Miss Savage Fang Vol 2
Table of Contents
Prologue: The Zealots Creep in the
Shadows
Chapter Three: Cause and Effect
Chapter Eleven: Blossoming Women
Epilogue: The Little Lady Fights
Closefisted
Not a
single beam of sunlight reached the stone room. Only the flame in the
furnace dyed the rustic walls in golden glow as the shadows of several people
floated in the dim.
“Pearlman’s failure comes
as a surprise.”
An androgynous voice
echoed softly from the deep shadow within the hood of a robe. The uttered name belonged
to someone who was supposed to be with them—someone with a face.
“You think so? But Pearlman was away from violence for quite some time.”
“But his skill was genuine. And his synthesis with
Dia Milus was successful.”
“He was quite vigilant, I
will give him that. I rather trusted the fellow, but alas.”
A number of voices
expressed their dissenting or assenting opinions. The majority sided with
the first speaker.
But in truth, he was a
high-ranking member of a cult known as Gods of the Moon. He was a mighty sorcerer
with ability to house one of the cult’s gods in his body and wield its powers.
“I suppose surprise is the most apt way of
putting it. It appears we cannot take the powers of the cursed God’s Gift lightly.”
That mighty sorcerer had
been defeated—by a lone girl.
That was why they had all
gathered in this room. Because the impossible had transpired.
A frivolous-looking man
lightly tapped a stack of papers. “It’s bloody
incomprehensible. I heard this Mylene Petule was an unscrupulous, self-destructive witch
who needed no help in her own demise. It seems out of character
for her to defeat someone as powerful as Pearlman to save her friends.”
The owner of the
androgynous voice folded their arms again. “Correct. According to our reports, her personality underwent an abrupt shift one
day.”
“Odds are, Eltania did
something to her. That
filthy, cursed god!” a man of incredibly large stature howled in anger.
The hooded cultists
nodded in unison. The light of the flame illuminated their deep hatred toward the god
Eltania in their twisted frowns.
“But we cannot ignore this. The vessel Eltania so
devotedly constructed is most suitable for our
lord. We
must prepare the ultimate vessel for our Sovereign God Lesewelk’s resurrection—Mylene
Petule must die.”
Though the speaker’s
voice was soft, the words were turbid with malice. The animosity was
directed not only at Eltania, but at Mylene herself.
“The more I think about
it, the angrier I get. If that cursed Eltania hadn’t meddled, Mylene would have fallen to
destruction on her own—everything would have gone according to our design.”
“I hear the current Mylene Petule is
steadfastly devoted to her training. She was powerful enough
to defeat Pearlman—if she invocates Eltania to possess her, it’s game over. We must do something to
stop her before it’s too late.”
“You’re saying we must
strike quickly?”
The frivolous man
cheerfully broke the gloom in the air. With a smile in his voice, he said, “One of our grandmasters has already been
defeated—I don’t think we can be too careful.”
“…Fair point. I suppose we shouldn’t write her off as just a girl.”
The murmuring voices of
the frivolous man’s comrades were gloomy in contrast. They realized just how
grave the situation was.
But the man continued,
merrily as ever, “So I have a suggestion—why don’t we use Garoh?”
“Mm…” The large man
grunted when he heard the name Garoh, the hungry wolf.
But a placid voice firmly
shot down the idea. “We can’t use him—he’s still undergoing adjustment. According to his nature,
we cannot afford even the slight possibility of failure. I think you’re aware of
that.”
“I
am. But if he
lost to Eltania’s bitch, wouldn’t that only
prove he wasn’t worthy in the first place?”
“Bold words, Victor. Besides…” The owner of
the placid voice lowered their tone and weaved these words into the gloomy air:
“It’s the opposite scenario that’s truly
terrifying. If he gains complete control
over his powers, he might overtake chaos and return everything to nothingness. Remember your place,
everyone. We
serve a calamity with sentience.”
“Ohh, well, excuse me. If
he’s that powerful, I’d say that’s
all the more reason we should witness his power for ourselves at least once.”
The man called Victor
kept his smarminess in his playful apology. Evil magic smoldered
between the glaring pair—only to be extinguished like a candle blowing out.
“…Well, no matter. The existence of someone like you is chaos as well. We all share the doctrine
of our Sovereign God.”
“I’m not surprised you’d
say that,” Victor snorted cynically, spreading his arms wide. “It’s that sentiment that
brought you here in the first place.”
The androgynous voice
snorted quietly, but there wasn’t a hint of annoyance in it.
“If you ask me, I don’t
care one bit about God. But I heavily sympathize with the doctrine you all proselytize, and I’m
very interested in what kind of world a bunch of like-minded people can create together. I mean to stay and help,
until our ideal world is achieved.”
Victor put a hand to his
chest and bowed as if he were giving a recitation. His speech received a
chorus of snorts.
“That is most agreeable of
you. Now, tell us, how specifically do you mean to help us?” With a slight twinge of
annoyance, the owner of the placid voice remained calm as a stagnant pool of
water.
Both parties likely
foresaw such an exchange. The corners of Victor’s lips twisted upward in delight. Those were the words he
was waiting to hear. Like an actor making a grand entrance from the wings, he grandly
removed his hood to reveal his face, shining with beauty.
“Allow me—Victor
Ludland—to dispose of Eltania’s bitch. From what I’ve heard, she
possesses a bewitching beauty. As she will become the
vessel for our Sovereign God, I’d love to see her for myself.”
Victor smiled like a young
lad. Slight
of frame and pure of smile, his boyish beauty turned the heads of men and women
alike…but beneath his shining eyes lay the filthy sludge of chaos.
“So I was right… That
was your goal all along.”
“Well, I’d also like to
see Garoh completed, if all goes well. Violence isn’t exactly my
forte either, but I think I’m more comfortable with killing than Pearlman.”
“Yes…yes, I suppose you are.
Our lord
does enjoy your clear and crafty modus operandi.”
But everyone in that room
was cut from the same cloth. Men who claimed they were
comfortable with killing and others who accepted it without question. Even the owner of the
arguably gentle-sounding voice spoke in a way that could hardly be deemed
normal.
“All right, we’ll let you
handle God’s Bitch for now. How you do it is up to you. Either way, our existence
is gradually becoming known. At this rate, we might as
well put on a garish show—what better way to announce the dawning of a new
era.”
“Then you’ve chosen the
right man for the job! Garish showmanship is my specialty.”
“Indeed
it is. Well,
don’t fail us, Victor.”
“Understood. I, Victor, shall present the perfect show for our Sovereign God
Lesewelk! To
that end, may I borrow some capable helping hands?”
“You
may. I have
high hopes of your success.”
With a satisfied smile,
Victor gave the grand bow of an actor, then changed the direction he was facing
with a broad pirouette. As he waved his hand and put the room behind him, he returned to his
former frivolous demeanor.
“Victor: the father of
tragedy. His
faith is flimsy, but his earnest sympathy for our doctrine and his praxis are
exemplary.”
The owner of the
androgynous voice rose, turning away from the circular table. Before them stood a statue
of a man with a beast’s head, looking down at the table.
“Life is like a fluid stream.
If the
water stops flowing, it stagnates and rots. And likewise, all living
beings must flow with blood. If their blood stops
flowing, they die. To prevent this—the world must always be in a state of flow.”
The androgynous person
turned around again, glancing at the remaining leaders—the grandmasters.
“We are the wave. The only tiny pulse remaining in this world. Before this world rots, we
must destroy Eltania—harbinger of the stagnation called tranquility—and return
it to a state of everchanging chaos.”
They raised their hands
slowly. Their
movement was calm but evoked a distinct madness.
“Glory to Lesewelk! Sovereign of Gods of the Moon.”
And with that, the
fanatics made their move…
Time
had passed since the narcotics trafficking scandal that shook the academy. It was hardly more than a
few months, but the only students who still remembered it vividly were those
directly involved and racked with guilt, and the teachers were also desperate
to forget that the cause of it all was one of their own.
But some people still
remembered him vividly. I
was one of them. And while I sometimes let myself get lost in the peaceful days of my
second life, I wasn’t carefree enough to completely forget about the enemies
who threatened the peace.
And as for the others who
still remembered—
“Huff…huff…! I can do
this all day!”
“And so can I…Princess
Colette!”
—they were my two royal
friends, Colette and Albert.
Colette imbued her
practice sword with magic and unleashed it at her opponent, her tight, muscular
body dancing as she swung. And Albert, while aware of his inferiority in strength, kept pace with
the combat-superior Colette, aiming to support her to the best of his
abilities.
They were
facing off against me.
Realizing his reserve
energy was insufficient, Albert opened the entirety of his magic and charged at
me. He was
trying to provoke me into giving Colette an opening to strike me.
Not constricted by the
notion of how a woman or man should be, he respected people for their talent—it
was a tolerant worldview that I admired. The guy had balls, to
eagerly play the part of a pawn not out of weak-mindedness, but out of
statistical pragmatism.
I twisted my upper body
to dodge the broad sideswipe of his sword. His attack missed me, but
Albert let his momentum carry him behind me, flanking me with Colette on the
other side.
Meanwhile, Colette
understood his sudden move. Albert had telegraphed it
to her clearly. They were both talented warriors and had arrived at the same answer
simultaneously. I didn’t know about Albert behind me, but from Colette’s gaze, I could
tell the two had exchanged a glance.
A magic energy nurtured
by her bloodline, talent, and hard work surged inside of her. It would be an attack I
couldn’t block with one hand while fending off Albert with the other. And because of that—
I spun backward before
Colette could strike.
My wide movement confused
Albert, but the jab to his chin made him cry out in pain immediately after. I had kicked him while I
was spinning backward. The force of my kick sent Albert’s lightweight body flying… Then there
was a resounding thud behind the spot where he once stood.
“Excellent swing, Princess. I see you’ve improved not
only your swordplay, but your magic as well.”
I had taken the impact of
her blade, but it was Colette who was gasping for air. Colette swung at me, and
I blocked her sword. As we
repeated the dance, our respective confidences reached an equilibrium, then
reversed.
“Ah!”
she yelped,
shocked from the sudden surge of numbness in her.
Her practice sword flew,
hitting the stone floor with a pretty clank. Meanwhile, I thrust my
practice blade at her with ample breath and grace.
“You put up a valiant
fight, Princess. Your spirit and strategy have improved yet again. I am deeply impressed.”
With a soft smile, I
sheathed my practice sword and offered Colette my hand. Her dropped jaw twisted
into a smile as she took it.
“Dammit all! I lost
again!” Colette
screamed loud and bitter to console herself. Then she grinned again. “That was…amazing! I was sure we’d win this
time, but not even the two of us together could touch you!”
“Ow-w-w…I agree, Princess. While I didn’t think we
could beat Miss Mylene, I thought we would at least last a little longer… I’m
shocked that she still had the energy to defeat us, even though she was going
easy on us.”
As I helped Colette off
the ground, Albert approached us, rubbing his chin. Their praise made me itch
a little, but I forced a composed expression onto my face and said back to
them, “Well, if I had to describe my fighting style, it assumes a siege of
multiple opponents.”
My sword technique was
inspired by my mercenary days where one versus a crowd—or a crowd versus a
crowd—was the norm. In my past life before my current one as Mylene, I’d taken these sorts
of battles for granted.
“Cooperative combat is a
highly specialized skill,” I explained. “Its biggest asset is the
ability to attack simultaneously, but to succeed at landing a
joint strike, you must both be hyperaware of your opponent’s position—sometimes
that even got in your way, right? And while it’s true that I
held back my magic, I suspect neither of you unleashed your full potential
either.”
“Hmm… You know, you’re
right,” Colette said. “I suppose landing a simple cooperative attack requires a burst of
energy.”
“And our opponent’s
positioning did indeed add more clutter to our minds,” Albert agreed.
“Exactly.
You both are fast
learners. I am
incredibly pleased.”
I couldn’t help but smile
at my two capable pupils. After the fight with Gods of the Moon, Colette and Albert had begged me
to train them. Before the ordeal, I used to train after class as a habit, and Albert
and Colette often joined me, but since Colette and I were nothing more than
friendly rivals, while we might spar or offer casual words of advice, I was not
in a position to actually teach her anything.
But now, Colette had
humbled herself and begged me to teach her magic and the sword.
“We don’t want to suffer
the same humiliation twice,” she replied in earnest. “Of course I’m desperate
to learn.”
And it was Pearlman who
had changed her. Learning of the existence of a cult with magic beyond human knowledge
and being kidnapped by them had forced Colette to swallow her pride as my
friendly rival and beg to become my student.
“I feel the same way,”
Albert said. “Next time, I want to be able to stand proud and help you, Miss
Mylene.”
The crisis had also made
Albert uncomfortably aware of his inadequacy. His valiant spirit defied
his angelic looks—and I couldn’t have been prouder.
“At the very least…,” I began, “with that
fighting style, you shouldn’t need any help from me. As I’ve said a thousand
times, Albert, you are the prince of Eltania. You must understand that
your life does not belong you alone.”
But my praise could only
apply to him as a man. He was a prince, so I could not let him sacrifice himself like a pawn
in a fight.
“Er—o-of
course I’ll be more defensive in a real battle. After all, the great Miss
Mylene taught me so!”
“If you value my teaching
so much, here’s a lesson you ought to cram into your skull first: You should
never be in a real
battle to begin with.”
If Albert were defeated
in combat, Eltania would be forced into a war of retribution. And if it came to that,
Gods of the Moon would make great strides bringing about their world of chaos. The motherfucking world from my past life, that is.
I’d beaten him over the
head with that advice, but he just wouldn’t take it. It made a guy wanna
clutch his head and scream.
If we weren’t at school
right now (back garden aside) and away from potential witnesses, I would have
scolded him and given his head a good smacking—but I was already putting all my
energy into minding my language. There was no way I could
land a proper punch in these conditions.
It ain’t easy being a
little lady.
“Now, now, don’t tease him
so,” Colette said, offering some kind words to the cowering prince. “A little spirit is
nice—shows his potential as a man.”
“If you ask me, Princess,
you need to tone it down a little as well. But as you are
technically the princess of another nation, it frustrates me that I cannot use
stronger language with you.”
If ya asked me, Colette was the one who needed to calm her shit. Colorne and Eltania were
both considered powerful nations, but the truth was that there was no
comparison between the atrophied Eltania and Colorne, an empire that had spent
the last several decades at war.
If Colette were to die,
the lion would rampage in a berserk rage. I wasn’t all that
interested in world peace, but if war literally erupted across the whole world
over, I couldn’t exactly say it wasn’t my problem.
“Wise as ever, Mylene! Well…if you promise to be
my wife, I suppose I could take the advice of somebody I’m entrusting the
future to.”
If marrying her was all
it would take to get her to listen to me, I could think of no
better scenario than that…but as Colette pouted hintingly at me, my lips
twitched a little.
I’d lived as a girl for a
long time now, but I still felt like a man at heart. Colette was a beautiful
and openhearted girl—becoming intimate with her was not unappealing.
“Princess…you’re still
going on about that? Do forgive me, but that is a burden far too heavy for the shoulders of
a common daughter of the nobility such as I…”
For a start, it was
highly dubious that Colorne would allow its princess to marry another woman. In which case, I guess
I’d be regarded as a mistress of sorts? Yeah, no thanks. I’d rather not be tucked away in a closet somewhere until I die.
“Q-quite right!” Albert
stammered. “Besides,
Miss Mylene is the pride of Eltania! And, with all due
respect, she is also my fiancée,
you know?!”
Yes, in addition to all
that, I’m engaged to this guy. If the princess from the
neighboring empire plundered their prince’s fiancée, the entire kingdom of Eltania would
lose face. And Eltania and
Colorne’s relationship would be screwed.
“I know there’s many
obstacles,” Colette conceded. “And as I am now, I am
unworthy to stand by your side, Mylene.”
“Please, Colette, don’t
flippantly dismiss everything as an obstacle!”
“Can I help it if
everything else seems trivial in the face of love?”
Luckily, Colette was a
smart girl. She seemed to understand the intricacies of the issue and wasn’t
planning on marrying me tomorrow. (Then again, behind her
words, it was clear she was keen to screw everything up royally in the future.)
“Would you look at the time? It pains me to leave, but
I had a little matter to tend to.”
She seemed
to be telling the truth—though something in her words felt a little off to me.
Albert voiced my suspicion. “Oh my, it’s not every day
that Princess Colette prioritizes an errand over spending time with Miss
Mylene—is it important?”
“Let me guess…is it
related to the scandal?”
Colette was, in a word,
self-righteous. She did the things she wanted to do and didn’t do the things she didn’t
want to do. She had a characteristic simplicity to her.
Having said that, it was
incredibly unusual for her to cut short her training session with me to run an errand. If it was so important that she couldn’t refuse, I could only conclude
it had something to do with our little run-in with Gods of the Moon.
“Mm…yeah. Well…I suppose you could say it’s related to it…and not related to it…
No—it’s a personal matter. Aww, are you worried about me?”
“I merely thought…that it
might mean your errand was related to me as well.”
“There you go again, Mylene. Always so cold.” Colette innocently snickered.
It seemed it truly wasn’t
anything to worry about. Perhaps it was quite simple, and Colette was just interested in other
things. I
was a little miffed that she’d meant what she said, but it was better that than
something legitimately serious.
Still, it was a little
concerning that she seemed nervous. Was it something she felt
guilty about?
“Well, I’ll take my leave,
then. See
you later, Mylene, Prince Albert.”
“Oh! Er, yes, see you
tomorrow, Princess Colette,” Albert stammered.
If she won’t tell me
willingly, there’s no point in thinking about it.
Colette waved and slipped
out of the back garden where we trained.
Well, guess I might as
well take her cue and call our training session quits for the—
“Miss Mylene, what shall
we do after this? If
you have the time, I would love to receive some more lessons from you… At the very least,
I’d like to catch up to Princess Colette.”
“Yes, Your Highness. If that’s what you want,
I shall gladly comply.”
If he was game, then I was
glad to join him. Little guy had balls, asking someone stronger than him to kick his
ass—I liked it.
“Heh… Now, come at me
however you wish.”
Saying this, I gripped my
practice sword again. As I watched Albert stand firm and let the magic energy flow within
him, I snorted and smirked.
Would ya look at that? Weak little prince is
growing up.
“Thank
you so much, Miss Mylene! I think I’ve made progress.”
“Oh, thank you for giving me an
opportunity to review the basics. If there’s anything else
you need, don’t hesitate to reach out.”
It had gotten quite late. Noticing the counseling
room was deserted, I yawned and gave a stretch just short of what would be
called unladylike.
It would be time for
lights-out soon. I had stayed up this late helping a classmate study magic—while wearing
my good-girl mask, mind you! Just look at me. Teaching! Sometimes I’m shocked at
how nice I’ve gotten.
I scoff…but in all
honesty, it wasn’t all an act or a fanciful whim. Aside from the upper
crust, the students at the Zelfore Academy of Magic were all sons and daughters
of nobility. I had to get them in my debt—which was an exaggerated way of putting
it, but at the very least, if I made a good impression with them, they might be
useful connections for me in the future. It was a calculated wager.
And then again, I was
telling the truth when I said it was a good review for me.
Most of the first-year
curriculum here consisted of basic techniques. It was
material I had already studied on my own, but there were sections I’d skipped
over. Those were new
to me. And
teaching somebody else the material out loud was the perfect way for me to
retain it.
So anyway, that’s how
these nighttime study consultations had come to be a habit of mine. It made me realize I’d
really gotten the hang of this well-bred little lady life.
I looked around the
mostly empty room. One of the seats that should have been occupied was empty today. I clasped my hands and
heaved a heavy sigh.
I hadn’t seen Colette
since she’d left our evening training session early. The mysterious errand of
hers was starting to tug on my conscience. If it was something she
couldn’t tell us about…if it had something to do with Gods of the Moon—
“Shit…” A curse escaped
my lips. I’d
forgotten I was in the counseling room, but thankfully, I was too quiet to be
heard.
Even if somebody had
overheard my profane utterance, my good-girl facade was so expertly constructed
that they would doubt their ears. I tried to console myself
with this thought, but traces of anger still remained.
If I’d known Colette was
gonna be out this late, I should’ve gone looking for her before lights-out. I wasn’t gonna sleep well
with this on my conscience.
Oh
well. Guess
I’ll search for Colette after curfew. Heaving a decisive sigh, I
departed for my room.
The girls’ dormitory at
the Zelfore Academy of Magic was (and I hear it’s the same for the boys’ dorms)
divided into double rooms. Though it had its imperfections, Zelfore was a prep school for little
rich kids—if there were some mistake, they’d be in big trouble—so the rich kids were paired off with
roommates who served as their watchers.
That being said, a fellow
student guarding you didn’t amount to much. It was customary for a
roommate to coincidentally have an extra-long
bathroom break just before you got into trouble. And it was a friendly
relationship with your roommate that made such things possible.
In other words, those
debts the other students racked up in the counseling
room came in handy. My roommate Holly had her own fair share of debt as well. She was a homely girl
with red hair. We weren’t in the same class, but since she was quiet, we got along
okay.
If I give her the
backstory, she should help me with my current problem.
“That girl really is a
pain in the ass. Okay, I’m technically hurting my own ass voluntarily, but still.”
I made sure I was alone
in the hallway as I cursed under my breath.
Shit, this ain’t like me. I don’t even know for sure
it’s about Gods of the Moon. Why am I so pissed off
just because Colette went off on her own for a few hours?
If my former self saw me
like this, he’d gag. I gave a self-deprecating snort as I arrived at my room and touched the
doorknob—and erased all traces of emotion from my face.
Somebody’s in there. And it’s not Holly.
Don’t tell me they came
to get me at school.
I masked my magic energy
as much as I could, then burst into the room!
The moment I entered,
somebody called my name and ran toward me.
I filled my fists with
magic, thinking it was Gods of the Moon. But what I saw instead was—
It was my friend who’d
disappeared earlier that evening. While I was stunned and
immobilized, she flung her arms tightly around me.
“Wh-where the hell have
you been—what’re ya doin’ here?!”
“Mmm!
It’s my authentic Mylene! I’ve missed you! We haven’t had many chances to be alone lately!”
“Aaagh! Get off,
you clingy bitch!”
I tried to pry Colette
off me without hurting her, but her iron grip proved impossible escape. But after I let her
squeeze me for a while, Colette suddenly relaxed her hold on me. Just when her clinginess
had gotten unbearable, it was almost a letdown to be suddenly free.
With a
little cough, I gave the widely beaming girl a dubious stare. “Ah, shit…what the hell are you doing here? First ya leave evening
training early, then ya disappear until curfew—what gives?”
“Hee-hee!
You were
worried about me, weren’t you? I
can tell.”
I spat quietly, angry
that she saw right through me.
Yeah, that’s right,
motherfucker. Your keen sense of human emotion despite your naive exterior is
peak-royalty shit—and it pisses me off.
Savage Fang would roll his
eyes if he heard about this. But the truth was, a part
of me was relieved to see Colette smiling.
“Shut up,” I muttered. “So what’s up? If you’ve got nothin’ to say, I don’t mind, but what the hell are you
doing in my room this late? What did you come here for? I doubt even the great
powers of Colorne can pacify the dorm matron.”
It irked me to be stuck
in the palm of her hand. I evoked the name of the dorm matron—a name that sent terror down the
spines of all the students in the girls’ dormitory—and asked Colette what she
was doing in my room at this hour.
Crossing her arms in
satisfaction, Colette gave a snort. “I didn’t come here for
anything! I
didn’t come here specially to see you either, Mylene.”
“Huhhh?”
I raised my
eyebrow at her nonanswer.
She had no reason to come
here, and neither had she come to see me. That only meant she was
here to see my roommate Holly, but she was nowhere to be found.
“Hee-hee… You’re smart. Surely you’ve figured it
out by now?”
Colette’s smug. Like she thinks she’s won something. Could it be—
“I’m waiting in my room before lights-out—wouldn’t you say I’m a model dorm resident?”
Did this bitch pull some
strings and switch room assignments?!
The Zelfore Academy of
Magic was a school attended by sons and daughters of the nobility. As such, the school was
used to their entitled complaints. It took a lot to get them
to consider the personal wishes of the students…
“Oh god… You used the incident
to get your way. And that’s what your little errand was this evening…”
“Now, now, don’t put words in my mouth. All I did was tell them they would get in trouble
if my father found out about the incident.”
The academy had a weakness. The princess of the great
empire of Colorne had been kidnapped by a drug-pushing cult and nearly lost her
life. It
was a huge scandal, and her school was covering it up. If Colorne found out that
its princess was involved in such an incident, we’d have an international
crisis on our hands.
Colette was the victim of
the incident, and it was she who had requested it be kept secret. Now she was using that as
a weapon to get her way.
“Use all
the tools you can use—I’m just putting your
motto to practice. Now we can always be together, Mylene!”
An angelic smile appeared
on Colette’s lips.
But looking at things
pessimistically, you could say Colette had become a hostage because she was well aware of her
worth—it was beyond unscrupulous. As I watched her, smiling
innocently as she casually explained her scheme, I saw shadows of the future
empress in her.
I just had to pray her
cunning wrath would never be directed at Eltania—
When you consider she did
this all out of love for me, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to let it slide.
“I like to get a good
night’s sleep. I hate noise.”
“Indeed!
Lack of
sleep is the enemy of beauty, as they say!”
“Do they, now…? Anyway, I’ve gotta change. Turn around.” I gave the still smiling princess a cynical smirk.
Er, is this what they
call hungry eyes?
I slowly unbuttoned my uniform. Why do girl clothes have
to be so annoying? Wait, I guess it’s rich-girl clothes, not just girl clothes.
I suddenly
felt a pang of longing for my former mercenary days—but then I felt a presence.
“I don’t see the problem. We’re both girls. And we’ll be sharing a room. We shouldn’t let a little
thing like that bother us, now, should we?”
When I saw the hungry
look in Colette’s eyes as she watched me change for bed, I gave her a death
glare. From
the way she was acting and the things she was saying, it was pretty clear that
she wanted me.
When I met her in the
future of my first life, I had heard she was unmarried…but I guess that didn’t
matter now. Colette wasn’t going to make a move on me until she considered us
equals.
“Well, I’m going to bed. Turn out the light whenever.”
“Then I suppose I shall
sleep as well. May
I turn out the light now?”
I nodded as I climbed
into bed and Colette waved a finger at the magic stone lamp in our ceiling. The room fell into
darkness as the magic stone, imbued with feeble magic energy, slowly faded out.
Another day behind me,
another busy day ahead of me tomorrow. Better get a good night’s
rest.
I guess that was wishful
thinking.
“Hum?
What’s the matter,
Mylene?”
“Why are you getting in
bed with me?!” I sat up and scolded Colette, who was lifting my covers and sneaking
into my bed. “Your
bed is over there, bitch!”
“Don’t be like that. We finally get to share a
room together, so it’s time we became more intimate.”
“Weren’t ya gonna hold
off being intimate with me until you were
satisfied with yourself?”
“I’m just showing a
little affection, that’s all. To cement our future together…yes?”
Colette gave a bewitching
grin, her ample body clad in thin fabric. To be honest, I felt dizzy. Though I felt I had
completely acclimated to being a lady, if I didn’t think too deeply into it, I
still considered myself male.
No, this is different. With a woman this
enchanting, it doesn’t matter whether I’m male or female. Seriously…Colette is a
devil.
“Please…let’s not play
games, Princess. The time has not yet come, correct?” With the clearest
rejection I could muster, I pushed Colette away.
“Mmf!”
Colette
puffed her cheeks out a little and sighed, releasing her lustful frustrations. “Fine…I understand. Anticipation is half the
pleasure. But
don’t forget that I am already yours. If you wish it, you can
have me anytime…yes?”
With a taunting
uncrossing of her voluptuous thighs, Colette slid off my bed.
And before I realized it, I was sighing quietly. “I am already yours,” my ass.
You haven’t
changed a bit. You’re still that crazy princess who gets what she wants no matter
what.
If I just surrendered to
her proposal, everything would be so much easier. But crossing that line
carried a lot of responsibility—responsibility I wasn’t ready to take yet.
Shit, what a big mess
I’ve got myself in.
I didn’t even know who to
blame: the pathetic teachers who helped Gods of the Moon, or God Himself.
“Ahh…nng, good morning,
Prince Albert.”
Prince Albert’s voice
brought me from my half-dead stupor back to sanity. I quickly donned my
good-girl mask.
My fatigue was the result
of a restless night in the wake of Colette’s seduction. Because Albert had seen
the soulless look in my eyes earlier, his eyebrows were lowered in concern.
“Pardon my asking, Miss
Mylene, but…are you all right? You look terribly tired.”
“Well, last night I…
Let’s just say some things transpired.”
I was rather proud of my
good-girl façade, but upon closer
observation, Albert had a somber look in his eyes. Since I genuinely was
exhausted, I didn’t want to bother telling him why. I gave him an exhausted
smile, willing him to understand.
When you’re feeling
tired, sympathy from a friend really hits you hard. I wanted to ease his
worries and explain to him why I was fatigued, but it was obvious that doing so
would only further complicate matters.
“Good morning, Prince
Albert.”
“Good
morning, Princess Colette… What is it? What’s that smug look of
triumph on your face…?”
Guess there’s no point in
my silence. The source of my strife will proudly and loudly blab everything to him.
I shamelessly pressed my
hands to my head.
“Huh?
What-what? How can you smile so
proudly when poor Miss Mylene is so exhausted?”
