Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no “Kokoro”-

Chapter 7.2

Lisa had visited Nozomu's hospital room earlier than Irisdina and the others had arrived.

Like Irisdina and the others, Lisa was also one of the people who asked for permission to be allowed to look after Nozomu.

She was holding a tub of water and a clean white towel in her hands.

Crimson hair reminiscence of the twilight sky, and curvy and slim body.

Lisa's face couldn't be seen as she was facing her head down, but her beautiful little face could be seen reflected in the water of the tub in her hand.

However, the reflection of Lisa's face on the swaying water surface was cloudy like a dark cloud covering the sky.

With a sorrowful expression on her face, the red-haired girl stood in front of Nozomu's hospital room.

Lisa, standing in front of the thick, hard wooden door, slowly extended her hand to the doorknob.

But just as her hand was about to touch the doorknob, her body suddenly shivered.

Her mouth was clenched and her cheeks were stiff. For a few moments, complete silence reigned in the almost motionless hallway.

A moment of stagnation. But Lisa made up her mind and slowly reached for the doorknob.

As her outstretched right hand slowly exerted its strength, the creaking sound of the door echoed through the hallway.

What she could see through the gap was a simple room with white walls. A young man was lying on the bed set up there.

Lisa put the water bucket on the table and began to take out a change of sheets from the shelf beside her.

Her job, like Irisdina's, was to change the sheets on Nozomu's bed.

After taking out the new sheets, Lisa walked over to Nozomu's bed and reached for the blanket that was covering him.

"~! ..."

However, the moment her outstretched hand touched the blanket, she pulled her hand back.

With him in front of her, Lisa's outstretched hand hangs down helplessly.

Nozomu Bountis.

A childhood friend who used to chase the same dreams as her, and her ex-lover who kept on inflicting deep wounds on her during their escape.

Nozomu's sleeping face was as motionless as a stone statue, and only the slight rise and fall of his chest showed that he was still breathing.

Lisa stood still, forgetting her work for a moment.

At that moment, the door to the hospital room was rattled and opened.

Turning around, Lisa's eyes widened when she saw the girls who had opened the door, and then she lowered her head slightly.

Irisdina Francilt and Sh?na Uriel.

In a sense, they were the people she least wanted to face right now.

Their eyes widened and they fell silent. As if to interrupt them, the female doctor stepped forward.

"I'm going to start the medical examination. You have properly prepared it, right? ... eh, you haven't? ... I'm in trouble if you don't do this properly..."

"I-I'm sorry ...!"

After the doctor warned her, Lisa immediately lowered her head and tried to change the sheets of the bed where Nozomu was sleeping.

But the moment Lisa reached for Nozomu's bedsheets, her body stiffened like a stone.

"~!"

Her outstretched hand trembled.

Lisa's breathing became ragged all at once, and sweat broke out like a waterfall from her forehead. Her obvious agitation and hesitation to touch Nozomu were apparent.

"... Irisdina-kun, Sh?na-kun. I'm sorry, but you'll have to take her place.  Lisa-kun, please help me prepare this."

"B-but ..."

"It's impossible for you who have trouble touching him. Please just help me with this one."

Lisa's shoulders slumped due to the doctor's strong words, and she backed down. Irisdina and Sh?na started to change the sheets for Nozom's bed in her stead.

Lisa finally realized the mistake she had made.

Blamed by guilt and regret, she came forward to take care of the unconscious Nozomu.

However, the distance that had opened up between them over the past two years was too great. She hesitated to even touch his unconscious body.

Irisdina and Sh?na took one glance at Lisa as she looked down, but they immediately started to do what they were asked to do.

They quickly changed Nozomu's sheets and massaged his body.

They moved Nozomu's stretched joints and muscles, though only slightly.

The idea was to keep Nozomu's bedridden muscles from weakening and to keep his circulatory system functioning.

As they continued to massage Nozomu, Lisa was staring at them.

