We traversed through the long hallway of the first year building. Students younger than us come and go, the various expression on their faces.

Arriving at a certain classroom that Lisa may or not stalked for a few times before this, we stopped. I grabbed the sliding door and forcefully yanked it.

Bam! It generated a harsh sound that caught the attention of the people inside and outside the classroom. Even Lisa flinched at my abrupt action.

“Yo.” I greeted the man who was looking at me in difficulty. Rito, the twin-tail girl and a chick with a non-existent expression of brine hair, sat near each other.

“You know your lines?” I whispered quietly to Lisa who was standing behind me.

I couldn't see her expression, but I bet that she was slightly panicking at this moment.

“Yes...” She mumbled. With that, I bobbed my head gratefully and begun my speech. “You have some visitor eh.” I naughtily said to Rito.

“Eeh... Who...?” He replied with a wry smile.

I snapped my finger, and the sound bounced the room dramatically.

“Greetings, Rito.” She grandly entered the place with a rehearsed motion, presenting herself with a whip of her fan.

Seeing her, Rito's face turned into a blooming flower of spring, thus the mood of the twin-tail girl sour and the emotionless chick—presumably, based on what I was noticing—perplexed.

“Ms. Lisa, why are you here?” He hurriedly stood up from his seat.

“Rito dammit!” There was a man who appeared to be Rito's classmate. The man clung to Rito's clothes and shook him back and forth. “You already have Aya and Suzette! Two beauties! You have two beauties and yet! You have Senior-Lisa calling out for you!” You greedy bastard! was I think he indicated.

Rito let himself be shuddered by the weeping man, saying, “I don't know what you're talking about...”

“Don't play stupid! It won't work on me!” The man said with tears in his eyes. The jealousy was, of course, not only to him as many of the male students was also wailing out. A rather funny spectacle.

But what he said is true though. Just how many girls are you planning to take before your satisfied, Rito?

Normally, it should be impossible to gather this amount of beauty all fawning to you. Does he have a charm or something...?

I am not saying that an average guy like him couldn't get a girl. Well, it's not like it's my problem or something.

I let out a sigh and spun around, exiting the place. All left was for Lisa to proceed with our plan, talk about information about the evil organization and we were good to go.

I passed the standing Lisa, patting her shoulder repeatedly. “Good luck,” I said to her.

“Yes, thank you...” She muttered under her breath, stepping forward gallantly.

Looking from the behind of my shoulder, I saw her talking with Rito with composure, I smiled. Is this the feeling that fathers have after seeing their daughter all grown up?

I leaned on the open window and glanced down at the ground. It was a sunny day, a good day for training, which was something that the student from the outside was performing.

Never a day would end without hearing the shouts of pupils. I gazed at the serene portrait like the fine art of some famous painter.

“S-sir Elric...Is that you?” A cute and high voice, saying my name nearby.

Huh? I searched for the owner of the confection-like tone but I couldn't.

“D-down here...” The voice shyly said. There, the girl with purple bob-cut hair was staring me with moist eyes.

“Oh...!” I remember her. “You're that girl from earlier...Um...”

“Mildred! My name is Mildred! Nice to see you here, Sir Elric!” She dropped her head and put forward her hand.

“Ah, eh, sure,” I uttered to Mildred, grasping her smooth hand and shaking it gently as I could. She has a hand of a young girl her age so I completely consumed her palm, but she didn't mind it at all.

“Yes! A pleasure to meet you, Sir Elric!” Lifting her head high, her eyes sparkled deep-violet. Inspecting closely, her facial features were well arranged. Her nose was formed quite nicely, her lips were attractive even with her age. Gave her a year or two and she could fight against Lisa in terms of fairness.

Departing our fingers, she held her arms in her still developing chest with a hot sigh. “I need to calm my heart.”

“Um, sure.” I really didn't know how to react with this kind of encounter, I didn't even know what she wanted, but I decided to go along for now.

Inhale, exhale, packing herself with air, her chest rising and plummeting. Whew. She closed her eyes for a moment as if to savor this moment, then opening them with their usual gleam.

“Is you're stomach okay?” I asked her. I clearly recall that I hit her in the stomach with the hilt of my sword, it hit her liver. I know the pain of liver shot so I was reasonably uneasy seeing her not angry at me.

“No worry at all!” She exclaimed, alarmed. “Take a look so you can believe!” She then hurriedly grabbed her tucked blouse and—!

“I believe you, so please stop that, okay...?” Fortunately, I was quick enough to stop the action of her exhibiting her stomach. Another weirdo?

“So. Is there something you need?” Sending my gaze back to the open field, I asked her in disinterest.

“Ah! Eh, erm...” Mildred touched the tip of her forefinger together in a cute manner. She was thinking of something to say, maybe a bit too hard.