“Why, because what
transpired last night was a good thing for me. I’m just basking in bliss.”
“What…are you talking about?
Is this
somehow connected to Miss Mylene’s fatigue?!”
The two were locked in
this strangely fierce competition. There was no way Colette
would keep her juicy secret to herself if it would help her get a huge lead on
Albert.
“Kee-hee-hee…” Colette cackled like a
slimy nobleman about to force himself on a poor village girl. “Why don’t you tell him,
Mylene? Tell him about us.”
“You
what?!” Albert
hissed, taking the bait.
“Last night…there was a
change of room assignments in the girls’ dormitory. Princess Colette and I
now share a domicile.”
“You
what?!” Albert repeated the line,
but with an even bigger reaction. His eyeballs swirled in
vortexes. “Th-then,
the reason for your fatigue…it isn’t—!”
“Since this was our first
night sharing a room, we deepened our relationship. Well…I think I’ve made my
superiority quite clear, Prince Albert.”
With a loud sigh, I
clutched my head again. My reluctance to explain the situation had only made things worse. I started to sense a
collective curiosity directed at us. If the squabbling pair
escalated and sparked rumors about the princess of Colorne stealing the fiancée
of Eltania’s prince—well, that would be hell. It might have been too
late to stop them, though…
“Let me explain to avoid
a misunderstanding—nothing happened. I am your humble fiancée, Prince Albert, and
naturally, Princess Colette wouldn’t disrespect that.”
“Hey!
Um, thanks
for the spoiler warning? You’re
no fun.”
“Heh…? Oh! Is that…true, Miss Mylene?”
“I would never lie about
such a thing. I wouldn’t want a misunderstanding.”
When he saw the way
Colette and I were acting around each other, Albert finally let out a sigh of
relief. There
were actual tears in his eyes. Way to
make a guy wanna kick your puny ass… But I’ll let it slide this time. This was Colette he was dealing with—he couldn’t help but be a little
puny around her.
“Oh…it’s just Princess
Colette and Prince Albert up to their usual bickering.”
“I don’t envy poor Miss
Mylene.”
Albert sighed and said,
“Could you please refrain from such tasteless jokes?”
“Sorry, my bad. I let the devil in me get a little carried away.” Colette cackled freely. With a cold sweat beading
my brow, I couldn’t exactly join in her levity.
“Oh, bloody hell…” As the
adrenaline faded, my mask began to slip a little. But then I noticed her.
A girl was still watching us.
As the
other students ambled away, she just
stood there. But there was more to it than that. She was on guard,
appraising us with the gaze of an enemy. I sensed a faint
smoldering aura and magic emanating from her.
The girl looked familiar—she was probably in our
class. Right…I think she was one of the kids who gave me a good staring-down
during the welcome ceremony on the first day of school.
Since she hadn’t done
anything of note since then, I’d completely forgotten about her. But that didn’t mean I
could rest easy. Not every friendly face could be trusted. Pearlman had taught me
that lesson.
So. If she started staring at
me now, it must be because—
She’s with Gods of the Moon. Did they hire her to spy on
me?
Though well aware of it,
I let my gaze grow sharp and very unladylike. Forcing me to take
caution of her like that was a foul move.
“Something troubling you,
my lady?”
The voices of my
companions snapped me out of my head.
“Sorry…it’s nothing,” I
answered, finally forcing my graceful, ladylike smile back onto my face.
Those two had known me a
long time. They
could tell I’d flipped into a different state of consciousness when they called
my name. They
turned dubious eyes on me, then at each other.
That was a close call. If someone from Gods of
the Moon was watching us, I wanted to let them go about their business a while
longer. And
to do that, I couldn’t let them know that I was onto them.
“Oh, how
utterly troublesome,” I murmured so quietly that not even Albert and Colette
could hear me.
…All
that felt like ancient history now.
The minute hand of the
clock made a few revolutions until it was lunchtime.
“Say, Mylene?” Colette asked with restraint. Colette…had called my name with restraint.
Her anxious tugging of my
sleeve vividly expressed her unusual bewilderment. I never thought I’d see
such a side to Colette. It was like, she was…softer than I thought?
Colette gave the source
of her bewilderment a hard sideways stare. I followed her gaze to
find a pillar—or what could hardly be called one. Rather, it was a
protrusion on the wall of the hallway. A petite girl was peeking
out from behind it.
Needless to say, it was
the same blond maiden who had been shooting an impassioned stare earlier. It felt a bit strange to
call a young lady like her a “maiden,” but the tender look to her face
subconsciously evoked such a word.
“What in the world is she doing…?”
She was the root of
Colette’s bewilderment. The way she was hiding was just too fishy. Our little spy was starting to attract
the stares of those around her.
Gods of the Moon, my ass. Now I feel stupid for
being so wary of her this morning.
“What shall we do? Do you want me to go talk to her?” Albert asked hesitantly,
not out of respect for me, but to our painfully obvious pursuer.
There’s no point in letting her go about her business… As I watched the girl,
who was still drawing ample attention to herself, there was no way in hell I
could see her belonging to the same group as Pearlman: a cult of gifted mages
who wanted to—and could—bring about the end of the world.
If she were playing dumb
on purpose, I’d have to reluctantly commend her on a scheme well played—
“Oh— You needn’t trouble
yourself, Prince Albert,” I replied. “It appears it’s me she
wishes to see. I’ll have a little chat with her at the next bend in the hallway.”
I relayed my plan to them
in a hushed voice. If the girl really was spying on me, it would be beyond foolish to
voice my plans out loud, but from the way she was acting, I didn’t think I
needed to worry about it.
As we turned the next
bend in the hallway, I spun around. And there she was, the
little maiden, scurrying toward me.
When faced with the three
pairs of eyes staring down at her, she went stiff and gasped slightly. The way she froze in shock
made her look even more like a rabbit.
I forced the persuasive
sting out of my voice and spoke gently to her. “So…I think you’ve been
following us for a while. Can we help you with something?”
Out of my periphery, I saw
that Albert and even Colette were grinning kindly through their discomfort. Pity was a powerful
emotion—it let even the most insolent princess give someone a warm, concerned
smile.
“I…I dunno what you’re
talking about…”
It was an excuse so sloppy
that I would hesitate to call it deception. And her nerve was so weak
she couldn’t even look her subject in the eye.
For fuck’s
sake… Why was I ever wary of her?
“Er, I’m not sure what I
should do. Do
you have any concerns I can address?”
In as considerate a tone
as I could manage, I let her know she had no need to hide from us. But if I’m being
perfectly honest, I’m not sure that was the right move. I’d never experienced
being kind to somebody who was obviously terrified. As I stood there,
wondering if I was coming on too strong, I started to feel stupid.
…But I don’t think I
misread the first vibe I got from her.
“Mylene Petule…! You’re not fooling me!”
And with that, she turned
around and ran—with what was probably all her might. And I just stood there,
confounded. I didn’t even have an opportunity to ask what she’d meant.
“Mylene…did you do something to her?” Colette asked, shaking me
out of my daze.
“I have no memory
whatsoever…that’s all there is to say,” I answered reflexively. “I got into all sorts of
scrapes the minute I first set foot on this campus.”
But then I bit my tongue. Because truth be told, I
did have some idea.
That being said, I never
beat up anybody without just cause. And since I highly
doubted the little rabbit was one of them, she either had a grudge on their behalf or there was some
misunderstanding. Either of those possibilities were entirely feasible.
When she’d said, “You’re
not fooling me,” she was probably
referencing all the supporters I’d garnered recently. As in, I’m tricking
everyone into liking me, but I can’t fool her.
“Hum…? But she looked overly
vengeful, considering.”
Colette
was right. I couldn’t imagine what sort of nonsense she’d been fed to make her
spit out the kind of cliché line a villain would say. That’s just how rigid her
guard was around me.
Albert scratched his chin
and voiced a concern that was outside our trains of thought. “Hmm…well, one thing’s
for certain, Miss Mylene: I got the sense from her gaze that the circumstances
behind her grudge were anything but ordinary.”
From the way he talked,
it sounded like he knew her well.
“Prince Albert…are you
familiar with her?” Colette asked, voicing my own question.
Albert looked bewildered. “Um,
yes? Of
course I do, she’s in our class. Princess Colette, might I
suggest you try prying your eyes off Miss Mylene every now and then?”
“I’m terribly sorry, but
I don’t know her either,” I admitted.
“M-Miss Mylene, not you too?! She’s Melissa! The Priestess of
Eltania! Haven’t
you had interactions with her as God’s
Gift…?”
Yeah, I guess it really
was messed up of me to not know the name of a fellow classmate…
Now I see…if we’d met before I became Mylene, her attitude would make
sense. If
she had crossed paths with the Mylene from back then—who was hated as a viper
even by her own servants—she would surely sense something incredibly amiss
about the way I was behaving now. I don’t know how the
encounter between her and the former Mylene had played out, but it was surely
more than traumatizing enough to fill her with hatred and hypervigilance.
But what made my spine run
even colder was her name. Melissa of Eltania—that was a name I did
remember. How
could I ever forget it?
“By Melissa…do you mean Melissa
Tullio du Lulutrois?”
Unless they happened to be
name twins, it had to be—
“Yes,
that’s the one. So you do know her.”
“Yes… Yes, I do. My memory of her is hazy but there.”
She’d started that war. The beginning of the
end—she was the populist who the Mylene of my first life had executed.
And she’s the Priestess
of Eltania now?
And here I was starting
to get anxious because Gods of the Moon have been in the shadows lately.
“I
would love to learn more about her.”
She might have a key
piece of information I needed to know. As an icy excitement
filled my veins, I raised the corners of my mouth and showed my teeth.
“Too bad…from the way she
was acting, it will likely be difficult to get her to talk,” Colette said.
I quickly slumped. Colette’s right. She’s a skittish rabbit
girl…I don’t do well with that type. Though if she’s a citizen
of Eltania, maybe I could use my connection with Albert to get to her…
“Well.
How shall we deal
with her…?”
Scaring the shit out of
people was my specialty. But dealing with a timid rabbit without frightening her was a new
challenge. If
I made her cry, my campus life would be difficult moving forward… I just might
need to carefully draw up my plan of battle.
As a new lead and a new
obstacle unexpectedly fell into my lap, I heaved a sigh.
As I elegantly cut the
impeccably sliced carrot glacé before me into bite-size
pieces, I could hear Colette groan above me.
“So, just who is this Priestess of
Eltania, anyway? From her name, I assume she’s connected to the Lord Eltania in some
way.”
As to be expected, the
topic of conversation was Melissa.
Eltania was the kingdom
in which we resided, and it was also the moniker of its namesake deity. The “Eltania” in the
title “Priestess of Eltania” likely referred to the god, not the kingdom.
“Yes, quite right,” Albert
said. “Throughout
the ages, the Priestesses of Eltania have been known as the Lord Eltania’s most
devout believers. They’re also said to possess a unique supernatural ability that allows
them to receive fragments of the Lord Eltania’s divine prophecy.”
It seemed my guess was
generally correct. Though I wouldn’t have thought they could receive messages from a god. My lips twisted into a
sneer, putting my skepticism on full display against my will.
Albert shot an awkward
smile at me before continuing, “That’s right, Miss
Mylene, you don’t believe in God. But the Priestesses of
Eltania have predicted countless natural disasters and hardships throughout the
years. In
addition to natural disasters like the Great Flood of Imron, the Eruption of Mt. Zevent, and others, they even
prophesied conspiracies like the Case of the Silver Spoon.”
The prince felt sad that
I denied the existence of the god he still believed in. But I guess I needed to
open my mind a little, too. All the names Albert had
just dropped were events that had come up in my very basic education as a
daughter of nobility. That was just how significant those disasters and conspiracies were.
The disasters Albert
mentioned had been mitigated with minor casualties because people were evacuated
and precautions were taken.
I still didn’t believe in
the Lord Eltania. Not that I didn’t believe Eltania existed, per se. Rather, I had a hard time believing in the god’s personality—if you
could call it that—or the actions He took.
Why and how did the Lord
Eltania bestow a bitch like Mylene with such abilities? If He’d chosen a less
shitty person, the former timeline would have had a much nicer ending.
“It was her…Melissa… She
was the one who prophesied those events, wasn’t she?”
“Yes.
She belongs
to the sole bloodline who can make sense of the enigmatic words of the Lord
Eltania.”
That aside, if Melissa
really had such a power, could it be that the reason she’d started surveilling
me now was because she sensed something?
“Hmmm…,” Colette pondered. “None of the stories of
the Eltania faith are ringing any bells for me.”
“I suppose someone from
Colorne would see it that way, since your country has religious freedom and
many faiths coexist. Are there
any teachings
you believe in, Princess Colette?” Albert asked, a smirk on
his face.
“Not really, no. You make your own path in life. I’m not anti-religion,
but I don’t believe in anything I can’t see or feel with my own senses.”
That’s why Albert was
smirking—he knew Colette would say that. (Then again, I felt the
same way as her.)
“But you cannot deny the
fact that people like Pearlman exist,” Albert argued.
But now, I had to accept
the existence of deities. And ironically, it was a cult with an intense hatred of the Lord
Eltania that had made me a believer.
The fact was Pearlman
wielded powers that could only come from a god. In that regard, the
existence of beings beyond human knowledge was a practical explanation.
“However, I agree with
the princess—we have the power to pave our own path in life.”
“Yes, Mylene, I knew you
and I were cut from the same cloth.”
I ignored the melancholy
smile on Albert’s face and sipped my tea.
“You do pave your own
path in life. Having said that, I’ve developed quite an interest in this Melissa
girl,” I stated.
I had no idea what powers
a Priestess had, if any. The Priestesses might foresee major events by their own powers, not
from God, or it was possible that they orchestrated these events themselves.
But if
their abilities were genuine, I might be able to glean some new information
about the Fall of the Kingdom of Eltania from Melissa.
In other words, I could
learn something about the looming threat—Gods of the Moon.
“I would most definitely
love to speak directly with her,” I reiterated.
She knelt beneath a table
where students were eating, peering up at us with languid eyes. I’d discovered that she
was surveilling me just a little while ago. Yet, the reason she
hadn’t entered my line of sight was—
—because whenever our eyes
met, she would run away.
“Seriously. This
doesn’t bode well…”
“Oof!”
In her
haste to flee, Melissa had banged her head on the table. As I watched her run
away, tears glistening in her eyes, all I could do was heave a deep sigh.
A week had
passed since the Melissa the Spy
debacle. And
Melissa was still surveilling me. By now, the entire school
was abuzz with rumors of the petite female student observing the girl with the
Hair of Sulberia and her two royal friends.
And yet, whenever I met
her gaze (in other words, whenever she was caught), she would run away. Melissa must have thought
her spying was going rather undetected.
“She’s here again today,”
Colette groaned. “Goodness, doesn’t she ever get bored…?”
“She is quite dedicated,”
Albert agreed. “I don’t see why she doesn’t just watch us bold and in the open.”
Meanwhile, as I swung my
practice sword, it occurred to me that didn’t have
a good handle on what she looked like. That was because she
always ran away whenever I looked at her. It was frustrating—like
she was some kind of fairy.
“I’m sure she doesn’t
trust us enough yet. Never mind her, both of you—your magic armor is weak.”
“I’ll be more careful,
Miss Mylene!”
When I icily chided their
lax magic energy, they both quickly sharpened the mana surrounding their
bodies. If
you surrounded your body with magic energy, you received a certain degree of
protection from attacks. Draping yourself in magic armor throughout your daily life would
protect you from surprise attacks.
We still weren’t certain
of Gods of the Moon’s endgame, but at the very least, we knew they wanted a world of chaos or whatever. Even a princess was a
sacrificial pawn to them, so there was no telling what they might do.
By keeping ourselves in a
constant state of magical protection during our waking hours, and by training
ourselves to be able to use other spells at the same time, we could raise our
aggregate baseline. We also needed to learn to stop expending needless energy so we could
learn magic techniques that would be stable in the long term. That was the goal of our
current training regimen.
“Well…I do think this
training is sensible, but it certainly is tiring,” Albert said.
“Indeed. It’s most favorable and worthwhile, but because of it, I sleep like a
log every evening when I return to my room!”
You had to pace yourself,
mindfully expending your magic energy while continuously exerting more strength
than normal; it was akin to going about your daily life while training for a
marathon in ancient times. How long you could keep this up depended on how much magic you exerted,
of course, but most people couldn’t last longer than an hour.
And we had
gotten to a certain level of competency in just three days. Now we were starting to
get enough mental bandwidth to carry on a conversation (though we slept like
the dead at night). Those
bloody royals. All those generations of selective breeding had given them talents that
should honestly be illegal.
To a guy like me, who was
born without the ability to use magic, the powers of the nobility were
something to envy. Especially scum like Mylene, born with the divine gift like Hair of
Sulberia—it all struck me as grossly unfair.
Then again, I was now one
of the gifted few. With the exception of when I taunted my enemies, I wanted to be humble
about it and make as few foes in life as possible.
I replied to Colette,
“However…I do feel like you’re making distinct progress.”
Setting that aside, I
liked to think we’d put in the effort to deserve it. In just the past few
days, Colette’s and Albert’s magic capacities had risen to a whole new level. They were still nowhere
near Pearlman, but not even the great general of Colorne would be able to relax
and think of Colette as a beginner in a
fight. And
even Albert was in a relatively good place, Eltania-wise. He’d be able to kick the
ass of your average punk his age without issue.
“And
who was that directed at?” Colette giggled.
“Both of you,” I replied,
a dauntless smile on my face.
But that wasn’t all I had
meant. To
be sure, they were both showing impressive progress. So impressive that I felt
a clear satisfaction from having taught them. But that wasn’t the
only progress they’d made.
Our spy Melissa was still
on our tail. That was the main progress I
felt.
“She’s clearly gotten
much closer to us,” Albert observed.
Albert was right. Our observer was watching from a closer distance. Ever since her first
ambush, Melissa had kept her distance as she watched us, but
with each passing day, the distance was getting shorter and shorter.
Melissa had chipmunked a
sandwich in her cheeks. She likely felt comfortable enough to eat now. No, scratch that…her
vulnerability was probably born from negligence.
Colette leaned in and
whispered, with a grin on her face (and a hint of sadism in her voice), “What
should we do? I think she’s close enough now that we could catch her if she ran
away.”
I sensed panic in
Melissa’s aura. She must have sensed we were up to something shady.
Colette was right. We were easily close enough to grab her. With the three of us
working together, it would be easier than catching a rabbit. And of course, a part of
me just wanted this whole stupid game to be over.
“No…let’s not,” I said. “This is the perfect
opportunity to undo the misunderstanding.”
It would be a waste to
get too hasty. Now that we’d come this far, a part of me wanted to let Melissa tag one
of us “it.” Simply nabbing her would be faster, but it would suck if we freaked her
out to the point where she didn’t want to talk to us. This just wasn’t one of
those situations where we could force her to
blab.
“Understood… It’s all right.
I’m sure we’re
almost there!” Albert said, raising a spirited fist above his head.
“Yes, indeed,” I replied. (Though hell if I knew
whether we were almost there or not.)
From the look of things,
I really was the enemy in Melissa’s eyes. I wasn’t sure if the
animosity came from a prophecy from the Lord Eltania Himself, or from something
the other Mylene had done to her in the past. Either way, it had to be
something out of the ordinary to make that timid little rabbit approach me with
such determination in her eyes.
“This is
just so damn frustrating…”
I had my own fair share
of animosity, too. And I could tell it would take time to clear up the misunderstanding.
Guess I’ll just wait it
out for a while.
I swung my sword and
readied my stance. And I stared at the tip of my blade, my eyes sharpening to slits.
“The
way I see it, wouldn’t us simply waiting lead to no progress at all?”
Without naming the
individual in question, there was no need for any one of us to point out
exactly what this wall was we had hit. Even without her there,
she was always at the center of our conversations.
We were talking about our
little spy—Melissa Tullio du Lulutrois.
Perhaps out of
negligence, Melissa had closed the gap between us ever since our first contact.
But over the
past few days, she had stopped getting closer.
She never let down the
veneer of surveilling us, but she was hiding herself less and less now. She was observing our
actions out in the open.
But nothing more than that. Melissa had halted her
gradual approach. She had stopped at a comfortable distance and was not making contact.
She was like a twig on
the surface of a lake. The breeze that was carrying her to the shore had completely halted on
its waters—that’s the vision her behavior evoked.
“You wanted
to ask her some questions, didn’t you, Mylene? Well, you’re at a
stalemate now.”
“I’m well aware of that,
thank you…”
I sensed a twinge of
annoyance in Colette’s tone. She was probably out of
patience. And
to be honest, I felt like I wasn’t being myself either lately.
It would be so much easier
just to nab Melissa and make her talk. But instead, I cast a
glance at her. Despite the aura of timid terror that shrouded her, Melissa was now
able to glare back at me.
That was why I couldn’t nab
her… I’m not sure what to call it—burning with a sense of duty? Anyway, she strangely
gave off the impression of someone with a strong sense of obligation. At the very least, she
didn’t seem like I could get her to speak freely to me by using normal
classmate tactics.
And yet, I still couldn’t
bring myself to use force either—
I’d never met Melissa
face to face in my past life. I only knew her in name
as the badass duchess who’d spent her final moments standing up to the
tyrannical Mylene to protect the common people.
But even in that rotten
version of Eltania, there had still been many who were ardent supporters of
Melissa Tullio du Lulutrois. Maybe it was because my
best friend martyred himself for her…but I just couldn’t see myself taking a
hard line against her.
Then again, looking at her
now, I wasn’t sure I should believe this badass duchess shit in the first place.
“Prince Albert. Do pardon my asking, but couldn’t you be the go-between and arrange a
chat with her?”
“That was a lovely lunch. See you both later,” I said.
It went without saying,
but even amid all this stress, I still got hungry. With a
silent moment of gratitude over another day of great food, I gathered my empty
dishes and rose from my seat to return them.
“That was quick.” Colette tilted her head and gave me an odd look. “Why don’t you wait until
we’re finished so we can go together?”
Usually, we always put
back our dishes together, even when we finished eating at separate times.
“Oh, I left my uniform
for the afternoon physical education class in my room. So I’m just going to
retrieve it now. I’ll see you later in class.”
Ordinarily, I would do as
Colette suggested…but I wasn’t doing this on a whim.
When I gave the excuse
that I’d forgotten something, Colette gave an understanding nod. I grabbed my tray of
dishes and took them to the counter. I thanked the cafeteria
dishwasher, then sighed quietly to myself.
Okay. I’d better get my stuff
quickly so I won’t be late to class.
I put the cafeteria behind
me. And as I
marched swiftly toward the dorms, I sensed the presence of a little rabbit,
scurrying behind me.
I slowed my gait to match
the little presence behind me…and heaved another quiet sigh.
Keeping
pace with Melissa made me very late.
I was headed for the
dressing room. I had to hurry—there would be no point in my going all the way back to
my room to retrieve my uniform if I was late for class.
A startled Melissa
quickened her pace, not wanting to lose sight of me. In what
universe were there spies with loud footsteps?! I wondered, but she
probably felt there was no point in her hiding anymore.
When I arrived at the
dressing room, I found it empty, despite the fact that we were having our
afternoon physical education classes. I would be in deep shit
if I didn’t hurry.
I unbuttoned
my uniform blouse. Whenever I was in a hurry, I couldn’t help but wish that girl clothing
wasn’t so annoying compared to boy clothing. I liked to think I was
used to it by now, but it was little moments like these that made me think
maybe I wasn’t as adaptable as I took myself for.
Wait, screw that—I’ve got
more important fish to fry.
I casually glanced at the
door…and there were Melissa’s eyes, fixed on me. Even though we were the
same sex, I still felt oddly embarrassed having her stare at me like that while
I changed. I
mean, Colette saw me undress every night before bed, but that was more…casual…? Or something.
What
the hell am I even thinking about…? I awkwardly and
deliberately averted my eyes from Melissa. As I calmly and
gracefully undid the buttons of my blouse, I cursed under my breath, willing
myself to ignore Melissa’s staring.
Okay, maybe I was a
little too self-conscious of my own body. But now that I was down
to my underwear, I felt a strange sense of danger…and I wasn’t sure why.
Why do I feel so…? But it was then that I
realized the source of my discomfort: Why hadn’t Melissa
entered the dressing room?
Melissa was in my class. That was how she was able to
keep constant watch over me, but it also meant we had the same curriculum. She had to change into
her uniform now, or else she wouldn’t make it to our afternoon class.
No, wait…ditching just
one class today wouldn’t be a big deal for her. Maybe that’s her intention.
As I stole a sideways
glance at Melissa, I noticed she was still staring at me. Either she wasn’t going
to class, she wasn’t aware of the time, or both.
“What the hell are you
doing?!”
Melissa shuddered at the
sudden booming voice.
When the unwelcome (but
inevitable) turn of events transpired, I clutched my head
and sighed. Melissa wasn’t the only thing outside the dressing room door. Now there were also a
silhouette darting left and right.
Well, no shit. She was staring into the dressing room for a good minute. Of course somebody was
gonna yell at her.
I grabbed the frantic
Melissa’s arm and dragged her into the dressing room with me. Her eyes wide with shock,
and I pushed her against the wall—
“Shh.”
I pressed a
finger to her tiny lips, willing her to shut up.
“Hey!
Is somebody in there?!”
Barely a
moment later, a teacher’s voice boomed from the other side of the door.
“Mylene, first year of
the Phoenix Class, sir.”
“O-oh, it’s you, Miss Mylene.
I think a
peeping tom just rushed into the dressing room—did you see anything?”
Luckily, it was a male
teacher. Meaning,
he wouldn’t barge in after us. Melissa squeezed her
limpid eyes shut as I silenced her by placing my hand over her mouth.
“No, sir—I’m the only one
here. I’m
quite all right; you may leave.”
Melissa’s eyes shot open. She didn’t think I would
cover for her. If I had malicious intent, I would have acted on it long ago, but that
concept hadn’t made it into her brain.
“Er,
hmm. Well, if you
say so, miss…”
The teacher surely saw me
draw somebody into the dressing room, but he couldn’t barge in with girls
inside. I
heard a note of dissatisfaction in his voice, but since he was a male teacher,
there was a line that he just couldn’t cross with daughters of the nobility.
“Afternoon class will
begin shortly. Try
not to be late, miss.”
And in the end, the man
disappeared with the sound of footsteps.
I exhaled softly and
pried my fingers off Melissa’s mouth. She was frozen stiff. But she soon thawed, her
face turning red.
Her mouth opened and
closed like an ocean wave, and her eyes swam to and fro as
she stared at me. I had to laugh at how obviously sketchy she looked. No wonder the teacher had
sounded so nervous.
“I’m well aware that
you’ve been surveilling me, but peeking in the dressing room is a bit uncouth.”
Melissa finally realized
the extent of what she had done. She seemed to regret it,
but she couldn’t say anything to her archnemesis, lest I find out.
Silence fell in the
dressing room, but Melissa didn’t run away. After a while, she slowly
turned her gaze back to me.
It didn’t matter that we
were both girls—peeping at a prep school earned you a severe punishment. While she was still
somewhat frightened, I sensed that a clear wave of relief had washed over
Melissa. But
the biggest emotion she was feeling then was confusion over my covering for
her.
“Because I know you’ve
been watching me. I don’t particularly mind being seen like this, and I trust you had no
unrighteous intent just now? I felt your behavior
didn’t warrant angering an instructor.”
I answered as logically
as possible, making sure she knew there was nothing to feel guilty about. There was just one thing
I wanted to keep to myself, however—
“Besides, a friend of
mine is in your debt. So I simply couldn’t bring myself to hate you.”
The crude, wife-loving
face of my friend from my mercenary days popped into my head as I said that. Melissa probably wondered
what I was talking about. She didn’t remember helping anyone. But that poor friend of
mine had worshipped her so much that he sacrificed his life to avenge her. I’d never met Melissa in
my past life, but I somehow couldn’t hate the little shit now.
Melissa gave her head a
curious tilt but narrowed her eyes slightly. She was glaring at me
again, at a much closer distance than before, but I didn’t sense any of the
harshness from our first meeting in her gaze.
“I was
right…you’re different,” she murmured quietly. But in the quiet of
dressing room, her voice echoed loudly enough to give me chills.
“Mylene Petule never…she never smiled like that.”
My heart felt like it was
wrapped in ice. It was a piercing coldness, crushing my chest like a giant fist.
My blood felt like it was
frozen, but my body was on fire. That was the last
question I was expecting to hear, but I managed a calm tone in my reply.
I didn’t suppose her
finding out I wasn’t the real Mylene would cause any huge problems. The poor saps at the
mansion all thought I was the genuine article, and as long as my father thought
I could benefit him in some way, that would be enough.
Neither Albert nor
Colette had known Mylene before she became me. And considering the
former timeline, I did believe they would both choose me over the girl I’d
replaced.
Nobody was actually
harmed by me taking over Mylene’s body. But the unfathomable truth
that a girl I barely knew for a month had discovered my darkest secret—well,
that was bound to make my blood freeze.
“I meant what I said. The Mylene Petule I met
in the past was a hopeless piece of shit.” Melissa’s eyes turned to
angry slits as she looked up at me.
Ordinarily, I might have
thought the gesture to be adorable, but since she was seeing something beneath the surface as
she stared into my eyes, I just felt like I was going to be sick.