"Come on, hurry up."

"Y-yes!"

However, she was soon warned by the female doctor.

While Irisdina and Sh?na worked quickly to change the sheets on Nozomu's bed, Lisa laid out the cleaned medical instruments on the disinfected board while glancing at them.

"Let's get started then. I'll examine his condition, you guys just do the same as usual."

"I understand"

"Y-yes ..."

After the sheets were changed and the massage finished, the doctor began to examine Nozomu. Irisdina, Lisa, and Sh?na began to take care of the other minor chores.

But they were still concerned about Nozomu. While they were working, they kept glancing at the doctor.

At that time, Lisa and Irisdina's gazes crossed.

"A……"

"…………"

It was Lisa who turned her eyes away.

As she awkwardly looked away, at the end of Lisa's gaze was a boy lying on the bed.

Irisdina was just staring at her.

The black-haired girl's expression was like a Noh mask. However, contrary to her expressionless face, the depths of her jet-black eyes were swaying.

=================================

After Nozomu's medical examination was over, Irisdina, Lisa, and Sh?na were quickly expelled from the medical facility.

They were told to return to the school as soon as they were done with their business.

the three of them reached the main gate of the Gloaurum Institute and walked towards the school in silence.

"Lisa, are you done taking care of Nozomu?"

Just as the three of them were passing through the main gate, someone approached Lisa.

A female student carrying a simple staff and wearing the uniform of Solminati Academy. Camilla, Lisa's best friend, was waiting for her at the main gate.

"Y-yeah. It was said that his body was fine ..."

"T-then, did Nozomu wake up?"

Lisa fell silent after replying to Camilla's question. Camilla did not pursue the matter any further, as if she had sensed Nozomu's condition from her reply alone.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be alright! He's got a lot of guts, so I'm sure he'll wake up soon with his expression telling us like it's nothing!"

Camilla tried to comfort Lisa as much as she could, but Lisa could only respond to her words in a sullen voice.

Camilla was at a loss for words as Lisa was depressed beyond belief. Unexpectedly, Sh?na approached the two of them.

"... Are you okay? You had a pretty deep cut on your leg at that time."

"W-well ... The wound itself has closed up, but it still feels a little uncomfortable ... "

Camilla, who was suddenly approached by Sh?na, spoke back in confusion.

During the previous incident, Camilla suffered a deep wound on her right calf due to Ken's [Icecicle Dance].

Thanks to the quick treatment she received, the wound itself were already gone, but she still felt as if it was filled with lead.

However, Camilla was more worried about her best friend in front of her.

Unlike Camilla and Sh?na, who exchanged a few stuttered words, Irisdina and Lisa didn't say a word to each other.

Irisdina stared forward, harboring a glint in her jet-black eyes, while Lisa looked down and cowered.

The space of silence that lay between the two of them created an even heavier atmosphere.

The people in the city were starting to wake up, and the number of people walking down the street gradually increased. And as they approached the school, I began to see a few students dressed in the uniform of Solminati Academy.

"Hey, that person is ..."

It was when they were close to the central park that they heard voices.

When Camilla glanced around, she saw three students who seemed to be underclassmen looking at Camilla and the others.

No, to be precise, it was Lisa who was at the end of the underclassmen's gaze. An unpleasant premonition crept into Camilla's chest.

"Oh, she's the girlfriend of the senior who attacked the Ecross students, isn't she?"

A casual comment from the underclassmen. It grabbed Lisa's heart.

The blood drained from Lisa's face, which had been facing down.

"Why did he do that?"

"Who knows ... but I'm sure it's not a good thing. That senior attacked a girl about ten years old."

"Ugh! The worst ..."

It was difficult to completely cover up the incident that Ken had caused since there had been victims before.

For this reason, the school announced the details of the incident in a way that blurred the truth to some extent.

The love triangle between Nozomu Bountis, Ken Notis, and Lisa Hounds became complicated, resulting in Ken's running amok.

