Under the Night Sky After the Rain

"Speaking of which, Professor Morning, could you tell us what A-Yu's school is like?"

Several slips of paper were stuck to Aemeath's face, and she was holding a few playing cards as she waited for Lynae, sitting across from her, to draw one.

"Hmm..." Morning paused in her research, then resumed looking through the information. "Senior's school is very large, but the environment is lovely. There are quite a few stray cats there, probably raised collectively by the students. They're all very friendly. There are birds too, though I don't think there are many species. They're just as friendly toward people, and even a little mischievous."

"If you're carrying bread or something else for breakfast, be careful on the way, because if they're hungry, they might just swoop in and snatch it as if it were only natural."

"The students are all eager to learn, at least in my classes. It's just... they're a little too enthusiastic."

"Professor Morning was always popular at Star Torch Academy too~" After drawing a card from Aemeath's hand, Lynae was able to make a pair and discard it.

"That's strange. Back when I was at the academy, the birds were all terrified of people. Whenever I got a little closer, they'd fly away. But the birds at Senior's school actually come up to people and interact with them, and even steal things?"

Sigrika had a slip of paper stuck to each cheek. She was frowning as she considered which card to draw from Lynae's hand.

"Speaking of which, did Xiao Ling join any clubs at school?" Lynae had finished her turn and had a moment to ask Professor Morning about Xiao Ling's life at school.

"I've asked around indirectly, but most of his colleagues don't know him very well. Surprisingly, he has very few friends. He does have one close friend he's known since high school, though, who told me he doesn't actually like those so-called club activities. In his own words, he'd rather go home and play games than spend time on a club." Morning looked at Lynae as she answered. She had just finished looking up all the information she needed.

"Club activities are the most important part of academy life. How can he think that?" Lynae was quite displeased with Xiao Ling's view and secretly resolved to correct that mistaken idea of his.

"Didn't Professor Morning just say Ling has very few friends? I think part of the reason he isn't very interested in clubs is that he doesn't have many friends." Dania saw things quite clearly. As she spoke, she drew a card from Sigrika's hand, made a pair, and discarded it.

"But Senior seems like a pretty nice person, doesn't he?" Sigrika tilted her head, making the slips of paper on her face sway gently.

"Xixi, being nice doesn't mean someone has lots of friends. Isn't there a rather obvious example right in front of you?" Dania flicked her nose in exasperation.

Back when they were working on a project at Star Torch Academy, no one had invited Dania until Sigrika had asked her with a smile to work on it together.

At the time, she had thought it would have been better if she had refused. Now, she felt that accepting Xixi's invitation had been the best decision of her life.

"Speaking of which, how are A-Yu's grades at school?" Aemeath was the first to finish the game, so she immediately threw herself onto the sofa and asked Morning about Xiao Ling's grades.

"His grades are good. He's not among the very best, but he's not at all bad either. Every teacher who's taught him thinks so," Morning answered Aemeath. "In other people's eyes, Senior doesn't really have any flaws, aside from being a little withdrawn."

From what Morning said, the other members of the student group got a general idea of how Xiao Ling was seen at school.

"That brings us to the question: where did Senior go?" After that round of the game ended, Chisa suddenly brought up Xiao Ling's whereabouts.

"Oh, him? I wanted to get him to play Old Maid with us, but he said he had something to do and ran off somewhere," Lynae explained. She had lost this round again, and a grinning Little Ai had stuck another slip of paper on the tip of her nose, making her look quite comical.

Xiao Ling was enjoying the fresh air after the rain in the backyard.

At some point, he had picked up a black cat with golden eyes, and he was considering taking her back for Little Ai to raise.

Strangely enough, the black cat had initially been quite wary of him, but after he gave her a little food, she had settled into his arms and refused to leave. Xiao Ling had been forced to play cat servant, petting the little master in his arms until she was comfortable. She was now dozing off.

"Enjoying yourself, our Lord Sea King?"

