After taking out my frustration on my favorite punching bags—monsters—I discreetly returned to the academy.
My goal was to make it back to my room without Layla noticing so I could pretend I hadn't taken a single step outside. If she learned that I'd gone out to have fun without a word, she'd nag me for hours.
I loved to preach and scold people using the most random and ridiculous arguments I could think of, but I absolutely loathed being on the receiving end—especially if I was in the wrong.
I just liked being right and looking down on people. I'm the one in charge, not you, okay?!
"Lady Ellize?"
AAAAAH!!! Did she find me?! W-W-Wait! Scotterbrain! Let's calm down first! I promise I didn't go out to fight monsters again. I was just taking a walk! Honest!
I turned around, panicked, to find...Verner standing behind me.
It's only you, huh? Don't scare me like that.
"What are you up to, Lady Ellize? You look like you're trying to avoid someone... Miss Layla, perhaps?"
Right on the money. I didn't take him for the perceptive kind.
Actually, I was more curious about why Verner was walking around at this time. The sun had already set, and we were in the middle of the summer holiday.
My room wasn't located in the girl's dormitory, but in a separate building within the academy. It made sense for me to be here.
The main academy building had five floors. The top floor, on which I lived, was mostly used to welcome guests—usually royalty. The rooms there were excessively lavish, so they weren't used most of the time.
I'd told the school I was all right with getting a simple room in the girl's dormitory—actually, I would've loved to get one—but they'd refused.
As for Layla, she usually stood guard in front of my room and didn't come in unless she had a reason to. The guards had a separate office they could rest in.
Honestly, I really wished she'd stop standing in front of my door all day. Couldn't she...go on walks? Rest? Eat?
For the love of God, Layla, please take breaks!
I needed to find a moment to sneak into my room without her seeing me.
Going out had been very easy. Layla was only human, after all. It was impossible for anyone to stay upright in the same position all day; people needed sleep at one point or another.
Layla was the only member of my personal guard who'd followed me to the academy, so whenever she needed to catch some z's, students—selected for their outstanding skills—were put in charge of protecting me instead.
Under normal circumstances, a few more of my guards would've followed me here, but I'd refused. Knights were very precious in this world. I couldn't have them waste their time sitting around and twiddling their thumbs at school.
In the game, the original Ellize always had a large entourage of guards with her whenever she went somewhere, but that also meant there weren't enough knights to protect cities or villages.
I didn't even need protection in the first place! Plus, the whole purpose of this school was to train future knights. Every student here could fight to some extent. The security was even better than at my castle.
Layla had stubbornly refused to listen to me, though, so here she was. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't be by my side at all times no matter how hard she tried. That meant others had to watch me in her stead at least while she slept.
Anyway, I'd taken advantage of Layla's nap time to make my escape.
As I'd already mentioned, I had other students watching me, but they were nothing compared to Layla. First of all, they usually had their back to my door to monitor for potential intruders. That was the logical course of action—if you were trying to protect someone, you wouldn't watch them, you'd look out for outside threats. Only an idiot would stare at my door the whole time.
But that also meant that I was free to sneak out as long as I concealed the noise of the door opening with wind magic. If it were Layla, she would've noticed regardless of the noise, though. She'd know that something was wrong the second she felt magic mess with the natural flow of the air.
Anyway, my next step would be to use light magic to change the way shadows and reflections appeared. I'd just need to cast a little spell on the door, and I'd be free to slip through the cracks and be on my way.
The spell I cast on the door was one of my originals. I called it Automated Response. Whenever Layla called out to me to check if I was still there, it would answer "of course I am" using my voice.
Unless there was an emergency, a knight wouldn't enter their master's room, so no one would know I wasn't really there.
The difficult part was sneaking into my room now that Layla was back at her post.
By the way, flying and getting in through the window was completely impossible. There was a window, but bars had been installed to prevent intruders from breaking in. They were delicately designed bars and looked pretty good—very unlike a prison's windows—but there was still no way for me to squeeze past them.
Anyway, none of this mattered right now! Why was Verner walking alone in the academy during the holidays?
"I just returned a book at the library. I'm on my way back to the dorms," he explained.
Oh, that's a pretty appropriate answer for a student. So he does that stuff during the holiday too?
They did have homework to complete before the next semester started, so it wasn't all that strange for him to visit the library.
"What about you, Lady Ellize?"
Urgh... I, ahem, you know... I...just wanted to walk for a bit! Doesn't everyone want to wander aimlessly alone from time to time? It's a thing, right? Right?
I disclosed that I was looking for a way to enter my room without Layla noticing.
