[56] Gauge Symmetry (2)
"Not wearing it today?"
"No. Straighten your waist a bit more."
"Like this?"
"Yes, like that. Lift your legs slightly. Good—just like that."
All three faces flushed. They were adults, so affection between a man and a woman wasn't inherently scandalous. But this looked like adultery. If the school found out, Siina's career as a teacher would be over.
"Shall we start? Don't move."
"Don't worry. You've held back this whole time."
Nade turned to his friends with a furious look. Shirone and Iruki, who had guessed what he planned, nodded.
They could say love knows no boundaries, but thinking of the wife whose husband had been taken, it was right to stop this here.
The hand on the doorknob trembled. If he'd waited a little longer he could have verified everything perfectly, but he couldn't bear to see the teacher he respected in such a scene.
The knob turned hard and the three of them burst into the room in unison.
"You bastard! Siina-sensei! I'm so disappointed!"
Nade's shout was swallowed by the silence.
Shirone and Iruki, who had braced themselves, blinked open their eyes and stared dumbfounded at a scene nothing like what they'd imagined.
Siina, sitting on the bed, turned toward the door. Opposite her stood a large canvas.
"Huh? Huh?"
They gaped like fish. One thought passed through everyone's heads: this has to be a huge misunderstanding—misperception, distortion, and coincidence all at once.
"What is this? How did you even get in here...?"
Siina was just as surprised. Her face flushed at finding students in her private room. The embarrassment was brief; she soon frowned.
"You didn't follow me, did you?"
"Huh? No, well—actually, we were just sitting in the park spacing out, and then Siina-sensei passed by, so—"
"So you did follow me!"
"Eek! We're sorry!"
They all shrank back at once. With her temperament, a scolding could have escalated, but to everyone's surprise she didn't snap further. When they peeked, Siina was staring into space, lost in thought.
How did they even follow me? She kept her senses as alert as possible. She hadn't entered a Spirit Zone, but she wasn't so careless as to be trailed by students.
"What are you hiding back there? Hand it over."
Nade shook his head in panic, but when a flash of severity crossed Siina's eyes he hurriedly produced the cloak he'd been holding. Siina snatched it roughly and stared in astonishment at her missing arm. Wrapping it around her waist like a skirt, she found that now her waist appeared to be cut away.
"Nade. Is this that patented thing you keep bragging about?"
"Yes."
"You really made this?"
"Y-yes! But I didn't put it on the black market! I still have some conscience, you know!"
Siina sighed, and all three of them flinched. Still, she didn't scold them further. For a certified Grade-6 mage to be stalked meant her own failings were greater than her students' misbehavior.
"Then why did you come into this room? You knew you'd be found. And what did you mean by being 'disappointed'?"
Shirone asked in a trembling voice.
"At first we were just following as a joke, but then we saw you hugging a man and followed you inside. We overheard you at the door and thought you were having an affair, so we—"
"What? A-a-affair?"
Siina's face went beet-red. She'd never been this flustered before.
"An affair? How dare you say that about me!"
Nade shot back to defend her.
"But that's how it sounded! How could we not misunderstand after hearing that? 'Take off your clothes,' 'Try this posture'—who is that man?"
Nade pointed toward the space behind the canvas.
"You mean him?"
A warm voice, then the creak of a chair. Moments later a man stepped out from behind the canvas.
They were stunned. He was a handsome man in his late twenties with waist‑long blond hair. What shocked them wasn't his looks, though—it was the shabby cloth wrapped over his eyes. He was blind. A blind painter.
What the—
Shirone went pale. That familiar chill that crept in at night crawled over his whole body again.
Why now? It never happens during the day.
The hairs raised on his arms and his bones felt ice-cold. Nade, feeling a twinge of responsibility, patted his back and said, "Hey, Shirone? You okay? Don't worry too much. Sensei isn't going to kill us, right?"
"Uh? No—I'm fine now."
Shirone slowly relaxed. The chill had been intense compared to his usual sensations, but it faded quickly.
"Siina, stop it and forgive them. I don't know the circumstances, but they're your students."
"What are you talking about? That just makes it worse. Following me might be excused, but breaking into someone's house? You've learned nothing but bad habits."
The man smiled gently.
"But they're your students. They probably thought it was fine because you were at home."
Nade seized the opening.
"Haha! We honestly thought that. Really. Ask Shirone—he doesn't lie. If it had been somebody else's house we wouldn't have come in. We're not burglars."
Shirone nodded repeatedly.
