Ramos had a point. If he had been someone like Professor Houston, who had never been seen with anyone in a secret place during his ten years at the academy and was famous for being boringly stoic, no one would doubt our relationship even if we had been locked up together for 80 hours.
But that did not mean it was Ramos’ fault that I got embroiled in a scandal. I and Ramos were the victims. If someone was to blame, it had to be Manuel Cleveland and Adam Walsh who was behind it, and the newspaper department who wrote that ridiculous article according to those bastards’ statements.
When I said that, Ramos seemed quite pleased. He said I was nicer than he thought. When I asked him what he meant by that, he became quiet.
“Anyway, I think it will be difficult to go to the beginning month banquet together.”
Whether the rumors were true or not, it wasn’t wise for Ramos to be my partner for the beginning month banquet. Ramos nodded his head in agreement.
“I’ll let you replace it with another wish. Except for baby gremlin Marnie.”
“I’ll think about it.”
I thought about asking him to burn all of Adam Walsh’s hair, but I don’t think his hair would be the only thing that will get burned. I didn’t really care either way, but I wasn’t planning to talk about it in front of Professor Humphreys’ office.
After waiting for a while, two people came out from inside. One was Kyle Villard, whom I knew well. Judging by how bright his face was, he seemed to have succeeded in defeating Professor Humphreys and gotten the result he desired.
The other was Christa Edwards, daughter of Lady Edwards and head reporter of the Fitzsimmons Times. She was covering her mouth as if she’d eaten something, but when she saw me and Ramos, she got startled and let out a small scream.
Then suddenly, something came out between her parted lips. Looking closely, it was a long, rainbow-colored slime.
The slime wriggled and followed Christa Edwards, who ran away. It looked like her rainbow-colored tail was running with her.
I knew the look on Kyle’s face when he was brazen about what he had done. It was also my favorite expression on his face.
“Well done, Kyle Villard.”
“It’s nothing, Ariel Dalton.”
After exchanging a high-five with Kyle as if shifting shifts with him, I entered the office where Professor Humphreys was waiting. Professor Humphreys suddenly looked a bit older when I came in after Kyle.
She sighed and flicked her finger. The door, as ornately decorated as Professor Humphreys’s desire for fame, closed gently.
“Dalton. Ramos.”
“Yes, Professor.”
I wanted my voice to sound very kind. But judging by the fact that Ramos, who was sitting next to me, held back his laughter, this attempt seemed to fail.
“What the hell happened?”
“Walsh, that bastard—”
“Manuel Cleveland gave Dalton a fake key, saying that Professor Cunningham had asked for a forever messy closet. I went with Dalton to help but as soon as we entered, the door got locked.”
Ramos quickly cut me off and summarized what had happened last night.
“According to Dalton, Manuel Cleveland is a friend of Adam Walsh and must have complied with his request.”
“Because Walsh has a grudge against me.”
“I have a grudge against you too, Dalton.”
Professor Humphreys removed her glasses and pressed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. I was in her potions class with Kyle in 3rd grade, and I had a criminal record of blowing up a brewing pot while making a potion that can grow a body part.
Thanks to this, her forehead had to remain elongated until the potion’s effect wore off, and it was so funny that there were still students dressed up as Professor Humphreys at the Joke Month banquet.
There was a sound of Ramos holding back his laughter again.
“I am still sincerely reflecting on the fact that I lengthened the professor’s forehead in the third grade. If it were not for the evil Kyle Villard’s whispers, I would not have caused such trouble to the professor….”
“You’re saying the same thing as Villard.”
Now Ramos was pinching his thigh with his fingers. Professor Humphreys was writing the names of Manuel Cleveland and Adam Walsh on a paper on the table, so she didn’t see Ramos.
I lent a hand to his efforts not to laugh by clenching my fist and hitting his thigh hard. The effect was so good that Ramos wore a straight face in an instant.
“I’ll call Cleveland and Walsh.”
When Professor Humphreys finished speaking, the door opened automatically, just like when we came in. I walked out of her office, leaving behind Professor Humphreys, who looked noticeably more tired than a few minutes ago.
***
My lunchtime was a little tight because I stopped by Professor Humphreys’ office. The same goes for Ramos, so we bought a few things to eat at the cafeteria and sat side by side on the steps of the square.
“Oh, the choco golem bread is mine.”
“I bought that to eat!”
“Then you should have been more agile.”
