Chapter 66
“Seeds of Friendship” [Demon Princess Arc ⑥]
The midday bell rang, and the shadow of the small lamp hanging from the classroom ceiling softly fell across the edge of the desks.
Outside the window, the treetops rustled gently, and the autumn sun streamed through the high sky at a slant.
On the blackboard, remnants of the morning lecture still lingered in white, and chalk dust floated in the sunlight, forming a delicate river of fine particles.
Kai sat down beside the teacher’s desk and reached into the inner pocket of his jacket to pull out a single candy.
The wrapper made a tiny crinkle as it came loose, and the round sweetness settled on his tongue.
(Sugar at this hour is pure bliss. It’s like a vaccine against afternoon drowsiness.)
In the back of the classroom, second-year boys lined up their lunch boxes, while by the windows, the girls opened their bread bags, laughing and chatting.
The new first-year students were mixing in, pushing desks together or pulling them apart, testing arrangements like a puzzle.
Amidst all this liveliness, a single quiet presence approached.
“Sensei.”
A deep violet light suddenly flickered nearby.
Lilithia held her notebook and quietly stood at the edge of the teacher’s desk.
Her hair shimmered silver in the daylight, and the shadows along her shoulders were perfectly neat.
“Could you go over this part of the morning lecture again?”
Even the movement of her hands opening her notebook was precise, without waste.
The margins were filled with equations and small diagrams, and the lines of her writing followed a consistent rhythm.
“Sure.”
Kai pulled his chair slightly back and leaned toward Lilithia’s notebook side.
The scent of paper and a faint herbal fragrance brushed his nostrils.
“This is where we estimate the ‘fluctuations.’ If you don’t keep the slope consistent, the equations are prone to slip.”
He tapped the edge of the notebook with his fingertip and indicated the blackboard with his chin.
Lilithia leaned in closer toward him.
The distance was… close.
He could clearly see the thin shadow along the edge of her eyelids.
(Close. Really close… but her eye color is beautiful. That deep purple… No, impressions later. Class first.)
“So, if we draw an auxiliary line here like this—”
Kai pinched some chalk and drew a short line on the blackboard.
The afternoon sunlight floated lightly above the white line, lowering the center of the equation.
“The fluctuations don’t get swallowed; they scatter on the surface. As a result, it stabilizes.”
“I understand.”
Lilithia inhaled softly, and the light reflected in her cheeks.
“I like this sense of ‘settling.’ It feels like the equation is at ease.”
And then…
“Hey.”
The sound of a chair scraping the floor, and a blue shadow slid in smoothly.
Lutia entered between the teacher’s desk and Lilithia, looking perfectly natural.
Her crimson ribbon bounced lightly, and the curve of her waist tightened.
“That’s my seat.”
“My… seat?”
Lilithia’s eyes widened.
“Yes, my seat.”
Lutia nodded without a hint of hesitation.
“My seat is next to Kai.”
“I see… I just learned the concept of assigned seats at the teacher’s desk.”
“You make the concept.”
“Stop arming yourself with theory.”
Kai reacted automatically, drawing laughter from across the classroom.
“I just want to learn next to sensei.”
Lilithia continued in a calm voice.
“Feeling the rhythm of the equations up close is very educational.”
“I understand that, but—”
Lutia didn’t back down.
“There’s a limit to how ‘close’ you can be.”
“What limit?”
“A distance where my heart doesn’t get unsettled.”
“That’s… quite difficult.”
“The more difficult, the more exciting it is.”
Their gazes locked.
Blue and deep violet wove a taut thread, and the surface tension of the air rose.
(Ah, this is really one of those moments where the water surface tightens. It’s like it’s filled to the brim.)
“…Hehe.”
Lilithia was the first to smile.
At first, a small laugh in her throat, then through her shoulders, and finally the corner of her lips.
Her breath seemed to unwind in laughter.
“W-what’s so funny?”
Lutia’s brows furrowed.
“Because you’re serious.”
Lilithia narrowed her eyes.
“That’s what’s interesting, and I like it.”
“Don’t say ‘like’ so lightly… I’m serious.”
“I know.”
Respect was mixed into her short reply.
Lutia pursed her lips and looked away briefly.
Her cheeks flushed slightly, and her ears warmed.
“…It irritates me that I can’t dislike you.”
“Same here. Too precious to make an enemy of.”
“Having you as an ally without permission is also troublesome.”
