The Festival (6)
"There don't seem to be any internal injuries. As for the rest, it's just minor scrapes."
"Then..."
"I was worried about the splash-out, but you're completely clear. Apply some ointment, and you should be fine to move around immediately without any strain."
"Phew."
"Thank goodness..."
At Professor Dahlia's diagnosis, the rest of the team stroked their chests, letting out collective sighs of relief. With the examination finished, Dahlia shooed them out, telling them not to loiter around the infirmary and to go enjoy the festival instead.
"I'm sorry, everyone," Aris offered sheepishly, leading with an apology.
When her companions had tracked her down in Ripol Gorge, their worry had bordered on frantic, which was precisely why they had dragged her straight to Professor Dahlia. Given that she had already suffered severe injuries during the Orthoptera defense, the weight pressing on their hearts must have been twice as heavy.
"What would we have done if you'd been badly hurt on festival day? Really, Aris."
"I know, right? There must be so many things Aris would love at the night market, too."
"More than that, I think having all of us huddled together in an infirmary is the absolute worst. Don't you think?"
"Totally, totally! A day like this is meant for having fun."
Even so, they gave her warm smiles. The way they poked gentle fun at her while flaunting their easy camaraderie proved they were true teammates through and through. Of course, there was always one exception.
"Still, what was with the crying? A grown girl blubbering like a toddler—sheesh."
"I-I was not blubbering!"
"With a face like that, who on earth would believe you? Don't you guys agree?"
Aris's cheeks flushed crimson with sheer embarrassment. While she couldn't contest her fault for making them worry, that did nothing to soothe her wounded pride.
"It hasn't even been that long since you were bawling your eyes out, and here you are throwing a fit, Aris. You know what they say, right? If you laugh or get mad right after crying, you'll sprout horns on your behind."
How could someone manage to be so utterly infuriating every single time she opened her mouth? Glaring at Senia, Aris inwardly gritted her teeth, swearing she would pay this humiliation back tenfold one day.
"Setting that aside, Aris. How did the people down there ever come up with such a dangerous idea?"
"Huh? Come up with what?"
"Detonating mana stones with magic to kick up a demonic energy storm. You had fireworks and gunpowder on hand, so I was wondering why anyone would choose a method like that."
Michel's question made Aris's mind go completely blank.
From knowing that ordinary fireworks and gunpowder wouldn't reach high enough to be seen, all the way to the precise technique for detonating the mana stones—every single piece of that plan traced back to one person. A choice abruptly stood before her.
If I reveal that it was Junon's doing right here...
He would unquestionably be invited to join this team, the very team destined to become Tembris. But was that truly what Junon wanted?
Not a chance.
She forced herself to recall what he truly sought. Why had he covered up her blunder back when Lady Ophelia intervened? Why had he handed all the glory of the Orthoptera defense over to her, slipping away into the shadows like a ghost? Why had he disguised himself among the Lewen Merchant Guild, concealing his identity, and why had he refused to speak up in the gorge, choosing instead to pass his ideas through an officer?
In all likelihood, it was because Junon never wanted to repeat the future that only he remembered. He had no desire for fame, nor any wish to walk through those harrowing experiences a second time. Ultimately, he wanted neither to belong to Team Tembris nor to have anything to do with its members.
'He might not understand right now, but someday he will. He'll see your effort to stand back up and be of help to him, rather than remaining paralyzed by guilt.'
Right. This was the right path. Exactly as he desired, exactly as he had instructed.
Just as she had during the Orthoptera defense, Aris McKenhaim simply had to play the part of the hero once more.
"I figured gunpowder and fireworks wouldn't reach far enough. Since there wasn't any other way in sight, I gave the order to do it. The people trapped down there were right on the verge of rioting, too..."
"A riot? Why? Shouldn't everyone have been pooling their thoughts on how to escape together?"
"If they were thinking rationally, sure. But when you're trapped in an enclosed space while the cold and starvation start creeping in, what do you think happens?"
"Ah... I see..."
"Whoa... to make such a bold decision... But why didn't you end up poisoned by the splash-out?"
"When two splash-outs are triggered at once, they cancel each other out, weakening until they vanish. If you're curious, you can try experimenting with two mana stones yourself."
A calculated result backed by rock-solid theory. All of this, too, merely needed to become her own accomplishment. The merchant guild wouldn't go out of their way to dispute the story, either. What was one or two little lies, anyway? The Orthoptera defense was already an enormous lie in its own right.
I won't say a single word about you, Junon. Not until the very end.
Because that was the only gift she could offer him now—the solitary way left to atone for her past sins.
And so, Aris slowly walked her teammates through the incident in Ripol Gorge, deftly wrapping the narrative until it appeared entirely as her own doing. As long as she kept this up, Junon's true identity would never be exposed.
