As Aiko was shedding tears, Hajime averted his glance and turned his back as he troubled conveyed the his last words.
[Ma~a, times when it’s so painful that it seems like you’d break, by all means…...since there’s no one here…..since there’s really~ no one here so it won’t be embarrassing…...I’ll lend you my back]
[~....Really…..people like you are…..]
I’ll pretend that I didn’t notice that Aiko was crying? is what Hajime seemed to say as he showed his back, Aiko approached while smiling and crying and buried her face into his back.
[Then, I’ll be borrowing it for a bit. …..Nagumo-kun]
[Alright, Sensei]
Aiko’s cheeks loosened up because of Hajime’s casual answer and she entrusted her body. While shedding tears as if they were everything she’s saved up, she once again vowed. In other words, she’ll continue being a teacher. And continue shouldering her sins. If a selfish student would be watching her then…..she felt like she’ll be able to do her best.
The shadow of the two people expanded towards the east. As the night fell, the sounds of sobs resounded for a while.
After this, Hajime returned to the royal palace along with Aiko after she had finished crying but, while blushing randomly and looking down shamefully, Aiko was gracefully walking besides Hajime, to be honest, this may have done it…...it goes without saying that he was breaking out in cold sweat.
And sure enough, Yue and them noticed and it’s needless to say what happened when he was taken into their room. About this case, Shia and them and i, Yue’s silent expressionless stare n particular was the most painful.
It should be noted, that they coincidentally met up with David and them of the temple knights as they returned to the royal palace but…...it appears that, in the end their love for Aiko won.
To begin with, the reason why they accompanied Aiko as guards was due to various senses of values but, after being forcefully pulled away from Aiko when they returned to the Kingdom and was forced to descend the mountain without being confirming her safety made them start harboring doubt for the people of the church. Although they were considerably shocked when the truth of the church and god was revealed, as expected they still came to the conclusion that they couldn’t hate Aiko.
Although they kinda had a feeling of complete desperation hanging around them…..from now on, while believing in the “Goddess of Fertility”, they decided to revive and serve to protect the Kingdom as knights. Thinking about it again, it felt as if they carried a strange sublime feeling of love for Aiko but…...surely they had lots of things to think about as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Enough already, really geez! Ok!]
[Hajime-kun…..please be a bit more cautious?]
[Fufufu, as expected of master, to deliver the final blow after we just looked away for a moment….]
In the dining room of the royal palace, while eating dinner, Shia’s and their voices resounded out as if blaming something. Hajime who it was being directed at was just enjoying the meal in front of him as if it was someone elses problem.
Although Yue who was sitting to his right wasn’t saying anything, her eyes looked at him as if she was looking at a troublesome person. When they heard of the circumstances, [Ma~a, guess It couldn’t be helped then] is what they thought, clearly the feelings that Aiko has for Hajime inside of her was complex due to the fact that he was her student.
Moreover, after hearing Hajime’s stance of “neglecting” Aiko’s treatment, they somewhat harbored feelings of sympathy for Aiko.
[......Hajime. Does it seem like Aiko will be able to endure?]
Because they heard of the contents from Hajime, Yue was slightly worried and asked. As opposed to it, Hajime stopped eating and seemed to be thinking a little.
[N~, it’s not alright? Worst case scenario, if it looks too dangerous I’ll have to create an artifact to stabilize her mind using Spirit magic. Ma~a, even if we don’t worry about it, with time, that person will be able to digest it in neatly]
[......I see, that’s good]
As Yue’s eyes loosened up, Hajime also smiled.
[As expected of…..Yue-san. With just one step, she gets ahead by two]
[Is this…..the difference between her and me? Ku, I won’t lose! I won’t lose!]
[Umu, should it be called naturally or something….it was a technique which touched masters heart as if completely natural…..If I had to say it, it’s a godly skill. Obediently allow me to praise you]
[......Unwillingly evaluated]
Shia who was looking at her with a terrified expression, Kaori who looked mortified, and Teio who was feeling admiration. Yue’s expression became bitter after being unexpectedly evaluated. Hajime smiled wryly as he stroke Yue’s hair.
Among Hajime and his companions, in a sense as their feelings of getting along was firing up, an unexpected group came into the dining room. It was Kouki and them as well as his classmates. It appears that everyone including Aiko had come.
When Hajime looked at them for a moment, he frowned slightly. Beforehand, he heard of the times when they would be eating, he had thought that he would be able to comfortably eat with his companions but…..it appears that that plan was thrown off.
Ma~a, there’s no need to anxiously consider it, Hajime renewed his thoughts as he continued eating his meal. Yue and them didn’t particularly mind either.
But, it doesn’t appear that his classmates thought the same, some people thought it was rather interesting, some people felt slightly awkward, and some people were lost as to what to do and became restless. Although they frequently glanced over, they were reminded of Hajime’s previous statement that he didn’t see them as companions and much less held much interest in it, so they were hesitant to call out to him. By the way, Aiko was staring at Hajime for a different kind of reason.
[Ah~, Shizuku-chan! Over here!]
[Kaori. Can I sit next to you?]
[Of course]
Kaori was showing a friendly smile with Nointo’s cool face, Shizuku also naturally loosened her cheeks as she sat next to her.
At first It was still hard for the classmates to accept the fact that Kaori had changed her body but, the atmosphere of Kaori’s image and smile allowed them to loosen up. Even if her body has changed, Kaori’s peaceful atmosphere allowed her classmates hearts to relax. Or rather, when compared to the time when Hajime lost his cool, it was only slightly nerve wracking, there were many classmates who were glad that Kaori had returned.
*It’s funny cause the author didn’t mention Ryutaro here*When Shizuku sat on the seat, Kouki sat on the seat next to her, and Aiko sat on the opposite side, while Suzu sat next to aiko. Aiko was right next to Yue. The other classmates proceeded to sit on the other remaining seats. Suzu looked at Yue as she sat, [Excuse me…..for sitting besides Oneesama!], she said with a strangely tensed expression. Yue said, [......Why Oneesama?] while tilting her head.
When Kouki and them took their seats, the excellent maids of the royal palace began to move together and set the table. It was practically the same menu that Hajime and them had.