IRBC 6

Chapter: 6

“Uh, um… excuse me.”

“Hm? Oh. You’re assigned to this room, right? Come on in. I’m Joy Mikaela. I picked a bed first—do you mind?”

The child who peeked her head through the half-open door had a familiar face after all.
She was the girl who had been my roommate for a month in my previous life.

“Y-Yeah! N-Nice to meet you. I—I’m Koi Philia. T-The bed is fine. I like the one by the window.”

“That’s a relief. Is it okay if I call you Koi?”

“Y-Yes!”

Koi nodded, her face reddening. I smiled brightly and spoke.

“Then you can call me Joy.”

“O-Okay! I-I look forward to getting along with you, Joy.”

“Same here.”

Koi’s stutter was a temporary thing.

She was shy and extremely timid around strangers. She’d told me that she got nervous in front of people she met for the first time, which made her stutter.

Everything here must have felt unfamiliar to her. It was only natural that she looked so restless and hesitant.

“Um, if you don’t mind… would you like some of this?”

Sweet food was the best way to ease tension.

I took out some cookies from my luggage and offered them to her. They were packed with chocolate chips.

“Th-Tha-Thank you. I’ll eat them.”

Fortunately, Koi didn’t refuse. I took out two cartons of milk from the food storage box in the room.

“Here. You might choke, so drink some milk too.”

While Koi ate the cookies, I sipped my milk and chatted about random everyday things—nothing that required her to respond.

As I rambled on by myself, I could see her tension gradually easing.

“S-So, Joy… have you already chosen your major?”

“Yeah. I’m going to study management and auxiliary magic.”

“Th-That’s amazing.”

Koi’s wariness faded quickly. She still stuttered, but that would lessen little by little too.

“I—I still don’t know what I should learn… I’m n-not good at anything…”

Wasn’t Koi the second daughter of Baron Philia?

Unlike me, who would become a countess as the eldest daughter of the Mikaela family, Koi probably didn’t have a predetermined path.

Even so, the fact that Baron Philia sent his second daughter to such an expensive academy meant he had expectations for her.

Did he see some special talent in her?

I searched my memories of my past life, but I didn’t recall much about Koi. Back then, I was focused solely on David and Rosemary and didn’t socialize with people around me.

Besides, about a month after we became roommates, I moved rooms, and she seemed to slowly start avoiding me.

With her timid personality, she might have thought I moved because of her.

“Koi, you’ll do well no matter what you choose.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course.”

Before my regression, I noticed she avoided me and felt uncomfortable, yet I didn’t care.

If I had explained that it wasn’t her fault I moved rooms, she wouldn’t have had any reason to awkwardly avoid me at the academy.

Thinking about that made me feel a little guilty. This time, I wanted to help make her academy life more enjoyable.

“Thank you, Joy. You’re really kind.”

The girl smiled brightly—a radiant smile I’d never seen before.

“J-Joy? Joy?”

“Mmm…”

“I-It’s d-dinner time…”

“…Already?”

It seemed I’d dozed off while talking with Koi. When I came to my senses at her call, it was already dusk outside the window.

“Thanks for waking me.”

“N-No! Of course I should wake you…!”

Koi’s pale face flushed red in an instant. I stretched lazily to shake off the drowsiness and roughly combed my messy hair.

“Let’s go, Koi.”

“H-Huh? Is it o-okay if I eat w-with you?”

“Of course. Naturally.”

“Th-Thank you.”

I led the still-shy girl out of the dormitory. Since it was dinner time, the hallways were crowded with students heading toward the cafeteria.

There was no need to get caught up in that crowd, so I grabbed Koi’s sleeve and headed toward an inconspicuous back door.

“J-Joy? This way is…?”

“Oh. I thought the back entrance would be better.”

“Y-You seem to know the dormitory really well.”

At her innocent admiration, I had to suppress a guilty feeling.

“I-I just happened to find out by chance. I saw some students going this way.”

“I see. Joy, you’re really observant.”

Koi smiled brightly. I felt a pang of conscience, as if I were deceiving an innocent child. But I couldn’t exactly say I’d lived in the dorms for years already.

“Let’s hurry!”

“O-Okay!”

I silently apologized to her as we quickened our pace. Thankfully, Koi didn’t say anything more.

“Joy. Why are you so late?”

I ran into David in front of the cafeteria building. His tone was always chilling to hear. Perhaps because he was conscious of the people around him, his voice was coated with artificial politeness.

As befitted the protagonist, David was surrounded by many students. That didn’t mean they were all his companions.

They were probably just kids hoping to exchange even a word with him. It was obvious.

David seemed used to those gazes, as he didn’t spare the surrounding students a single glance.

“Did you wait long? I must’ve been tired—I fell asleep for a bit. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t wait that long.”

So prickly.

Still, since he was cute, I let it slide. I was smiling inwardly at his childlike reaction when David’s gaze shifted to Koi behind me.

“Who’s she?”

