Ruite pulled on the warehouse door handle repeatedly, but it was no use.
No matter how much strength he applied, there was only a sharp creak, and the door refused to budge.
It was the same when Chester, who was notably stronger, stepped forward to try.
“The locking mechanism seems to be caught on something.”
“But we didn’t even do anything?”
“It’s old enough for this to happen. It wouldn’t be strange even if it just fell apart.”
As Chester said, this external warehouse was quite aged.
For a long time, there had been talk of tearing it down and rebuilding it, or getting rid of it entirely, but nothing had ever actually been done.
“Why are they so lazy about things like this…?”
Ruite let out a deep sigh.
To think he’d be trapped in a warehouse like this on the day of the festival.
Moreover, he never imagined he would fall for such a cliché trope.
Ruite pounded on the door and shouted, “Is anyone there!” but his voice was buried by the noise of the ongoing festival.
Furthermore, the path this warehouse sat on was closer to the dormitories, meaning very few people passed by on a day like today.
“This isn’t working, Chester.”
Ruite looked at Chester with a grim expression.
“Let’s just break it. If we use magic, it’s not impossible.”
Unless someone opened it from the outside, what other choice was there?
With Chester’s power and ability, breaking down a door was child’s play.
Ruite thought it was a decent plan, but for some reason, Chester’s reaction was lukewarm.
He looked reluctant.
Moreover, Chester simply stared at Ruite.
“But this is Academy property.”
“It is.”
“Is a student allowed to just destroy it?”
Ruite flinched.
“Well… probably not, but the situation is what it is. We can just do it and explain it to the professors later.”
“There’s another problem besides that.”
“Really? What now?”
Instead of answering, Chester scanned the interior of the warehouse.
Ruite’s gaze slowly followed his.
“Do you know that there are items in here with explosive properties?”
Ruite flinched again.
This was a place used to store items that were difficult to keep inside the main Academy buildings.
There were various reasons why items were hard to manage indoors, but as Chester said, some were flammable.
They likely belonged to the Department of Manufacturing, which handled a variety of materials.
“If I fail to control my strength and my magic stimulates those objects, what do you think will happen?”
“Will it explode…?”
“It will.”
“Then we…?”
“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”
For a moment, an image of two humans flying through the air along with the warehouse flashed through Ruite’s mind, but he quickly shook his head.
He ruffled his hair in frustration and groaned.
“Then what do we do? Oh, wait. But that’s only if you fail to control your magic.”
“…”
“Isn’t it basically impossible for you to fail at magic control?”
Ruite made a sharp point.
Thinking about it, it was common sense.
Chester, the top genius of the Magic Department, failing to control his mana while breaking a single door?
It was hard to imagine.
“Hmm, I also participated in the monster subjugation. I’ve consumed a lot of physical strength and mana, so I can’t guarantee I’ll do it perfectly.”
“Ah, was that it?”
Ruite sighed but accepted the reasoning.
After all, Chester was the one who had handled and defeated most of the monsters in this subjugation.
It wasn’t hard to understand.
However, they couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.
“Then do you have a better idea?”
“It’s not like nobody will pass by here. And if we’re lucky, our classmates might come looking for you. Let’s wait for a bit. My mana will recover to some extent in the meantime. If no one comes to get us out, it won’t be too late to break the door then.”
The words flowed smoothly from Chester’s mouth.
Ruite scratched his head. It wasn’t a bad plan, and honestly, if someone found them, they could get out without any risk.
Surprisingly, someone might show up in just a few minutes.
Ruite let out another sigh, resigned to the situation.
Since waiting wasn’t difficult, he took the initiative and plopped down on a suitable spot on the floor.
“Don’t just stand there, sit down. It’s a bit dusty, though.”
Ruite patted the space beside him.
Soon, the two of them were sitting side-by-side inside the warehouse.
It was then that Ruite realized something.
Waiting for a person wasn’t a problem, but he realized he had to spend that waiting time with none other than Chester.
Of all people, the very Chester he had become awkward with due to several recent events.
The phrase “of all people” was the only thing that came to mind.
Ruite barely managed to push back another sigh and glanced sideways.
