187 – Shaping
The second match is over. I cleaned up the monsters I had driven, upgraded my equipment with the cubes I came out of, and took care of the artifacts I had prioritized in advance.
Perhaps it was for the spectators who watched the last 30 minutes boringly, while heading to the exit of the labyrinth they found in advance, the labyrinth suddenly collapsed and seawater poured in, which surprised them, but there were no special events other than that.
The eyes of the triathlon participants who left the stadium and glared at me with scary eyes did not leave my face, but that was my intention, so I replied with a satisfied smile.
The hallway leading to the waiting room passed between the participants who gave off a menacing look as if they were going to rush at it at any moment.
“Ross.”
Ellie, who had been walking silently, stopped her steps and suddenly called me to stop. After thinking about this match for a moment, I inadvertently followed the voice and turned around.
Emotions shine through black eyes like obsidian. I don’t know what Ellie is thinking right now. Even with what kind of mind he is deceiving me, nothing has been clearly outlined yet.
Dubuck.
I felt a sweet scent from Ellie as she took a step closer to me. Perhaps because she was sweating, the stronger strawberry scent stimulated her nose and made her stomach churn. She lightly brushed her face with her hand and smiled calmly.
“Why?”
Unlike the low voice that called me, Ellie’s expression was light. A thin smile hung on her lips that would pass if you didn’t look closely.
Dubuck.
Ellie took a step closer to me. Unless she is a family member or lover, she disregards the distance she keeps implicitly and raises the corners of her mouth with a bewitching face like a female who has invaded her male’s territory.
I suppressed the soaring embarrassment. She could have ignored Ellie’s actions and turned her body towards the waiting room. But curiosity caught me off guard.
She instinctively realized that to understand Ellie, she had to get information through conversation. The reason why she was different from the Ellie I set up must have been because her probability had worked on her own somewhere.
In order to find out the probability that created Ellie now, she had to avoid talking to Ellie.
She came close enough to touch her uniform. Ellie looked up at me and whispered.
“It was fun…. Bad things to do with you.”
A voice like a shy confession. Regardless of her will, her body reflexively reacted to Ellie’s gaze, which was trembling slightly. Her heart thumps, and her chest feels stuffy, as if something is pressing on it.
“… I’m glad.”
At my slow reply, Ellie smiled beautifully. Then, very slowly, she raised her hand and stretched it toward my face. She was rather unable to react to the action of her cautious approach and just stared blankly. When she came to her senses, Ellie’s white hand was already caressing my cheek.
“Did Ross enjoy playing with me?”
I felt very dangerous in Ellie’s eyes when she asked me that. Her mouth was dry as if she was thirsty in an instant, and I swallowed her saliva involuntarily.
As if forcing her to answer, Ellie lightly pinched my cheek with her finger, which was caressing her cheek, and put on a cute expression full of the playfulness she had seen before. The Ellie in front of me now was the girl of that time, when I felt sorrowful feelings.
“I was satisfied.”
If it wasn’t for Ellie’s help, she wouldn’t have been able to use monsters to eliminate other academies.
Even as promised, Ellie even acted so that everyone watching the game could firmly recognize my arrogance.
That’s why her answer that she was satisfied was pure sincerity. If you give it a score, it’s good enough to add 100 points.
My answer gave me the illusion that Ellie’s shoulders shook slightly for a moment. She met her gaze without saying anything, and Ellie smiled softly as if she had recalled her feelings of contentment, just like me. Ellie took a blatant look at me, she said.
“Are you going to do bad things with me next time?”
In an instant, her heart fluttered. Her heart reacted on its own as if it were mesmerized by that voice full of her bewitching charm. It feels like the veins under her skin are hot.
Unknowingly, I felt as if I had shrunk her body, so I said as I straightened her back.
“Yes. I will ask you again tomorrow.”
At her words, Ellie lowered her hand that was caressing her cheek and hid it behind her back. She leaned slightly over her upper body and leaned against her soft chest beneath her clothes. She smiled, as if in a small whisper.
“As expected… Ross is the best.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off Ellie’s ecstatic expression when she said that because it was a strange expression she had never seen before.
***
It was a waiting room waiting for the winner of the match to return, but the atmosphere was not that good. In the waiting room with silence and awkwardness, everyone was sparing their words because they couldn’t find anything to say.
In the end, Cassius, a 3rd year participant, apparently couldn’t stand the atmosphere.
“Hmm… Why doesn’t the atmosphere seem to get worse the more you win?”
Meanwhile, Cassius secretly looked at Roel, his junior. Even if Roel was a junior, he was in a position to be carried as he did not score any points in his first match. It is a cautious position to bring out his words, ‘Isn’t your younger brother too harsh?
