“Mission accomplished.”
“…Yeah. We definitely got him.”
“But you don’t seem in a good mood?”
“Hmm.”
Yuria’s question slightly furrowed his brow.
Certainly, everything went well.
There were no casualties among the students, Vice Chancellor Randgar was captured alive, and our identity remained a secret.
However, something feels off.
“Why? Is something bothering you?”
“Why was Randgar there?”
“Could it be that Chancellor Binuar noticed beforehand and stopped him?”
Yuria answered calmly after taking a sip of tea.
Looking at the intense battle traces between the two, Yuria’s words made perfect sense.
Chancellor Binuar must have sensed something suspicious about Vice Chancellor Randgar and tried to stop him first.
Thanks to that, Randgar didn’t make it to the party area with the students.
Considering the situation, a more reasonable theory couldn’t exist.
‘Something seems off.’
But I was the one who saw Randgar at the battle site.
There, Randgar stood blankly in front of the fallen Chancellor Binuar.
As if he was standing there, feeling proud of what he had accomplished.
“Hmm. Is that so?”
“That must be it. That’s when Leader arrived.”
Nod.
Next to Yuria, Erica also nodded at her words.
If the two Leaders say so, it certainly looks like it went well.
“But something is bothering you?”
“Well, we’ll probably find out more as we investigate. After all, Randgar Bayel is definitely captured by the Empire.”
“True, the Chancellor or someone testified, so it’s sure.”
Yuria and Erica spoke one after another, as if telling me not to worry.
Cassius St. Claire handled things better than expected.
After he took Randgar from me, he thoroughly searched the surroundings and found the unconscious Chancellor Binuar.
He didn’t ignore my words, ensuring there wasn’t a chance for Randgar to flee.
“Uh, is that so?”
“Hmm. By the way, you remember that Elaine student?”
“Huh? Elaine?”
“She’s cute, isn’t she? Worried so genuinely about the Leader.”
“She did look genuinely worried.”
“Exactly. The Academy life must be going well, better than you thought?”
“If I suddenly disappear, it’s normal for her to worry. Everyone must’ve been concerned. Cynthia knows about my identity, so she might have worried less.”
“Hmm.”
After my remark, Yuria smiled slyly before continuing.
“Emily didn’t seem to worry that much, did she?”
“Emily… Oh, she was with you, so that’s why… Ah, by the way, what’s your relationship with Emily? You said you’d tell me after the mission?”
This reminded me.
Before things escalated, Emily and Yuria’s relationship seemed odd, and she kept postponing her reply.
This time, Yuria didn’t dodge the question.
“Hehe. Emily is my niece. My sister’s daughter.”
“Ah, is that so? You should’ve said earlier. I would’ve taken extra care…”
Thinking back, Emily did seem familiar.
“Ah!”
Yuria smiled while taking another sip of tea.
If she’s Yuria’s niece, then they must be from the same family.
“Yuria, she’s your niece?”
“Yes. Emily Prisis. She changed her last name when entering the Academy, it seems?”
“Eh?”
Though I suspected there was some backstory between them, I didn’t think it was a bl**d relation.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“No wonder you seemed smarter than average…”
“Emily has been clever since she was a child. Her personality just doesn’t fit combat.”
“Then why did she change her last name and enter the Academy, hiding being from one of the six noble families?”
“Well, a lot happened, I guess.”
The faint bitterness in Yuria’s voice suggested otherwise.
“Family matters. The Prisis Family is not as happy as it looks. Though I imagine most families are like that.”
“Even so, how did the family allow that?”
“Hehe. Precisely.”
Yuria placed the teacup down with a faint, bittersweet smile.
So Emily’s last name was Pranz, not Prisis.
Now understanding Emily is from the Prisis family, her intelligence made much more sense—her introverted nature, her top-7 ranking in the entrance exam, her performance in the first trial of the Challenge Tournament. It all fit.
‘Talent truly does shine through.’
Understanding why the six prestigious families are esteemed becomes clearer now.
Elaine, Emily—they all fit this.
“Since she’s my niece, would you please take extra care of her?”
“Naturally. Though I don’t suppose there’s much for me to do.”
“Hehe. Well, I’ll take my leave then.”
“Hmm, heading home?”
“No, I’m going to check on Randgar. Now that we have the key piece of information, it’s best to extract more as soon as possible.”
“Ah.”
She was going to ask me to teleport her, wasn’t she?
