Chapter 156
Oscar continued to make excuses, perhaps afraid that Claude might misunderstand the scene just now.
I was a bit lost for words. Oscar is Claude’s friend and above all, a Guide.
Surely, Claude wouldn’t suspect anything between Oscar and me.
Yet, Oscar seemed not to be reassured and kept rambling.
“I really can’t stand someone who’s so bothersome, aggressive, and cheeky. Plus, she’s as tiny as a mouse with an utterly bland face. I honestly don’t know where the charm is supposed to be. I’ve always believed you to be bad-tempered, but seeing you entangled with such a person, you now seem like a saint to me. That’s how much I dislike her.”
“…”
“Hey, mouse bean, right? Hurry up and tell Claude the truth about my innocence!”
“…I came to tutor Oscar for 1.3 million Berks because he didn’t want to study. He tried to show off his charm instead, and it was so dreadful that I fell while trying to get away, but he just now hugged me tightly to save me.”
“Yeesh, this damn traitor…”
“…Oscar.”
Oscar shivered.
Claude’s voice, now frosty as icicles, filled the lounge.
It was just a quiet word, but it was enough to freeze Oscar solid.
“You… make your choice. It’s me, who has put up with your temper since your awakening and remained your friend, or this Guide, whom you’ve known for only a few months and who has constantly troubled you. Choose… Wait, no, don’t actually choose. Please, don’t choose.”
“…”
“Hey, we’re on the fifth floor… You know a Guide would die if thrown from here, right? If you didn’t know, please realize it, Claude… Unlike Espers like you, we Guides are as fragile as eggshells…”
Oscar looked anxiously back and forth between Claude and the half-open window, evidently nervous from having been thrown by Claude a few times before.
Claude barely listened to Oscar’s words, merely raising his hand.
Yikes, Oscar was terrified.
Cornered, Oscar chose his method…
“Hey! Hey you, mouse bean!”
“Eek, what are you doing!”
“I have to try to save myself first!”
Even a worm will turn if trodden on. A cornered mouse will bite a cat.
Oscar, who had been half lying beneath me, suddenly pulled me closer. Then, as if taking a hostage, he tightly hugged my neck and shoulders from behind, facing off against Claude.
“What in the world…”
“I-If you rashly throw me now, this one goes too! Then I die, this one dies, and you’ll die too if you lose your imprinted Guide, won’t you? All three of us will be doomed!”
Haah.
I sighed.
Oscar’s choice was the worst.
His timid and pathetic defiance thoroughly pissed off Claude.
Claude ground his teeth.
“Get off her right now.”
“You first— Put away that hand you’re holding up! Hands behind your back! Or stuff them in your pockets!”
The frightened Oscar babbled.
Thinking his words would be ignored, Claude strode towards us.
Hiiiek, Oscar trembled and pulled my neck closer in fear.
Oscar’s movements, panicked and not in his right mind, were rough. As I grimaced and coughed quietly, veins throbbed on Claude’s forehead.
“Hey, hey! Don’t come any closer. Stay back— AHH!”
Oscar was then grabbed by the collar by Claude’s gloved hand. Using physical force instead of abilities, perhaps to avoid tossing me along with Oscar, was the chosen method.
Even with gloves on, Claude, who usually avoided touching people, must have been quite out of sorts.
Without using his powers, Claude was still Claude. Oscar had no chance of overpowering him with strength alone.
Finally, as if being unsheathed, Oscar was lifted, and only then could I be freed from the arm choking my neck.
Oscar, of course, resisted.
Knowing well he was in the wrong, he was scared that this time Claude might actually throw him out of the fifth-floor window.
I clicked my tongue, watching Oscar flail and struggle.
Then…
…Huh?
“Whoa, what the, you! You, arrrgh!”
Before he could finish his sentence, Oscar was eventually thrown into a corner of the lecture hall.
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