Chapter 40

<40 - Desperate to Know> "Isabel unnie, what should I do if there's someone I want to become closer to, but I don't know how to build a rapport with them?" Isabel, who had been gathering ingredients with me in a nearby forest, bumped her face into a tree. "Uh, unnie?" "Don’t mind it.” "Your forehead's really red, though?" "Who is it that you want to become friends with?” "It's a secret!" Isabel couldn't hide her feeling of being slighted. Despite feeling a little guilty, since she was collecting ingredients with me on her precious day off, I decided to confide in her. "Um... it's a secret, but I'll tell only you, Isabel unnie. Just don't tell anyone else, okay?" "Sure." "There’s this person who, unlike me who sticks to one place, only has one friend but is so close to that other friend that I can’t manage to become closer to them." Isabel smiled as if she understood. "I know the type. Once they are close with somebody, it’s hard for them to befriend others." Soulmates. Best friends. It’s tough to get close to someone who has found a true bosom buddy. Isabel shared such a sentiment with me. "In that case, you should start by talking about best friends. That's how I got close with the gentlemen of the Esonia adventure group." "Really?" "Also, they love stories about hiking." "Huh?" "Fishing isn’t bad either." Social skills honed in the harsh social life of the Esonia adventure group included bringing up hiking and fishing topics! ‘But I can neither hike nor fish.’ Such advice wasn’t helpful, but I decided to take note of it anyway. Perhaps just engaging them with topics of interest would suffice? * * With a serious look in his eyes, Giselle asserted, "Miss Oknodie doesn't have a friend that close in her surroundings." "I thought as much." "Unless she has made a new friend away from Miss Isabel's knowledge, it is likely someone we are already aware of." Isabel owed a debt of gratitude to Oknodie. Giselle, sharing the same concern for Oknodie, would pay him an extra fee for daily reports and consultations about her. Giselle, having a different perspective due to his experience as an undercover merchant, often provided Isabel with sharp insights, and she frequently sought his counsel. "It's likely Miss Dorothy." "Dorothy?" "She is our peer in the A-group advanced class. She once helped her fellow colleagues who were betrayed and abandoned at the gate of Minerva’s examiners." "That girl who passed the advanced class..." I was genuinely surprised. While I admired her relentless determination, how could one navigate the treacherous ways of the world with determination alone? I couldn’t find any special qualities in Dorothy that would warrant success. 'A matter of discernment.' Though I was somewhat confident as an adventurer in valuating wild ingredients and relics, my ability to evaluate people fell considerably short when compared to Giselle, the undercover merchant. I hadn't even realized how kind, upright, and pitiable Oknodie was during our first meeting. 'I knew it but did not expect it to this extent...' However different our situations might be, I was staying in the same female dormitory, even on the same floor as her. In contrast to me, who had no interest and was therefore ignorant, Giselle - staying in a different dormitory - held much more information on Dorothy, which was slightly shocking to me. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Compiling information about individuals related to Oknodie is just part of being an undercover merchant. It's a time-consuming and gloomy hobby that can't be casually shared with others." "It's not like that. It's a splendid hobby if it’s helpful like this." "I'm glad to see it that way. Just so you know, that kid hasn't used the automatic laundry magic circle for a few days now, so she might smell a bit." "No matter what, that's unpleasant." I wished he'd stick to hobbies at most. Just one wrong step and he's nothing short of a stalker. * * Inquiring about Dorothy wasn't difficult. Thanks to the assistance of another figure who had comprehensive information about the A-group female students. "Dorothy? Ah, the girl who always carries a bow. The B-group has been stirringly active again, so the A-group is sticking together. I suggested she join us, but after the shock of betrayal by a childhood friend, she prefers to be alone." Arcadia, the singular rose amongst the thorns of Seoguiyon, appeared to be a difficult and demanding person at first. However, beyond those initial impressions, she took care of the safety of the A-group female students, showing a noble sense of responsibility befitting of an upper-class student. She was someone whom I was thankful for, much like Giselle, especially when I occasionally received her help whenever we lost track of Oknodie’s whereabouts. "Could I get the room number where Miss Dorothy is staying?" "Room 120." As I returned to the dormitory, I saw the back of a male student I seemed to remember from somewhere outside the women's dormitory. "What are you doing in front of the female dormitory?" "A colleague of Oknodie's?" The man who once betrayed Dorothy, Rockpel. He looked troubled as he gazed at the curtained window. "Dorothy is waiting to accept his apology." "How uptight." "I feel guilty for what I've done." "If you knew, you shouldn't have done it in the first place." "At that moment... I wasn't in my right mind. I thought I had to pass, even if it meant leaving Dorothy behind to fail, to be of any help to everyone back home." "I wouldn’t forgive you if it were me." "..." "Don't look