After Selian and Yuli finished cleaning, as I entered, the room appeared spotless, with no trace of last night’s chaos remaining.
“I feel bad for leaving the two of you to clean. I intended to just go for a short walk, but I ended up meeting someone I know, and the time flew by before I realized it.”
“That’s not true. It seems like you tidied up a bit before leaving, didn’t you?”
Though I had hurriedly straightened things up a little before leaving to avoid disturbing the others with too much noise while cleaning, I couldn’t help but think that if I had known things would turn out like this, I should’ve gone ahead and cleaned properly without worrying.
“Pfft, what was there to clean? Just a few empty blankets and some random trash on the floor. Oh…”
That reminded me. Among the trash I’d cleaned up, there was alcohol.
“Linne?”
“Hmm?”
Linne, who had been sitting cross-legged on the top bunk and looking down, tilted her head inquisitively at my call before jumping down lightly.
“Did you drink alcohol last night, Linne?”
“Huh, hehe… Caught me…?”
She immediately confessed without needing any interrogation, wearing a silly grin as if trying to get by without any trouble. But that was impossible.
“Come here and kneel down.”
“Eh, El…?”
Confused by the situation, Linne was hesitating, fidgeting and watching my reaction. Clearly, it was time to display the authority of a former assassin.
“Right now.”
I put on a stern expression but spoke quietly to indicate that though I wasn’t truly angry, punishment was necessary. Acting was easy in such situations.
“Y-yes sir!”
The moment Linne sensed the change in my demeanor, she quickly knelt down without hesitation.
“Ten extra minutes for every attempt to float in the air.”
I warned her in advance, suspecting she might try to levitate as a trick.
As time passed and her legs began to tingle, Linne started fidgeting her toes while kneeling.
“Um, can I get up now?”
“Psst!”
“Hi-ing…”
Though I understood Linne’s playful nature, secretly allowing friends to drink alcohol was dangerous—especially for me.
Friends might dismiss drunken mistakes with laughter and ease, but I couldn’t afford to do so. If I were to inadvertently divulge my true identity as an assassin infiltrating the Academy to kill Selian while intoxicated, it would mean dire consequences for me, consequences too distressing to imagine.
“So, isn’t it about time to forgive me?”
“She has apologized enough, hasn’t she? Let it go.”
Even if Selian and Yuli weren’t particularly upset, it was surprising that they were defending Linne instead of being angry. They are truly kind-hearted, which concerns me. How will their gentle personalities survive in society later on?
Anyway, since Linne had genuinely accepted her punishment without shortcuts, it was time to show some mercy as suggested by Yuli. She had probably reflected enough.
“Alright, I’m letting you go because of them. Say thank you and get up.”
At my command, Linne stood up, but just like yesterday when I was scolded by Selian and Yuli, her legs felt weak, and she lost her balance, falling back down. As she soothed her aching bottom, I warned her again with a stern voice.
“Next time, it won’t be just ten minutes. Understand?”
“Y-yes! Of course!”
Perhaps emboldened by my serious tone, Linne nodded vigorously, confirming my frightening demeanor.
“Uuung…”
In the middle of scolding Linne, Anne stirred from sleep, perhaps disturbed by the noise. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly walked over.
“What’s going on? Why are you guys making so much noise in the morning?”
“Linne secretly gave us alcohol to drink last night, so we were scolding her for that.”
“Alcohol?”
Anne, still groggy from sleep, tilted her head, puzzled, but after a moment, she must’ve recalled her actions from the night before and blushed deeply, covering her mouth with her hands.
“I’m going to the bathroom!”
And with that, Anne darted away to the bathroom. I wondered what exactly happened last night to cause such embarrassment.
“Is Anne okay? Did she do something strange when she was drunk?”
Given Anne’s playful nature akin to Linne, it wasn’t unusual to consider such possibilities.
“Pfft, the most unusual thing Anne did was… Hot!”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Yuli was about to say something, but she stopped halfway and covered her mouth.
One way to make someone angry is to stop speaking in the middle of a sentence…
Curious as I was, it seemed like Yuli knew something but wasn’t revealing it, making me even more intrigued.
“It’s nothing. It’s Anne’s privacy.”
Without Anne being present, Selian didn’t seem inclined to satisfy my curiosity, and that was fine. I could casually bring up the topic with Anne later when the opportunity arose.
“Anyway, both of you have really good temperaments. To not be angry despite being sneaked alcohol…”
“Haha… It was just a party, so it could happen, you know. Don’t worry too much.”
“By the way… Do you remember anything from last night?”
“Like, if I knew, I wouldn’t be asking what Anne did. Oh, did I make some mistake?”
I only remember laughing and chatting while drinking what I thought was a regular drink. My last clear memory was that.
“No, nothing happened. You slept… soundly. Right, Yuli?”
“Uh-huh, definitely!”
Though they claimed nothing happened, both of them subtly blushed, giving away the truth in their words.
Hot! Could it be…?
Could it be that drunk, I couldn’t control my lust, and acted wildly? Normally, I suppress such desires for moral reasons, but last night under the influence of alcohol, I might have let loose.
For instance, perhaps I took advantage of my female form to initiate some inappropriate skinship like I did with Selian a few days ago—perhaps I touched Yuli and Selian inappropriately…
Or maybe Anne fled to the bathroom because of something involving me?
Glancing at both girls, they couldn’t meet my gaze and instead avoided looking at me directly, their faces slightly tinged with red.
…Damn. It seems my suspicions were correct.
“Sorry!”
After reprimanding Linne, I couldn’t pretend ignorance of my own mistake, so I immediately bowed my head to apologize sincerely.
“Huh?”
The girls were caught off guard by my unexpected apology and could only mutter their confusion.
“Um… Even if I don’t recall exactly what I did to you guys last night… Something must’ve gone wrong. So… I’m genuinely and deeply sorry!”
A sincere apology should never include excuses.
While bowing, I sneakily glanced at the two of them. Despite my shameless apology, without knowing what exactly I did wrong, I was ready for them to yell—but they didn’t look mad, fortunately.
Instead, the two exchanged glances, discussing quietly. They were probably deciding how to handle me.
“Look up. You didn’t do anything you should really apologize for.”
“Yeah. And even if someone ends up drunk and makes a mistake, it’s understandable among friends, right?”
After a little while, they seemed to have agreed to forgive me and gently replied.
Looking at their expressions as they lifted their heads, there was a sense of compassion. Perhaps they were truly angels descended from the Goddess Serena?
Shiver.
I stealthily silenced Holy Sword, who was trembling, with a gentle but stern pat. Though referencing the Goddess Serena might offend her, I wanted her to understand the context—it was only a metaphor.
Leaving aside the Holy Sword, I once again realized how despicable I was for harboring lustful thoughts toward such pure and innocent friends.
“Would you refuse to forgive us if roles were reversed?”
“Of course not! I would always forgive!”
There was really nothing for Selian and Yuli to apologize for, not in this situation.
“Will you promise to forgive us if we end up making mistakes while drinking together in the future?”
“Naturally. Do I look like a liar?”
Though I may be a liar, I wasn’t shameless enough to break a simple promise like this one.
Satisfied with my honesty, the two happily nodded and completely forgave me.
