Chapter 120: Alone Together

Nadia gulped and subconsciously took a step back. ’Alone?’

Yes, that did seem to be the case... but why did she have to point that out? In fact, why were they alone together in the first place?!

Her face then warped in fear. ’Wait! Had she been planning to separate me from everyone else in the first place?!’

She then took notice of Hilda taking a step in her direction.

In quick response, she began to back away.

’To think she would make a move on me alone, when I’m still injured!’ Nadia cursed internally.

She then hastily pushed out her palm, placing it between her and Hilda to stop the woman’s advance. "W-wait, stop what you’re doing! Mr Ritchel—our teacher — wouldn’t dare to leave this room unattended. He’ll be back any minute, so you better not do anythi—"

"He actually allowed this arrangement," Hilda cooed, tucking her hands behind her back. "Considering I’m now in a teaching role, he obviously wouldn’t suspect I would use this room for anything destructive~"

The woman then smiled alluringly. "We’re all~ alone~..."

Upon revelation, Nadia quickly panicked. ’Allowed? Why would he allow this!?’

As she continued to back away, she soon reached a frightening conclusion; one that left her appalled, but also amazed.

’Was this her plan all along? Getting this teaching position just so she could corner me when I’m all alone? But for what purpose?!’

Was there something she wanted to settle here? Something she wasn’t able to back in Calais? If so... what was it!?

Overcome with survival instincts, she felt the urge to summon her silver longsword for self-defence.

Unfortunately, before she could act on it...

’Huh?’

She was backed into a wall.

With the smooth surface of the wall against her back and nowhere else to go, she was eventually cornered by Hilda, who took the opportunity to close the distance between them.

"Why so apprehensive~?" Hilda inquired, gently placing a hand beside Nadia’s head — trapping the Heroine between her and the wall, similar to what she had done this morning. "It’s unlike you to be so anxious~"

Caught, Nadia quickly composed herself and put on a brave face.

She clicked her tongue at Hilda’s words and looked her dead in the eyes, which was easy to do given their similar stature. "How can I not be anxious when you’ve pushed me into this position?"

"Pushed? I didn’t push you." Hilda snickered. "I’ve already learnt my lesson from this morning. Und to push around a defenceless, delicate flower is just not my style~"

Nadia’s face twitched as her eyes flickered with Vitality. "That’s crap, and you know I know it."

Hilda snorted, then smirked. "Caught me again, I see... But I did mean it for you. Throwing you around und hurting you is the last thing I want to do to my precious Dame~"

Sensing truth in Hilda’s words, Nadia huffed and chose not to comment on it.

Instead, she asked:

"So what now? If you’re really not going to hurt me, then why’ve you done this?" Nadia narrowed her eyes. "Surely, you haven’t gone through all this trouble just to be alone with me, have you—"

"That’s precisely the reason!" Hilda instantly answered.

Before the Heroine could fully process the German’s words—

"H-hey, what are you—!"

—Hilda had suddenly pinched her cheeks.

While humming a playful tune, the German began to play around with the Heroine’s adorable cheeks — squeezing and poking them, albeit very gently.

"My adorable little Dame~ my adorable little Dame~ oh, how cute you are, my adorable little Dame~!" Hilda sang in an elegant yet upbeat tune.

Under the woman’s gentle assault, Nadia quickly grew fed up with it and lashed out. "Aargh—get the hell off of me, you weirdo!"

Nadia shoved Hilda back, freeing her poor cheeks from the woman’s insistent squeezes.

After nursing her reddened cheeks, her ears twitched at the sound of Hilda’s laughter.

"Haha!"

Hilda, having been shoved a few steps back, slowly made her way over to the teacher’s podium, her laughter gradually quieting as she did so.

Once she was behind the podium, she smiled warmly at the Heroine, who stared at her warily from the wall.

"Come take a seat at the front."

"... Hah?"

Seeing as Nadia’s face warped into confusion, Hilda explained herself.

"You wanted to know why I wanted us alone, right? If you take a seat, you’ll find out. Of course, you’re free to leave whenever you want, even after sitting down." Hilda gestured towards the door. "It’s not locked or anything, by the way. Nor is there anything wrong with it. I won’t stop you from leaving."

With the help of {Truth Finder}, Nadia sensed no lies in Hilda’s words. She could really just leave right now...

Nadia squinted her eyes, then slowly took her seat at the front. ’If she’s not going to hurt me, nor stop me from leaving, I might as well learn what this is all about...’

It wasn’t like she had much planned later, besides studying.

Watching as Nadia took a seat, Hilda’s eyes immediately lit up with joy. "Fantastisch!"

