The Poor of Love

The soothing sound of music inside the library elevator is rather calming. I'm not quite sure of its genre, but to the best of my recollection, it resembles jazz, albeit more tranquil. As I observe the thoughts on the first floor, I mutter to myself. If not, their thoughts will penetrate my mind and force me to "know" them.

Ordinary people might say that the library is the quietest place in the world. But for me, it's the busiest. When your mouth ceases to function, that's where I distance myself because of the hustle.

I take a deep breath. Slowly, I make my way to the exit, mourning the afternoon sunlight.

"Congratulations on limitations and the impossibility of proving them, huh?"

That was an unexpected sentence from her. If that's the case, I want to know, who is the subject of her perfection? I hope it's not something sacred or historical that can't be proven except in scattered books. I mean, how can you prove someone's perfection if you've never met them? Literacy? For what? Human-made records are not the objectivity of the world but rather their perspective on the world.

I've seen all kinds of people. Lascivious, diplomatic, wanderers, wise, quiet, romantic, etc. Thinking about it, it doesn't feel like my mouth is forming a small smile. Lordeca truly is a fascinating collection of people. I'm still curious about how they can easily hide their thoughts.

I continue my journey home. This is the day I interact with Linda for... maybe half of this semester. If calculated, no, if holidays are considered, then each person's interaction with me is at most three weeks.

I glance at my phone. August 27.

*touch

Huh? I turn around and say, "Sorry."

When I realize that the person is Alice, it's too late.

She stares at me seriously and says, "Walking while looking at the phone is something dangerous." After that, she turns and walks away.

I just stand there, watching her disappear from the group of students who have just finished extracurricular activities.

Th-That was unexpected, really. I thought something bad was going to happen. *sigh

W-Well, she's right about that... Time to go back, I guess.

After opening the door, I find that Tiara is cooking again for the umpteenth time.

Since Nexus is in the library now, no one occupies the sofa. I hurry to my room on the second floor and lie down. I look at the door of my room. Wow, they're really serious. Look at how easily I entered my room even before pressing the button for the security code I made. *sigh

I won't do it again. I even suspect that there are many hidden CCTV cameras in my room. And after that, I don't remember because I fell asleep.

*alarm rings

I wake up and reach into my skirt pocket. I even forgot to take out this phone. 5 o'clock. This was the first time I woke up according to the alarm. Well, anyway, I slept very early, even considering that I couldn't deny it was an afternoon nap.

I open my room door and see Yulia, Nexus, and Linda sitting on the sofa. And, there are five people in the kitchen.

Realizing my presence, Yulia looks up at me on the second floor.

"Oh? Up early?"

I rub my eyes and just nod. Yawning, I slowly walk towards the sofa. As the last step touches the first floor, suddenly, it's like an electric shock hits my brain. In an instant, I grab my head and endure the pain. Instantly, Nexus jumps towards me and holds my body which seems about to fall.

"Hey! What's wrong!?"

Her voice sounds panicked and worried. This feeling of electric shock continues repeatedly. Huh? Why? What happened to my head? It hurts... It hurts so much!!!

"I might have overdone it a bit," Yulia says, walking slowly towards me.

Suddenly, the electric shock stops. I want to say something to her about what she just said, but I can't. My mouth trembles violently because of the pain earlier, and my legs can't move.

Her footsteps sound closer. But, Tiara suddenly appears in front of me without any footsteps at all. She stares into my eyes with a serious gaze.

"What do you mean!?" Tiara shouts at Yulia.

Yulia sighs. "Calm down; I didn't use any torture devices. Besides, Alice forbade us."

Tiara can only grit her teeth while still staring at me with a mix of anger and a worried expression.

Yulia approaches me and bends down a bit. But, before that happens, Nexus looks at her as if declaring that what Yulia is going to say should be after breakfast starts. Realizing her gaze, Yulia just nods and goes back to her seat.