so down. We're going to see Dorothy anyway." Rockpel, desperate, raised his arm to grab Isabel's shoulder but hesitated in midair. Did he, who had no right to hold anyone back, have the right to ask for such a selfish favor now? Unable to shake off his hesitation, he withdrew his hand. "How pathetic. How can a man be so timid?" "Are you helping me?" "I suppose I can relay a message that there's been a disagreeable man waiting outside the dormitory for days." "Though I'm shameless, please.” Isabel lightly knocked on the door of room 120 where Dorothy was said to be staying. "Who is it?" "Isabel. I helped you in the forest, a colleague of Oknodie." "...Come in." With a creak, the door opened just enough to put one foot through, as if holding a nervous heart within. As Giselle had said, there was a distinct musty odor, characteristic of someone who hadn’t washed their hair for a few days. "You managed to pass well." "I touched the Black Hat instructor and a huge amount of points came in. About 1800 points?" "How is that possible?" "The test-takers who rested for a day and then started playing tag had different scores from the instructor, who’d been accumulating tag points since the very start of the exam." "...Was the saying 'if you're lucky, you might pass' referring to that?" With such a rule, the first person to touch the instructor could withdraw all the accumulated points in one go, as if debiting them in full from the moment the test began. If Oknodie had known this from the start, she could have gone back to touch the instructor alone and easily passed through the magic circle. "A one percent reduction in the score actually gave me 18 points, and I even got a deduction of 50 points for not arriving on time. But thanks to that, I was able to keep going." What would Oknodie have done? It might have been possible for her to hog all 1800 points alone. Considering that 1 point from the entrance exams was converted to 100 points, it was an opportunity to gain a whopping 180,000 points. ‘She knew it but didn’t go for it.’ I knew the reason. It was because she was concerned about her peers. Even when she had the chance for immediate admission through the special privilege of ranking first at the first gate, she was the same person who gave that up because she was worried about everyone else who accompanied her. A foolishly kind and pure child. And at the same time, a child suspiciously capable, raised as an assassin by a noble family. The more I thought about it, the more my heart ached. “Did you take a request from that kid?” "It's not quite like that, but I came to ask for a favor." "It's not about the fool outside, is it?” "That’s just incidental." "That fool Rockpel deserves to suffer a bit more. I'm still not satisfied with him. Do you think that’s harsh?" "I don't care. I wouldn't forgive him if it were me. A man who has betrayed once, can betray twice. He is not suitable to be a comrade.” As a romantic partner, one could put up with the reasonably handsome Rockpel, but as a colleague or marital companion, it's absolutely out of the question. Rockpel, who betrayed at a critical moment, is the epitome of an irresponsible man. Neither trustworthy nor desirable. "If it's not about Rockpel, what are you asking for?" "I talked to Oknodie, and she wants to get to know you better." "Me?" Surprise and a flicker of life broke through Dorothy's previously sullen expression. With a mischievous grin. I immediately knew that even Giselle's information could be wrong sometimes. "Wasn't that so?" "Of course not. I haven't seen her since passing. Perhaps you're confusing her with someone else?" "I’ve only wasted your time, sorry about that." "Wait a minute. I’ve become interested. Tell me what kind of story it is." "I'm not sure if it's wise to share with you." "Try trusting me. I may have sought advice, but in the end, I passed the admission test on my own strength and made it to the advanced class. The forest keeper’s tracking skills are pretty reliable, right?" The more Isabel was assured, the more willing she was to be fooled this once and shared the story. "Could that be your roommate?" "Roommate?" "Maybe you’ve been watching your surroundings constantly in your room since you moved into the dormitory because you were afraid there was a dormitory test or something?" "...Now that you're back in civilization, adapt. Why suffer unnecessarily with a single in a comfy dorm?" "Tch. Who wanted to do that? It was out of anxiety and could not be helped." Dorothy, turning the conversation back, shared her own sighting. "A few days ago, a strange maid visited those two's room. The maid specifically exchanged the bed sheets for room 111 and 112, so it was memorable." "Bed sheets?" "It was a rather odd maid, trying to eavesdrop by pressing her ear against the wall from the outside." "...Eavesdropping?" "It seemed troubling. Could the muscular woman staying in 112 have some special relationship with Oknodie? Sorry, that’s all I know about the people Oknodie might be concerned with." "No, you’ve been helpful enough." "Ah, I sometimes hear kids nearby pressing their ears against that wall, trying to eavesdrop. If you ask them, they might know something." Bed sheets exchanged for just two rooms. A maid eavesdropping on a room. Sounds that the nearby room occupants were curious about. ‘Ah, I was wrong. Now it's bothering me too.’ I'm going crazy wanting to know. I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t unravel this secret. Author's Note (Afterword) The truth is with the kid talking to walls.