"...You really didn’t do anything?"
"I told you I didn’t!"
I poured out my grievances to Amelia.
No, if I *had* done something, at least I’d know the reason.
But I didn’t do anything, yet she’s been watching me for hours.
Coming to see me every single day...
...Wait, now that I think about it, isn’t this normal for her?
"What, nothing’s changed at all."
"Huh?"
"I mean, I *was* surprised at first, but now that I think about it, it’s the same as always. If she’s just staring at me every day, then there’s nothing different about it. The visit was kind of nice, actually. I’m touched."
I got worked up over nothing.
I must’ve been flustered because the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Arte’s face.
"...Y-You. You’re *okay* with this?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"No, it’s nothing... Fine, if *you’re* fine with it, then whatever..."
"?"
Amelia stared at me like I was being ridiculous, but I had no idea why she was looking at me that way.
Well, it *was* the same as always—her watching over me.
I’d grown so used to seeing Arte lurking around my house every night before bed that it had practically become part of my routine.
Okay, maybe it was a little creepy that she’d been staring at me up close like this, but aside from the distance, nothing had really changed.
There was nothing to be afraid of.
I’d been startled by the new situation at first, but now that I thought about it, there was nothing scary about it!
"Is that all you have to say?"
"Uh, well. We were *supposed* to go to the beach..."
"The beach?"
"Yeah. Don’t you remember? I brought it up at the end-of-term ceremony. Said we should go together."
"...Oh, right."
An incident had broken out right as the ceremony started, so I’d completely forgotten.
Had we really talked about that?
It seemed the plan to go after the ceremony had vanished, leaving only the idea of going to the beach.
"But your leg..."
"Ah, this? It’s fine. I’ll be better in a week. ...So, what about you?"
"Hm?"
"Aren’t *you* the one who’s supposed to go to the beach?"
Ah.
I realized why Amelia had hesitated.
If I couldn’t go, then there was no point—she was probably thinking that.
After all, the only reason she wanted to go to the beach was because of Arte.
Given her goal of getting Arte and me together somehow, of course *I* had to be there.
"Well, I don’t *have* to go this time..."
I was about to suggest we postpone it—everyone was still shaken up, so maybe next time would be better.
But I suddenly clamped my mouth shut.
Amelia tilted her head, confused by my abrupt silence, but I changed my tune entirely.
"My condition isn’t great, but I should be fine in a week. I’ll probably be discharged by then."
"Really? Then we should ask Arte too. If we go to the beach..."
"I’m fine with it."
"?!"
Amelia jumped in surprise at Arte’s sudden appearance. Arte smiled at her and said,
"The beach sounds nice. I didn’t expect you two to be talking about this behind my back."
"Arte. When did you get here...?"
"Just now. It was taking a while, so I wondered what was going on. If it was just this, you could’ve included me from the start."
"A-Ahaha... R-Right..."
Amelia glared at me, as if to say, *Why didn’t you tell me she was there?*
She must’ve realized I’d noticed Arte but played it off. Sharp as ever.
But what was I supposed to do?
By the time I’d noticed, she was already right there.
"Let’s invite Dorothy too. We can all go together."
"...Huh, Dorothy too?"
"Yes. Isn’t it nice, between friends? Bullying is bad, right?"
"Hmm. Fine."
Amelia tilted her head, as if this wasn’t what she’d expected.
She was probably thinking something weird again.
Like, *Arte is so into me that she’d hate it if I brought another girl around.*
But contrary to her expectations, Arte was the one who suggested bringing Dorothy along. Amelia seemed flustered by that.
...But why?
Maybe I’d been influenced by Amelia too much.
I never would’ve imagined Arte suggesting we bring Dorothy either.
I ended up panicking without thinking.
Worried that Arte might find us strange, I quickly changed the subject.
"...By the way, it’s a shame. A whole week has already passed?"
"Huh? Oh, right, you were asleep. Why does that matter?"
"I wasted a precious week of vacation... Haah..."
I’d only brought it up to steer the conversation, but now that I said it out loud, I couldn’t help but sigh.
It was vacation. Vacation.
No matter how fun training was or how much I needed to get stronger, doing nothing but sparring, classes, and drills every day was exhausting.
Even if it wasn’t a long break, just knowing I could relax gave me a sense of psychological stability.
But that precious time had vanished. A whole week.
Gone, without doing a thing.
Even if I could move freely now, they’d probably keep me for a thorough examination, just in case.
That would easily take another week.
So this week...
Half a month would be gone, just like that.
