Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: 25-1. Everyone Needs a Headache Remedy.
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The morning light returned to the academy. Sitting through first period, I stared at the transparent status window floating before my eyes.
Groaning like a sickly chicken from the hangover, I gazed at it with a sense of doubt. Come to think of it, doesn't something feel off?
'Did buying food raise the love meter?'
The key point was that it tallied up even when I wasn't looking. It had happened after the decisive battle with Magic Hat last time, too.
Honestly, I had no idea if this thing was working right. The penalty hadn't budged from '?? Chapter,' either. My worries piling up, I rested my chin on my hand and stared ahead.
"...So, gentlemen, the three basic elements of magic are mana, circuits, and incantation."
A blue-haired man drew three overlapping circles on the blackboard like a Venn diagram. Dennis was giving the lecture.
"Magic is the discipline that defies the physical laws of the world. It's under the domain of the god of intellect, Akasha. Now, Student Mardol."
Dennis paused his note-taking and directed a question at the glass knight.
"Can you tell me what the other gods oversee?"
"Tardun handles swordsmanship, Pantos spirit arts, and Zisherh holy power."
"Correct."
After hearing the answer, he resumed jotting on the board. The domains of each god were underlined for emphasis.
"There are two more higher gods above them, but those ones are rather tight-lipped..."
I glanced at the four statues around the room. They did seem the silent type. Even Drake had invoked Tardun's name before heading off for group work.
'Laplace mentioned Akasha at the entrance ceremony, too.'
In the setting materials I'd seen before possessing this body, their exact names weren't known, but here, even a random passerby on the street would recognize them.
A world built on magic, swordsmanship, holy power, and spirit arts. That was the worldview of the Knight Heart Trilogy games. Natural, if you thought about it.
"...Licht."
"Yes?"
"Want to see my notes?"
Seeing me with arms crossed, unable to focus, Mardol—who sat next to me—spoke up.
"I'm good."
"...Right."
The glass knight bowed his head dejectedly. Seeing that tugged at my heartstrings. He looked so down, it made me feel like the bad guy.
"No, actually—mind showing me just a bit? I missed what he just explained."
After the drinking party, she and I had grown more comfortable with each other. The crown prince misunderstanding was cleared up, and he didn't seem like he was after a reverse harem anymore.
"Start from this page. Licht."
"Thanks, Mardol."
Since clashing swords in the grade exam and acknowledging each other's strength, we were like friendly rivals.
'He never takes off the helmet, so it feels like having a real same-sex friend.'
Besides, he was too kind and innocent to push away just for being a girl. After the Saintess, he was the first to notice my wounds and show consideration—a true confidant. That alone was a huge comfort.
"Your handwriting is so round and cute."
"...Oh. Uh, yeah. I guess?"
"Mardol? What's wrong?"
"N-No, nothing."
I'd only meant to compliment him out of gratitude, but he ducked his head again. I'd hoped to cheer him up, but it fell flat.
"You like cute handwriting, Licht...?"
"Mine's a mess, so yeah—I'm jealous."
"Guess I win, then."
His competitive streak was alive and well. It made me even more certain there'd never be a romance route with him.
'No love lines between rivals in the game. Gotta be safe.'
Unaware of Mardol's eyes sparkling faintly as he stared at my hand, I copied from his notes.
Pine Granasia stared intently at the man's hand.
'The veins on the back of his hand are so prominent. Licht.'
With her keen eyes, she instantly recognized the marks from long years of gripping and swinging a sword.
Badges and symbols of relentless training. Inside her glass helmet, Pine unconsciously swallowed hard.
"...Why are you staring like that?"
"Oh, no—I wasn't looking at your hand or anything."
"Huh? Is there something on it?"
Lately, whenever she looked at Licht, she felt a strange sensation. Her gaze kept drifting to him, her nerves tingling oddly.
'...Cute handwriting. Mine.'
Glancing at his handwriting—so different from her own—she fidgeted her fingers on the notebook. A sudden urge to touch those veins washed over her.
"Mardol, this part... we haven't covered it yet, have we...?"
"Oh, uh, that's just me adding stuff I already know ahead of time."
"I see. So you twist magic circuits like this."