Ken used the ability called [Reflective Water Surface of the Heart Mask] to impersonate Nozomu, falsely accusing him and attempting to remove him from the school.

However, Nozomu, the school, and the military police all worked together to take down Ken, the criminal.

As a result, Ken was immediately expelled from the school for causing the incident. He was now sent to jail as a criminal.

In addition, Nozomu had to recuperate in the hospital after being counterattacked when subduing the violent Ken.

This was what the teachers explained to the students.

The teachers explained to the students that Ken had misused his abilities, that the school would be more strict about the use of abilities in the future, and that the penalties would be more severe.

"Isn't that senior also involved in various crimes? I've heard something about that ..."

"Eh, seriously?"

One of the underclassmen pointed at Lisa and voiced her suspicion.

As a matter of fact, ever since Ken, the culprit, had been expelled from school, all interest and dislike about his case had been directed towards Lisa.

In addition, the story was constantly changing with various speculations.

Ken and Lisa were accomplices to bring down Nozomu. Ken went out of control as Lisa tried to switch back to Nozomu.

"Is that true? If so, why is she still in this school? I don't even really understand why there's Irisdina-senpai next to her ..."

"Idiot, it's to keep an eye on her, isn't it? It's Irisdina-senpai we're talking about. She probably volunteered to watch over her to make sure she doesn't do anything bad."

Gossip with no proof or evidence. However, what Lisa going through now was like a reenactment of the scene when Nozomu fell to the bottom two years ago.

All the malice she had directed at Nozomu came back to her.

Not only the words of disgust, but even the words of curiosity were enough to dig into her now weakened heart.

But what pierced her chest more deeply than anything else was .......

"Speaking of which, what happened to Ken-senpai?"

"I heard that he was expelled from school on the very same day the incident happened ..."

"But in the end, Nozomu-senpai continues to go through hard times because of Lisa-senpai, right?"

She was confronted with the fact that she was the one who kept making Nozomu unhappy.

"~! ... Sorry Camilla, I'm going ahead."

"Ah! Lisa !?"

While biting her lip so hard that it almost bled, Lisa tried to walk quickly to the school. Camilla hurriedly followed after Lisa.

Irisdina and Sh?na were watching their backs with complicated expressions on their faces.

After the previous incident, the information about the Abyss Grief and the fact that Nozomu was a Dragon Slayer was thoroughly hidden.

In particular, only Irisdina and the others, Jihad, and Inda, who were present at the scene and did not lose consciousness, still knew that Nozomu was a Dragon Slayer.

Yes, neither Lisa nor Camilla knew that Nozomu was a Dragon Slayer.

Because of that, it was easy to understand how Irisdina and Sh?na had indescribable feelings towards her.

In the past, Irisdina and the others had been angry due to the unreasonable treatment Nozomu had received.

Neither Iris nor Sheena had been able to sort out their feelings for Lisa. And also their feelings for Nozomu.

Now that he had fallen asleep, something unspeakable was swelling rapidly in the depths of their hearts.

===============================

Lisa left that place as if she was running away. However, the gazes and voices from the people around her did not cease.

It was the time of the day when students were arriving at school, and the central park was filled with students on their way to the school.

"Oh, look, it's her..."

"I didn't know she was still here. I thought she had left school..."

Under such circumstances, Lisa's figure stood out too much.

She was originally as good-looking as Irisdina, and moreover, she was one of the only five A-rankers in the third year.

However, because the incident happened at the same time as the credibility of the rumors that Ken originally spread was fading, resulting in the attention of those around her being turned towards her all at once.

"That incident was caused by that guy named Ken, wasn't it? So I thought she didn't know anything about it."

"Eh? I heard they were accomplices..."

"Idiot, if that was the case she would have been expelled, right? I heard that guy, Ken, went out of control when the red-haired princess tried to return to her former lover? "

Because of the high regard in which they were originally held, the backlash became even more significant.

