Vol 7 Chapter 3 (1/2)
Chapter 3: The Storm
Seconds passed by in cold silence, as though an ice age had come over the office
The sound of the kettle Larry left on the stove and the second hand on the wall clock ticking away punctuated the air in a din
“H asked, surprised, “is e?”
The first one to defrost was Larry, who had recently undergone winterti
“N-no, it’s fine I think we all get what you’re trying to say”
“Really? Thank goodness,” Meg breathed a sigh of relief Next to thaw out was Natalia, who had taken in more calories than anyone else
“Er…Megmica?”
“Yes? What is it, Natalia?”
“You’re a brave soul”
“Pardon?”
“Not a lot of people have the guts to ask so like that—in front of a bunch of people, at that Mhood to be brave!”
“Is it good?”
“Uh-huh! At least, I think so,” Natalia nodded, alrow up But she did not answer Meg’s original question
Next to speak was Nick, who had not actually been frozen “I believe it would be best to ask the ht here in this office,” he said, tossing Meg and Seron an angelic smile
“That is pure evil…” Larry muttered to himself
Finally, Jenny—who had no reason to be frozen to begin with—turned “That’d be for the best Answer the question, Seron,” she said as though it were thein the world, “I have a speech cooked up for today, so make it quick”
“You’re all evil…” Larry breathed silently, but no one heard Slowly, imperceptibly, he turned to look at his best friend
Seron was like a statue He didn’t blink, and it was i
Larry gli She picked up her ca herself under control as she put it back down
Larry and Jenny looked at Seron
Natalia looked at Seron
Nick looked at Seron
Meg also looked at Seron
Seron took a deep breath and finally said in Roxchean,
“Wh-whatever ht you mean?”
Inwardly, Larry sighed and shook his head, but he did not let anything show
No one said a word, waiting for Meg to respond
Cal clarified—
“It was last year’s event, but the newbie sent me a letter This letter wrote that Seron is in love with me I must confirm these words no matter what”
‘The newbie? Seriously?’ Larry wondered, incredulous, but said nothing His trained gaze caught a hint of a grin playing at Jenny’s lips ‘It was you, Jenfie!’ He quickly concluded,
“Hm I see,” Seron replied, as monotonous as ever
‘Just say it, buddy! Now’s your only chance!’ Larry pleaded inwardly He tried to nals his brain could muster
All eyes were on him Seron finally responded with his usual poker face—
“I don’t knohat the newbie’s talking about”
“I understand!” Meg replied brightly with a sigh of relief, “everyone, and Seron, I ae I will end this talk with this”
“Oh That’s it?” Natalia inquired, not completely satisfied
“I suppose if the parties involved have nothing ant as ever
“As president, I have no objections” Jenny said, putting extra emphasis on ‘president’
Larry said nothing Seron said nothing They sih the office
“But it is a relief that this is the newbie’s mistake”
“H’s ansas immediate
“That is because, I cannot say ‘yes’ to a person who cannot confess in person hi to say and listen to in person If this was not the newbie’s mistake I would dislike Seron”
Four seconds later
“I just re”
Seron Maxwell slowly got to his feet and grabbed his coat off the wall And without another word, he drifted out of the office like a phantom
“Oh, er… Whoops! I gotta get so, too! I’ll come with you, Seron!”
Larry Hepburn struggled to gather his things before hurrying after him
Four people were left in the office
Seron was running under the frozen sky
His unbuttoned coat flapping, he sprinted across the wet tiles
Larry was following after him
The after-school rush was over, and few students were left on the grounds
“Hey, isn’t that SC Seron, the RA?” “Yeah He’s really good at explaining things, don’tcha think?”
A pair of first-years spotted Seron and Larry
“Yeah Wonder why he’s running?”
“Didn’t you know, Paul? Apparently SC Seron runs laps around caet in shape!”
“Uh-huh What about the other guy?”
“Must be a friend ants to be like hih”
“That makes sense! You’re really smart, Julio”
“Flattery will get you nowhere But if you got any questions, I’d be happy to answer We’re friends now!”
“Yeah!”
