Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

The developments in Chapters 155 and 156 have been revised.

The latter half of Chapter 155 and all of Chapter 156 have been revised.

Many plot-related details have changed, so I would appreciate it if you could read them again.

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Javert's voice rang out with chilling clarity.

-I'd sensed someone outside the whole time, so I was wondering why you weren't coming in.

-What were you two doing in front of my laboratory?

Thirty minutes later.

I was at my desk, processing paperwork.

"......"

"......"

The air in the laboratory felt strangely cold.

Silence fluttered down around us.

Scratch, scratch.

Only the pen nibs scraping across paper sounded beneath our fingertips.

Normally, we might have exchanged some idle chatter, but today, the silence felt particularly heavy.

'Hm.'

A thoughtless hum lingered in my mouth.

I felt oddly self-conscious around her.

I couldn't bring myself to speak carelessly.

Like a criminal, I could only steal glances at the woman across from me.

"......"

Scratch, scratch.

Javert moved only her pen in silence.

Her green eyes blinked impassively.

Red hair spilled over her shoulder, making her look like a rose in bloom.

She was that beautiful.

Yet today, her petals seemed somehow wilted and forlorn.

Perhaps that was only because we were sharing the same emotions.

Ding!

[Forgotten Sage's Contract]

-Category: Document

-Rank: A+

-Condition: Pristine, Contracted

-Description: A piece of parchment left behind by the ancient sage, 'Anael.' Its effect is Assimilation. The two people who form the contract share their inner worlds. They can intuitively grasp parts of each other's thoughts and true feelings. In ancient times, this type of contract was also called a 'soul marriage,' and it is highly effective at strengthening mental fortitude and healing trauma. However, Party A may limit the information disclosed to Party B.

[The contract is active.]

-Party A: Viktor

-Party B: Javert Droit

Assimilation.

We were bound by the contract's effect.

Javert's feelings, thoughts, and true feelings flowed faintly into me.

'......Is this hurt feelings?'

The emotion came from Javert.

It made my chest feel strangely tight.

It felt unpleasant, as though someone were squeezing my heart.

The scene from earlier kept coming back to me, Rin's hand clutching my sleeve.

[......Rin Glacia.]

[I didn't know she was close with Student Viktor.]

Then there were her true feelings.

Filtered words echoed through my head as if they were being transmitted directly into it.

Unlike her cold, expressionless face, there was quite a commotion behind that iron armor.

[What kind of relationship do they have? Are they very close?]

[Come to think of it, I think I heard that Lady Glacia transferred to Class E because of Student Viktor too......]

Even as she processed documents, her thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

She kept thinking about Rin and me.

Those inner monologues continued to reach me.

Javert looked as indifferent as ever, reading each line of the documents.

[When did the two of them start spending time together?]

[Did they become close without me knowing?]

[Maybe they're much closer than I thought......]

There was a considerable gap between her exterior and interior.

Javert didn't show even the slightest emotion on the outside.

As always, she simply worked in silence, like a machine.

Maybe that was why I was overcome by a strange sense of guilt.

I hadn't actually done anything wrong, yet I found myself shrinking back.

"......Investigator."

"Yes."

"Are you angry with me, by any chance?"

"Why would I be angry with Student Viktor?"

"Um, it's just... You seem quieter than usual today..."

"I'm simply tired. Please don't concern yourself with it."

No.

You can't say that in that tone and expect me not to worry.

"Um..."

I awkwardly scratched my cheek.

Then I looked across the desk.

We were close, close enough to touch if either of us reached out a hand.

I stilled my pen and simply watched Javert.

[Does Student Viktor like that sort of person......?]

[Well, Lady Glacia is pretty.]

A complicated mix of difficult feelings seeped into one corner of my heart.

It was a side effect of the contract.

I couldn't shake the feeling that I was committing some kind of sin.

In the end, I had no choice but to speak and offer an unprompted explanation.

"......Um, it's a misunderstanding."

"Excuse me?"

"I'd like to say that it's all a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding? What are you talking about?"

"Um... Most of what you're thinking, Professor."

"What I'm thinking...?"

She tilted her head and looked up.

Our eyes naturally met.

The boy was reflected in those green eyes.

That alone made Javert's heart twitch reflexively.

Thump.

Something fresh and tender spread through her heart.

The hurt feelings faded, leaving behind a ticklish sensation.

