Chapter 32
Lian Qi pulled me by the hand out of the castle. Along the way, many students turned to look back at us. Is it because a combination like ours is too eye-catching?
She didn’t let go of my hand until we reached the school’s sports ground. I saw pairs of couples walking around the sports ground with their arms around each other’s waists. I nervously swallowed my saliva and asked her, “Lian Qi, why did you bring me here?”
“Help me pick up some branches.”
“What!?” I stared at her, stunned.
She used her actions to show me that she really was picking up branches.
“I need some branches to practice my inherent magic,” she said.
Oh, right, Lian Qi hasn’t mastered her inherent magic yet. As a mage of the Enchantment school, when others disparage the Enchantment school as having no mages, she must feel very unhappy inside, right?
There isn’t much time left before the ranking competition of the Graduation Festival, so she needs to work hard to create her own magic, huh?
I crouched down to help her pick up branches.
Although, I had no idea what the branches were for, I ended up helping her pick up quite a few.
“You two… what are you doing?”
Eh——?
A familiar voice drifted into my ears.
I thought my ears were broken from being teased by Lian Qi too many times and I had misheard.
I raised my head and saw a pure figure with long, golden-yellow hair tied in a single ponytail. My childhood friend—Qifeng—was standing in front of me with a blank expression.
“Why are you here!?”
I shot up in surprise.
What surprised me even more was that Qifeng was wearing the Magic Academy uniform! On her legs, she wore white over-the-knee socks, the exact opposite of mine. Seeing her dressed like this, I thought I had traveled back in time.
“I couldn’t resist coming to see you.” Qifeng smiled brightly, giving me a victory sign.
“Why are you dressed like this…?”
“It’s my old school uniform. I dug it out to wear, hehe.” She rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed.
“Guards——! A weirdo snuck in!”
“Shh——! Keep your voice down!” Qifeng hurriedly covered my mouth to stop me from talking.
But speaking of which, there really was a cross-dressing pervert who snuck in, and that person was me.
“Eh, why are you here?” Lian Qi asked after silently watching us for a while.
“I’m your senpai now, you know!” Qifeng smiled at her smugly.
“Ew… whatever.” Lian Qi had an expression of intense refusal.
“Fei’er, I’m your senpai too.”
“Give me a break…! Don’t pull that ‘acting all old and mighty’ stuff in front of me. Speaking of which, I haven’t seen you dress like this in a year,” I said to Qifeng.
Qifeng just graduated from the Magic Academy last year. She’s the same age as me, so putting on the uniform, she naturally blended right into the school. This silly girl, I really have to hand it to her.
As childhood friends, seeing us now wearing the exact same student uniform gave me a strange sense of excitement.
“This is my first time seeing you in a student uniform too!” She looked me up and down with an infatuated expression— “Eh? Why are you wearing black knee socks again?”
“Shut up! I… do I not look good in black?”
“You look good, you look good, but—”
“Don’t mention that…!”
Last time in the carriage, she kept nagging me about it, saying things like— ‘A Saintess shouldn’t wear black socks, black is the color symbolizing the magical abyss,’ and so on. Just how conservative is her thinking? I’ve lived this long without ever wearing black stockings; what’s wrong with letting me enjoy it a few times?
“Then… can I touch them?” she asked me, blushing.
I looked at her, wanting to speak but hesitating. Just now in class, my thigh was groped all over by Lian Qi. How come Qifeng has the same hobby as Lian Qi?
“You know they’re black and you still want to touch? Aren’t you afraid of falling into the magical abyss?” I teased her.
“I am more than willing to fall into your abyss,” Qifeng said to me, her face full of bliss.
It really leaves me at a loss…
But since it’s Qifeng, I guess I have no reason to refuse.
“Go ahead. But you can only touch the right leg.”
The left leg was just touched by Lian Qi, so… got to balance it out.
“You’re really letting me? Then I’m gonna touch, okay?”
I originally thought she would just touch them a little. I never expected her to actually kneel at my feet, hug my thigh, and nuzzle it… It was like a long-lost reunion with my thigh.
Wh-What is this!
This posture is too embarrassing!
I blushed as I struggled to break free.
“This is the sports ground, you know…! Pay a little attention to your image, silly girl!”
Uwaah… I really don’t want to be seen. A female inspector disguised as a student who snuck onto campus, hugging the stockinged leg of a cross-dressing boy… just thinking about it feels so shameful…
Good grief…! I brushed off my socks. If they got a run, I wouldn’t forgive her.
“Why did you sneak into the school? Was it specifically to return my nightgown?”
“Oh my, oh my, you still remember that?” She laughed foolishly.
…Did she really think I forgot?
“I wanted to experience campus life with you.” She put her hands behind her back, tilted her head, and smiled at me.
“What about the Church?”
“Ah!?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. What about your duties as an Inspector?”
“That, that… Can’t I even spend one night with you? Just one night…”
My face was a big question mark. What did she just say? Spend a night with me? Not a day? What kind of campus life can you experience at night…? It made me start to doubt her motives.
“There’s no place for you to sleep in the dorm, you know…” I told her.
“That’s fine!”
She had a look of complete indifference. I originally thought she’d say she’d sleep in the living room, but I never, ever expected her to say—
“Even though we’re all grown up now, if we just squeeze in together… it’ll be fine.”