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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Promise
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"You... really didn't do anything?"
"I told you!"
I complained to Amelia, feeling wronged.
No, if I had done something, I'd at least know the cause.
But I didn't do anything, and yet she watched me for hours.
She came to visit every day.
...Huh? Now that I think about it, nothing's different from usual?
"What? Nothing's changed then."
"What?"
"No, I was surprised, but then I realized it's just like any other day. If she stares at me every day, then it's not really different, is it? The hospital visit is a bit touching, actually. I'm moved."
I got scared for nothing.
I guess Arte's face, being the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes, must have startled me a bit.
"...You, you. Are you really okay with that?"
"Huh? With what?"
"No, it's nothing... Okay, if you don't care, then it's fine..."
"?"
Amelia stared at me with a bewildered expression, but I couldn't understand why she was looking at me like that.
Well, it's the same; she's been watching me every day.
It's become so familiar, almost a routine, to watch Arte circling our house every night before bed.
The fact that she was staring so intently from such a close distance did give me goosebumps for a moment, but other than the distance, nothing else had really changed.
In other words, it wasn't something for me to be scared of.
I was momentarily flustered by the new situation, but after thinking about it carefully, there was nothing to be afraid of!
"Is that all you wanted to say?"
"Uh, well. Originally, we were planning to go to the beach..."
"The beach?"
"Yeah. Don't you remember? I told you at the end-of-term ceremony. About going together."
"...Ah, you did."
A lot happened right after the end-of-term ceremony started, so I completely forgot.
Did we talk about that?
The talk about going out after the end-of-term ceremony disappeared, and it seems only the idea of just going to the beach remained.
"But your leg..."
"Oh, this is fine. It'll heal in about a week. ...So, what about you?"
"Huh?"
"You have to recover before we can go to the beach, right?"
Ah.
I realized why Amelia trailed off.
She clearly thought it would be meaningless if I couldn't go.
Because the reason she wants to go to the beach must be for Arte.
As long as her goal is to connect Arte and me somehow, then I suppose I have to recover.
"Well, this time, I'm not sure we should..."
Everyone will be quite shocked this time, so how about we go next time?
I was about to say that, but I suddenly closed my mouth.
To Amelia, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression because I'd suddenly stopped talking, I said something completely opposite to what I'd just been thinking.
"My body isn't in the best condition, but I think I'll be fine in a week. I'll probably be discharged by then."
"Really? Then I should ask Arte too. If we can go to the beach..."
"I'm fine with it too."
"?!"
Arte, who had appeared out of nowhere, smiled at a startled Amelia and said,
"The beach, isn't it nice? To think you were talking about it behind my back."
"Arte. When did you get here...?"
"Just now. It was taking a while, so I wondered what was going on and just peeked in for a moment. If it was this kind of talk, it would have been fine to just listen together."
"Ah, ahaha... Is, is that so...?"
Amelia glared at me as if asking, 'Why didn't you tell me?'
She must have realized I'd noticed Arte from the way I fumbled my words. Her mind really works fast.
But what was I supposed to do?
She was already right there the moment I noticed her.
"Let's call Miss Dorothy too and all go together."
"...Uh, Dorothy too?"
"Yes. Isn't it nice, among friends? It's bad to exclude someone, isn't it?"
"Hmm. Alright."
Amelia tilted her head, as if it was different from what she'd expected.
She was probably thinking something strange again.
Like, Arte is completely smitten with me, so she wouldn't like bringing other girls along, something like that.
Contrary to what she'd expected, Arte was the one who suggested bringing Dorothy, which seemed to surprise her.
...But why?
It seems I've been influenced by Amelia too much.
Even I couldn't have imagined Arte suggesting we bring Dorothy along too.
I was unconsciously flustered.
Thinking Arte might find us strange, I quickly decided to change the subject.
"...But, it's a shame. Has a whole week passed already?"
"Huh? Oh, you were asleep, weren't you? Why?"
"I wasted a whole week of my precious vacation... *Sigh*..."
It was something I brought up just to change the subject, but once I said it, I couldn't help but sigh.
Vacation, vacation.
No matter how fun training is or how compelling the reasons to get stronger, repeating sparring, classes, and drills every day is bound to be exhausting.
Even if it wasn't a very long period, it was a good time to get psychological stability, knowing I could rest fully.
But a whole week of that precious time just vanished.
Without doing anything.
Even if I can move freely right now, they'll probably do thorough examinations just in case.
In that case, I'd be held up for at least another week.
That's two weeks.
Half a month, just gone, without doing anything.
"My already short vacation..."