It had been almost two weeks since Ken's case became public.

The many stares that Lisa received from those around her were almost always tinged with disgust.

"Aaa ..."

With a dry, self-deprecating smile, Lisa hugged herself.

It was cold.

The isolation and loneliness, as if she was left alone in the snowy mountains, and the stares and words of those around her pierced her heart as arrows of cold ice.

The world turned upside down.

Of course, some look at her sympathetically. But they were few in numbers and were painted over by other voices.

Pressed by self-deprecating thoughts and a desire to slit her own wrists, Lisa was oblivious to their sympathetic glances.

Unable to escape from her own failure to trust Nozomu, she just kept falling.

Trying to protect her heart from being constricted and crushed, Lisa unconsciously paralyzed her own emotions.

Her body turned cold as ice, and before she knew it, a Noh mask covered her face.

However, a small light remained deep in her heart.

(Lisa, I'm sorry ...)

A voice as calm as a bell echoed in her mind.

In her mind, she could see Nozomu smiling somewhat apologetically as he held her hand.

(I thought what I did was the best for you, but I ran away and didn't want to face you. I thought that if I continued to train diligently, you would someday believe that the rumors were not true. It was stupid, wasn't it? I want you to see me even though I ran away and wouldn't face you...)

He could have taken his hatred out on Lisa. He had every right to do so.

But he was simply concerned for Lisa's wellbeing. The heat from Nozomu's hand shone brightly deep inside Lisa's chest.

"Nozomu ..."

Lisa clutched her chest as if clinging to that little bit of light. Didn't want to let that heat escape. Didn't want to forget his face.

But when she thought of Nozomu's face, she always saw them next to him.

Irisdina and Sh?na. They were now Nozomu's friends, leaning next to Nozomu as if to support him.

Looking at their figures, Lisa couldn't help but feel dark emotions welling up inside her.

Even though she knew that there was no more place for her next to Nozomu and that she was no longer qualified for it.

"I'm filthy..."

And each time she became aware of her dark feelings, her guilt toward Nozomu deepened.

Jealousy, remorse, and self-deprecation. Lost in a loop with no way out, her mind spun around, and she fell into a trap.

But even so, Nozomu's figure that flashed in her mind was the only support she could find.

=====================================

Mars and the others were passing through the central park, heading for the main gate of the school after they were separated from Irisdina and Sh?na.

The six of them, including Mars, walked side by side along the tree-lined street in the central park.

The trees lined up in the park were lush and green, and the light of the morning sun shone through the gaps between the branches and leaves.

"I was wondering if Nozomu would wake up today."

"Who knows ... No one knows exactly when he's going to wake up ..."

While listening to Mars, Tom suddenly reached for his bag.

"I did some research at the library, and I believe I saw a story about a missing person who was found in the snowy mountains after a month's missing and came back to life."

Tom took out a small stack of papers and ran his eyes over them as he flipped through them.

From the looks of it, he too had been doing a lot of research on Nozomu's condition.

According to Tom, there had been other cases of people who had fallen into the same kind of long-term sleep as Nozomu was now.

"Did it really happen?"

"As far as I know, there have been several cases. There are about 10 other cases that were caused by magic. But I can't say for sure because the situation is different with Nozomu-kun..."

There were several cases of long-term sleep caused by magic and other means, but it seemed that such a situation had rarely occurred under natural conditions.

In the case of long-term sleep caused by magic, there had been cases of people sleeping as long as Nozomu, but even so, there were limitations due to the weakening of nutrition, hydration, and the circulatory systems of the internal organs and blood.

"It might be a different story if it could stop people's time, but we don't have that kind of magic. In any case, there is a limit to what we can do ..."

Time could not be controlled by the current knowledge of magic.

There had been cases where magic had put people into long-term sleep, so there was a certain amount of treatment available for nursing the bedridden Nozomu.

