I slowly turned my body and head toward the voice that came from behind after I sat down.
What caught my eyes was the chest of a woman right in front of me.
Without moving my head, I slightly raised my eyes to check who the owner of the chest was.
And the sight that met me was a pair of blue eyes looking down at me.
The two blue eyes of Selian, which always resembled a clear blue sky, were now showing a deep azure color, as if gazing into the depths of the sea.
“Ah, hi, Sely?”
Somehow, trying to calm down my tensed body, I awkwardly raised one hand to wave in greeting.
However, Selian just stared down at me without responding to my greeting.
“Sely…?”
“Wow…. So El offers her body around to just anyone, huh…”
Instead of Selian’s answer, another voice came from behind her when I glanced over her shoulder; Yuli was there.
“Ah, Yuli’s here too. Did the class already end?”
“….”
But just like Selian, my attempt to acknowledge Yuli went unanswered.
What is going on? Why are both of them just staring at me without saying a word?
Their gazes made my back feel cold, and I felt Goosebumps rising on my arms.
It feels colder than before. The temperature-control spell of the café must have been set too high.
Anyway, if Selian and Yuli are here, Anne, who should have been here and was the first one to usually greet me, is nowhere to be seen.
Ignoring Selian and Yuli, who seem to be deliberately ignoring me, I looked around more carefully to find Anne.
Sure enough, Anne was spotted standing alone at a distance, as expected.
Anne’s red hair stands out, so she wasn’t too difficult to spot.
“Anne! Why are you standing there alone? Come over here!”
Finally feeling a little less tense, I waved to Anne with slightly more ease than before.
“Ihaven’tseenanythingIhaven’tseenanythingIhaven’tseenanythingIhaven’tseenanythingIhaven’tseenanything…”
Is the temperature inside the café really too low, or is Anne hugging herself and trembling? And beside her, even Linne, a ghost, is shaking.
Anne was murmuring something softly, but it was too far to hear clearly.
“Yeehoo! Here’s the drink!”
Just when I was confused about the lack of response from Selian, Yuli, and Anne, Mariel returned with the drinks we had ordered in both her hands.
Mariel, who was happily bounding back, didn’t spill the drinks and came to an abrupt stop.
Due to the sudden stop, some of the drink splashed over her hands, but she calmly walked over to our table with a composed look.
“Here you go. The caramel macchiato El ordered.”
She then placed the coffee in front of me and sat down across from me, setting down an expensive-looking drink whose name I didn’t recognize.
“Excuse me, senior! Your hands are drenched!”
Mariel didn’t seem bothered despite her hands being wet from the spilled drink.
She acted like she didn’t even notice, so I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and started wiping her hands.
“Stop squirming, it’s hard to clean if you keep moving. And don’t wipe your hands on my hand…”
It seems the reason she didn’t mind her hands getting wet was that this was her playful way of making my hands dirty too.
Even as I was trying to carefully wipe her hands with the handkerchief, Mariel kept extending her fingers through the handkerchief and tickling my hand.
But of course, her plan to get my fingers dirty failed since I held the handkerchief.
Nevertheless, despite her hands now being clean, Mariel continued to rub her fingers against my hand without giving up.
“Alright, all done. Everything clean?”
I held her hand and checked the front and back, but thanks to my thoroughness, not even a drop of liquid remained on her hands.
“Thanks to you. Well then, our junior, El, got me the most expensive drink. Isn’t it delightful?”
Mariel expressed her gratitude to me, emphasizing the cost of the drink.
“Amongst us, there’s no need to go to such lengths… Though I can’t regularly afford it for you.”
“Exactly, between us!”
Well… If you know that, I hope you’ll at least give me a fair deal if you sell me something next time.
“Can I sit next to you, El?”
“Huh? Oh, sure. Of course. Oh, I forgot to introduce you!”
“No, I’ve already gotten to know Lady Saint thoroughly. Right, Mariel?”
Selian pulled out the chair next to me and sat down before speaking to Mariel.
Now that I think of it, Selian was with me on that Holy Guard escort mission before.
And there were also times when I acted as intermediator and introduced them to each other.
“…How could I not know you? You were once a ‘Hero Candidate.’ Nice to see you again, Miss Selian.”
“Brrr…”
Even though I suddenly shivered from the cold, both Selian and Mariel sat there calmly as if nothing was wrong.
“Alright, Anne, come sit here.”
“Sorry… so sorry… so sorry… Hiek?! Y, Yuli? You’re really alright… right?”
“Not sure what you’re talking about? I’ve always been fine. Come on, Linne, sit here.”