"Where did you ever learn something like that?"
"Seriously. Shouldn't we just hand the Center position over to Aris at this rate?"
"No way! I'm nowhere near that good!"
The others listened with rapt attention to the heroic tale Aris had supposedly woven in the gorge. Yet, even the best-laid plans had their flaws.
This isn't like Aris at all.
The theoretical framework was undeniably sound. But at the same time, wasn't it far too sophisticated? If her theoretical foundation were truly that immaculate, she never would have collapsed from mana exhaustion during the Orthoptera defense in the first place, nor would the situation have deteriorated to the point where Erika was gravely wounded.
Most suspicious of all was why Aris had broken down in tears under those circumstances. Senia had tossed out a subtle probe earlier to uncover the reason, but received no real answer. Normally, Aris would have scrambled to explain herself while desperately trying to hide her embarrassment.
Which meant what Aris had just served them was an unmistakable fabrication.
To Senia, whose razor-sharp eyes never let even the faintest clue slip past, the whole story reeked of dissonance.
"Where on earth have you been all this time? You were hiding so thoroughly that it took forever to find you!"
Renias, trotting over with the bouncy steps of a rabbit, called out the moment she caught sight of me. While I had made a habit of coaching her endurance whenever time permitted, today I had truly wanted nothing more than to rest.
The moment the anticipated phantom spar concluded, I had made an example of a couple of arrogant fools who had spent ages looking down their noses at me. On top of that, having anticipated that trouble would brew around the Lewen Merchant Guild, I had worked both mind and body to the bone orchestrating the evacuation of the trapped survivors.
In more ways than one, it had been an utterly exhausting day.
"Sorry, Renias. I'm pretty wiped out today. Mind if we push the training to next time?"
"Oh! That? Of course we should do it next time!"
"I know it's a shame, but I really had a rough... wait, what did you say?"
"You look completely worn out, Senior. I don't have the conscience to pester someone in that state for training help. Should I give your shoulders a massage instead?"
"N-No... I'm good."
Wow. She really was an angel.
She might be missing the wings, but her disposition was straight out of heaven. How could a person possibly be this kind?
"More importantly, I'm really sorry to trouble you, but... I think you need to go see Ophi right away."
"Ophi?"
"Ah... Ophelia, I mean! She's a close friend of mine, so it just slipped out... hehe."
Come to think of it, Renias was the daughter of an esteemed ducal household. Watching her scramble to mind her titles after the fact made it obvious that she was referring to the very Lady Ophelia I knew.
A sudden prickle of unease washed over me.
"What does she want with me?"
"Um... she said it was important, so she wouldn't tell me the details. I don't really know, either. She just asked me to pass along that she's waiting in the student council room."
"...And that's why you went looking for me?"
"No, not just me. She told everyone, including the Disciplinary Committee, to simply pass along the message if they happened to run into you while enjoying the festival. She said wasting someone's festival time to track down a single person would be far too much of a shame."
Which meant she hadn't mobilized a search party. It sounded more like she had a brief message to deliver and wanted me to drop by whenever convenient. Even so, I couldn't help feeling a lingering reluctance.
"Um... you look really tired. Should I tell her you'll come see her next time instead?"
"..."
Truth be told, I wanted nothing more than to say yes, fill my stomach, and collapse into bed in my dormitory. And yet...
"No. I'll go see her now."
It was probably best to get it over with. Given that she hadn't ordered a discreet dragnet and merely asked people to pass the word along if they spotted me, it was safe to assume she wasn't planning to demand anything unreasonable. Putting it off wouldn't do me any favors anyway. Getting tiresome business out of the way before properly resting was always the best way to keep one's peace of mind.
"In that case, excuse me for just a moment!"
"Hm? Why are you grabbing my hand?"
Renias suddenly seized my hand and flashed me a broad, mischievous grin.
"Don't tell me you're..."
"Heheh."
Whenever she wore that particular smile, it was almost guaranteed that she was about to pull a prank meant to startle or baffle me. That only heightened my alarm. We were standing right near the entrance of the bustling festival night market—what on earth was she planning to do?
"Hold on to your jaw so it doesn't drop! Here we go!"
"What? W-Whoaaa—?!"
A sudden propulsion erupted beneath the soles of our feet, turning my entire body into a human projectile. That weightless sensation of floating into the air—sure enough, when I looked down, my feet had entirely parted from the ground. While our altitude wasn't absurdly high, my body was indisputably slicing through the wind toward our destination.
My brain went entirely blank throughout the flight. My body was one thing, but my face felt like wet clay being smeared backward by the g-force, and all I could register was that my arm was firmly gripped in hers.
My sanity only snapped back to reality when my feet finally planted onto solid ground once more.