Without a glance at the budding friendshi+p between Paul and Julio, Seron sprinted out the gates
He passed the deserted intersection and ran down the snowy sidewalk With the caht line toward the city center
“Wait, Seron! You don’t need to run anymore! Stop!” Larry cried behind him
“…”
Seron’s flight finally came to an end
“Hah…hah…”
Face drenched in sweat and breath rising in white puffs from his mouth, Seron put his hands on his knees
Larry stood next to him
“You’ve gotten faster, buddy Staone up too” He wiped the sweat off his broith his sleeve, and leaned down to look at Seron’s bowed face
Seron wore a strange look
Though he seemed as calh he were a doll with grey
“Phew…”
Larry looked up, gave Seron a hearty slap on the back, and asked in a casual tone, “so, where are we off to? What do you want to get, buddy?”
Seron re in a muted voice
“A time machine…”
“…I wouldn’t knohere to get one of those around here How ‘bout so district?” Larry said, giving Seron a gentle push Seron buttoned up his coat and took out his gloves from his pockets
They walked down the wet, snowy sidewalk for some time in silence
Eventually, Seron opened his mouth
“I was going to tell her…” Heahead There was no one else around to hear
“Huh? Oh—”
“I couldn’t say it in front of everyone So I was going to wait until ere alone and tell her I thought that would solve everything…”
“It’s okay, buddy No one could think straight in a situation like that, you know?”
Larry cast a resentful gaze at the sky The clouds passed by as quickly as ever
“Look, Seron You can’t cry over spilled milk Don’t blame Je- I mean, the newbie”
“I know It’s not the newbie’s fault It’s e to tell her, putting things off for months So this is all my fault, and I’m the one who has to solve this situation”
“Yeah! Think positive”
“But she hates me now It’s over I’ like he was about to cry
“I take back what I just said,” Larry said quietly
They reached a large intersection Next to the intersection was a park featuring an old decorative cannon
Crossing a thin layer of snow, Seron approached the old cannon
“What’s wrong, buddy?”
As Larry watched curiously, Seron stuck his head into the muzzle of the century-old weapon
“I’m finished, Larry Just shoot me”
His voice resounded through the barrel of the cannon
“Sorry, Seron,” Larry said, “I still haven’t learned to use one of these babies yet”
Seron, shoulders sagging, did not reed At that an to snow
It was snowing so hard that if it had been warmer, they would have been instantly soaked to the bone The snow piled up mercilessly on Seron and Larry’s heads and shoulders The world, the cannon, and the two of them turned white
“Looks like we’re in for a stor up at the sky
A snowflake landed on his eye and melted instantly
Right after Seron and Larry left the office—
“Could’ve done their shopping earlier, those punks The chief hasn’t given her speech,” Natalia said, picking up a cookie “Oh well More food for me”
“I will eat too!” Meg cried, her slender ar into the tin “Hmph”
She grabbed a handful of cookies and placed therabbed the cookies with her other hand and stuffed them into her mouth
“One of your techniques, Nat?” Asked Nick Natalia shook her head
“I don’t eat like that”
“Pardon You’re not quite so reserved when it co”
As Meg finished off her first handful of cookies, Jenny spoke
“So the nerote you a letter saying that stuff, huh It’s certainly a surprising claim”
“It is very surprising! I was very surprised! I was thinking for a long ti replied nonchalantly
“Say, Megmica?” Natalia asked, tone no different from usual
“Yes! What is the matter?”
“What did the letter say, specifically? Mind letting us in on the details?”
“What I said is all,” Meg replied, but she soon explained the details
“H a single cookie In thedowned five
Finally, Natalia turned to Meg with a smile
“Y’know, maybe Seron didn’t mean what he said”
“Pardon?”
“Maybe…hta been too shy to speak up Maybe you should go talk to hiain in person”
Nick and Jenny were floored The for at an exotic animal They had not expected Natalia to take Seron’s side
Meg was also shocked, stunned into silence
“Whaddaya say?” Natalia asked, looking Meg in the eye
“Th-th-th!”
She stuttered, repeating the same sound
“That a spell witches cast in Sou Be-Il?”
