Lilia's Tale

Chapter 87: Uncertainty

The match was...surprisingly boring. A few fireballs managed to land, but there didn't seem to be much damage. This went on for a surprisingly long time as I started getting abnormally sleepy. Checking up on Sayuri, however, she seemed amazed. I failed to understand why, though I didn't want to try any harder than I had to.

Eventually, the two looked exhausted, although the one near the entrance was much more exhausted than the other. He launched one final fireball before collapsing on the ground. I was a bit worried but wasn't sure what was happening. However, seeing Mark rush to him worried me further, so I left my seat and went to help him.

When I arrived, Mark had already taken him in his arms and seemed to be rushing to the infirmary. In worry, I followed him. I didn't see Sayuri on the way, but I followed him all the way into his room. Once he was tucked in bed, Mark finally started explaining.

"It seems he overused his magic. Throwing so many fireballs must have been a heavy burden, even if they were quite weak. Still, being able to cast fireballs so easily is quite impressive for a youngster his age."

"...I'm sorry, was that supposed to be impressive?"

"To be fair, I can't blame you for not seeing it that way. Though, this isn't the time to talk about this, we should tend to him."

"Agreed. Is there anything I can do?"

"No. All we can do is make sure he doesn't get worse. Magicule exhaustion is fixed by time."

"Alright. I can stay here to look after him if you want?"

"That'd be great. I'll go get his room-mate, then."

I nodded and Mark left the room. I grabbed one of the two chairs and sat next to him, waiting. It took a surprisingly long time, but I patiently took care of him as needed until his room-mate arrived. He was a surprisingly tall boy, though his first reaction was:

"What is a girl doing in our room?"

"She was looking after your friend here," Mark said.

"Sure, but why a girl?"

"Because she showed care. Additionally, she's your honor student, so you should trust her."

He seemed to stay quiet afterwards. I figured I wasn't wanted, so I simply got up, thanked Mark for finding him, and left. I was worried about Sayuri, so I went back towards the arena, although it turned out she was waiting on the balcony.

"Hey... Sorry for darting so suddenly. I was just worried about the guy since he collapsed so suddenly."

She stayed silent. I struggled to read her expression and didn't want to seem overly conscious, so I instead decided to change the topic. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure what to bring up. It made me realise I had spent almost the entirety of my life in this world working, be it in the form of training or cooking. This lack of hobby meant I didn't have any topic at-hand, especially since I didn't know what girls this age would be interested in.

We looked at each other in silence for a while.

"Uhm... Maybe we should get away from the boys' side of the dormitory? This might look a bit weird."

She nodded and we headed downstairs. As we were walking, I checked outside, hoping to say we should maybe go outside to find something to do. However, it was starting to get dark, so I refrained. I was now out of option.

"Should we wait for dinner maybe?"

She nodded. I was glad that we technically had something to do, but that meant we'd have to talk about something, which still worried me. We went to the common area and sat down on one of the couches. Considering her silent personality, I didn't expect her to say anything directly, so I took that as a chance to not have to start a conversation. Instead, I looked around.