“When I
encountered her before, she didn’t have an ounce of grace. She skimped on
hospitality, never lost a chance to complain, and she thought that everything
should and would go her way—the stupid bitch.”
But Melissa proceeded to
talk shit about Mylene. And I found her quite convincing. Listening to her rip
Mylene to shreds made me wonder what the old Mylene must have done or said to
her when they first met.
For the first time in a
while, I thought back to the moment I took over this body. The surreal experience of
having the worst reputation for something I didn’t remember doing reminded me
of how it felt when I’d gotten drunk and made an ass of myself. Adan really gave me shit
for that—but I digress. Looking back on that day would just make me embarrassed.
But the more time I spent
in this body, the angrier I started to feel about all the childhood scrapes the former Mylene had
gotten into here and there. Still, hearing the
scornful words directed at me was mildly effective.
“Again, you may look like Mylene, but you’re not her. Anyone
who knew Mylene Petule years ago would have suspicions.”
And yet, it was those
words that made my blood run even colder. To people who knew the former Mylene, I definitely was
an anomaly.
“So, what are you trying
to say? That
an impostor has taken my place?”
“I doubt it. Your hair and divine magic could only be gifts from the Lord Eltania. Nobody could imitate them. That’s why I think it’s
something else.”
To be able to deduce this
far, she must have had some sort of tangible evidence. Though I had no clue just
how much she had caught on to—
“What interesting things
you say. Is
that why you’ve been surveilling me?”
My unique Hair of
Sulberia—maybe that was the only reason for her surveillance. If she didn’t like the
former Mylene, the discovery that I wasn’t at all like her should have actually
been good news for Melissa.
In Melissa’s eyes, I
didn’t see any resentment toward Mylene for forgetting
her sordid past and living a life of leisure. The look in her eyes
carried weight—it was the kind you would only give to an archnemesis.
“I can’t tell you… I
can’t trust you either.”
But I couldn’t get her to
tell me the reason why. As the mystery I was so close to grasping slipped out of my fingers, it
took everything in me not to curse out loud.
I took a deep breath in
and out to calm myself. Then I smiled daringly and said, “Is that so? Then why don’t you see
for yourself just how trustworthy I am?”
It would seem that our
Melissa absolutely despised the former Mylene. If I gave her a reason to
hate me now, it would be back to square one. So I needed her to get to
know me. To
see with her own eyes just how different I was from that bitch in the past.
“I
could never trust you. But it’s quite clear to
me now that you’re not that bitch.” Melissa broke off for a
moment and hung her head. And when she looked up again, the fear in her gaze was gone. “But yes…I will observe
you unabashedly. I will see you who really are with my own eyes.”
She walked toward the
door, glaring coldly back at me. And still holding my gaze
in her icy one, she left the dressing room.
Aha…quite interesting
indeed. So,
she calls the Mylene before I took over her body “that bitch.”
At first, she’d really
made my blood freeze, but thinking about it with a clear head, I realized this
was anything but bad for me. If anything, I’d found a
new question I needed to ask her.
Melissa must have had
some exclusive information to be able to say something so absurd with such
confidence. It might be a prophecy from Eltania. If her powers were
genuine, I’d love to pick her brain about this motherfucking situation I was
in.
But first—I have
afternoon class to attend.
Though the results were
fruitful, I had spent more time than I meant to. I was practically one step
away from being tardy.
I resumed my changing and ran my arms through the
sleeves of my uniform. Okay, I’m almost definitely tardy but still early enough to get off
with an apology. Better hurry.
My habitual good-girl
demeanor came in handy at times like these. I was about to put my
hand on the door, but it opened on its own before I could.
And on the other side of
it…was Melissa. That made
sense. She
was in my class and took the same courses as me. Unless she was going to
ditch PE, she needed to change clothes, too.
Her eyes were wet with
shame and her cheeks puffed with red.
“I’ll tell the teacher
you’ll be late, Melissa.”
Melissa—the priestess
with unfathomable powers who’d faced the one she hated head-on (though
trembling all the while). A little while ago, I had seen traces of the Mylene-resisting duchess
she would later become.
But maybe I overestimated
the girl just a wee bit…? Whenever I caught glimpses of the ditzy priestess, I couldn’t help but
roll my eyes.
With a barely audible
“Thank you…” at my back, I headed for my PE class.
Our
afternoon gym class began.
Our sword instructor was
known for being a hard-ass, but he probably took my reputation as a good
student into account when he let me off with a warning. Compared to the other
students, I was given exceptional treatment.
Then again, Albert and
Colette putting in a good word for me was also part of it.
“Melissa Tullio du
Lulutrois, I have been apprised of the situation—are you feeling better now?”
Ah. Sounds like Melissa just
arrived late.
I had told
the teacher that Melissa was feeling ill. The teacher’s question
flustered her, but she nodded meekly just the same.
“All right. Well, take it easy today. And if you ever feel ill
again, be sure to tell me in advance.”
She got off with a
warning, too. I guess being a model citizen did have its perks—and not because God is always
watching
or anything grand like that. If you rack up a good
reputation, it’ll help you out of a jam someday.
Melissa took a deep
breath in and out, then she resumed her regularly scheduled spying on me. The once annoyingly
stagnant distance between us was a bit closer now.
“Miss Mylene,” Albert
whispered in my ear, noticing the reduced distance. Before, Melissa wasn’t so
close that he needed to whisper not to be heard, but now she was close enough
to hear a conversation at a normal volume.
“Is there a problem, Your
Highness?”
“Er, no, I was just
thinking something must have happened between you and Melissa. She’s clearly closer to
you, isn’t she?”
Physically, she was closer. But Albert probably meant
psychologically. I sent a small glance at her. She puffed her tiny
cheeks and looked away.
“Well, a few things did
happen, yes. Though not at all what I was expecting.”
“Ooh, I’m a little intrigued.
How did you
manage to close the gap between you?”
There wasn’t much to
tell, but he had been rather sensitive about Melissa over the past month. I guessed it wouldn’t
hurt to tell him.
“When I was changing in
the dressing room, Melissa was peeping. And when a teacher was
going to scold her for it, I gave her a helping hand.”
That was as much as I
could tell him. The word “peeping” did sound quite problematic, but even though from
the teacher’s perspective, it looked like somebody was peeping in on the
dressing room, Albert and Colette knew without my saying that any “peeping” Melissa had done was
solely for the purpose of surveilling me.
“Grah?!
Um, please
don’t scream in my ear?”
I guess I’d misread him. Albert’s sudden yelp
revealed to me his true colors.
Shaking hysterically, he
shrilly whispered, “Wha—na—she was peeping on you undressing, Miss
Mylene…?! What utter
insolence…!”
His face was bright red,
out of either anger or embarrassment. No, wait, both. Albert was always easy to read.
“Please, Your Highness,
calm down. Melissa
is a girl just like me. She always stares at me—you know
this, don’t you? It just happened in a slightly different location, that’s all.”
“B-but Miss Mylene…! Peeping in on a dressing room is completely different!”
“If she wanted to see my
bare skin, she would have had a better time of it changing in the dressing room
with me. Melissa
didn’t have such motives, and you and I both know it.”
“Nnggg!
I…I know it
in my head, but in my heart, I—!”
I felt a heavy weight on
my brain not unlike a migraine…I didn’t think Albert would get so upset over
it. Just
when I thought he was finally mellowing out with age, his bad sickness had come
back with a vengeance.
Then Colette jumped in to
assist. “Mylene’s
right, Prince Albert. They’re both girls, so there’s nothing naughty to it.”
“W-well, I suppose…you’re
right…”
My eyes widened in
pleasant surprise. It was unusual of Colette to be the one to consoling Albert.
“Besides, I’ve watched
Mylene undress at night many times!”
“Grrr!
You insufferable
woman!”
Yeah, I guess Colette
isn’t the consoling type.
I felt
stupid for getting my hopes up. Especially since Colette
was the master of satisfying her own
desires by unscrupulous means.
“Please, tone it down, you
two. Everyone’s
watching us. Show
some restraint, Princess.”
“Aw, but things were just
getting interesting. You’re
no fun, Mylene.”
“G-grr!
Well, if
you insist, Miss Mylene, then I’ll drop it…!”
But it was rather clear
that he didn’t want to let it go.
How can I get this
dumbass to chill?
“That’s enough warming
up, class. I
want you to pair up and practice sparring today.”
Perfect timing. Now the raging Albert (and the princess fomenting his rage) would need
to behave and do as the teacher said.
We’re in pairs, eh? Guess I know who I’ll be
sparring with.
“Mylene, be my partner as
per usual.”
It made the most sense
for me to partner with Colette, since she was the closest to my level. She was the only person
in the class who could put up a decent fight against me. And while Albert cursed
his own helplessness, he accepted it.
“Miss Melissa, if you
need a partner, would you like to spar with me?”
But today, he was a
little different.
With a gleam in his eyes,
he approached—rather, he confronted Melissa.
“Who,
me? Um…with
you, Prince Albert? V-very
well…”
Meanwhile, Melissa seemed
confused by Albert’s unusual behavior. As he was her prince, she
gave him the most basic of respectful answers, but she was clearly
bewildered—or less diplomatically put, the look in her eye said, The fuck
is this guy on about?
From Albert’s
perspective, he wanted to teach Melissa a lesson for peeping on me. Though I was sure there
was a mix of taking his anger for Colette out on her, too.
“Things are
getting rather interesting, aren’t they?” With a finger on her
chin, Colette eagerly leaned forward to watch the pair.
There
she goes, mocking him again. I snorted, letting the
annoyance show on my face—
But truth be told, I was
interested, too.
And there was one other
thing—
Melissa readied her
practice sword. Then she sheathed her body and her weapon in incredibly steady magic.
Albert’s eyes opened wide. Colette gasped in awe.
So I was right—this was
just my surface-level assessment, but Melissa was pretty good.
Having said that, she
wasn’t undergoing any special combat training. Her stance was amateur,
and the distribution of her consciousness was a far cry from a battle
mentality.
“She’s very comfortable
with expending a lot of magic energy. I bet she used quite a
bit of it in her daily life growing up,” I said.
“Are you saying she did
the sort of training we’ve been doing lately?” Colette asked.
“No, I doubt she trained
with combat in mind. It’s not the result of continuous magic use, but of having used a large
amount of magic.”
“So that’s why she’s
neglected her stance, even though her magic is so high. That tracks.”
“Well, what do you think,
Mylene?”
“About
Albert and Melissa—who will win?” With her arms still
folded, she shot a sideways smile, daring me.
She already knew the
answer, I’m sure. I thought the whole exercise was stupid, but I replied, “A ninety
percent chance of Prince Albert winning, I’d say. While Melissa is superior
in magic levels and technique, magic attacks are prohibited in this exercise. Meaning Prince Albert’s
mediocre-yet-capable swordsmanship will prevail. It’s not set in stone,
but I’d say Melissa’s chances of emerging victorious are next to nothing.”
“An exemplary answer. Now, what if this were a
real battle?”
I answered promptly. “There are too many
unknown variables, but I still think Prince Albert would win. I believe Melissa is
better suited to multi-combat than one-on-one.”
Melissa’s command of her
magic was quite impressive. I surmised that her
technique had been pounded into her over many long years of physical reflex
conditioning. I was still superior to her in magic, but when it came to actually
wielding it, Melissa had the upper hand because she’d been using it all her
life.
But that was all she had. In a one-on-one battle,
everything came down to experience and how you used your body. That was an arena where
even a magicless mercenary like my former self could gain notoriety.
There still weren’t many
people in this era who realized that, though.
“Let’s begin. Come at me with everything you’ve got,” Albert said.
Okay, let’s see how things
play out in reality.
Even though Albert
yielded the first attack to Melissa, she was still cautious. Her great skill in magic
use meant that she was also adept at measuring up her opponent’s magic
technique.
Then there was Albert. He yielded the first
strike to Melissa while tracing lines in the empty air with his thin practice
sword modeled after a rapier. By moving continuously, he
didn’t telegraph his target and kept his muscles warm—it was a perfect
defensive tactic. He played the part of a gentleman while luring his opponent into his
favored fighting style. He wasn’t making it easy for her, and I liked it.
Good. Keep at it, I murmured to myself. This was nothing more
than a game, but if this were a real fight, just surviving it would be bliss—ya
had to use all tools ya had to win. When I saw Albert putting
into practice the sort of techniques most noblemen hated, I caught myself
feeling uncharacteristically proud.
In spite of everything, I
guess I do have a soft spot for Albert as my apprentice.
I wasn’t sure why, but I
liked watching him diligently apply the lessons I’d taught him.
Okay, what’s going to
happen now…?
Albert was poised for a
counterattack and Melissa was on guard. She seemed to only have a
vague sense that he was having a difficult time attacking her, and she lacked
the experience and attention allocation to understand what his stance really
meant.
In the end, Melissa lost
patience and went on the attack. In an instant, she
unleashed a burst of magic energy and made a tremendous lunge. It was impressive that
she had made it that far. It was clear she had used up a fair amount of magic.
“Now I see why you are a
priestess. You
have incredible magic…however!”
Albert took the attack
with his sword and snapped it away. If this were a contest of
blades, he would be far superior. If you took his combat
experience into account, he had a crushing advantage.
In
a way, this was closer to the
essence of real battle. Magic levels significantly influenced the outcome of a fight, but the
deciding factor lay somewhere else.
Melissa’s attack, imbued
with large amounts of magic, gave her wooden
practice sword the power of a war hammer. But if you knew an attack
was coming, you could easily dodge it, and if you had the right amount of
magic, it wouldn’t be difficult to block either.
To time your response to a
blow just right, you needed a good eye—one conditioned for combat.
Melissa’s stance faltered
greatly as she took a breath. She collected magic at her
legs so she could jump and right herself again.
In the string of
minuscule moments we call a battle, she had the ability to achieve what she
wanted in an instant. The way she used magic to move her body was admirable.
However, Albert had read
her evasive maneuver. Melissa had the advantage in speed, but because he had predicted her
move before she made it, he didn’t allow her the time to regain her footing.
As Albert swung at her,
she blocked with her practice sword. But—
Since her footing was
unstable, her guard faltered, and she fell on her bottom.
“You put up a worthy
fight,” Albert said, declaring his victory.
“I yield… Well done,
Prince…Albert.”
In a daze, Melissa took
Albert’s hand and stood up. The students watching the match erupted in a frenzied murmur.
I didn’t blame them. The bout had consisted of
only a few attacks, but for a competition between two students, it was quite
high-level.
The teacher cut in with
some words of praise. “That was splendid, Prince Albert. You had a keen eye there.”
“Thank you, sir,” Albert
said, the epitome of calm.
I always thought of Albert
as a rookie…but looking at him now, the guy’s kinda badass.
In my eyes, he was still
unripe, but he would be a fine swordsman when he grew up. The necessity of basic
knowledge aside, I wasn’t sure if a prince needed to be proficient in combat,
but let’s not dwell on that.
“Melissa
Tullio, you also showed superb magic skill. I commend you on your
ability to wield tremendous magic power with such grace.”
On the other hand, a
battle could not be called high-level if only its victor were skilled. Melissa also received
high praise for demonstrating combat prowess that didn’t fall too far behind
Albert’s.
“However, in terms of
swordsmanship, Prince Albert is still a couple steps ahead of you. Class—if you were paying
attention, you know what I’m talking about. In combat, magic is
perceived as your most important weapon, but don’t forget that the sword is
just as valuable! Take this match to heart and let it carry you to the next level of your
training!”
The teacher concluded his
speech by declaring both fighters were skilled, but it was the difference in
swordsmanship that had settled it. Then he clapped his hands
to tell everyone to resume their matches. He seemed pleased that
the students had their eyes locked on Melissa’s and Albert’s duel, as it would
be a good teaching moment for them.
From the daily romping
around I’d done since I first arrived at this school, I had a general idea of
what level kids like this were at. Most third-year students
couldn’t pull off a fight like the one Albert and Melissa had just participated
in. I could
understand why the teacher had wanted the students to pay attention to it.
That being said…I’d still
give it a forty. Swordplay and Magic were both important elements in winning a fight,
but Albert had demonstrated the most crucial element of all: Experience and the Flexibility it cultivated.
If you wanted to walk away
from a real battle, you needed to know how to win.
Albert also had little
practical combat experience, but I’d been pounding into him the techniques he
needed for a real battle. During my days at the family manor, I’d trained myself until I was
piss-tired almost every day—and it wasn’t for show.
I
gave a proud snort. Surprisingly, it felt goddamn amazing to have somebody you trained get
praise and recognition from others.
“But, Prince Albert, your
swordsmanship was excellent. Where did you learn how
to fight like that?”
But my good mood couldn’t
last for long. I froze when I took a sudden arrow to my vitals.
…Keep your goddamn mouth
shut, Professor.
“So glad you asked,
Professor!”
No way is Albert not
gonna answer that.
“I learned my techniques
from the sword master at the palace, of course, but everything else, I learned
from my beloved Miss Mylene! I know you praised my
skills earlier, sir, but I am but a mere fledgling in the face of her
swordplay!”
As Albert sang my
praises, I fell into a daze for the briefest of moments. Then the entire class
stared at me.
“Exactly, sir! Her strength, her beauty, and her flexibility in a variety of
situations are unique in this kingdom—nay, on Earth! Look the world over and
you won’t find another like her! Your own Prince Albert
has fallen madly in love with her. As such, I am working very
hard so that I may hope to get a little closer to her, but her footsteps are
still far beyond my reach.”
Albert was swimming in a
cesspool of his own bliss. If I didn’t have to pretend to be a good girl, I’d march over to him
and sink my fist into that stupid head of his, but since I was acting like a
gracious daughter of the nobility (as hard as that was at the moment), I
couldn’t do that.
“Yes, I remember her
elegant swordsmanship when she saved me from those upperclassman bullies…”
“A lady of both martial
and literary arts—that’s Miss Mylene!”
A murmur
rose from the students like a whirlwind. Taking the future into
consideration, I decided that gaining clout and fame wasn’t necessarily a bad
thing, but at the moment, I didn’t want to stand out any more than I had to.
“I see…so people adore
her even more than I thought.”
Even Melissa was gazing
at me with admiration.
Ahh, fuck me. Now that the prince is a little capable, he’s needlessly
persuasive—makes me sick.
“Kee-hee-hee, I think you’re popular,
Mylene,” Colette said.
Amid the clamor, I cursed
in a voice only she could hear, “I do wish they would give it a bloody rest.”
This would be great
publicity if I decided to become a mercenary in the future… But in my past
life, shining eyes of adoration had never been in the cards. It made my skin crawl.
I held up my practice
sword to banish the feeling.
“Come, Princess Colette,
it’s time you and I sparred, too.”
“Hum?
I don’t care
either way, really.”
The best way to shake off
bad feelings is to move your body. As I pointed my blade at
Colette, she answered with a lionhearted smile.
……I wouldn’t realize I’d
made a mistake until much later.
Our fencing class ended
that day amid eager cries of jubilation.
“—and there
you have it. The seemingly doomed village fought through their bitter struggle, and
the victory they attained brought about the founding of a nation—Eltania. That is the origin story
of my kingdom.”
It was nighttime. I was teaching Eltanian history to a small crowd of schoolgirls. I usually spent my free
time at night in the dorms networking, studying, and teaching girls in the
counseling room.
“Wow…so the great kingdom
of Eltania was once a tiny village.”
“That was so interesting! Thanks, Miss Mylene!”
Since this continent was
crammed with kingdoms big and small, we didn’t take the time to study each one
individually in class. Instead, the school placed great emphasis on teaching us the history of
the largest nation states.
And as Eltania was one of
the five biggest nations in the continent, the students had gathered to have me
teach them about it. To be honest, it wasn’t a subject I was all that fond of.
“Some people attribute
the burst of strength that helped Eltania turn the tides of war to a deity. The name of the god who is
said to have bequeathed them with divine power is Eltania. In other words, the
kingdom of Eltania derives its name from their god.”
“That’s the god from
Eltanism, right?”
“Yes.
I see
you’re quite knowledgeable.” I gave the proud student
a smile.
The reason I hated the
story of Eltania’s founding was because it had deep ties to the Eltanian faith.
Since the
kingdom was named after the god, you couldn’t separate them. If somebody wanted praise
for learning the lesson, that knowledge was a bare minimum.
In truth, the war that
brought about Eltania’s founding was incredibly devastating. It was so bleak that Eltania would have needed a favor from
God to win.
“Ohh, how intriguing. So the faith already
existed by the time the nation was founded.”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s quite interesting,
when you think of Eltania’s history as much longer.”
“It goes to show just how
important Eltania the god is to Eltania the kingdom.”
Besides, if I divorced my
feelings from it, Eltania’s history made for an engrossing story. Colette was nodding in a
fervor. She’d
looked bored at the start of my history lesson, but once I got into the story,
she was riveted.
Having said that, this
wild imperial princess was not good at sitting still. Having reached her limit,
she sneaked up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. It was annoying—the
weather was getting way too hot for that.
“Oooh, Miss Mylene,
Princess Colette, you two really are close.”
Well, the schoolgirl
wasn’t wrong. But I’d heard that close relationships of that nature weren’t unusual
in the girls’ dorm.
Agh, get
your damn hands off me…
“Does it really look that
way? You’ve
got good eyes—um, sorry…”
“Right,
Sarah. I’ll remember that.”
As Colette publicly
displayed her love for me—at least for now—having someone acknowledge it sent
her to the moon. Meanwhile, I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my lips into a grim
line. It’s
not like the misunderstanding would hurt anyone, but I just couldn’t afford
anyone getting suspicious about our relationship.
“Ahem… Well, I think it’s time
we wrap things up for today. Does anybody have any
questions regarding Eltania? I’d be happy to answer,
if I can.”
I forced a change of subject.
As I turned
professional, Colette reluctantly slinked away from me. But she still kept a
close distance, which I couldn’t hate her for.
Then one of the girls
raised a hand. “I
have…just one question.”
But that was when I felt
something was amiss.
But I didn’t recognize the girl who’d asked the
question. No, wait…I get the feeling I’ve seen her somewhere before. At the very least, I know
she’s not in my class. I haven’t memorized all the faces of the girls from the other classes,
so I can’t be certain, but does she even go here?
“When lecturing about
Eltania’s religion, there’s one element you cannot leave out: the Hair of Sulberia. Could you tell us about
that?”
Her long blond hair was
covering her face, preventing me from getting a good look at her. Once again, I felt that
something was deeply amiss.
The Hair of
Sulberia—indeed, you couldn’t leave that out of an explanation of Eltania’s
religion. According
to some sources, a mighty war hero in Eltania’s founding had possessed the Hair
of Sulberia.
And I don’t think it
needs to be said that I have the Hair of Sulberia. I had
avoided talking about this, since it would feel like I was just bragging about
myself.
“Oh!
I’ve heard of that. Like, whoever has the
Hair of Sulberia is called God’s Gift because they’re blessed with all sorts of supernatural abilities!”
“You’ve made me a
believer, Miss Mylene! With your unmatched beauty, your gift for the blade, and most of all,
your powerful magic, you make me believe that God took a special liking to
you.”
Just as I’d feared, the
girls began to squeal in excitement.
I hated the
attention—that’s why I’d kept quiet. Being praised felt
shitty, and bringing up the Hair of Sulberia myself made it seem like that’s
what I was aiming for—double shitty.
The bitch with the
question had butted in at exactly the wrong moment, so there was no doubt she was well versed in
Eltania lore.
And since she was clearly
doing this to give me a hard time, did that mean she was like Melissa? Had I unknowingly done
something to put myself on her shit list?
I shot a sideways glance
at Melissa, who had been listening to my lecture (and who had sneaked even
closer to me). When I did this, she gave me a curious glance back. That meant Melissa had not
sent this girl.
“That’s right, Miss
Mylene…you are Eltania’s national treasure!”
Was that an insult? I guess you could call it that…
But what I sensed from the
girl was just the opposite, if anything. It was an indication that
she had very mixed feelings about me. With a swish of her long
blond hair, the mysterious girl stood and pointed at Colette.
“How dare you…s-snuggle up
to her so unceremoniously! That
is utter heresy!” she snarled, breathing
heavily and pointing an accusing finger at Colette.
The abrupt change in mood
sent the students in the counseling room into a hushed frenzy.
Colette answered the
declaration of war, deepening her smile. She burned for a
challenge; that was just who she was.
It would
seem our intruder didn’t hate me—quite the opposite. Just as I was about to
mutter an Oh,
fuck me…under my
breath—
—Colette and I both
twisted our faces in shock. The fiery girl pointing
at Colette lifted her head, her long blond hair parting, to stare straight at
Colette. Now
her face was on full display. It was well chiseled and
youthful, with big, doll-like eyes. You could say she looked
more girlish than a girl.
The mystery student who was more girlish than a girl was
in fact no girl at all.
Before Colette could say
his name, I covered her mouth.
“W-wah-ha-haha…! My,
what an unfamiliar
face! Since you’re here, I would love to take the opportunity
to get better acquainted with you!”
“I would be honored, Miss
Mylene!”
Except—as you know—he
wasn’t a girl.
You know what’ll happen
if you rat Albert out, right?
Colette nodded in reply,
bewildered but understanding. Knowing that not even
Colette would get a laugh out of this situation, I let her go.
I plastered a smile on my
face so large that it sent shivers down my spine and grabbed Lulu’s hand.
“Well!
We still
have some time before lights-out. Why don’t we continue
this lecture in my room? What do you say, Lulu?”
“Well then,
my apologies, but I’m ending today’s lesson here. Good night, ladies.”
I unilaterally cut the
Eltania lecture short and dragged the intruder out of the counseling room.
“You
little shit…what the hell were you playing at?!”
“W-well, it’s like this,
Miss Mylene—”
I snapped at Albert’s
confused stammer, “Does the Eltanian monarchy teach their princes to wear stupid-ass wigs on their heads when
they’ve got something important to say?”
Albert slumped, making
himself very small as he removed the wig. Before my eyes, he became
a boy with short blond hair wearing a female school uniform. He still looked every bit
like a girl.
I had a number of
colorful things I wanted to say to him, but I just heaved a sigh instead.
Who, I ask—who would have thought that
the prince of a kingdom would cross-dress and sneak into a girls’ dormitory?
“Shit, are you for real
right now? I mean…what made you think this was okay…?”
I’d almost rather he had
sneaked into my room and tried to have his way with me in my sleep. I could’ve just kicked
him out of my window and gotten it over with. Now, I wasn’t gonna deny
the guy his fetishes, but I just wish he’d take his position into consideration
before acting on them.
“N-now, now… Let’s not
yell, Mylene. It’s harder to talk to Prince Albert that way. Why don’t we go easy on
him, at least while we talk this through?”
It had
gotten so out of hand that even Colette was taking Albert’s side. She had probably come to
his defense more out of secondhand embarrassment than kindness, but I hadn’t
realized just how angry I was until she pointed it out.
Turning the screws on
somebody when you wanted them to talk was amateur stuff. I’d never get a proper
explanation out of him like this—if anything, he’d lie to protect himself.
My emotions reversed. I felt my wave of rage
leave my body as I waited patiently for Albert to speak.
Finally, after I gave him
ample time, Albert spoke. “I was just w-worried about you! I was scared that
Princess Colette would keep taking you farther and farther away from me!”
Apparently, Albert had
done all that because he was scared of losing me. Now it was my turn to be
shocked. Was
that any excuse to dress as a girl and infiltrate the girls’ dorm? I guess whenever we’re
faced with something we can’t understand, our brains stall.
He’s a dumbass. I already knew he was stupid, but I had no idea he was the supreme lord
of dumbassery.
“Ohh…so you’re saying you
want to fight me for her. You’ve got guts, I admire that.”
But what really hurt my
brain was the knowledge that he wasn’t the only dumbass of his kind.
Colette was the type who
got what she wanted by any means necessary. She was also a
hedonist—as long as she was having fun, she was up for anything. Her satisfied eyes were
practically saying, Finally, a worthy opponent.
Driven to a mad fervor by
his archnemesis’s words, Albert shuddered.
“I just…I just can’t let
this one go.” He looked up, his eyes filled with determination.
When I
saw the manly look in his determined
eyes, I blurted out, “Come again?”
“There’s a reason I can’t
back off…! Play all the cards you have—you
taught me that lesson yourself, Miss Mylene!”
“Mmm-hmm!” Colette
hummed at the defiant Albert in ecstasy. “So this is what mad desperation
looks like! I
know this sounds weird coming from me, but is everything okay?!”
However, I didn’t think
it was funny. I asked her politely, with an edge in my voice, “To what are you
referring, Princess—Eltania’s future or our young prince’s brain?”
“Both!”
Colette answered
with vigor.
I wrinkled my brow, then
cursed under my breath, “Couldn’t agree more…”
It’d been a while since
my brain hurt like this. Though in a way, you could say Albert was just being loyal to my
teachings. Out
of everyone in the academy, Albert was the only male student who could play the
cross-dressing card flawlessly. Case in point—he was able
to infiltrate my room like this without drawing any suspicion from anybody.
But this was just beyond
dumbassery.
“Be that as it may! I admire your spirit! I respect the way you’ll
do whatever it takes to keep your enemy from getting what’s rightfully yours!”
That didn’t just apply to
Albert. Colette
was equally guilty.
“Argh…” I clutched my
head and let out a big sigh.
Honestly, I was tired. I was so tired. But it looked like I’d have to suck it up and beat some grit into the
guy. I
wanted to do something about Colette, too, but this problem took precedence.
