107. Abnormality and White Lily Academy [8]

I invited Idol-san into my room, and poured her a cup of tea that had been chilled in the refrigerator.

「Here you go…」

「Thank you.」

She sat at the dining table, and took a sip of the tea in an elegant manner.

And then,

「……」

「……」

There was silence between us.

(What am I supposed to do now?)

Should I say something witty?

(…No, but Idol-san came all the way over to visit me.)

I’m sure there’s something she wants to tell me.

(It’s a little awkward, but… the correct answer would be to wait so as not to rush her!)

I decided that, and stared straight into her face without bringing up any topic.

Idol-san didn’t seem particularly nervous. She had an expression which made her difficult to read as usual.

About thirty seconds had passed since then.

「Eh, uh… Idol-san? Why did you come in the middle of the night like this?」

Unable to endure the awkward silence, I decided to just ask her.

「Ah… yes. I had a little something to talk about, but… one thing before that, okay?」

「Yes. What can I do for you?」

「It’s been bothering me for a long time, but… why do you use honorific for me?」

「…Eh?」

I let out a stupid voice at that unexpected question.

「We’re the same age, aren’t we?」

「It’s… That’s right.」

The reason why I use honorifics for Idol-san…

(…To be honest, that’s not an easy question to answer.)

『It hasn’t been long since we met』means we are still distant to each other.

『Just cause』is too weak as a reason.

「Well, uh… I thought it would be better to treat girls politely…」

I gave a bland answer.

「But you don’t use honorifics for Ria and Rose, do you? If you don’t mind, I want you to talk to me normally too」Idol-san said.

Personally, I’m not concerned with honorifics.

If she’s good with it, then I’ll just address her casually.

「-Okay. Well then, nice to meet you… I-Idol.」

I’m still not used to addressing girls without honorifics, so… I hesitated a little.

But she smiled without any particular concern towards it.

「Yes, nice to meet you too.」Idol said, and stood up quickly. 「Then, see you later.」

She went toward the front door.

「Eh…? Ah, yes. See you tomorrow.」

Was this all she came here for? I felt a little disappointed.

Idol-san slowly put on her shoes, and placed her hand on the door.

「…Oh, I forgot.」

She took off her shoes again and sat on the table.

「I forgot the real issue. Let’s talk again.」

「A-Aa.」

(This person is seriously an airhead.)

「Ahem, I’m going to get down to business.」

「Yes, please…」

「Yes. Let’s see… I trained a lot after losing to Allen at the Sword King Festival. But today’s ability measurement has made it clear to me that the difference between you and me is widening.」

She bit her lower lip in frustration.

「There must be some secret… I thought.」

「Secret?」

「Yes. Allen’s strength must have some secret behind it. So I want you to answer my questions honestly.」Idol said, and took out a piece of printed paper from her small backpack.

Questions were written on it in beautiful handwriting.

Seems like she came fully prepared.

「No good?」

「No, I don’t mind.」

I have nothing to hide.

If answering questions can help her, then I’ll happily do so.

「Well, thank you. Then, the first question – Allen’s swordsmanship is very unique. Who’s your teacher?」

「……」

She shot a difficult question right from the start.

「Ahaha… I’m ashamed to say that my swordsmanship is self-taught.」

All swordsmen belong to some school, where they learn the basics of swordsmanship.

This is the common sense of a swordsman, and it is quite natural.

But I’m an outlier of that common sense – the swordsman who was not allowed to enter any school, who had no other choice but『self-taught』.

And, the world makes a fool of such an outlying person as『the dropout swordsman』.

「…Self taught? Why?」

Idol tilted her head in honest wonder, not knowing the circumstances of the people at the bottom like me.

「I’ve been told that I don’t have talent. They didn’t let me into any schools.」

There was nothing to gain from hiding it, so I answered honestly.

「Even though you’re so strong… All those people didn’t have the eye to judge true talent.」

Idol said, while shrugging her shoulders, and moved on to the next question.

How many hours a day do you spend on swordsmanship?

How many swordsmanship books have you read so far?

How much rice do you eat every day?

(I-It’s almost like an interrogation…)

I answered politely, one by one, to the barrage of questions which surpassed ten.

「This is the last question. What training did you dedicate the most time to since the end of Sword King Festival?」

「Training that I dedicate the most time to?」

「Yeah.」Idol nodded.

Judging from how this was the last question, I guess this is the one she wanted to know the most.

(…Hmmm)

Training of soul dress, manipulation of darkness, strength training – I do various training every day, but when it comes to the one that I devoted the most time to–

「Practice-swings.」

This was the one.

No matter what happened, I have never missed swinging in my daily routine.

This has not changed since my time at Gran Swordsmanship Academy.

And then.

「Muh… Answer me properly.」

Was my answer not convincing enough?

「Ah, aha… I am answering honestly though.」

I wasn’t lying about anything.

The training I dedicated most of my day towards, is definitely practice-swings.

「…Right. Your『secret of strength』is a secret.」she grumbled, with a sullen angry expression.

「T-That’s not it…」

When she said the secret of my strength – the first thing that came to mind was the『100 million year button』.

However, I can’t talk about that because I promised Leia-sensei to『never say anything to anyone』.