Yuria stood up first, looking rather relieved today, after catching Randgar and resolving her relationship with Emily.
“Thank you all today. Leader Erica too.”
“… Just go already.”
“See you again?”
“…”
To Erica, Yuria’s polite farewell was met only with a wrinkled nose.
As soon as Yuria left, Erica sighed deeply and practically collapsed onto the sofa.
“I only found Randgar thanks to you earlier.”
“Aaa. Don’t try to flatter me. I’m not in the mood today.”
“…Huh?”
“Heavy sigh. These talented people really annoy me.”
Erica, scowling deeply, looked entirely dissatisfied.
“What?”
“Never mind. You wouldn’t understand; you’re also one of those overly talented ones.”
“A?”
“I’m going home. Take me back to my place. You know it, right?”
“Uh, yeah, of course.”
“Let’s go. Don’t forget the bonus when the job’s done, okay?”
Erica jumped off the sofa, extending her hand towards me.
I decided not to question why she was so grumpy; I’d seen her like this plenty of times before.
It’s better not to irritate her when she’s in this mood.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll let Eddi know to add more.”
Nodding, I grabbed Erica’s hand, which returned to its original silver after reversing her black dye job.
No time to bring up more issues right now—Erica needs to get home fast.
‘Anyhow, the mission was accomplished.’
The uneasy feeling hasn’t entirely dissipated, but as Yuria said, the mission objective was achieved.
*
Gaaak!
As soon as Elaine returned, she immediately grabbed the sword propped against the wall.
For a moment, she tightly gripped the sword, her hands trembling slightly.
“Haa…”
Elaine sighed heavily and lowered the sword.
No matter what happens from now on, I’ll never leave home without my sword again.
If I’d had it today, I could have confidently roamed about.
Not having a weapon to protect myself made me surprisingly timid.
“Aah! My, my, what happened to this pretty dress!”
“Hmph.”
Elaine quietly watched as her maid Maria wiped off the dust and grime from her dress.
Because of her frantic search for Ryu, her dress was now a mess.
‘I’ll never wear dresses like this again.’
Elaine decided against voicing this thought; a debate with Maria was the last thing she wanted.
“Oh, my. What happened?”
While untying Elaine’s dress from behind, Maria muttered to herself.
It was clear she was subtly scolding Elaine.
“Alright. Just remove the dress.”
“…Okay.”
‘From now on, I’d rather wear something more practical with my sword than these dresses.’
Elaine suppressed her urge to speak, knowing a verbal argument would only escalate.
“Alright, you can remove it now.”
Swish.
Elaine practically ripped the uncomfortable dress off, feeling much freer without it.
Yes, from now on, even if she’s in her underwear, having her sword is more important.
“Shall I prepare your bath?”
“Yes, please.”
“Just a moment then.”
Maria left the room, holding the elaborate dress.
Elaine considered changing into something comfortable but decided against it, considering she’d be heading to the bath soon.
Instead, she leaped onto her bed.
Poof.
‘Haah…’
The soft, fluffy blanket instantly relieved her tension.
At the same time, she felt embarrassed.
“Uuuuuuu…”
Her wild search for Ryu, snapping at Cynthia and Professor Amillion, and especially the way she couldn’t control her emotions upon seeing Ryu—it was all deeply embarrassing.
Had she felt this way recently?
The mere thought caused her face to flush and her whole body to feel overheated.
“Hiiiiing…”
Elaine tightly grabbed the blanket, curling her legs in frustration.
The embarrassment was driving her mad.
Especially Ryu’s calm, smiling gaze at the end, telling her everything would be alright.
Poom! Poom!
Her legs thrashed more violently.
‘Haah, how could I lose control of my emotions in front of everyone?’
The more she thought about it, the clearer each person’s expression became in her mind.
Yuria Prisis’s sly smile, the startled looks of Cynthia and Emily, and Ryu’s ever-so-slightly smirking face.
Poof!
‘Aah, I must be losing my mind!!’
“Ah, Miss?”
“KYAAH!”
“Umm, the… bath…”
Elaine screamed in shock when a voice suddenly called from behind her.
She hadn’t even noticed Maria entering the room or opening the door.
“The bath water… is ready. So…”
“Ah…”
Clink.
Before Elaine could respond, Maria rushed to close the door.
“Haaa…”
Elaine burrowed her face into the blanket.
This was terrible. Now her maid had seen her flailing around in her underwear.
Elaine seriously considered running away for a few days.
