CH 61

[Jarvis’s Crisis]

The water magic practical, aka swimming class.

Regardless of gender, there were many who looked forward to it.

“It’s finally time!”

“Damn right! There wasn’t one last year!”

“Our patience has finally borne fruit!”

“Kh~, can’t the afternoon come sooner!”

The boys were excited since early in the morning.

That said, the class would be held separately according to gender, their wish to worship the girls in their swimsuits wouldn’t come true. The most they could do was fantasize about them.

“Good grief… this is why boys are…”

The class president, Kleine, wore a severe expression, arms crossed. She appeared to be disgusted at the boys who were fantasizing about the girls’ swimsuits, and her lover(?) Melia calmed her down with “There, there.”

The academy didn’t have a designated swimwear, so everyone was basically free to wear whatever they wanted.

Therefore, for several weeks, the girls in the class had been fussing about what kind of swimwear they should wear. With the situation being that way, it was no surprise that the boys got hyped up.

As for me, well, I was satisfied with just seeing Tayte in her swimsuit.

The practical was divided into morning and afternoon.

Of course, the division was by gender.

The morning was the boys’ turn to practice water magic.

The classes that would be participating were the light element class and water element class, plus some students from other element classes who also had an aptitude for the water element.

As I was having fun chatting with Tayte in the classroom, the teacher came to tell us it was time for the practical, so I reluctantly got up from my seat.

“Good luck, Barrett.”

“Thanks. Still, it’s a shame that I can’t get to show you how good a swimmer I am.”

“Giggle, how unfortunate, indeed.” Tayte giggled and replied to my joke. I instantly didn’t feel like going anymore. I wanted to chat with her some more, but…

“B-Barrett…”

…a timid voice called my name.

As I turned around to see where the voice was coming from, I found Jarvis poking her head out of the door connecting the classroom and hallway, beckoning me over.

“Jarvis?”

“He seems sort of troubled…”

As Tayte said, Jarvis appeared to be anxious, very unlike her usual calm and composed self. These days, we hadn’t had a proper conversation because of the bath incident.

Yet despite the awkward state of the relationship between us, Jarvis was clearly seeking me out for help.

The reason—I immediately figured it out.

“Ah.”

Yes.

It was the swimming class.

Jarvis was a girl pretending to be a boy. The water magic practical—aka swimming class—that started this year could be said to be her biggest challenge yet.

“…I’ll go see what’s troubling him.”

Having said so to Tayte, I headed over to Jarvis.

“Barrett… I’m sorry, but—”

“I know… you need my help, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

“What about your swimwear?”

“Well, I’ve prepared one that covers my whole body. It should… be enough to hide my chest.”

Yeah, Jarvis’ chest was rather modest in size. It was a fortune amidst misfortune—was not something I would say out loud, but in this case, it worked in Jarvis’ favor.

“In that case, the only problem left is the timing for you to get changed… Alright, I’ll call you over when the boys are gone from the changing room. Then I’ll be acting as the lookout to prevent anyone from entering while you are changing. In case we’re late, we’ll just make up an excuse.”

When a model student like Jarvis was late, the teachers would usually rationalize the reason themselves and not question them too much, so it should be easy to lie our ways out. Your everyday behavior sure was important.

“…Thank you.” Jarvis bowed her head apologetically.

Seeing that, I brought up a proposal.

“Hey, Jarvis.”

“Yes?”

“If we get through this class safely—would you mind if I tell Tayte about you?”

“?! T-that’s…”

Jarvis appeared reluctant, but I had my own reason for this.

“Don’t worry. She will never leak your secret to anyone. Besides, as a fellow girl, she may be able to give you more accurate advice than I can.”

Indeed.

I was sure that Tayte could give her advice that I, a boy, couldn’t.

“…You have a point. Got it.” Jarvis gave a little nod, accepting my proposal.