Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Catching Fire

“Is it over...?”

After watching the night sky grow quiet, I soon moved away from the window.

Fireworks that had suddenly begun.

I had no idea what they were meant to celebrate, but they had been a fine sight.

One part of me did think it would have been better if I had been with Zeto, but after spending all day in the Labyrinth, my stamina was completely drained.

I threw my worn-out body onto the bed.

—Soft.

Soon, the fluffy bed gently received my body.

As expected, I hated the Labyrinth.

More than anything, I disliked how hard it was to find my way.

Perhaps because I grew irritated while trying to find the path and poured all of that onto the monsters, I did not feel that the monsters were strong.

But because I wandered until my stamina ran out, I had no choice but to leave the Labyrinth.

On the way out, I checked the Labyrinth exploration rankings, and the gap between Zeto and me was still severe.

“When will I ever catch up...”

Lying on the bed, I murmured that and reached a hand into the air.

Naturally, nothing was grasped.

“To protect Zeto, at the very least...”

I had to become stronger than Zeto.

In a way, it was obvious.

But catching up to Zeto, who worked hard at everything and trained so recklessly that he bled from the mouth, was not easy.

Was there no better way?

I was trying as hard as I could, but at this rate, I felt I would never be able to chase after him.

Then.

—Thud, thud, thud.

Someone knocked on my door.

“Who could it be at this late hour...?”

I approached the door and opened my mouth.

“Who is it?”

“A package has arrived.”

A package?

At that sound from behind the door, I thought of my father, Zeras Clementine.

I had asked him whether there were any elixirs left at home. In any case, Father liked Zeto very... much, so I had told him in advance that it would be something to give to Zeto.

—Clack.

Standing before the door was a female academy staff member.

It was a face I had often seen around the dormitory.

If a letter or package came for a student, it would be delivered to the academy side, and then a staff member would bring it over.

“You are Miss Yuri Clementine, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Here is the letter that came with the package.”

The seal closing the letter bore the crest of the Clementine family. Perhaps Father had sent an elixir.

“...Thank you. But where is the package?”

I asked the staff member, who had handed me only a single letter, let alone a package.

“Ah, the thing is, because it is large... we placed it briefly in the dormitory yard.”

“...Large?”

At the staff member’s words, I raised my eyebrows and asked back.

It was strange, since there should be no such thing as an elixir so huge that it could not be brought inside the dormitory.

“It would be quicker for you to confirm directly. I will be going now. Ah, if you need it ‘butchered,’ please inform the academy separately.”

“Yes...”

After my reluctant answer, the staff member gave me a warm smile and soon walked down the corridor.

“Butchered...?”

Surely he had not sent an entire salamander just to send me a salamander tail.

Thinking I should check the letter first, I went back into my room and broke the seal.

Then I slowly read down the letter.

It was a letter from Father.

“...”

He had not sent an elixir.

No matter what, since Zeto had not yet become my “son-in-law,” Father’s opinion was that giving an elixir to someone who was only a “close friend” would probably be too burdensome for him as well.

After that sentence, he suggested one other method.

“...It is difficult to believe that Student Zeto’s body is weak, but if he truly has grown frail, is there not something else that would be good to make for him? I mean the Clementine family’s ‘nourishing dish.’”

Wait, then what he sent as a package was...

“How about you personally cook our proud family’s nourishing dish for him, Yuri? A warm meal filled with a woman’s devotion is bound to stir a man’s heart. In case my beloved daughter may have forgotten the recipe, I have attached it as well. Ah, and if possible, it seems best for you to butcher it yourself too. Personally, I think that sort of thing is devotion.”

...After reading the entire letter, I pressed my lips together.

I too knew very well about the “time-honored” nourishing dish of the Clementine family.

When I was little, I wondered why anyone would eat such a thing.

Still, it was rather delicious, and based on my experience, there was nothing better for stirring strength in the body.

