There is said to be no grave without a story.
It meant that everyone has at least one excuse, no matter how ridiculous it may be.
There is always a plausible reason.
Even in the sudden circumstances where a middle-aged man put on the guise of a lovely girl, there was a backstory. The Great Witch enjoyed calling it a “rational choice.”
“I can’t help it. If the Empire’s Swordmaster accompanies me, all eyes at the Academy will be on us. What’s the point of stealth?”
“No, with just you alone, it would gather enough attention…”
“Oh ho, little one. It seems you want to be a girl.”
At that single remark, I immediately shut my mouth and began to wrack my brain as much as possible.
“…Thinking about it, since I’m a student, it wouldn’t be strange no matter where I wandered.”
“That’s true. Also, if you’re not visible, you’re just a strange person, but the Swordmaster can be excused for not being seen since they’re always undertaking classified missions.”
It was a seemingly reasonable opinion.
But that was merely the thought of an outsider. It was unlikely that someone suddenly trapped in a girl’s body would have the same optimistic view as I did.
The scream that eventually erupted proved this.
“No, why does it have to be a girl?!”
It was a valid point.
Especially if the speaker had lived their whole life as a man and had suddenly become a girl.
I shook my head and looked at the Great Witch. No matter how I saw it, it only looked like a bad joke, yet the Great Witch displayed a surprisingly confident demeanor.
“Well, I don’t touch male bodies.”
“What, you’ve lived for hundreds of years and have never seen a male body?!”
“That’s right, I’ve never even touched one… Why should I? Therefore, the body I can create is only female.”
The girl who had become the Swordmaster seemed to have many things to say, but since the Great Witch said so, she couldn’t come up with a suitable counterargument. She just clenched her fists and trembled.
It could only be described as a miracle.
When the Swordmaster had previously displayed childish behavior, it had made me chuckle, but as soon as she found herself in the body of a lovely girl, such sentiments vanished in an instant.
There was merely a woman befitting her age standing in front of me.
The Great Witch dealt a decisive blow to the Swordmaster, who couldn’t hide her frustration.
“How strange, wasn’t this matter already settled? Did someone threaten you with a sword?”
“Grr…!”
In fact, the one who had threatened with a sword was the Swordmaster, so she had no grounds to argue.
Still, the Swordmaster, unable to erase her grievance, raised her voice once more.
“There was no mention of turning me into a girl!”
“If you had asked, I would have explained… what a pity. But how could I lock someone like a Master into a body without their consent?”
It was all perfectly valid.
No matter how powerful the Great Witch was, the Swordmaster held a place among the Masters, making it impossible to confine her against her will.
In other words, it meant that the Swordmaster was, at the very least, accepting the situation.
The fact that she didn’t immediately reject her body served as evidence of that.
“A person like the Empire’s Swordmaster wouldn’t go back on their promise, would they? I’m counting on you to be careful so the body doesn’t get damaged… it’s quite bothersome to have to remake it.”
“Grrr…!”
The Swordmaster, trembling as she clenched her fists, finally began to calm her breath.
After taking a few deep breaths, the girl’s sullen gaze subtly turned toward me.
“…Surely, you wouldn’t betray the Empire after making me like this?”
“Was that your goal…?”
In the end, I let out a deep sigh.
Somehow, it seemed she wanted to provoke my sense of duty, urging me not to let go so easily.
If she was going to be fixated on something, wouldn’t it be better to be a lovely girl rather than an old man? I decided to reassure myself this way.
This decision might bring unforeseen consequences.
Just before leaving, a voice held me back.
“…Don’t misunderstand.”
Exhaling a puff of smoke, the woman said.
“I have yet to acknowledge you. One day, I must share the story of how you stole my vision.”
Facing her subdued gaze, I hesitated to voice the question that popped into my mind.
The contemplation was brief.
A short question slipped from my lips.
“Why do you deny it so much?”
A question devoid of a subject.
It was unclear even to myself what I wanted to ask. Nevertheless, the Great Witch stared at me for a while, unable to answer.
After a long pause, a voice squeezed out, tickling my eardrums.
“…Because it hasn’t been permitted to me.”
The Great Witch, glancing at the Swordmaster walking ahead, confessed calmly.
“We are all prisoners of fate, little one.”
I couldn’t understand those words.
And perhaps I wouldn’t for a long time.
With my final farewell completed, my footsteps followed closely behind the Swordmaster.
Even now, I did not quite understand, but.
The Great Witch’s eyes looked extraordinarily weary.
In the future I glimpsed, they didn’t seem to hold such bleakness.
They resembled a man’s eyes.
“The gaze is burning hot like a scorching sun… I’ve never received this much popularity even in my prime.”
It was a remark made while strolling through the courtyard with me.
The girl with dark blue hair seemed nobly born at first glance. From her glossy hair to her soft skin, she didn’t appear to have grown up through hardship.
But her bold stride and indifferent attitude gave off a somewhat masculine impression.
Above all, the murderous aura was almost tangible.
Even those whose senses were dulled by a vampire’s magic would not dare approach her. The girl, yawning while resting her hands behind her head, was, in fact, someone beyond the realm of common sense.
The Empire’s Swordmaster.
Who would have imagined that one of the three Masters would appear in such a state?
All I could do was glare at her with a zealous gaze.
This made me a bit more comfortable. Indeed, it crossed my mind that the Great Witch had reason to ask for cooperation.
After a while of admiring the girl’s appearance in a daze, I spoke the thought that suddenly crossed my mind.
“So, where are you going?”
At that, her disinterested blue eyes briefly turned to me.
