漫画大王

Chapter 146

Her face was pale, and she couldn’t say a word. She didn’t even ask how we knew it or what was going on. Her expression spoke volumes—she looked as though she were envisioning her own imminent death.

Charlotte glared at me as I watched Rudina, whose soul seemed to have been sucked out by my mere words. Charlotte was silently cursing me with her eyes: ‘Why did you have to say that!’

“... Well, these things can happen when you’re young.”

“...”

“I was like that too when I was younger! It’s okay!”

“...”

No matter how much I tried to comfort her, Rudina could not recover from her shattered mental state.

“Look, it was just the two of us, Charlotte and me, who saw you. We’ll keep it a secret, okay?”

“...”

Rudina moved listlessly as if she were a kite with its string cut. It seemed like my words weren’t reaching her ears at all.

The thought that this kid who’d skipped a grade was actually part of a club for students with dark middle-school syndrome and was putting on such an act left me on the verge of laughter.

“Gosh, pfft! No, I mean... Sorry. It’s not that I found it funny... I laughed because something tickled me all of a sudden...”

“...”

Even though I genuinely wanted to comfort her, the laughter that kept bubbling up was utterly counterproductive. Charlotte, who failed to grasp the bizarreness of this concept, seemed at a loss as to how to properly comfort her. So she just stood there, not knowing what to do.

As we reached the entrance to the Royal Class dormitory, Rudina suddenly turned to face me. Her face was red, and her eyes were brimming with tears.

“Y-You guys... You guys can’t tell anyone...”

Her expression was so desperate that Charlotte and I couldn’t help but nod vigorously. After Rudina ran off into the dormitory as if she was escaping, Charlotte and I caught each other’s eye.

“... I’m exhausted.”

“Tell me about it...”

While investigating the Demon God Cult, we’d accidentally discovered some utterly unnecessary information that a senior who was one grade above us was suffering from severe second-year middle-school syndrome.

***

The early morning exercises with Adriana were still going on consistently.

This time, however, things were a little different.

“Huff... Huff... Huff...”

“... Why go through all this trouble?”

Rudina had decided to follow Adriana and me on our early morning workout. Like all the others with magical talents, who seemed to have built a wall between themselves and physical exercise, she was no different. Despite this, she had joined us for our workout that morning.

“Let’s take a break. I was surprised as well when Rudina suddenly wanted to exercise.”

Because of Rudina, who could hardly keep up and was running out of steam, we ended up sitting on a bench to take a break. Rudina, who looked like she was about to die of exhaustion, was staring straight at me.

‘Don’t talk about it! Don’t talk about it!’ she signaled continuously toward me with her eyes.

Apparently, she knew that I exercised with Adriana in the mornings. She must have been worried that I would tell Adriana what I had learned about her the day before.

I had no intention of telling, but was she planning to continue following us on our workouts? Could she really keep up with that?

“Drink some water, Rudina.”

“Huff... Uh, okay... Huff...”

It was clear that our classmates had no idea about Rudina’s club activities. She must have come along on our morning workout to keep an eye on me.

Then again, wasn’t she known all along as the cutie from Class A second year?

It was unlikely that her classmates would find it particularly strange even if they found out about it; in fact, they might find her even more adorable. Of course, it was clear that she herself did not think so, given the way she kept pressuring me with her glare.

In the end, having a case of second-year middle-school syndrome was not a big deal, unless it was exceptionally severe. Everyone to some extent knows that they’re just adopting a concept. Rudina was not suffering from such a severe case that she required intervention.

After all, this too was just a phase, a sickness that would pass with time.

***

There was a problem...

“...”

“Why do you keep following me?!”

Even after morning exercises were finished, this little one showed no signs of leaving me alone. As soon as breakfast was over, she came down to the first floor and started tailing me closely.

It was Sunday, so there were no classes, and I was having a practice duel in the training yard with Ellen and Cliffman. She was blatantly watching us.

“Just... do whatever you want. I-I’m just going to watch, that’s all.”