Yuli, who asked for permission first, brought Anne who was quietly murmuring at a distance and sat her down before sitting down herself.
By the way, isn’t it dangerous to bring Linne, who’s a ghost and weak to Holy Magic though not an Evil Spirit, in front of the Saint?
However, contrary to my concern, Mariel seemed completely unconcerned knowing Linne’s true identity.
“Hehe… Is it because it was El who bought it? This drink tastes especially delicious?”
Although her hand was trembling so badly during payment, seeing her enjoy it so much now, I don’t regret spending the silver coins at all.
If I can earn a smile from a beauty like Mariel, those few silver coins are practically worth nothing.
“Do you and El know each other well?”
“Of course! Like you just heard, El and I are so close that we can buy each other expensive drinks like this anytime!”
Mariel proudly held up her drink to demonstrate.
“…El really doesn’t get tired, does he?”
But for some reason, Yuli suddenly looked at me with a mix of sigh in her voice as if responding to Mariel’s bragging.
I thought about the meaning of Yuli’s unexpected and seemingly unrelated comment that “he doesn’t get tired” for a moment.
And I eventually figured out what she meant.
She must be referring to the rehearsal we had earlier.
“Hmm, well, I don’t really have much besides stamina. I’m pretty confident in my physical abilities, and something like rehearsal hardly tires me.”
Coughing slightly, with an air of arrogance, I lifted my chin, pushed out my chest slightly, and bragged.
Even though my outward appearance is that of a frail-looking little girl without visible abs, internally this body is as robust as the one I had before.
In fact, unlike the assistant magicians who fell multiple times during the rehearsals, my body never tired.
“Hey?”
Still, though half of what I said was a joke, the reactions of the others weren’t what I expected.
If I had to guess, someone was likely to chuckle, or maybe a student from the knights department would point out that it’s expected for a knight trainee, but no one spoke.
Instead, maybe?
Selian, Yuli, and Mariel were looking at me quietly.
Though, rather than making eye contact with me, all three were staring slightly lower, at my chest.
I was wondering if my joke had landed so flat that they couldn’t even look me in the eye, but fortunately, Selian broke the silence.
“Hey… El does have a body worth bragging about…”
Thanks to Selian’s kind attempt to play along with my joke, I managed to avoid an awkward silence.
“Hehe, right, right? As expected, Sel knows me best.”
Even though I know Selian was just being kind, I can’t help but let my corners curl up hearing words of approval from a Sword Master.
“…Didn’t our junior tell you he’d lend me his body for anything, as long as it’s for the Saint? Is that right, junior?”
“Ah… if it’s necessary, please let me know. As I’ve said before, I’m confident in physical matters.”
“Hehe… Did you all hear that? This is what our relationship looks like.”
“…”
For some reason, Mariel was proudly boasting while the other two looked troubled.
Isn’t this just a case of lending a hand? Why are they acting like this?
Besides, both Selian and Yuli would do the same if asked.
“Honestly, that isn’t even noteworthy. Aren’t we the kind that sleeps together every night?”
“What, what?! That’s too… Ah, never mind. Since the four of you share a dorm room, it’s not surprising that you sleep together. That much is…”
“We even sleep in the same bed with El. Right, Sel?”
“Ah… we did roll around in the same bed yesterday night too.”
At least in the beginning of the semester, they were a bit timid about accidentally climbing into my bed in their sleep, but now they talk about it as if it’s normal.
Still, compared to Anne, whose sleep habits are pretty atrocious, both of them are good sleepers, which is fortunate.
Whenever Anne climbs into my bed, I often get woken up by her legs resting on my stomach, forcing me to groan.
In contrast, if either of them climbs into my bed during their sleep, they remain still, so far I haven’t woken up even once.
At most, it seems like they feel the bed getting cramped and warm, and by morning, my clothes are slightly rumpled.
Lately, though, it’s only about three to four times a week, probably so that I can take advantage of the quiet time to rest properly during rehearsals.
…Though, it’s not like there’s anything romantic between us; it’s just friends who happen to be roommates.
Even when I was a man in the past, there was a time when an old assassin guild building collapsed due to flooding, and we had to huddle closely in a small tent for days.
Strangely, despite knowing that I internally am male, sleeping together with girls is different compared to sleeping with guys. There’s no unpleasant sweat smell but rather a comforting and pleasant aroma, which is somewhat inconvenient.
Besides, if this were abnormal, our friends would have brought it up first.
Therefore, I replied to Mariel with a look that asked if there was really a problem with this arrangement.
However, for some reason, Mariel widened her eyes and opened her mouth in a surprised manner at my response.
Is there something wrong?