(…It can’t be helped.)

As for the 100 million-year button, the Black Organization seems to be keeping a watchful eye for any information regarding it.

If I exposed something poorly, I might endanger not only myself but also Idol.

I feel sorry for her, but I can’t tell her.

When I was thinking about that,

「…Understood. Then I’ll『monitor』your daily life.」Idol said something that didn’t make sense.

「Monitor?」

「Yes, monitor. Watch and learn.」

「Oh, that’s what you meant…」

I was a little surprised by the word『monitor』, but there’s no need to get permission to『watch and learn』which is also the basics of swordsmanship.

Even I watched and learned to copy Rose’s Sakura Blossom One-Sword Style.

「…No good?」Idol asked, with her head tilted.

「No, I don’t mind if it’s that. Though… I’m not sure if I would be helpful.」

「I see, I’m glad. Yes, that’s all. Thank you for everything.」she smiled happily.「Then, I’ll go have a bath.」

What an incredible power play.

「Aa, go… ahead?!」

Terrifyingly natural, quick change of topic – if it were someone other than me, they would have totally missed it.

I was about to inadvertently give permission to take a bath, due to her exceedingly natural performance.

「Hey, wait a minute! What do you mean by a bath!?」

「…? The bath is a bath.」

「Ah… Let me clarify. I’m not asking for the meaning of the word『bath』. Why are you taking a bath here – in my room?」

When I explained it politely,

「…? I said it earlier. I’m going to monitor your daily life.」she asserted her justification, indifferently.

「Monitoring everyday life… You mean you’re going to monitor my life from right next to me?!」

「That’s right.」

Idol nodded, with an expression which seemed to ask,「What are you so surprised about…?」

(…Now that I think about it, I had completely forgotten.)

That Idol’s communication skills are devastatingly hopeless.

「Does that mean… you’re staying overnight today?」

「Of course, the backpack is here for that.」she said, taking out a lovely yellow pajamas from her backpack.

It seems that she was going to stay in my room from the beginning.

「That’s a little…」

A man and a woman of age, staying under one roof… there are a lot of problems with that.

As for the case with Ria, there were strange circumstances such as the master-slave relationship, which already puts it outside the norm.

As I was greatly perplexed,

「…By any chance, are you dating anyone?」Idol leaned her head forward, with a slightly uneasy expression on her face.

「N-No… It’s not like that, but…」

With Ria… It’s still not that kind of thing.

「…Good then.」she whispered something, with a relieved look.「Well, then, I’ll get in first.」

She closed the partition of the dressing room.

「H-Hey, Idol…!」

The moment I grabbed the hem of the curtain,

I heard the sound of clothes rustling.

「…?!」

She has already started to strip.

(Shit… She got the jump on me…)

With Idol undressed, this thin cloth curtain has evolved into an『Iron Curtain』, which protects her.

「Haa… How did this happen?」

I heaved a sigh and heard her humming from the bathroom.

A peerless beauty of the same age is taking a shower right next to me – When I thought about it that way… My heart started beating rapidly in a strange rhythm. I felt so uneasy.

(…I feel so restless.)

That restless period went on for a while, and then, I heard the sound of the bathroom door opening.

(…Fuu, it’s over.)

At the same time, my tension loosened a little.

I don’t know why, but… I got really nervous listening to the sound of Idol bathing.

As I took a breath of relief,

「Nee, Allen. Where is the bath towel?」

Idol opened the curtain, and stepped out stark naked without hesitation.

「Wha…?!」

I saw things that should never be seen. Clearly.

I immediately looked away from her and shouted.

「Wha-Wha?! What are you doing?!」

「Uh… Bath towel…」

「I’ll get you one! So go back in, or at least close the curtains!」

「…? Okay.」she replied, and quietly went back into the dressing room and closed the curtains.

Then I hurriedly took out the bath towel from her backpack, and

「H-Here…」

I handed it through the gap in the curtain.

「Nn… Thank you.」

After that, Idol said nothing, and wiped off the water on her body in a good mood.

(Are all the so-called ladies in a girls’ school like this?)

There was a definite lack of awareness regarding the dangers of men.

(…No, in the first place, there are only a handful of people who can get the jump on『Prodigy』, however…)

This is too defenseless indeed.

To be honest, I’m very worried about whether I’ll get involved in a strange scandal.

After waiting for a while, Idol changed into the lovely yellow pajamas and stepped out.

Her still moist hair sticking on the cheeks, gave off a somewhat grown-up, sexy vibe.

「Fuu… That was refreshing.」

「…That’s good then.」

Then I went back to chilling, and Idol started drying her hair.

After a brief while, she got onto the bed to sleep.

「So fluffy… Allen, good night…」

She fell onto my bed with a big yawn.

「Good night.」

It seems that she is a weak night person.

Then I quickly washed off in the bath, got ready for bed, and got onto the same bed Idol was sleeping on.

She was curled up like a little child, taking short breaths.

「…Aren’t you too defenseless?」

Does she trust me or was she originally like this?

Anyway… Idol should have a little more awareness.

「…I’ll talk to her about it next time.」

Then, I closed my eyes and slowly dozed off.

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