I stared daggers into his
eyes and grabbed his head. “Tomorrow, I’m gonna fuck you up so bad, you’re gonna wish I’d killed you right now.”
“Awww?!?! But aren’t you going to
praise me for acting tough?!”
—I had to
deal with Albert first.
I guess the pip-squeak
was finally starting to grow a spine. But we’d be screwed if I
didn’t instill the very basic sense of ethics in him.
I mean, if you were
leading a nation, playing every card you had in your hand was a highly
commendable stance to take. But you had to back it up
with a sense of dignity so powerful that nobody else could fuck with you—like
that witch of an imperial princess who’d sacked Eltania with a perfectly timed
surprise attack.
Then again, I guess it
would be cruel to want him to take it that far…
Having said that, Albert
did have his virtues, of course. If only he hadn’t been
duped by that evil bitch in the other timeline, he would have been a
popular king, beloved by his subjects.
But in this timeline, he
needed to be more than that. And that’s why I had to
toughen him up. At the very least, I needed to make sure my hometown was safe.
Um, now you just sound
like a masochist.
I was fine with people
enjoying cross-dressing as a hobby, but using it to sneak into the girls’ dorm
was wrong. Especially
since he was royalty—he needed to consider his social status.
“Well…have fun tomorrow,
I guess.”
But first, I really needed him to learn how
to recognize sarcasm.
I don’t think he’s
stupid, but whenever I’m around, this guy loses all his brainpower.
They say love is
blind…but pondering over the whole thing was starting to feel like a fool’s
errand. I
don’t think what this guy felt was love, exactly.
“Shit… Well, whatever. If a hall monitor sees
you, you’re toast. Put on your wig and piss off.”
“As you wish, my lady! See you tomorrow!”
With his wig back on,
Albert looked just like a girl again. A closer look revealed a
hint of makeup; I hadn’t noticed that until he was at the door.
Giving a
deep bow, he exited without hesitation. And so the boy who looked
just like a girl left the girls’ dorm just as boldly as he had infiltrated it. To be honest…I was a
little curious as to where he had made his transformation. For that matter, where
had he even procured the girl’s uniform?
In this life, some
mysteries were best left unresolved. So I decided to drop it.
A few silent moments
after the door closed, Colette looked at me. “Hummm.”
“Oh, I was just thinking
that was an awfully kind gesture for you. If you ask me, giving
Albert special attention could only be a reward, not a punishment—”
It was an innocent
observation, but there was an unconvinced look in her eye and a scoffing snort
in her nose. It seemed like there was more to her complaint than You let
him off too easy for sneaking into the girls’ dorm.
It looked more like she
was envious of Albert for getting pleasure out of his punishment.
As Colette pouted, I
smirked and retaliated. “Are you jealous, Princess?”
Her face twitched at the
sudden change in my tone and smile. “Er…um…sorry, I was naive.”
As long as you get it. With a triumphant snort, I
started to get ready for bed. C’mon, just let it be
lights-out already. I wanna get ready for bed before a hall monitor comes. Shit, why does everyone
in my life have to get such stupid ideas in their heads? Now that’s two nights of
missed sleep for me.
“I’m turning in, okay? Get dressed for bed and
turn out the light.”
“Understood. Good
night, Mylene.”
I pulled the covers over
me as Colette’s voice hit my back. And as I lay there, my
lips twitched. This sort of thing never happened in my mercenary
days…
“I-I’m
dyin-ng… I’m oh-so-very dead…”
It was the end of lunch,
just before our afternoon instruction. And Albert was slumped
over his desk like a corpse, moaning. It was a ghastly sight. Unable even to cross his
arms, he was pressing his cheek directly to his desk. It would be a compliment
to say he looked like a zombie.
“Ha-ha-ha! What a price to pay for a lone tryst. You got a raw deal,
Prince Albert!”
The cause of his
exhaustion was, of course, that night. It was payback for infiltrating the
girls’ dorm. In addition to our after-school training sessions, we habitually stole
our free moments at lunch for a little light exercise, but ever since that
fateful night, I’d put Albert on a special regimen that included early-morning
training sessions.
Adding more physical
training on top of his continuous magic-donning was like adding sprinting to
marathon training. Albert’s hard-core regimen had him literally fighting for his life
every day.
Thanks to my efforts,
Albert’s spine had experienced a sudden growth spurt in the past few days. He was always a stubborn
guy—he had the temperament for it. But seeing him have the
balls to return Colette’s sass with a quip of his own despite being on death’s door? Well, that was a happy
accident.
And things were going in
a slightly strange direction, but it’s a problem I was lucky to have. Eagerly biting off more
than he could chew with my training had made him show remarkable improvement. I was genuinely impressed.
Though I questioned
whether it was entirely necessary to polish the combat skills of a prince who
would never fight at the front lines in battle, I had to admit he was quick on
the uptake. And I was enjoying him thoroughly for that.
Which was why sometimes I
pushed him just a little too far. In my past life, there had
been a few guys who asked me to teach them my fighting style, but they were all
spineless weaklings. Beast stance alone required a strong core, so I started by pounding the basics into
them, but they’d always quit halfway, thinking I wasn’t going to teach them my
moves. But
I guess it’s pointless to talk shit about them now.
Anyway.
Since I’d
had those shitty experiences in the past, it was inevitable that I’d feel great
about training someone like Albert, who never complained and eagerly devoured
everything I taught.
“Prince Albert…is Mylene
abusing you…?” Melissa
asked dubiously.
Not liking her
antagonistic demeanor, Albert refuted her claim with a firm gaze. “Please, don’t misunderstand.
I asked
Miss Mylene to do it; she’s setting aside her precious time to train me.”
I felt pleased despite my
embarrassment because I knew the feeling.
“Now, now… I wasn’t
offended, Your Highness,” I said.
“I suppose… I didn’t word
that very nicely. I’m sorry…”
Besides, I got the sense
that Melissa no longer loathed me with all her heart. The assumption she’d been
working under—that I was the enemy—was fading.
So if I
called her out, she would apologize. She would even grace me
with a few direct words.
“I’d love to have a
conversation with you about it sometime, if you wouldn’t mind,” I said.
There was one final line
she couldn’t cross—that hadn’t changed. That line was probably the something about her that I wanted
to know. I just had a
hunch.
“Well, I won’t force
you,” I said. “If you change your mind, my door is always open.”
Melissa sounded genuine
when she said the words “not yet.” She really gave me the
runaround. Every
time I got close to her, she’d flee, so I had no choice but to wait for her to
approach me. It really was exactly like taming a timid rabbit.
Even though we still
weren’t at the finish line yet, I was starting to feel a little emotional.
“Okay, class, please take
your seats.”
As I sat there,
reminiscing over how much progress I’d made with Melissa, our homeroom teacher
entered the classroom. We were having math this afternoon. Since being a noble
basically meant being an accountant, math was one of the most important courses
at this academy.
Having said that, I also
found accounting class to be one of the most useful aspects of this school.
“All right, before we get
into our lesson for today, I have an announcement.”
Usually, our teacher
would watch us quickly take our seats, nod, and begin instructing. That’s how it always worked. But something was
different today. Our teacher’s announcement caused a stir among the students.
“I’m sure some of you
already aware of this, but one month from today, the Zelfore Academy of Magic
will hold its Genius Festival as part of our
mathematics curriculum. To that end, we’re going to start planning for that festival today.”
The Genius Festival. It was on our schedule
for the year, so I knew the name, but I had no idea what it actually was. I guess our teacher was
about to tell us that now. I waited patiently with my fellow classmates to hear his explanation.
“The Genius Festival is a
long-held custom of our fine academy. In it, we learn firsthand
how to operate businesses in preparation for your futures as feudal lords and
business owners. We’ll discuss as a class what sort of business we want to have, then
draw up a plan and operate it. The day of the festival,
each class will open their model business and serve their fellow students. Then at the end of the
day, you’ll all be scored based off sales, number of customers, and other
factors, and the winner will receive an award. Conceptualization and
planning, effort and results—this is what the Genius Festival is all about!”
Ooh…what an intriguing
challenge.
It served to teach us how
money worked and what sorts of businesses would be successful. The event was gamified in
the way that it instilled in us a sense of solidarity and encouraged us to vie
for an award. It was for fun, yet still taught us how to run a realistic business.
Now, since I’d come to
this rich-kid academy by choice because I’d wanted to learn, this didn’t apply
to me, but many of my peers were sick of the mundane routine and constant
learning of school. I’m sure the festival was developed, in part, for them to let off some
steam.
Here I am, a jaded old
man, and I’m getting excited over the idea. Imagine how the kids feel—
“Ooh, I’d love to try my
hand at running a real shop!”
“Quiet,
class! Ahem… This festival is part
of your mathematics course. Don’t
slack off!”
—well, of course they’re
excited.
The teacher tried to calm
the class without much effort. Getting the students
excited was probably all part of the plan, and the teacher looked pleased over
how happy the kids were.
“For today’s math lesson,
we’re going to decide what business we’re going to open for the Genius
Festival. Let’s
all put our heads together and find a winning idea!”
Our boring math class
suddenly became a party-planning jam session. No way were things going
to stay quiet for long.
“How about a clothing shop?! I know some great fabrics!”
“But wouldn’t a jewelry
shop be better? We could hire a master craftsman to make us the finest products to
sell!”
The classroom burst into
a frenzy like a lit furnace. Our instructor watched
silently and wrote the flying suggestions onto the blackboard.
I was impressed. It took talent to tune out the noise, pick out the most relevant
information, and write it down.
“Ha-ha-ha! Imagine us, experiencing running a shop for real—what a fun idea!”
“Oh, that’s so true. I think operating our own
business would be a valuable experience for us.”
“Isn’t this exciting,
Miss Mylene?”
But, well—the ideas
everyone was throwing out were quite basic for the nobility.
Not that there was
anything wrong with that, but if you asked me, clothing shops and jewelry shops
were no good. I
couldn’t say so with confidence since I’d never run a store myself, but I doubted that
luxury goods would sell well at this Genius Festival.
And the reason why? Because all the customers would be us rich kids.
Not many of us had any
money of our own. It didn’t matter how good the merchandise was. If we couldn’t afford it,
we wouldn’t buy it.
We may have been the
offspring of the wealthy, but that didn’t mean we could spend their money as we
pleased. For
that matter, not every kid in the nobility was that well off either. Some of us were royalty
and some of us came from families on the brink of bankruptcy. Zelfore Academy of Magic
was that kind of environment.
Then add to that the
festival atmosphere. Everyone was going to want to sample everything. And if there were several
shops you want to go to, it would be hard to believe you’d spend it all on just
one place.
I put a hand over my mouth and muttered under my
breath, I ain’t a merchant, but now I get it… Thinking about this stuff’s
actually fun.
The debate had already
shifted toward finding the best merchandise to sell, but the way I saw it,
there was only one way to win this
festival—
Oops. Got lost in thought there.
My hand jumped at
Albert’s and Colette’s voices, exposing the dazed look on my face. “S-something the matter?” But I somehow managed to
regain my composure and hide behind a smile.
Albert smiled awkwardly
and Colette snorted in frustration. They must have been
calling my name a lot before I noticed. What a mess.
“Good grief—this isn’t
like you, Mylene. You were really lost in your thoughts there.”
“If you don’t mind
sharing, I would love to hear your idea, Miss Mylene!”
They probably called out
to me because they noticed I was lost in thought. The next thing I knew, all
eyes were focused on the two royals. The entire class was
staring at me, waiting with bated breath.
I thought it
would be weird for an old guy like me to get excited about some festival for
kids, so I was gonna keep quiet… But when you were pressed by two royals for an
answer, refusing to speak was actually the more disrespectful choice.
It was in times like these
that favoring my inconspicuous good-girl facade always bit me in the ass.
“But my idea is nothing
special,” I politely declined. “I wouldn’t want to
disappoint you all.”
Colette eagerly leaned
forward. “I don’t mind! Any plan of yours,
Mylene, is something I must hear!”
She meant that she
wouldn’t take no for an answer. She wouldn’t be satisfied
until her curiosity was sated. That was just how she ticked.
Albert was also bobbing
his head in an eager nod. It looked like curiosity had gotten the better of his praise-singing
fealty to me. Wait, scratch that—more like he wanted to make me the center of
attention. Though
this was just child’s play. It wasn’t worthy of any praise.
“All right… Then, with
respect, I’ll offer my idea.”
Well, guess I couldn’t
avoid it. Besides,
I was kinda interested to see how well my analysis would be received. I took a long pause to
make what I was about to say sound more important, then I began to speak.
“The way I see it, if we
wish to receive high marks in the Genius Festival—”
To win, we needed to not
compete for scraps of the same pie.
This festival may have
been a gathering of wealthy students, but kids were still kids. Their wallets weren’t
bottomless. That’s why if our class tried to sell the finest products just like all the other
classes, we would wind up fighting with them over our peers’ meager spending
money.
Therefore, something we
could sell for cheap had the advantage. But if we made our own
products to save money, they would come across as cheap.
So how would we
combat that?
“My idea is that we sell experiences, not things.”
“Ooh!
Sell
experiences rather than things? What sort of shop would that be, specifically?” Colette sounded like she
was testing me, but the corners of her mouth were turned upward in curiosity of
the unknown.
In other words, a person
with a lot of influence was signaling her interest in my idea to the rest of
the class. That
made my job of selling it much easier.
“Our shop will be—a place
that offers experiences to our clients that can only be found at the Genius
Festival… Well, I suppose there’s no use dragging it out any longer—my proposal
for our submission to the Genius Festival is a café!”
“A shop that sells tea
and light refreshments, Princess Colette.”
“Oh, so you mean a teahouse. Yes, I suppose eateries
were a blind spot for us…but isn’t that a bit crude?”
Colette surprised me by
responding with blatant disappointment, though I didn’t blame her. Saying “Let’s do a café!” after all that bravado
was probably a bit of a letdown.
“But just about everyone
here enjoys a daily teatime already, don’t they?” Colette argued. “Many of us have our
cooks leave tea and snacks for us on their days off, too. I honestly don’t see how
running a teahouse would provide anybody with a unique experience.”
I giggled. “Ohh,
Princess Colette. It most
certainly will be.”
Of course it would be a
unique experience. Everyone who went to this school was a rich kid. Even after they moved out
of their mansions and came to the dorms, tea was just a part of their mundane
daily routine.
Additionally, the cooks
at the academy who prepared the tea and desserts were first-rate—and that’s no
exaggeration. Making spoiled rich kids with refined palates moan with delight was no
ordinary feat.
And that was exactly why
the whole sales model had its limits. These kids ate good food
and saw expensive things every day. Unless you offered them a
superior product or a novel experience, you wouldn’t whet their appetites.
What I said earlier about
things coming across as cheap is
everything. If your customer base is rich kids who are used to seeing the best entertainment
and eating the best food, your best chance at winning is to offer them something
relatively good that they can only experience here. That was why I’d concluded that selling things at the Genius Festival
was not the way to go.
Now, based off that
logic, a café was a dumb idea even by
dumb-idea standards. If we offered refreshments to rich kids who were used to eating the
finest of foods, the odds would be against us.
Which was exactly why we
really had to sell the experience.
“What I am suggesting is
no ordinary eating establishment. No, I’m proposing a
nouveau establishment where our servers dress in cute or handsome uniforms and
fraternize with the customers. We shall sell the VIP treatment!”
That is the element that
turns an ordinary place to drink tea
into a café.
“Yes.
It’s a bit
uncouth, but there’s nothing at all unfavorable about being pampered by
beautiful boys and girls. Our guests will surely find it a valuable experience to be flirted with
by waiters and waitresses in modern-style clothing.”
There was a reason I’d led
with the caveat that this café was a bit uncouth. It was the sort of
establishment that had gotten popular right at the onset of Eltania’s moral
collapse.
It didn’t get more VIP
than scantily clad ladies cozying up to customers, and I remembered those kinds
of businesses being quite popular back in the day. Adan had taken me to one
of those cafés just once. At the time, I hadn’t
understood why he needed to go out of his way to ogle women when he had a wife
at home, but I was humbly impressed by that café’s business
model.
After all, its food and
tea tasted sketchy as shit, yet it was packed every day. Maybe that particular
establishment we went to happened to be one of the
bad ones, but that didn’t stop it from being consistently popular.
There was another element
of the café that stood out to me:
Not a single soul came there to sip tea. Including my drooling
friend, everyone there came to see the waitresses in costume.
You could say the
customers were paying to see a show. Only, instead of buying
tickets at the door, they were purchasing mid-tier tea at inflated prices.
In time, the café was subdivided into
costumes and schmoozing. Just before the civil war broke out, there were things called maid cafés, which featured girls dressed in maid uniforms (with skirts that were
way too short) who treated their customers like masters—but I digress.
“What I’m saying is, in
our café, tea and refreshments
play second fiddle. We will give our customers a unique experience only to be found here—that will be our café’s true appeal.”
Naturally, that sort of
business would only be successful if your wait staff were above a certain
threshold of good looks, but luckily, this school was a gathering of rich kids
who were the product of generations of hotties hooking up. We had nothing to worry
about in that department.
And horny heads of houses
who selected only maids with pretty faces—well, they weren’t rare, but people
who are blessed in life have an attractive confidence in their eyes. They call it elegance—but
being served by people with that vibe would surely provide yet another flavor
of experience for our guests.
“…So that’s what you meant
by selling an experience.” With an enlightened sigh, Colette sank into thought.
Okay, I’ve played my card. Now let’s see if I can
break through the final wall of defense.
There was just one
potential flaw in my idea: Could spoiled rich kids work a service job?
Even though my peers were
only half-baked as aristocrats, most of them had fully formed egos. Whether or not they could
be in a position of service could pose a problem, but there was just one easy way to
break through that barrier—
“I see…so it’s an eatery
on the surface, but it’s actually closer to theater! Yes, that would certainly
provide a special, once-in-a-lifetime experience!”
The nobility prized
hierarchy. And
the princess of Colorne—one of the strongest empires on the continent—had said
it sounded like fun. There was no way the other students wouldn’t agree with her.
All relationships among
the students here were equal as a rule, but any son or daughter of the nobility
would kill to get connections with the princess of Colorne. Anyone with a brain would
never get on her bad side.
The only person in this
room who might consider dissenting against Colette would be Albert, but—
“That’s my Miss Mylene…! Only you would think of placing value not on the food and drink itself,
but in the way it’s served! I am in awe!”
Unless I said something
totally off base, there was no way Albert would reject a suggestion of mine. Taking the future into
consideration, I didn’t want him to become a yes-man…but he appreciated the
true essence of my café and seemed to be
thinking for himself, so I let it slide.
“This way, we won’t need
to worry about our budget for tea and refreshments, and we won’t need to hire a
chef either. We’ll have to put extra effort into our costumes, but we don’t need to
make that many of them anyway, so I doubt they’ll break our budget. Our café will easily get all the
funding it needs, unlike clothing and jewelry shops.”
All that remained was to
push the true objective of the Genius Festival on them. A victory signified
superiority. I was sure lots of kids were in it to win it.
“Wow, she really thought
of everything…!”
Thanks to the hype from
Colette and Albert, nobody in the class voiced any
objections to my idea. Even though I’d written it off as a flight of fancy, it felt damn good
having everything go according to my design.
“Well then, do you all
agree to my suggestion?” I asked for approval in a tone that was polite and gracious yet firm
and unyielding—it was clear I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
I shot a sweet smile at
our homeroom teacher, who closed his dropped jaw and cleared his throat.
“W-well then, it’s decided. The Phoenix Class’s entry
will be a café… This is the first time
I’ve had a group of students choose their entry so smoothly.”
This was an academy filled
with strong-willed rich kids. I was sure they usually
took their time squabbling over their entry. It was a good feeling
knowing that I had skillfully orchestrated it all.
“Hmm…now, what shall we
do with the extra time? I wouldn’t want to do a study hall, that feels too lazy—”
“Then why don’t we assign
roles?” I
asked, smiling at the flustered teacher looking at the clock.
“Ah yes, that’s a good idea. Why don’t we all discuss
that?”
“May I speak? I actually have some cooking experience. So might I humbly
nominate myself for the role of dessert maker?”
My target was none other
than dessert maker.
The most ubiquitous
confectionary for teatime was bannocks. It was a simple quick
bread that came together just by mixing the ingredients together and baking it.
I could
make a big batch of them, serve them with jam, and there you go—perfect teatime
treats. I
could make my own jam, but since it kept well, I could always just buy it. So with a wee bit of work
up front, I could sit on my ass the rest of the day.
Most of these rich kids
had probably never set foot in a kitchen. They’d never served
guests either, but cooking was one of the basic services
provided by house servants. Aside from your odd
foodie, most of these guys wouldn’t know how to prepare food. They would certainly not
want to do a job they knew absolutely nothing about.
And thus, the sweet and
easy job was mine for the taking—or so I thought.
“Mylene…? What are you suggesting? Isn’t the whole point of
this café—its entire appeal—the
beautiful servers? Then I don’t see anyone more suitable to be our leading lady than you.”
I had just one
miscalculation. It was Colette’s influence that I had made use of previously.
Her sneak attack paralyzed
me.
By the time I was able to
form the thought What the hell is she saying?! it was already too late. Colette’s opinions, once
spoken, were as good as declarations in this classroom.
“Anybody can make a few
desserts. Assigning
our best asset who is gifted in every way to a throwaway role is moronic. And most of all…I just
want to see you in a cute costume!”
Moreover, the problem
here was Colette—the de facto class leader—and her divergent feelings. If a chef heard what she’d
just said, they would be enraged. Cooking was a worthy
craft and a worthy profession. But Colette had no
interest in that whatsoever. To her, food was nothing
more than something somebody else made for you to eat.
“Yes, if beauty is on the
menu, we certainly can’t leave out Mylene.”
“We’re lucky to have her
star in our innovative shop. I could certainly see
Miss Mylene filling the role.”
“It was her idea, after all. Miss Mylene should be the star.”
It made me grind my
teeth, but thanks to Colette’s impassioned declaration earlier, the servers
were already dubbed the stars of our
show. To make
matters worse, this was a direct nomination. There was no way I could
turn it down.
Surely he’ll understand
my psychic message!
Albert knows the real me. He’ll understand why I
don’t want to touch that job with a ten-foot pole!
I shot him a fierce stare. I can’t keep pretending
forever. Object the
nomination! Object it!
“Mm…! Miss Mylene—er, well… I
agree that Miss Mylene would make our perfect leading lady…!”
I knew he was gonna
betray me, but still!
This can’t be happening…
Just because I’m used to it, doesn’t mean I like dressing like a girl. And now I have to wear a
café costume on top of that?
It’s not too late. I can order modest costumes. I’m the only one who
knows how far they’re supposed to go. Instead of going with the
outfits that were successful in the future timeline, I can just go with a
toned-down design.
But if I did that, our
business might not succeed.
“Very well… If you
insist, then I certainly can’t say no.”
Depending on how ya look at
it, this is nothing to cry over. I’m just playing all the
cards in my deck so I can succeed—that’s all.
“However…I would be too
scared playing the role by myself. Princess Colette, Prince
Albert, would you consider being servants with me?”
If I’m going down, I’m
taking you fuckers with me.
Ordinarily, asking
royalty to be servants was unheard of, but this was only theater, after all. It was perfectly
reasonable to indulge a friend’s request and play along with her.
“Yes! Indeed, it is a role I
must play!”
“M-Miss Mylene, I would
be honored to help you…!”
Colette was—Colette. She had high self-esteem,
so this wouldn’t hurt her at all, but there was another advantage to using her.
By granting
her wish, the score was settled between us. I owed her nothing now.
But for Albert, who’d
betrayed me at the last minute, there would be no salvation. He had a one-way ticket to
hell.
He couldn’t possibly know
my intentions. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still be grinning (albeit with a cold sweat on
his brow).
Beneath my sweet,
ladylike smile, I hid a conniving snarl. Even I always repaid my debts
with dignity.
Get excited, Albert… Get
excited.
“Wh-what’s on your mind,
Miss Mylene?”
“Why, nothing, Prince Albert.
I humbly
thank you for your assistance. I felt so anxious, doing
this all alone…”
Hearing the
out-of-character words coming from my mouth, Albert furrowed his brows. But he surely hadn’t
surmised the intent behind them.
You’re not getting away
from me, you little bitch…
“Exactly, Princess. And I was so looking forward to it…”
With the opening of our café approaching, we had discussed what we were going to do about the
refreshments, which resulted in a bunch of randos from our class being chosen
as cooks.
We were currently on our
way back from visiting the school chef after taking our class cooks to get a
crash course on how to make the bannocks I was planning on making. Our classmates had
already dispersed from the cafeteria, and we were down to the usual trio plus
one, heading to the garden to train.
What Colette was scoffing
at just now was just how easy it was to bake bannocks. They were the sort of
thing even a dummy could make as long as you didn’t mess up the ingredients. What’s more, they didn’t
need to be served fresh out of the oven. Now that Colette knew I
had been trying to get off easy, she cast a judgmental glare in my direction.
Personally,
I thought it was a rather clever plan…but now that it was foiled, I’d settle
for second best.
Anyway, there was no use
in lamenting what was already done. To live life on my terms
this time around, I would need to increase the size of my deck—that was the
takeaway here.
We arrived at the garden
and set our bags down on the mostly empty bench. I did a few light swings
with my practice sword to limber up my mind and body. Albert and Colette were
also doing their own personal warm-ups in preparation for their sparring match
against me.
But there was a new
addition lately.
It was Melissa, who was
sitting on the bench. She sat her tiny bottom onto the bench beside my belongings and rested
her hands politely atop her lap. Sitting in a way that
wouldn’t let her retreat suddenly was proof that she didn’t feel the need to
flee. She was there
to observe. She looked like a relaxed cat now, sitting cross-legged with all signs
of hypervigilance gone.
Though her gaze still
seemed to be directed only at me—
And sometimes she would
moan in awe as I swung my sword. Her relaxed expression
and voice were almost persuasive enough.
……It’s clear her match
with Albert gave her a lot to think about. Either that or it’s made
her indirectly interested in me, since I taught the boy who beat her—I’m really
not sure.
Melissa used to run away
if she ever caught me looking back at her, so I always avoided her gaze. But now it was almost the
opposite. I swung my
blade, trying to ward off the thoughts that were cluttering my mind like
tangled threads.
“Yes, Miss Mylene! I look forward to another great lesson!”
“Today’s the day I’m gonna
beat you, Mylene!”
For Albert and Colette,
it was a textbook-perfect normal
training session.
“Th-thank you for the
lesson…”
As Colette and Albert
gasped for air, their shoulders heaving, I smiled and calmly replied, “And
thank you. It was very educational.”
Today’s training session
had once again ended with neither of them landing a single blow on me. And Colette’s and
Albert’s reactions to this were polar opposites: one was happy, the other was
bitter.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that
at all.”
Behind Colette’s labored
mutterings was a bitter sentiment: There’s
nothing you could possibly learn from us.
But I really meant what
I’d said to Colette—it wasn’t a sweet lie to console her.
“When you spar against a
pair of opponents with a clear strategy in mind, there’s a lot you can learn. The areas of my body you
both targeted must have been where you thought I would be most vulnerable. You gave me a great
opportunity to be introspective.”
The pair were fast
learners, but I was still far superior to them in skill. And yet sometimes our
sparring matches would help me diagnose faults in myself I hadn’t noticed
before.
“Hmm…I suppose you aren’t
just saying that out of pity… All right! When you put it that way,
that cheers me up a little.”
Colette, who caught her
breath faster than Albert, jumped back into her battle
stance with a cheerful shout. Even though she felt her
own limitations, she didn’t despair for long. She was naturally gifted
to begin with, but she was also the hardworking type. Her potential was terrifying.
“Phew…! Well, you have it easier
than me, Princess Colette. I may be able to control my magic now, but I still can’t get in a good
sword swing.”
Albert took a little
longer to recover, but he sounded like he was enjoying himself. And that enjoyment came
from the feeling of accomplishment at getting closer to his defined goals. In his own way, he was
also the type who could improve with hard work.
“But, Prince Albert, you
really have gotten better,” I insisted. “Though I think I was a
little too intense today…”
“Yes, up until now, he
could barely keep pace with me.”
“Ooh, you mean it? Hee-hee… Gee, thanks.”
Dammit, I envied these
kids… They couldn’t help what they didn’t have, so they tried to succeed some
other way. To
somebody like me, who’d lived my life giving up on everyone and everything, it
was a rather idealistic way of thinking.
As somebody who now had
both magic and life experience, it made me think. Well…I guess it’s because of my past life that I
was able to keep training without getting tired of it.
“Seriously, you both have
made great strides in your training,” I said.
It was plenty obvious how
eager they both were to keep going, but I really had gone a little too hard on
them today. There wouldn’t be any point in continuing the session. When I suggested we end
early, Colette and Albert both looked startled.
I get the feeling this
has happened before…
“Is something the matter?” I
asked.
“Er, no, Mylene… It’s
just, you look so gentle and relaxed right now. Lovable, perhaps—”
“Please, don’t go there. I told you before,” I sighed.
And as I suspected,
Colette started to get mushy on me. You might call her obsessed—like she was ready to seduce me the moment I showed
weakness. Then again…I’d be lying if I said it felt bad to have an admirer.
But Melissa was watching. Disregarding how much the
girl actually knew, I’d still rather keep that sort of thing private.