"I see. Let me help, then. I'll distract Miss Layla for you, how does that sound?"
For real?! You're a lifesaver Verner! Just as you'd expect, the protagonist sure is something else.
Now that we had a plan, it was time to put it into action!
I trust you, Verner! Distract her! I'm sure it'll go well. Layla looks like she's good at her job, but at the end of the day, she's still just Scotterbrain.
Spoilers: it did not go well.
I'll skip to the end: she'd caught us both, and she was currently nagging our ears off.
Daaaamn! Why was she only weirdly hyper-efficient in situations like these?! You're Scotterbrain, aren't you?! Act like it!
Our plan hadn't been good enough. Verner was supposed to attract Layla's attention by talking to her and luring her away from the door. I was supposed to use that opportunity to dash inside.
Well, anyway... Let's just say that since I was the only person staying on the fifth floor, Verner suddenly popping up for a chat wasn't all that natural. He was bound to look suspicious from the start, wasn't he?But Layla wasn't supposed to be that good at guarding Ellize in the game!
I'd already mentioned it a while ago, but the original Ellize had loved to bully the students here, and for some time, she'd also lived in the very room I was currently using.
Obviously, Layla had followed her. If you went to the fifth floor during your free time, you'd get to happily chat with her! If anything, she liked talking to Verner. It always raised her affection level.
In the game, it was completely unheard of that she'd view Verner as if he was a suspicious character, stop him, and try to punish him. In the end, I'd had no choice but to step in to clear his name. Layla had stopped wanting to kill Verner, but she'd ended up lecturing us instead.
Sorry, Verner. That one's on me. Forgive me, all right?
Still, it had been kind of fun to get caught like that with an accomplice, like we were two kids causing trouble. It reminded me of all the pranks I'd pulled with my friends back in my old life.
Being friends with another stupid boy was just a lot of fun. It got me wondering—when exactly had I become a loner?
Back when I was a kid I'd had plenty of friends, but as we grew up, I guess they started noticing how weird I was... Oh well.
Anyway, thanks, Verner. I enjoyed hanging with you. Next time, let's try to avoid getting caught— No, I guess we can just do something that won't get us in trouble. By the way, now that we're friends, I'm done talking to you politely.
While I'd never done that in my head, I always spoke to him politely in person.
Now we're bros, dude.
◇
To Verner, the night's coincidence had been almost too good to be true.
Magic academy students always had plenty of homework during the summer holiday. Being a skilled fighter was a requirement of the academy, obviously, but prospective knights weren't only fighters. They needed to be cultivated to protect and support the saint in all kinds of ways.
As a result, the students had to be more well-learned than the people who were employed by royalty, and they only had three years to acquire all that knowledge on top of their usual training.
That meant constant work, both academic and physical. They had to learn how to read and write, learn arithmetic, memorize facts about the previous saints and witches—down to their names and every detail or misdeed of their lives—study history, analyze old battles, and practice etiquette—including table manners, the proper way to escort noble ladies, etc...
They were expected to remember all of these things. The most important things for a student of the academy were their drive and ambition. It wasn't good enough to use the summer holidays to rest. Those who made that mistake were mercilessly kicked out of the academy.
The knights were in charge of the saint's protection—the only hope of humanity. They couldn't choose their own comfort over that mission. Even one slipup, one moment of inattention could result in the saint's brutal murder by a monster or the witch herself.
And if that were to happen, humanity would once again go through a terrible dark age, just like it had two generations ago.
As such, slacking off and resting during the holidays was completely out of the question.
Finishing all of the assignments was the bare minimum, and those who couldn't accomplish at least that—let alone study more out of their own volition—would be expelled immediately when the next semester started.
Naturally, the students weren't aware of that. The teachers wanted to see the choices they'd make without being notified of the rule.
Verner didn't need to know any of that to be diligent. His goal was to join the saint's personal guard, so he had to become stronger. He didn't care about anything else.
Ellize was the greatest saint in history. If he hoped to stand by her side, he couldn't be idle. He knew that simply going through the curriculum without pushing himself wouldn't cut it.
He'd finished all of his homework on the first day of vacation after borrowing all of the necessary material from the library. Then, he'd decided to dedicate the rest of his time to training.
He'd entered the academy to return the books to the library, since he didn't need them anymore. As he rushed back to his dorm, hoping to squeeze some more training in, he happened to spot Ellize sneaking around as discreetly as she could.
"Lady Ellize?"
"Ah!"
He'd startled her by calling out to her so suddenly, but thanks to that, he'd heard the cutest yelp ever. Ellize didn't usually let out sounds like that, and seeing her flustered was a nice change of pace.
