Before leaving Professor Ferent’s office, I thought I heard some strange sound, but it must have been a misunderstanding. Or maybe it was just one of Ferent’s jokes. Yeah, a joke. I always thought he was such a stern former Knights Captain, but he has quite a good sense of humor.
“Hey, isn’t that our Alicia? Are you on your way back after a consultation?”
No. I must’ve been imagining things due to feeling unwell. I still hear some strange noises now.
Reading novels that I couldn’t get to during the midterm exam period kept me up late and definitely affected my condition. There are still plenty of novels recommended by Selian left, but today, I’ll skip the novels and go to bed early.
“How about it? Haven’t you thought about transferring to Class 2?”
As if my attempts to pretend I didn’t hear were invisible, Professor Selen persistently kept pestering me.
“Hmm, well Professor, I don’t think I’ll ever join your class,” I replied.
“Hmph. Guess I did rub you the wrong way. Well, let’s save that talk for later. How about you come to my office and have a cup of tea?”
Despite my cold rejection, Selen went further and invited me to his office. Despite my impressions of him hitting rock bottom after the last incident, Selen seemed to have some goodwill towards me.
“In that case, I’ll see you at next class.”
“Don’t try dodging me like that. I just wanted to hear about Yuli.”
“…Yuli?”
Because it was Selen, Yuli’s former homeroom teacher, it was hard to just brush off the mention of Yuli, so I ended up following Selen to his office.
Man, this is the second time I’ve been called to an office today. If someone who doesn’t know me sees this, they’d surely think I’m a troublemaker.
Inside Selen’s office, it was rather simple. The only standout item was the adventurer badge. Professor Selen, one of the nine platinum adventurers on the continent, actually changed his mind about retiring and returning to his hometown to instead take up a teaching position at Griffin Academy for some reason.
I took a seat at the table placed there for formality’s sake, and Selen promptly served a cup of tea.
I had already had tea during my consultation with Ferent, but it wouldn’t be polite to refuse, so I accepted.
“Oh sorry, but being a former mercenary, the only thing I can offer as a treat is this cheap tea.”
Grasping the teacup, the warmth of the tea could be felt through the cup. I lightly touched it with my tongue, expecting it might be hot, but it was just warm enough, so I took a small sip.
Bitterness filled my mouth. However, after swallowing the bitterness, the distinct aroma arose.
“It’s Dephl tea.”
Dephl leaves can be found anywhere on the continent; rather than tea leaves, they’re practically considered weeds.
It is completely the opposite of the tea I had in Professor Ferent’s office.
Though it’s bitter and provides no real satisfaction, Dephl leaves are still used as tea since no one bothers eating them. The people who can enjoy the slight aroma after the bitterness are few and far between.
“Wow, you know Dephl tea? My students usually have no clue, take a sip, immediately spit it out, or make a face and don’t touch it again.”
I ignored Selen’s giggling and took another sip. It was a nostalgic taste and fragrance.
As mentioned, Dephl tea is practically a random weed, the simplest kind of plant picked and brewed in warm water. No one really drinks it, but on the flip side, it’s tea that anyone can consume.
Back in the days of the assassin’s guild, when going out, we used to brew Dephl tea leaves every time since our food and beverage options were very limited. We would sometimes just put the leaves in our mouths and chew slowly out of boredom.
Of course, since coming to the Academy, there are many other things to eat, so I’ve stayed away from it, but reuniting with it now was quite refreshing.
Selen filled his own teacup with water and took a sip while sitting at the seat facing me.
“To be honest, I can afford expensive tea now, but I keep coming back to this one due to nostalgia.”
Though I’ve only been eating fancy food recently, I can somewhat relate to the homesickness this tea brings.
Actually, I prefer this over the tea I had at Ferent’s place. However, having a mutual understanding hasn’t increased my fondness for Selen.
“Can we get straight to the point? I’m actually pretty busy…”
Because of my unpleasant memories with Professor Selen, an uncouth tone slipped into my response. In reality, I don’t have much urgency in my schedule.
But I didn’t care much. Selen, for some reason, has goodwill toward me. I thought he might let it slide after this, and if not, I could handle just losing points in his one subject.
Of course, he could try making my life miserable, but would a former platinum adventurer really stoop so low?
“It’s not a big deal. I just wondered if Yuli was doing well, so I called you here.”
Considering Selen’s past actions toward Yuli, his words should be fake, but there was no trace of falsity in his tone.
“Why do you care about Yuli? She’s no longer your student anyway…”
Selen placed his teacup down with a thud, shrugged his shoulders once, and answered.
“It’s actually easier to ask now that I’m not her teacher. She’s the daughter of my close friends.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve known Yuli’s parents, the two of them, for a long time. It’s quite understandable to care about a friend’s daughter, isn’t it?”
The look on Selen’s face at least didn’t seem false to me.
“If you’re so concerned, why didn’t you help Yuli in the past?”
“Didn’t I explain the reason? My principles haven’t changed. Even if she is a friend’s daughter, there are no exceptions. In fact, it was Craig who brought up not making any special exceptions first.”
“Craig… Yuli’s father?”
“That’s right. That guy prefers Yuli not to be wielding a sword. He dotes on his daughter quite affectionately. He’s usually a man of few words, but he’s become even more silent after Lenis passed away… so Yuli keeps blindly following her father’s footsteps with the sword without realizing it.”
I’ve never heard Yuli talk about it.
“So why not speak directly with Yuli instead of me?”
“Well, at this point, it’d be awkward if I called Yuli for such a conversation, right? That’s why I’m asking you. I’m not asking you to tell Yuli the same as Craig does, but just to take care of her and be a good companion.”
I raised the teacup to my lips but found it already empty.
“By doing this, aren’t you disregarding the request of Yuli’s father… Duke Craig?”
But instead of agreeing, Selen smirked, quickly gulped down the tea in his cup, and replied,
“I liked Lennis more than that Craig guy.”
*
“Were you late?”
Opening the classroom door and entering, Yuli greeted me.
From all my previous conversations with her, Yuli has no idea how her father really feels. She thinks her father treats her strictly and assumes that the other family members don’t care about her.
But according to Selen, it’s a bit different. Craig is just bad at expressing himself, and the family members actually fear Yuli and keep their distance.
“Stopped off somewhere on the way.”
But I didn’t tell Yuli what I heard from Selen. There’s no guarantee that everything Selen said is true, and it’s a sensitive topic for an outsider like me to intervene in.
When the opportunity arises, that’s when I’ll bring it up.
“There you go. Did your counselor mention something? Probably scolding you for your low midterm scores, right?”
“Yeah, probably. Ugh… I’ll definitely aim to get higher written test scores next time…”
It was Ann beside me who cradled her head upon hearing Yuli’s guess. Sorry, Ann, but I can confidently say that her current resolution will have disappeared in three days — wagering is fine!
After all, during the preparation period for the midterms, she’d quickly abandon studying after a few days, and it was Yuli who had to bring her back to study diligently. That’s why I can make this assurance.
Yuli even found Ann hiding and dragged her back to make her sit at a desk to study.
Ann should thank Yuli. Without Yuli, Ann’s written test scores would be even worse.
“So, how about I help you study from today onwards, like during the midterms?”
Even now, hearing Ann’s resolve, Yuli lights up and offers to teach again, but…
“Huh? Oh, no, I think I’m good for now!”
Look. After having that determination for only a few seconds, she immediately rejects Yuli’s offer to help.
Same old Ann.