“That’s right, because Ross was too outspoken, the other academies gave him an excuse for a pincer attack. Thanks to that, the annihilation battle was terrible….”
Mari, a fellow third-year participant, said with a dissatisfied face. If it hadn’t been for Ross’ outburst, she thought she would have made enough for her third year.
“Well, it is true that the level of remarks is strong. But since I show my skills that much… Even if it’s not Ross in the first place, isn’t everyone prepared for the academy to unite? On the contrary, everyone would know that the enthusiasm of the spectators watching the match was higher than last year because Ross became the villain.”
Edward skillfully calmed the atmosphere of taking responsibility. However, Roel blew wind into the embers that were losing power, as if making a stronger fire.
“What happened because of their inadequacies… Wouldn’t it be a bit ugly to pass the blame on to a freshman who is just entering a triathlon?”
Seeing Roel say that with an innocent smile as if he really thought so, Marie frowned and kicked off her chair and stood up.
“What? What did you say now Say it again.”
As if agreeing with Marie’s words, Cassius stood up from his seat and glared at Roel as he spoke in a strong tone.
“I admit that you guys are better than us. But we are your seniors. Be polite.”
After hearing that, Roel just stared blankly at the two without saying anything. The beautiful blue eyes were a gaze that seemed to measure something without feeling any emotion.
At that gaze, Cassius and Marie felt strangely uneasy, and unknowingly wiggled their hands and feet. Suddenly, a cold sweat broke out on his back, and his breathing quickened. The survival instinct, imprinted in the blood from a very long time ago, awakens. My heart was beating like crazy. As if warming up so that you can run away right away.
For unknown reasons, fear and fear gnawed at Cassius and Marie’s spirits.
“Whoop hook, whoop hook… after….”
“hahahaha, haheuk… under….”
Edward and Ophelia looked at the two people breathing heavily suddenly with puzzled eyes.
“What, why are you doing this?”
Even at Edward’s calling, the two of them’s eyes were fixed on Roel’s. The reason why the situation ended was because of Ilya who put her hand on Roel’s thigh in silence.
As Roel looked away from them, Edward glanced sideways at Roel as they gasped and vomited as if they were letting out her breath.
Looking at Ilya and smiling softly, Roel didn’t seem to have done anything to her. I couldn’t even feel her magic.
Actually, I wanted to think so. She didn’t want to be bothered by other people’s problems anymore. Edward just wanted the triathlon to end without any problems.
Ophelia approached Marie with a worried expression.
“Marie, are you okay?”
“Yes, yes… ! It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Marie’s appearance, desperately expressing that she was okay with a face twisted in pain as she hurriedly answered, didn’t look okay to anyone, but Edward and Ophelia kept their mouths shut, befitting seniors who didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.
***
“… ?”
When I returned to the waiting room after a short conversation with Ellie, something about her was strange. I thought that maybe the seniors who were harmed for nothing because I went too far would complain… For some reason, there was no reaction from everyone. No, it’s like looking into each other’s eyes.
Feeling uncomfortable for a moment, Roel patted my shoulder with a look of pride that he came back after winning her game.
“Good job. After all, my brother!”
As she pushed away Roel, her burdensome clinging, Edward approached her holding a piece of paper.
“You did a great job. Could you check the artifacts you got on the paper?”
It’s a very businesslike attitude, but the most important thing in this match was the acquisition of artifacts. Without being swept away by the atmosphere, he felt like he knew a little bit about why Edward was the student body president just by not forgetting what he was doing.
After checking the acquired artifacts on the paper, Edward patted him on the shoulder again with a satisfied smile.
Because I was sweating, I thought I needed to take a quick shower, so I picked up the bath bag I had put in the locker and turned around. Roel, who had been having a brief conversation with Ellie, suddenly grabbed my neck with one hand. It was as if he was trying to keep his gaze from escaping.
All eyes were focused on Roel’s sudden action. Roel, who read my bewildered look, put a soft smile on his lips.
I tried to free myself from Roel’s hand, but instead Roel pulled her hand and put her forehead against mine. The skin on her forehead felt cool.
“Ross, anything halfway is worse than nothing.”
“Suddenly, what….”
I was going to ask if it was out of context. But Roel’s expression as he looked at me… It was so identical to Ellie’s ecstatic expression that I saw in the hallway a while ago, and I felt a mysterious fear running through my body.
But no matter how I felt, Roel just stroked my hair roughly enough to mess it up with his usual mischievous smile.
“Then, I’ll come back. Cheer hard!”
I was speechless and just watched the back of Roel as he said that and left the waiting room with Ilia.
Roel is a good brother.