Greetings, young ladies

"Greetings, young ladies. Could you be bothered to give me a moment of your time? I am new to Kellenora and would greatly appreciate having someone to talk to for a bit."

Seeing the frustrated faces of my previous classmates was so incredibly satisfying that it was hard to contain my smile, both of them unable to find a reasonable way to deal with the situation.

On the one hand, I was sure that Bellatrix wouldn't have an issue sending away a sudden visitor if she was on home ground, but here she was also just a visitor. Adriana also struggled as she had to uphold the visage of a princess and although sending me away would be perfectly reasonable, I had a feeling that she was finding it incredibly hard.

In the end, the silvery-haired princess made a decision. "Sure, go ahead."

And with that, I sat down beside Bellatrix, letting myself get ready for the entertainment that was now imminent.

With a relaxed furry face, I spoke with aloof confidence, "Thank you, it's been quite hard during my stay here. Seems like a lot of people don't like beastmen here, after all. Oh! My name is Gael, pleasure to meet you!"

'Let's see how she reacts...'

With her face paling, I got an instantaneous reaction, letting me see that she was fully aware of the issue.

However, what she did next was something I could have never expected in a million years.

"I'm so sorry about that, Gael. It's shameful that you had to experience that here."

Bowing her head to me, she apologized for the state of her nation, leaving me a bit stumped. I had expected her to be too prideful to lower her head to anyone else, but I had been wrong.

Waving my hand, I tried to appear a bit abashed at her sudden response, "Oh, no it's fine! Sorry for making you uncomfortable. In fact, I think it would be a lot more pleasant if we could just get to have a normal conversation."

Raising her head, I was met by what I could only call an incredibly beautiful smile, a smile that I had never seen on Adriana's face during my stay at the academy, "I see. Thank you, Gael. And by the way, my name is Adriana and this is Bellatrix."

"Hi..."

Bellatrix was still incredibly uncomfortable, but at least she managed to squeeze out some sort of pleasantry. Seeing her curl her dirty blonde hair with her fingers I was a bit disappointed that she didn't have the guts to act like she used to do.

Still, it was quite refreshing to see the haughty girl be nervous and uncomfortable because of my presence. Or at least the presence of who she thought was Gael.

Taking a swig of my drink, I relished the burn that slowly made its way down my throat, "So, what are two beautiful ladies like you doing on an evening like this? It's quite unusual for an elf and a human to be socializing like this."

Shaking her head, Adriana was the one to once again answer for both of them, "We are classmates from Ainu and I am just showing her around Kellenora."

'And here we go!'

Letting on a gentle smile, that accidentally revealed a row of my now sharp teeth, I dove straight in, "Oh? The same academy as that demon went to? What was his name... James Jackson?"

Both of their faces paled as expected, not ready for the sudden shift in topic, something that brought me immense joy. The sight of the usually confident girls who never let anyone step on them acting like small cats were insanely satisfying.

This time, it was Bellatrix who opened her mouth, after spending some time trying to regain her composure, "Yes... That's right."

'They really don't want to talk about it... I wonder how hard I can press this? It would be nice to get some kind of reaction that could show me what kind of image I have in Mensch right now...'

It was unavoidable for me to return to the nation of humans at some point in time, although I was feeling pretty confident that it wouldn't be any time soon. Swallowing another mouthful of my bitter drink, I didn't want to back down.

"I see... Must have been hard, knowing that you have been attending the same academy as that psycho killer. He must have been a pretty good actor for no one to find out, you both seem like quite the smart ladies, after all."

Mimicking me, Adriana also inhaled a mouthful of her drink, most likely trying to find some liquid courage to carry on with the conversation. If it wasn't for the fact that I had already made her feel guilty about the state of her nation, there was no doubt that she wouldn't have forced herself to continue, now speaking to appease the tiger in front of her.

"He was. In fact, he was probably the best actor in the world, to be honest. Granted, we didn't know him for that long but there was not a soul that ever expected him to sell his soul to the demons."

Somehow, her words didn't seem to carry the conviction that I had expected, almost as if she was still trying to convince herself that this was the case. And as if to confirm my thoughts, Bellatrix added on, seemingly just as unsure as the princess.

"Ha! I guess you could say that. Man, it's still so strange to think about it, how that loathsome man turned out to be even worse than I thought. However, although he was such an annoying person, I never thought he would do something like this."

'Hmm? Maybe my role in Mensch isn't as set in stone as I thought... But it would take a lot of work to change the opinion of the public and I'm not sure if that is even worth the effort. Still, I might as well see where this leads.'

"I see... But you girls don't quite seem to believe that he went to the demons' side, do you? Or at least you don't sound all too convinced about it. Did you perhaps know him personally? Oh! From the pictures I have seen, he was quite handsome, wasn't he? Maybe you two actually..."

""No! I did not have an interest in him!""

'Ouch!'

Somehow they both managed to exclaim in perfect sync, both of them instantly denying my claim before I even managed to make it. However, it still opened up the conversation a bit, with them now being a bit heated, with Adriana being the first one to complain about me, quickly followed by Bellatrix.

"He was an exceptional student, but he was so unreliable and shady. Who would ever want a relationship with someone like that?"

"So true! James was so annoying that I could barely stand being in the same room as him. Though he was indeed powerful. But he wasn't even taller than me, and I'm not even 170 cm tall! Who could ever date someone that short?"

They met each other's eyes, now founding yet another thing to bond over, with me sitting on the side feeling quite attacked, hurt even. 'There, there...'

Before I could open my mouth and try to conceal the fact that my pride had been ripped to shreds, Bellatrix continued on, "But man... It's so crazy, isn't it? Even if I hate him, he did seem like a man that would never back down on his convictions... If someone like that got lured by the demons, who could resist?"

Adriana nodded her head, before turning her eyes to the table, "Yea... It truly doesn't make sense. It would have been nice to get the chance to talk to him one more time, just to hear what he has to say."

Having now successfully set the mood, which resulted in two somewhat distressed girls, I didn't quite feel like playing this game anymore. I had already gotten enough out of the conversation as it was.

So with a polite goodbye, I left the two beautiful ladies to themselves, ignoring the slight pain in my heart.

'There might be a chance, huh...'

****

[Arthur's Pov]

Sitting at my kitchen table, I was patiently waiting for the purple-haired man to open his mouth, giving me what I assumed would be a message from James. However, this didn't seem to be the case.

"Arthur... Do you think we are strong? No... do you think you are strong?"

It was such a sudden question that it was hard to find an immediate answer, but after some time, I figured out what he was hinting at. "Are you trying to ask me how I compare myself to James?

'What did James do to him...?'

Seeing the usually proud and strong man now pitifully looking down at the table, I felt my heart racing thinking about what could possibly have happened to him. Even more so after he finally opened his mouth again.

"That James... he... he is a monster."