Chapter 278
Today was the school’s founding anniversary.
There was no need to go to school, but as if he couldn't miss even a public holiday, Keyzen held an optional supplemental lecture.
It was a supplemental class taught by the teaching assistants without a professor, and only students with the lowest grades were required to attend, the rest could choose freely.
“Keyzen and the students both, they’re out of their minds.”
Dick grumbled as he scribbled away at an invention on his desk.
“They say Katarology and Toxicology are already full. Can’t they rest on a school anniversary for once?”
Simon chuckled softly and asked,
“Do you have any mandatory classes?”
“Yeah. Gotta go to Katarology.”
“Unlucky.”
Simon was the only one who didn’t have any required classes, excluding the weakest course, Spiritology. Grateful for that, he stretched his clasped hands out in front of him.
“More than that, I’m looking forward to the Deployment Evaluation.”
“Me too!”
Since the topic had come up, Simon brought up a new suggestion.
“If we’re going to the Neutral Zone, don’t you think we need to stock up on essentials? Wanna call Maelyn and Kami and go shopping together in Rochest?”
At those words, Dick suddenly stopped moving and his expression hardened.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah— well, that’s…”
The usually laid-back Dick scratched his head with an embarrassed look.
“I don’t think I can go with you guys for this Deployment Evaluation.”
Simon froze for a moment.
“Huh, really?”
“Sorry. I made plans with the students from Class G, so I’m going with them.”
Simon looked genuinely disappointed.
“That’s a shame.”
“Sorry, really. Try Maelyn. She said she’d be in the library all day today.”
Team composition and reporting were due by tomorrow.
Since teams were made up of four people, they had to quickly fill the spot that opened up.
Simon nodded and promptly changed into his school uniform.
He arrived at the library.
Thanks to her eye-catching sky-blue hair, Maelyn was easy to spot. She seemed to be taking a break from studying, chatting with another female student outside the reading room.
Simon approached and called out.
“Maelyn!”
Maelyn turned her head when she saw Simon. He quickly spoke.
“Maelyn, did you hear? Dick—!”
“Hold on, Simon, I’ve got something important.”
“Oh, okay.”
In his rush, Simon nearly interrupted rudely. He backed off a step and waited patiently.
Soon, the two girls resumed their chatter.
Listening with one ear, it was a typical relationship gossip. Someone was dating someone, but the guy cheated, the girl cried and yelled, and the guy showed no remorse whatsoever—just the usual kind of story.
Maelyn, listening, exploded in outrage.
“Is he crazy or what?”
“For real!”
Their endless chitchat continued. Simon, feeling like he was intruding on a tiny private universe, awkwardly stepped back and waited.
Twenty minutes passed before the girl Maelyn was speaking with said goodbye and left.
Only then did Maelyn turn her attention to Simon.
“What’s up?”
“Ah, it’s about the Deployment Evaluation.”
Finally, they got to the main topic.
“Dick said he’s going with some other class. So we need to quickly fill our team, right?”
“Our team?”
At those words, Maelyn let out a scoffing laugh.
“Hey! What do you mean ‘our’ team?”
“Huh?”
“You thought we were going together?”
“...Weren’t we?”
Since they’d talked all day yesterday about the Neutral Zone, he assumed it was a given.
“Oh geez. Who goes to the Deployment Evaluation with just classmates? People would laugh if they heard that.”
She waved her hand in disgust.
“And we’ve been sticking together all the time. This is a good chance to meet students from other classes. I already decided to go with that girl you saw earlier, and two students from Class H.”
“R-Really?”
Was it normal to mix with other classes for the Deployment Evaluation?
Simon was a bit stunned, but both Dick and Maelyn were talking like it was nothing.
“You haven’t gone to see Kami yet, right?”
Maelyn asked.
“I’m about to. Do you know where she is?”
“She signed up for the Haematology supplementary class. Probably at the Magical Shooting Range.”
Simon arrived promptly at the Magical Shooting Range where Haematology class was being held.
