Volume 17 - CH 9

As I was walking from the staff room back to the boys' dormitory, I ran into Marilyn in the courtyard.

「...... What are you doing, Marilyn?」

I couldn't help but ask.

She was hugging and gnawing on a tree like a summer cicada.

It's a surreal sight.

「No, it's pretty delicious, Alec!」

Marilyn looks at me and says with a smile.

I didn't know that, but is World Tree delicious? No, ...... I don't think I can rely on her taste buds. She's a glutton.

「I won't tell you not to eat it, but you're a girl, too.At least cut it off with a saw and eat it on a plate.」

「Ehh? It's too much trouble. But if it's this big, I might not be able to eat it all in one year. Ufufu.」

She's going to eat this up in a little over a year ......?!

I look up at the World Tree again, but I can't see the top of the tree from the ground. It's pierced through the clouds.

I didn't measure the thickness of the trunk, but it could be several kilograms.

I'm a little worried because it seems to have gotten thicker than before.

I think I might need to take measures against the World Tree soon.

Good grief.

「Well, you can do whatever you want with it. I'm sure no one will complain if you eat it all up.」

「Yeah, I asked Caroline-sensei, and she said with a very kind smile that I can eat as much as I want.」

「That's good.」

「Do you want some too, Alec?」

「No, I'm good.」

「I'll have it all to myself then. Why doesn't anyone want to eat it? It's better than a stone.」

I think it's because no one can eat a stone, Marilyn.

「See you later.」

I was about to leave the happy Marilyn behind.

「Ah! That's right, Alec.」

「What is it?」

「Serina is ...... uh, what was it? If I say Alec, she asked me to give you a message, but I'm sooorry, I kind of forgot, me.」

「I see, well, I'm sure she'll tell me herself later.」

「Yeah, tell her I'm sorry. If I remember, I'll come and tell you later. You're in the boys' dormitory, right?」

「Yeah, until the sun goes down.」

「Hmm? Ahh, you're going to that fancy inn after dark?」

「That's right.」

If Marilyn knew where I was, it would be easier for her to deal with me as a member. And in case of emergency.

So naturally, the members should always know where their leader is.

As I was about to enter the boys' dormitory, I caught something flying away from the edge of my vision on a tree.

「What was that?」

I looked in the direction it had moved, but all I could see were trees in the forest.

「Is it a bird?」

Well, whatever it was.

I walked into the boys' dormitory, feeling light-footed now that my paper had been accepted. The small things didn't matter now.

As long as I'm a licensed mage, I can eat all the students I want.

When I returned to my room, Nicole was boiling a pot of water with fire magic.

「Oh, just in time, Alec-san, I'm making some tea, would you like some?」

「Yes, I'll have some.」

Nicole is very good at making tea. At first it was just black tea, but when I gave him some green tea I had bought, he liked it and has been drinking more green tea lately.

Nicole poured tea into my teacup and I took it.

「Pheeew!」

The unique flavor of the tea goes down my throat and into my nose, warming my body and calming my mind.

「How does it taste, Alec-san?」

「Yeah, it's pretty good. After all, tea is the soul of the Japanese.」

「Is that so? Well, it's not that I don't understand. It's good to drink, and it makes me feel calm. Especially when it's getting cold.」

Outside the window, the dead trees are blowing away the brown leaves, and it feels like winter is in full swing.

I heard that it doesn't snow that much in the Kingdom of Austin, but even if it doesn't, I hate the cold.

「Yeah, it's getting to be a nasty season.」

「Yes, the water is cold in winter. Oh, and ......」

Nicole looked into his cup and scrutinized his eyes.

「What's wrong?」

「Here ......, look at this. The tea leaves are standing up.」

「What is it, a pillar of tea?」

「Hee, it's called a pillar of tea? I've only ever drunk tea out of the tap, so I didn't know that.」

「Drink a lot.」

「Thanks. But it's bad omen.」

「Oh? No, a pillar of tea is a good omen. aren't they?」

「Is that so? But normally they either sink or float, but these strange phenomena are a bit eerie, Alec-san.」

I guess good omens are received differently in different places.

That night, I went to sleep with great satisfaction after making Mare, the quiet girl in my rotation for the day, moan a lot.

The next morning.

「Hmm, Alec, it's late.」

「Fuaahh, ...... morning. It's okay to be late for school, you know. Mare.」

「But...Hmm」

Mare was about to argue about something, but she seemed to be convinced in the middle of it, so I don't know.

「What is it? You were about to say something.」

「Money, tuition is a waste.」

「What, you mean that? That's an impure motive, trying to get your money back. Look, life is about doing what you want to do, Mare.」

「Hmm, that's the ideal.」

「Yeah.」

But I'll do what I want, as long as it's within my control.

We may be a year away from the end of our lives, less than eleven months away.

Whichever way it goes, I have to live my life with no regrets.

「Tsk, damn it. My shoelace broke.」

When I put on my boots to go downstairs, the laces broke.

I'm not one for good luck, but this is not a good day.

「Alec, are you there?」

As soon as she knocked on the door, Serina came into this room.　

「Hmm? What's up, Serina?」

She sleeps in the girls' dormitory, so it's rare for her to come to this high-class inn on a day when it's not her turn.

「I knew it was Mare you were dealing with. Let me ask you something, Marilyn didn't come here, did she?」

Serina said after peeking around my room a bit.

「She isn't come here, but what's wrong?」

「That's why she didn't show up at the dorm cafeteria yesterday, even during dinner.」

「Hmm? I saw her eating the world tree yesterday evening.」

「Ehh? She ate that thing.....? I wonder if she was full of it then. If that's the case, it's fine.」

「Oh, by the way, you said you had a message for me. Serina, Marilyn said that she forgot, what happened?」

「Yeah, that's right. I said there's a suspicious person breaking into the academy.」

「Oh, you're talking about that.」

「It's not you, is it?」

「No, it's not me. It was me in the girls' dormitory, but the criminal in the school locker room was someone else.」

「Geez. I've had my share of bad experiences trying to make the rounds in the girls' dorm, but whoever breached that security system is pretty high level, right?」

So what? I'm not going to tell you that either.

「Well, ......, in the meantime, give the others a heads up.」

「Yeah, I've already told everyone, and I'll try to visit the girl's dorm members in their rooms to be on the lookout.」

Well, I'm sure that criminal is very skilled, but what he's doing is just underwear thief. It doesn't really matter.

At the time, I never expected to have to fight with that underwear thief.