Huh?

　In addition to the bed in his room, he had added a chest of drawers, a crystal light (similar in shape to a candelabra), and a wall clock.
　The headmaster indicated the chest of drawers with his shapely chin.　

'I've put some spare uniforms in there for you to use if you need them.
I'm sorry for everything you've done for me. Thank you for the athletic clothes too.　
It's pretty obvious. And...

　The headmaster bleeped and pointed to the wall clock.

'I'll explain to you how to use that one, too.

　I'm just grateful to receive a clock, but oh my, the alarm function (?). It was a watch with a "*" on it.
　Maybe Mia told her about my lack of waking up in the morning....

'Also, here...'

　He handed me a small cloth bag with its mouth tied.
　A slight weight.
　There was a clinking sound.

''For now, five silver coins. If I had known we were going to the Holy Ruins from today, I would have given them to you earlier, but...''
Oh, no... it's bad.
No, just take it. And prepare to dive into the Holy Ruins properly. It's nice to be humble, but you already have a partner to capture the Holy Ruins, right?　If your equipment is poorly equipped, it will result in her getting in trouble. Isn't it?

　I tightened my mouth gingerly and accepted the bag of silver coins again.
　Indeed, she was right.

''...........................One day, I will return it to you.''

　The headmaster smiles.

'Well, don't hold your breath, I'll wait for you.

　Then at Makina-san's urging, I sat down on the edge of the bed.

''--, the headmaster?''

　Makina-san sits down next to me a bit.
　She ruffled her hair in a gesture that made me feel fascinated, and her mouth broke out in a smile.

''Huh?　Where else am I supposed to sit?
That's true, but...

　The old bed made a subdued creaking sound.

'............'

　Thinking about it, the headmaster and I are alone in a private room....

　As soon as I realized the current situation, my feelings began to flutter.
　Why is the headmaster alone with me in the first place?

　And - as I thought Makina-san's white hand reached out smoothly, that hand gently touched my cheek.

''But, school, chief...?
You're getting pretty good-looking, aren't you?
...and the look on your face?
Yeah.
I've only been here for three days, and I've only been here for three days...
No, I'm feeling much calmer.

　...........
　Are you settling in?
　The Headmaster let go of his hand and sat back down on the bed.

'Do you remember what you were like when you first came to this world?'
...Yes, just in case.

　Oh, I see.
　Because of that kind of talk, she moved upstairs?

　The only person who knows that Sagara Kurohiko is an otherworlder, apart from me, is the headmaster of the school at the moment.
　In other words, Makina-san probably thinks that I shouldn't let Mia-san know that I'm an Otherworlder yet.
　Indeed, I feel that letting Mia-san know now would only confuse her.
　Or maybe that is also the headmaster's own concern for Mia-san.

　While rubbing the toes of her shoes together, the headmaster continues to speak.

'From the time you came to our world until today.......you were trying to force yourself to act cheerful, weren't you?'
I can't force them to be cheerful.
'Yes. When I heard later that I was sent from another world I had a feeling that I'd been sent there, somehow.
..........
'Maybe it was to get himself up, ostensibly, oh, and ridiculously elated, but I think he was quite anxious inside, wasn't he?

　..........
　Anxiety, was it?

'To be honest, I'm still skeptical about the story of you being an otherworlder. But..........if you were to be sent to a world you don't know, wouldn't you normally be anxious and can't help it?
..........
In fact, you must have been terribly confused.　So you've been trying to somehow make yourself feel better so that you don't get overwhelmed by that confusion and anxiety... whether consciously or unconsciously, I'm not sure.
I'm....

　How did it go?
　If you ask me, I feel like that........but I feel like I had that personality to begin with.
　Maybe it's weird to say that I don't understand myself, though.

'At any rate, I'm grateful to Makina-san. Well........I wish I could repay you in some way.
Hmm, don't I owe you anything?
Yeah.
Hey, Kurohiko.

　Suddenly, Makina-san pulled her upper body closer to me a lot.

"........what is it?
'If you're thinking of repaying me for my kindness,'
Yes, sir.
Now, will you listen to me complain about it?
...Yes?
It's piling up.
Huh.

　When I returned the vague words, the headmaster gave me a glare.

''That's a distracted reply.......how is it?''
Okay, okay!　I'd love to hear about it.
Good.

　Then I went along with the headmaster's complaints.

　The content of the complaint was mainly against the bigwigs he had brought along during the surgical class.
　............
　Apparently the dean of the school has a lot going for him.

　The complaining continues.