After all, I was trapped in a girl’s body for just a few minutes. It wasn’t surprising for the world’s Swordmaster to lose her composure.
Thus, I deliberately adjusted my tone and asked.
“You’re walking ahead. Isn’t there a destination?”
“My room.”
The girl replied, tapping the white sheath hanging at her waist.
At that, I exclaimed, “Oh!” and nodded knowingly.
The white sheath engraved with a golden dragon.
It was an artifact akin to the emblem of the Swordmaster. Though no one paid attention to the girl’s sheath yet, it was clear that carrying that sword around would lead to several problems.
So, she must be going to fetch an extra sword.
Just as I decided to follow the Swordmaster’s lead without saying much.
“Consider it an honor… few have come to my room.”
With that one phrase, the temperature of the glances cast around us changed.
“Does that mean you weren’t dating the Lady Saint?”
“Seems you’re not with Senior Rainelle either. Can it be that you have many women?”
“But, she’s someone I’ve never seen before…”
As the whispers grew louder, the beads of sweat on my forehead became increasingly pronounced.
It was a comment with ample ambiguity.
If the other party was the Empire’s Swordmaster, it wasn’t incorrect, but now she was wearing the appearance of a complete stranger.
Moreover, with the Academy’s vampire magic amplifying emotions directed at me.
I had no clue how this rumor would spread.
Having swiftly reached a conclusion, I attempted an early evolution.
“No, if someone hears this, it might be misunderstood…!”
“Then do you mean I should go alone? After coming all this way?”
However, I had overlooked one variable.
That was the Swordmaster’s mood.
The Swordmaster, who had suddenly turned into a girl, seemed exceedingly uncomfortable. It was evident she would snap at the slightest criticism.
Would a person feeling bad about becoming a girl want to hear advice about being careful as a girl?
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
Unaware of my thoughts, the Swordmaster continued to grumble.
“Hmph, no sense of responsibility. You made me like this, and now you say you don’t need me? What do you think of me…!”
“Ah, alright! Let’s go!”
In the end, I had no choice but to swallow my tears and go along with the girl.
“Let’s go immediately… to your room or wherever!”
“It’s the least you could do.”
Only then did the girl’s mood seem to lighten, as she flashed a content smile.
Passersby glanced at us again, murmuring softly, but the Swordmaster was born of royal blood.
She appeared entirely uninterested in what mere humans had to say.
Ultimately, I had to follow the Swordmaster, feeling like I was being led to the slaughterhouse.
Fortunately, there were no significant obstacles on our way to the Swordmaster’s room.
Regarding that, the Swordmaster brusquely added an explanation.
“I submitted your entry permission ages ago. I never know when I might have to report urgently.”
“You didn’t check the Elder’s identity?”
“Who verifies the identity of the Empire’s Intelligence Department? If the other side is a high-ranking official, they’d have to risk their lives.”
That was a matter that followed naturally, but it also showcased the darkness of the Empire’s Intelligence Department.
To know the identity of a high-ranking official and still have to die…
As I thought it was rather excessive, just then.
“…And there’s no point in verifying identities either.”
With a hint of quiet pride, the girl raised her lips into a smirk.
“Who would dare harm me? If that were the case, even those kids would be hopelessly outmatched.”
Those were arrogant words.
And yet, there was not a trace of falsehood in them.
Indeed, even transformed into a girl, the Master remained a Master.
The ease and pride that emanated from her words and gestures could not be hidden. It was rather more comfortable for me to deal with her this way.
Of course, that was merely a naïve thought.
Upon arriving at the Swordmaster’s room, I was subjected to her endless boasting about her swords for quite some time. There were dozens of famous swords in her room, and at first, I was delighted to see them.
But the boasting went on far too long.
Just when I contemplated going mad and plugging my ears.
I sensed a presence from somewhere.
“Your Majesty… Although, there’s an unidentified person here!”
“It’s fine, isn’t Sir Ian here? The Empire owes a great deal, so it would be nice to have some tea while you’re at it.”
Our bodies stiffened in an instant.
“No, why is His Majesty here at this hour…?”
“…I’m cutting out early.”
It was a truth confessed in a daze.
The Swordmaster looked around with a startled expression.
“My nephew tends to skip schedules, claiming he needs to have tea when he’s tired from work… and I thought I could use you as an excuse to come!“
“Then what do we do? At least the sword first…!”
At that moment.
The door opened silently, and an elderly man entered the room.
Two pairs of startled eyes froze, gazing at him.
Noticing the unusual atmosphere, the Emperor’s attention shifted to the girl beside me.
“Sir Ian Fercurus, it’s been a long time… and beside you is…?”
Then the Emperor’s gaze fixed on the sword cradled in the girl’s arms.
The symbol of the strongest in the Empire, a divine sword that one would not dare touch without an acknowledged master.
It was cradled in the arms of a girl I had never seen before.
The Emperor momentarily couldn’t process the reality. Guffawing, he shook his head in disbelief.
“Hahahaha! Have I strained myself so much lately that my eyesight is failing me…?”
But no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, reality would not change.
He closed his eyes, turned his head, and repeated that for a while.
The girl’s face began to turn increasingly red. Unable to bear the embarrassment any longer, the Swordmaster ultimately confessed her true identity.
“Ni, nephew…”
At hearing that single phrase, the Emperor’s expression was that of, indeed.
It was akin to a work of art.
A portrait that blended every element of astonishment and terror in this world.
The title of the piece: ‘The Scream.’
A rending scream burst forth within the room, leaving a long echo behind.
