Anything But Study - Chapter 16

“Yeah, I will. But….”

Melia glanced at the male student, seemingly concerned.

As if he’d read her gaze, Hailon’s body turned. Like he didn’t like Melia’s eyes landing on some other guy.

“Ah, what is it?”

The question, devoid of any laughter, was strangely cold. It was a tone Melia had never heard from him before.

“So, I mean, it’s that, I….”

He tried to pull out the hand he’d been fidgeting with in his pocket. But the boy couldn’t finish what he was saying.

“Melia, go on.”

“Huh? Y-yeah.”

At that firm attitude, Melia nodded without realizing it.

Seeing Hailon say that, it seemed this boy’s business wasn’t with her, but with Hailon.

“I’ll be right back.”

Thinking that, Melia headed to the professor without any suspicion.

In the spot Melia left, only Hailon and the boy remained.

A brief silence passed between them. The boy, as if his breath was being cut off, couldn’t bear the atmosphere.

But Hailon was different.

He held out a hand toward the boy. When that large hand reached toward him, the boy flinched and recoiled.

“Give it here.”

“Huh? W-what?”

He stammered, completely cowed. Even his fingertips were trembling, enough that anyone could think he was afraid of talking to Hailon.

“You know, and you’re making me say it twice.”

Hailon’s expression hardened with irritation. It was a face Melia probably would never see even once in the future.

“W-what does that mean….”

The boy tried to step back out of instinctive fear, but Hailon’s gaze pressed him down. As if there was some ability in his eyes alone that could bind the boy so he couldn’t move any farther.

Even though that couldn’t be, the boy stopped stock-still again.

“The ball with the number on it.”

The meaning of what he wanted was clear. Unable to meet Hailon’s eyes anymore, the boy, as if he’d given up on everything, lowered his head and took the ball out of his pocket.

“H-here.”

Looking at the ball held out to him, Hailon finally lifted the corner of his mouth as if satisfied.

Strangely, the icy atmosphere from earlier cleared.

Only then did the boy feel as if his constricted chest opened and he could breathe again.

“Yeah, you should take one too. Yours.”

A new ball was placed into the boy’s hand.

“The owner changed. Thanks for coming to return it.”

“Uh, uh-huh.”

The boy couldn’t even answer properly and hurriedly left as if fleeing.

Left alone, Hailon looked down at the small ball he’d traded for with a satisfied gaze.

The number written on it was 59.

Right then, Melia returned holding the guidelines.

“What were you talking about earlier?”

Hailon shrugged lightly, like it was nothing. “Ah, he came to return my stuff.”

I see.

But the way he’d acted for someone returning an item was strange.

But soon, Melia realized.

That most students found Hailon uncomfortable.

To think it was like that even for returning a single item.

If the other person found you uncomfortable, the person in question would feel even more uncomfortable.

If you imagine everyone finding you uncomfortable, it isn’t pleasant.

Thinking that the life of the young master of House Alfred wasn’t only happy, Melia felt sorry for Hailon for no reason.

***

The day after the camp arrived. The real activities will start today.

At the instruction to pair up with the partner they’d drawn yesterday, everyone gathered with the person who’d drawn the same number.

And Melia’s partner was….

“Melia. Did you sleep well?”

Of course, it was this man, Hailon.

‘It really is number 59.’

Looking down at the two balls with the same number written on them, Melia felt amazed again.

It wasn’t exactly normal to keep getting tangled up with him like this since recently, when they hadn’t had even the slightest point of contact.

She’d been flustered at first when she found out her camp partner was Hailon, but thinking about it, it wasn’t bad at all.

There were plenty of children of high-ranking nobles at Erpen Academy.

When she thought about how she might’ve ended up partnered with a student from a count’s house or marquis’s house and not been able to endure their personality, Hailon was the best partner she could ask for.

Besides, talking to him had gotten more comfortable than it used to be.

“Yeah. You? Weren’t you uncomfortable?”

That was because from morning, everyone had been grumbling nonstop.

Their waists hurt, it was cold, how were they supposed to sleep two more nights in a place like this, who in the world planned this camp, and so on.

Melia was used to uncomfortable sleeping arrangements from the orphanage days up until now, but for him, wouldn’t it have been hard even to fall asleep properly?

“It was fine.”

But the answer that came back was unexpected.

Huh? It was fine?

Wasn’t this man the one who surely lived enjoying only good things more than anyone else at this camp?

“Really? Everyone said it was uncomfortable.”

As she said that, Melia added that she was actually fine.

Since Hailon had already found out about her uncle anyway, she didn’t feel like hiding it and trying to look like the other noble kids.

“I’m pretty used to it. Me too.”

Hailon’s answer was unexpected again.

The heir of that ducal house, with imperial blood running through him?

“No way.”

“I’m serious.”

“Okay, got it.”

But Melia brushed it off without thinking much of it.

Thinking that his standards and hers were probably different.

***

The time Melia looked forward to the most in the camp program finally came.

“Alright, everyone needs to look at the relics carefully.”

The exploration of ancient relics.

With ancient relics like these, there was practically no chance to see them with your own eyes in everyday life.

Seeing them as drawings in texts and seeing the real thing were on completely different levels.

Unlike the other students, who looked indifferent, Melia’s eyes glittered with anticipation.

The relics, each shaped like a triangle, square, or circle, looked at a glance like fist-sized stones.

But on top of them, a single ancient character was engraved in a large size on each one.

What was especially mysterious was the light that wrapped around them.

Orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and so on. They each gave off a different colored light, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

“This relic needs especially careful handling. Do you all see the red aura rising?”

The professor pointed to just one. There was something giving off a red light.

“What effect do you think this has? Who wants to guess?”

Because it was red, answers came out like maybe it started fires, maybe it was used as a heater in winter, and so on, but none of them were correct.

The professor shook his head. “The correct answer is an aphrodisiac.”

Everyone gasped in surprise, and the sound of people sucking in their breath rose from all around. Some of the female students blushed red in embarrassment.

“In the past, in ancient times, there was a time when reproduction was the highest priority. There are a lot of people now, but back then, there weren’t.”

The explanation continued.

“That’s why they say something like this was made. It’s an ancient power that can’t be recreated anymore now, but they say the effect is still alive.”

Ancient relics only activated when certain conditions were met.

Countless archaeologists devoted themselves to research day and night to figure out those conditions, but there were still many unknowns. It was a field with a lot that remained unexplored.

“Especially since this relic’s activation conditions haven’t been revealed yet, everyone should be careful.”

The professor emphasized, “If you touch it by mistake and a problem happens, I won’t take responsibility. And it’ll be an automatic lowest score.”

The students grumbled because it was always either failing or a lowest score over the smallest thing.

However, Melia, who had no chance of failing, listened closely to the professor’s words with eyes full of curiosity.

“Through materials like these, you can also learn what each era considered important.”

The professor told them to examine the various relics while being careful not to touch them.

However, he said the relic that caused arousal was only being shown as reference material and would be excluded from the report topic.

After all, it would be unreasonable to make them investigate an item that even archaeologists couldn’t figure out the activation conditions for.

On top of that, it would be a big problem if someone touched it wrong and got aroused for no reason.

So, only around the relic that caused arousal, a rope was set up in a one-meter radius so students couldn’t approach it directly.

The students scattered and admired the relics.

Some reacted that it was amazing to see the ancient characters they’d learned in class written there in real life, and some wore bored expressions.

But what applied to everyone in common was that no one approached the relic that gave off a red light.

An aphrodisiac effect, after all.