“Relax. I'm not in a hurry or something.” Managing to calm the girl even a little, she proceeded to speak. “I-I'm just wondering what you're doing here in the first year grounds... Sir Elric...”

It shaved half of her soul just to utter those. It was the opposite of what she was showing to that handsome guy.

“Nothing really, just doing some odd task, how about you?” I honestly told her. From the azure sky flew a flock of birds in a beeline, I could hear their faint cries.

“M-me!? Yes! I'm inspecting the sighting of a mysterious guy, Sir!” Was she reporting to me or conversing? It was difficult to know.

Hmm. I reorganized my memories to see if I could say something relevant to the topic. “I haven't seen anyone that can be considered as suspicious... You're the only one that the Student Council sent?”

“It's supposed to be me and Brandis but he said that he needs to regain his pride after being beaten one-sidedly. That damn idiot—! Oh, sorry...”

“I don't mind. Also, sorry for, you know, beating you, I didn't want to lose so...”

“Nonono!” She exclaimed, waving her hands as if to say that there was nothing wrong about that. “It's only natural that there will be a winner and a loser in a fight... But I guess I can't really blame him after losing that bad. I'm kind of down, too.”

“That's normal alright. No one likes losing. All we could do is to keep trying until we win. No other way than that. You can quit if you wanted to, but that also meant forfeiting all the hardship and training and skills you've honed, and no sane swordsman will do that...”

“Um! That's right!?” Perhaps my words hit something inside Mildred, her uneasiness was finally gone and her clouded face was replaced by a colorful one.

She giggled quite lovely, like that of a sweet bell. “I'll go back to my duty, Sir Elric. I hope we can talk like this again.”

“Yeah, I don't mind it.”

She bowed slightly, hair drooped down. “I'll be going now.”

“Take care,” I answered. Mildred hummed as she started moving her slender legs, ambling over me, she made a quick turn of her head towards me.

When she caught my eyes staring back at her, she jolted straight and fasten her pace. “What a weird girl. And a pretty one at that.” I mumbled.

Now, I was once again secluded in the noise of students. Tap tap tap. Boredom soon overtook the serine atmosphere as pound the wall with my finger. I can't leave yet, I have to see what will happen to Lisa.

Then, I heard a sliding door producing friction. It was Lisa, and she was—normal? Huh? It was not the reaction I was expecting.

She neared our distance, fluttering her fan, Lisa's composure was topnotch that it was hard to believe.

“What happened? Did Rito and you fought?” I waited for her to stand beside me in her own rate before inquiring her.

Lisa was equally uncertain as me. “No? Why are you asking that?”

“So it's not that huh...” Then what was it? “Did the twin-tail girl and the expressionless chick intervene?”

“Twin-tail girl and expressionless... Is that how you name strangers? Actually, I'm intrigued, what name did you give me back then?”

“So that's not it either.”

“Are you listening to me?” She was beginning to get angry but I ignored her for now.

She should be ecstatic, making a stupid face that I can laugh at after... Just what is happening here!?

I racked my brain just to search for the answer that probably wouldn't come.

“Just tell what happened to you and Rito...” Right, I should ask the person herself.

“Hmm? We talked just as the plan we had? Is something wrong with that?” She innocently told that.

“Just that? Nothing spicy occurred?”

“What do you mean by spicy?”

“Nevermind. Forget about it.” Conveying my dissatisfaction with a sigh, I added. “Typically, after talking to Rito, you'll let out a smile.”

“Was I?” She retorted briefly.

“Pretty much. Hence why I'm wondering why you're not behaving that way.”

“Do I...?” Lisa mumbled to herself, intersecting her forearms. “But if Elric says so, then that must be it.”

“... You're just accepting it without question?”

“But Elric is not lying, right?” I could virtually hear her saying, I trust you so so much! Which was ideally good for business, but I am anxious if she was like this in general.

Trusting in others was good, but at least have a little doubt eh.

If I could, I would slap some sense to this girl, however, I couldn't do that, for she was a valuable customer.

A piece of small advice is fine, isn't it? I cleared my throat with a cough. “But from time to time, ask for the reason why.”

She fixed me with a glance telling, was Elric an idiot? “Of course, why are you telling this?”

“Because you're not questioning me! I mean, I'm thankful for the trust and all! But it would be a problem if you're doing that to other people!” I exclaimed so I could drill my point to this air-headed woman.

She listened intently, showing no impatience at all. “I take it that you're worried about me?”

“Er... You could say that.” Did I imply that? I unconsciously rumpled my face.

She hid her lips behind her metallic fan. “Worry not. I consider myself something of a trickster, I will not be fooled so easily.”

Lisa wheeled around, her skirt fluttered joyfully. “The day is still far from over, shall we search for keys then?” She chuckled like a child and proceed to stride.

I forgot that she's a weirdo too. I thought and shortly followed her.