A shadow cocked its head over me. It asked, "Are you okay?"
"..." After a closer look, it wasn't a shadow. It was a human. A young man with raven hair and dark brown eyes, wearing glasses.
My first impression of him was something like; A potential bookworm, a nerd, someone who'd been bullied for years, and definitely not the type to stand up for himself.
As I ruggedly got up, turned around, and looked at him, I asked, "What do you think? Does it look bad? Is my face okay?"
The boy stared at me for a moment, then after much hesitation, said, "Uh, yeah, I think it's fine. You look fine. It'll heal… yeah."
"Really…?" I looked at him incredulously.
"Y-yes, nothing to worry about." He looked worried, though, as he held out his hand for me to grab and push myself up.
Gnashing my molars, I stood, walked to the fountain, and sat down.
The boy sat beside me. He looked at me and said, "My name is Julius Augustus."
I scrutinised him for a moment before saying my own name.
"My name's Obyron."
"Nice to meet you…" Julius hesitated for a moment before adding, "Um, thank you for saving me there."
"I did nothing."
"Ah, no, no. If you weren't here today, they would have—" Julius cut himself off and looked embarrassed.
"They would have… what?"
"N-nothing, forget it."
I will.
"Okay."
After that, I went silent and looked at the calmly rippling water.
Then, Julius said something surprising.
"Although we haven't interacted much, we're actually roommates. You… know that, right?"
"We are…?"
"Yes, yes we are."
'Hmm. Now that I think about it…'
'After moving into the designated living quarters for the House of Swords, I was assigned a shared room, wasn't I?'
Indeed. I was. But the guy I was sharing a room with turned out to be a complete bookaholic. He never lifted his head from the books he read. Naturally, there wasn't much bonding between us. Heck, we didn't even know each other's names.
"..." I looked at Julius.
'So, he's him…' I smacked my fist against my head.
As I was racking my brain for something to say, Julius asked, "So, you just sit here every evening? I've seen—saw you a couple of times before."
"Yes," I affirmed.
"Isn't that kinda boring?" he asked.
"No, not really," I replied, before I sighed self-deprecatingly.
He still seemed unconvinced. Knitting his brows, he asked, "How can this be fun? Just looking at the water, doing nothing?"
"Eh, no. It's not fun either."
He was bewildered. "What the heck?"
I hesitated before mustering a vague answer. "It's not fun or boring. I do it because it feels good… It's kinda hard to explain."
Julius looked at me for a long moment before bursting into laughter.
"Yes, okay. I get it," he said while laughing. Then, as if remembering something, he looked down on himself and then touched his face. He let out a soft "ah!" and looked at me as his face contorted in pain, "I have to go back and bandage my wounds."
I looked at his face and noticed a scar under his left ear—likely from a sword strike.
"Want to come with me? I'll help bandage yours too…" he offered.
I shook my head and thanked him for asking, "I think I'll stay here for a few more minutes."
"Yeah, okay. Whatever you think is right."
As Julius walked away, his back to me, I stiffened.
After confirming he was far enough, I grunted and looked at my knee.
"God! It hurts! Did they break it?!" I hissed in a low whisper.
My breath came in gasps, and beads of sweat dripped down my face as I inspected my knee.
There was a deep wound, and it was bleeding. I gritted my teeth and pressed down on it.
Just then, I felt a presence beside me.
I forced a smile, looking up and sideways.
"H-hey, Julius, did you need somethi—?!"
'Ah…' My mind went blank when I saw who it was. It was hard to process.
It was the SSS-Rank Swordsaint, Misendere Lycrane. Her raven-black hair fluttered in the air, and her deep midnight-blue eyes shone like glittering pearls.
Although this was my first time seeing her since the House Selection, she was as beautiful as I remembered.
My eyes widened in an expression of shock.
'What's she doing here?'
"H-hi. Good evening."
She didn't return my greeting. Instead, forgetting all about maintaining personal space, she stepped forward and leaned just close enough that her breath grazed my lips. My breath hitched as she locked eyes with me. Her midnight-blue eyes were like clear oceans—beautiful and mysterious.
"Your heart is beating so fast. Why is that?" she asked with her alluring red lips.
"Eh… Ah!" I backed up a little. "I-I don't know, you tell me. It's your fault."
"How so?" She seemed genuinely confused.
"..." Awed by her attitude, I just shrugged. "Ag, nothing. Whatever. Why are you here?"
'I don't like her much. She's the main reason I'm in this mess in the first place.'
Lycrane looked at me and said, "I want to show you something. Come with me."
I narrowed my eyes and asked, "What do you want to show me?"
"You'll know when you see it."
'It's probably related to why she personally recruited me,' I concluded in my head, before saying dejectedly, "Aa, I'd like to go. Really. But as you can see, I'm not in my best shape, Miss Swordsaint. My legs are injured."
"Hmm? What happened?" Lycrane looked at me with cold, merciless, and indifferent eyes.
"Nothing, nothing really. I was just having an honorary duel, that's all. It'll heal anyway."
She touched her cheek, looking as though she were contemplating something.
After a while, she raised her eyes and looked at me.
"Okay, I have an idea. Come here."
She stepped closer and lifted me up—into a princess carry.
Before I knew it, I was soaring through the sky, a flurry of objects vanishing beneath me.