Iris' POV

After parting with Nozomu and the others, we were heading to our classroom, the 1st classroom. Next to me, my best friend talks to me as if she was betrayed.

"Ai ~~. Why didn't you help me ~~"

In front of me, My best friend criticized me with tears for not helping her. Well, it can't be helped,  I can't get into her assistance every time. By the way, when I couldn't help her in the past, Tima's magic, running wildly because of her mental strain, had blown away the other party.

"Well, everyone was there at that time. And it was Mars who helped Tima with all his might, right? Tima was also feeling really happy isn't it?"

I give a mean reply. I'm sure my face also has a mean smile. Tima, who is the person in question, said, "Ermm, that is......... uu," and looked down with a bright red face.

I still think that Tima is cute, and I envy her honestly. 

Perhaps because I've been trying to protect Somia since I was little, my language is manly and a little rough. Regardless of my appearance, I have no inner femininity. I'm no match for my best friend, who is bashful in front of me, and it's the same for Somia, who is adorable like an angel.

(He also ... would a woman like Tima be better?)

I remember "him" who parted ways earlier. Recalling that he was hiding something, my chest feels stuffy.

(Good grief, why he didn't tell me at all ...)

*grumble grumble grumble* 

An indescribable discomfort swirls in my chest. Perhaps because I remembered that he was hiding something, my facial expression has unknowingly become stiff.

"Ai, calm down. I also got angry at that time, but because Nozomu-kun is such a boy, and if I think that my friends may feel unpleasant because of me, It can't be helped to hide it, right? "

"... I know ..."

Although I understand it in words, as a matter of fact, my mood isn't going to get better yet. Because of the irritation that I couldn't understand myself, my steps toward the classroom naturally became quick and rough.

"Yo. Irisdina"

"... Kevin?"

I was suddenly called out in the hallway in front of the classroom by a male student. A sturdy body, tall stature, and well-trained muscles pushed the uniform tightly, but there was no excess flesh.

The most distinctive feature was that his head and waist have ears and a tail, which was proof of a beastman.

Kevin Ardinal.

One of the few students who belong to the first class of the first year and have reached rank A.

He is a silver wolf beastman and overwhelms his opponent with his outstanding fighting sense and physical ability.

Originally, the Silver Wolf tribe has the highest physical ability among the beastmen, but his fighting sense is particularly high among them, and in close combat, in the school, no enemy could match him except the S-rank Jihad Raundel. 

"I heard about yesterday. I heard you were with the "bottom" somewhere. I'm curious, such a useless thing would be nothing more than a waste of time."

"......... No matter what you think about him, I have nothing to talk. I wonder how can your mouth speak something like that so easily."

Kevin's words and actions are so rude that my expression becomes even harder.

However, Kevin ignored my feelings and approached me. Considering that he is a man, he is tall and bends down, and brings his face closer.

"He~, even your angry face is still beautiful. I received a request for subjugation in the forest today, how about you lend me a hand? It would be very helpful if you were there."

"... Sorry, I have something else to do today. Ask the other." 

I dismissed Kevin's conversation, which was too impolite, and inconsiderate. I passed by him and entered the classroom. Certainly, dangerous beasts should be subdued if necessary, and by doing so keeps the beasts away from the settlements and towns. It can also be seen that unnecessary battles can be avoided. As a result, the damage to people without ability is reduced.

At least I don't want to fight with someone like Kevin who speeches and conducts showing contempt to another person in a straightforward manner. I absolutely don't want to leave my back to such a person.

At the very least, the person I can trust my back to must be a reliable partner in various aspects such as spirit and ability. Otherwise, there is a good chance of falling into the worst-case scenario.

(Leave my back ... is it? Can I have such a partner someday?)

To entrust your back in a battle means to entrust your own life and also to taking care of the other person's life.

(I wonder, what about Nozomu?)

I remember a boy with a katana.

He was the first person to come up with when I was thinking about the person who would take care of my back.

The boy I'm most interested in right now.

A male student who has been insulted as the worst human being.

I still don't know what he thought and how he gained that strength.

Considering what he was doing the day after the Rugato incident, I could have expected that something would have happened, but since then he hasn't seemed to reveal his heart.

I know it can't be helped. He has no one that he can talk to, and I don't want to force him to tell me.

(However, if he protects my back ... and if I also protect Nozomu's back ...)

Protect each other. Back-to-back on the battlefield where life can be lost. We are connected with each other with unwavering trust and overcome the difficulties in front of us. And even if we die, we share the same time until the last moment.

If I could have such a relationship with him for a moment in the end, no matter how ………….

(... Wha, what was I thinking about .........)

My face naturally turns red and my body becomes hot. A small and light *badump, badump* began to scream behind my bountiful chest that pushed up the white uniform, and I naturally put the hand that was connected to him on that day's date on my chest.

"Hmm?"

I suddenly felt a gaze, when I looked at the side, a red-haired female student was looking at me.

"She is……"

When the female student who was looking at me met my eyes, she quickly averted her eyes away, took out the textbooks from her bag, and started preparing for the lesson.

***

The infirmary at lunch break.

Here, Nozomu and Mars were waiting for Irisdina and others.

Because Irisdina came to the 10th classroom and made a fuss before, it was decided that from now on they would have lunch here where there are only a few people.

