By Zephyria 
I was dumbfounded and stared at him before asking.
“What business do you have here?”
Then Cloud smiled meaningfully.
“Unfortunately, I’m not here as a student’s guard… I’ll be staying for a while to strengthen security on the school side.”
He came to strengthen security on the school side. Is that kind of guy idly playing around in the lecture hall right now?
“But? You never know when something might happen. I’ll be wandering around the lecture halls too. It seems like we’ll be seeing each other often in the future?”
He said that while sitting in the empty seat next to me, grinning and staring. No matter how I looked at it, he looked like a bum who came out to play.
At that time, a commotion was heard from the hallway of the lecture hall. It had been noisy since the festival because of that Ardian guy, but because the news that Cloud was here had spread, the hallway was crowded with kids who had gathered to see him.
Eventually, Cloud, who went out into the hallway to avoid disturbing the kids, closed the lecture hall door, and it became a little less noisy. On the other hand, Corso, who only greeted and took a seat at the back of the lecture hall, stood there like a stone statue, just looking this way. He was a guy whose thoughts were hard to grasp in a different sense from Ardian, so he was someone I was somewhat reluctant to deal with.
Suddenly, Ardian, who had been sitting quietly next to me as if he was there or not, let out a small sigh. I didn’t know why, but his expression was unusually stiff, so I could vaguely feel that he was dissatisfied with something.
Of course, whatever the reason, it was none of my business.
After the morning class ended that day, I went down to have a meal with my servants, and Cloud and Corso even followed along. I didn’t know why Cloud was following me even to eat, even if Corso was. Frankly, even though this Corso guy came as my guard, when I watched him all day, it was no different from slacking off without doing anything. In other words, it was just for show.
In reality, the only true confidant who I acknowledged as protecting me was Zeon… It was a situation where only hindering burdens had increased.
“The food is delicious, right? I used to enjoy it too.”
Cloud, who came with a tray, sat in the seat across from me and spoke casually. I didn’t answer, but Herman and Tom took over the conversation instead.
“Ah. Come to think of it, Cloud Hunter was also a graduate of Merzel Academy. Has the chef been the same since then?”
“Yes. The chef is close to the dean.”
“Close?”
“They’re both dwarves. Is that the first time you’ve heard that? Anyway, the chef’s skills are good, so there’s no reason not to use him.”
“Dwarf?! The dean… was, was a dwarf.”
Corso was unfamiliar with it, but the two people who seemed relatively comfortable with Cloud, who he knew.
Meanwhile, Corso didn’t eat and just stood there again, and Zeon, who had his position taken away by him as if to show off, had a gloomy face all day. He was in a position where he couldn’t show off his relationship with me, so it seemed he was very upset.
‘I should comfort him later.’
Of course, that would only be possible if a situation arose where only the two of us were left alone.
I split the bread into two and dipped one side in the soup before biting into it. The bread, which had absorbed the warm soup and become soft, had a very satisfying flavor.
Then, a little breadcrumb got on the corner of my mouth, and before I could wipe it off, someone’s finger, who approached first, wiped the corner of my mouth. Glancing back, Ardian, the owner of that finger, smiled brightly. I felt strangely strange and narrowed my eyes.
“There’s no need to help me with things like this one by one. Are you treating me like a child?”
“I didn’t mean to. I’m just trying to get a little closer to you, so don’t worry too much about it.”
He said that openly, so how could I not worry about it? It was clear that he was saying that on purpose. He was telling me not to worry about it, but his actions were clearly asking me to worry about it. At that time, Cloud, who had been talking to Herman, turned this way and subtly lowered his eyes before suddenly interjecting.
“You two are really close. You must be very close. When I look at it… Student Ardian is like Student Raymond’s shadow?”
That sounded like sarcasm.
Was that why?
The atmosphere suddenly stiffened.
I said, stabbing the meat with a fork.
“We’re not close.”
I had accepted him as a non-enemy, but that didn’t mean I had to acknowledge him as something special, and I had no intention of accepting Ardian in that way.
In the first place, I had never really had a friend. All that was always around me was a master-servant relationship like Zeon, and there was no one equal to me.