Verner was almost certain no one else had ever seen her like this and couldn't help but bask in a sense of superiority for a moment.
"V-Verner... It's you. You scared me."
"What are you up to, Lady Ellize? You look like you're trying to avoid someone... Miss Layla, perhaps?"
He immediately understood that he was right by the way Ellize froze.
She tried to deflect and returned the question. "By the way, Verner, why are you here?"
"I just returned a book at the library. I'm on my way back to the dorms," he answered before probing again. "What about you, Lady Ellize?"
"Me? Hmm... I...was just taking a walk. Sometimes I just feel like walking alone for a while, you see. The issue is that I didn't tell Layla... She was taking a nap when I went out, and... Well, I'm trying to find a way to go back to my room without her noticing," she answered while averting her eyes.
A guard was supposed to accompany the saint at all times, no matter where she went. She was a very important person, so it was a given. Still, Verner could understand how that might feel a bit stifling sometimes. She was the saint, but she was also human.
Strangely enough, that fact had never dawned on Verner until that moment. He had always thought that Ellize was out of his reach. She was like a goddess in a way, ethereal and utterly different from him, a mere man.
Now that he thought of her as another human being, he felt like the distance between the two of them had shrunk, as if by magic, and he was over the moon.
"I see. Let me help, then. I'll distract Miss Layla for you, how does that sound?"
"Y-You wouldn't mind? But I'd feel bad for making you do something like this... Layla doesn't really have a sense of humor, so—"
"I don't mind. Please let me do this for you. A knight should always do everything in his power to help the saint, right? Well, I'm still only a student, but..."
After Ellize agreed to let him come with her, the pair made their way to the fifth floor, making sure not to be seen by anyone.
As expected, Layla was standing guard in front of the door of Ellize's room.
Layla Scott. Verner admired her a lot...but not in the same way as he admired Ellize, of course.
She was Ellize's closest support, and Verner's dream was to eventually reach that position. She was always by her side, protecting and serving her. Every knight and aspiring knight dreamed of being in her shoes.
While Verner looked up to Layla, he was also very jealous of her. He wanted to snatch her position and become the one Ellize trusted the most, though he was all too aware that he had a long way to go until then. He was just a student, after all.
It wasn't the time for such thoughts, though. He tried to focus on what was important at the moment—figuring out how to distract the strongest knight. He needed to create an opening for Ellize.
"Lady Ellize, I'll attract her attention and get her away from the door. Please sneak in during that time."
"All right!" Ellize nodded before starting to laugh.
"Lady Ellize?"
"It's nothing! I just thought it was a little funny. I feel like we're two kids conspiring together to pull a prank on adults. I... If I had a friend, that's probably what it would be like," she explained with a smile.
She looked even more beautiful than usual—if that was at all possible.
Verner averted his eyes immediately.
That was dangerous, he thought.
He was convinced that if he'd looked at her smile one moment longer his heart would've most likely stopped altogether, and his brain would've turned to mush. Who could think in the face of such beauty?
"W-Well then... I'll get going, Lady Ellize," Verner declared before stepping forward hurriedly.
However, Verner hadn't thought of the fact that he'd look incredibly suspicious if he suddenly showed up in an area where only the saint and her guard were supposed to be.
Layla had started questioning him, and she was just about ready to arrest him when Ellize had jumped to his rescue. A crushing defeat for the two of them.
They then had to sit through a lengthy lecture, courtesy of Layla.
"She sure yelled at us," Ellize commented after the hellish ten minutes were finally over. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this, Verner. This was all my fault..."
"Please don't apologize. I'm the one who offered to help..." he answered with a small, embarrassed laugh.
He'd been completely useless.
He was starting to feel down about it when Ellize whispered, "I had a lot of fun, you know? Let's hang out again when we get a chance. We'll try not to get into trouble."
"You'd like to...hang out with me again?"
"If you feel like it."
"Of course I feel like it! I completely feel like it!" Verner scrambled to say.
Ellize smiled, a satisfied look appearing on her face as she was dragged away by Layla.
Right before she stepped into her room, she looked over her shoulder and added, "See you tomorrow, Verner!"
Image here:
The door closed immediately after.
Verner was in a daze. He finally came back to his senses when Layla shooed him away.
As he went down the stairs, Ellize's last words kept coming back to him again and again, filling every corner of his brain.
"See you tomorrow," she said... "See you tomorrow, Verner."
Up until now, she'd maintained a certain distance from him, but now she was treating him like a friend. That was progress; they'd finally grown closer.
Verner was so happy that he skipped down the road, striking triumphant poses every two steps.
(3k word count)