　I'm like, "Hmmm," "I see~" "Hohoho" "Eh~! But after a while, the fatigue of the day hit him and he began to feel his consciousness fading away.
　But after a while, the fatigue of the day seemed to hit me, and I began to feel my consciousness slowly fading away.

　Well, this isn't good.
　I have to concentrate on the story.....
　It's rude to the headmaster to be like this--
　It's just that I've been talking...

　　　　　　　　　　*

　I open my eyes.

　The reflection in your eyes is ... cloth?
　Clothes?

　Huh?

　The area under my ears is soft and fluffy.
　Huh?
　Did someone just pat me on the head and...?
　Hmm?
　I mean, the head........on top of something.......?

Hey, you're awake.

　Hmm?
　He moved his head from its side and turned onto his back.
　Then.

　Right above me was the headmaster's face looking down at me.

''Zama, Makina-san!

　So I finally understood the position.
　I see.
　So what I was facing when I woke up was around Makina-san's lower abdomen.
　And now--

　On the Headmaster's lap.

"Wah, excuse me!　...Why am I doing this--

　The headmaster put a hand over his mouth and chuckled.

'I'm sorry, I forgot how tired you are. If you keep making me listen to you complain about your trivial complaints, well, you're going to get sleepy.
Oh, no...
What do you think?　Though you can keep it that way for a bit longer if you want?
No, I don't want to be the one to do it.

　Saying that, I raised my body and sat back down next to the headmaster.
　Apparently, from the position, I, who lost consciousness, dived face first into Makina-san's lap as it was.
　.........I, what did I do?

"I'm sorry, I was on my way...
Okay, no problem.
How long have I been sleeping?
About 30 minutes.
Well....

　Huh.
　What am I doing, man?
　But...

Well, I don't care.

　And the headmaster patted me on the shoulder and said so.

''Well, I feel better now that I've cleared up and I don't have to worry about being weird when you're the one listening, so it's easier.

　He looked kind of sunny.
　But soon.

In case you haven't noticed, don't say anything else, okay?

　And then he nailed it.
　I chuckled.

I understand.

　I said.

'But ... although you don't seem to be very grateful for the fact that you have fallen asleep in my lap here.
"...I have left the troubles I had when I first came here and have been reborn.
Hmm.

　The headmaster plucked at the collar of his clothes and pulled it back with a yank.
　And then he bent forward.

'Even with this?'
!

　From that angle, the headmaster's chest peeks out...

I mean, what the hell are you doing?

　Meditating, I hurriedly backed away.
　.................
　Uneasily, I open my eyelids.

'What........you have it, bother.

　There was the headmaster of the school with a mischievous smile on his face.

''Ka, give me a break........''

　Perhaps it is impossible to be born a man, and it is impossible to get rid of your troubles....

'Well,'

　The headmaster stood up.

"I'll be back soon. You just rest now.
Yes.

　...Well, was that last flirtation necessary?

What?
No, it's nothing.

　I sit up to see him off.

''Oh, and, you know, about the other forbidden curse--''

　Makina turned and looked up at me.

'As for the other forbidden spells, I'll continue to try to collect them. Including researching any spellbooks whose locations are unknown.
'Some people may own it without knowing it's a forbidden spell book?
'Yeah, I'm sure there will be. And........it's not a given that there's only one spellbook for each one, so there's no need to stick to the four that we know about. I plan to investigate that area as well.
Is it still hard to find something you know where to be?
'Well, it's not as if the Empire and Ruvel Argan don't have contacts, so I'll try to negotiate with them as best I can.

　................



　Ms. Machina took a step closer to me with a clunk of her shoes.

'Yes. It was an unexpected find for me.
Yeah?
"Kurohiko.

　The Dean took my hand.

"I want to continue to be a good partner with you.
...me too.

　Makina-san's crimson eyes catch my eyes.
　Eyes that seem to suck me in.

'I'm going to have you remember all the--all the prohibitions one day.
..........
But if you don't want to, I won't force you to do so. And the effects of using the forbidden spell on the user are still unknown.

　I caught back Makina-san's eyes firmly.
　With the intention of conveying my decision.


..........
If you hadn't believed me when I told you I was from another world, I wouldn't be here... and I wouldn't have been able to be.
..........
'If you wish, Makina-san, I will use as much of the forbidden power as I can for you.

　When she let go of her hand, Makina-san took a step back.
　The smile on her face was a smile.

''...Thank you, Kurohiko. I'm so glad you said that.''

　　　　　　　　　　*

　After the headmaster left the room, I remained alone in the room and crawled straight under the covers.
　As expected, I was quite tired.
　Soon a strong sleepiness comes over me.
　............

　　　　　　　　　　*.

　Thus, the third day in the other world was over.