
Laura could no longer hold back.
She leaped forward. She rushed into the gaunt and weary frame of Professor Antorelli, who appeared to be lacking in strength.
“I’m sorry, Lady Laura. I’m sorry…”
“Why, why…!”
To wish for Rina’s happiness at the cost of his ruined body, and now intercepting the apology that Laura should have made.
What on earth is this man thinking?
“Why would you go this far…!”
How much more is he willing to give?
“Ugh…! Hic…!”
Laura could no longer endure it.
Just wanting to feel even the slightest bit of this warmth. She tightened her arms around Professor Antorelli’s body even more.
Professor Antorelli… truly…
“Such a fool…!”
Yes, he was indeed a fool.