Peeking through the window, he saw a teaching assistant passionately lecturing inside. Among the students, he easily spotted Kamibarez, who had bat wings on her back.
Her wings fluttered every time she took notes, and her ears perked up attentively during important parts. Watching her was strangely addictive.
“Well then, that’s it for the supplementary lecture. Those who signed up for the afternoon session, I’ll see you again in two hours.”
“Thank you!”
The Haematology TA left, and the students filed out of the classroom.
Simon leaned against the wall, waiting so as not to block the hallway.
Near the end, Kamibarez came out holding her textbook tightly in both arms.
“Kami!”
“Oh, Simon—!”
She smiled brightly and trotted over, her wings fluttering rapidly in excitement.
“What brings you here?”
“Ah, well…”
Simon was about to explain that Dick and Maelyn were going with other students, and that they needed to find two more teammates.
But cautiously, he decided to ask this first.
“Kami, do you already have someone to go with for the Deployment Evaluation?”
“...Ah.”
At that question, Kamibarez’s pupils wobbled. Her expression darkened, and she fidgeted with her lips, eyes lowered to the ground in silence.
Simon forced a smile and spoke.
“It’s okay. You can tell me.”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry! I actually agreed to go with members of the Curse Research Club…”
“Oh, I see. That can’t be helped.”
Simon suddenly realized he was in deep trouble.
The team list was due by tomorrow.
After that, Simon frantically searched for teammates.
“Ah, thank you so much for the offer! But we already decided from the start to go as our original group. Sorry.”
First, he tried Toto, who was both a classmate and a fellow club member, but he already had a team.
“What? You’re looking for teammates?”
Next up was Jaime Victoria, the de facto class rep of Class A.
Surprised, she grabbed Simon’s shoulders and shook him.
“Did you guys have a fight or something? What happened? I never worried about Group 7 because you guys were so close!”
“No, we didn’t fight.”
After Simon explained the situation, Jaime gave a pained expression.
“What are you talking about! Of course the Deployment Evaluation is meant to be done with your own class team!”
“R-Really?”
“You think the Deployment Evaluation is some happy picnic? Obviously, it’s way better to go with people you’ve worked with all year! You’ve built teamwork and tactics together! If you go with people from other classes, when are you going to build that teamwork again?”
“......”
Simon looked dazed. He hadn’t thought about that.
“That’s why I asked if you guys had a fight.”
Jaime sighed deeply and continued.
“Unless things really went bad, most people go with their original teams. Same for me.”
“...Thanks for telling me.”
“I won’t pry, but if something really is going on in Group 7, just be honest with me. Okay?”
“We seriously didn’t fight.”
Whose version was correct?
With that doubt lingering, Simon headed off again. This time, he followed Jaime’s directions and went to find Claudia, someone he’d gotten closer to recently through various shared experiences.
“No, that’s seriously not okay! Isn’t that way too much?”
After hearing Simon’s story, Claudia got angry as if it were her own problem.
“The class rep was right, you’re supposed to go with your team. And! If she was going to go with students from another class, the least she could’ve done is tell you beforehand! Maelyn, that girl... Kami too, I didn’t expect that from her!”
“Thanks for getting angry on my behalf.”
Simon said with a smile.
“But talking behind our teammates’ backs in front of me is a bit... you know.”
“Ah, r-right? Sorry...!”
Claudia bowed her head in apology right away. Then, as soon as she lifted her head again, her eyes sparked with fire.
“Still, what’s wrong is wrong! You definitely need to get a proper apology for this later!”
“......”
After parting ways with Claudia, Simon continued to meet other students.
But he couldn’t find a team member no matter how hard he tried. Almost everyone was forming deployment teams with their original group.
As Simon walked alone down the hallway, he saw a group of four students sitting in a circle in an empty classroom, chatting and laughing loudly.
‘...They look like they’re having fun.’
It felt a little lonely.
For the first time since coming to Keyzen, Simon felt truly alone.
He trudged along. Wherever he looked, groups of four students were together. Seeing them having fun only made the emptiness beside him feel even bigger.