To his relief, Chester simply looked indifferent, as if he had no thoughts at all.
“Ruite.”
“Huh?”
He didn’t expect Chester to suddenly strike up a conversation.
“Is something going on with you lately?”
“Me? Nothing’s going on. Why do you ask?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? Lately, you’ve been avo—no, never mind.”
It was quite dark inside the warehouse.
Since it was built strictly for storage, there wasn’t a single window.
Not even moonlight filtered in, but Ruite thought that was a mercy.
“So, I want to hear more about what you said earlier.”
“Um… what did I say?”
Ruite shrugged his shoulders.
When in a disadvantageous position, pretending to know nothing or not remembering was the best policy.
“You’re really bad at lying, so just stop.”
It was a firm rebuttal. Ruite bit his lip.
“If you really don’t remember, I’ll tell you. You said you gave Harrison a hard time because of what he said to me. What did that mean?”
Ruite had felt a gaze on him for a while now, but he had ignored it by staring at the wall.
But perhaps it was because Chester’s voice sounded so deep and sincere now?
His head turned toward him automatically.
Their gazes crossed through the faint darkness.
“What do you mean, ‘what did it mean’? It’s exactly what it sounds like. I was angry that he spoke about you like that, so I hit him. I hit him because I wanted to.”
In that moment, Ruite thought, ‘what’s the point in hiding it?’
Perhaps this ridiculous situation of being trapped in a small space on the night of a festival had changed his mind.
Or maybe this quiet, dark atmosphere had a way of making people honest.
“…”
At those words, Chester covered his mouth and turned his head away for a moment.
“What, are you unhappy? Because you were going to hit him and I beat you to it? If that’s it, then I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t particularly have any intention of doing that.”
Chester naturally recalled Harrison’s face.
The reason he had been angry at that smirking face wasn’t because the guy called him a ‘sidekick’ or whatever, but simply because he had made disparaging remarks about Ruite before the match.
However, Chester didn’t bother adding that part out loud.
“Chester, aren’t you angry even after hearing stuff like that? When you’re usually so rude to the people around you?”
“I’ve never been particularly rude. And it’s not that I’m not angry at those words; I just don’t think anything of them.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re words I’m used to hearing.”
The expression Ruite had seen on Chester immediately after hearing Harrison’s words had been nothing but indifferent.
He had wondered why someone with such a sensitive and prickly personality wouldn’t be bothered by such offensive remarks, and now the mystery was solved.
“Ruite, you heard everything my father and I were talking about that day at the banquet, didn’t you?”
“…Is it too late to deny it?”
Chester chuckled.
“The eldest son of Calaway is already famous in society and within the Empire. My brother is a flawless man, both as a mage and as the young duke.”
For some reason, Chester’s aura was different than usual.
He was always on edge, but now that edge had softened significantly.
“But aren’t you the same…?”
“If there’s a ‘first,’ there’s no need for a ‘second.’ Why do you think the students in this Academy try so hard to be number one? Besides, if that first person is already vastly superior, there’s no need to say more.”
People look at the person in second place and say they are amazing, but they never say they are more amazing than the person in first.
If the first remains shining in that spot, the second is destined to be hidden in that afterglow, unable to emit their own light fully.
It was even worse in aristocratic society.
When there were two or more children and one was outstanding, the tag of comparison was bound to follow.
Of course, it wasn’t like that for everyone, but for a family as grand as Calaway, no further explanation was needed.
Chester was the envied number one within the Academy, but he wasn’t that person within his own family or home.
“So, I already know that most of the rumors attached to me are actually about my brother. That’s why I say I’m used to it.”
Chester’s words were dry and hollow, devoid of emotion.
He spoke as if he were stating something as mundane as “I had breakfast this morning.”
“Though, I didn’t expect you to get angrier than me.”
“Hey, it wasn’t exactly that I was ‘angry’… I was just annoyed for several reasons. Oh, and just in case, don’t misunderstand and feel weird thinking I did that because I have feelings for you or anything.”
Since it was a situation where one could misunderstand and think he acted that way out of love for Chester, Ruite felt he had to set the record straight immediately.
“Who said I felt weird?”
