In A Corner Of The World

There Is An Invitation For The Dead

"So by analyzing the falcon's blood you can...."

At the rambling of the teacher the pair of students at the back continued to take notes silently. There were no more awkward stares from their classmates since they've somewhat gotten used to the hero's appearance.

A small tearing sound was heard from the upperclassman next to him which prompted the hero to glance over. A section of the paper's corner was torn and a sentence was written on it.

"Do you want to come to the Monster Hunt's farewell party?"

He'd heard of such an occurrence before from the surrounding students and a few other upperclassmen he'd befriended. He didn't know why his seat mate added the farewell part though; it was relatively routine from what he's heard.

Not wanting to disrupt the class he'd turned over the paper to write back a response. Once he was finished he'd slid it back onto his seat mate's notebook to get his attention.

"Sure! Are you coming along as well?"

While it wasn't strange to see upperclassmen at the party it didn't mean they all went. Most had more important exterminations to attend to so the only ones that usually ended up going were the socialite nobles.

"Yes, I'm working with the team to set up the event."

It was curious to the hero that his seat mate didn't write the same way as he'd talked. Either way he was happy his seat mate was going, he could say it was fortunate his seat mate was a little social since it seemed like his seat mate mostly only kept to himself.

The class had ended half an hour later but the question still remained in the hero's mind after their interaction. He'd turned to his seat mate with a curiosity while the upperclassman began packing up.

"Sir Solus, you didn't strike me as someone that would attend a party just because your team would. Are you being pressured to attend again?"

The white haired upperclassman looked at Kallian with an empty gaze when he was asked the question. While they had become acquainted in the few weeks since he'd started attending the academy, Kallian would have to say reading Solus was even harder than reading Caelus.

The white haired teen was generally a quiet and amicable person once you got to know him. And when he was uncomfortable his eyes would go blank and he'd keep silent.

His results were near the top in a well-respected class but he was never surrounded by people like the other nobles, much like Caelus in a way. That was really it for what he knew about Solus.

Solus immediately hung his head to hide his face. He couldn't confidently face Kallian as he replied with a shaky voice and his usual choppy common language.

"N-no. I-I'm not, being pressured, I just, need to check, up on, someone..."

His voice became quieter and quieter as he continued, but Kallian could still hear it. While he was concerned Solus was being pushed to do something he didn't want to, it didn't seem to be harmful to his health at least.

Deciding not to pressure his seat mate anymore than this, Kallian tucked the information into the back of his mind and dropped the issue for now. They'd be late to their next class if they talked any longer.

********

"Target locked. Beginning count down..."

The woman aimed her staff at the target's back as she tracked it's movements with her eyes. Just before she fired another variable got in the way and pulled the original target towards them to barely dodge her sniping.