“Well, how about next to me then?”
“I’ll allow parallel running.”
They exhaled simultaneously and smiled softly.
The tense water surface calmed silently.
“Hey, this isn’t class, but you two executed the ‘steps to reconciliation’ beautifully.”
Kai clapped his hands.
“Now, lunch. Both sugar and salt are important at noon.”
At that moment, a few first-years appeared, pushing a handcart from somewhere.
On top were small baskets of bread and a pot of soup.
“Sensei. Lunch delivery.”
“We used leftovers from the cooking practicum.”
“When did you all start a catering department?”
“Because sensei’s mood in the afternoon improves when you eat well.”
“Stop analyzing. But you’re right.”
They tore the bread and poured soup into paper cups.
Steam rose in thin threads, carrying a herbal aroma that mingled with the dry autumn air.
“Sensei, candy after the meal.”
“You know your stuff.”
Kai laughed and slid the candy wrapper into the desk drawer.
He suddenly felt a gaze.
Looking over, a first-year was staring straight at him.
The previously free expression now carried a faint tint of obedience.
Though these students were supposed to be Lilithia’s guards, their sense of duty was light.
Still, after seeing strength, their eyes naturally settle.
(Those strong tend to be followed. Not by reason, but by rhythm, like breathing.)
(But I can’t rely on that. I’m a teacher. My job is not to make them obey but to make them face forward together.)
“Sensei.”
Lilithia cupped her hands around her cup, lowering her voice.
“One more question from the morning equations. May I?”
“Of course.”
Lutia quickly cut in.
“I want to hear it too.”
“All right, both of you, come forward.”
Two shadows lined up in front of the blackboard.
Blue and deep violet stood shoulder to shoulder before the dancing white chalk dust.
“Question: When the variance is large, how do you ‘round’ the boundary?”
“Increase auxiliary lines.”
Lutia answered immediately.
“What do the lines mean?”
“Paths to escape.”
“You like preparing escape paths.”
Lilithia smiled faintly.
“The more you attack, the more you prepare escape paths. An old sword teaching.”
“Same for equations?”
“Same.”
Lilithia nodded at Lutia’s answer.
Kai twirled the chalk and drew a small circle on the blackboard.
“Correct. —Rounding the boundary reduces collisions. Not hitting, but brushing along.”
“That’s why it sings.”
Lilithia murmured.
“Oh, you remember.”
“Because I like it.”
Her ‘like’ was directed at the equations, but somewhere, also at ‘sensei.’
Lutia glanced sideways and smiled with her lips.
“No stealing.”
“I won’t steal.”
Her calm voice carried an unshakable heat at its core.
Applause broke out from the back of the classroom.
A second-year jokingly said, “Thanks for the comedy today too,”
And a first-year seriously asked, “At how many points do you earn credit for comedy?”
“No credit.”
“Ehh—”
“No, wrong.”
Laughter spread, softening the midday air.
After lunch settled, the classroom regained its quiet.
At the front, Lilithia drew more auxiliary lines in the notebook’s margin,
While diagonally behind, Lutia adjusted her pen tip as if maintaining a sword.
A cloud drifted outside, and the blackboard’s shadow shifted on the desks.
Kai leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling beams and exhaled softly.
(All right. Fire and wind are both running smoothly. That’s enough for now.
No need for fancy words like true identity. As long as I see their faces learning in front of the blackboard, that’s enough.)
He pulled two candies from the drawer.
One for Lutia, one for Lilithia.
“Sugar. You’ll need it this afternoon too.”
“Thank you, Kai.”
“Thank you, sensei.”
The two voices overlapped. Though their tones differed, somehow their resonance matched beautifully.
The afternoon bell rang.
The light by the window shifted slightly, and the chalk dust traced new paths.
Kai stood and lightly clapped his chalk-dusted hands.
“All right, let’s continue—‘Rounding the boundaries’ practice, ten exercises.”
“Ten…!”
“No complaints. More candy after.”
“Got it!”
“We will.”
Pens raced across the desks, and equations sprouted on paper.
Amidst them, at the meeting point of blue and deep violet, a definite “seed of friendship” seemed to be planted.
It was buried under the soil and had not yet sprouted.
But a seed placed in a spot with proper water and light will inevitably grow.
In the small field that is the classroom, many such seeds lie dormant.
Kai knew this.
That is why he drew lines on the blackboard today.
Gently guiding the seeds toward the light.