It was then. Startled by the black knight helmet suddenly speaking up, she replied in a rush unlike herself—a ridiculously long sentence.
'Why have I been acting so weird lately?'
She figured it was because Licht was the person she felt most at ease with.
The only one as strong as her, who understood and accepted her past with the Demon King.
A pillar of support, a comforting presence to lean on.
'Is it just... gratitude? Yeah, that must be it.'
Gazing into his now-gentler brown eyes, she thought. He used to remind her of a hedgehog bristling with quills from a book.
"There, all copied. Thanks a lot."
"D-Did it help?"
"Of course. Mardol, let me buy you a drink on the terrace later."
Now he was just like a gentle black puppy. She recalled Kkaman, Licht's spirit from before—fluffy and soft-furred.
'I wonder if Licht's hair is... soft, too?'
Pine imagined what lay beneath his helmet, and a sudden curiosity made her white tail stiffen inside her armor.
At that moment, in a certain earl's estate of the Granasia Empire—an old land once called the Water Country—a man and woman sat facing each other in the drawing room.
"So... what brings you here?"
"Nothing major. You want to be engaged to Nex Aureus, don't you?"
The lady sipping her black tea froze at his words, surprised he'd seen through her intentions.
"How did you...?"
"This old man was at the social hall, too."
A gentleman removing his mask to reveal a monocle smiled at the black-haired woman before him. Head Ache addressed her.
"Lady Aqua. You handle orca spirits, I hear."
"...Get to the point."
The woman with striking black hair tinged with orca-like features—the same one who'd hurled a glass at Nex at the social before.
"Simple. Use your spirit arts for me, and I'll make your engagement to Nex happen."
"That's it? Feels like you're after more."
"As expected of you, Lady."
Sensing something off, she grew aggressive, prompting Head Ache to groan and pull a book from his pocket, drawing a line in it.
"Just trip up Professor Dennis at Grand Hearts Academy—that's all."
"...Against one of the Ten Heroes? No way I could."
"You could if you gathered all the fragments of your house's lost treasure. Or am I wrong?"
"Then the one who told me the location back then...?!"
Her eyes narrowed. Rising, sprays of water swirled around her. A salty sea scent pricked at Head Ache's nose.
"Enjoying your rise to lady of a remote earl's house overnight, thanks to my scheme?"
"...Who the hell are you?"
"Me? Just a common name."
A massive orca loomed at Head Ache's feet, jaws agape as if to devour him—yet his expression remained utterly relaxed.
"Head Ache. The Demon King of Omniscience, they say. Lady."
"..."
"Not asking you to kill anyone. Just flood the place with enough water to dilute his booze."
Her house's revival stemmed from a mysterious guest's tip about a treasure long ago. Realizing she'd been played from the start, she felt a chill staring at the man.
"...Orca, attack!"
Invoking her spirit the moment she heard the Demon King's name—but something was wrong. The orca stood motionless, mouth open.
"...Huh?"
"Not going as planned, Lady?"
"Why isn't Orca listening...?"
"Orca... Orca, was it? Tough luck."
Stroking the black orca's head as it surfaced to breathe, he spoke. The spirit's eyes were vacant, unfocused.
"She doesn't even have a name anymore."
"...Huh? That orca... what was it? Surely... surely something precious..."
Aqua staggered, dizzy. She strained to recall her spirit's name but failed every time.
"...Everyone gets headaches sometimes, Lady Aqua."
"My name... was it Aqua?"
"Who knows? Maybe they know better than you."
As the man set down his teacup, the woman before him sank deeper into oblivion, forgetting even her own name.
"Miss!! Where are you?! Miss Aqua!!"
"Miss Aqua's gone!"
The servants rushing about the drawing room failed to notice Head Ache and Aqua right there. They passed the long black-haired woman and monocled man repeatedly.
Like trains on parallel tracks circling endlessly, maids and butlers searched frantically for their missing mistress.
"The Authority of Ignorance works fine—why didn't it take on that boy Licht yesterday? Hmm... Still baffles me."
Rising and pondering, Head Ache waited until the spirit vanished before addressing Aqua again.
"...Will you accept my offer now? A fallen house ought to repay its benefactor, no?"
The Demon King of Omniscience shook water from his damp clothes, smiling amiably.