"And it was such a short break to begin with..."
"Oh, this vacation’s a little longer, actually."
"What?"
"Ah, you wouldn’t know. You just woke up."
I had no idea what she was talking about, but one thing was clear.
It wasn’t bad news.
"They said the Academy buildings are unsafe as they are."
"Unsafe?"
"They took a lot of damage from the last incident."
"...Ah."
Suddenly, I remembered the scene before I blacked out.
That villain with the strange horns had used their ability to turn the Academy’s main building into a mess.
"They found a room that no one knew existed. It just appeared out of nowhere."
"...A room?"
"Yes. Someone must’ve made it a long time ago, but it stayed hidden until now."
"..."
That’s the secret room.
Arte seemed to think we didn’t know, but we did.
We knew there was a secret room.
...So it’s been discovered.
"They think the attack was to find something in there. So the Academy made a big decision."
"...What does that have to do with vacation?"
"It’s connected. They’re renovating the buildings."
"What?"
"They’re doing a full-scale renovation. They might even tear everything down."
Amelia dropped the bombshell.
Renovating the buildings? Seriously?
"For hundreds of years, they’ve just done maintenance in the name of tradition, but the flaws have been exposed."
"They’re sturdy, but they’re old, and the fact that there were things even they didn’t know about was a threat."
"Yeah. This time, the intruders came in openly to find the secret room, but what if there were hidden passages?"
"...That’s terrifying."
"Invaders could swarm in without anyone noticing. The Academy can’t just ignore that kind of threat."
Well, I just thought it was interesting, but the higher-ups probably don’t see it that way.
It’s like some unknown thing was hiding in their own backyard.
If there’s a secret room, there might be a passage too. It’s only natural they’d think that.
"Actually, since there’ve been so many incidents and accidents at the Academy lately, they’re talking about rebuilding and making improvements."
"That’s why there’s talk of extending the break by about two weeks."
"…I see."
For me, that was a stroke of luck in the midst of misfortune.
It might seem a little strange to be thinking like this so soon after the incident… but there’s a huge difference between weekdays when I have to focus on classes and training, and holidays when I can rest as much as I want and train as much as I want.
"Let’s stop with the depressing talk. How about we discuss something more fun? …What are you planning to do a week from now?"
"My family has a villa. How about we go there?"
"That sounds great!"
…I still can’t get used to this. Amelia’s family is really loaded.
She doesn’t go around bragging about being rich, so sometimes I forget she’s from a wealthy family.
And that’s exactly why it feels so surreal whenever I’m reminded that she’s actually a rich girl.
She just doesn’t give off that vibe at all—more like a lively neighborhood girl…
But then her appearance has this subtle elegance, so every time this comes up, I’m like, *Oh right, she’s from a rich family.*
Then I forget again because of how she usually acts.
How *did* Amelia end up with this kind of personality growing up…?
"Then we’ll need to get swimsuits."
"Huh? Now that you mention it, yeah."
"Swimsuits? …Ah."
I was about to say we could just bring the ones from school.
Then I realized.
The school… they said they were rebuilding it.
By now, the demolition must be in full swing.
Even if the villain’s wind attack hadn’t destroyed the swimsuits, they’d probably be wrecked beyond use by now.
"Okay. Then let’s push the date back a little, and once everyone’s feeling better, we can all meet up!"
"…Huh? W-Wait."
"It’d be fun if we all went shopping together. What do you think?"
"Uh, well… I don’t mind."
Watching Arte and Amelia chat so cheerfully made me uneasy.
The atmosphere was taking a weird turn.
Now that I thought about it, this group had a *major* problem.
…I’m the only guy here!
Even two girls and one guy would be awkward, but if Dorothy joins, that’s three.
Normally, I don’t care, but the beach might be a little… risky.
No, even if we somehow made it to the beach, wouldn’t it be *way* more problematic for me to tag along while three girls go swimsuit shopping?
Alright, no choice.
Time to man up and run.
Amelia would understand, right?
"I, uh…"
"That’s fine, isn’t it?"
Sorry, but I’m skipping the shopping.
Just as I was about to say that, Arte sidled up to me and whispered,
"Don’t you want to see pretty swimsuits?"
"…Huh?"
"Ufufu, feel free to look forward to it."
"…What? Huh?"
What did I just hear?
I stayed lost in thought until Amelia and Arte said their goodbyes and left the hospital room.
…*Don’t you want to see pretty swimsuits?*
Why was she asking *me* that? What was her intention?
Huh? What?