In particular, according to Hutton, the family’s dedicated chef, the nourishing dish was extremely good for a “man’s body.”

He said strength would surge up fiercely.

“Was it that much...? I wonder...”

In any case, if that was true, then since Zeto was a man as well, the effect would be certain.

A nourishing dish would be able to breathe vitality into his frail body.

If there was one problem...

...it was that I had absolutely no talent for cooking.

I folded the letter carefully and immediately headed toward the dormitory yard, where the “package” should be.

“What is that...?”

“Is that not a Magma Bear?”

“Who put something like this here?”

Female students had already gathered in the yard to watch.

It was only natural, since in one corner of the yard lay the enormous body of a “Magma Bear,” charred by fire.

This creature... was the ingredient for the nourishing dish.

I pushed through the students and quietly said, “It was sent to me.”

Soon, the spectators, having learned the answer, dispersed one by one.

I stood before the Magma Bear with my arms crossed and thought.

Cooking for Zeto personally seemed like a good idea.

But would it be all right if the food tasted bad... simply because it contained “devotion”?

I had no confidence I could make it as delicious as Hutton.

As I was thinking that, a familiar voice came from behind me.

“Miss Yuri! What are you doing there?!”

It was Lucia.

Soon, Lucia came bouncing toward me.

Then she saw the Magma Bear before me and was startled.

“A M-Magma Bear...!”

“It was sent from home. More importantly, what brings you here? I never thought I would see you awake at this hour.”

I asked because it was strange to see Lucia, who always went to bed early, coming in from outside the dormitory.

“Hehe, I was watching the fireworks... Did you see them too, Miss Yuri?”

“Ah, yes... I saw them from my room. They were pretty.”

“Right!”

Lucia said in an excited voice.

Lucia also did not know what the fireworks were meant to celebrate. She said she had woken up and hurriedly run outside.

Perhaps because of that, Lucia was wearing pajamas.

Just as the meaning of the fireworks was sinking into the Labyrinth that way...

...I saw another familiar face walking toward the dormitory behind Lucia.

“Eisel...?”

Her platinum-blonde hair swaying, she looked very different somehow.

Eisel Ludwig, who was walking hesitantly into the dormitory... was “dressed up” to the fullest.

Her hair, neatly tied with a ribbon.

And what was that short dress?

Her shoulder line was fully exposed, emphasizing Eisel’s soft curves.

She was quite different from the usual Eisel... but, well, I could not deny that she was pretty.

“Oh, Miss Eisel!”

Lucia, sensing Eisel’s presence and turning around, waved her hand.

Eisel turned her head toward us.

Her face was completely flushed, and it was not her usual indifferent expression.

...Eisel, who did not answer, wore the expression of a girl completely in love.

She could make that kind of face?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, my eyes met Eisel’s.

“...”

Eisel, her cheeks flushed, glanced at me, then showed me a satisfied smile.

“...”

I could not understand its meaning, but something about it put me in a very bad mood, and my brow furrowed.

Soon, Eisel fully entered the dormitory, and Lucia beside me quietly came closer and whispered.

“Judging by Miss Eisel’s expression, she must have had so much fun!”

“What do you mean, fun?”

My brow furrowing even more, I asked Lucia.

Lucia placed a finger to her lips, raised her eyes, and searched her memories.

“Um... that is... During the day, I saw Mr. Zeto and Miss Eisel walking while holding hands! Back when they caught the Mustere too... Could it be the ‘date’ everyone talks about...?!”

“...A date?”

“Yes, everyone said they looked good together!”

Unlike Lucia, who answered brightly, my face only hardened.

“They went on a date? Zeto and Eisel...? Could that satisfied smile have been...”

A victorious smile.

The moment I reached that conclusion, the face Eisel had shown a moment ago flashed rapidly through my mind.

—Grind.

My teeth clenched hard.

“I see... So that is how it was...”

One question did come to mind, but it was immediately resolved.

