"Is that… a makeover?"
Eve stared at my hair with faint disapproval.
"That? …Ah, the color."
I shrugged. "It suits me, right?"
"It doesn't suit you. At all."
…Ouch. My soul left my body for a second.
"So, why are you here?"
Eve narrowed her eyes to half-mast.
"…Got tricked by the principal. Temporary lecturer now."
"You're the one who ditched the hero's party. Fired?"
"I'm not fired. I graduated from here."
"That's… it? Just an alum?"
"Call me Eve."
"I already—"
"I don't like 'you.' Call me Eve."
"…Fine, Eve. Just visiting your old school?"
She shook her head silently.
"Here to pick something up? Meet someone?"
"No… it's a shame."
Her face stayed completely blank.
Eve finally sighed. "…Principal asked me to teach white magic for a while."
That damn cat again. Small world.
"Couldn't you just refuse?"
"There are circumstances."
She turned away and shut the conversation down.
"…Right."
An invisible wall of "do not approach" hit me hard.
I forced a cheerful tone. "By the way! What happened to Leti and Lina?"
Eve didn't even look over. "Leti got sent to Granhero for monster subjugation."
"Lina's whereabouts unknown. Still registered."
Typical Lina. Super suspicious, but no proof.
"Also, Princess Rafine's looking for you."
"Everyone keeps asking her where you went. What did you do?"
"N-nothing! I swear!"
Eve stared. Cold sweat rolled down my neck.
"Eve-san… please don't tell Leti or the princess where I am. I'm begging."
She silently made a circle with thumb and index finger.
Money sign.
I opened my empty wallet toward her.
She shook her head, disappointed.
No choice. I dropped into perfect dogeza.
"Just kidding," she muttered. "Too much trouble. I won't say anything."
I looked up, tears in my eyes. "You almost killed me—"
"I'll tell them after all."
"Please forgive me!"
I rubbed my forehead on the floor.
"Stop it. People are watching."
She kicked my shoulder lightly.
Whispers around us: "What a weirdo," "Gross," "Is that a reward…?"
"That's a promise, right? You won't tell?"
"I get it. Just don't talk to me anymore." She huffed.
Eve opened her grimoire again, radiating maximum "leave me alone."
I slumped into a chair and tried to nap.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Eventually every other instructor vanished.
Only us left.
The soft sound of pages turning was the only noise.
…This silence was painful.
I pulled out some old magic tools to kill time.
First: "Vint Boots".
"…How did maintenance go again?" I asked myself.
I scratched my head. Totally forgot.
Eve's voice came from behind the book. "…That one."
"Hm?"
She snapped the grimoire shut and dragged her chair right next to mine.
So close our shoulders nearly touched.
"Channel mana into the core first to wake it up. Then maintain."
Her fingers flew over the runes like it was nothing.
"…You're scary good."
I couldn't resist. I whispered the nerd code words.
"White hawk, beautiful makeup, guiding thoughts—"
""Noir Eagle"," she answered instantly.
"Fear, ugly goblins, hatred." She quizzed me
""Dimension Phantom"." I stated. I shot back another item's attributes.
"Unrequited love, red curse, clumsy Mei—"
""Twins Doll"."
We rapid-fired S-rank tool trivia for thirty minutes straight.
To outsiders we probably looked insane.
Finally we stopped at the same time.
"…Don't do that in public."
"You started it."
We reached out and shook hands—firm and warm.
This girl was the real deal.
A true comrade-in-arms.
Eve's lips twitched. Closest thing to a smile I'd ever seen from her.
The afternoon bell rang.
We trudged to our separate classrooms.
From that day on, every break was magic-tool talk.
She could go for hours without getting bored.
For the first time in my life I thought:
…So this is what having a friend feels like.
Maybe this lecturer gig isn't so bad after all.