That night, I ended up sleeping tightly embraced by Peruel. And in my dream, I met Focalors.
"Wow~ Congratulations on being top scorer! Just as I thought—after receiving my tutoring, even a thirteen-year-old can clear the first round of the judicial examination! Hahaha!"
That voice, so full of self-satisfaction. It was irritating enough to make me sick. I was the one who had practically studied myself to death.
"So? Are we studying again today? I guess I should, since I need to prepare for the second exam?"
"Nope. You do not have to. You’ve mastered it all by now, so what would be the point of studying more? Starting today, get plenty of rest. Of course, I’ll still annotate your books and mark things for you, so just look over that much."
"It’ll be nice not having to study. Ever since you descended into my dreams, I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep."
"How rude. How many people do you think can have an experience like yours?"
"Anyway, I should go to sleep. Why don’t you get some rest too if you’re tired, Focalors?"
"Now that you mention it... Hey? Sleep with me!"
What was she talking about now? She wanted me to sleep with her?
"Gods sleep? This feels kind of strange."
"Hey! I’m a perfectly normal living being too, you know? Of course I sleep!"
But then Focalors started shrinking in on herself.
"But... where I am, there isn’t really any proper distinction between day and night... So I used to sleep whenever I felt like it, but after you came along, I started being aware of time."
Since Focalors could only meet me when I slept, it meant that time was always night for her. I occasionally took naps, but she had never appeared then. So my arrival served as a sort of alarm clock, telling Focalors that it was time for her to sleep. And despite that, she had worked me to death studying.
"Fine... Who is going to complain if we sleep together here? Let’s sleep together."
"Yay! Then I’ll prepare the bed~"
Maybe it was because this was a dream, or maybe it was Focalors’s divine power, but a bed for three appeared. Wait a second. For three?
"Focalors, there are only two of us. Why did you make a bed for three?"
"Huh? If a man and a woman sleep together somewhere with no one around, they might do that sort of thing, right? It’s just a precaution~"
"You crazy bastard! I’m thirteen!"
"What does it matter~? You seem like an ordinary adult on the inside~ Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m just bored, that’s all?"
"We can meet anytime anyway, can’t we? Save that sort of thing for when my body has grown up."
At that, Focalors looked disappointed.
"Coward..."
"Hey! I heard that, you know?!"
"And... you’re going to die soon too, aren’t you? Once you die and I revive you, what happens to us? Won’t we never be able to meet again?"
"..."
I had considered that possibility. The reason Focalors and I could meet was because of the Empty Vision Capitano had given me. If it vanished, the link between Focalors and me would be severed. Thinking about it, I resolved to make preparations before I died.
"The reason you and I can meet is because that Empty Vision has the Hydro element, allowing us to connect like this, right?"
"That’s true, but..."
"How long do you want to be with me?"
"Huh? What’s that supposed to be, a confession?!"
"??? I just said it without thinking much about it?"
"Good grief, you’re really dense..."
"Dense...? Anyway, as long as the Vision is intact, you and I can meet anytime, right? If it comes to that, you could just grant me a Vision."
"Do you think that’s easy?! Even gods have conditions for granting Visions!"
That was true... The conditions under which Visions were bestowed were purely a matter of speculation; nothing had ever been conclusively established.
"So... I want you to stay with me until I enter the Judicial Training Institute. After that, I’ll figure something out myself."
"What do you mean by that? You’re saying you’ll stay with me until the institute and then throw me away?"
"Who said that? Furina’s idiotic stunt has completely thrown my plans into disarray. Originally, I was supposed to die during the fourth round, remember? But I still haven’t even acquired the substance I need to die. That’s why I said we should keep watch until the institute."
"Hmm~ If possible, I’d like to watch until you become a prosecutor or a lawyer~ Which one will you be? A lawyer or a prosecutor?"
"Me? Of course I’ll be..."
Honestly, if you looked at Fontaine’s story, or as shown in Peruel’s PV, orphans were often swindled or simply used as sacrificial pawns. As an orphan myself, I understood how those children felt. Having no adults meant having no one to lean on. If I could give children like them even a little hope, then I...
"I’ll become a lawyer."
"It’s a righteous choice, but sometimes you’ll have to do dirty things. Are you all right with that?"
"I’ve seen too much filth from the very beginning. I’m used to dirty things."
"No wonder Furina likes you. You’re a wonderful man. I’d like to see the two of you hold a ceremony at the Opera Epiclese before I die, but that would be impossible, wouldn’t it?"
"It’d turn into a sword fight right away. Because of my little sister."
"Keep a better watch on your little sister. Furina’s scared of her. It really looked like she was going to get stabbed."
The catch was that she really would get stabbed later.
"Anyway... some time has passed, so let’s sleep together. Avrora? I won’t do anything... Holding hands is okay, right?"
"Sure, that much is fine..."
Focalors and I held hands as we tried to sleep. Focalors fell asleep before I did, so I watched her sleeping face. She looked like a beautiful girl like this, which only made it all the more regrettable that she would kill herself just to screw over the Heavenly Principles. And so, for the first time in a while, I was able to wake up feeling refreshed.
Morning.
"Fuck! What happened to my lips?!"
"Brother... You’re awake?"
"Hey! Peruel! My lips are all swollen?! What did you do to them?!"
"Didn’t I tell you yesterday? I said I would keep kissing you until that bitch’s presence disappeared. I merely kept my word."
"Hah..."
It seemed she had covered my lips in kisses while I slept. Terrifying child...
"Good grief... Let’s not talk about it. Peruel, wash up and gather in front of the main gate. It’s time to return to the House of the Hearth."
"Okay, got it."
The two of us left the Bouf d’ete Residence and headed for the House of the Hearth. Along the way, morning editions of The Steambird and several other papers were hanging together, so I bought The Steambird and some paper called the Fontaine Legal Journal. Then we sat in a café, drank coffee, and read them both. Peruel bought milk and cake and munched away at them. She really was cute. More importantly, though, today’s front page...
[Exclusive Interview! Meeting the Youngest Top Scorer!]
["I Studied Mainly Past Exam Questions and the Code of Law."]
[Anticipation for His Second-Round Score... Parents in an Uproar]
They actually printed that. Euphrasie... She certainly knows how to run provocative material.
Let’s see what this Fontaine Legal Journal has... The paper’s name is just Fontaine Legal Newspaper? It looks incredibly dry... It practically makes me not want to read it.
[The Old Notion That Law Is Heavy Must Disappear... Reforming into an Accessible Legal Newspaper]
[New Legal Comics for Children, Artists Wanted]
[Editor-in-Chief: Preparing Reforms in Hopes of Broadening Our Reach]
Apparently, not being able to interview me had really eaten at them. What do they mean, legal comics for children? What child would like something like that? That was just how adults thought...
"Brother... People are staring..."
I could see adults and Melusines looking at me from nearby. A kid who clearly looked young was sitting in a café reading The Steambird and the Fontaine Legal Newspaper. That mismatch must have drawn their attention.
"Isn’t that the top scorer from today’s Steambird?"
"I think so? They say he came from an orphanage and still got first place."
"Look at him reading the Fontaine Legal Newspaper... No wonder he was top scorer."
It might have sounded like praise at first glance, but I would rather not have this kind of attention. Peruel smiled at seeing her brother praised. Had she still not learned how to hide her emotions?
I folded the newspaper, took Peruel—who had finished all her snacks—and left the café. Staying any longer would only attract more attention. But if The Steambird printed something like that, what face was I supposed to wear when I went to take the second exam? I wasn’t going to get pelted with tomatoes like Furina, was I?
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