A few days passed after my pay got cut…
Sniff!
'I am not crying… just, water splashed to my eyes!'
"Sir,"
It was a sad, heartbreaking day but it can't be helped. It was my fault for throwing Estrid to the floor and not stopping her before she damaged the walls.
"Sir!"
Fuck!
"Sir Caelum Achard!"
'Huh? What?'
I turned my head to the direction where I was called and saw a pale-skinned young woman with bleak eyes, dark circles under her eyes, short black hair that barely reached her shoulders, and an expressionless face.
Currently, I was in my office, grieving over my pay. On the other side of the office was Estrid, who was studying quietly. At least she was studying before approaching me.
"What do you want, Estrid?"
As I said, a few days passed after the merciless principal cut my pay.
Nothing important happened. I couldn't talk with my sister because she avoided me… I also couldn't watch Lars and his mind because he disappeared after he got scared shitless because of Estrid, and I also couldn't find out much from Estrid and her mind.
Yes, it was a few unproductive days. At least, I got rid of the mind infection.
As for why I couldn't learn something from Estrid's mind, because her mind was strangely quiet. She wasn't the type to think much, hence there was nothing much I could get from reading her surface thoughts. Instead, I needed to delve into her memories.
"I want to join a club, sir," Estrid said and gave me a submission form.
"So, what? I don't care. Just join why give it to me." I was about to dismiss her but I froze after reading the name of the club.
"'Drawing and Reading Club'?" I muttered while looking at Estrid.
'She is just a depressed teenager. What is she going to do in the Drawing and Reading Club? Stab herself with a brush? Learn how to die faster without any pain?'
[He is thinking something rude again.]
'...how did she know?'
"Go ahead and join, but know this you won't be able to change your club for the whole year. Do you really want to join this club?"
"Yes."
[No, but I need to.]
"Alright." I nodded and gave the submission paper to her. It wasn't my job to process these papers. "Go, torture yourself with something you don't fancy."
"I will do so." Estrid nodded but she didn't go away but instead parted her lips. "I want you to become the advisor of this club."
"No." I immediately denied it. Being an advisor of a club meant that I needed to work more than now. It simply wasn't worth it. I was here for vacati– an important mission to protect world peace!
"Why—"
"No. I won't. Don't even think about it."
"..."
"..."
Silence ensued between us as Estrid bit her lower lip and uttered. "Your sister also going to join."
"Alright. I decided to become the advisor of the reading and drawing club. I love reading the most, you know. It is a calming and enjoyable activity. Plus as a noble, I appreciate the art most."
"..."
"..."
"It is Drawing and Reading Club, not reading and drawing club." Estrid corrected me.
"Whatever it is. Is it a new club? Why it doesn't have an advisor? Why is my sister going to join and how do you know this?"
After receiving my questions after questions, Estrid frowned and answered:
"Yes, it is a new club. I don't know why it doesn't have an advisor and why your sister joining, I just saw her submission by chance."
"By chance? Really?"
"Yes, by chance."
"Really?"
"Yes." Estrid nodded without showing any sign of annoyance to my repeated questions.
"Are you telling the truth?" I pressed further.
"Yes."
[No.]
"Do you want to get expelled?"
"..."
[It would be nice actually.]
"Sigh... I'm going to go mad." I rubbed my temples while whispering to myself.
Estrid stood silent as blood began to rush over my head, and then she silently took a step back and looked at me.
'Is she observing me?'
[I guess he can discern lies from the truths.]
'What the fuck? She is like a professional.'
The desire to take Estrid into my team increased with learning about her observation skills.
In just a few days of my supervision, she must have watched me while I was watching her. But because I wasn't someone who abused my mind reading, she didn't have much confidence in her guess.
'So young but so intelligent.'
I looked at the depressed teenager in front of me in a new light.
Estrid was a highly skilled swordswoman and a hard worker. Her talent wasn't the best but she was offsetting this negative point with her hard work.
She was swinging her sword every night and working hard to increase her physical mana without any complaint.
Her sleep disorder was like a blessing for her hard-working nature.
'Though her skills are a bit too polished for her age. This is not something she can get with talent or hard work.'
'There is no reason to think more. I will learn the reason when I read her memories.'
'Let's first play with her. I won't let anyone figure out my mind reading.'
"Ahem!" I coughed into my fist and directly looked into Estrid's eyes. I was trying to give her a wrong hint of my ability works only when I looked into the target's eyes.
"I will ask one more question. Answer honestly." I deepened my voice to make it more threatening.
Gulp.
Estrid's throat moved up and down, I managed to make her anxious.
"Will you harm my sister?"
"...Yes–"
[Probably not—]
Bang!
My hand shot forward and grabbed her throat. In the next moment, I slammed her back onto my office table.
"Gah!"
Breath escaped from her lungs.
Without giving her a chance, I grabbed her dominant hand with my other hand and effectively cut her chance to grab her sword.
"What did you say?" I questioned with a dark tone while widening my eyes to the limit. Giving strength to my hands, I slowly tightened my grip on her throat.
"What did you say? Say it again,"
Under my gaze, Estrid trembled violently and her pupils shook. There was a fear in her eyes, a small part of the fear was toward me while the remaining big part was towards my hands, particularly to the skin contact.
Estrid's trauma regarding the skin contact was greater than I thought. However, she didn't lose her mind this time. She probably expected this development.
But, expecting something wasn't enough to resist the trauma. I needed to keep this act short or else there was a good chance for her trauma to get worse.
"Stop!" Estrid tried to shout but she couldn't because of my grip. "I was joking, please stop..."
"Why do you joke something about this? Do you want me to make you a corpse as a joke?" I asked while loosening my grip.
With that, Estrid managed to get a breath of relief.
"It wasn't entirely a joke...huff... if she were to touch me suddenly there is a chance that I might harm her...huff...puff..."
I withdrew my hands and stepped back for her to have some space.
"It seems you lost your mind because of your lack of sleep," I said deeply while Estrid raised her upper body and sat on the table.
"Yes, I'm sorry," Estrid replied monotonously while taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"Then thank me later and go to sleep," I said as I raised my hand.
"Wha—?"
Smack
Then I hit her hard enough to fall unconscious.
I felt good. After all, I was a merciful man who granted sleep to the fellow sleep-disordered. I was sure she was grateful.