"..."
Just a few steps out of his room, he found out that he and his sister weren't the only ones subjected to the dreadful pressure. Other students and even teachers tried to understand what had happened, as many were only beginning to get up from where they had crumbled down.
But that only made the situation that much more confusing.
After all, the carriage that Magnus saw was being drawn by domesticated monsters.
Since they didn't make a single sound, it must have meant that the scene was terrifyingly good, with the characters carefully controlling their bloodlust just to spare the creatures.
"Huh…?"
…only that theory ended up disproved once Magnus rushed outside and got closer to the gate, as after a closer look, he noticed that the monsters weren't exactly intact…
The creatures were trembling while keeping their heads low, barely holding themselves up with their shaking hooved legs while foaming from the mouth…
They definitely were in the range of the unidentified pressure…
On top of that, after even closer look, Magnus could tell that despite the pompous decorations, the carriage was actually made to transport goods and not people, so it was very plausible that there was no one inside.
"G-good morning, Young Lord… S-scary place, this Jade Academy…"
"Good morning. Indeed…"
The coachman called out to the blue-haired man with a shaky voice, and Magnus responded with a short nod.
"Please, excuse me if it's not my business, but what brings you here, Mister?"
"Apparently, he's here with my birthday presents."
Magnus breathed out and asked, straightening his back, only to hear the answer come from behind him.
"!!!"
Once he turned around, he saw a furious gold-haired girl wearing an oversized white shirt that she had fashioned into a makeshift dress by tying it around her waist with a gold-buckled belt.
Her breath was haggard, although on its way to even out. Her hair and skin were damp, and the white fabric of her attire was beginning to stick to her as it was turning more and more translucent, giving the impression of an article of clothing she donned immediately after exiting a bath without drying herself properly.
…and being the only article of clothing she wore, apparently…
"Y-young Lady Fenrioette…!?"
"I know. I'm both surprised and pissed off too. I had no idea the Fenrioette family would come up with the genius idea of sending the birthday gifts over since I didn't bother showing up at the party. I swear. They have no consideration. Where do they expect me to put all of that?"
Magnus gasped, to which Melinda groaned, raising her hand and shaking her head, misunderstanding the reason for the blue-haired man's agitation and answering the question that wasn't and wouldn't have been asked in the first place.
"They send no prior warning either. I'm this close to just sending it all back without looking at it. But it would be considered rude to act like that, wouldn't it…"
Melinda scoffed, shaking her head while the attire soaking in the moisture on her skin continued to reveal more and more of her body.
"Young Lady… you… weren't affected by that unreasonable pressure just now?"
Magnus ended up shaking his head to keep himself in check and asked the first question that came to his mind, which wasn't about Melinda's look.
"What pressure? I was enjoying myself with-... in a bath in peace. And suddenly, I got rudely interrupted and informed about carriages with parcels under my name!"
Melinda scoffed, slicking back her hair in an annoyed motion, and pointed out, making Magnus realize that the one carriage in front of them was queued up along the Academy's walls, waiting for their turn.
"Never mind that. Mister. Pile it all up over there, by the girls' dormitory wall. I'll be taking a look at all of it and deciding what goes back and what I keep."
"A-at once…!"
The gold-haired girl declared, tossing a gold coin to the coachman who instantly shook off his shock and fear, grabbing the money and assuring vigorously.
"You can help out too if you want, Your Highness."
"Wha…? Oh! Y-yes, I think I will."
Melinda glanced at Magnus from head to toe before informing him and making him flinch and nod before he knew what he was saying.
*shwump*
"???"
"...ugh… Just when I thought that we'd get some time alone since Adi took a day off…"
Seemingly without any reason, the gold-haired girl suddenly grabbed and put up the collar of her shirt, confusing the blue-haired man even more…
…and then walking back to her dormitory while muttering something under her breath…
"..."
Since he already agreed to do it, Magnus Em'raldio nodded to himself and began helping the coachman with unloading the various packages.
Meanwhile, back in her room, Melinda sat in Zane's lap, facing the white-haired young man, and trembled with excitement while he slid his shirt off of her, exposing the uneven teeth marks on her pale neck and shoulder.
"Nnnhnn~!"
As the two gazed into each other's eyes, Zane's long fingers traced the line of Melinda's waist until they found and sunk into the softness of her butt and thighs, making her moan as their grip tightened.
—------
"...pffft! The brooding hen is still carrying that egg. Good to know…"
"...?"
Melinda's hearing was certainly still underestimated, which wasn't that odd considering that in the last few weeks of the second semester of their first year, the gold-haired girl's classmates could say whatever they liked when she wasn't looking, and she would be none the wiser.
It still felt weird, though... Badmouthing her was one thing since that was about the only thing that other students could do to delude themselves into feeling superior, but the increased interest in the Kobold egg she cared for was another.
The comment wasn't even hurtful, just… out of place since the one girl who said it wasn't amongst the usual circle of gossipers.
Nonetheless, another day of lectures came to an end, and once again, Magnus and Bjorki were immediately swarmed by other students, who completely denied them even a thought of approaching Melinda.
Not that the gold-haired girl in question was bothered about it in particular.
There was that one thing about meeting with Magnus, but since it had been over two weeks since that plan, it ended up just a blurry memory in the gold-haired girl's mind.