However, since it was not a fundamental solution, it was only temporary.

"Did anyone who survived have any permanent side effects?"

Mars put his hand on his chin and asked Tom a question.

The sound of Tom flipping through the papers could be heard again as he looked at his notes again.

"Umm ... when it was discovered, the internal organs had almost stopped functioning, but they seem to have recovered later."

"In that case, will Nozomu be alright then?"

"I can't be so sure. Originally, the human body was not designed to be used for hibernation, and in Nozomu's case, there are many other special factors ..."

Feo, who folded his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky, let out with a sigh after hearing Tom's story.

"A Dragon Slayer ... No, I have a feeling that something happened to Nozomu himself ..."

Wrinkles appeared on Tom's forehead when he heard Feo's words.

Tom didn't have many confirmed cases of this particular case, and he was not a specialist in medical matters.

"Did Tom ask Norn-sensei anything about Nozomu's condition? She's also a professional in the medical field, right?"

Indeed, as the school's infirmary doctor, Norn was medically educated.

Feo and the others raised their expectations that perhaps they were not aware of something. But Tom turned his eyes down and slowly shook his head.

"Honestly, sensei can't make a judgment either ... Nozomu's body itself is healthy, so I think it's due to mental factors, but it's unknown if it's the effect of that demon beast or because of "that" inside him..."

Apparently, Norn, too, was unable to make a judgment about Nozomu's condition.

Everyone present there understood that the burden that the incident caused to Nozomu's mind was not light.

He had to face head-on the fateful relationship with a former childhood friend that had tormented him for more than two years, plus the intrusion of Abyss Grief and the release of Tiamat's power.

To put it bluntly, there were too many factors and it was hard to make a judgment.

Somia, who had been looking down with a sad expression, looked up at Tom and the others with a sullen face.

"Can't we do something about it? Maybe if we use contract magic that Sh?na-san can use then…"

"I'm sorry to say this Somicchi. But Sh?na said that Nozomu's mind and path are not well connected. Even when they are connected, they are blurry and we can't see inside clearly… It's like there's a net laid in front of us."

"I-I see……"

Somia looked even more depressed after hearing Mimuru's words.

Even Sh?na, who excelled at contract magic and was far more sensitive than the average human, was unable to grasp Nozomu's condition.

It was then that Tima raised her voice as if she had just remembered something.

"H-hey. I wonder if that old man would know anything about this?"

"Old man ... Oh! That fortune-telling ero geezer !?"

At Tima's words, Feo shouted and clapped his hands.

Zonne is an old man who makes his living as a fortune teller in the commercial district, and he is a perverted old man who has been spreading his lust on women all over the place for years.

The old man had caused a lot of problems whenever he appeared in front of Nozomu and the others, but the appearance of the old man that night was far different from the usual him that Mars and the others had seen so far.

"The old man at that time wasn't flirtatious at all..."

"Yes. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. His technique was something I'd never seen before, and he was handling more magic power than me as easily as if he were using scissors to cut paper..."

Zonne, who intervened when Lisa was swallowed by the Abyss Grief that had assimilated Ken, easily overpowered Jihad and the others who tried to question him with complex magic they had never seen before.

A mandala pattern of magic circles, layered on top of each other. No one had ever seen such magic here in Arcazam.

Even though he used extremely powerful magic, the old man's atmosphere showed no signs of difficulty at all.

He was able to defeat one of the continent's foremost heroes single-handedly, and his attitude showed that he didn't find it strange.

Mars and the others felt an inexpressible sense of intimidation from his playful tone of voice at that time.

"I haven't heard of the old man being seen in the commercial district after that incident. Maybe that Jihad guy has noticed it by now..."

Jihad also witnessed the mysterious magic that Zonne cast on the day of the incident. Naturally, he must have already tracked his whereabouts.

However, Mars and the others had never heard of Zonne being caught.