Though she had remained expressionless the entire time, her insides surged like waves.

[......Come to think of it, the contract.]

[It said Student Viktor would be able to hear my thoughts and true feelings.]

[Could it be that he heard this too? No, did he hear all my thoughts from earlier as well......?]

Had she only just remembered?

Her shoulders flinched for a moment.

That inner monologue, almost like a question, quietly turned toward me.

"Yes, I heard them. I've been hearing them the whole time."

I answered carefully.

Javert stopped breathing.

"......Please don't listen."

"You didn't think anything strange."

"Even so. I'd prefer it if you didn't listen."

Maybe she had become embarrassed.

Javert spoke while avoiding my gaze.

Her ears had turned red, perfectly hidden beneath her hair.

"Investigator."

This was my chance to break the awkward atmosphere.

I put down my pen and slowly covered Javert's hand with mine.

Slide.

Our fingers gently intertwined.

Beneath her calluses, I could feel her rough warmth.

We naturally melted together, our warmth overlapping.

"......"

"......"

It was quiet around us.

Yet the world between us was noisy.

Thump, thump, thump...

It must have been someone's heartbeat.

The knot in our hearts loosened, and deep pulses stirred in a corner of our lives.

The boy reflected in green eyes.

That boy formed words with his lips.

The sound bent, lasting for both an instant and an eternity.

"Will you forgive me now?"

"......"

Javert's face was faintly flushed.

As if becoming like her heart, her pale complexion ripened slightly.

Her eyebrows trembled.

Her steady breathing faltered.

That was why I smiled with my eyes.

After remaining silent, she lowered her head as if she found me irritating.

"......You're sly, Student Viktor."

"I've always been that way."

"You're sly. And cowardly."

"So, have you forgiven me?"

"......"

Nod.

Her head rose with difficulty, then dipped again.

I simply continued holding her hand.

"Ahem."

The atmosphere had relaxed.

And so, we continued our paperwork.

The pulse beneath our joined hands never stopped beating.

* * *

A few days later.

I went to the library to prepare for final exams.

"Hey."

As I quietly flipped through a textbook for my major, someone poked my shoulder.

Bronzed skin. Electricity crackled between strands of loose hair.

The girl seated beside me rested her chin on her hand.

Yellow eyes glanced lazily in my direction.

"Miss Caitlin?"

"Just how many people are you trying to seduce?"

"Pardon? Out of nowhere?"

"What do you mean, out of nowhere? I've always thought this."

Poke, poke, poke.

Her fingers crawled up my shoulder and reached my mask.

Caitlin pressed it repeatedly as if it were my cheek.

I had no choice but to be flustered by the attack.

"No, I..."

"You should at least know what people have been saying about you lately."

"Rumors?"

"Yeah. They're whispering that you're always surrounded by girls."

"Me?"

"Who else would it be? At first, you seemed to be hanging around with that last-place Class E girl, then Lady Kihano got involved at some point... I heard you even attended a banquet with the Chief Investigator. You went posing as her lover, apparently. And now, people are saying you've even charmed Rin Glacia. That vicious bitch..."

"No, this feels unfair."

"What's unfair? Every single part of that is true."

"Who have I even seduced? I've never learned that sort of skill. My parents didn't teach me either. The only thing I learned from my parents was how to abandon a child not even twelve months old in front of an orphanage on a freezing winter night, without even leaving money for formula, then run away."

"Fuck, quit it with that already."

"Anyway, it's unfair. I can swear it on my parents."

"Isn't that the same as not betting anything at all?"

"Good heavens! To see through this trap..."

"Cut the bullshit."

Caitlin let out a long sigh.

As if something bothered her, she kept poking at my mask.

Lately, she had often sunk into gloomy thoughts like this.

Then she suddenly said something unexpected.

"You."

"Yes."

"Rin Glacia. That one is out."

"Pardon?"

"I don't know about the others, but not her. Absolutely not."

"No, I mean, what exactly is out...?"

"Just figure it out yourself!"

Caitlin was especially prickly today.

Until she calmed down, I had no choice but to stroke her yellow hair.

A faint question came to mind.

'Come to think of it, Caitlin hated Rin like she was her mortal enemy...'

Rin, on the other hand, hadn't shown any sign of feeling the same way.

Why was that?

It was backstory the original work had never explained.

'Hm.'

It seemed I needed to look into it.

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