She then spun around and began drawing several more diagrams — all related to the ones she drew earlier in class. "Since you’re willing to stay, I’ll tell you what I have planned."

Seeing this, Nadia immediately raised an eyebrow, then watched as the woman turned around and said:

"One-on-one teaching!"

At her words, Nadia slowly tilted her head to the side, her lips slightly parting in confusion.

"One-on-one... teaching?" She whispered, deeply perplexed. Then, her eyes widened. "Wait, are you saying that you want to..."

"There’s no other possible meaning, my dear Dame!" Hilda tapped at the board with the electronic pen. "But if you want more clarification, I merely would like to expand your knowledge about our world und help you get a head start on everyone else. So, if you may, please get out your notebook und pen, so we can start—"

"W-wait, wait, wait..." Nadia raised her hand, silently requesting Hilda to slow down. "This is all so sudden! Is... this really the reason why you wanted us to be alone? Seriously?"

Hilda leaned against the teaching podium. "Of course it is. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made such effort to get this position."

"For me...?" Nadia quietly repeated. "Really? You didn’t do this just to... help the others in the class? You have a lot of experience, after all..."

Hilda waved her hand dismissively.

"There are other teachers at this school that can do the same thing. Why would I need to reinvent the wheel?" She mused.

Nadia then grew restless. "B-but why...? Why me? Why are you giving me such treatment? We still barely know each other and I don’t even like you, you know that. Even if we are a little acquainted, that still isn’t enough reason for you to go to such lengths for me..."

Nadia then paused. "Oh... is this because of the exam points thing? ... Yeah, it makes sense now..."

The Heroine got up from her seat. "If it’s because of that, then forget about it. I don’t really want compensation for that, so let’s just end this and go home—"

"I’m not doing this for that."

At Hilda’s interruption, Nadia froze. "Huh?"

The German leaned the side of her face into her palm and explained. "I have more important reasons for doing this than something as trivial that. Obviously, I’m not going to tell you them, though."

"Oh... I see..." Nadia slowly lowered back into her seat. "Then—"

"But I will tell you something."

"Huh?"

Nadia watched as Hilda leaned further against the podium, her eyes filled with an affectionate light which she couldn’t understand.

"One of the main reasons why I’m doing this is because... I like you. Simple as that."

"..."

Nadia’s jaw instantly dropped at Hilda’s abrupt confession, especially when {Truth Finder} deemed it the truth.

For a split second, her face was flushed red with both embarrassment and fluster.

How could she say something like that so suddenly!?

While still clearly flustered, Nadia spat, "W-w-what the hell are you on about, Hilda!? Haven’t I told you to stop saying that kind of weird stuff so blatantly!"

She then pointed at the woman scoldingly. "If you keep saying that kind of stuff, the entire academy will get the wrong idea about us!"

Hilda blinked confusedly. "But there’s nobody here."

She then tilted her head innocently in a cute manner. "Und what kind of idea would sprout about us? Is it so bad for someone to say that they like another?"

"W-well, no..." Nadia gulped, then shouted, "But it’s the way to act towards me when saying it!"

Hilda continued to stare at the Heroine confusedly, which the woman quickly realised.

With a loud groan and a wave of her hand, she said, "Whatever, whatever! Just... please let’s just start the lesson, please..."

After saying that, she buried her face in her hand, as if trying to hide herself away from the world.

Hilda nodded and began the lesson.

...

Hilda began the one-on-one session at 4:30 PM. Fast forward an hour and a half; it was now 6 o’clock.

During this time, the German reviewed everything they’d learned that day. History, Geography... along with what she taught in class. Everything.

Then, once she did all of that, she quizzed Nadia on them, in hopes of better engraving them into the Heroine’s memory. It was a simple after-school study session.

Nadia, having learnt how well Hilda could teach, learnt fast under her tutelage. But at a serious cost, which she only realised at the end of the session.

Grumble...

"Ugh..."

While packing up her things, she instinctively clutched her stomach, which grumbled in discomfort. ’Hungry...’

With the speed of a Vitalist’s metabolism, a meal as small as what she had for lunch wasn’t going to be enough to get her through a long day like this.

’Should I have taken up on Hilda’s offer for more food?’ Nadia thought reluctantly before shaking her head stubbornly. ’No, absolutely not!’

As she was about to force herself to continue packing...

"Meine Dame, you did well today. Would you like something to eat before we leave?"

Nadia forced herself to look up at Hilda, who was standing over her.

At the thought of eating, she subconsciously nodded, then watched as Hilda reached and pulled something out of thin air like a magician.

She then watched as the woman placed it right in front of her on the desk.

"Here. I saved this just for you~"

Nadia gulped and stared at what Hilda had placed down. "Isn’t that..."