Chapter 251 251 Friends…
[Agnes' POV: ]
They have been gone for a while now. What might be so urgent that Master Grandalff had to escort him to the headmaster's office himself?
"They are in trouble, aren't they?"
They are always doing dangerous things and they were gone for three whole months. Of course they were in trouble right now. They are so careless!
"I don't think they would be in any kind of trouble, Agnes."
We all were on our usual benches by a tree in the garden as Princess Cathy patted my back and reassured me with a positive voice. And, I looked up at her.
"But… but you know how they are… how they are so careless and-"
"It will be fine, Miss Agnes. I think so as well. And I can say for certain it isn't about their absence for three months. if it were the case, the headmaster would have reacted the time they returned and were in the middle of the entire ceremony that happened earlier."
"Right.
They were asked to meet him in his office after they received their present from the wish-granting tree. Those three unique-looking cards."
"Yes! It must be because of that!"
Mister Ragasage's words made sense, and seeing how even Prince Morexis agreed with him, it must be the case this time.
Yes…
The two of them shouldn't be in that big of trouble.
And it's not like they did something to the wish-granting tree so what they got was not their doing either.
'Yes…'
It was a coincidence, a chance that they got those things and it was not their fault. Which means they should just be talking with the headmaster about something important. Perhaps something related to the things that they did when they were gone.
"Yes…"
They said they were going on a very important business trip, didn't they?
Something related to the adventurer's association's request about a dungeon or something?
[[ Master~. They went to a dimensional dungeon~!" ]]
Right. That. I almost forgot the word they used for that place.
'A dimensional dungeon…'
El mentioned it was a dungeon where time flowed differently and the reason they were so late was just because the time difference was like that.
That was the reason they were late, and they had finished whatever they had gone there for, so they had come back fine as well.
Yes. That's right.
They came back. And that's all that matters.
'And they aren't hurt anywhere either.'
If anything, they are healthier than they used to be the last time I had seen them. Which was good as well.
'They didn't do anything too foolish and were able to get done with whatever they had gone there for, and since they were back now, we all can go back to our usual ways now.'
It was fun with Miss Eva and Friday, but they weren't them.
They were different people, so these past few months, I wasn't hanging out with them that much.
'I spent most of my time with Princess Cathy, Prince Morexis, Mister Ragasage, and sometimes, with Lily and Mister Leon as well. But mostly, I had been with Princess most of the time.'
She was a fun person to be around and she taught me a lot of things about the outside world that I had never known about.
'And Prince Morexis is also a very special person as I had figured out.'
He has special knowledge about things that one cannot even think about and there are things that he just knows that don't even make sense to most of us.
'Some of the things interest mister Ragasage, but that's it. Even he is astonished by Prince Morexis' thought processes.'
Others might find his true self, his unique confined self that he does not show to just anyone.
'He is fighting with his inner self sometimes while sometimes he just wants to live in the present moment instead of thinking about something that is constantly hindering him.'
And he fights back with his fears. Which makes him one of the strongest people I have seen in this academy.
Then there's the ever special mister Ragasage, the lovebirds Lily and Mister Leon who are fun to tease, Miss Luc who secretly checks up on us every once in a while, and that strange person… Tim was it?
'That is one oddball I still do not understand even after all this time.'
I don't think he is a human but whatever he may be, why is he hanging out with so many ladies all the time?
'Or, the bigger question that I have been thinking about lately, why is he shy every time Miss Eva is around? Does he like her or something?'
There was something about that Tim person. Something suspicious that I wanted to talk about with El.
But, right before our lunchtime, she and brother Lucy had to go to the headmaster.
"When are they coming back though…?"
There weren't any classes today anymore, but since they were back, I was hoping we could have a good lunch now made specially by them after such a long time.
But they weren't here.
Why aren't they here?
"A-Agnes? Wait… are you crying?!"
"Princess Cathy! Why aren't they here yet?!"
I grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled her body towards me so that I could have her shoulder to cry on.