“They really trust her…
And the way she looks at them—she’s completely unlike that bitch.”
I hope she’s not under
some strange misapprehension. Ugh, this is gonna get messy…
But just as I was about
to heave a sigh, Melissa jumped up from the bench eagerly and called my name. “Mylene Petule.”
“Huh?”
Her sudden
move left me speechless. And I wasn’t the only one. Both Albert and Colette
were tensely holding their breaths.
This was the first time
in the past month that Melissa had addressed me
directly.
With her head hanging,
but her eyes looking up beseechingly at me, she said, “I’m sorry for the way
I’ve treated you… I have something to tell you. Would you come off campus
with me?”
She was gazing directly
into my eyes—another rarity.
I don’t know what the
deciding factor was…but she finally changed her mind about me.
When I smiled at Melissa,
she changed nothing about her expression and heaved a tiny sigh of relief. I was missing a smile,
but I sensed peace in her. Even though we barely spoke, I had learned a lot about her in the past
month.
“Hum?
We’re going somewhere?
Then I
suppose we should gather our things quickly.”
“If possible…I’d like
Princess Colette and Prince Albert to…refrain…from joining us.”
Colette had
assumed we would go together, just like we always did. But Melissa rejected the
idea.
So that means I get to
talk one-on-one with somebody who’s been terrified of me…
I clenched my fist,
excited that I’d finally gotten my chance. I sent Colette an
apologetic glance, meaning to tell her she should sit this one out, but before
I could say anything, she nodded softly at me.
“Understood… I’ll get
permission for you and Melissa to go off campus. Come, Prince Albert,
we’re going back.”
“If we must, we must. Well, Miss Mylene, I
shall return your practice sword for you. I look forward to seeing
you tomorrow.”
“I appreciate your
consideration. Well, have a lovely evening, you two.”
After the pair were out
of sight, I turned back to face Melissa. There was still a faint
glimmer of hesitation in her eyes, but with it, there lay a firm sense of
resolve.
“All right, then—where
are we going? Is it something so sensitive we wouldn’t want anyone overhearing it?”
If we stayed here, we
wouldn’t make any progress. And if we didn’t get back
to the dorms by dinnertime, we’d starve.
“Yes… I have something to
tell you that no one else can overhear. Follow me.”
Follow me, eh? It was an amusing turn
of phrase, from somebody who’d spent the past month doing nothing but trail me.
I nodded in reply and
politely followed Melissa as she walked.
Melissa
and I left campus and strolled through the town. Some time had passed. Just as I was starting to
feel uncomfortable from all that walking in silence and keeping pace with her
tiny stride, Melissa suddenly halted and took a sideways glance at me.
“Let’s stop here. We can have a private conversation safely at this location.”
Then she pointed—to the
very teahouse where Albert and I had wandered to
when we were gathering intel in town. It was there that we had
inspected the drugs.
Not many people would know
that he and I had used this teahouse that day. Unless Melissa was onto us? The question briefly
popped into my head, but I dismissed it. The establishment was a
sad little inconspicuous teahouse on the edge of town. If she wanted a place
where we could talk in private, it was high on the list of candidates.
“Something wrong?” Melissa
asked.
“Oh,
no. I was just
thinking.”
She gave me a curious look
back.
Now that I think about
it, I was really on guard that day. There’s no way I wouldn’t
have noticed Melissa following me. Yeah, Melissa started
following me recently. That
has to be it.
“Welcome,” the
miserable-looking proprietor greeted us dully as we entered the teahouse. He then returned his eyes
to his book without showing us to a table.
Melissa’s eyes shifted
anxiously from the unexpected welcome. I took this as my cue to
escort her to the table farthest from the entrance.
“Um…have you been here
before?”
“It’s a long story. Why don’t you have a seat here, Melissa?”
She walked toward me as
if she were on a tightrope. Then she scurried the
rest of the way to her seat, lowered her brows, and assumed a solemn
expression.
“I’ll take one Earl
Grey—no, make that two, please.”
We paid our cover charge
in the form of two gross cups of tea. We were only here to
talk, so it didn’t matter what we ordered here. Not even batting an eye
at my careless way of ordering the first thing on the menu twice, the
proprietor gave us the shortest answer possible before wandering off.
Perhaps surprised by the
brazen way I’d just ordered for us, Melissa looked at me with wide eyes. But then—
“Thanks…you’re
a lifesaver.” She pursed her lips and bowed her head, realizing she would have had a
hard time deciding what to order as well.
To a couple well-bred
young ladies who attended a prep school for the nobility, this teahouse was
quite intense. Just ask the dilapidated building, the rickety chairs and tables, and
the surly proprietor.
As we waited in silence
for our order, the proprietor (who was probably the only employee here) arrived
with two teacups. They were plain vessels, only serving the very basic function of
holding tea, and they were filled with a liquid whose color certainly resembled
tea.
After she made sure the
proprietor was gone, Melissa took a sip. “……No words.”
To top it all off, the
tea’s flavor was adjacent to gross—it was bound to dumbfound her. Even common folk would
never set foot in here again after sampling that beverage. For a sheltered rich
girl, it was just too shocking for words. Melissa just sat there, a
complex, catlike expression coming to her face.
Wait…what kind of face
even is that? I’m kinda curious, but I’ve got more important things to tend to—
“So.
Why the
sudden change of heart? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that you’ve decided to have a chat with
me.”
I wanted to know what had
made Melissa decide to talk to me.
After a moment’s thought,
she looked back up at me. “After observing you for a while…I deemed you were someone I could
trust. Prince
Albert and Princess Colette are good judges of character. Them trusting you was
part of it.”
Part of it. That meant there was another reason. I waited quietly for her
to finish.
“And the other reason was—you. The
warm way you looked at them. Nobody gets that look in
their eye unless they truly care about somebody. That was what clinched it
for me.”
Hearing those sappy words
made my cheeks burn. My
impulse was to deny it, but I hesitated to do that since this was what had made
Melissa finally decide to talk to me.
It took all my willpower
not to scoff as I said that, so I clenched my fist instead. If I asked her to
elaborate, I’d probably burn up from embarrassment.
Now that I had fully
slipped into the listening role, Melissa opened her mouth to say something,
then swallowed her words. She repeated this a few times.
Eventually, she finally
committed to saying it. She lowered her brows sharply and looked into my eyes. “I am…the Priestess of
Eltania. I
can hear the word of Lord Eltania. Did you know that?”
“Yes, Prince Albert told me
so. And?”
When I heard her say
that, I thought, We’re finally getting somewhere! but I maintained my cool
facade.
The Lord Eltania. In my past life, I hadn’t given a rat’s ass about the deity, but in
this life, it was impossible to think that Eltania wasn’t somehow related. And I didn’t think that
words from the Priestess affiliated with the deity would be without meaning.
“Then that will save us
some time. All
right, jumping ahead—what we do is close to divination. We can sense the will of
Lord Eltania, who is far, far away from us. It’s very abstract, but
if we interpret His will properly, our prophecies are always correct.”
Divination…eh. The word “sketchy” popped
into my head, but I held my tongue. Divination is a load of
bullshit anyway, so there’s no harm in hearing her out. It would be dumber for me
to interrupt her after coming all this way. I can always laugh in her
face after I’ve let her finish.
“We can receive the word
of the Lord Eltania by randomly drawing cards with pictures on them. I’ve brought some with
me, if you’d like to see.”
They’re…very elaborate. I
couldn’t see any difference between each card. It would definitely take
a master craftsman to make cards so consistent in size and shape.
I cut the deck a few
times, then I drew the card on the top.
The drawing on the card
I’d just drawn resembled a flowing body of water.
“It can also be interpreted
as flowing
water.”
“Literally, yes. But it could also mean gold.”
I had pulled a card with
an illustration of a coin on it. As I flipped through the
deck, I noticed the cards had a variety of objects and concepts drawn on them.
Okay…now I think I see
how this works.
“Choosing cards at random
and divining the Lord Eltania’s will from them is our calling. Basically, choosing the
cards is our job, and reading them requires a specialist.”
So it’s a game. Like, if I paired the water card I drew earlier with a rain card, that
could mean a flood. And if I drew an unlucky card—like the moon or something—after a money
card, that could predict a crash in currency value.
And drawing those cards
was the job of Priestesses like Melissa. But considering the grand
name and legendary status, it seemed like nothing more than petty fortune
telling to me—
“All right… I’m now going
to receive His
Word. I’ll need your help…”
“Very well. What do you need me to do?”
“Shuffle the cards, then
divide them into however many piles you’d like,”
Melissa said matter-of-factly. “Think as little as possible…
And treat them with care.”
Now I get it… If you get
the results you were expecting, you can’t exactly say you “knew it” all along. Still in a state of half
doubt, I shuffled the deck as instructed.
“You’re good at that,”
Melissa said.
“I was bored a lot back at
home.”
It was probably also
because I was no stranger to gambling in my past life, but she didn’t need to
know that. Melissa
said nothing more to me. After shuffling the cards, I divided them into five piles.
The air around Melissa
grew icy. All
traces of the timid rabbit in her eyes were extinguished and replaced with the
serenity of a priestess. Her delicate fingers leisurely and gracefully fell onto the stack of
cards.
I didn’t realize that
some of the cards were so obvious.
“Yes.
A human skull. Since it’s so explicitly
inauspicious, the Skull card usually is an omen of a catastrophic calamity.”
Melissa set the Skull
card in the center of the table, then she drew from a different pile.
“So that means…weapon? Or could it represent war?”
“You’re smart. I was right, you’re definitely—never mind. I’ll tell you later.”
The second card she drew
was the Sword, which I deduced to mean weapon or war. What had made me
interpret it so quickly was the catastrophic calamity omen from earlier. It had guided my mind to
the history I’d experienced in the other timeline.
That was surely pointing
to Colorne’s great invasion that had brought the former Eltania to ruin.
My heart jumped in my
chest. No…don’t
freak out yet. Omens of great wars are a staple of inauspicious prophecies.
But if the next card she
draws is one of the three I’m thinking of…
Either the Lion…or the
Moon…or—
Deep down, I already knew
what she would draw. I tried to keep calm, but my heart still beat wildly.
“That’s right. This is why I’ve been following
you.”
Suddenly, I was utterly
convinced of Melissa’s supernatural ability.
On the card she drew was
the very flower that the Lord Eltania loved. Without her telling me, I
knew what it meant. The sulberia flower meant Mylene.
The Hair of Sulberia
would bring about a war of catastrophic proportions. I thought I was the only
one who knew about that future.
Shit…her power is real. I might’ve not believed
her if there wasn’t war in the cards—
I pressed a hand to my mouth.
Melissa gave
me a curious look.
“Do you…have an idea what
this means?”
“I wish I didn’t. I only half believed it, too… Fuck!”
Melissa gasped. “So…is that
the real you?”
“Hm? Ohh—shit, yeah, might’s
well drop the act. Yeah…this is the real me.”
It took Melissa’s
question to make me notice I’d let my good-girl mask slip.
“I see…it’s a bit of a
shock, but for some reason, you seem more…natural?…that way.”
“Oh, I have a hell of a
time keeping up the rich-girl facade. Have to keep up
appearances, ya know.”
“So, what about your
usual persona?”
“It’s a fake. I have to be the bare-minimum proper lady to avoid suspicion.”
“I get that…
Looking back now, you did seem oddly crass whenever you had your training
sessions with the prince and princess.”
Though Melissa looked
surprised, luckily, from the way she spoke, it sounded like she accepted it. Then again, I felt a bit
guilty that I had come across as vulgar then. Not many people peeked in
on our training sessions, but we sometimes had a couple of onlookers in the
peanut gallery. I needed to keep myself in check.
But right now, that
didn’t matter at all.
It was just
fortune-telling—or so I’d thought. But now, I was starting
to wonder if the party magicians and hustlers on the street were capable of the
same ability.
Then again, if you
thought logically about it, Melissa didn’t use the same techniques as them. More to the point, her
prophecies lined up perfectly with the future—one she couldn’t be cognizant of.
And for a
brief moment, it seemed like she had left
her body, too.
“As I thought…you’re not her.”
“You said the same thing
before a couple times. What do you mean by that?”
Right.
We still had
that question left unanswered.
When I heard Melissa’s
prophecy, the emotion that struck my heart was more than panic and shock. I’d felt something
else—baffled. The whole thing was just unfathomable.
Melissa’s divination had
read the
other future,
even though Mylene was me now. In other words, the
message was clear: Sulberia is the harbinger of destruction.
At the very least, as
long as Albert was brought up properly, we could avoid civil war. And as for the direct
cause of Eltania’s demise—Colorne—at present, I didn’t see any sign of my
relationship with Colette souring.
But the Hair of
Sulberia—Mylene—was a different person now. I thought that meant the
Hair of Sulberia would no longer bring about Eltania’s demise. So it was strange that
the prophecy hadn’t changed.
Even if the first part of
the prophecy had remained the same, if the next card
had been a card that denoted Gods of the Moon—like the Moon or Snake card—that
would have made sense.
But since the prophecy
was unchanged…did that mean I was still going trigger Eltania’s demise? It was also possible that
the Lord Eltania, who’d given the prophecy Himself, noticed something had
changed.
“She—the Mylene Petule I first
met—was a horrible person. If anything irked her, she would scream at everyone within earshot to
get her way. But it was more than that she simply didn’t follow the rules of the
social contract. The way she carried on, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say she thought
that she was a god who should
make the rules. I had more than enough evidence to foresee she would grow up to be a
horrible person.”
“But
you’re not like that. You know how to put on a
nice facade out of basic courtesy to your fellow human beings, and you have a
solid work ethic that drives you to train hard every day. Plus, you have Prince
Albert’s and Princess Colette’s respect. I doubt with every fiber
in my being that she could have achieved that.”
“Shit, ya don’t pull your
punches, do you… Though you went a little too easy on Albert.”
I snorted in disdain. In a way, Albert’s
position hadn’t changed from before.
“The prince…he used to be
pious. But he isn’t
anymore. He
puts his faith not in Lord Eltania, but in you.”
But it seemed she had
noticed the change in him. I thought “puts his faith in” was putting it a little too softly, but I
guess it was only proper to show restraint when talking about the prince of
your kingdom.
“Besides, you’re quite
cunning. You
know how to put on a mask, and I could tell you were trying to slack off at the
Genius Festival.”
“I may not look it, but I
love to cook. If you bake a bunch of bannocks in advance, you can sit back and relax
the day of, right?” Melissa gave a double thumbs-up.
Ya know…I thought she was a ditz, but she’s actually rather observant. I wasn’t sure she would
have noticed if she didn’t happen to be into baking. Still, I thought my
sudden change of attitude in class had resulted only in a little surprise from
my classmates, yet she was able to read a little more into it than that.
Shit. She’s shrewder than I
thought.
“A certain event brought
about a change in His Word… But I couldn’t believe it.”
Like a rock flying at the
calm surface of a lake, Melissa brought the conversation back on topic. Her porcelain-white
fingers fell silently onto the cards like snow.
“Sulberia
will bring war to the world—that prophecy received a
second part one day. I couldn’t believe it in the moment, but no matter how many times I
read the cards, it came out the same.”
She spoke slowly, her
hands gliding like the peaceful waters of a lake as she flipped the cards.
What
the hell is she talking about? I kept my skepticism to
myself as I watched her work. And the card she revealed
to me was—
It was a balanced scale. But that was just a
roundabout way of saying it. It couldn’t possibly be
the literal meaning. The words that popped into my head were “equality” or “balance.”
“Harmony. With that word, the
prophecy takes on the opposite meaning. In other words, you are
going to prevent the world’s destruction.”
“Shit, the world? Okay, ridiculously large
scope aside, why’s that your interpretation? It could also mean
something like the Hair of Sulberia flattens the world like a
pancake.”
For some reason, I
rejected her interpretation. Sure, I
had taken steps here and
there to change the fate of the world, since it would suck if war broke out,
but still.
“You just don’t get it, do
you? My
people have a long history of interpreting
His Word correctly. If your reading was correct, then the Lord Eltania would be depicted by
the Wasteland card.”
Melissa covered her mouth
in triumphant scorn. Her demeanor pissed me off, but I decided not to give her shit for it. Emboldened by her little
victory, she gave a smug little cough and continued. “A balanced scale carries
a positive meaning. So this is how the words should be interpreted: War is
upon us, but the Hair of Sulberia will bring harmony to the globe. In other words, you will
be the key to saving the world from demise.”
But thankfully, her
analysis was worth listening to.
Come to think of it…I
don’t actually know what happened in the former timeline after I died.
In that case, the world’s
demise seemed pretty fucking possible. Just Pearlman—one of
their cronies—was powerful enough of a mage that even a group of your biggest
generals combined couldn’t beat him. If it came to all-out war,
even a fully actualized future Colette would have bad odds.
“It’s just a hard story
to swallow,” I said. Whether it was still plausible or not was another matter entirely.
“I agree with you. I couldn’t believe that stupid bitch would be the key to
saving the world.”
“Mee-yow… I agree with ya, though.”
“That’s why I observed
you, so I could make sure. I needed to find out what kind of person you were. And I believe you’re
trustworthy. Besides…you’re kind of a meddler. Right after you joined
the academy, you did nothing but get into fights… But I found out later that
most of the kids you beat up were bullies.”
She gave me too
much credit. I’d only done the bare minimum to protect myself, along with all the
poor saps near me. In the end, I had put the fires out, but I hated being misunderstood.
“So…? Why’re ya bothering to
tell me that?”
Seemingly unperturbed,
Melissa nodded. “Truth be told, there’s so much more I’d like to ask you…but I won’t
request anything from you now except this: if you ever see any signs that
connect to the prophecy I read at this table, please tell me.”
“That’s nice, but ya
can’t do shit about it.”
Reading prophecies was
noble and all, but the real issue was that this was serious shit. Not the sort of thing a
little rabbit who couldn’t even beat Albert in a fight should stick her neck
into.
I snorted
condescendingly, but Melissa held her gaze and said, “You may be right. But I love the Kingdom of
Eltania, and if I could help preserve the peace the Lord Eltania loves so much,
it would be a beautiful thing. If there’s anything I can
do help, I want to do it.”
The look in her eyes
wasn’t something you’d see from a cowardly brat. This was just a hunch,
but Melissa didn’t exactly seem all that talented. That’s why I assumed she was
only saying that to get me to trust her…but I got the sense that maybe she had
something different in mind.
And that belief…was
probably linked to Melissa’s final moments in the alternate timeline.
After a long pause, I
replied, “But I find it hard to believe that Eltania actually likes peace.”
But to that extent, even a
poor sap who loved Eltania died a pointless death that sparked a war. I found it utterly
impossible to believe that this Lord Eltania was all that great.
I cursed under my breath,
haunted by my ghastly past.
Seeing
this, Melissa shook her head sadly and answered, “No. You’re wrong. I think—” Then, after a
moment’s hesitation, she banished her insecurities and looked right at me. “I know that is why you are here now.”
I was tempted to cut her
down with a sarcastic quip…but I was speechless.
That was why I had been
brought back to this moment in time as the one with the Hair of Sulberia. No matter how hard I
pondered my situation, I still couldn’t understand the reason or the
implications behind it.
But could you blame me? I was shoved into the body
of a bitch who was hated by just about all her subjects in the alternative
timeline. It
was some sick joke from God—that was my only explanation.
But pondering that any
further wouldn’t bring me the answer I wanted now.
Okay, so I was right all
along. From
my point of view, the Lord Eltania is a piece of shit.
Finding myself annoyed, I
thrust my good-girl mask back on and said, “Have we quite finished our
conversation? I believe Princess Colette has secured our permission to be off campus,
but we still shouldn’t stay out too late. Perhaps we should head
back soon.”
“Hm…okay. I guess we’ll call it a day for now.”
Melissa didn’t press me
any further.
“The Hair of Sulberia will
save the world from destruction”… Is that really why I’m here? I’m just a common mercenary. A guy like me wouldn’t be
given such an important role in the first place. But those are some pretty
fucking bold words to hear after I’ve been through hell.
If it was really true, I
wouldn’t feel better until I landed a punch in that god’s face.
“Excuse me, sir, could we
please have the check?”
“Sure.
Two Earl Greys
comes to this.”
We paid the
bill—which was expensive for two cups of gross tea—and put the teahouse behind
us. He
didn’t ask us how we liked the tea, and we didn’t tell him either.
But the dark brown liquid
left in our cups on the table remained calm, without a single ripple.
The
fresh field swayed gently in the breeze, its green grasses glistening in the
sunlight as a lone carriage drove through it. The carriage gently
rocked along the road, which had been worn down by the other vehicles that
frequented it.
“Mmm, what a lovely view. The plains truly are
beautiful, the way they sparkle like ocean waves. The cool breeze also
feels truly refreshing!”
But a voice that was a
little out of place in such an idyllic scene echoed sharply over the fields. It came from a handsome
man who was leaning on the carriage window to admire the view. Though his manner of
speech was a bit pretentious, his words came from a place of genuine enjoyment.
In a jovial
tone, the young man showered everything he saw with affection.
“Yes, nature sure is great. I don’t have an eye for
beauty, but I always feel humbled when I’m in the wild. The vast plains, the
looming mountains, the bottomless ravines—this work of art forged slowly over
time is oh, so beautiful. Do you not agree, Rolf, old chum?”
It was endearing, so long
as the rapid-fire repetition of word vomit didn’t make the listener sick.
The young man spread his
arms wide in a grand gesture as he spoke to the
person sitting across from him in the carriage, a bald man with deep wrinkles
in his brow. His name must have been Rolf.
When that question was
abruptly thrown at him, Rolf forced his lips into a twisted sort of smile. “Er, well, I can’t say—”
“Is that so, old chum?” The young man cut him off. “Pity.
Well,
hobbies and preferences do vary, as they say. This infinite combination
of personalities is yet another manifestation of chaos. Ah! That reminds me, thank
you for letting me drag you along. It must have been a
burden, taking it on so suddenly.”
The young man’s words may
have been directed at Rolf, and they may have not. Even if Rolf had ignored
him, the conversation wouldn’t have gone much differently. But Rolf responded as
though the young man had been speaking to him, since it would be rude for him
not to.
“You ordered it, Grandmaster.
I don’t
consider it a burden at all.”
“Mmm! So devout! If you ask me, it wouldn’t
hurt to lighten up a little, but I don’t mind people like you, old chum. After all, you’re the
exact opposite of me—having people like you around helps me sense all sorts of
changes.”
Yes, dear reader—they
were members of Gods of the Moon, Victor Ludland and his novice Rolf Balzer. And they were on their
way to Zelfore to assassinate Mylene.
There was a clear
hierarchy between the two of them, which produced their asymmetrical
conversation. Were their roles reversed, there would not have been a word of
conversation during the entire carriage ride.
“Come now, don’t be so
formal! I
love flexibility in all things, and I especially love an environment where
unforeseen changes take place. I used to be just the
opposite, but life can be oddly enigmatic, wouldn’t you say?”
It was a lackluster
answer, but Victor didn’t seem to mind. He was aware that the
conversation had no substance.
Carefree,
friendly, proud, and handsome, Victor was—at the very least—not somebody you
would expect to find in a cult.
“Aha, a checkpoint. That’s Zelfore for you. Since they have that prep
school for the nobility from all over the continent, security is tight. Surely no matter what a
couple of suspicious fellows like us say, they’ll give us the regulations-this,
standards-that spiel and bar us entry. How utterly sickening.”
The carriage proceeded to
the checkpoint gate. But naturally, there were guards blocking it with spears. The driver tugged on the
reins and the well-trained horses came to an obedient halt. The guard exchanged a
couple of words with the driver, then approached the carriage window.
“Excuse me, may I see
your passports?”
He was just doing his job. There was nothing
hesitant about his speech or his movements.
After giving him a good
looking-over, Victor shot him a friendly smile. “You’re doing a fine job,
sir. However,
I’m afraid we don’t have passports.”
“What?
Well…then I
can’t let you through.”
It was a very normal
exchange. The
guard kept his voice calm as he responded to Victor’s arrogant remark, which
had come across as a prank.
Ahh, so devout, Victor smiled.
“Oh dear, I thought you
would say that. However…I believe you’ll remember if I show you this—”
A smile still on his
face, Victor extended his hand. When the soldier looked
at it, his breath caught.
In this open palm—was
nothing.
“Hm…? But there isn’t anything
there,” the guard blurted out.
“Oh, no, no, no, take a
closer look,” Victor coaxed, smiling at the guard as if he were a child.
And then—a
light flickered on the palm of Victor’s hand.
In a split second, the
guard squeezed his eyes shut in response to the violent burst of light. Barely a moment later, he
found himself unable to move.
For now, he was stunned,
his vacant eyes open wide.
Just then, another guard
who had seen the glow approached them. Wary of the burst of
light and his frozen comrade, the guard gripped his spear and thrust its tip at
the carriage window.
The stupefied guard let
out an eerie shriek and attacked his comrade for some reason. He sprung at his comrade
from behind, his lance piercing through the man’s light armor. The guard expired in a
state of astonishment.
But these were guards
whose life’s work was fighting. Training was part of
their daily routine. They blocked the wild spear swing of their maddened compatriot, but—
“H-he’s strong as an ox— Nngah!”
“N-no human’s this strong…! Garf?!”
Mayhem descended on the
checkpoint. Some
soldiers tried to stop their mad comrade, others ran in terror from his inhuman strength, and
silent corpses mixed among them until the area was fully submerged in chaos.
Meanwhile, the carriage
leisurely passed through the gate.
“Ah-ha-hah! What beautiful disorder! Sudden tragedy brings a
smile to the face better than any comedy routine!”
Victor clapped his hands
and laughed as the clamor faded in the distance behind him. He stayed like that for a
while until his waves of giggles finally subsided, then cleared his throat
again.
“See?
He did remember—his instincts, that is.”
“That spell never ceases
to terrify me.” There was sweat on Rolf’s brow but a smile on his face.
“Oh, tut, ’tis not that
grand a spell! It’s not easy to cast, and it’s vulnerable to defensive magic. Just consider it a
by-product of my leisure time.”
“Yes, that massacre was
mayhem at its finest.”
“We-he-hell! I
took you for a square, but you understand! It was kismet, joining
your little troupe.”
He seemed pleased to have
found a kindred spirit who appreciated his hobby.
The smile still on his
face, Victor glanced out the window. “If you need to know one
thing about me, it’s this: I love beautiful things. Each and every human
being you and your kind want to destroy has their own beautiful story to tell. I became a playwright
because I wanted to get closer to that feeling, but it didn’t work out. After all, a play is a
mere formulaic convention, where everything is laid out for you.”
Victor was
dwelling on the past. Though he was speaking to his underling, his eyes had wandered off to a
distant realm.
But then, his stormy eyes
filled with light.
“But real people with
lives are wonderful things indeed! There’s no telling what
they’ll do during their dying moments. What will they say next? What kind of expression
will they make when they die? The excitement is insatiable. Which way will the dice fall?
Not even I,
the one who rolled them, knows the answer. That, my friend, is the sort
of chaos that makes for a beautiful story.”
Reminiscing over the
scene he had just helped create, Victor gave a satisfied click of his tongue. But that, too, had lasted
only fleeting moment. With a loving smile on his lips, Victor gazed off into the distance—
“Oh, I can hardly wait… God’s Bitch is supposed to be a
beauty, isn’t she? A tragedy with the best actress to play its leading role. I’m sure it will be
beautiful.”
—sending his heart out to
the girl whose life he was to claim.
“Having said that, I’m
only going to perform in the opening act this time. But considering it will
be the opening act for the greatest show of all—the end of the world—it is
indeed an honor. Kee-hee-hee, oh, I don’t mind at all. For a world of chaos—your
people’s philosophy has my utmost sympathy.”
And thus, the playwright
ventured forth toward his ideal stage.
The carriage made for
Zelfore.
“And here
is your order, miss. Thank you, and do come again.”
The Genius Festival was
fast approaching. I had taken Albert, Colette, and Melissa (who had become a normal part
of our group now) with me out to town.
Don’t get it twisted; we
weren’t ditching class. Everyone at school was deep in preparation for the Genius Festival, so
we were on a shortened class schedule. Instruction had ended at
lunch, and we were here picking up the uniforms we’d ordered for our café.
What you just read was
the clerk bidding us farewell and begging us to come back. We had ordered ten
custom-made uniforms—the bill surely ran high. I could understand their
eagerness to secure us as repeat customers.
And, y’know, I probably
would patronize them again if I get the chance. Perhaps even next
year—nope, cool it. Too soon.
Anyway, we safely made
our purchase and left the clothing store behind us.
“I’m so glad we got the
goods without any complications! Looks like everything is
in order, too… Now I’m suddenly very excited about the festival!” said Albert.
“Hmm, yes, indeed! I truly cannot wait to see Mylene in this uniform!” said Colette.
As we
started walking back, the two royals were in high spirits. But unlike them, I was
sagging my shoulders as I dragged the shopping bag along. And it wasn’t because the
clothes were heavy.
“God dammit all… I didn’t
sign up for this… Do I really have to wear this shitty uniform…?”
The finished uniforms
were beyond my wildest nightmares—they were bloody awful.
Don’t get me wrong, they
were well made. The color scheme was bright and unique, and the design was both
modestly feminine and sensational. They showed skin, but not
enough to get us expelled.
The merchandise itself was
fine. We’d
gotten our money’s worth—the uniforms were even more refined than their future
timeline counterparts.