Ramos agitated me by waving a bag of Choco Golem bread. Grinding my teeth, I poured the milk into the container of leprechaun cereal. Leprechauns made of oat and corn scattered and swam in the milk.
“Is the leprechaun cereal out already?”
“The beginning month banquet is next week.”
“Now is the time to check and secure your pockets. Aren’t you going to sell locks this year?”
After the beginning month banquet, the leprechauns released by Professor Monaghan began to wander all over Fitzsimmons during the first week of April.
It was nominally a ‘leprechaun festival’, an event created to use the gold-loving habit of leprechauns to help students find lost gold coins throughout the academy and help the academy’s operating expenses.
However, the greedy leprechauns were not satisfied with the gold coins that fell on the floor, and they went after the gold coins in the pockets of the students, so whenever this time came, everyone would hug their bags.
The thing was, as the future owner of Dalton Merchant guild, I could not stay still. So I sent a letter to my parents and asked for a large number of magic locks, but because nothing was left after it got sold like hotcakes, I had my pocket robbed by a leprechaun.
Up until now, the mere thought of it makes me furious. I should have bought at least two of the hippogriffs Professor Monaghan brought this year.
“Don’t talk about it.”
As soon as I said that solemnly, Ramos laughed and spewed cocoa powder. Ugh, so messy.
“What about your banquet partner?”
“I don’t know. How long do you think I have to cling to Brianna Mosley before she agrees to go with me? She’s from Illestia, just like her boyfriend.”
“I heard Mosley is going with Stokes. He and McCarthy are both from Milua. Mosley with Stokes; Walsh with McCarthy. It seemed like they’re going that way.”
Oh, right. I hit my forehead at Ramos’ words. It happened before.
“Once again, I am sorry.”
“I told you before, there’s no need for that.”
‘Still…’ Ramos wrinkled his nose in embarrassment and said.
“I’ll try to sort out the dirty rumors somehow.”
“How would you?”
“Aren’t you too distrustful? I’m still royalty after all.”
I didn’t think he could erase that shitty article from everyone’s mind at Fitzsimmons Academy just because he was of royal blood, but I roughly nodded and agreed. This was mainly because he handed me the creamiest part of the chocolate golem bread.
***
At around three or four in the afternoon, I started to yawn once every ten minutes, so I decided to skip dinner. I would miss Christa Edwards pouring rainbow slime all over her plate, but I just could not bear my drowsiness.
When I washed just enough to not be uncomfortable and got into bed, a pile of blankets on the bed across from me caught my attention. After listening for a while, I heard a small whimper from there. It looked like my roommate was crying with a blanket wrapped around her.
“Is something wrong?”
Bree didn’t answer, but I had a hunch that Walsh was the cause of her tears. If I had to guess, I would say it was because she fought with Walsh for spreading dirty rumors about the incident of me getting locked up with Ramos in the magic tool storage room.
I appreciated Bree for standing up for me, but at the same time, I did not want her to suffer because of what happened between Walsh and me. Even if it meant I would be unilaterally screwed by that son of a bitch.
As I clumsily caressed Brianna’s back, wrapped in a blanket, the crying grew louder.
“Go away. I don’t want to see your face right now.”
As Bree said, I decided to give her time to sort out her feelings. Instead, I picked up the magic plaything I had put by the window a few days ago and placed it next to the pile of blankets.
She used to look at me sideways and die of frustration whenever I foolishly clashed the two rings like a gorilla holding a banana in each hand.
“You’ll feel better if you have something else to focus on.”
I said that and laid down on the bed facing the wall. After a while, there was a sudden rattling sound from behind me.
I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. Brianna Mosley was as delicate as a newborn baby deer, and if I teased her as I do with Kyle, I am sure she would run deep into the woods.
When I woke up in the morning, a wyvern proudly standing on top of the nest greeted me at my bedside.
When I picked it up, Brianna, who wore her school uniform with her eyes swollen, spoke as if she had been waiting. But she had a rather coy attitude.
“That was too easy. Is there anything else?”
“I’ll ask next time I’m writing home, Mosley.”
“’Briana.’”
“Huh?”
“Call me ‘Briana’, ‘Ariel’.”
I was very thrilled. As I put my palm over my mouth and pretended to cry, Brianna rebuked me: ‘Don’t exaggerate.’ She looked very shy as she wrapped a handful of her loose hair around her finger and twisted it around.
“Can’t I call you ‘Bree’?”
“You can’t.”
While we were at it, I tried to go a little further but immediately got rejected. It did not look like we had reached that level yet. What a pity.
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