Episode 20

“Huh.”

Maybe she’d gone out somewhere, I thought — but immediately I remembered her own words: “she did say she was heading back to her room.”
So did that mean she’d gone back, or tried to, but then had some errand come up that left the room empty after all?
If so, then — well, I suppose we’d just missed each other.

“Hmm. This is, what would you call it — a bit anticlimactic.”

I’d come here specifically intending to have a fairly important conversation, and now that I’d actually opened the door, the person herself wasn’t even here.
At the same time, something felt off.
This inn’s rooms had locks, and guests could lock them from the inside.
My image of Teresia was that she’d be the type to lock the door properly before leaving — had she simply forgotten, by any chance?

“Well, it’s not like I can lock the door myself anyway.”

Careless of her, I thought, and with that thought still rattling around, I stepped into the room without much of a reason.
No real reason at all, really — more like a whim.
It wasn’t as if I had actual business here; mostly I just thought, if Teresia showed up right now, I’d definitely get scolded for this.
If that happened, I’d resign myself and accept the scolding — though getting scolded is scary.

“Hmm hmm, it really is quite tidy in here, though. Just like Teresia.”

In this case, I don’t think it’s that Teresia particularly loves tidiness — more that leaving a mess means having to clean it up later, which she finds troublesome. She’s a saint, sure, but she’s got a fairly down-to-earth streak underneath.
To begin with, “saint” was something she became after the fact anyway, so it has nothing to do with her actual personality.
If anything, I’d wondered once or twice whether behaving “saint-like” was actually a source of stress for her.

“It’s really not that much trouble, you know.”
“Acting saint-like is kind of cool, isn’t it?”
“Besides, when I do saintly things, everyone thinks it’s amazing — isn’t that a good thing?”

That’s roughly the gist of what she’d said, more or less.
I remember being a little exasperated at the time, wondering if that was really an okay attitude to have — but anyway, setting that aside.

“H-hmm. But she really does keep it spotless.”

Which, if anything, was starting to feel suspicious in its own way.
Spotless meant she was “constantly maintaining the room like this” as a matter of course.
If anything, it made me wonder if there was something specifically being hidden.
I’m aware that’s a slightly twisted way of looking at it, admittedly.

“…Maybe she’s got something stashed under the bed.”

No way, that’s ridiculous, I thought, laughing a little at myself even as I crouched down and peeked under the bed anyway.

“…”

A large number of empty bottles.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Way too sloppy a hiding spot.
I was fairly sure the true identity of these empty bottles was mana restoration potions, but what on earth had she used them for?
Drunk them herself?
No, but Teresia doesn’t need mana restoration potions.
Sure, drinking more of them lets you stockpile more mana than usual, apparently, but she’d always said doing that was “incredibly gross, makes me want to throw up.”
To begin with, her own natural mana recovery speed was already abnormal, so she rarely had any reason to use potions herself in the first place.
And even setting that aside — what would be the point of stockpiling extra mana anyway?
So then, what had she actually used them for?

“No idea.”

Unfortunately my head runs on standard, ordinary-person specs, and my general knowledge is nothing special either.
As usual, I found myself thinking I should’ve studied more, but there was no point dwelling on that now.
Even trying to rely on my knowledge from my past life, I don’t think the setting — including its hidden lore — ever covered a use for large quantities of mana restoration potions. Though maybe I’ve just forgotten.
Still, at the same time, one thing had become clear.

“Yeah, Teresia’s definitely hiding something.”

What on earth could she be hiding?
Was it something she felt guilty about?
…Having thought that far, I let the tension drop from my shoulders with a small “hah” and muttered to myself.

“Well, whatever, it’s fine.”

Having a secret means there’s something she wants kept hidden.
There’s no need for me to force it out into the open — if anything, proper manners matter even between close friends.
To begin with, I’m hardly in a position to lecture her about it, and — well, I won’t quite call it “we’re even,” but still.
That said, it would be a lie to say I don’t care at all about Teresia keeping secrets from me.
But wouldn’t it be better to just leave it alone for now, trusting that she’ll eventually tell me herself?

“…Though saying that after barging into Teresia’s room doesn’t exactly hold up.”
“What are you doing?”
“What, am I? In Teresia’s room—”

My heart lurched.
I turned around slowly, heavily, and there stood Teresia.
I couldn’t read her expression.
She looked like she might be angry, or might be sad — at the very least, it was clear she wasn’t feeling anything close to happy.

“T-Teresia?”
“…Well, never mind. There’s nothing here I’d be troubled by you seeing, anyway.”

Which meant, at least in Teresia’s eyes, those empty bottles weren’t something she minded me finding.
I felt a small flicker of relief.

“O-okay, then, let me ask — the empty bottles under the bed.”
“You looked under my bed?!”
“Um… yes?”

So that part, apparently, was not fine.

“I—um, well. Those aren’t anything shady, really—”
“Ah, okay, I get it, calm down.”
“I— anyway, Yurina. There’s actually something important I need to talk to you about, so let’s step outside together.”
“At a time like this!?”

Even I found myself genuinely taken aback at how forceful that pivot was.