That was still the case now.
But… I seemed to have underestimated Ardian’s shamelessness.
“Yes. We’re close.”
I didn’t know if he heard me or if he didn’t care, but he was declaring his friendship with me as he pleased. When I raised one eyebrow, he added.
“At least I’m closer than Lord Cloud.”
If it meant that, there was no room to refute. I decided to just leave those two’s meaningless war of nerves alone and chew on the meat. I was sure that’s what I was going to do….
“Wow, are you jealous right now?”
“What if I am?”
“Ah, but you’re not dating anyway.”
“Yes. I’m trying hard to seduce him. So, I’m telling you not to interfere and mind your own business, Cloud Hunter. I don’t think you understand properly.”
“The fact that you’re not dating also means that you’re ‘not someone you can control as you please.’ Isn’t it all up to me whether I’m interested in Student Raymond or not?”
With that kind of conversation going on, even I couldn’t eat peacefully. It was absurd. What kind of conversation were these guys having in front of me right now? I didn’t know what Ardian’s intentions were, but Cloud was clearly enjoying this situation. He was using me to make Ardian suffer and having fun.
I thought he must have nothing better to do.
In the end, I couldn’t stand listening any longer, so I got up from my seat after leaving about half of my meal and called out only Zeon, who had already finished eating and was waiting.
“Let’s go. Zeon.”
“Ah, yes.”
Tom and Herman hadn’t finished eating yet, so they would have to spend a little more time in that uncomfortable place. Of course, I didn’t care deeply about that.
“He’s not following us.”
Zeon, who was coming out of the restaurant with me, muttered that, so I turned around and made eye contact with him before adding.
“I’m talking about the one called Corso.”
Come to think of it, that’s right.
He said he came to guard me, but whether it was because he had no intention of doing so… or because ‘Heavenly Eye’ could cover that much range without having to follow me directly.
Well. Whatever the reason, it was comfortable without him.
Since it happened to be just Zeon and me, I directly said what I wanted to say.
“Zeon. I teased you for a while last time by comparing ranks, but you are the only confidant I have accepted in the true sense.”
Zeon’s eyes widened for a moment.
“So, you don’t have to be depressed like an abandoned dog.”
The reaction Zeon would have next seemed to be drawn in my head. He was always the same, so even if I didn’t want to, I couldn’t help but imagine his usual reaction. But that consistent guy was a little strange.
“……”
He didn’t cry and ramble on about his lord, and he didn’t use the obvious trick of trying to get ten more compliments with one compliment. He was just blankly looking down at me. It was strange, so I was staring blankly when Zeon, who soon smiled calmly, carefully grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it.
“Thank you for your concern, my lord.”
He whispered in a small voice.
‘Was it just my imagination that he looked a little strange for a moment?’
No. Rather than strange… it was closer to looking a little listless. I was embarrassed because it was different from the reaction I had expected. No matter how much I racked my brain, I didn’t seem to have said anything I shouldn’t have. I was somehow worried, so I checked his expression while moving to the lecture hall, but other than being a little strange for a moment, he was the same as usual. So I had to just pass it off as my imagination.
Later, the group returned to the lecture hall a long time before class started. Of course, Corso was in that group, and Cloud, who wasn’t supposed to be there, was also there.
It was a terribly awkward atmosphere.
Herman and Tom had all their energy sucked out and had pale faces, and Ardian and Cloud seemed fine, but there was clearly a tense tension between the two.
Soon, Ardian sat next to me as if it were natural. Cloud also took the empty seat behind me and sat down. Feeling that presence, Ardian narrowed his eyes and then turned around with a smiling face and said.
To be exact, he was picking a fight.
“Cloud Hunter. You’re not going to take the class, so isn’t it a nuisance to take up a seat? Anyone who sees you would think you’re someone who can’t act their age and is playing student.”
“Ah. I was going to feel a little nostalgia for the first time in a while, but is there something wrong? And I think your eyes aren’t good… If you look closely, there are many empty seats besides here? I think there’s an error in the word nuisance.”
It became more aggressive than in the restaurant. The argument that had started once was about to continue again.