But that was just the
problem. They
were even better made than I had imagined.
“Ha-ha-hah! Go big or go home, as they
say!”
Only now did I realize
that I’d made a fatal mistake: I forgot Colette existed.
When we’d ordered the
uniforms, Colette had stayed behind to talk to the shopkeeper. At the time, I thought
she looked excited; I never would have dreamed that she was making all sorts of
additions to our order.
And the clothes we just
picked up were the product of her alterations.
I dread what’s to come…
My body is feminine. I thought I was okay with dressing like a girl by now, but why does the
idea of showing so much skin make me feel so embarrassed?
When I’d lived as a man,
my job often required scant clothing, but showing skin never bothered me then…
“N-now, now, Miss Mylene,
chin up! You
won’t be the only person wearing this uniform!”
“The outfits don’t look
all that embarrassing to me…,” Melissa added. “I’ll be wearing one,
too, you know?”
“Well, sure, but…everyone
has their tastes.”
Having said that, it had
been careless of me to not stop Colette’s shenanigans.
So I
wasn’t gonna spend the rest of the day shitting on something I couldn’t change.
And Melissa was right. The uniform design itself
wasn’t all that bad if you looked at it on its own. That was true even by
future-timeline standards.
As long as I could get
over my personal hangups by the festival, I’d be okay.
(Which was easier said than
done, of course.)
I just had to pray that
everything would sort itself out in time. Then again, a version of
myself that wasn’t bothered at all by the uniform was concerning in its own
way…
Well, whatever. Obsessing over it wasn’t going to change anything. So it was better to turn
off my brain.
“Hmm, the exchange took
much less time than I’d anticipated. Want to take a little
break before we head back to class? We can apologize later.”
I needed to snap out of my
funk and try to be as cheerful as possible. So I agreed to Colette’s
suggestion to take a break at a teahouse.
“Are you sure we should
be doing this when everyone else is working so hard?” Melissa asked. We were still technically in class right now. Yet, while our classmates
were back on campus hard at work, we were having tea.
“We’re here for café research,
Melissa. If
anyone gives you a hard time, just give them that vague excuse.”
In life, ya had to give
your fair share of vague excuses to keep yourself from getting beaten down too
hard. In
fact, we already had our menu planned and we’d already spent most of our
budget. We
weren’t gonna learn anything new by stopping for tea, but life’s much easier
when you bullshit your way through it.
We boldly sat at a table
in the front of the teahouse and gave our order.
It was a hot day. Cold drinks would be a perfect remedy.
“Research is a bit of a stretch—but
then again, this place is rather innovative. Zelfore has all sorts of
unique spots.”
“Indeed, it is. I was a bit startled by the concept of chilled tea at first, but on a
hot day like this, it’s to die for.”
This teahouse was unique
for the era in its own way. And the two royals were gushing over the focus of their “research.”
But just as they said,
this teahouse was quite innovative. For one, they didn’t
boast a wide variety of tea types, but they also had a variety of things to
eat, from small snacks to filling meals. In just a few years from
now, the concept of a teahouse where you could also get a bite to eat wouldn’t
be all that rare, but those sorts of places were unusual in present-day
Eltania. And
from the way Colette was talking, they probably weren’t all that common in
Colorne either.
Being a center of trade, Zelfore was a step ahead of
everyone else. What was I up to around this time as Envil…? I seem to recall Mylene
and I weren’t that far apart in age. Which probably meant I was—
“Here you go, four iced
teas.”
Just as I was pondering
what the other me was doing right now, the waiter brought our order. Our four glasses were
filled with ice. The way they were lightly opaque from the condensation truly had a
delightfully chilling effect.
Suppressing the urge to
gulp it all down at once, I slowly sipped my drink. “Ahh…so good.”
I shuddered in ecstasy at
the cooling sensation of the icy drink gliding down my throat.
“It’s weak in flavor and
fragrance, but it really does hit the spot. Imagine chilling
drinks…and chilling tea of all things. It’s genius, really.”
Colette was right. The concept of serving drinks chilled was rare even in the future I
came from. The
tea itself tasted cheap, but just the act of cooling it made it utterly
delicious. Wait,
maybe it was delicious because
it had a weak flavor?
I may have
come from the future, but the world in which I lived had been quite small—there
were still so many things I didn’t know about. Y’know, it might not
actually be a bad thing to look around and see what else was out there.
“Having fun?” Albert giggled as I gazed idly at Zelfore’s streets.
“Wow, an honest reaction? That’s not like you,
Mylene,” Colette teased.
“The hell’s that supposed to mean? What kind of person do you
take me for?” I glared
back at her.
All I did was respond
like a normal person. Who the hell does she think I am?
“A
cynic.” “A
fake,” Colette and Melissa answered in prompt unison.
Colette aside, Melissa
had gotten awfully frank with me ever since we’d gotten closer.
“For all your grumbling, you are enjoying yourself, aren’t
you?”
“Hm?
Yeah…guess so. Since I’m usually so
restrained and polite at school, it feels very…liberating?…to not have to put
on airs.”
“You
could just be like that all the
time,” Melissa said.
“You think so? Personally, I prefer seeing only snippets of her true self now and
then—it makes me feel special, I guess… But on that note, I see you’ve taken to
not hiding your true self in front of Melissa,” said Colette.
“Well, I kinda messed up
and let it slip out. It feels stupid putting on airs now.”
“I was startled at first,
but I think that’s for the best.”
Come to think of it, I
never told my friends that Melissa knows the real me. Not like it’s something I
need to go out of my way to announce. But still, the fact that
I can be myself around her shows a level of trust… Wait, that’s going too
far…more like kinship. I
can’t deny that.
“Mmm.
I think I
feel a little jealous… Argh, what is this feeling!”
I smirked at Colette as she growled and threw her
arms in the air. I’m just showing her what I always show you. Being jealous is a bit
extreme.
The next
thing I knew, my iced tea was gone, and my ice slid down to the bottom of my
glass with a melodic tinkle that brought a faint moment of peace to the hustle
and bustle of the city.
It was Melissa who broke
the little moment of tranquility.
“Mylene…” She hunched her
shoulders and said, “I owe you an apology.”
“I let my prejudice get
the better of me, and I treated you horribly. I wrote you off as my
enemy…and I wanted to apologize for that.”
I’d been wondering what
she was going to say, but apologizing for her behavior up until now made sense.
Then again,
it felt a little irrelevant now.
It wasn’t her behavior
itself that bothered me. It wasn’t
me she hated. She’d just taken me for
somebody I wasn’t. I got much shittier treatment than that in my past life.
“I’m telling ya, I don’t care, so it’s a waste of time for you to worry about it. Unlike those vague prophecies you love so much, I mean
what I bloody say.”
So the matter was closed. I waved my hand
dismissively at Melissa, who just sat there with her jaw hanging open. But then—
“Hee-hee, you’re such an
enigma,” she teased, snorting daintily.
Albert and Colette
followed suit and laughed. In that moment, it felt like time flowed slowly and peacefully.
And for some weird reason,
I didn’t hate it—
“Oops, we shouldn’t loiter. Let’s head back,” I
suggested.
My friends agreed. And as I jumped to my feet with more force than necessary, I heard them
giggle quietly behind me.
Shit…I just said
something really cheesy, didn’t I?
“Put that vase
over here! Hey,
that cross is off-balance.”
Time flies like an
arrow—or so the saying goes—but it was true. After a dizzying
whirlwind of hard work, it was finally the day of the Genius Festival.
It was early in the
morning, and here in the Phoenix Class, the final preparations were underway
for the opening of our café. Albert, Colette, and I
usually spent this time training, so it wasn’t a problem for us, but most of
our fellow classmates would still be in dreamland at this hour. Some rubbed their eyes
sleepily, and others wandered around like zombies, but the classroom was still
in a restless fervor.
As for me, I was barking
orders left and right. This was just the thing for the zombies—the closer we got to opening
time, the more their cheeks filled with life. As my peers became more
lucid, the long-awaited Genius Festival was starting to feel more real to them.
“Mylene, don’t you think
it’s about time we changed into our uniforms?”
“Yes, you’re quite right,
Colette. Melissa…also,
Hermia, Romilda, would you all please join us?”
Aside from Melissa, we’d
chosen two other girls to be servers. Hermia
was a class
beauty with curves in all the right places. Romilda was slender, but
she had a rose-kissed, healthy glow to her skin.
Combined with the
innocent Melissa and the queenly Colette, they satisfied everyone’s tastes.
“All right, Prince
Albert, the gentlemen are in your hands.”
Albert was in charge of
the boys. We
parted ways into our separate dressing rooms. Once inside, we were
given our uniforms. This would be my second time wearing it. I’d put it on the first
time in the shop to see if it needed alterations. Now I needed to put it on
again so I could work as a server.
I had avoided wearing it
all this time with the excuse that I didn’t want to risk getting it dirty, but
now it was game time. I had to suck it up and wear the damn thing.
“These uniforms are just
so cute!” Rolinda
carefully held up her uniform to avoid wrinkling it. “Remind me, Miss Mylene,
was this your idea?”
“Yes, mostly… Having said
that, Princess Colette contributed to the final uniform you see here. As such, you might as
well consider it her idea.”
It might have come across
as modesty, but I meant every word. Since I knew I’d be
forced to wear the damn thing myself, I had only vaguely asked the shopkeeper
to make colorful maid uniforms.
“Oh, so it was Princess
Colette. I can see that. They are a bit
provocative but very beautiful.”
And that’s how we wound up
with these provocative—well, let’s just call them what they were: skin-exposing
costumes. Having
said that, they were still tame enough for our classmates to be okay with
wearing them…but I still dreaded putting one
on.
It was too late to
complain, though. I changed into the uniform. It came with other accessories,
but I wanted to delay putting those on as long as possible.
“I see you’ve all changed!” Colette said. “Then let’s head back to
the classroom and show everyone just how beautiful we are.”
Romilda and
Hermia nodded eagerly in reply. As you’d expect, they
both had a lot of confidence in their looks. And in truth, all five of
us were charming in our own way. If you’re going on
outward appearances alone, I was included in that statement.
I really need to stop
shitting on this whole thing. This is starting to feel
out of character.
As we left the dressing
room and headed for our classroom, we turned the heads of every student in the
hall we passed. Getting all that attention made me feel even worse—
“Well, hello, ladies and
gentlemen. Do visit the Phoenix Class,
won’t you?”
—but I told myself to
ignore it and sent the enraptured students some light flirtation.
Hey, I had all eyes on me. How could I pass up a
good PR opportunity?
I’m sure we sparked a lot
of curiosity. What would these beautiful girls in modern, skimpy costumes do? I figured Albert and his
posse were attracting their fair share of attention from the female students,
too.
“Shrewd as ever, eh, Mylene?” Colette teased.
“Hey, when you’re dressed
like this, it’s more embarrassing to stay
uncomfortable. One must play all the cards in one’s deck,
my dear.”
I hid my urge to curse
under a smile and waved elegantly as I walked down the hall.
Okay, we’re almost ready now…
No, wait. I
still have one very important personal matter to tend to.
I returned to the
classroom to find Albert and his team had already returned. They were standing in the
center of the classroom, surrounded by a crowd of eager students much like
actors who had just stepped off the stage.
Albert and the other boys
were given riding uniforms—a variation on tailcoat suits. Only they were much
tighter-fitting, with the eye-catching areas emphasized and bright-colored
lining that brought a flashy sense of style to the party.
And just as
I’d hoped, this youthful spin on formal wear was a real hit with the ladies.
It wasn’t an exaggeration
to say everyone had stopped working. Ideally, I’d let them
admire the boys for a bit longer, but the truth was that we didn’t have time to
sit on our asses.
“Ladies and gentlemen,
we’ve returned,” I announced loudly, to draw the eyes on the class on me.
“Welcome back, Miss Mylene…?!”
…Well, I had faith that
we ladies would draw even more attention than Albert and the boys. And as I’d anticipated,
the eyes of all our classmates fell onto us, fresh from the fitting room.
The once rowdy classroom
fell silent. Little gasps of awe escaped the covered mouths of the girls, while the
boys went stock still from shock.
“H-how beautiful…! You’re an angel—no—a goddess?”
Albert had a particularly
overblown reaction—legs were shaking like a newborn deer’s. Not that I blamed him. I had to admit, Colette’s
design really was something.
The bodice was quite
low-cut, and it came with a separate pin-on collar. Since it was an aproned
dress, the short hems left our thighs exposed, too. It was a daring design
indeed.
The skirt was gathered
into a frilly fluff, providing a cute contrast to the sexy bodice. It was a harmony that did
not clash.
But the outfit was still
tasteful. With
a cute, girlish red as its base, the color scheme brought everything together. And the focal point on the
head—a bow tied like rabbit ears—brought the overall effect into the cute category.
All of these elements
made the apron-dress a cute-yet-alluring uniform of feminine beauty.
Which was exactly why I
couldn’t imagine a more uncomfortable dress for someone like me to wear, but I still
thought Colette and Melissa looked adorable in it. Especially Colette. She was so—nope, not
gonna go there.
My
appearance must have sucker punched Albert in that way.
The fact was, everyone in
the class, regardless of gender, was mesmerized by us. It seemed like we were off
to a great start.
“I didn’t dream you would
look so wonderful…! Ohh, how should I even
express this feeling in my heart…!”
“Thank you, Your Highness. You also look very handsome.”
Honestly, Albert did look
very nice. The
tight-fitting suit emphasized his already-slender frame, making his glasslike,
girlish body sparkle.
Ah, man…that almost makes
me sorry I have to do this.
“You’re already
bewitching as it is, Miss Mylene. I can’t believe a uniform
could bring out your charms even further! Was this Princess
Colette’s idea?”
“Yes.
The
original concept was mine, but it’s no exaggeration to say it wouldn’t have
been elevated to such heights without Princess Colette’s guidance.”
“Yes…I can see that. She must have prioritized
bringing out your charms most of all in her design, Miss Mylene. At this very moment, I
respect Princess Colette with my whole heart.”
“Humph… And I respect you
for acknowledging that, Prince Albert. I can’t deny that you
understand Mylene’s charms quite well,” said Colette.
When I saw the two royals
shake hands firmly, it gave me such a good feeling inside. Thanks to my decision to
make them training partners, they were growing into a duo with each passing
day. At
some point, they might actually prove a threat to me—now that was a chilling
thought.
You know, I wouldn’t be in
this mess in the first place if not for Colette and Albert. Now I feel pissed off again.
No…let it go. It’s time to go to the final phase of your plan.
Albert had gotten me into
this mess…and it was time to get revenge.
“All right, let us make the final preparations—oh! My
foot!” I
purposely tripped over my foot and fell toward Albert. Colette startled and
reached out to stop me from falling, but she was too late by a hair.
But falling
on the ground was never my endgame. I copied Colette’s look
of surprise as I fell toward Albert. Then I grabbed his
suit—and ripped it.
“O-oh, I’m so sorry,
Prince Albert! I must be
exhausted. I just—fell…,” I apologized pathetically as Albert held me in his arms. He didn’t look at all
suspicious; my gentle demeanor probably fooled him. I wasn’t exactly happy
about deceiving a kind, trusting rich kid like him—
“Fortunately, I’m not hurt. Don’t worry about me,
Miss Mylene. I’m just relieved you didn’t fall and hurt yourself.”
I
figured Albert would say that, I thought as I slowly
pulled away from him. “Luckily, neither of us is hurt,” Albert said, “so you shouldn’t feel
bad about it.”
“But my suit is in a
terrible state…I’m so sorry, but I don’t think I shall be able to serve guests
looking like this. I feel
so wretched. I promised I would help you, Miss Mylene.”
However, his lovely suit
was brutally destroyed. A dismal silence fell upon the classroom. Albert looked very good in
that suit. He
was laughing it off and putting a positive spin on it, but surely everyone was
disappointed that we had lost our most beautiful boy in the class from the
front line of battle.
Albert looked
disappointed, too. I had asked him to be a draw for our customers. He surely felt guilty
that he couldn’t fulfill his duty anymore.
But that’s exactly what I
wanted. Everything
was going according to plan.
“In that case, you
needn’t worry.”
Yes, I’d planned this
whole thing from the start. Tripping over my own feet
at just the right moment, falling toward Albert, ripping his suit—everything
was intentional.
That was why I’d had his
suit made to be easily ripped.
“I had a spare costume
made for such an occurrence. Won’t
you please, please change into it, Your
Highness? I’d
feel oh-so-anxious without you…”
“Well!
You never
cease to amaze, Miss Mylene! To have foreseen such a
predicament like this—oh, your Albert is most impressed!”
Now then, about that
spare uniform.
Yeah, I’m going to
hell…but I’m dragging you with me, bitch.
I vowed that day that I
would have my revenge…I never forgot!
I handed Albert the spare
uniform, and he skipped off to the dressing room to change into it. As I watched him leave
with a smile on my face, Colette looked at me as if I had a monster perched on
my shoulder.
“When…when did you set that plan in
motion?”
Apparently, she had caught
onto what kind of uniform I’d handed him. That’s my Colette. She understood retribution. She knew how to strike the
most devastating attack at the worst moment possible. Compared to toppling a
nation, this was small potatoes, but I had my own unique take on vengeance.
“What are you talking about?” Melissa tilted her head
in confusion.
“Um…you’ll find out soon
enough. Don’t
get on Mylene’s bad side. I’d better take that lesson to heart, too.”
“But I don’t think of her
as an enemy,” Melissa insisted. “Seriously, what is it?”
I had given up on getting
my revenge on Colette, but if this had put her in check, all the better.
A smile crept onto my face. Melissa looked at me with
suspicion.
We’re pretty far from the
boys’ dressing room. We shouldn’t be able to hear him all the way out here, but—
I could just barely hear
Albert screaming that.
“Oh—oh… Oh…
Y-you’re terrible, Miss Mylene…”
“But you look lovely,
Your Highness. All I did was hand you the uniform that would suit you best.”
Albert returned to the
classroom, sobbing and trying to make himself as small as possible. Whether or not he could
successfully hide from any of his classmates was yet to be seen.
“She’s right…you look good. Scary good,” Melissa
murmured at the sight of him.
At the sight of Albert
dressed in the same frilly apron dress as she and I, that is.
“P-please don’t stare at
me-e-e… Th-this isn’t how a prince is supposed to loo-ook…”
“But if you present
yourself with poise, you’ll be indistinguishable from a girl. Then all of our guests
would just go, Huh, who’s the new girl? when they see you. Wouldn’t that be much easier?”
My revenge was to have
Albert assist me.
But not as a male server. No. He would be doing the same job as me.
That’s why I had made
Albert’s uniform easy to rip. It was also why the spare
maid’s uniform happened to be in Albert’s size.
After he’d
dragged me down to hell like that, there was no way I’d let him off easy. Don’t let people fuck with
you—that’s my motto.
“W-well…you know, he
really does look good…,” one of the boys said.
“I feel kinda funny…,” another murmured.
“Oh…oh—oh—ohhh! Miss
Myle-e-ene!”
Some guys were on the
brink of personal breakthroughs, but, well, they’d figure out who they were
eventually one way or another. Honestly, they should have
been thanking me for giving them the opportunity to learn how to enjoy new
things.
“Let it go, Prince
Albert,” Colette said. “Consider it a prank that lasts only for today. And if you don’t want it
to happen again, keep your actions in check.”
“But didn’t all this
happen in the first place because of something you said, Princess Colette?! It’s like you don’t even
care about me-e-e…”
“My goodness, what a
horrifying turn of events. I’d better keep on my toes…”
As Colette nodded wisely,
Albert shot her a vengeful glare.
If she weren’t a
princess, I might have done something to Colette as well—but when Albert hated
wearing the same uniform that Colette was so eager and happy to wear, it would
mean the opposite. As long as Colette wasn’t showing any aversion to the uniform, I had to
consider this round Colette: 1, me: 0.
“Let’s end the chitchat here.
We’re opening soon.”
“Oh, goodness, look at the
time! Come,
Prince Albert, pull yourself together.”
Albert was still a
sniveling mess. I understood. I knew exactly what it was
like to suddenly have to dress as a lady. I could empathize—but
that didn’t mean he had my sympathy.
“Princess Colette is
right, Your Highness. You
look incredible. If you carry yourself well, nobody will even notice it’s you. And a prince in drag could
be a mysterious beautiful girl, to add another novel
flavor that only can be tasted at the Genius Festival… It all depends on how
you act, Prince Albert.”
In times
like these, acting embarrassed would only make you feel more embarrassed. And Albert had already
cross-dressed twice before now. So I wasn’t gonna let him
give me shit for it.
“I’m going to open the café,
everyone! There’s
already a line of customers outside!”
An announcement from a
fellow classmate struck the final blow to the hesitant prince.
Ironically, our little
preshow in the hallway was giving us good returns. He’d already come this far. If we didn’t get results,
everything would have been for nothing.
“Well, without further
ado—the Phoenix Class’s Café Aurora is open for business!”
And with a bombastic
announcing of the name, the door to our classroom was opened—to reveal an
impressive number of students lined up outside. The queue was so long it
made me wonder if every student not currently on duty at their own business was
there.
Okay,
time to get the energy up. I exchanged looks with
Melissa, Colette, and the other girls, then I shot a glare at Albert. Melissa and Colette
nodded in reply. Albert’s face twitched slightly with hesitation.
(But his voice still
layered perfectly with the chorus.)
With as much charm as we
could muster, we spread our arms wide in welcome. After a hushed murmur of
confusion, the room filled with an ecstatic sigh.
I didn’t blame the guys
for gawking, but our business model was low-profit-high-turnover—though let it
be noted that compared to most normal cafés,
we would still be considered rather high-profit—which meant churning through
customers was crucial. We needed to keep the atmosphere in here lively, not reverent, so I
urged the dazed schoolboys to their table as quickly as possible.
“We have one item on our
menu today. Please select the jam you’d like, sir.”
“Um,
o-okay, I’ll have strawberry…”
Our menu consisted of one
item: tea and bannocks, the only variation was which of the three jams you
chose to go with your bannock. Our customer service
system was simplified as much as possible, and our tea and pastries were on the
baking level of your basic rich girl.
Then we sold the items at
more than twice their market value—though I doubted anyone would care.
“Did you see that…? I’ve never seen Mylene
smile like that before…!”
“Yes, I always took her
for an intimidating beauty. I didn’t know she could
smile that way…”
And that was because we
more than made up for it with our customer service.
I used to be a man—I
understood exactly how those boys felt. Personality gaps were
always a surefire way to get a man to swoon. Their dazed smiles said it
all: they were in a dreamworld.
“Blueberry and
marmalade—will that suffice?”
“Three blueberries here. Coming right up.”
The other girls were just
as popular. Baby-faced Melissa, queenly Colette—she provided yet another layer of
value, giving the boys the rare opportunity to fraternize with royalty.
“Th-that will be three
strawberry jams. Coming
right up…”
Albert was also doing quite well. I
wish he wouldn’t scurry away right after he took the orders—
“I don’t think so. But…she sure was pretty.”
—but his shy demeanor
struck the boys right in the feels.
Enjoy your dream while it
lasts, boys. It will surely be a bittersweet memory later.
That was just how perfect
Albert was in drag. Unless
somebody told you he was a boy—actually, scratch that, even if somebody told you he was a
boy, you’d still think he was a girl.
Okay, everyone else seems
to be making good sales, too. I’d better focus on my
own tasks now.
“Here you go, gentlemen. Four Aurora Tea Sets with
strawberry jam.”
I distributed the mediocre
tea, bannocks, and jam. And there was a collective gasp of awe from the boys at the table.
…If I may be so humble, I
know I’ve got a pretty face. All it takes is a little
charming smile in a frilly dress and most boys will melt just like them. Now the only thing I have
to do is keep it up and serve the other guests. As long as I can turn my
brain off, this is an easy gig.
“Thank you for visiting us, gentlemen… Next guests, please
step this way!”
As soon as I dismissed
the table, I brought in more guests. Since we were in constant
motion, I felt rather frazzled. But that just meant we
were very profitable. Business was thriving, and it felt pretty damn good.
“Oh, God…I love her usual
valiant demeanor, but…”
“Bubbly Mylene is just as nice…”
Besides…how should I put it…? Toying with people also
felt surprisingly good. It felt
good because I thought of it as a
game, of course, but for a mercenary like me who’d been used and abused for a
cheap price, I felt a twisted sort of joy at bending rich kids to my will with
a single flirtatious smile.
With a little shake of my
head, I shifted my focus back to work. Our stream of customers
was unending, and before we knew it, the time had come to change shifts.
“Mylene, we’re changing
shifts. Let’s all
regroup.”
“All right, understood.” As I smiled sweetly at
Colette, I heard another chorus of scattered sighs from the room. But Romilda and Hermia
were also quite the beauties. Their lack of family fame
or royal status lost them some points, but they were more than enough to drive the boys
crazy.
“Aww!
Miss Mylene, do you have to leave?!” a girl sighed.
“Princess Colette, can’t
you stay?!” another girl
echoed.
The real dark horses were
me and Colette, along with Melissa and Albert. Even though we mostly
served the boys, we also got our fair share of love from the girls.
With a soft giggle,
Colette said, “It’s sweet of you to miss us, but we want to explore the Genius
Festival, too. We’ll come back to serve again later, so be sure to visit then.”
“We’ll come as many times
as we have to!”
Then again…this is Colette
we were talking about. It made perfect sense. She was feminine, yet she
had a unique chivalry about her, too. That was likely the
result of the superior education someone of her status was brought up on. She would become an
imperial war princess in the future; those qualities would only continue to be
sharpened as she grew up.
“Well, ladies and
gentlemen, we shall take our leave. Do come again, if you wish.”
“Oh, we’ll definitely be
back!”
“I’m coming as many times
as I can!”
And in an odd turn of
events, I was just as popular.
At the very least, I liked
to think I carried myself with
grace while I was on campus. Still feeling a little
confused by that, I slipped behind the curtain that served as a partition.
“All right Romilda,
Hermia, we’ll see you later for your second shift.”
“Tee-hee-hee, you’re a
tough act to follow, Miss Mylene.”
“But we’ll do our best. Have a great time at the
Genius Festival.”
I bid farewell to my
coworkers and picked up my school uniform. I wouldn’t be caught dead
wandering around campus in the maid outfit. I at least wanted to be
in my normal school uniform on my time off.
“Mm—you’re changing?” Colette grunted.
“Yes. I wish to be comfortable
when I’m not on the clock.”
“But you look so cute,”
Melissa argued.
“Still, I’d rather get
this off of me,” I said curtly.
Albert, meanwhile, was
unusually quiet—
“E-excuse me-e… What
shall I do? I can’t go into the boys’ dressing room looking like this…”
—but it seemed he
understood firsthand how I was feeling.
“If you want to change,
you’ll have to do it behind the curtain in the classroom.”
“Oh—oh…yes, I suppose I
shall have to…”
No way in hell could he go
into the boys’ dressing room in a maid uniform. In a way, I guess Albert
had it harder than I did.
“Well, we’re going off to
change, then. We’ll return to the classroom later, so let’s all regroup here when we
do.”
If he made it through
this ordeal, he’d think twice before betraying me.
I’m not sure why I found
the whole thing amusing. Probably because Albert was so quick on the uptake. Feeling a little charmed
by the sulking prince, I left the classroom behind me.
According to the little
pamphlets we were given, there was a wide variety of shops to visit. And none of the places
really wowed me (which made sense, seeing as how they were intended for rich
kids), but if I thought of it as scouting out the competition, I couldn’t help
but be amused by it.
“Oh, Miss Mylene…you’re
just too cruel. When did you ever set that plan in motion?”
“From the very beginning,
of course. When
you whisked the ladder out from beneath me, I had a nasty fall, you know.”
Albert,
seemingly unconvinced, was bitterly twiddling his fingers. Hey, you reaped what you
sowed. He
should consider himself lucky if he understood even a fraction of my suffering.
“Hell hath no fury like a
woman with a plan.” Melissa gave me a contemptuous stare, but I didn’t care anymore. I don’t care how old you
are, the exhilaration of an evil scheme well played can’t be beat.
“Truer words have never
been spoken, my dear,” I answered. “If you cross me, my
terror shall be relentless.”
“See, Melissa? Told you that you shouldn’t get on her bad side.”
“And you were so right,
Princess. If
possible, I’d like to become stronger allies.”
“The feeling is mutual,”
I replied.
(I also didn’t care that
there was a hint of sarcasm in their tones.)
Having said that, I was
sincere when I said I wanted to become stronger allies. Melissa’s powers as a
priestess were the real deal. I mean, I’d seen them in
action with my own eyes. I wasn’t in the mood to let her prophecies rope me into anything
annoying, but they might serve me well someday.
Then again, that’s only
if the Lord Eltania was flexible. Take Colette’s
kidnapping, for example. If we’d known where they’d abducted her, the rescue would have gone
much more smoothly. Everything had worked out in the end, but if we had gotten there too
late, the world would have lurched that much closer to the Lord Eltania’s prophecy.
“So, where do you want to
go first?”
“Okay then, why don’t we
start with the second-year class? They’re going to put on a
play, and I think it’s almost curtain time.”
……And if the worst had
happened with Colette, we wouldn’t be smiling like this right now. That kind of pissed me
off a little.
Now I considered Melissa a
part of our group. I didn’t want to have to involve her, but if shit went down, I’d have
to tell her everything and get her to help us.
