[The One Who Knows This World]
The mysterious new student that Tayte met.
Judging from what she said, it seemed highly likely that she knew the world of the original novel in which Tayte became a member of Raul’s harem. Of course, there wasn’t enough evidence to say that for sure yet. Maybe she said that simply as a pleasantry.
Either way, I’d best meet her directly, so I tried to get more information about what she looked like from Tayte.
“What’s the color of her hair?”
“Erm, orange, if I remember correctly.”
“How tall is she? Is she taller than you?”
“…………”
“? Tayte?”
Tayte suddenly fell silent in the middle of my questioning.
Then…
“…Are you that interested in her?” She said, puffing up her cheeks.
“?!”
…I was an idiot!
Tayte had no idea about the situation and I went and asked about that girl that way. It was only natural she’d get suspicious.
“N-no, you’ve got it wrong, Tayte! I-!”
I hurriedly denied it, but I was panicking so much I lost words. Tayte turned her face away with a ‘humph’.
This was bad, this was bad!
If I didn’t quickly clear the misunderstanding, she might–
Just then…
“…Hehe.”
A giggle sounded.
“T-Tayte?”
“I-I’m sorry, Barrett. I didn’t expect you’d be so panicked,” said Tayte while holding back her laughter. Oh, I see what was going on.
“…You tricked me, huh?”
“I just wanted to tease you a little, tee hee,” Tayte smiled, sticking out her tongue.
…We having this kind of exchange would have been unthinkable in the past. When we first met, she looked like she was facing a ferocious beast.
“I have full faith in you. You wanted to know more about her because you sensed something strange about her, right?”
“Y-yeah, you’re right.”
I shouldn’t have expected any less from Tayte.
She understood me really well.
“‘You seem happy now,’ it struck me as weird…”
“Certainly, I’m very happy now that I’ve gotten along well with you and the others… but the way she put it sounds like there’s someone else unhappy.”
To add to that point, it sounded like she knew that Tayte and my—or rather, the original Barrett’s relationship had been significantly different until last year. Well, she might have a brother or sister who went to the academy and had heard about it from them, but still I couldn’t let my guard down.
What Tayte said was another cause for concern.
At least, as far as the people she and I knew went, none of them was visibly unhappy.
Jarvis and Madeline’s families might have gone, but they got what they deserved, and the two were trying to enjoy a new life, so she likely didn’t mean them.
In that case… did she mean an important person in the original novel that I hadn’t come into contact with yet?
Or perhaps she meant me—or rather, Barrett Albers himself?
The new semester started tomorrow.
It would be our last year at the academy.
In order to get through it peacefully, I had to thoroughly dispose of any suspicious elements.
I had to find her and get the truth out of her.
