Longing for the Stars - Chapter 15

Today, just like any other day, Yard and I were working under Heilden.

That said, we had training in the morning, so we didn’t arrive at his office until the afternoon. Our goal today wasn’t organizing documents, but simply cleaning this room, which had become far too messy.

Papers were piled high on every single desk, and there were tea sets and wine bottles that looked like they had been there forever. There were also crumpled-up bits of paper that were surely fine to throw away. I hadn’t noticed because I’d been focused on work for the past few days, but this room was filthy.

I wondered for a moment why there were wine bottles here, but then I pictured the man in charge of this room and dismissed the thought.

As for the master of the room himself, Heilden had made a quick escape. He is terrible at cleaning and claimed, “If I stay, it’ll take more than twice as long.”

So, right now, it’s just me and Yard in the room.

“…Do you think we can finish this today?”

“Not a chance. Let’s just do our best tomorrow, too.”

Worried about the massive amount of dust we were about to stir up, we tied cloths over our mouths.

Even though I could only see his eyes, I could tell Yard was already exhausted by the task ahead.

“…If only he’d organize things a little bit every day…”

“That’s impossible. This is Heilden we’re talking about.”

While he is as perfectly put-together as a piece of art on the outside, his personality and behavior are quite poor. His drinking habits are the same.

Even so, his magical talent is first-rate and he is highly intelligent, so it seems those around him struggled immensely during his student days and when he first became a soldier. Looking at this room, I felt I could understand that struggle well.

“…If it’s like this here, I wonder what his private room looks like…”

“A cursed land.”

“Eek.”

I pressed a hand to my forehead at the overwhelming amount of documents and trash, but since we were told to do it, we had to.

“Let’s go, Yard.”

“Yes…”

We rolled up our sleeves and charged into battle.

To be honest, it was much harder than fighting actual monsters. Collecting the trash on the floor wasn’t so bad. The problem was the documents.

“Hey, Stark! The deadline for this one is tomorrow!”

“This one was due yesterday.”

“Wait, doesn’t the Captain need to check this one?!”

“This one needs Heilden’s signature.”

“……Stark.”

Yard, who usually has a gentle and kind look in his eyes, now had a cold, fixed stare. I instinctively straightened my posture.

“I’m going to find Heilden right now. Stark, you keep working.”

“Understood.”

I couldn’t see his mouth because of the cloth, but I’m sure he was smiling. However, the pressure radiating from his whole body was so intense that all I could do was nod.

People like him are the scariest when they get angry.

I watched Yard leave the room with an aura like a rumbling earthquake and silently continued my work. Perhaps because the weather was good, the light from the window reflected off the rising dust, making it sparkle. It was sparkling, but there was simply too much of it. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the dust was performing a wild dance.

Thinking about how we had been working in this environment for several days made me feel lightheaded. However, as I kept moving my hands, things slowly got tidier. The trash scattered on the floor was cleared away, the wine bottles and tea sets vanished, and the room felt much wider.

Before long, the hallway became noisy, and the culprit who messed up the room returned, followed by Yard, whose smile was still full of pressure. Heilden saw that the floor was clear and said, “That’s enough,” but Yard and I weren’t finished yet.

From that point on, I didn’t say much. Or rather, I didn’t have the time.

Yard seemed to be the type whose work efficiency improves remarkably when angry. He silenced a complaining Heilden with a smile and completely ignored him as he threw a tantrum like Sirius. Yard simply forced the documents onto him.

We organized the processed papers, sometimes taking them to other departments for necessary signatures, and continued cleaning. Time flew by, and soon the world outside was dyed orange.

The mountain of documents was about half-cleared. I let out a breath, thinking the rest would have to wait until tomorrow, just as Heilden shouted, “Respect me already!!” and slumped over his desk.

His usually shimmering hair looked a bit dull today, and his face was heavy with fatigue. It was the first time I’d seen Heilden look so worn out.

“Alright, that’s it for today. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“What?! You plan on treating me like a floor rag tomorrow, too?!”

“Haha, don’t be like that. It would have been fine if you’d just kept things tidy to begin with, right?”

“Guh…!”

“Well then, good work. Let’s go, Stark.”

“Oh, okay. …Good work, sir.”

I gave a short bow to the drooping Heilden and left the room.

I had gone back and forth between the hallway and the room several times, but stepping out slowly now, I realized my whole body smelled like dust.

Yard, walking ahead of me, suddenly stopped. I stopped too, and Yard turned around after taking off the cloth covering his nose and mouth. His face looked so weak it made me worried, but I had a feeling I knew why.

“…I think you’re surprisingly fearless.”

“Nooooooo!”

Yard collapsed on the spot, clutching his curly brown hair with both hands.

Yard’s work efficiency goes up like a demon’s when he’s angry, but he has the kind of personality that feels deep regret for his own attitude and words once he returns to his senses. Even now, he leaned against the hallway wall, holding his head and repeating negative things like “He’s going to kill me” and “I’m finished.”

The sight was so funny that I burst out laughing. Yard looked at me as if he were seeing something unbelievable.

“? What’s wrong? Are you done reflecting?”

“No, I’m not, but…”

“I see. …Well, I don’t think you need to worry. If Heilden were truly offended, he wouldn’t stop at a tantrum like that. Besides, he couldn’t even talk back at the end, so maybe he realized he was in the wrong?”

“A tantrum…?”

“It was a tantrum. He was worse than Sirius.”

“……Ah… maybe so.”

Yard let out a long, thin sigh and slowly stood up using the wall for support. He seemed to have regained some composure, but his back still looked full of regret. I walked up beside him and gave him a pat on the back. Once again, he looked at me like I was a monster.

“What?”

“No, uh…”

“Oh, was I being too familiar? Sorry. I’ve always been bad at judging the right distance.”

I took a step back, and Yard looked down at me with an unreadable expression. Oh, that’s right—Yard is much taller than me.

“You’re quite tall, aren’t you?”

“Eh?”

“I didn’t realize, even though we were in the same year.”

Yard blinked so many times it almost made a sound. As I tilted my head at him, a voice and the sound of thundering footsteps came from down the hallway. I let out a “Gah,” and Yard gave a wry smile.

“Hey, Sirius, don’t run in the hallway.”

With enough force to make a sound, he crashed into me in a hug. I stumbled, but Sirius would never let me fall; instead, he pressed my face into his chest. I felt his nose burying into my hair, which was extremely unpleasant.

At the same time, I hated smelling his strong scent.

“Al, I’m back! Wait, why do you smell so dusty today, Al? Aren’t you going to bathe? Oh, hey Yard! … Wait, hold on, aren’t you two standing a bit close?”

“You’re the one who’s too close. Stop sniffing me and get off, you’re suffocating.”

“Ehh, no way.”

His grip loosened slightly, but his face showed no remorse. Irritated, I kicked Sirius in the shin with a fair amount of force without warning. The idiot crouched down in pain, and I made my escape.

“Let’s go, Yard.”

“Wait, but—”

“Leave the idiot alone.”

I could hear Sirius whimpering behind me, but I ignored him and headed for the baths.