Jay checked the reactions of the other students around him with eyes startled like a rabbit. They weren’t finding anything strange about Sayed’s meal.
In dismay, Jay unconsciously bit the inside of his mouth tightly. Even commoners, unless they were extremely impoverished, didn’t have such terrible meals. They at least ate bread they could chew. Jay felt like giving away the food that came out as his portion.
However, he had already meddled thoughtlessly and saw the outcome. Jay Doe wasn’t stupid enough to repeat the same mistake.
“Everyone…… enjoy your meal.”
Unlike the emotions Jay was feeling, the students began eating with their usual peaceful appearance. On the other hand, Jay didn’t feel like eating the food that came out as his portion.
Just looking at Sayed’s bread that was too hard to eat made his appetite completely disappear. He forced a bite into his mouth, but it rolled around in his mouth like grains of sand.
“……”
Sayed poured milk into his bowl and soaked the hard bread. It seemed too hard to tear with hands or utensils. Only after rolling it in milk for quite a while did the rock-like bread become edible.
The bread was one thing, but the absurdly small amount made Jay’s worry grow like a rolling snowball. Could it be they gave him that little because he was C-rank?
Jay’s thoughts were accurate. All Connubium students who first enrolled newly realized their circumstances with that black hard bread. For them, who were in the same position as spares but were mostly children from well-off families, it would be unbearable treatment.
Jay walked among the students. It was for observation, but there was another reason.
Jay, who took out a sandwich from his pocket, secretly dropped it into Sayed’s hand. It was a sandwich originally prepared as Vittorio’s portion, but he absolutely couldn’t stand Sayed receiving such miserable treatment. His sympathy was exercised fairly among the students.
The moment the sandwich dropped into his hand, Sayed raised his head like the wind and looked at Jay.
“Ah……”
Sayed smiled widely enough to reveal his neat white teeth. At that bright smile like the sun, a small exclamation popped out of Jay’s mouth.
It was because he felt guilty about that dazzlingly bright expression. The action he’d performed came from shallow sympathy and didn’t deserve this kind of reaction. At least Jay thought so.
Jay, who covered his mouth with his hand, quickly escaped from his spot. Sayed’s gaze continued to be fixed on Jay.
“……Heh.”
A laugh like air escaping came out of Sayed’s mouth. In his eyes, greed was rising like flames. Jay didn’t notice that ominous gaze and was just swayed by confusion about what he’d witnessed.
However, not everyone failed to notice that gaze. Sayed looked askance at the people sending him various kinds of looks.
When Sayed’s gaze touched Ivan, he lowered his eyes lethargically as if he’d never sent a sharp look.
Chung ate calmly with a painted-on smile. It was an appearance that looked very harmless as usual.
And lastly, Vittorio. He had the stickiest, most viscous gaze among the three. Jealousy that was sticky like a deep swamp. It was rage about what should have been given to him originally.
Cracks were already clearly forming beneath the surface that Jay couldn’t see.
* * *
After the confusing mealtime where he couldn’t tell if food was going into his nose or mouth, Jay told the students the same thing as usual. It was a speech he hadn’t missed even once since he started being in charge of the students.
“I always have time, so if there are any problems, come find me. Then I’ll see you at lunchtime.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
Led by Chung’s clear voice, all the students rose from their seats for the next class. Jay, who didn’t detect the sharp emotions among the students, was very pleased with this situation that passed smoothly.
He smiled faintly in relief and put his hand in his pocket, stroking Belly’s head as he headed to the professors’ preparation room for his class. Without noticing Sayed quietly following behind.
“Professor.”
“Mu, Murad?”
Jay flinched in surprise at the appearance of Sayed who had entered the preparation room following him without a single footstep sound. No matter how docile he looked, Sayed was a student under special observation. Even if his attitude seemed to have changed, that fact hadn’t changed.
But he was a student Jay was in charge of. A professor scared of a student? There was no more ridiculous premise than that. Jay pretended to be relaxed and sat down with a smile. Herbivores were good at mimicry.
“Come, sit in front. What’s the matter?”
Sayed gently sat in the chair in front of Jay’s desk. His neat appearance didn’t look like he would cause any problems. Jay loosened his somewhat tense heart and looked at Sayed. It was an appearance befitting an educator.