"That's right. Nade really told me that. I definitely heard it."
Siina pressed her temple in irritation. The attempt to excuse themselves with such naive faces made her skin crawl.
Those brazen kids—hiding under an invisibility cloak to stalk their teacher and picking a lock in someone's house. The nerve.
Even so, the man only smiled. Above all, he seemed pleased to see Siina's students.
"My name is Armin. I grew up like a brother to Siina. I studied at the Olifer school too."
When Armin extended his hand, Nade clasped it eagerly.
"Ah, I see. We apologize for our foolish misunderstanding. Sorry for dropping by without notice."
Siina snapped.
"That's trespassing! Are you trying to brush that off as a casual visit?"
"Hehe. Which is why I apologized. Honestly, I'm just glad the misunderstanding is cleared up."
"I'm sorry, teacher. I had a ridiculous misunderstanding."
Siina put a hand on her hip and exhaled. The awkwardness of meeting students in a private setting was mutual, and silence followed for a moment.
"Sit down and let's talk. I'll bring tea first."
Armin stepped aside with practiced ease. When the blind man left the room with a sure stride, Shirone and the others were astonished once more.
"Sensei, who is he? And what about telling you to take off your clothes? That's what started the whole misunderstanding."
Siina shook her head as if the suspicion were absurd.
"Armin is an alumnus. He was once hailed as the greatest prodigy in Olifer school's history. He's a painter now, but as a child his talent far outshone mine."
"That's impressive. Sorry if this is rude, but why are his eyes like that...?"
Siina's expression darkened and Nade felt guilty for asking. She quickly composed herself and spoke calmly.
"My brother lost his sight to save me."
"What? For you?"
"When I was nine I fell into an Overflow. I began to vaguely understand how the world worked and everything terrified me. I think I cried every day. Even now, it was terrible pain."
Siina gave a bitter smile.
"The one who saved me was Armin. He led me out of the darkness. He was eleven at the time."
Eleven was still a child, yet he'd pulled Siina out of an Overflow—proof of how extraordinary Armin's talent had been.
"So Armin's guidance helped you overcome the Overflow," Nade said.
Siina shook her head.
"No. I wasn't a strong child. I grew arrogant, enjoying privileges just because I was from the Olifer family. I actually hated him. He would always say: whatever comes to you, don't look away. That annoyed me. It's scary, so you close your eyes. You can't bear it, so you run away. Looking back, I was foolish."
Shirone couldn't imagine the Grade‑6 mage Siina as a frightened, crying child.
"How did you overcome the Overflow?"
"I tried to avoid him. I'd go to mountains, fields, the riverside—anywhere. He always found me, and I'd run again. One day when our game of hide‑and‑seek went on, something happened."
Siina winced.
"It was the rainy season. It rained for days and I wandered the riverbank. It might have just been another day, but by misfortune the embankment upstream collapsed. I had no idea and was swept away. It was a flood that inundated half the village."
Siina recalled the events from seventeen years ago.
She went under without even managing a scream. By the time she fought back to the surface, the scene around her had changed completely. Debris and livestock floated down from upstream; jagged, broken trees drifted downstream.
For the first time in her life she tasted the terror of death.
"Help me—somebody please—!"
She knew no one would come. That place was a middle ground between a stream and marsh, far from the school where people rarely passed. Nobody would expect a little girl to be there.
The water swelled her body quickly. The land looked impossibly distant. The little rivulet she used to pick pebbles from had become a twenty‑five‑meter‑wide torrent. The water was black; the current split around rocks and formed countless whirlpools.
"Help me! Somebody save me!"
For the first time Siina begged humbly. All the pride of being the only daughter of the Olifer family vanished before nature's might. Her talent could not conquer the raging river. All she could do was call for help.
"Siina!"
As if answering a divine summons, she lifted her head with all her strength. Armin waited on a bent branch above the water.
"Brother! Brother!"
"Reach out your hand!"
Armin stretched his hand close to the surface. Just as Siina reached for it, a sudden surge swept her under.
"Siina!"
When she resurfaced, it was her legs that came up first. Armin didn't hesitate; he plunged in. Riding the current, he dove and seized Siina, hauling her face above the water. Drenched and delirious, she was barely lucid.
"Puh! Puh!"
"Siina! Get a grip! We have to get out of the river!"
"Save me! Save me!"
They escaped the whirlpool, but harsher obstacles lay ahead. Armin expanded his Spirit Zone and navigated around hazards. For an eleven‑year‑old, it was the only way.
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