"Teacher Karlasth is gone for the moment. If you have questions, student Vallhall, I could…"
"I'll wait for him. Don't mind me."
Karlasth's assistant teacher, Brice Hervolst, buried in paperwork behind a small desk stuffed in the corner of the office, muttered in a troubled voice, but was talked over by Rotsard, who simply sat down on the simple chair by the wall.
"...a… are you certain? I'm not actually sure when he will be back. If it's something about the lectures or the practical exam, I could…"
"No, teacher. Really. It's about something that only teacher Karlasth is aware of."
The young woman tried to be helpful despite clearly not being happy about Rotsard's presence, but the boy merely shook his head and pointed out.
"..."
For some reason, it seemed that Rotsard's words prodded assistant teacher Hervolst the wrong way because even though she attempted to get back to her task, she started pouting and even fidgeting as if greatly bothered.
Rotsard paid her no mind, but that only stirred her up more.
"Ehem… I'll have you know that teacher Karlasth trusts me and shares EVERYTHING with me."
The assistant teacher Hervolst faked a cough to get the student's attention and declared after straightening her back and proudly raising her head.
"...?"
But if she wanted any reaction aside from a slightly confused glance, she must have been terribly disappointed.
"You can definitely ask me about anything and everything that you would also ask teacher Karlasth because… because…!"
It would appear that something in Rotsard's behavior was the final straw, and the young woman straightened her back even more and started announcing with a determined expression.
"He and I are like THAT, you see!"
"..."
She revealed before looking at the silent student…
"A couple! We are a couple, but we are keeping things secret because the significant age and power gap would make it look unprofessional!"
Seeing how taken aback Rotsard was, the assistant teacher Hervolst added hastily, even though her words were understood from the start, and their actual meaning was what made Rotsard lean away in his seat.
"..."
Even so, he soon returned to his original position. The private life of teachers and their subordinates wasn't something of interest to him, and he already had enough on his own plate…
Although now that he thought about it, in the 2nd volume of the deofol's story, from the second-year the future hero's practical class that teacher Karlasth taught had a different teacher taking his spot. Her, Brice Hervolst would be the one to assume the spot... though mentions of sadness and even gloominess started to appear in her description, so it didn't seem like something particularly happy for her…
Rotsard figured out a very logical conclusion from that.
Assistant teacher Hervolst in the story ended up dumped… or, more probably, deceived, used, and abandoned afterwards.
Males were rare after all, and could pick and chose thier partners... at least the esteemed ones, that is.
"..."
"!"
That thought made Rotsard feel sorry for the young woman, and some of that feeling definitely showed in the look of his yellow eyes, because the moment that assistant teacher Hervolst noticed it, she flinched and turned red.
She started fidgeting again, clenching her fists and biting her lips too.
"He…! He does care about me! Look!"
And when she finally couldn't hold it back anymore, assistant teacher Hervolst called out and hurriedly opened a drawer of her desk, taking out a tiny box.
"He gave me this! The pendant of lovers…! AHHH!"
*thump*
The young woman declared, wanting to open up the box a bit too fast, which resulted in her dropping it, and the box opening from the impact with the floor, spilling its contents…
Rotsard's nostrils widened and contracted as a certain scent reached his nose.
"!!!"
…and that's when Rotsard jolted so hard that he jumped on the chair, and his expression turned completely blank.
"Oh no…! A-anyway! See?! That's the lovers' pendant! You get this from a temple! It has the blessing of the fae!"
While the young woman called out, rushing to pick it up, Rotsard's widened, beastly yellow eyes focused on the inconspicuous piece of jewelry that fell out.
Assistant teacher Hervolst carefully picked her necklace up, giving Rotsard plenty of time to stare at it… mainly at the fine silver chainlinks…
"...is… isn't the chain a bit short on it…?"
Rotsard had to use all of his willpower to remain relatively normal, but despite that, he still sounded off.
"Th-that's because… Teacher Karlasth said that it almost got stolen from him… the pickpocketer rushed off but he caught the pendant and pried it from the criminal's hands…! He just wanted to give it to me as soon as possible, that's why he didn't have it fixed first…!"
The young woman tensed up and began explaining hurriedly, red in the face because even she herself realized how poor of an excuse she received from her supposed lover.
But at least she was in love, and she wanted to believe in that man so much…
"I… I can't blame him, though! He's such a busy man! I myself had it for over half a year, but because of all the work and assistant teacher's duties, I didn't have the time to have it fixed either!"
Brice Hervolst cried out, closing the pendant to in her hands and pressing it to her chest almost as if she was pleading.
"..."
But Rotsard couldn't care less about her story or feelings.
That pendant…
…it had the commoner nurse's smell lingering on it…
And the missing chainlinks…
Rotsard was certain that if he took out the crushed ones he found by the corpse and carried with him like a memento, they would be a perfect match.
"...ghhh…! Why did it get so cold…?"
Suddenly, the assistant teacher Hervolst shuddered and huddled up. Her breath showed up as mist, and her glasses fogged up… it wasn't her imagination, the temperature in the office did suddenly drop...!
"Sorry, after all, this was a bad idea."
"Eh?"
The very next moment, Rotsard was already by the door, muttering in a hurry and causing the assistant teacher Hervolst to let out a confused voice as she took off her glasses to clean them up.
"S-student Vallhall…?"
She called out, but Rotsard had already left.