If Jihad had captured Zonne, then there might have been some progress in Nozomu's condition.

However, the old man who had made such a strong impression on those around him had vanished into thin air, like a haze.

Witnessing once again the situation with no clear future, Mars and the others naturally began to talk less.

At that moment, a figure suddenly popped out from the side.

"Oopsie."

"~ !?"

Thud!

Along with that sound, the shoulder of Mars who was walking in front, was bumped by something.

Mars, who was originally well built, only staggered a little, but the shadow that bumped him fell down flashy.

There was a person who wore a robe that completely enveloped his body, even though it was already close to summer.

The hood that the person wore was too deep to see the face, but from the white and slender jawline, thin hands that peek out from the cloak, she appeared to be a woman.

Tima rushed to the fallen person with a panicked look on her face.

"S-sorry. Are you all right?"

"What a poor lady. This guy got distracted even though it's still noon."

"Oi, what do you mean, you bastard ..."

"…………"

Mars glared at Feo, who suddenly started teasing him.

Seeing Mars and Feo, who suddenly start to joke around, Tima dropped her shoulders and lets out a sigh.

"Look here, Mars-kun ..."

"Y-yeah, right. Sorry, are you okay?"

Tima's voice brought him back to reality, and Mars reached out to the fallen hooded figure.

The face of the person, who had been looking down, rose slightly.

At that moment, the hood fell off.

"~ !?"

"Wow ..."

At that moment, the eyes of Mars and the others widened.

A silver world like a snowfield spread out before their eyes. Somia let out an unintentional cry of admiration.

Her hair and skin were pure white, reminiscent of fresh snow. Cobalt blue eyes as round as jewels.

She would be about 14 or 15 years old. At first glance, she was a beautiful, sculpture-like girl.

However, a tuft of hair hanging down from her right side was wrapped with a pretty ribbon of light red, which gave her a somewhat childish impression in contrast to her sharp good looks.

"What the~. A beautiful girl~. You have some business to attend to at the academy?"

"…………"

Perhaps excited by the unexpected encounter, Feo sniffed and spoke to the girl.

However, the white-haired girl did not change her expression at all, and without speaking, she brushed off Mars' outstretched hand, stood up, turned on her heel, and left.

"... Well, she's gone."

"What a cold person she was."

Somia looked at the girl who walked away without saying a word and voiced her disappointment.

Feo, on the other hand, was looking bored and mouth agape, perhaps because he had gone to the trouble of talking to her but had not received a response.

"That's true. It was kind of boring because there was no reaction. It should be time for her to say, "rude!". And isn't this the part where she knocks Mars-kun down? Or Feo, who teased her up out of the blue."

"Mimuru ..."

Perhaps because she behaved like Feo in the way he reacted to interesting things, Mimuru leaked a somewhat nonsensical remark.

Tom, who was standing next to her, was amazed and couldn't make a single comment.

"But she sure was so beautiful!"

"Is that so? But aside from her appearance, her attitude is a bit ..."

Somia's eyes genuinely sparkled due to the beauty of that girl.

Surely her looks would be as good as Irisdina's or Sh?na's.

But as far as Mars was concerned, he didn't want to engage with a woman with such a bad attitude.

It was indeed Mars' fault for not looking ahead carefully, but it was the same for the girl.

With an unsettled feeling in his heart, Mars watched the girl's back as she walked away.

At that moment, Mimuru, who had been watching Mars with a sideways glance, grinned.

"Huh? Could it be, Mars-kun likes a girl like that on the outside, but not on the inside?

"I never said something like that!"

Mimuru's outrageous remarks, which were suddenly directed at him, caused Mars to unintentionally release denials without a pause.

For Mars, it was no joke. Although she was definitely a pretty girl on the outside, being around a girl with such a bad attitude would cause an unpleasant feeling in his stomach.

However, the fact that his denials were louder than she expected gave Mimuru a chance to take advantage of it.