Sayed drooped his eyebrows conspicuously. His impression that looked fierce at a glance changed to look pitiful.
“Professor……”
His voice was very small as if frightened. It even sounded like he was trembling and about to cry. Jay was startled by that voice and asked soothingly with a worried face.
“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
“I…… I……”
Sayed hung his head deeply. Jay hurriedly got up from his seat and approached while taking out a handkerchief.
“Don’t, don’t cry. What’s the matter? I’ll help with what I can help with.”
“Really……”
Sayed raised his head and grabbed the hand extended toward him. It was rude behavior, but Jay couldn’t shake it off. The grip was strong, but it was also because of his gaze.
It seemed he really had been about to cry as tears were pooled fully in his eyes, but sharp intensity also flashed and lurked together. He was like a scorpion hiding in a rock crevice.
“Really, will you help me?”
The fierce eyes without a single tremor, unlike his voice, made Jay’s mouth close tightly. No matter how much one acted everything, it was difficult to fake even one’s gaze.
When a strange silence filled the space between them, Belly came up from his pocket along Jay’s arm and looked at Sayed warily. In the deep green eyes dwelled a darkness like deep shade.
“What a cute pet.”
Sayed said that and released the hand he’d been gripping. Jay quickly put Belly back in his pocket without even touching his throbbing wrist.
It was fortunate that Sayed wasn’t surprised, but there had been Vinoshu’s instruction not to show the animal he was raising in front of students. He was always careful not to let Belly catch others’ eyes. Unaware of Jay’s anxious feelings, Belly licked his wrist.
“Keep it a secret. The school told me not to show it to students.”
“I’m a C-rank student, you know.”
Sayed laughed forlornly, demeaning himself with the word C-rank. Despite being the most robust in physique among the students Jay was in charge of, when he wore that smile, he surprisingly looked delicate somewhere.
A character I like, it must be a trait inherited from his mother.
Jay’s heart became anxious with guilt.
“How could I dare complain to you, Professor……”
“No, that…… is school life very difficult?”
At Sayed’s melancholy answer, what Jay chose was to change the topic of conversation. However, as if that was an even worse choice, Sayed’s face became haggard. His hardened face looked completely lifeless.
Having made a mistake, Jay began watching Sayed’s mood.
“Please help me, Professor.”
Sayed looked at Jay with desperate eyes. The cornered gaze was desperate and not false. Sayed desperately needed someone’s help. Jay clenched his fist in guilt and said.
“I am a professor, but I’m an outsider. So I don’t have much authority. If I rashly try to help, you’ll end up getting hurt……”
Through the previous incident, Jay knew the limits of actions he could take. He was in a state where even the places he could go were restricted. The level of what he could do was extremely trivial actions like making sandwiches or preparing blankets. Even that would be shocking if other professors knew.
In fact, without Belly, even that would have been discovered long ago and he would have been kicked out of Connubium. Jay thought he was acting carefully, completely unaware of this.
“I know. That’s why I’m requesting help from you, Professor. The other professors won’t help me……”
That was right. Sayed knew well that he was an outsider. At a glance, he didn’t seem like a Connubium graduate. Hadn’t the professor who brought him shown clear contempt toward Jay?
Moreover, Jay had expressed sympathy toward him too obviously. It was natural to work on a man who had so many gaps to exploit.
“I’m not wishing for much. Just, like today……”
Sayed took out the small sandwich that had been in his pocket. That unsightly thing that was even somewhat crushed was one of the few things Jay could do for the students.
What Vittorio had wished would be given only to him was sympathy he would readily hand over if others wanted it. So it wouldn’t be difficult for Jay to give it to Sayed.
Jay firmly grasped Sayed’s hand as he spoke in a whisper.
“I can do things like this as much as you want.”
“……Really?”
“Yeah. Things like this…… I can do for you even if you don’t ask for help like this. I was planning to do it.”
Then Sayed showed a bright smile again. It was the same warm smile as when he received the sandwich. Jay grasped his hand once more, applying pressure without hurting him, and said.
“So don’t worry about things like that.”
“I’m truly grateful, Professor.”