Then again, we hadn’t
heard a peep from our little friends since the kidnapping.
If this
all turned out to be a needless worry of mine, I couldn’t be happier.
At the very least, I hoped
they would behave themselves until I graduated. That way, I was confident
I could manage them all by myself.
“Yes, the play does sound
rather intriguing. Shall we
go see?”
“Hum.
Checking out
the caliber of the only other class besides us who’s putting on a show? Great idea!”
If they could just be
good little cultists and stay out of my way until then, that would be great.
As I watched Colette take
the lead, I snorted softly.
We’re safe now. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
In
short, the play was terrible.
And of course it was. They’d only had a day to
rehearse it and put it together, so it was short by necessity, the script
didn’t have a chance to come together, and as for the acting… Well, it was
amateurish and not even worth watching.
“Ah!
Hah! Hah! That was
terrible!” Colette cackled. “Especially that shriek
at the end. I should get a prize for not bursting out laughing then and there!”
“The plot was horrendous,
too,” Albert agreed. “I can’t believe they actually had God appear and resolve everything
just like that…”
“I didn’t really get it,
to be honest,” Melissa said.
As we took a light lunch
in the cafeteria, it was surprisingly fun to rip on the horrible play we had
just wasted our money on. When I was watching it, I just wanted it to be over as soon as
possible, but I could talk about it with my friends like this all day and not
get tired of it.
“Mm—look at the time. We’ve been chatting longer
than I thought,” Colette remarked.
“Oh—oh… I guess I shall have to
wear that wretched uniform again…,” Albert wailed.
But time flies when
you’re having fun. Before we knew it, the time for our
second shift at the café was fast approaching. I considered the
possibility that time had passed so quickly because something I dreaded was up
ahead, but that would be the wrong conclusion. It was because I was
enjoying spending time with my friends.
I giggled softly and
said, “It’s just for today, Prince Albert. If you turn off your
brain, you just might have a little fun with it.”
That’s right. Today would never come again. So he and I might as well
give up and be dumbasses. Gone were the days where you couldn’t show your face in polite society
after you make a drunken ass of yourself at a party! At least we got to dress
semi-decently.
“Er, um, w…well, yes, I
suppose you’re right, Miss Mylene.”
“True, you won’t get many
chances to cross-dress when you go back to the castle.”
“Melissa?! Please, lower your voice
if you’re going to say things like that…!”
Well, I guess he learned
his lesson. I’ll throw
him a bone.
—a minute? is how I was going to
finish the sentence.
I know that sound… It was
an explosion. More accurately, the sound of an explosion smashing something.
“Shh!
Hold still just a
minute.”
The first
person to notice the anomaly was Colette. It was no ordinary rumbling. It was an attack. Someone had intentionally
destroyed something. The battle training she’d received as the princess of a military empire
had instantly clued her into what was happening.
As panic started to
settle in around us, we held our breaths and waited for the next noise. And after a while…we
heard the sound of a bell.
It was our emergency alarm
bell. That
meant the school authorities had also caught on to the abnormality of the
sound.
“What’s going on…?! Oh, Miss Mylene, do you
have any idea…?”
“Not
yet. Except…I
believe the school is under some kind of attack.”
That was the anomaly we were
facing: Somebody was attacking an academy filled with sons and daughters of the
nobility.
Yet another explosion rang
out. The
cafeteria was now in a full-on pandemonium.
“Eep!
Wh-what’s happening? Where are the guards?!”
With the second blast, it
was clear that this was no accident or coincidence. Even the other students
knew it now. It was crystal clear that they were in an extraordinary situation, and
they were freaking out.
“Is
it them…?” Colette growled.
“I can’t be certain. However, I’m afraid we
must do something about it.”
I still thought this was
all happening too soon. Colette’s mysterious kidnapping was a big part of this assumption, but
these were the guys who weren’t ready to take that plunge because it was too soon. If they attacked this
famous prep school filled with the children of the world’s leaders, there would
be no nation they wouldn’t make an enemy of.
“Who’s them…?” Melissa asked.
“Once we’re out of this
mess…I’ll tell you,” I said.
Now that Melissa was
entangled in our mess, there was no point in keeping her in the dark. But I didn’t have time to
give her the whole spiel right now.
“I’m going to go find out
what’s happened. Princess Colette, Prince Albert, could I have you both please keep
everyone calm?”
I wasn’t too fond of the
idea of sitting on my ass while more people got hurt. I had to find our enemy
one way or another—and crush them.
To ensure I succeeded, I
needed Albert and Colette to keep everyone in the cafeteria calm so—
“Screw that. I’m
coming with you.”
“Me too, Miss Mylene. Now is the time to put my
hard training to work!”
I thought they might
insist on tagging along…
“Don’t say it’s because
we’re royalty,” Colette snapped. “By that logic, shouldn’t
we stay by your side, where we would be the most protected?”
Albert nodded eagerly in
agreement.
Shit…these damn kids. Why do they always have
to be in lockstep when it’s inconvenient for me?
But they did have a point. Colette and Albert were
much stronger than any of the other small-fry students around us. They wouldn’t get in my
way, either. If we were up against two Pearlman-level opponents, that’d be another
story, but either way, it didn’t look like I could beat our enemy alone.
“Understood. We don’t have time to argue—come.”
In the end, I caved and
let them join me. It would suck if a third explosion blasted us all away while we were
bickering.
“No, Melissa, you stay here. We don’t have the
bandwidth to bring along somebody who can’t fight—I hope you understand.”
I just couldn’t drag
someone into a battle if they lacked sufficient combat ability. Melissa had nowhere else
to turn and was backed into a corner, so she pursed her lips and grunted,
unable to argue.
“All right, Princess. Before we depart, give a
reassuring word to our fellow students.”
“Hum?
Oh, of
course—attention, brothers and sisters!” With the pomp of a
military general, Colette shot her arms out. Her sonorous cry carried
a dignified air, filling the crucible of pandemonium with silence in the blink
of an eye.
“You are surely in
disarray over the sudden events! Fear not—we shall go
summon the professors in your stead! Please, wait faithfully
for just a little while!”
Colette’s declaration
filled the cafeteria with clamor once again. But it hushed quickly,
until the chaotic hall was once again peaceful.
It was no exaggeration to
say that her ability to control a situation like that came down to pure
charisma. With
a satisfied snort, she turned her shining eyes toward me.
“Nobody works a crowd like
you, Princess Colette.”
That being said, the
students in the cafeteria were now safe. Nobody would unthinkingly
cause a ruckus.
Once we were out of the
cafeteria, my eyes fell on the empty hallway. Usually, people would be
walking through it at this time…so it felt eerie.
“It would seem nobody’s
ambling about aimlessly,” Colette observed.
“They’re smart,” I answered. “Good on them for
realizing their lives are in danger.”
If anyone were in
imminent peril, we would hear at least one person screaming. But since there wasn’t,
that proved nobody was wandering around thoughtlessly.
These rich
kids are smarter than I took them for—what a happy mistake. Okay, let’s stick with the
plan and find out what’s going on.
I took a breath and said,
“Okay…let’s go. Keep your
guard up.”
With a word of caution to
my companions, I began to walk.
Okay…who do ya think
we’re gonna find out there?
I cursed under my breath,
spitting out the anger welling up inside me.
We had
been searching for our enemy for a little while now. As we visited the
classrooms, we told the professors to instruct the students to stay quiet.
I was looking at a slip
of paper imbued with magic—a charm.
“I sense fire magic… Is
this the source of that explosion?”
It was a magic tool—by
imbuing a charm with magic energy as you wrote it, you could use it as a medium
to cast a spell. And this baby happened to be imbued with fire magic.
“Yeah, ninety percent
chance this is our culprit.”
In other words, whoever
caused that last explosion had done so via a similar method. Upon closer inspection, I
discovered that the charm was set to cause an explosion when something passed
in front of it. And these things were stuck all along the stairs connecting each of the
floors of the school.
“Why did they leave some
areas uncharmed?” I mused. “I don’t get our enemy’s
angle.”
I found it
eternally baffling. When we searched the second floor, there was just one flight of stairs
that was free of charms. It was almost as if our foe was saying, “Please walk this way.”
“Let’s check the stairs
that aren’t a trap one more time,” I said.
“Aren’t we going to disarm
them?” Albert asked.
There was something I
wanted to test. So we would leave these stairs alone and check over the uncharmed
staircase one more time. This idea didn’t seem to sit well with Albert.
“I ain’t an expert on charms.
It’ll take
too long to disarm them. Besides—”
“Besides what?” Colette
asked.
We would never have enough
time to go back and disarm all the traps from one end to the other. It would make much more
sense to have an expert defuse them later—someone was surely on their way
already.
I turned to answer
Colette, “I doubt anyone is dumb enough to fall for these obvious traps. Nobody would even try to
come close to them when the school is on lockdown like this. Right?”
“Hmm.
Point taken. However, some students
might get hysterical and tear down the halls.”
“If that was gonna happen,
we’d already be in a sea of explosions right now. Just a hunch, but I don’t
think our friend had any intentions of stirring up shit here.”
The charms were placed so
obviously even a normie could spot them. They were almost like…a DO NOT ENTER sign.
Nobody was dumb enough to
break a rule just to be contrarian when their life was on the line.
Which connected squarely
to the sneaking suspicion I had—
“Somebody is guiding us
to something. We have to figure out where to go, and what it is we’ll find.”
We were dealing with a
roundabout treasure hunt. If the attackers wanted to kill the students or faculty, there was a
number of easier ways to go about it.
Our enemy was treating
this like a game. I felt a discrepancy from Pearlman’s supremely level-headed modus
operandi.
Shit, did this
mean there was another pesky cult besides Gods
of the Moon?
I’d never run out of
questions… But we had to go on our little treasure hunt and see what’s at the
end of the trail before we do anything else.
I dodged the garish DO NOT ENTER sign and headed for the
living staircase.
Okay, then…what the
hell’s waiting for us up there?
“Ya
know, I kinda figured this would happen, but still…”
When I arrived at what
was probably the end of the trail, I let out a frustrated sigh. We had avoided the
closed-off paths and come exactly the way our mysterious friend wanted us to,
and we’d arrived at—an auditorium.
It was a building with
the highest occupant capacity on campus. And I was sure this place
wasn’t chosen by accident.
“Does this mean they
wanted to lure everyone from the academy here all along?” Colette asked.
I
nodded. What
were they planning on doing when everyone at the school was evacuated to this
one area? Slaughtering
us all? Taking us hostage?
“So, what’s the plan?” Colette asked. “Just waiting here for our enemy to find us is going to be anything but
good for us—that much is clear. The only reason we’re
along right is because we were faster to react—”
“We’ve come this far, we
can’t just let it be,” I argued. “If we scratch our asses
much longer, everyone else at the academy is gonna show up.”
It was idiotic charging
headfirst into what we knew was a trap, but if we didn’t do something about it,
somebody else would eventually fall for it. It didn’t sit right with
me, just ignoring it.
I turned my palm upward
and generated an orb of magic. It was nothing special. Just light energy with
destructive properties.
—if I were
our enemy, I’d place the motion-sensing charms in the hallway for show, put a
touch-activated charm at the end that acted as the trigger. If I wanted to kill all
the people at the academy in one fell swoop, that was the way to do it.
But if their plan was a
mass slaughter, it would be strange for them to assume that nobody would meddle with the
plan before it was carried out.
I just didn’t think
they’d let their heartfelt scenario get foiled by three kids after such a
magnificent buildup… Then again, you’d kinda have to be fucked in the head
to attack a prep school for the nobility.
Anyway, our mastermind’s
brain was wired differently. It was pointless racking
mine trying to understand it.
“Let’s go,” I said quietly. They nodded back at me.
We’ll work out the pesky
details later. For now, we’ll get to the bottom of this by force if we have to!
I threw my magic ball of
destructive energy. It hurled toward the heavy iron door and blew it right down.
“How…did that happen?” Colette mused.
“They must’ve not put any
protective spells on it,” I snorted back.
One thing was clear: The
door was not fortified.
My theory was wrong, and
I’d gotten my hopes dashed.
But that meant our
mastermind probably wasn’t after your garden-variety bloodbath.
None of this makes any
fucking sense.
I carelessly marched
forward, letting my anger carry me.
“Miss Mylene?!” Albert let out a frazzled gasp. My brazen actions were
unthinkable after all the caution we were using all this time. But nothing had happened to us all this
time. So it
was hard to believe there would be any sudden death traps hidden in the
auditorium.
And sure
enough, I safely entered the auditorium without consequence.
“Ahh, I see! So this is the winning beauty of which I’ve heard tell—this is God’s Bitch!”
As I stepped into the
hall, a dramatic voice boomed. It was the crisp voice of
a male—and I’m not a music guy, so take this with a grain of salt—tenor, slightly high in pitch.
With an ample dash of
annoyance, I glared up at the podium to where the owner of the voice stood. He was a tall man, cloaked
in a hooded robe.
Oh, I could never forget
that look… That’s the robe the Gods of the Moon bastards wear.
“The plan was to deliver
my speech to a full audience, but alas, you seem to be rather well versed in
this sort of thing, God’s Bitch. Or would you rather I
call you Mylene Petule?”
“I don’t give a shit what
you call me.”
He knew my name. That
confirmed it. His methods weren’t anything like Pearlman’s, but this bastard was with
Gods of the Moon—and he was probably high-level, too. His invulnerable stance
and the quiet aura of magic emanating from him betrayed his rigorous experience
in chaotic combat.
“There’s one thing I
still don’t get—why the hell did you do all of this? If ya wanted to catch me
or to catch the students or faculty, wouldn’t there be a more effective way of
going about it?”
“Ha-hah! So that’s your retort! Aha, I see… What a fun character you are. I can tell you’re well
versed in combat scenes.”
None of this was worth
even the smallest of chuckles.
“You exceed my expectations! Your face, sculpted to
perfection by an otherworldly being, contrasts strikingly with the manly glint in
your eye—you’re beautiful. I have never met another entity as gorgeous as you.”
“As a sign
of respect for your beauty, I shall answer your question!”
Then again, this guy
seemed to love a grand speech. Just like Pearlman. Cultists sure were
enamored with the sound of their own voices. You could almost say
talking was their job.
“That being said, there
really wasn’t any grand meaning behind my actions. I was tasked with the
mission of carrying your corpse back to my comrades—that’s why I came to this
fine academy—but when I noticed you children were holding some sort of amusing
event, I thought I would treat you sweet sons and daughters of the nobility to
a little performance of my own!”
Even the part where
nothing he said made any damn sense was the same as my encounter with Pearlman.
I could vomit. But at least he’s playing nice—that’s what I appreciate most of all.
“Well, thanks, but no thanks.
This ain’t a
garbage dump.”
“Oh, don’t be so cold. I used to have a little
name for myself as a gifted playwright, you know? Ah, that reminds me, I
forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I?” he cackled through his nose.
“My name is Victor—Victor
Ludland. Former
playwright, actor, and current grandmaster at Gods of the Moon.” The man called Victor
gave me his personal history.
“Ha-hah! Well,
I am a man of many curiosities.”
But then things took a
bit of an unexpected turn. Albert sounded shocked. Like he couldn’t believe
what was happening.
“Yes… As he says, he was
a famous playwright. However…”
Despite Albert’s hesitant
muttering, it was at least clear that this guy wasn’t blowing smoke. But that wasn’t the
important takeaway here. I couldn’t care less that some psycho used to be a playwright.
“He was imprisoned…for
committing mass murder on stage during a play. He has a bigger name as a
homicidal maniac than as a playwright.”
“Your words wound me a
little, but I am honored that the prince of Eltania knows of me.”
A homicidal maniac—now
that was certainly a step up from a teacher.
And if he was
incarcerated, I guess that meant he escaped somehow. Did Gods of the Moon play
a hand in that? No, it’s too soon to jump to conclusions.
“Aha.
I see. I thought this was a
rather roundabout way of executing a master plan—was that the playwright in you coming out?”
“Exactly, my dear! I see you have an eye for the arts as well. Isn’t education a
beautiful thing in a lady?”
“Peh!
Sorry, but
I don’t know shit about art. I don’t even understand a
single word of your drivel.”
This Victor guy looked
downright giddy. But I didn’t want him thinking he’d found a comrade.
Still…he was a different
flavor from the other Gods of the Moon bastards. In him, I didn’t sense
any of the contempt or malice his friends felt for me. Then again, that didn’t
really matter. The guy had basically announced, I’ve come
to fucking kill you. As far as I’m concerned, there was only one way I could respond: Send him
where he needs to go.
Whether that was prison
or Hades was up to him.
“Shit…well, whatever. It’s me you want, right? Let’s just get this over
with.”
I charged up my magic, my
powers stirring up a wild breeze around me.
I don’t wanna drag this
out any longer than necessary. Let’s just end it. I wish I had a weapon…but I couldn’t help it. I never dreamed the
cultists would pick the day we’re playing shop to come and kill me.
“Ooh!
So valiant. You are a Valkyrie
personified—it would seem my read on you was correct.”
“Ya sure you
don’t wanna borrow any powers from your shitty god? I ain’t pulling any punches.”
I clenched my fists and
fell into my stance, ready to spring at any second.
“Oh my, my, how impatient
we are! Well…no matter. I don’t like to let a
scene drag—it can become rather absurd that way.”
With an awkward chuckle,
Victor raised his arm. I thought he was winding up for a magic attack—but he wasn’t. Instead, he loudly
snapped his finger.
It’s not a spell. It’s
a signal.
A man entered from the
wings of the podium. He was bald and muscular.
So, he brought some
friends… From the look of it, baldie is quite the fighter, too.
As I measured up my
opponents, I caught something fly in out the corner of my eye. I didn’t believe it for a
second.
The Gods of the Moon’s
new arrival had a girl with him. She was petite, and her
soft, fluffy locks swayed as he shook her.
“Melissa…?! What the hell are you doing here?!”
“We found her wandering
the halls in search of your group. Then I recalled the intel
that she was friendly with you, so I added her to the cast of our little
performance.”
“You bastard…taking
hostages is foul play!” Colette cried out in anger.
But Victor carelessly
spread his arms wide and said, “Now, now, don’t jump to conclusions, my dear. Such a trash scenario,
riddled with plot holes—do you honestly think I would write something that lowbrow?”
Victor fixed me with a
challenging look, sending all eyes on me. Instead of answering him,
I cursed under my breath.
“I thought not. It was a happy accident, really, but this young lady here is no
idiot—she is incredibly rational. In other words, she’s
realized that her being my hostage would not ensure the safety of her friends
after her death. To wit, she has no value as a hostage in this scenario.”
If he took Melissa
hostage, and I did everything he said to save her, there was no guarantee
Albert and Colette would be saved. That’s why I would leave
Melissa for dead if I had to, so I could destroy this pansy and save Colette
and Albert.
“See?
That’s why
I’ve chosen her not as a prop, but as one of the characters in our little
play.”
Victor beckoned to the
muscular man, who dragged Melissa before him. As she stood in front of
him, Victor extended his hand. If I was right, there was
a ball of Thunder magic in his palm.
Melissa’s eyes shot open
in terror.
……If it came down to it, I
would sacrifice one life to save another. He wasn’t wrong there. But that didn’t mean I
was so stoic that I could just abandon my friend when she was right in front of
me.
I filled my arms with
magic and sprung at Victor on the podium.
But I was too late. With a violet burst of
light from Victor’s hand, Melissa screamed—and crumpled to the floor like a
puppet with its strings cut.
“Motherfucker…,” I cursed under my
breath, raining my fists down on Victor.
But with a little jump,
Victor pushed Melissa away and leaped backward. With nowhere to go, my
fists smashed into the wooden floor of the stage.
Not skipping a beat, I
let a roundhouse kick fly. But Victor backflipped away from that, too.
“Okay, now you’re dead,
you pretentious prick!”
My anger on full display,
I followed my glare with a violent body slam. In battle, nothing good
came from anger. That
was because magic amplified what was in your heart. Anger was like a raging
tornado: powerful but completely useless if you couldn’t control it.
But
that was why the deepest
recesses of my heart were calm. I’d rage once now, and I’d
have plenty of time to grieve later. Unless I killed this
bastard, my anger would be meaningless.
“Ooh, I’m shaking,”
Victor teased. “However, I think you jumped to conclusions there. Are you okay with that? Surely your fury is proof
of the kinship you felt toward her.”
But Victor’s taunting
prompted me to look at Melissa by his feet. Her eyes were closed, but
her chest was moving distinctly up and down—
On instinct, I crouched
down and picked her up.
“I took you for a cynic,
but you’re actually quite compassionate, aren’t you?”
His baiting words fell on
deaf ears. But
I kept my gaze fast on my enemy as I checked to make sure Melissa was okay. She was probably hit by
Thunder magic. I couldn’t tell how much damage she’d taken, but she was breathing for
now, so I didn’t think it was life-threatening.
But…why had he let her live?
Victor
called himself a grandmaster. If he had the same level
of powers as Pearlman, he could have easily killed Melissa in an instant if he
wanted to.
“I’m liking you more and
more, Mylene. My comrades say you sicken them, but—and maybe this is the playwright
in me speaking—I rather like a heroic character like you… And I suppose that’s
why this sort of tactic works on you.”
“Huh…? What the hell are ya
saying—?!”
That’s why I should have
noticed sooner. I should have caught onto why he’d let Melissa live and sent her back
to me.
A girl’s earsplitting
scream rang in my ear.
Colette’s and Albert’s
voices layered on top of it.
In that
moment, the pair was surely connected by intuition. I followed their gazes,
sharp as spears, to find not our enemy, but Melissa, in my arms.
She was screaming,
slashing down at me with nails imbued with magic.
I released her and yanked
my head away. With fingers that had transformed into magic blades, Melissa swiped
through the empty space just beside my head.
A trickle of red flowed
on my cheek.
I was careless. If I’d noticed her only a second later, I would have a face I could
never show in public again.
Without even regrouping
her stance, Melissa crashed to the floor, her arms still flailing. But seemingly unfazed,
she started writhing like a flame in a lamp.
Rising to her feet,
Melissa spewed air through her bared teeth. Her face was filled with
a violent rage, like an animal. Actually, I take it
back—her seemingly complete lack of sense made “beast” a more apt word to
describe her.
“Ha-hah! Do you like it?! I’ve drawn out her latent
instincts and unleashed her powers beyond their full potential with my Brain Reeling! Maybe
you could have left her for dead, but can you punch her in the face?!”
It was hard to believe,
but Victor had Melissa under some kind of manipulation spell. It was magic I’d never
seen or heard of.
But here we were—Melissa
was coming at me in a murderous rage. What he said was
happening right before my very eyes, so I had to accept it.
Melissa slashed her claws
wildly about, relying on brute force just like an animal would. His boast about
unleashing her powers beyond their full potential wasn’t bullshit. Her movements were faster
and her magic far more powerful than I’d ever seen it in practice.
But in exchange, her
movements had grown incredibly simplistic. She was all reflex,
charging only toward her enemy. Dodging her was easier
than breathing in and out.
But all of this was only
true if nobody else got in the way—!
A sudden pain rushed
through my leg. I felt like I’d been stabbed with a poisoned needle. A burning pain spread
quickly from the entry wound.
I’d felt this before. It was damage from
Thunder magic.
“That’s what you get for
forgetting about me. To be completely ignored
certainly does sting. Though I suppose I understand why you would want to focus on her right
now. What
tremendous magic energy. I guess that’s to be expected from the Priestess of Eltania.”
Of course this asshole
wouldn’t neglect me while I was entertaining Melissa and begging to be
attacked. Meanwhile,
Melissa kept flailing mindlessly at me while Victor shot thunder needles.
“Let us handle Melissa
while you—”
It would be easiest if I
could let them handle her, but—
—we had another foe to
worry about.
The muscular man blocked
Albert and Colette’s way. He was a sort of errand boy for Victor in function, but from his stance
and the look in his eye, he projected competence.
This situation is so bad
it’s funny— Mother! Fucker!
Melissa’s brute force
strikes had so much momentum behind them that I couldn’t block them. Her blows were easy to
dodge, but doing that would open me up to a shower of attacks from Victor.
“Shit! He’s heavy…! Albert, don’t be a hero!”
And I couldn’t rely on my
backup either.
Not like I was counting on
them swooping in to save me, but Albert and Colette were quite a force when
paired together. Still, I’d miscalculated believing they would put up a good fight.
The muscular man brushed
away the sword, causing Colette to sway out of her defensive stance. The sheer volume of magic
would be difficult for Albert to block. To stop Victor’s flunky,
Colette would have to take his attacks while Albert went on the offensive—that
was the exact opposite of their usual dynamic.
We’ve gotta break the
stalemate…
And to do that, I needed
Melissa to go nighty night.
With a little restraint, I
sank my fist into her jaw. That was the smoothest way to rattle someone’s brain and knock them
unconscious.
“Dammit, why won’t you
just black out?!”
“Ha-hah! It won’t work! She’s in a forced state
of consciousness—she won’t lose it that easily!” Victor cried out in
maniacal glee as he shot more thunder needles at me.
To add insult to injury,
this motherfucker wouldn’t stop riding my ass.
He could easily kill me
with one attack if he wanted to. Yet he was holding back. And that was because—
“If you want to stop her,
killing her is your best bet! Or you could blast off her
legs if you wish! Either way, she won’t feel the pain!”
—this psycho wanted me to
personally take Melissa’s life. That was the story—or in his words, the comedy—that he wanted to tell.
This birthed a strong
urge in me to prevent that from happening—which might have been what he was
going for. In
that case, I had to hand it to the guy.
But those needles of his just kept flying
in a relentless taunt. He probably meant to make a laughingstock out of me for a while.
Damn, this dude is no fun. I can’t think of any way
to land an attack.
If this kept up much
longer, the needle-inflicted damage would be no laughing matter. One wrong move and it was
curtains.
There has to be some way
out of this… Do I have no choice but to use my last resort?
I clenched my eyes in
pain as an angry shout rang through the auditorium. I shifted just enough of
my consciousness to hear the rest of what Colette had to say.
“We’ll manage somehow, I
promise! So trust me and hang in there! Curse your way through it
if you have to!”
Through the loud clamor
of sword hitting sword, I heard her cry out to endure it. Like that was so easy. I knew she and Albert
were barely holding their own as it was.
But “Trust me,” eh? Not a bad seduction line,
if I do say so myself.
“Shit…I’m a sophisticated
lady with a lotta charms—don’t make me wait long!”
“That joke wasn’t half bad! Keep it up!”
In my past life, I’d done
a lot of mercenary gigs with a group, but looking back, I hadn’t really trusted
anyone I worked with. In the bitter end, the only person you could rely on was yourself. That was how I’d survived
to my own bitter
end. But this was my second life. It might be fun to try
something new.
I twirled away from
Melissa’s swinging nails and used my momentum to repel the volley of thunder
needles. Not
even a magic shield could stop my hands from tingling from the force of my
magic orbs and Victor’s needle attacks.
This all would have been
easier if I had a sword. But while I was filled with regret, a smile was creeping onto my face.
That was because doing
what I thought I hated—waiting—was actually not as bad as I thought.
“Aha, so that’s your move! Oh, I was right about
you, Mylene, you never bore me! And that’s it. Your chaos is true theater!”
“Oh, shut up. Nobody likes your shitty threepenny drama!”
That’s
right. Don’t snap. Don’t panic. When you’re in battle,
light quipping is ideal.
Now that I had firsthand
experience dealing with Melissa’s movements, I turned my attention to Victor’s
attacks. I
focused on making one action at a time—not a millimeter wasted—as I seamlessly
weaved my evasive maneuvers into a steady flow.
“Beautiful…! It’s like you’re dancing! What a polished
performance of extreme intricacy!”
—it turned into a dance. The pretentious asshole’s
unwelcome applause pissed me off…but I could use it.
“More—give me more! Ahh, I’m getting a
vision…a vision for a new kind of performance! Yes, a synthesis of
acting and music!”
A bolt of thunder clapped
between each step I took in a dramatic counterpoint. In his excitement, Victor
had turned his thunder needles into thunder hammers, spreading a cacophonous
roar through the proscenium.
It was the absolute worst
call and response ever. His words and actions were in direct opposition. If this were a play, he’d
be throwing rocks at the actors.
But my heightened sense
of focus helped me feel his flow of magic on my skin. Struck by it, my body moved.
Aha…I think I got the hang
of this.
A seamless dance with no
form. It had
something in common with a beast’s method of fighting. Up until now, I’d moved
in a way that would help me kill with the highest efficacy—but if I emphasized evasiveness, I could use this type
of movement for defense. It was a new discovery.
Having said that, it
would all be over if Victor threw a tantrum. I’m sure he had the
firepower to blow this entire auditorium away with a spell if he put his mind
to it. So before he
could…
I shot Colette and Albert
a sideways glance.
Colette was drawing the
beefy man’s attacks while Albert danced with Wind magic, boldly diving in for
the attack. Ideally,
they would defeat baldie before Victor lost his temper. Then I could leave
Melissa in their hands, and the odds would suddenly turn in our favor.
But Victor might deliver
the final blow before we could make that happen.
“Grandmaster…! I can’t hold them back
any longer—you need to end this now!”
“Oh, quiet, you… I’m just
getting to the good part! Don’t interfere—I’m on the verge of discovering a completely new
artform here!”
While he was a bit out of
place in Gods of the Moon, Victor was still a certified weirdo—psycho, I should
say. I guess that was what bastards like
him had in common.
