The day after the third coma incident, during the school commute.
The attention that had been lavished on them since the second coma incident had completely cooled down.
Tom, whose boasted Heaven Piercing Storm Hair had gone limp at the tips.
“They say that teacher Rasis got caught up in the incident trying to help teacher Melek. Teacher Rasis is amazing!”
“Huh, really? If I got caught up in an incident… would he protect me with his own body///?”
“No way, someone like you who’s all romance novels (fairy tales) would be too much for a teacher to handle!”
“That’s true!”
“You two are awful!”
“It’s the truth!”
Moo, Ahahaha, Kyakkyakkyak!
No one showed any interest in me.
A sigh.
“You’re so gloomy. What happened to the sparkle you had yesterday?”
“Ah… Ah…”
Just then.
I rejoiced that someone was talking to me from behind and turned around, only to be disappointed on realizing it was someone I knew.
“Hey, hey, isn’t that harsh? I went out of my way to talk to you when you were feeling down and gloomy, and you do that. *Fasa!*”
The androgynous student lifted his bangs with his hand.
He had tanned skin and red hair.
In his hand was not a textbook, but his sacred scripture (magic book [Lacria]).
His school uniform also had several jagged decorations.
“Hmph.”
“Hey, where are you going?”
He came up beside me with light steps and, knowing I wasn’t heading to the classroom, asked.
“Where I want to go.”
“How cold. You’re as cold as the extreme northern region said to be the southernmost part of the world! Ah, so don’t run away~”
“You’re annoying. Leave me alone.”
“Ehh, no.”
“Kuh. …Hmph.”
Rustle rustle, rustle rustle.
Tom stopped dealing with him and reached his destination, the infirmary.
He stopped at the crowd of students who had come to visit Rasis and were interviewing her.
“Wow, there are as many as I expected~~, Tom♪? Oh dear, no reaction.”
“………..!”
Tom focused his hearing to pick up voices from the infirmary entrance.
“Teacher Rasis is recovering smoothly.”
“You students should go back to class to rest.”
Nooo~ Aren’t you hiding something?
The former was a female student who had come to visit.
The latter were reporters who had come to interview her.
Tom gave up on being able to see Rasis, who was in a coma, at the infirmary.
He decided to go after school.
Rustle rustle, rustle rustle.
“Kuh.”
The same scene as in the morning irritated him.
He thought he should have been the center of attention for a while longer.
He headed towards the crime scene, radiating strong anger towards the culprit.
Town soldiers and an investigation team from some great nation that arrived in the afternoon were thoroughly searching the crime scene, making it impossible to get close.
“Young man, this area is temporarily a restricted zone.”
“What is it? A student. Hmm, you’re getting in the way of the investigation. Hurry up and get rid of him.”
The foreign soldiers looked at Tom from head to toe.
They quickly ordered him away, deeming he had no clues to the incident. They had the backing of a great nation.
That’s why they could boss around the town soldiers.
“You should leave quickly.”
“Y-yes…”
Tom intended to cooperate with the investigation and find clues to the culprit himself.
It was all to be the most noticeable person in school.
To increase his fame.
To engrave his name in the history of Flune School.
He knew he wouldn’t get a decent job with his current grades.
Knowing this, he neglected his studies and self-discipline.
He had peculiar hairstyles and performed street performances everywhere in the school.
Tom’s efforts were misguided.
“I will definitely find the culprit… and leave my name for eternity…”
“Pffft.”
A kindred spirit, who had been watching the entire scene from hiding, emerged from behind a tree.
“You again. Stop bothering me already.”
“Your first-person pronoun has become ‘ore’, which means you’re quite… Ah, wait. I, this me, can help with the criminal investigation… Can I just hear a little bit of your story~?”
“Get lost.”
“Aren’t we like-minded (※kindred spirits)♪?”
“Who’s like-minded! Who!”
I put all my effort into street performing and my hairstyle to stand out.
In contrast, this guy puts all his effort into his clothing and accessories.
His clothes are from clothing stores, and his accessories are from magic and sorcery-related shops.
I don’t like this guy who stands out effortlessly without using any physical strength or intellect.
“Ehh, you and I/// *blush*///”
“Why are you blushing? Get away. Don’t come near meeee!”
Tom fled towards the school gate as if escaping his kindred spirit.
“Wait—”
One of the school’s eccentrics.
She was known as a dark sorceress due to carrying a book of darkness.
Astraia.
A woman who preferred to cross-dress and collect unusual items.
However, she married a man of the same sex and had him impregnate her.
If the offspring was male, she would have him reproduce. If female, she would have her impregnate the unusual man, her father.
Frankly, she was a dangerous woman.
That was Astraia.
