Chapter 41 - Volume 3 (2/2)

「…Wait」

I think preventing him from leaving was only natural.

Oria came to a stop with a pale expression that seemed as if he’d received the death sentence or something and, in the end, replied:

「I’m… not… doing anything suspicious…」

His remark was as good as a confession. When he’s been acting suspiciously thus far, was there anyone who wouldn’t be suspicious?

「What is that package? Is it yours? Or, could it be Ru Xiang’s?」

The moment I mentioned Ru Xiang’s name, Oria’s shoulders gave a sudden jolt. This person was supposed to be twelve years older than me, but can he really last in society with him being this easy to read?

‘Now then’, I thought, folding my arms.

It would be a different matter if it was Wolf, the dorm head of the male dormitory, but I don’t have the authority to inspect Ru Xiang’s package. Still, it didn’t sit well with me to just let it pass. Which was why, I tried putting him off balance.

「That package looks heavy. I can give you a hand if you want」

「N-n-n-nonsense! I was charged to carry this alone, after all!」

「Oh my. When you say it like that, it kind of makes me curious about the contents 」

「Eeeeeeeeeeh!?」

Every one of Oria’s reaction was loud.

「I wonder what’s inside?」

「T-t-t-that is… I’m afraid I can’t say! I-it’s just trash!」

「But, there’s a place to throw trash away in the male dormitory, isn’t there? I take it it’s something you have to throw away yourself?」

Oria was previously walking to the waste-collection point where the school’s garbage was consolidated. The times when students purposely go there to throw away trash was when it was maybe bulky, or when it was trash they didn’t want anyone knowing about.

「This is, you see… huge trash, after all」

「Is that so?」

I scrutinized the『trash』 wrapped in pitch-black cloth.

It was bumpy and protruding strangely under the cloth. I know that whatever it was, was oddly-shaped and solid to some extent. It was wrapped under layer upon layer of cloth, such that I couldn’t discern the object inside.

「From the shape of it, I’m sure it’s not a kind of book…」

「Please don’t try to dig into it any furrtherrr」

Oria said it in a pretty miserable voice, then hastily pulled off his own jacket, turned his back on me, and crouched down. He spread his own jacket on top of the lawn and started to wrap the package with it.

It was just so desperate that I felt I had to stop, since even I felt like I was somehow bullying the weak.

It was at that moment when I took my eyes off of him.

Something fell fromOria’s back and out into the open.

What I picked up almost reflexively seemed to be a black leather notebook.

The size was as big as a paperback book in modern day Japan.(1) However, it was thick enough that you could even block a sword with it. It seems the contents had been steadily filled in, I could feel the thickness, the more the leaves of the paper bent, bit by bit.

It’s been used for a long time, but I could see it was used with great care.

「Oria, this fell…」

「UwaAAAAAAAAAA!!!」

Screaming as if a Doppler effect oscillating, Oria even abandoned the good manners he sort of preserved before then and tried to snatch the notebook from my hands.

I instinctively avoided it. It’s not like I was planning not to return it to him. It was just that I was surprised and my reflexes were on the better side.

Before I could ask him to calm down a little, Oria planted his knees on the ground.

「Eh?」

「I’msorryimsorryimsorryimsorry……」

Although he probably didn’t intend to do that, that appearance, where he curled his body as if to cling to my feet, was no doubt a『dogeza』.

「Y-you’re being scary, so please stop」

「Pleaseforgivemepleaseforgivemepleaseforgivemepleaseforgiveme……」

「W-what are you apologizing for?」

「I didn’t mean anything bad! It was a passing fancy…」

I wasn’t getting through to him.

「O-Oria, you were about to end up throwing an important package away, weren’t you?」

Ru Xiang’s package was left on the lawn wrapped in Oria’s jacket. I half-begged him to get up, but Oria gave a mis-match reply.

「I-I’ll hand this over! So please give it back to me without reading what’s inside」

Oria tore off the package from his own jacket in one stroke, and pleaded with me while making sure to hold the bundle of black cloth reverently with both hands.

（What a fast change of heart…）

So, in other words, he didn’t want his own secret(?) exposed, even at the expense of his master’s secret(?)?

Though I was bewildered, I was curious about what’s inside the package for now. After exchanging the notebook with the package, I unraveled the tightly fixed knot around the cloth.

And then, I cautiously opened the large, thick cloth, that looked almost like a dark curtain.

My breath hitched the moment my eyes met with a white lump that inadvertently made an appearance from there.

「…!!」

It was as if the bright sunlight was receding only around me.As if the freezing breath of midwinter was blowing only at me.

That was how I felt at that moment.

The thing that appeared from inside the cloth…Was a slender, white『arm』that appeared to be a child’s.

(1) 17×11 cm book