"Iris and the others are a little late."

"... That's right. Even though the lunch break is about half the time left, what happened?"

"... Maybe the teacher asked them for something. Those two are highly evaluated by the teachers."

"Well, it's not impossible ... but I wonder if we wait any longer it's already too late, shall we eat first?"

"Well, that's right. Time is limited and I think it can't be helped."

"Yeah ~. Both Irisdina-san and Tima-san are good girls to rely on, so the teachers will just rely on them completely~~. In the past, when I used to be their homeroom teacher and took a break due to illness, they were temporarily in charge of the first class~, and they helped with various things~. "

"Anri. No matter how much those two of honor students were, don’t rely too much on them."

"It's alright ~. I'm also a teacher ~~. That much is fine ~~"

"... I hope so (Is it really alright?)" 

Even though Anri-sensei said it will be alright, Norn-sensei is quite worried inside.

There are also Anri-sensei and Norn-sensei in the infirmary. The two best friends often eat lunch there. Both of them are having mainly lunch boxes, and sometimes they exchange side dishes.

Anri-sensei, who was sitting while crossing her legs on a bed in the infirmary, spoke to Nozomu as she remembered something, saying "Ah."

"By the way, Nozomu-kun~~. It seems that you weren't able to concentrate so much in the morning lesson~~, is something wrong~~?"

"Eh"

With Anri's words, Norn joins the conversation with a slightly surprised look. 

"It's unusual. Nozomu-kun doesn't concentrate on class, and Mars doesn't know that is..."

"Wait a minute!"

"What does that mean! "

"Norn ~~, that's not true. Mars-kun listens to my class these days ~~ "

"Is that so!? ... I'm sorry, Mars-kun, I just said rude things from my preconceptions."

"N, no. It's alright if you apologize ..." 

Norn probably thought she was a little overboard. She bowed and apologized to Mars.

It's no wonder that Mars, who has finally begun to listen to classes seriously recently, wants to complain about Norns' words. But Anri followed up quickly that Norn was wrong, so Mars didn't speak up anymore.

Well, it's only been a few days that Mars started taking classes seriously, so it may be unavoidable if she looked at Mars's attitude in class so far.

Norn-sensei, who apologized to Mars, is now looking at Nozomu. Nozomu put his hand on his chin and made a little thoughtful gesture, after which he slowly opened his mouth.

"Well, I have a little thought ... Norn-sensei, do you know about a student named Feo Rishitza?"

"Feo Rishitza? Ah, I know. He's a boy in the same year as Nozomu."

Feo Rishitza

A male student who belongs to the second class of the third year and is a Fox Tribe boy.

The Fox Tribe is one of the beastmen's races, literally a race with a fox-like tail and ears.

Unlike other beastmans, they do not have a large community and live in small family units throughout the continent.

They seem to be a race with strong individualism, which seems to lead to not having a large community.

As an individual, Feo Rishitza seems to have a free-spirited personality, and he sometimes skips classes.

However, his grades seem to be quite excellent, as we can see from the fact that he belongs to the second class.

His rank in the school is C. He can handle both the written test and the practical test evenly, and there are no subjects that can be called a weak field.

"Erm, can that student use the talisman technique?"

"Talisman technique? You've heard about unusual techniques again. I don't know if he can use it or not, but the Fox Tribe is a race that lives all over the continent, albeit in small numbers. It wouldn't be strange to know about the talisman technique in some way, but ... "

When he listened to Norns' words, the sense of familiarity he felt became clearer. Feo's line of sight was exactly the same as the line of sight Nozomu felt behind the school building.

(As I thought. It was probably Feo who was looking into me at that time .... But why does he need to do that? When I was looking into what happened behind the school building, I didn't feel hostility from the direction of the line of sight. Even I didn't feel any hostility towards me from the appearance of Feo I saw today.)

What Nozomu felt from his gaze was not hatred or maliciousness, but a peeping gaze.

In the forest where the monsters live, Nozomu repeatedly trains until he is half dead (forcibly) against the monsters who live there, and has been exposed to many hostilities in the school without allies. He has a fairly keen sense of such gaze.

If Feo had been hostile to him, Nozomu would have noticed his gaze earlier at the back of the school building.

(But there is no evidence. It's over if I showed this talisman and he said, "I'm not involved"...)

"Haa ........."

Although the criminal had been guessed, there was no definitive proof, and Nozomu had no choice but to breathe out a sigh.

***

Iris' POV

Went back in time, at the 1st classroom that has just started lunch break. Here, I, Irisdina, and my best friend Tima had just finished our morning lessons and were cleaning up our textbooks and other tools.

Since we had promised to eat in the infirmary in the morning with Nozomu and others, we tried to leave the classroom with a lunch box after cleaning up, but a female student stopped us.

"Do you have a little time, Irisdina-san?"

(Ah)

The one who called out was the red-haired female student who was watching us in the classroom in the morning. We know her very well.

When she came to our side, she started talking with a serious look.

"Lisa, what is it?"

"......... I have something I want to ask, so is it okay to have some of your time?"

Lisa Hounds.

She was his former lover and childhood friend.

The woman he liked the most.

One of the people I was most interested in was standing there.