"The way you deny it is suspicious~~"

With a grin, Mimuru smiled evilly. Her eyes sparkled as if she had found a perfect opportunity.

Incidentally, there was no elf girl who usually stopped her mischiefs on a regular basis.

By the time Mars thought it was bad, it was already too late, and a sad voice could be heard coming from next to him.

"Mars-kun ..."

Tima was standing next to Mars, looking up at him with tears welling up in her eyes.

Originally, Tima looked slender and fragile, but now she looked so fragile that she could be blown away by a gust of wind. At the same time, it aroused a fierce desire to protect her, but at this moment, Mars was completely cornered.

"Wait a minute! It's a misunderstanding!"

His voice was louder than expected. This further aggravated the unnecessary doubts that had arisen in Tima's chest.

"A~a~. Poor Tima-san~. Even though she helped Mars-kun with his training and all."

There was one bad cat who was gleefully stirring up the situation. She drove a wedge precisely between Mars' words, who tried to somehow clear up the misunderstanding.

"Mimuru, you bastard..."

"Oops, scary, scary. I'll go first then~~"

Mimuru, who sensed Mars' fighting spirit, ran away at once. In addition, she was escaping while holding Tom, her lover, firmly by her side.

The way she stirred up the situation and then fled was aptly described as a little devil.

But of course, Mars had no intention of letting Mimuru go.

No matter how agile a Wildcat was, she still had Tom by her side. Mars' feet could easily catch up to her.

With that in mind, Mars put all his strength into his legs and tried to run at once. But ...

"... Mars-kun, do you like that kind of girl?"

"N-no, no way ..."

However, as he was about to step forward, Tima's voice again stopped him. Tears filled her eyes and seemed ready to spill.

Mars, who had always been clumsy and a poor talker, stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"U,uu……"

(What should I do?)

Mars' eyes swam here and there.

Tima is a modest and innocent girl, both inside and outside.

Mars, on the other hand, is a big man in uniform. Although he has become more mature recently, he was originally a well-known delinquent in the commercial district and still gives the impression of being unapproachable to others.

Since they were such a combination, the current situation was likely to be taken as a situation where Mars made Tima cry.

"Wha~, Tima-san seems to be crying ..."

"I wonder what that man did to her..."

Or rather, it was already on the verge of becoming so. Some of the students on their way to school were watching them from afar, wondering what was going on.

He had to clear up this misunderstanding as soon as possible.

With such a determination, Mars opened his mouth to clear up Tima's misunderstanding.

However, his words were drowned out by Feo's deliberately loud voice.

"Well then Mars! We're going to school first! Come, Somia-chan too!"

"Eh !? B-but Tima-chan is..."

Mars, who had been interrupted three times in a row, glared at Feo resentfully.

Feo gave an amused glance at Mars and then pushed the worried Somia back toward the school.

"It's okay, it's okay! That was a kind of communication. Don't worry about it, no problem! And if you don't hurry, you'll be late for school."

"W-wait, Feo-san !? Don't push me~!"

"Come, come, come!"

Before Mars had time to yell out a cursing word, Feo had fled like a rabbit, taking Somia with him.

What was left was Mars, who had no one left to take the brunt of his anger, and the school's best mage, who looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

"Wha~! It's a misunderstanding! You know that right?!"

"A-As I thought, Mars-kun prefers girl with long hair… I guess you don't really like short ones..."

Originally, Tima had a personality that tended to get stuck in negative thoughts.

Mars was flustered and Tima was depressed and almost shutting herself in her own shell.

They could hear some kind of implication in each other's words, but both of them were now completely lacking in calmness and didn't seem to realize it.

Mars desperately tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but between the many times Mimuru and Feo had interrupted his attempts at persuasion, Tima's suspicions were no longer easily resolved.

Thus, Mars had to struggle to clear Tima's misunderstanding until just before the morning assembly bell rang.