Nexus looks at me and says, "Sorry about her. Can you stand?"

"..."

Trouble, the machine I made, Overwrite, somehow rusts. If left alone, I will return to my old self. I don't want that to happen! Nexus becomes more worried about my condition, and Tiara repeatedly calls my name. I can only remain silent. The only conclusion my brain can draw is, "I won't go to school."

I stand upright, ignoring the trembling of my body. In the blink of eyes, the vibrations from the side effects of the pain fade. Slowly, I step back and return to my room on the second floor.

Yulia looks at my departure with eyes shining with joy. Nexus and Tiara look worried, while the others look at me with puzzled faces.

If only, if only I could create a system that could suppress my abilities entirely. My life wouldn't be filled with the nonsense thoughts of others. Truly, it makes me sick.

...

"Alright, spill it. What have you been up to?" Nexus asked, a hint of anger and curiosity in her voice.

Yulia, who was about to take a bite of her food, fell silent for a moment. She glanced at Linda and sighed.

She began to observe the other members of Lordeca. "Isn't there anyone besides Nexus and me who are close here?" she asked with a hint of irony. Except for Tiara, they seemed indifferent.

Tiara stopped her movements and joined the conversation. "I care, of course."

Yulia looked towards Tohru, who was... already done with her meal so quickly without anyone noticing.

"Wow, I can't believe you're that fast," Yulia commented, impressed.

Tohru just stood up and left the place, heading to the second floor.

Geraldine stopped eating and said, "I don't care enough, besides, I have a concert on Wednesday."

Everyone there stopped eating and looked towards Geraldine, except for Linda. They seemed to signal, "No one cares about your concert here."

She slammed the table with both hands and said with a pouty face, "Oh, that's how it is. Fine! I'm leaving!"

Radiant continued eating. Yuna and Eluthya stopped their eating activities and listened attentively while looking at Yulia, waiting for an explanation. Linda continued eating gracefully but felt cold.

"You... don't you think about why she didn't tell us about her abilities in detail?" Yulia asked, starting a serious conversation.

"Of course not," Nexus, Tiara, Eluthya, and Yuna said in unison.

*Sigh "Of course, I know the reason. It's just that I still don't know the specifics."

"You're number one, then how can we understand it when even you don't understand?" Eluthya asked sarcastically, displaying a confused expression.

"Sure, because you assume that way, you become the fourth. I become number one only because of my excessively high curiosity."

"Wow, you mentioned your obsession," Yuna said casually.

Nexus turned to Yuna, and the atmosphere suddenly became cold.

"I know, I know, I was just kidding."

They already knew that there were two people who couldn't hide their obsessions. Yulia and Nexus, have obsessions and are proud of them. Honestly, they were quite puzzled as to why they happily signed a contract with the school to withdraw their obsessions if they were happy with them. They are the two most contradictory people in Lordeca and the original purpose of Lordeca itself. And that's what makes them an interesting and strong couple who complement each other.

"Get to the point already, idiot," Tiara said a little annoyed because Yulia prolonged the main topic.

Nexus chuckled a bit because she just heard something very surprising. Even Yulia couldn't say anything about Tiara's statement.

"Y-You, is it because of that you forget rationality? Well... it's my fault too." Yulia said, slightly offended by Tiara's words.

She took a deep breath and relaxed her body. After that, Yulia began to speak.

"Do you remember, the girl said that I have some kind of auto-generated chess machine in my brain?" she started with a question.

"At that point, I already understood that's just how she sees it," Eluthya said right after Yulia started the conversation.

"At least don't interrupt her," Yuna glanced at Yulia in front of her.

Nexus closed her eyes while crossing her arms and said, "No, she stopped her sentence."

"That's true, but sometimes that's not the truth," Yulia looked towards Eluthya.

Eluthya was slightly surprised to hear her words.

Ignoring her reaction, Yulia continued her conversation. Unconsciously, Linda had finished her meal and prepared to go to the bath.