She was visibly sweating bullets.

‘If you’re going to be this embarrassed, then why join that club in the first place?’

What was she planning to do, following me around like this all day Sunday? What about the next day onward?

Eventually, I put down my practice sword and grabbed Rudina, who was keeping an eye on me, and led her outside the training grounds. After checking that the corridor was empty, I looked down at Rudina.

“Not only do I know, but Charlotte knows as well. What are you going to do about her, then?”

“... The princess probably won’t tell anyone...”

“Do you think I’m the kind to blab because I have a loose tongue?”

“N-No! That’s not what I’m saying...”

Clearly, something I’d done in the past made her believe that it was unlikely that I would keep quiet about it. After all, I was the one who had teased her the day before.

I regretted it. If I had known it was going to be this troublesome, I would have just pretended not to have seen anything and moved on.

This was all my karma.

“I won’t say anything. I said I won’t, okay? What good does it do me to spread rumors about it?”

Rudina flinched slightly, perhaps a bit scared when I rolled my eyes at her.

“Besides, do you think people would care even if they knew? The kids over there, even if they knew about your secret, would probably just go, ‘Oh, is that so?’ and move on.”

‘You’re not as big a deal as you think! Even if my classmates find out about your secret, they probably wouldn’t be interested at all!’

Even if the students found out that their second-year senior believed that she was a dragon or something like that, they’d probably just go “Huh?” or chuckle once, and that would be it.

It really was not a big deal.

... Sure, there might be some ridicule and laughter, though.

“Really...? You really won’t tell?”

Rudina was looking up at me with earnest eyes. She was cute, but right now, her cuteness was more of an annoyance than anything.

‘Just go away!’

“I said I won’t, didn’t I?”

Rudina stared at me intensively for a while before reluctantly nodding with a lukewarm expression.

“Then... Can... can you talk with me for a bit...?”

Keeping a secret was a done deal. What more was there to talk about?

***

I skipped my morning training, and headed to a secluded park near the dormitory with Rudina.

“You know that the only people who know I am part of that club are you and the princess, right?” Rudina asked.

Exodium was an anonymous club. So, the members only knew each other’s concepts and not who they actually were.

“Doesn’t the club president know as well?”

‘Aren’t the Exodium members’ identities known to the president of the club?’

Rudina’s face turned red.

“... I’m the president.”

“Oh...”

So, she wasn’t just a regular member, but the mastermind behind the whole thing. This little grade-skipping Rudina seemed to be up to all sorts of bizarre antics.

Her face was flushed red.

“I... I know it sounds absurd. I’m aware that people in the club exaggerate their stories too... And I know everyone comes because they find it fun...”

Rudina acknowledged that her club was a gathering place for people who were obsessed over concepts.

But why was she bringing this up?

She fidgeted, her hands and feet wiggling about, as she struggled to say something that she found hard to express.

“But, I... I seriously wonder if I’m actually a dragon or not,” she eventually said.

“...?”

What was she saying?

Her unexpected nonsense made my head feel as if it had been bleached white.

Has she transcended the level of being merely obsessed with a concept? Of course, the fact that she was not confidently proclaiming it suggested an awareness that her thoughts were somewhat odd.

Then again, holding onto the belief that she practically wasn’t a dragon while at the same time questioning if she could be one was incredibly odd. It was an early symptom of severe middle-school syndrome.

‘Is this the true embodiment of middle-school syndrome?’

Rudina’s face had turned so red that it seemed fully saturated. She seemed to be aware that what she was saying was outlandish and nonsensical.

Of course, I could tell she was serious in her own way.

It didn’t seem like she was joking or just playing a part; she genuinely appeared to be grappling with these thoughts.

Within the club, she might say something like, “Yes, I am surely a dragon,” but to me, it seemed like she was earnestly seeking advice.

Of course, a conversation starting with “I think I might be a dragon” could never lead to anything resembling normality.

“What made you think that way?”

“... This.”