“No!”
“Then?”
“I wished to say, ‘that is impossible’!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Myis, that it is i declared, but Natalia grinned
“You sure about that?”
“Let us suppose so!”
“Your Roxchean’s gotten better Good for you”
“Thank you! Let us suppose that this is a possibility But I will not say it first! To be honest, isn’t it bad? Let us suppose that Seron is in love with me, but he cannot confess in person—”
Meg’s expression turned cold
“—I cannot marry then! My future will be worriso on it rapidly
“‘Marry’? Did I just hear ‘marry’, not ‘bury’?” Asked Natalia
“Marry To become a husband and a wife”
“Oh, so why couldn’t you marry him?”
“It is siether! There is no other way! There is nothing else”
“Ah, I see where you are co
“You sure about that, Megmica?” Asked Natalia “It’s true a lot of people end upin secondary school, but a lot of other people break up and end up with someone else Is it a custoo out with? D’you know, chief?”
Jenny shrugged
With no care for cultural differences incontinued
“For my future husband, I wish for a clear, decisive person I like a person who can say his opinions with his own mouth I dislike people who askfumed “…I am thirsty”
She carefully brought her teacup to her lips and downed the tepid tea in one go Then—
“I-I must show et me Please excuse me today!” She declared, and stood
“All right,” said Jenny, “come back when you have the time”
“Yes Good day!”
Saying goodbye to the others, Meg grabbed her coat and marched out the door
For about 20 seconds, the office was silent
The first to finally speak—as though amused—was Nick
“And now Megmica has fled on us There’s never a dull day at the newspaper club”
“What are you, the peanut gallery?” Natalia said, “gotta agree, though Marriage, huh I’ve never thought about that stuff Maybe they do stuff differently in the West”
“I didn’t think Seron would run off like that,” Jenny sighed with an incredulous look, crossing her legs precariously She leaned back and stared into the ceiling “Man…”
“Looks like you plan just went up in smoke” “Indeed”
Jenny looked down again
“What are you talking about?”
“No, don’t play duot the newbie to write that letter”
“There is no other possibility I wouldn’t expect such a thing out of Larry, for instance”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jenny repeated herself Natalia held out a cookie
“Say ahh” She pushed a sheep-shaped cookie toward Jenny’s onna play the villain alone? You’re being so selfless, chief Here’s your reward”
Without a word, Jenny took a bite out of the cookie She picked up the fallen remainder from her skirt and munched on it as well
“I wonder where Seron and Larry could be,” Nickearlier, painting the ground and the world pure white
Natalia picked up yet another cookie “I bet they’re out having soup”
“Soup?” “Why?” Nick and Jenny asked simultaneously
“There’s this nice soup stand in the area that Larry’s parents used to take him to whenever he cried”
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The 27th day of the first month
An object called Seron Maxas sitting on the office sofa
It sat at the edge of the seat, dressed in a school unifor Other than the occasional blink, it showed no signs of life
Meanwhile, Larry, Natalia, and Nick sat around a desk with textbooks and notebooks open Fro on so
Snoas falling softly outside theThe cloud cover was so thick that the office lights all had to be turned on
The year had not only come to a cold start, but a snowy one as well As soon as teain
The Capital District had mild winters and low precipitation, which was one reason why the area was selected as the capital But this year it was stricken by unusual weather patterns
The world outside the as covered in snow
The grounds behind the building were buried to the point that it would be iendary oak tree stood frozen
Thethe face of the clock and pointed at 4:33 in the afternoon
Seron staggered to its feet
“I’ to the bathroo out of the office Because the hallways and the bathrooms were also heated, it did not take its coat
Once Seron had gone, Natalia looked up frouiding her through—and turned to her fellow student
“Larry”
“Yeah?”
“Do so about that dark, ht?”
“Do…what exactly?”
“Find himica Or make him take some medicine that erases his memories”
“Why don’t you do that?”
“Look, I o out with Seron”
“I was suggesting we feed hi your brain seems to make on its own, Lia”
“I was suggesting you grow out your hair and put on a dress and becoirlfriend”