"Oh, they say this vacation will be a bit longer."
"What?"
"Ah, you wouldn't know. Because you haven't been awake for long."
I didn't quite understand what they were talking about, but I knew one thing.
That it wasn't a gloomy story.
"There's talk that the academy buildings are dangerous as they are."
"Dangerous?"
"Because they took a lot of damage from this incident."
"...Ah."
Suddenly, the scene before I fainted came to mind.
The villain with the strange horns used their power, and the main academy building was a mess.
"Upon investigation, they found a room that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere."
"...A room?"
"Yes. It seems someone made it a long time ago, but it hadn't been revealed until now."
"..."
That's the Secret Chamber, isn't it?
Arte seemed to be telling us, thinking we wouldn't know, but we already knew.
That there was a Secret Chamber.
The Secret Chamber... it's been revealed.
"It's presumed they attacked the academy to find something in there, so the academy made a big decision."
"...What does that have to do with vacation?"
"It does. They're tearing down and rebuilding the buildings."
"What?"
"They're going to completely tear them down and rebuild them. They say they might even demolish everything while they're at it?"
Amelia delivered shocking news.
Tearing down and rebuilding the buildings, really?
"For hundreds of years, they've only done maintenance under the guise of tradition, but now problems have come to light."
"They were sturdy but also old, and the fact that there were things even they didn't know about must have been a threat."
"Yeah. Now, they came in openly to find the Secret Chamber, but what if there were secret passages?"
"...That's terrifying."
"Intruders might swarm in all at once, without anyone ever knowing. The academy can't just stand by and watch such threats."
Indeed, I just thought 'Oh, that exists,' but the higher-ups wouldn't think that way.
Something they didn't even know existed was hidden in their own backyard.
If there's a Secret Chamber, there might also be passages. It's natural for them to think that.
"Anyway, with so many incidents happening at the academy lately, they said they'd rebuild it from scratch and improve various things."
"That's why there was talk of the vacation being extended by about two weeks."
"...I see."
For me, it was a silver lining in a misfortune.
It might seem a bit strange to be thinking like this so soon after the incident happened, but...
Because weekdays, where I only have to attend classes and train, are very different from holidays, where I can rest as much as I want and train as much as I want.
"Let's stop with the gloomy talk, shall we? ...What are you planning to do a week from now?"
"My family has a villa; how about we go there?"
"That sounds great!"
Still can't get used to it. Amelia's family really is rich, isn't it?
She's not the type to boast about her family's wealth, so sometimes I forget that she's the daughter of a well-off family.
That's precisely why I feel a sense of incongruity when I occasionally realize again that she's a rich young lady.
No matter how much I think about it, she doesn't feel like the daughter of a rich family, but more like a lively girl from the neighborhood...
Yet her appearance has a subtle elegance, so whenever I hear things like this, I realize the truth: "Ah, she's a rich girl."
But because of her usual behavior, I quickly forget again.
How on earth did Amelia grow up to have such a personality...?
"Then we'll need to get swimsuits."
"Oh? Now that you mention it."
"Swimsuits? ...Ah."
Can't we just bring the ones we had at school?
I was about to say that, then I realized.
The school, they said they're rebuilding it.
Demolition work must be in full swing by now.
Even if the swimsuits were intact after that villain's wind attack, it's obvious they'd be too damaged to use by now.
"Okay! Then let's postpone the date a bit, and once everyone's feeling better, how about we meet up?"
"...Huh? W-wait."
"Shopping together would be fun too. What do you think?"
"Uh, well. I don't mind."
Watching Arte and Amelia chat so harmoniously, I started to feel uneasy.
Something about the atmosphere feels off.
Now that I think about it, this combination has a lot of problems.
The only guy... is me!
Even one guy with two girls is a bit much, but if Dorothy joins, that's three.
I don't usually pay much attention, but the beach might be a bit risky.
No, even if the beach is somehow manageable, wouldn't me going along with three girls to buy swimsuits be an even bigger problem?
Alright, no choice then.
Here, I'll make a manly escape.
Amelia would understand, right?
"I, I..."
"It's fine, right?"
Sorry, but I'll skip the shopping.
Just as I was about to say that, Arte subtly approached and whispered to me.
"Don't you want to see pretty swimsuits?"
"...Huh?"
"Ohoho, you can look forward to it."
"...Huh? Uh?"
What did I just hear?
I pondered for a long time until Amelia and Arte finished their conversation and left the hospital room, saying "See you later."
Don't you want to see pretty swimsuits?
Why me? With what intention?
Huh? Huh?