Saying private Lya [4]

[Alex's Pov]

"Come, you stupid mutt..."

'He made it! Thank god!'

Somehow, George had made it in the nick of time, even though I had to intervene a tiny bit to buy enough time by launching a rock at the wolf for that to become the truth. In reality, I had been hiding in the greenery for quite a long time already, watching and, unfortunately, hearing Lya talk to Akira.

However, I didn't want to intervene until I knew that I had no other choice. Which was when the large wolf was just about to take a bite out of her, which would likely have resulted in her whole head being bitten off.

Now, all that was left was to see how things worked out. Hopefully, the hero would be strong enough to bring down the demonspawn on his own, but if that wasn't the case, I was prepared to intervene.

Therefore, I clenched my trembling hands and watched the hero and the wolf as they started circulating each other, seizing their opponents up before engaging in battle. But not without making sure that I had a rock ready to be sent out at a moment's notice.

It turns out, I never had to worry about that in the first place.

Because as soon as George dashed forward and swung his sword, the outcome of the fight was already obvious.

Despite the wolf being incredibly large and fast, it still wasn't able to dodge the downward slash that the hero threw out, making a fountain of black goo spray into the air as its side was sliced.

"Roar!"

When the wolf tried to retaliate, attempting to tear George's body apart with its giant fangs, the hero dodged it with ease, only to then counter-attack again, creating yet another deep gash on the monster's body.

Over and over, this kind of sequence repeated itself, with George playing with the wolf as if it was a child.

'Why is he so strong?!'

Though I couldn't be completely sure, it didn't look like George was physically stronger or faster than the wolf, but his movements were so polished that it didn't matter. It was as if all his moves were executed with half of the physical commitment compared to the wolf's attacks.

A small step to the left, a slight lean back, etc. Even from afar, it was easy to see just how effortlessly he handled the large monster, and it looked like it had very little to do with his physical capabilities.

Every now and then, I could see his sword start to shine a bit before he swung it, sometimes even twice when the sword suddenly turned in mid-swing, before it returned to attack his enemy. Needless to say, that slight glow was proof that he was imbuing his sword with mana while using his skills.

And those skills together with his well-honed movements were more than enough to bring down the demonspawn.

*Thud!*

A dull sound resounded through the field as the black and red monster finally fell, unable to endure the hero's sword any longer.

So, as the monster fell, and the hero stood tall, the onlooker had but one thing left to do. To be on his way, happy that I would get to live to see another day. Yet, despite that, my hands were still trembling.

****

[George's Pov]

"Are you alright?"

"Sniff... I-I'm f-fine..."

After managing to kill the demonspawn, I still had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that my classmate was currently still sitting on the ground, covering her crying face with her hands.

I had no idea why but I somehow understood that whoever had been sending me those notes, as well as that terrible map, had made me come here to save Lya.

And even though I couldn't stop my heart from beating harder due to the anger I felt from knowing that there was no clue about my parents here to be found, I was still thankful. Thankful as that person allowed me to save a life that would otherwise have been lost.

Seeing the usually calm and silent Lya crying like this, I couldn't help but smile a bit. Not that I found it amusing or funny that she was crying, but it suddenly made her feel more... human.

So far, after Alex had shown me his true colors, it had been hard for me to view my new classmates as anything other than actors and pretenders, and that was the reason I smiled. Because Lya was currently showing me a bit of who she really was.

Therefore, I also sat myself down next to her, simply waiting until she had recovered enough so that we could get out of the forest. After spending some time crying, Lya managed to get herself together to the point where she could at least talk to me.

"...thank you."

"Don't mention it. So, what were you doing out in the forest all on your own? Isn't it an unspoken rule to never enter a monster territory without a party? Ah, never mind. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Her dark eyes flinched a bit in response to my question, making me quickly retract my question. It was, after all, none of my business why she decided to go out here. But just as I was about to suggest that we should go back to the academy, she decided to answer me.

"I just... wanted to prove to myself that I was strong... But it seems like I was wrong. Haha, isn't it stupid? Coming out here for something like that?"

"Mm, absolutely."

"...isn't this where you are supposed to comfort me with words like 'No, that's not stupid at all', or something?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not that good at talking to people, so I'm not sure what is expected of me."

Turning her eyes to the sky, it was the first time I got to see the beautiful, black-haired girl smile, although it was very much one of sadness.

"Me too."

Neither of us had to speak, as we both sort of understood each other. Or at least, I wanted to say that I understood her a bit at least. In the end, she was just a normal girl, and that wasn't something that her being a noble would ever change.

'Maybe I was wrong...'

It was hard for me to admit it to myself, but right now, it was impossible for me not to question my previous view of nobles and my classmates. Maybe I had thought too simply about things, and maybe, things weren't as simple as they sometimes seemed.

It wasn't to the point where I would ever want to put myself in a situation as I did on the first day, but at least it opened my eyes to the possibility that there were like-minded people like me at the academy. With Lya being one of them.

With that in mind, I finally rose from the ground and held out a hand to Lya.

"Shall we go back?"

After a second of hesitation, she grabbed it with a beautiful smile.

"Sure!"

==========

When we returned to the academy, both of us were both hungry enough that our first stop had been the cafeteria, where we were now eating a very early dinner together. After talking with each other during the brisk walk back, it almost felt like this wasn't even our first time doing so, almost as if we had known each other for a long time before today.

Then, Lya finally asked the question that I knew was going to come up at some point, seeing as it shouldn't have made much sense for her that I suddenly just appeared out of nowhere.

"By the way, you never told me why you went out to the forest."

"Hmm, I guess I didn't. But it isn't that important."

Naturally, I wasn't about to actually tell her the truth, that I had gotten some random notes telling me to go there. No, even if I now felt like I wouldn't mind becoming friends with her, that was still something that I knew I couldn't allow anyone to know.

Although I could see on her face that she wasn't all too happy with my answer, she still didn't have much of a choice but to let it go, as it would be quite impolite to act so persistently toward the one that had saved her life.

"Alright... but where did your friend go?"

"Friend?"

"Yeah, you know... the one that threw rocks at the wolf when it was about to bite my..."

"Did you see someone?!"

"George?!"

Without me realizing it, I was now standing up and leaning over the table, my eyes wide in suspense at what she was going to say next. Of course, after I saw her eyes tremble a bit, both in surprise and fear, I forced myself to sit down again.

"I'm sorry about that. But please tell me. Did you see someone other than me out there?"

"Ah, I think so. I couldn't see his face due to him hiding outside of the field behind the forest line, but there was someone there. But... he wasn't your friend then?"

"No, he wasn't my friend. Or at least I don't think so."

"...okay?"

Without even finishing my food, I stood up and got ready to leave.

"Anyway, I have to get going. I still have some training to do before night falls. I'll see you later, Lya."

"Oh... okay. I'll see you later then, George."

As a result of me wanting to leave the cafeteria as soon as possible as I now had a lot of things to ponder, I didn't even notice the slightly sad look in Lya's eyes when I stood up and walked away from the table.

'That person... that person knows the truth behind my parents' deaths...'