"Why… whaaaa! Did something happen to them?!"
What was taking so long?!
What were they even talking about for them to be there in the headmaster's office?!
"Miss… Miss Agnes. Please calm down. They must be doing something important. Let us wait for a little longer."
"Miss Agnes… Karma says they are coming."
"When are theyyyyyy… hmmm? What?"
"Oh, look. There they are."
Prince Morexis pointed his finger on the other side, and my head instinctively followed the direction it was pointing towards… and yes! As he said! They were here!
"Ellllllllllll~! Brother Lucyyyyyy~!"
I ran to them.
I ran.
And I reached them without stopping.
"What took you so long?!"
I hugged her first since she was in the front. And burned my face in her warm chest.
"Brother Lucyyyy! Do you know-… hmmm? Brother Lucy?"
I was going to hug him next, but while still stuck with El, I looked back at Brother Lucy. And, for some reason, despite her normal appearance, I could tell he was not feeling well.
"El? Did something happen? Something happened, right?!"
I knew it!
Something happened!
Something that made him upset!
That's why they were late!
I knew it! I wasn't about the meeting with the headmaster! Something happened when they were gone!
"It's nothing, Nes," El answered me with a warm smile that she always has for me, but… I can tell she did not mean what she had just said!
Something definitely happened that made my strong, smart, amazing brother Lucy sad!
'What in the world happened that made him sad?!'
I was screaming on the inside.
I was screaming on the outside.
I was screaming loudly. So much so that the others present in this garden were all looking at us with a stunned expression.
"Nes."
But then he called my name. And grabbed one of my hands.
"Please stop screaming. Your voice is too loud sometimes."
He had a warm smile on his face, and it was a real smile from what I can tell.
"I am not sad because something happened. I am sad because I worry something will happen and I might not be able to stop it from happening this time as well.
I don't want to see it happening again.
I don't want to experience it ever again.
And that is my feeling. My emotions. Something only I can be sad about.
So, please calm down. Alright? Seeing you crying and shouting like that will only make me sadder."
"W-what! No! You don't have to be sad!"
You are the last person I want to see sad!
Please don't say such things!
"Shhhhh. Then let's all quiet down and go see our other friends. Have you all had lunch yet?"
"Snifff. Snifff. No… we have been waiting for you two."
"Then allow me to treat you with something special today."
"…! Yes please!"
He was going to make something for us!
Finally~!
We will get to have Brother Lucy's cooking!
"Yeiiiiiiiiii~!"
"Hey, quiet. What did I say just now?"
"Oh… yes, yes. Shuuuu. I am mute now. No screaming." After finishing my long hug with El and giving a hug to brother Lucy, all three of us walked back to our friends.
'Our friends…'
Most of my previous life was spent in a hospital bed with doctors, nurses, and patients like me who had little chance of being cured again. Confined with only a window to see the world outside those blue walls…
'Mommy and daddy had always told me stories where the heroes and main characters had lots of friends that helped them, played with them, taught them, and laughed with them.'
But all I had to call a friend were the nurses who kept changing and the toys that kept breaking at one point.
'They weren't real friends.'
But them…
"I could never understand how you handle her, El. She is a handful one."
"Yes, miss Auriel. And mister Lucifer. You are quite something to have handled this person all by yourself for so long."
"It is quite attractive in a way, but being too attached to something is like carrying a loose locked gun in one's breast pocket. We don't know when our hearts will fall victim to the very bullets we had prepared for others."
"Hmmm? What?"
What did he mean by that?
What does a gun have to do anything with me being how I am?
"Ptfff. Yes, indeed Ras. That is a fun example."
"To put 'being too attached to something is poisonous' in that kind of context. You are indeed a word genius, Ras."
El was laughing at that example while brother Lucy had a good expression thanks to that.
Which is good!
'Good! Thanks mister Ragasage~.'
His wording sense is out of this world, but he knows how to make the mood better~!
'He is the kind of friend everyone should have~! Hehehe.'
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