Akatsuki Translations

To avoid the unnecessary attention they had attracted, Aise moved with Shuou and the others to a secluded spot in the courtyard. She glared at Shitori, who was clinging tightly to Shuou’s arm, pressing her body against him.

Aise was irritated not only by Shitori’s failure to help when he had confronted the intimidating stranger, but also by her sudden transformation into a fawning kitten at the sight of Shuou. Her annoyance grew as Shuou made no attempt to distance himself from Shitori’s advances.

“I never expected to run into you here,” Shuou remarked casually, though Aise’s heart was racing.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been working at Gemstone Academy as an instructor for a while now, though it’s just temporary,” Aise replied, fidgeting with her fingers. “If anything, I’m the one who’s surprised.”

Shuou smiled gently, exuding a sense of calm and composure. While Aise had always thought of him as having a relaxed personality, she realized that Shuou seemed much more mature now than when she had last seen him.

“You should stay here for good. Then I’ll have them assign me here officially too,” Shitori said, gazing up at Shuou with intense adoration, as if he were the only person in the world.

Shuou’s expression darkened slightly. “I don’t know. I don’t know why I was sent here, how long I’ll be staying, or where I’ll be assigned next.”

Aise secretly agreed with Shitori’s pout of disappointment. The thought of Shuou working in the royal capital was thrilling, but like Aise herself, Shuou was a soldier and ultimately just an employee.

Shitori tugged at Shuou’s arm like a child, trying to get his attention. “Hey, tonight, let’s—”

Just as Aise tensed, wondering what she was about to suggest, Shitori’s body suddenly lifted into the air.

“Ow!” she yelped.

The head instructor, Manika, had appeared silently and was now pinching Shitori’s ear with a demonic expression, forcibly separating her from Shuou.

“Shameless!” Manika scolded.

“Stop it! I finally got to see him after so long!” Shitori protested, desperately trying to escape Manika’s grip. But her opponent was a seasoned instructor. The strength in those fingers that had caught Shitori, until recently Gemstone Academy’s problem child, seemed impossible for an old woman.

“I will not stop, Instructor Aurel!” Manika retorted. “What on earth are you teaching the students? We’ve received countless complaints from their families… And that’s not all. Other subject teachers have reported that female students have started focusing on manicuring their nails during class. It’s clearly your influence!”

Unwisely, Shitori talked back to the battle-hardened Manika. “But isn’t it better to have pretty hands?”

A vein throbbed in Manika’s temple.

“You… I thought you had grown a little after hearing your graduation exam results, but I was mistaken. From today until you change your ways, I, Manika, the head instructor, will personally oversee your conduct! For the time being, you’ll be staying at my house!”

Shitori’s wail echoed through the courtyard.

She reached out to Shuou for help, but he could only watch in bewilderment as Shitori was dragged away by Manika’s overwhelming presence.

While mentally applauding Manika, Aise addressed Shuou, now free from the clinging nuisance.

“The morning assembly is about to start. I should get going,” she said.

“I’ll come along,” Shuou replied. “I haven’t been told anything, but I doubt they’d mind if I joined.”

“Great!” Aise exclaimed, surprised at her own unusually bright and enthusiastic tone.

As they started walking, Shuou called out to the large man named Shiga, who was crouching against a wall in the corner of the courtyard.

“What’s his story?” Aise asked quietly.

Shuou lowered his voice, “I picked him up on the southern battlefield.”

He let out a gloomy sigh.

“I don’t really understand, but do you regret it?” Aise inquired.

Aise thought it would be understandable given the man’s rough appearance.

However, Shuou’s response was unexpected. “He eats a lot, that guy. Without a shred of restraint.”

Shuou’s expression, grinding his back teeth with what seemed like a hint of resentment, was refreshing to see. Aise found herself strongly wishing to know what Shuou had experienced during their time apart. Fortunately, they should have plenty of time for that now.

At the boundary between the courtyard and the corridor stood a female student. Her demeanor as she met Shuou’s gaze and bowed slightly clearly indicated some connection to him.

“An acquaintance?” Aise inquired.

Shuou nodded. “Apparently my caretaker.”

After a moment, Aise’s memory aligned with the female student before them. She was the young princess of the Adulelia clan, one of the most renowned among the famous families.

The student’s cold purple eyes suddenly fixed on Aise. Staring unblinkingly with an expressionless face, she caused Aise to frown and bite her lip in discomfort.

                                    *

“That commoner swordsman has become quite the talk of the town,” Rick remarked, leaning against the wall of an empty classroom just after the start of the afternoon break, lunch in hand. He was referring to the man who had been dispatched as the new fencing instructor.

Cadel glared sideways at his red-haired friend’s face and snorted. “I couldn’t care less.”

In truth, he felt the opposite. Despite lodging an official protest using his family name, Gemstone Academy showed no signs of taking action regarding the man in question. This was despite complaints supposedly filed by multiple families of other students, including Rick’s.

“Did you hear? This morning, they say a new instructor was hugging him intimately at the entrance,” Rick continued.

Cadel straightened up and turned towards Rick. “Is that true?”

“Yeah, and apparently he’s walking around with a huge southerner as a bodyguard. What’s more, the bodyguard’s hand bears a sunstone.”

Cadel frowned his handsome face at this series of strange stories and snorted. “What does that mean?”

“See? It’s weird, right? Your family’s protest gets ignored, he’s got a noble bodyguard, and he’s embracing Murakumo nobles. There’s even a rumor that the Adulelia princess is clinging to him as they walk. So, putting all this together, I’ve come to think that there must be something about that guy, despite just being a commoner dispatched here as an instructor.”

Rick grinned, wrinkling his freckled nose—a habit he displayed when contemplating mischief.

“So what are you getting at?” Cadel prompted.

Rick’s grin widened. “I’ve found out from a servant which room that man is staying in.”

“If he’s not an idiot, he’ll have locked it,” Cadel pointed out.

Rick proudly produced an old-fashioned key from his inner pocket. “Flash a bit of money, and this kind of thing is easy. So, shall we go?”

Cadel stared at his friend’s face with a scowl for a moment before snatching the key from his hand.