At first, I could not understand why she had gone out of her way to dress up when going on a date with Zeto, but after seeing Eisel’s smile, I thought I understood.

Was it not that she had tried to show herself to Zeto, but rather that she was mindful of how she looked to others while standing beside Zeto?

—Whoosh~

“...”

A sudden cool wind blew from beside me.

When I turned my head, Lucia was sending wind toward me with a terrified face.

Ah, it seemed sparks had flown toward her.

“M-Miss Yuri, fire...! You are doing it again...! If I did something wrong, please just tell me...!”

Even though Lucia looked tearful as she struggled, the heat rising in my body did not seem like it would cool easily.

I turned my head and looked at the collapsed Magma Bear.

A date.

Could spending time together while serving someone a meal not also be called a date?

The location was the key.

“Lucia, I want to treat a friend to food. Where would be best to eat?”

“Yes? Food all of a sudden? Mm...”

At my question, Lucia, who had been sending wind, seemed to ponder it.

Not long afterward, with her eyebrows raised strangely, she opened her mouth.

“...Wouldn’t eating in your room be better? Unless you plan to pack a lunchbox...?”

“My room? Invite him to my room...?”

“Yes, then you can eat the food you cooked in the kitchen right away. It will be warm, so it will taste better!”

Lucia answered with a bright, innocent smile.

Spending cozy time alone together in my room...

...was quite a good idea.

At that level, I felt I could beat Eisel’s date.

This was a kind of match.

“The problem is how to bring Zeto, a man, into my room...”

I scratched my disheveled hair.

...Would it not work out somehow?

***

After safely finishing my date with Zeto, I barely managed to return to the dormitory with my legs about to give out.

—Clack.

Opening the door and entering my room, I collapsed face-down onto the bed.

Strength immediately left my body.

I buried my burning face in the bed.

“...”

The words Zeto had said while “looking” at me on the hill still lingered in my ears.

“You are right. It really is beautiful.”

Beautiful.

Zeto had clearly said beautiful.

I knew very well that he had not meant me, and I knew he had merely matched me as I explained so earnestly.

Even so, it felt as though he had called me beautiful, and I was terribly embarrassed.

It was a misunderstanding, but I wanted to misunderstand.

I decided to misunderstand.

That was how much I liked it.

I barely held back from throwing myself at Zeto and hugging him.

“...Uuu.”

It felt as though someone were gently poking my lower stomach.

My whole body tickled, so I hit the innocent bed and kicked my feet.

So this was what a date was.

Zeto had gifted me emotion once again.

Love.

This was love.

My heart pounding just from looking at his face felt somewhat different from the comfort I had felt while speaking with Zeto before.

Was it all right to be this happy?

I wanted to brag about it somewhere.

“Should I tell Blanc...?”

After imagining Blanc’s reaction, I soon emptied my thoughts.

She would probably think I was a fool.

The conversation from back then should probably be kept as a secret between Zeto and me alone.

I should also sincerely thank Blanc for properly teaching me what a date was.

“...Could those unannounced fireworks have been Blanc’s doing too?”

Zeto could not see them, but... thanks to them, I was able to engrave a good memory, a good recollection.

I was so happy I felt I might leap, but soon, the flow of my thoughts reached Zeto’s curse.

Even at this very moment, the curse must be nibbling away at his heart, at his life force.

“Whew...”

I turned over, looked at the ceiling, and calmed my excitement.

Right.

This was only the beginning.

This was merely the starting point to make Zeto “mine alone.”

I wanted to hurry and fill Zeto’s head completely with the existence called me.

This was the only small greed left to me, and an uncontrollable desire.

The red-haired girl I had met on the way into the dormitory, Yuri Clementine.

I had been able to show her a satisfied smile.

Zeto’s lips are mine.

He was my Zeto alone.

After all, I had already secretly put my saliva on him.

“Huhu.”

I laughed softly and rolled across the bed like a child.

It seemed I would not be sleeping tonight.