"......"
"Arrived at the student council room! ...Well, we're here, but... Senior? Are you alright?"
"*Gasp... wheeze...*"
I am definitely not alright. Because of you, I am extremely far from alright, Renias.
If I asked her why she pulled a stunt like that without a word of warning, she would only laugh and tease me about it. As if my day hadn't been hectic enough to leave me on the brink of total collapse, she just had to throw this into the mix. Unable to hold back, I curled my hand into a fist and lightly bopped Renias on the crown of her head.
"Ow! Why did you hit me all of a sudden?!"
"Just because."
"Whaaat...?"
I thought it every single time, but this girl had a peculiar talent for thoroughly scrambling my wits. The fact that she pulled off these antics while looking up with those innocent, rabbit-like eyes made it impossible to predict what she might do next. Even when I opened my mouth to tell her never to pull such pranks again, catching sight of that pure, guileless gaze made the scolding wither on my tongue.
...How could anyone reprimand someone devoid of malice? A hollow sigh slipped through my lips instead.
"How does a girl who used to be terrified of heights pull off a stunt like that without batting an eye?"
"Hmph. It wasn't even that high. That much is totally fine."
Pouting sulkily, she rubbed the spot where I had knocked her with both hands. She might have been a bit playful about it, but I could guess what her intentions had been. The building housing the student council room had been right in front of us. Seeing me dragging my heavy feet, she had probably felt bad for me and tried to lend a hand.
When I considered that, her heart was simply far too gentle to stay mad at.
"Have you had dinner yet?"
"No. I just wasted time at another noble lady's salon and barely stepped outside when I ran into you, Senior..."
Good grief. Putting a girl who loved food this much through a noble salon? She must have been starving all day. Sure enough, the moment the subject of a meal came up, the stray lock of hair at the crown of her head—her emotional antenna—drooped limply.
"Then let's grab dinner together in a bit. I got paid my wages for today, so I'll introduce you to some hidden gems you wouldn't know about."
"Really?! Yay! That's a promise, okay?!"
"I'll be out shortly, so just wait a little bit."
"Please come back quickly! I'm starving!"
"Alright, alright. I hear you."
I had assumed I would spend this festival entirely on my own, yet here I was, finding someone to share it with like this. But... that didn't sound bad at all. Naturally, a festival was always more enjoyable when spent in company.
Knock, knock.
"Your guest has arrived, Lady Ophelia."
A maid's voice filtered through the door. The guest in question was none other than the hottest topic of the semester: Junon.
He arrived far too quickly.
She had asked the Disciplinary Committee and a few acquaintances to tell him to visit whenever they crossed paths, but she never anticipated he would show up so soon. Quickly closing the documents she had been reviewing, Ophelia instructed the maid to let Junon in at once.
"Please, make yourself comfortable. To be honest, I hadn't intended to summon you so urgently..."
"As long as this isn't another interrogation like last time, I don't mind."
"...I am truly sorry about what happened back then. It was a shameful display, so please, let us leave the past in the past."
She meant it. She had nearly ruined everything back then. Offering a formal, sincere gesture of courtesy, Ophelia apologized to Junon from the bottom of her heart.
"Then it's fine. More importantly, someone is waiting for me outside. Could we make this quick?"
"Ah, of course..."
When Junon brushed it off so nonchalantly, Ophelia found herself slightly taken aback. He had every right to scold her or voice complaints, yet he displayed the magnanimity of a far broader-minded man. His easy dismissal made her feel as though her deepest flaws were laid bare, forcing her to swallow several sighs that threatened to escape.
Now isn't the time to dally.
Since he asked her to get straight to business, it was best to accommodate his wish. Clearing her throat once or twice to steady her composure, Ophelia set aside her flustered demeanor and slid a few sheets of paper across the desk.
"This is..."
"It concerns the Belshuar Ark. I thought it would be best to extend the rental period further."
In truth, the Noble Coalition had been trying to seize on any petty pretext regarding the artifact, but even putting that aside, Junon genuinely needed the Belshuar Ark now. Given the spectacle from earlier today, numerous nobles had set their sights on him; it wouldn't be surprising in the least if someone attempted an ambush at any moment.
"However, there are limits to this method as well."
"Because of... the recharging, you mean?"
"Precisely. During that window, you won't be able to use it."
The Belshuar Ark ultimately required a recharging procedure after a certain duration of use. Whether refined mana stones were slotted in or human mana was channeled directly, the process required an authorized individual to operate it. Consequently, even if only for a brief period, the artifact would have to leave his hands.
Factoring that in, Ophelia pressed forward with what she had truly wanted to say.
"Wouldn't it be better for you to simply join a team?"
The real reason she had summoned him was to discuss his recruitment into an official team.