"Damn it, can you not bring that up...? I did imagine making a name for myself one day, but definitely not like this." Hearing Roccia's teasing, Xiao Ling felt as if a crow trailing an ellipsis had flown over his head.

"Why didn't you go play games with Aemeath and the others? They seemed pretty excited about it."

Without her usual seductive makeup, Roccia now seemed like a rose stripped of its thorns. She was still breathtakingly beautiful, but her sharp edge was gone.

"I'm getting old. I can't keep up with all that excitement," Xiao Ling said self-deprecatingly. "I can't outwit that bunch of clever, mischievous girls."

"Weren't you full of schemes back at the academy?" Roccia asked with a chuckle. "Why are you saying you can't outwit them now?"

"Don't bring game settings into real life..." Xiao Ling let out a long sigh. "Like I said, in this world I'm just an ordinary college student. How could I be that capable?"

"An ordinary college student couldn't own a lavishly decorated villa and support five beautiful girls at the same time," Roccia countered. "At the very least, your family must be far better off than most."

"All I can say is that I have a great uncle. He heard I'd brought a girlfriend home and tossed me a villa, then gave each of the girls tens of thousands in spending money. I only get four figures myself." Xiao Ling was visibly indignant as he said this, and Roccia couldn't help smiling.

After that conversation, neither of them spoke for a while. Only the cicadas' cries and the evening breeze of the summer night flowed through the backyard.

"I learned a few things about you at your school, and one part of your past interested me," Roccia said, starting a new topic. "When you were in high school, you were invited to have tea at the local law enforcement office because of a fight. Is that true?"

She had learned about the admissions rules in this world. For students with a bad record like that, top universities generally wouldn't admit them, no matter how good their grades were.

For once, Xiao Ling fell silent for a moment, even stopping his hand as he stroked the cat. When the black cat noticed he had stopped, she rubbed her face against his hand affectionately, urging him to continue.

"Isn't digging up my past a bit much?" Xiao Ling complained. "They say a true hero doesn't boast about his past exploits. Since you already know, why ask me?"

"I wanted to hear what you thought. Personally, I think what you did was perfectly fine under the circumstances. I would have done the same." Roccia first acknowledged that Xiao Ling's actions had been justified, then shifted her line of attack. "But if you really had been labeled a brawler for stepping in to help, what would have happened to your future? Did you think about that at the time?"

"I'd have dealt with it," Xiao Ling said indifferently. "That's just how this world is. Since there are suckers like me, of course there are also ungrateful wretches who turn around and bite the people who help them."

"You can't expect everyone to be a decent person. You can only hope the person you help is kind and good. But I was one of the lucky ones."

"The brother and sister I saved tried desperately to testify for me at the police station. They were so anxious they nearly cried. Looking back, it's still a little funny. They were even more worried than I was."

"Then your mother must have been proud of you?"

"She gave me a beating with a clothes hanger."

"That doesn't sound right. You were doing a good deed, so why did she physically punish you?" Roccia was somewhat puzzled by Xiao Yue's actions.

"Madam Principal, haven't you considered another possibility? If I hadn't held out until the police arrived, the worst outcome was that all three of us might have died," Xiao Ling explained. "Back then, I was the only emotional support my mom had left, and I still went and gave her something to worry about."

"Your family..."

"Principal Roccia." Xiao Ling didn't really feel like explaining anymore, but he didn't want to turn down Roccia's kindness and concern either, so he made a decision.

"Can you still use your resonance ability?"

"Of course. Could it be you want me to see for myself?" Roccia quickly caught on to Xiao Ling's intention.

"It's a long story, and telling it would take a lot of talking. You might as well see it for yourself," Xiao Ling said calmly. "Please keep it from the girls for me. The story is rather heavy, and there's no need to make them feel any more needless sympathy."

"...All right, I'll keep your secret." Roccia nodded and agreed seriously. "The process might be a little uncomfortable, so try to bear with it."

"That's much better than talking until my mouth goes dry."

And so, under the night sky after the rain, the young man entrusted his somewhat heavy past in its entirety to this elder from another world.