“Oh. Say hello. This is Koi Philia. She’s my roommate.”

At my introduction, David scanned Koi up and down. She shrank back and hid behind me. Even I found his gaze intimidating—no wonder she did.

“Koi, this is David Taylor. He’s my childhood friend.”

Koi’s face turned red. It didn’t look like she’d fallen in love—she was so tense she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

Before she could cry, I lightly kicked David’s foot.

“Hey, David. Why are you staring like that? You’re scaring her.”

“Is it my fault she’s scared? And why are you taking her side? You just met her today.”

“You already look scary enough. Staring people down like that makes it worse. And what do you mean ‘sides’? You’re not a kid.”

I stopped short.

The sulky David standing before me was, in fact, a kid.

“A-Ahem! Anyway! Koi’s my friend, so you should get along with her too.”

“…I apologize. My name is David Taylor. You may call me David.”

“N-N-No! N-Nice to m-meet you…! I-I’m K-Koi Philia…!”

The two exchanged greetings in an awkward atmosphere. David looked a bit sulky, but he’d get over it soon enough.

“Let’s go in already. I’m hungry.”

The crowd in front of the cafeteria grew thicker. At least half of them were undoubtedly there to see David.

I didn’t want to waste any more time, so I firmly grabbed both Koi’s and David’s hands and pulled them inside. Thankfully, they followed without resistance.

“So that Koi-something is eating with us too?”

While Koi looked around the cafeteria with wide eyes, David leaned close and whispered to me.

“Of course. Why?”

“…Nothing.”

This brat. Was he feeling left out because I made a new friend?

In my past life, I never made friends, so I never got to see this side of him. I squeezed his hand lightly and whispered back.

“I want my childhood friend and my academy friend to get along.”

I deliberately drew a line—David was my childhood friend, Koi my academy friend. Kids this age loved forming factions, especially brats like David.

Of course, I thought they were basically the same, but the words seemed to appease him. He really was a kid.

“Ahem. If you insist, I suppose I’ll try.”

He puffed up like a proud child. I let out a relieved sigh and focused on choosing my food.

Koi was gentle by nature. As long as I kept an eye on David, the two would get along just fine.

“Where should we sit?”

After filling our plates, we looked for a place to eat. The cafeteria was large and relatively uncrowded, so finding a seat wasn’t difficult.

“Hmm…”

I spotted a table near a large window and a secluded sofa seat in the corner. As I debated between the two, a male student with familiar pink hair sat down by the window.

“…That pink hair…!”

It was the same color as the female protagonist Rosemary Weaver’s hair. Judging by his appearance, it wasn’t Rosemary but her brother, Enoch Weaver, who was two years older.

“How about we sit by the window?”

“I-I don’t mind…”

“The window? Wouldn’t somewhere with fewer people be better?”

“Look at the view! The night scenery is so pretty—I want to eat there. Please?”

In truth, the cafeteria was on the first floor, and the only thing visible through the window was the wall of the herbology building. There was no night view to speak of.

“What night view? Can you even see one from there?”

“Hurry! Someone might take the seat. Let’s go!”

When I pestered him, David grumbled but followed.

Hey. This is all for your sake!

‘Enoch Weaver dotes on Rosemary to an extreme degree.’

Just wait. Rosemary would soon come and sit across from Enoch.

I led David and Koi to the table next to Enoch’s by the window. When I glanced at him, he certainly stood out—he resembled Rosemary closely.

His softly curling pink hair harmonized with his snow-white skin. Beneath his gently slanted eyes, clear sky-blue irises sparkled like glass beads.

And those pink-tinted lips! Exquisitely beautiful.

‘Enoch is just as pretty as Rosemary.’

Looking at his beauty made my heart melt for no reason. As I stared, David nudged my foot under the table.

“Did you insist on sitting here because of him?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t tell me you fell for him.”

Oh no. David was misunderstanding things. Beside me, Koi blushed shyly and glanced at me.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then why sit here out of all the seats? And why do you keep sneaking glances at him?”

Sharp little brat…

David was more perceptive than I expected. I shrugged and played dumb.

“I told you, I wanted the window seat. And I wasn’t looking at him—I was looking at the night view.”

“What night view? There isn’t one here.”

“Try looking with your heart. Then you’ll see it.”

David glared at me with his eyes. Feeling awkward, I changed the subject.

“Let’s just eat. This looks delicious. Koi, you eat too. The smoked duck here is really good—want to try it?”

“Y-Yes. Th-Thank you.”

Koi looked like she’d been eagerly anticipating some juicy romance gossip, but when I firmly denied it and changed the topic, she looked disappointed.

Her reaction was so cute that I laughed.

“You’re acting strange today.”

“Me? Just eat already.”

As David and I bickered lightly and began eating, the person we’d been waiting for appeared from afar and walked toward us.

‘Rosemary Weaver!’

The youngest daughter of the Weaver family—Rosemary Weaver had arrived.