"Oh~ Only one mistake!"
Ghislaine lifted her chin proudly as she respectfully accepted the small test paper from Rudy's hand.
It was a simple test—addition and subtraction within two-digit numbers.
In just half a year, Ghislaine had come to master two-digit arithmetic with the same precision as her sword strikes.
Accurate.
Swift.
And beautiful in a brutal, unyielding way.
"42 + 17 = 96."
"That one's wrong," Rudy explained. "Remember what I taught you: if a two-digit addition looks complex at first, and the ones digits add up to less than 10, break it down. You did well up to here—40 + 10 = 50, 2 + 7 = 9, and then…"
Eyes glazed over.
Completely lost.
Ghislaine nodded and carefully scribbled down Rudy's explanation in clumsy human script next to the problem.
She wrote slowly and had to pause often, looking up so Rudy could repeat himself.
But her expression was serious and focused.
In a way, while her reading and writing still lagged behind, she had clearly made more progress in those areas than in arithmetic.
Rudy didn't show even a flicker of impatience. In fact, he even smiled.
At the very least, she wasn't the type to skip class, right?
And she was earnest.
Hmm…
He glanced at Ghislaine's rather revealing outfit—
The smile faded.
He remembered Paul's ridiculous remark during a recent visit:
"So, is Ghislaine's chest really that big?"
Was that something to say to a child?!
And Rudy wasn't even Ghislaine's swordmaster—he was hired as the tutor for the young lady!
At this rate, he'd be booted from the Boreas estate.
He sighed and rubbed his face, turning to the wall clock.
Class had started ten minutes ago.
Just as Sylphy had predicted—
Those two troublemakers were skipping again.
Rudy looked to Sylphy, who sat nearby in a thoughtful daze.
"Allen always calls in when he's going to be absent, but this is getting out of hand. Eris keeps imitating him. She used to skip maybe once or twice a week, but now she hasn't shown up at all the past few days."
"…Allen will talk her into coming back," Sylphy replied softly.
Rudy squinted, giving her an expression of silent exasperation.
After a moment, Sylphy realized how weak that sounded and scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"So… should we go 'up there' and talk them into coming back?"
"You're just realizing that now!?"
——
On the Rooftop.
Allen twitched at Eris's smug expression and stepped over to her side.
He wiped the rain from his face.
With that motion, dōki (fighting spirit) rose around him—dense and heavy.
It formed a transparent curtain between him and the sky, shielding him from the rain.
The downpour continued, but the moment it reached within thirty centimeters of him, it flowed away like water over glass.
He had entered his "room," separated by a window of flowing rain.
And faced Eris.
She wasn't the least bit surprised. Her eyes flickered in curiosity, and she immediately reached out to poke the "glass" between them.
Her fingers passed through the rain curtain.
Raindrops splashed on her skin, forming a faint white outline.
Then—
The outline vanished.
Raindrops trickled from her fingertip.
Plink. They hit the roof tiles.
Did the rain… stop?
Eris raised an eyebrow and spun around to look.
Nope. Still raining.
Water continued to pour through the air, curving to her sides and back.
She had been "invited" into Allen's "room."
No longer getting rained on, Eris casually brushed her bangs back like Allen had, revealing her full face. Though their hair and eyebrows were different, their expressions were strikingly similar—sharp and commanding.
That alone gave them an intimidating presence.
"I've seen this before! Dragon Flow Secret Art! When are you going to teach me, Allen?!"
Eris remembered this from half a year ago, during a rainy night in Buena Village when Allen brought Sylphy home and used Ryū no Ōgi to stay dry.
Back then, he held Sylphy's hand.
Now, it seemed like he didn't even need physical contact anymore.
Allen must've improved it significantly in just six months.
"Once you master external release of dōki. But with how you handle dōki… it might be tough for you to learn this."
Eris beamed with confidence, arms crossed and mouth opening to boast—
But Allen's next words cut her off mid-pose.
"I've told you many times—this place is dangerous. Don't follow me up here. And it's class time. You're skipping again?"
Eris's grin stiffened. She retorted defensively:
"You—you're skipping too!"
Allen furrowed his brow and tilted his head at her with a teacher's disapproving look.
"I'm the instructor. I asked Sylphy and Rudy for leave in advance. You're the student."
"I asked for leave too!"
"Oh? Did they agree?"
"…I agreed!"
Silence.
Rain tapped gently on the outside of the Dragon Flow curtain.
For a long moment, Eris held her defiant pose—until Allen's silent stare finally wore her down.
She wilted slightly.
"I don't wanna go to class."
"No. Go back to class."
Blunt refusal.
Instant red face.
She stiffened her neck, glaring at the rain outside the curtain. Then, slowly, she raised her hand.
Fingers dripping water, she reached into her soaked crimson hair.
She grabbed the strands near her scalp, pulled out two sections from the sides, and twisted her wrists with practiced ease.
A quick ponytail.
Then—
"P-please take Eris to skip class too, nyaa! ☆"
Her big, shining eyes locked onto Allen.
Raindrops clung to her cheeks.
Gone was the pride and haughtiness.
Now, she looked like a drenched little kitten.
—This was a classic Boreas-style plea.
Allen froze.
He stared dumbly at Eris's little pinky finger poking up like a cat ear.
She was imitating cat ears.
And her expression was full of life! Catching the shift in his face, she seized the moment and pressed the attack:
"Reading class, don't wanna go, nyaa! ☆"
"Math class too, no thanks, nyaa! ☆"
"Let me skip class with Allen today, nyaa! ☆"
Allen looked like time had stopped.
He stood frozen for a full moment before recovering.
Then, through clenched teeth, he growled—
"I've said it so many times already…"
"That doesn't work on me."
"I will never let you skip class! Just give up already—"
"Please take Eris to skip class too, nyaa! ☆"
"No!!"
(End of Chapter)
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