"...Teacher Binkis?"
Alex tilted his head, puzzled.
Teacher Binkis' hands were together.
She had clapped her hands.
"Ah, I finally understand."
"What are you talking about now?"
"Well, I was wondering why Edwin was here and doing this. I couldn't understand for a while. So, Edwin is being scolded now?"
Teacher Binkis spoke with a relieved expression as if she had finally solved the problem.
This oddity made Teacher Alex frown.
"Doesn't student Edwin know better than anyone what he did wrong?"
"So, that's why no one said anything to me. Because there was such a misunderstanding."
Misunderstanding?
Alex's expression grew increasingly displeased. He had a feeling Binkis was about to say something very unpleasant.
Binkis, hands on her hips, said with a tone of great pride,
"I gave that golem to student Edwin. He didn't steal it."
Surprisingly, it was indeed an unpleasant statement.
"What, what?"
"As everyone knows, student Edwin has been my long-time assistant. Edwin is such a talented student that, I am ashamed to say, he was of great help during my golem research. The golem was a gift to him."
Alex was dumbfounded and opened her mouth in disbelief.
A metal golem, given as a gift by a teacher to a mere student? Was it something that could be bought with just a penny or two? Something that could be understood with just a book or two of knowledge? Something that could be made with just a day or two of skill?
Certainly not.
Alex looked at Edwin.
Edwin, more shocked than Alex, was staring at Binkis with wide eyes. His lips were trembling, and his eyes were brimming with tears, as if he was about to cry any moment.
"Looking at Edwin's expression, doesn't it seem otherwise?"
"Ha, expression?"
At Alex's words, Binkis scoffed.
"Where did all the proud 'logic' and 'guesses' you were just making to Edwin go, and now you're talking about expressions? Has Mr. Alex now become capable of reading people's inner thoughts just by looking at their faces?"
"Ms. Binkis! Even so, giving a metal golem as a gift, how does that make any sense?"
"Don't you see? You're making an even more nonsensical argument than that?"
"An even more nonsensical argument...?"
At Alex's puzzled question, Binkis looked around the audience. With that gesture, everyone's attention was on her, and Binkis smiled haughtily.
“Rather, let me ask you this. You all seem to think that Edwin stole my golem, but how exactly did he steal it?”
“…Well, he must’ve snuck into your lab.”
“Snuck in?”
“…Heh.”
All the teachers understood Binkis’s intentions. They clearly understood her motives.
Teacher Binkis was trying to protect Edwin, even if it meant resorting to sophistry, and it would be impossible to refute her logic at the moment.
“My golem is equipped with multiple layers of passwords and security. No one can tamper with the golem’s design except for me. Judging from what you’re saying, Teacher Alex, it seems you’re well aware of the value of a metal golem. Do you think I would just leave such an object in my lab with no countermeasures?”
“Well, it’s possible if he has extensive knowledge of golems, metals, and magic, isn’t it?”
“I assure you it’s not.”
Binkis shifted her gaze. At the end of her gaze was Osprey.
“None of the teachers here, not even the headmaster, can solve the passwords I put on the golem.”
No one could say anything to that.
They all understood the weight of her statement that even Osprey couldn’t solve it.
On the other hand, Osprey didn’t react much. It seemed like he was agreeing with Binkis, but also like he was ignoring her.
Binkis looked at Alex.
“Let me ask again. Which is more likely: that I would gift a metal golem to a student, or that a single student could bypass the golem’s security locks that none of the teachers here can solve?”
“…Teacher Binkis, that kind of sophistry…”
“I’m not the one resorting to sophistry.”
While those words were being exchanged,
Edwin just listened to their conversation as if it was background noise.
He felt a wave of guilt, and shame clouded his vision.
Teacher Binkis was protecting him. Protecting him, who had deceived her and stolen her golem.
Binkis was one of the few allies Edwin had, who was engulfed in the perception of a fallen noble. Edwin betrayed her, and yet she trusted him once more.
That fact alone made his entire being tremble.
Edwin bowed his head.
Ashamed of himself, not even knowing what face he was making, he only looked at the ground.
Osprey saw him.
Clutching his knees, his shoulders trembling, his head bowed.
"......Behetorio."
The Behetorio family, he thought, had completely set.
The days called prestigious were truly the heyday shared by the head of the Behetorio family and Osprey.
He thought they would age together as time passed.
What was so urgent? What greed and stubbornness tempted you into downfall?
He thought it had withered too quickly to ever rise again.
"──Ms. Malia."
Osprey, who had been silent for a long time, spoke.
"Yes."
"At the scene where the golem was destroyed, I heard that a male and female student went to the infirmary with Edwin."
"That's correct."
"Did they say anything?"
"Ah, yes."
Edwin's eyes flashed open. It was about Ellen and Frondier. Lifting his head, his eyes met Malia's.
"Edwin, this is what the two of them wanted to tell you."
"Yes, yes?"
"First, from the male student, Frondier de Roach."
Malia's expression was softer than ever. Her gaze seemed to wrap Edwin in warmth.
"I'm sorry for breaking the golem on my own. Please convey that."
"......!"
Edwin lost his expression upon hearing that. Tears eventually flowed from his trembling eyes.
"And this is what Ellen wanted to tell you."
Edwin didn't even think to wipe his tears, his dry face soaked with them.
Seeing that, Malia wore a rare, playful smile.
"She said she was asleep and didn't know."