Rudina opened her palm and displayed flames, lightning, and wind. The ability to manifest magic without casting.

No-Casting.

That was Rudina’s talent.

“Dragons... They say dragons can use magic without casting.”

Dragons could bypass the casting phase and use magic instantaneously. Because of that, she was wondering if she could be a dragon.

“... This is more like a supernatural power.”

“No, no. They said it’s not clear whether it’s a magic-related talent or a supernatural power.”

Rudina had mentioned this in a previous explanation. It was a talent related to magic, but also considered a supernatural power. Even the Temple didn’t have a clear understanding of it.

Indeed, a supernatural power related to magic did feel a bit ambiguous, since it would be a supernatural power that wouldn’t manifest unless one learned magic.

“A-And they say supernatural powers usually awaken in difficult situations or something like that. I never had such an experience. I could just... use magic without casting as soon as I learned it.”

In most cases, supernatural powers awakened in extreme circumstances. However, there were clearly exceptions. Like Riana, who could use her supernatural power naturally.

Was Rudina’s case a similar sort of exception?

Rudina seemed to doubt whether her No-Casting ability, rather than being a supernatural power, might actually be a racial trait possessed by dragons.

However, to think that she might be a dragon based solely on that...?

“Putting that aside, you know, you have a low amount of mana to begin with. Dragons are supposed to be rich in magical power.”

Even if we set aside her No-Casting ability, if she were a dragon, she would possess immense magical power. However, she herself was concerned about her low amount of magical power.

There wouldn’t be any such concern if she were truly a dragon.

“Maybe... my power is sealed in some way... is what I’m thinking...”

Even as she spoke, Rudina’s voice trailed off, as if she knew her explanation lacked any persuasiveness.

It seemed like she was seriously contemplating whether she was a dragon who had lost her memories for her own amusement.

Once someone started believing something to justify your beliefs, there would be no end to it. As soon as she started fitting everything around the idea that she was definitely a dragon, everything seemed to make sense.

Self-Deception should have been her trait, not mine. With this kind of thought process, she might just undergo a change of species from human to dragon just by her thoughts alone.

“What about your parents, then?”

If Rudina had parents who gave birth to her, it entirely eliminated the possibility of her being a dragon. Both parents would have to be dragons for that scenario to be possible.

“... I’m from an orphanage,” Rudina stated in a somewhat dejected tone.

“Ah, sorry...”

“No, it’s the same for you, right? Anyway, I have no memory of who my parents are or under what circumstances I was born.”

Rudina’s origins were unclear.

A girl who possessed an ability that could be a supernatural power, or something else, and whose origins were unclear...

Rudina was basing her whole internal debate on whether or not she was a dragon based on these two insignificant bits of information. She thought her lack of magical power was due to some restriction placed on her body.

That all sounded absurd.

“... I know it sounds absurd. But still...”

“Yeah, you must be a dragon then.”

“Huh?”

The evidence was weak, and the logic was lacking.

“D-Do you believe me?”

“It’s more like it could be possible. Who’s to say?”

Yet, for some reason, the notion that this bizarre fantasy might actually be true crossed my mind.

Was she really a dragon?

Anyway, Rudina brightened up immediately, not because I had mocked her or reprimanded her, but because I had suggested that her theory might be possible.

“I really thought... you were going to make fun of me...” Rudina mumbled softly, her face reddening slightly. She had clearly braced herself for a lot of mockery when she’d decided to share this outlandish belief with me.

“Thanks, Reinhart...”

Whether she was a dragon or not wasn’t the important part.

“I never acknowledged that you were a dragon. It’s just that, after listening to you, it seemed like it could be a possibility.”

“O-Okay...”

Rudina seemed touched just by the fact that I listened to her story seriously.

Later, according to what I heard from Eleris, even if Rudina truly was a dragon who had lost her memories, there would be no way to determine whether she was a dragon or not.

Of course, Eleris asserted that dragons were merely mythical creatures that existed only in legends, though.