I think I see the light
at the end of the tunnel…
I’ll play along with him
for a while.
“Oh, no you don’t, Mylene! Not like that—think beautiful and elegant!”
Still, dodging the man’s
precise, lightning-fast attacks was no easy task. And at times, his tricks
were punctuated with thunder hammers of increasing intensity.
But I can take it. As long as I know I have a chance of coming out on the other side.
Wasted force—I knew just how futile it
was. And that was why I just needed to
wait. The
tiny roots I’d planted would soon bear fruit.
“Ngh!
G-Grandmaster
Victorrr!”
“Agh, just shut up. You’re a proud member of
Gods of the Moon—endure it! Unforeseen developments
in battle are all a part of glorious chaos, are they not?”
Colette and Albert were
backing Baldie into a corner. I could hear the panic in
his voice. I
knew my students had gotten stronger, but they had exceeded my expectations. Still, Victor was
focusing all his fury on me. He didn’t seem to give a
rat’s ass about his comrade.
“Whoa, you sure you’re
okay just leaving your brother to die?”
“Ha-hah! I
was never that devout to begin with! I merely wish to observe beauty at its apex. And compared to my time
spent with you, my dear, everything else is pond scum!”
“You bastard! How dare you side with God’s Bitch…?! And you call yourself a
grandmasterrr…?!
I guess the brotherhood
between this cult grandmaster and novice had fallen apart. The big guy spat curses
at Victor, but the latter couldn’t seem to care less.
From the look of things,
Victor had only joined Gods of the Moon because they shared the same goal. (Then again, the fact that
they shared the same goal at all proved just how batshit crazy he was.)
“Damn!
It! You’re a prince! You conniving little
shit…hiding behind a stupid girl!”
“Fine words from a coward
who takes innocent girls hostage!” Albert said.
“Besides, Albert and I
will be rulers someday. It’s our duty to fight smarter, not harder,” added Colette.
“Use
every card in your deck. That’s what Miss Mylene
taught us!”
As the muscular man
struggled to keep up, Albert and Colette calmly clapped back. The clash of their swords
got fiercer and fiercer until—
“Curse you, Eltania! Curse you, Victor! Go to hell, all of youuu!”
Unfortunately, I could
only hear the sounds and voices.
A loud gust of wind
accompanied his shrieking death rattle.
“Our fight is over! We’ll take Melissa!”
Without even a moment’s
pause to celebrate their victory, Albert and Colette flew past me on either
side and landed before Melissa. They were covered in
battle scars, and their shoulders were wildly undulating with fatigue.
It must have been quite
the fight. I
would’ve loved to toast to their heroism—pity this nation had such strict
underage drinking laws.
I turned my gaze
on Victor. He was looking down at us from the podium, a scalding smile burned on
his face.
“Astounding—what a
beautiful story. Almost brings a tear to my eye.” There were actual tears
in Victor’s eyes as he clapped in applause.
This guy seemed to think
everything that had just happened was part of one of his plays.
And the same went for
everything to come—
His calm and composed
demeanor was a product of his confidence. He had yet to unleash his
full powers on us. Meaning, everything that had happened so far was just the opening act.
“O, Zuri Dien! Lend me your power!!! Together, let us write
the perfect ending to this story…!”
He would ruin everything
in act two with the power of his god. That was his true aim.
Victor threw a medal
inscribed with a picture of a birdman into the air, and lightning spilled out
of his body. When the storm subsided, he seemed largely unaltered. He slowly opened his eyes.
“And now, the second act. An abrupt death—the
height of beauty and realism.”
Victor elegantly extended
his hand. And
as I faced the overwhelming wave of magic energy before me, I wiped the blood
off my cheek with my finger.
“That your game, too? Borrowing powers from
that shitty god of yours. Ya didn’t seem to give Him
much of an offering in exchange.”
“Ahh, you speak of Pearlman, I
assume? Well,
that comes down to compatibility for the synthesis. I
seem to be highly compatible with my god, Zuri Dien. He’s a good guy—if I ask,
He gives me all this power.”
Aha…so, the chummier you
are with your deity, the more power you get to borrow. Pearlman must be rolling
in his grave. He crushed his eyes with his bare hands while this asshole just asked
nicely and got even more power than him.
But I didn’t care about
any of that. I’d just asked out of idle curiosity, and Victor had happened to tell
me. Didn’t
really care one way or the other.
“Well…aren’t we a little
bland, my dear? You’re resigned to your doom……is what I’d like to say,
but you aren’t that kind of person.”
“Ohh?
So, are you
sizing up your odds of winning?”
“Nah, that’s not how I roll. I just need…”
“You just need—what?” Victor’s voice was eerily
calm, probably because he had attained the powers of a deity.
I was well aware of the
difference in power between us. But I hadn’t given up yet.
I didn’t give a shit who I was up
against. It was
actually quite simple. I had an itch—an itch that wouldn’t be satisfied until I punched his
fucking face in. No matter what else happened, I would sink my fist into his cheek and
wipe that pretentious smirk off his face.
Though I’m getting ahead
of myself here—
“You deserve no mercy
after the shit you’ve done…! No matter what happens,
I’m gonna beat the shit out of you until I feel better! That’s all I need!”
His pretentious mug, his
overdramatic lines, his boring-ass script! I’d punch his head
through the ceiling so hard it burned.
“I’m completely and utterly pissed off right now!”
I don’t care who the hell
you are—I’ll smash those lips of your so hard they never work again!
Letting my wrath take
form, I clenched my fists, squeezing all my magic energy into them.
My mana
materialized into white blades, the tips burning with red flame.
“Sulberia-colored magic! Whoa, now, don’t tell me
you’re performing an invocation in the eleventh hour?! Sublime to the very end!”
It was answering the call
of my wrath—but it was more than that. I felt a tremendous power
surging up inside of me…like somebody’s power was flowing into me.
I opened and closed my
fists, half-doubting the power myself.
Victor was screaming something in excitement. Did he say “invocation”? I don’t really get what’s
going on…but I think I can ride this wave to victory.
“Are ya ready to die, you
pretentious prick?”
“Ha-hah! Oh, yes! Let us bring this
performance to its beautiful climax together!” Victor spread his arms
wide, his voice shrill with elation.
I just stared at him
quietly with eyes of ice.
The powers of our gods
invoked, Victor and I just stood there, staring at each other.
“Aren’t ya gonna attack me?” I snapped, out of patience.
Victor smirked and
answered, “Hey, I’m exercising caution. If I let my guard down,
it might all be over in the blink of an eye.”
Aha… Unlike Pearlman, who had charged at me out of nowhere, this guy seemed
quite composed. In perfect contrast to his aggressively spiky hair, he looked calmer
than he was even before the fight started—what effect even made that possible?
Well, one thing was clear
regardless—he wouldn’t go down easily.
If only he had lost his
mind and charged wildly at me, then he would have been much simpler to
counterattack. The fact that he wasn’t proved he was on a higher level than Pearlman.
I could probably learn a
lot more about him if I just stayed put and studied him a while longer. However—
“And what about you, my dear?
If this a
war of attrition, you’re at a clear disadvantage. And I think running out
the clock until somebody wins by default would be a rather anticlimactic
ending, don’t you?”
It seemed
my magic wouldn’t last forever. Even so, I felt like the
power in me now was more or less infinite, compared to normal.
Victor claimed that
running out the clock would be boring, yet his stance implied he hadn’t taken
it off the table. If anybody was going to make the first move, it had to be me.
Well, whatever. I’m suddenly filled with mysterious powers. Guess I’ll figure them out
as I go.
I created a ball of magic
in my palm. It was the size of a fist, but it felt as hot as a small sun. I threw it carelessly. Okay. Show me what
you’ve got.
As the packet of
destructive energy hurled toward Victor—
—I felt a faint pain in
my shoulder and shifted my gaze. I’d been cut. It was a shallow wound, but a wound all the same. I felt a light tingling
surge through my body. There was no mistaking it—that was Victor’s power.
I turned around, sensing
a presence behind me. It was Victor, slowly recovering from springing there like an animal
earlier. He
was just turning around to face me as I looked at him.
Dang,
he’s fast… It’s impossible to follow him with my eyes. More accurately, he ran
as fast as the speed of light—so quick I couldn’t even sense his onset of
movement.
“Ha-hah! Are you kidding
me? All that
bravado for a mere scratch!”
He seemed just as
surprised by it as I was. A sneer formed on his shocked face, his teeth bared. Or should I say, his fangs. It was subtle, but
evidently it wasn’t just his hair that had changed.
But that was trivial. This guy’s magic powers
were far beyond that of any human. He was a monster
inside—make that a devil—so it didn’t matter what he looked like on the
outside.
My soul grew even colder
as I clenched my fists.
Okay, it’s crystal clear
that he’s too fast to see. So I’ve gotta find another way to fight him.
I feinted an
attack—Victor’s gaze shifted slightly. Simultaneously, I turned
my face to the side. A lock of my hair was sliced off, falling to the ground.
By tracking
my eyes and tapping into his magic perception, he could sense my attacks before
I made them. This was par for the course when fighting a wielder of Thunder magic.
“Now, now, now, why must
you make this so difficult for me? Who the hell are you, my
dear?”
Most people didn’t know
the real answer to that question, of course. Cold beads of sweat
dripped from Victor’s brow as he questioned me. Though it wasn’t like I
was under any obligation to respond to him.
I lightly kicked off the
ground.
“C’mon, throw me a bone!” Victor teased, hurling
Thunder magic at me.
It was a familiar
sensation; he was moving at lightning speed again. But I sensed his presence
farther away this time. Maybe he had sensed my powers were stronger now.
His body glowed light
magenta, and he vanished with a clapping sound.
But I could tell where he
was headed from his gaze and flow of magic energy. Not the exact
coordinates, but I knew the general direction—which was more than enough.
I shot my pent-up magic
energy out of my fist like a bullet. As long as I knew the
direction he was going, a projectile attack made little difference if it was
close or long-range.
“What the—?!” Victor stammered in confusion, crossing his arms and filling them with
magic.
My magic bullet of light
hit him with a violent flash as it burst open.
Okay…that would probably
blow most people into the sky. You’d expect them to lose
a limb or two from that force, but—
Victor was hurt, but not
maimed.
His magic powers were
beyond the norm—this was to be expected. I would have been more
surprised if he had taken significant damage
with that defensive stance.
Having said
that, I doubted I could keep this up forever. I had so much power I
couldn’t even believe it myself, but my output was also phenomenal—I needed to
end this battle as soon as possible.
As Victor appeared from
an explosion of flame, I raised a finger. He gave me a dubious
look, confused by my signal.
“Oh…! Kee-hee, oh my, how intriguing…!”
But as I slowly turned my
hand over and moved my finger, he quickly gave a ferocious smile.
C’mere.
Neither of
us wants to pussyfoot this fight.
You want a spectacle? Then let’s make this as
entertaining as possible.
He replenished his
Thunder magic.
“Mylene…Mylene…Mylene! Ohh, my dear, you are truly
a star!”
Just as I thought. Victor wants a big climax.
With a crack of thunder
Victor rematerialized, his fist flying before my eyes. I crouched down and moved
my arms up to block his fist. At the same time, I
pulled my free arm backward at the hip like I was getting ready to shoot an
arrow.
I launched my fist into
his exposed abdomen. The shock of the impact shook the scenery.
I think he feels pain…
Even though he’s similar to Pearlman, there are a lot of differences.
If I’m right, he may have
an iron will hiding beneath that pretentious facade. He ought to be rolling
around on the floor in pain by now.
Victor surged with magic. I side-jumped, sensing
danger, and a wall of lightning shot at me, stopping just an inch away from my
eyes.
“Hack-hack! Peh! You’ve got great
reflexes, my dear…!” Victor coughed up blood,
a twisted smile in his eyes.
Yeah, this guy’s fucking
insane. It
must be hell just to stay standing, yet he managed a magic counterattack.
I could easily hit him
right now, but he would probably make fun of my hair.
Looks like
that lit a fire in his belly… The smile vanished from
Victor’s face.
Victor’s body filled with
purple lightning. I sharpened my focus, following his gaze—to the right!
“Oof?!
Gragh!” I gasped in pain.
With a snap, a blast of
lightning had hit me from the opposite direction. It felt like burning
needles were coursing through my entire body. I almost blacked out for
a moment, but my rage kept me on my feet.
You motherfucking sneak. You feinted…!
“Kee-hee! Guess your sharp
reflexes backfired.”
And if I was right, we
were in bitch-slapping territory. I couldn’t let this
asshole win.
“Hmph—are you immortal?!” Victor gasped in shock as
I rushed him, punching through my pain.
I didn’t blame him for
being shocked. What I was doing wasn’t good for him.
From what I could tell,
Victor could not activate his teleportation in rapid succession. That was never the way
that fighting style was built.
A Thunder attack at
lightning speed was lethal. Nobody was supposed to dodge or survive it, so you never even had to
consider a second attack.
The light cutting attacks
he’d used on me at first could be fired in a small radius to a certain extent. But if you unleashed a
big finishing blow, you would use up all your charge.
And he could recharge his
powers in a short amount of time. However—
“Stop beating around the
bush, you! You’re
being redundant!”
Victor’s eyes opened wide
in horror. They
were surely locked onto my fist, which was zooming straight for him. My fist pounded into his
cheek, distorting his chiseled jaw. A wave rippled through
his cheek, sending his teeth
flying. In
that compact span of time, I watched the effects of my attack as my fist
eagerly followed through.
Victor’s body flew
comically fast. He smashed against the auditorium wall, cracking it. Most guys wouldn’t have
survived that—
“Mmf—phew…nngh! Not yet…I’m not ready for it to end…!”
Still, I finally got to
smash his face in—what a relief.
Now I just needed to end
the fight.
I glared silently at him. Victor opened his eyes
wide and smiled again.
His arms flopped as he
raised them. He shook his body, filling it with magic. He was like a balloon
about to burst. The magic filled him beyond capacity, shooting ominous red streaks of
lightning through his veins.
And after overloaded
himself with magic, Victor burst out of sight.
A split second later, he
reappeared right in front of me. With an ecstatic scream,
he launched his fist at me, riding on the momentum.
He’s insanely fast…I
can’t dodge him!
But my arm flew! As his fist connected sharply with my cheek, I echoed his punch with my
own. We
both swayed from the impact of the jabs. I took a big step
backward, and Victor followed suit.
I recovered a split
second faster and landed my gut punch before he could.
Victor folded in two. I raised my leg high to
kick his head as it fell forward.
But my shoe cut through
thin air. Victor
rematerialized far away in my periphery. He had teleported.
But I knew that hadn’t
set him up for a fresh attack. Victor had charged his
body with magic beyond capacity a moment ago.
In other words, he still
had a charge!
The very
next instant, he grabbed my raised leg. I let the momentum lift
me off the ground. Then he slammed me onto the ground as if I were a tree branch in a
storm.
But my pain lasted only a
moment before he lifted me off the ground again.
I can’t take another hit
like that!
Just then, he grabbed at
my other leg. But this time, I had a chance to land my kick!
With a warbled grunt, his
hold on my leg loosened. As I fell from Victor’s grasp in slow motion, my hand managed to find
the ground, and I sprang to a standing position.
My collapsed lungs
writhed, desperately trying to fill themselves with air. While suffocating in
hellish agony, I still turned to attack Victor.
Meanwhile, he couldn’t
even get a single breath in. He couldn’t even call my
name without running out of air.
I wobbled dizzily toward
him, then toppled toward him head-on in a punch up his nose.
Another exertion would
surely kill me. So I gave up on attacking and put all my focus into catching my breath.
Victor collapsed, drawing
an arc of blood in the air as he fell. I thought that hit had
killed him for sure, but he was still trying to stand.
“Hahhh!
Nng-Hahhh!” I gasped for air.
But neither of us would
last much longer.
Knowing the fight was
almost over, I took a deep breath in.
“Mylene…Mylene!
You are perfection…! I’m
so glad that you exist…and beyond thankful that I got to meet you!”
“Pshaw!
And who
exactly are ya thanking? Those
shitty gods you all worship?”
“Who knows?! Not even I can answer that! I thank you—or the god
who made you—I don’t care anymore!”
Victor raised both his
arms, imbuing them with purple lightning.
Uh-oh…we’re in deeper
shit than I thought.
“Albert!
Colette! Take Melissa and run behind
me!” I
yelled, keeping my eyes on Victor.
It was a race against
time, and every second counted. I filled my body with
magic, knowing full well how reckless it was.
“Don’t be crazy!” Colette
yelled.
“W-we’ll manage, Princess
Colette!” Albert
stammered back.
It was good of them to do
as I said without asking questions. Now it was my job to
return the favor by delivering.
Victor’s magic had amassed
to a point where it could easily blow up the entire school.
If his bolt of lightning
flew at sonic speed, I wouldn’t be able to dodge it. And if I blocked it, even
if I survived, nothing else around me would.
I couldn’t dodge it. I couldn’t block it. So what was left?
Smash through his attack
head-on—that was the only way.
I breathed sharply. In
and out.
“Enough stalling, Mylene! I’m ready to go!”
By some miracle, my
friends were doing exactly as I said. I could hear Melissa
struggling and moaning behind me.
So I owed it to them to
do my part.
My enemy stood like a
warrior across an ocean, his bottled lightning like a sheathed sword.
And though I was unarmed,
I gripped an imaginary sword. Until—
“Ohh, Lady Mylene, how majestic you are!”
A sword of
magic energy had materialized in my hands.
The magic light condensed
and hardened into the shape of a sword. It felt just as sharp and
just as solid as a true blade. And soon, it glowed a
reddish-white hue. It shined brighter with each pulse of magic I fed it—
“Oh…you never cease to
amaze…!” Victor’s
face twisted with ecstasy.
This guy was an enigma to
the bitter end.
But the god he worshiped
seemed to like him more than Pearlman’s god had liked him. And for a pretentious
prick, he sure packed a punch.
And the cherry on top—he
finished the whole fight by giving me to the count of three to catch up. He was just batshit insane.
But it would all be over
soon.
Shivering with elation,
Victor finished his spell and screamed poetically, “And now, the grand finale! Let us close the curtain
on this most beautiful of moments!”
As for me? I’d had enough of his shitty threepenny drama.
I was more than happy to
help him close the curtain on it.
“Curtains for your
threepenny drama—”
My sword shined even
brighter. I
squeezed my fists firmly around its hilt.
“And curtains for you! Zhi Guan Lei!”
A cataclysmic burst of
lightning shot from it.
What shouldn’t have even
been perceivable by the naked eye, I had contained in my sword.
The moment it
materialized, my sword had already begun to shake.
Like a swallow taking
flight, my attack burst forth, shattering the auditorium floor beneath it—
Its slashing
power, imbued with crimson light, clashed against the destructive power of
Victor’s magic in a fraction of an instant. And then—
The lightning burst split
in two.
The two beams of light
shot upward from the impact, sailing high.
And after a beat, a
tremendous boom of a death rattle reverberated through the auditorium.
The beams of light were
flying at supersonic speed—they would likely explode high in the sky.
But our fight wasn’t over
yet.
Victor had failed to
neutralize my sword of light, and I hurled it toward him.
The blade struck him
violently. Light
burst from his wound, then in the next instant, my sword vanished.
Only Victor remained,
standing still, his arms spread wide to take in the attack.
After a moment of
silence, he crumpled to his knees and fell forward.
“Phewww…!” I flopped onto my butt
in exhaustion.
After a long sigh, I
suddenly felt very heavy, like something supporting me had slipped away.
Shit… Now, that
was an exhausting fight…
But things weren’t gonna
calm down for a while yet. I braced myself to prevent Colette’s embrace from knocking me onto my
back, and I turned to Albert (who was trying desperately not to cry) and gave
him a thumbs-up.
This broke the floodgates. Albert flew at me just
like Colette had.
Dammit…they’ll never stop
being annoying, will they? Still…they trusted my crazy idea. Guess I’ll cut them some
slack this time.
“Wait, you
two, what happened to Melissa?!”
I suddenly remembered
Melissa, who was likely still under Victor’s control. If she came at me now in
my battered state, I wouldn’t be able to hold my own!
At least the rest of my
team was still in decent shape.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Colette
said. “She
collapsed right when Victor did.”
“At the very least, I
doubt she will lash out at us,” Albert added.
“Ya
sure? Well,
in that case…we’re in trouble. Bring her here.”
Just because she stopped
moving doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet.
I gestured to Albert to
bring Melissa to me. I got a good look at her, and noticed she was still breathing, though
faintly. At
a glance, it seemed like she was asleep. I pulled back her eyelids
and looked at her eyeballs…and I didn’t find any peculiarities you’d see in
somebody who’d lost their mind.
Then again, I only knew
how to evaluate whether or not she was a threat on the battlefield. We’d need to have a
specialist examine her later to know for sure—but at least for now, we knew she
wasn’t in danger of dying.
I slowly laid Melissa on
her side and took another deep breath in and out.
It’s finally over…wait,
scratch that, it might not be over yet.
I put my hands on my
knees and yanked myself off the ground. “Harrumph!”
“Easy, Grandpa,” Colette
teased. “You’re
gorgeous; can’t you be a little more about maintaining your image?”
“Shaddup, that ship’s
sailed.”
I honestly didn’t care
about Colette’s nitpicking right now. I walked over to Victor
and kicked him onto his back. His hair was no longer
standing on end. I sensed no magic from him either.
“Kee-hee—hee… I never dreamed the
closing act would turn out this way… What a plot twist…”
After all of that, Victor
was still alive. Shit, why did all my enemies have to be so hardy?
“No. It was a stellar performance… The
impossible made reality… It was oh-so-beautiful…”
“Agh—well, whatever. I’m sick of talking to you. Have fun being strangled
by the guards.”
“I suppose I’ll be sentenced
to death—an ending with its own appealing flavor.”
Shit…this guy just won’t
let me sit back and enjoy my victory, will he!
Still, he hadn’t seemed
all that eager to off himself either. Guess I’d have plenty of
questions to ask him later in hell.
But
first—I snatched the medal
hanging off Victor’s neck—at the very least, it’s
obvious that this guy’s part of the cult. Before Victor unleashed
his god’s powers, he was clearly getting power from this baby. I can’t be entirely sure
why, but I feel much safer confiscating this thing from him.
“Ooh… You’ve got a keen
eye, my dear…”
“I’m gonna have to keep
fighting your asshole friends in the future—I’m gonna learn whatever I can.”
“Haha… Pity I won’t be
able to see those events unfold with my own eyes…”
With a scoffing curse
under my breath, I lowered my gaze to the medal. That Dia Milus who
Pearlman had mentioned was a horned snake, but this guy’s god—Zuri Dien—looked
like a birdman. And a really malicious one at that.
“So that your beautiful
epic may continue…,” Victor murmured
mindlessly. “Let me give you a word of advice, my dear…”
I looked down at him. He seemed…sincere. It irked me that somebody so insane would take a shine to me, but I was
grateful for any intel he had.
“Your enemy is
all-powerful… Be wary of Garoh most of all.”
I was going to pretend to
ignore him, but instead, I blurted out, “Who the hell is Garoh?”
The corners of Victor’s
lips twisted upward into a smile as he continued.
“I don’t
quite know, but he seems to be their trump card… One wrong move and the whole
world might be destroyed.”
The whole world, eh? Sounds fake, but I’ll
keep it in mind.
“’Cause before it
happens, I’m gonna kick your gods’ asses.”
“……Hah! Yes, of course… That attitude is what makes you you…my dear…”
And with a satisfied
smile, Victor lost consciousness. He would probably spend
the rest of his life in a dungeon.
Wobbling like I had a
hangover, I sat back down across from Colette and Albert.
If only I could just go
straight to bed…
Then the auditorium door
burst open. The campus professors stormed in, guards in tow. I wanted to snap at them
for being so careless when there might be magic charms scattered like
landmines…but I couldn’t be bothered to speak. And the fact was, no
traps had been laid out anyway—
“Mylene…is that you?! And Prince Albert? Princess Colette, too?!”
With an exhausted sigh, I
scratched my head and carelessly said, “Err……
What lovely weather, eh, professors?”
I couldn’t be bothered to
do anything else, really.
One Sunday afternoon—I
suppressed every urge to slump over at the table and sighed daintily instead. Colette arrived at my
table with a giggle and Albert smiled sheepishly beside her.
Almost a week had passed
since the bomb scare at the Genius Festival. And this was my first
reaction once I was finally freed from the questioning of the professors and
guards.
If only
we weren’t in the cafeteria, I’d be done, you sonofabitch—is what I wanted to say,
but as the cafeteria was open on the weekends for a spirited afternoon tea,
unfortunately, I couldn’t exactly kick back and relax.
“You did very well, Miss
Mylene.”
“As the one who defeated
the enemy, you were taken through a
whirlwind of questioning and award ceremonies—I’m proud to be your friend!”
“Aren’t you both lucky
you get to live vicariously through me…”
I shot them a death
glare, but Colette just giggled mirthfully back. I got the sense she was
loving the fact that I was annoyed by it all—
I let out a sigh and
said, “I suppose I shouldn’t take out my frustrations on you.”
When it’s
come to this, I might as well act calm and not give Colette the satisfaction of
my misery.
As I turned my frown
upside down, Colette gave an approving “Hum!” and a nod.
“Today is a special
day—we might as well enjoy it,” I said.
“Quite right, Miss Mylene! And I think she ought to
arrive momentarily—”
That’s right. Today was special.
It was the day the long,
boring questioning was finally over. But most significantly—
“So sorry I’m late. The doctor kept going on and on when discharging me.”
It was the day Melissa
would finish her treatment. I wanted to set aside my
bitterness and party hard. A little booze would’ve taken the sting out of any bad feelings, but
since booze was off the table for us, we had to get drunk off our own
excitement instead.
“Are you feeling all right
now, Melissa?” Albert asked.
“I had a tough three
days, but I’m fine now. I couldn’t even move at first…”
After the fight with
Victor, Melissa was rushed to the hospital with torn muscles and magic
deficiency from overextending herself while under Victor’s spell. But she’d had a good
doctor and had made a full recovery both physically and magically.
For a
while, our table chattered with pride over our misfortunes.
“W-was I really that
violent?!”
“Oh—ohh…I dread to even
imagine it…”
—and Melissa lamented over
how much she had suffered during her first three days at the hospital.
Everyone at
the table had suffered in some way. I sympathized with their
need to spin the whole ordeal into a heroic ballad.
So I smiled softly as I
watched them.
“By the way, I haven’t
thanked you yet… Mylene.” Melissa suddenly sat up straight and looked into my eyes.
“Is something the matter?” My breath caught a little. I’d never seen her stare
at me so directly before.
After taking a couple
shallow breaths to steady herself, Melissa smiled and said, “Thank you… You
saved my life. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if not for you.”
It was a heartfelt thanks. It hurt to look her in the
eye.
“Well…I almost abandoned
you for a moment. Don’t thank
me.”
Even though I had saved
her life in the end, for a moment, I’d almost made the utilitarian decision to let her die.
But Melissa slowly—and
pointedly—shook her head at me. “No. You didn’t give up on me,
and you kept fighting. You are my
savior.”
I averted my eyes as I
listened. Then
Melissa fell silent, Colette and Albert held their breaths, and the table went
quiet.
And after an ample moment
of silence, I spat out a tired sigh. “Okay…I suppose I’ll
accept your gratitude.”
Shit… Why do kids of
nobility all have to be so stubborn?
Still, there was
something softhearted about them. And that’s why I found
them actually rather—
I carried my teacup to my
lips to hide my expression…then returned it to its saucer.
I had a soft spot for
peaceful, idle moments like these. And I had a soft spot for
my friends, too. I didn’t want Albert to walk the wrong path. I didn’t want to become
enemies with Colette. And I didn’t want to be a burden to Melissa.
I probably wouldn’t
voluntarily get blood on my hands ever again. But some bad people out
there wanted me to.
And I
couldn’t let them do that—
“I have a request…to ask
of all of you.”
So I needed to crush
them—I had to crush the Gods of the Moon.
And I couldn’t do it alone. I needed Colette. I needed all of them.
And as I stared at them
intensely, they nodded reverently in reply.
There were so many things
I wanted to tell them, so many things I had to tell them. But—
“Won’t you all join me in
giving the gods of those villains a fierce punch in the face?”
I didn’t understand why,
but those bastards wanted to sow discord in the world.
And I wouldn’t feel
better until I kicked all their asses.
“Do you mean…with an open
hand or a closed fist?” Colette folded her arms, snickering nihilistically.
I pretended to ponder her
question. (Even
though I already damn well knew the answer.)
Firstly,
I’d like to thank you for picking up Volume 2 of Miss Savage Fang. This is Kakkaku Akashi.
……At about a seventy
percent increase.
I say this because this
volume was a great labor to produce…and its completion was completely overdue
after already going at a slow pace as it was. And in spite of its
heavily delayed progress, here I am, writing the afterword.
Oh, how my heart aches
over all the extra strife I’ve caused to so many people…! Still, I believe I
narrowly avoided releasing a subpar product into the world, so I would much
rather offer my gratitude than my apology.
By the way, would you
believe that the state of emergency was only just lifted where I live? I still feel a little on
edge, I’m glad that the publicized number of infected persons has dropped. It’s my continued hope
that the state of the world keeps getting brighter as I set my pen down at the
end of this afterword.
Well, I hope we’ll meet
again soon…!