‘Still, it’s too soon to give up.’
He’d check in with a few more students from Class A, and if that didn’t work, then Kajan, Loraine, Fitzgerald, even Serne... though Serne might ask for something weird again, he couldn’t afford to be picky.
‘Not much time left.’
Simon went up to the third floor, as Claudia had told him. Cindy Vivace, also from Class A, was supposedly doing a study session in the empty classroom 302.
‘She’ll probably go with her team, but...’
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Even if not Cindy, he might get some other useful info there.
Simon arrived at classroom 302 and knocked lightly.
“Who is it?”
He heard Cindy’s voice from beyond the door.
“It’s me, Simon. Mind if I come in for a sec?”
“Oh, come on in!”
With permission, Simon opened the door with both hands.
Bang!
Pop!
Suddenly, paper poppers exploded from all directions.
“Happy birthday, Simon!!”
Waaaaah—!
Cheers burst out, and confetti and flower petals rained from the ceiling. Right in front of him was a big cake.
‘......??’
Simon looked around in a daze.
Inside the classroom, Dick stood there with a party hat and popper in hand, Maelyn was clapping brightly with a beaming smile, and Kamibarez held the cake with a grin.
Behind them were Jaime, Claudia, and Cindy as well.
What... is this?
A birthday?
My birthday?
“Don’t tell me...”
“What else would it be? It’s a surprise!!”
Maelyn shouted with a smile.
Kamibarez, holding the cake with both hands, approached.
“Blow out the candles, Simon!”
Still stunned, Simon blew out the candles, and another round of cheers erupted.
Dick popped all the remaining birthday firecrackers.
“...Ahaha.”
All the bitter feelings melted like snow, leaving only a warm, tight feeling in his chest.
Covered in confetti and flower petals, Simon placed a hand on his chest and finally let out a deep breath, smiling.
“...You guys really surprised me.”
Dick laughed heartily and threw an arm around Simon’s neck.
“Come on! Did you really think we’d ditch you and go team up with someone else?”
“Sorry for tricking you, Simon!”
It had been a surprise from the start. Jaime, Claudia, and Cindy had all been bribed with cake.
Simon, the man of the hour, cut the cake and served slices onto plates. It was so big that even after giving everyone a piece, more than half remained.
“But guys, I have a confession to make.”
At Simon’s words, the other three members of Team 7 flinched a little.
“W-what is it?”
Kamibarez asked.
“Hey! Don’t tell me you went and found another team while we were prepping this!!”
Maelyn said, a worried look on her face.
Simon shook his head and said awkwardly,
“It’s not actually my birthday today.”
Pause.
An awkward silence settled over the classroom. Then, all eyes turned to Dick.
“You idiot! You told us today was Simon’s birthday!!”
Maelyn yelled.
Dick stammered, clearly flustered, and looked at Simon.
“You marked your dorm calendar with a circle! And it said ‘birthday’ next to it...!”
“Oh, that’s my mom’s birthday.”
“......”
Silence fell again.
At that moment, Maelyn and Simon exchanged a mischievous glance. Then Maelyn, holding the half-eaten cake, suddenly dashed forward.
Smack!
She smashed the cake right into Dick’s face.
“Hahahahaha!”
“That felt so good!”
Everyone clapped and laughed loudly. Even Dick, with cake all over his face, laughed along and licked it off with his tongue.
“Ahh! I can’t see!”
He shouted, then charged toward Maelyn to wipe his face on her uniform.
“Eek! Hey! Don’t come near me!”
“Revenge!!”
As everyone laughed and messed around, Kamibarez came up beside Simon and said,
“Let’s do well on this deployment too, Simon!”
Simon smiled back.
“Yeah, I’m counting on you.”
His chest felt warm.
Even though it wasn’t his real birthday, he thought this surprise party thrown by everyone was something he’d never forget for the rest of his life.
“Ah— I’m kind of jealous. I wish our team was like this.”
Claudia muttered, and Maelyn rushed over and smeared cake on her cheek. This time, the two of them started bickering loudly.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters