CH 123

[Madeline’s Secret]

Madeline Halman, who was one year my junior, was scheduled to fight Raul in the martial arts tournament.

Just before the end of the banquet, she left the venue while being accompanied by (presumably) her personal maid, but… her expression as she did catch my interest.

Something was up.

I felt that instinctively, so I decided to follow her as Tayte was talking to Reina.

After weaving through the students on their way back, I arrived at—

“? The restroom?”

—the restroom in the auditorium.

I couldn’t see them around, and there was a dead end ahead. So, did they go into the women’s restroom together?

“Gosh… looks like I worried pointlessly.”

Well, girls could have some sensitivestuff going on.

Stuff that boys shouldn’t pry too much into.

But since I was already here, might as well.

“…Let’s go in.”

Actually, I’d wanted to go to the bathroom since a while ago.

There didn’t seem to be anything particularly strange going on anyway, I would finish my business quickly and then go back to Tayte.

With that in mind, I entered the men’s restroom.

The toilet cubicles were mostly unoccupied, except for the one furthest back. I tried to enter the one two doors away from it—when it happened.

Ker-chak.

The door to the toilet cubicle furthest back opened and a most unexpected person came out.

““Ah.””

Our eyes met and our voices overlapped. Then…

“Eh… Madeline Halman…?”

Yes.

Madeline, whom I thought was in the women’s restroom, was in the men’s restroom.

But… why?

I couldn’t tell how it was inside, but looking from the outside, the women’s restroom shouldn’t have been full. So why would she—

“!?”

At that moment, I felt a tremendous killing intent behind me. I reflexively pulled out the Holy Sword and turned around. Standing there was the maid who had been accompanying Madeline earlier.

“…Did you find out?”

The maid slowly walked over to me with a low and cold voice contrasting her beautiful appearance.

H-how powerful…

The sense of intimidation she gave off was comparable to the wyvern I’d fought last time!

The maid gradually closed the distance between us.

But she showed no signs that she was going to attack me.

From that, I made two hypotheses.

First.

She felt like she couldn’t easily deal with me.

Maybe if I were a regular student, she would have many options.

But I wasn’t an easy opponent, even if I do say so myself. If she were to try to silence me, she’d have no chance of winning with me wielding the Holy Sword. However, she couldn’t leave me be, either. The conflict dulled her resolve, as well as her action.

Second. It was because of Madeline, who, on the contrary, had sunk down on the floor.

She had been staying still that way.

Without saying a single word.

I was facing the maid, so I couldn’t tell what kind of expression Madeline, who was behind me, was making right now.

—But I could imagine it.

Her expression must be similar to Jarvis’s when I’d run into her in the public bath.

Most likely, right now Madeline was—

“E-Eleanor… I got caught…” Madeline cried.

I knew it.

Madeline Halman was—a boy!

“…Hmm?”

But wait a second.

If I wasn’t mistaken, all the heroines in the original novel connected mentally and physically with Raul…

“…No way, don’t tell me—”

Raul swung both ways…?

As doubts swirled in my mind, I called for a ceasefire to the maid named Eleanor.

“Please, wait. I don’t want to complicate things. Let’s calm down and talk it out.”

“…………”

Eleanor stopped in her tracks and fell silent as though she was weighing what to do before eventually taking a deep breath and agreeing to my suggestion.

Now, what should I do…