Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Precious One
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The training grounds were a disaster.
On one side, dozens of ice flowers that hadn’t fully melted lay scattered about, while on the other, unquenched flames flickered up from the charred black floor.
‘So it was Senia and Luna after all.’
The ice flowers were Lapis Lazuli’s power, and the flames were Luna’s Arts. Her Arts specialized in fire magic, after all.
“Haa.”
A sigh escaped me naturally.
I’d decided that very morning to look into those two, and it was almost as if some monkey’s paw had granted my wish.
Looking around, I spotted four figures standing in the middle of the half-destroyed training grounds.
Senia and Luna. And Adelrin and the bespectacled male instructor standing over them triumphant.
It was Callux, who had taken over leading the raid team in Adelrin’s place.
Since classes were held in the afternoon, the two of them—who had some free time in the mornings—had been assigned to handle the aftermath of the incident.
Adelrin caught my gaze and waved with a big grin.
“What’s this, Haribal? Did the Lady send you because she was worried?”
“Instructor, what the hell happened?”
“Hey, no need to be so formal with ‘Instructor.’ Call me Captain like always. Big Sis works too.”
Big Sis? What Big Sis?
I’d never called her that, not once.
Reacting to my voice, the subdued Senia and Luna both turned their heads at the same time.
“Ah, Haribal. What brings you here?”
Senia greeted me with her usual smile.
“That’s my line.”
“Ahaha, yeah, I guess it is. Sorry. You must be here because of me, right?”
This time, I looked at Luna, who was being held by Callux.
She spoke up.
“Don’t worry. Nothing for you to fret over will happen.”
With that, she clamped her mouth shut.
‘Hmm.’
My brow furrowed involuntarily.
It had already happened—what was she talking about?
Adelrin shrugged and said,
“As you can see, the two Ladies had a little showdown. The details…”
“Adelrin Windsor, Instructor.”
Callux cut in.
“There’s no obligation to explain Academy internal affairs to a mere student.”
Pale blue hair, gaunt cheeks, sharp gaze piercing through rimless glasses.
Callux Russell. The FM instructor infamous in the original story for his strict adherence to rules.
He looked like a mage, but surprisingly wielded daggers as a rogue-type character—that was the twist.
“Haribal isn’t just any student. He’s the hero who conquered the Demon God’s Dungeon.”
“……Even so, while inside the Academy, he’s a student. He must be treated the same as the others.”
“Then count him as my disciple. I personally taught him swordsmanship back in his military days.”
“……Then all the more reason I can’t allow it!”
Adelrin scratched her head nonchalantly.
“Don’t wanna.”
“……Pardon?”
“I said I don’t wanna. I want to tell him.”
“……Why do you get to decide that on your own?”
“Then I’ll put your name on a report and quit instructing. If you’re pissed, strip your rank and fight me.”
Callux’s face stiffened at the Empire’s Greatest Sword’s ironclad illogic.
Adelrin the My-Pace Queen and FM Callux. In the original story, they were natural enemies, so this wasn’t unfamiliar.
Confirming Callux’s silence, Adelrin spoke.
“No big deal. Senia and Luna got into a verbal spat during training. It heated up, and fists started flying.”
No big deal?
Just looking at the state of the training grounds painted the picture clear enough without an explanation.
The process was what mattered.
‘Senia did openly dislike Luna, but…’
Even in the original, Cecilia and Luna had clashed before.
But it had never escalated to physical violence.
In the original, Luna had provoked Cecilia first, and Cecilia clapped back.
Enraged, Luna tried to use her Arts but was stopped by Aren.
So it should’ve been similar this time.
“Oh, and for the record, Senia threw the first punch?”
“?”
“Senia used her Arts first, and Luna countered. Who knew the soft-looking Lady had such a hot temper? Even I didn’t see that coming.”
Wait, I didn’t know that either?
Senia threw first?
I thought she at least knew where to draw the line.
What the hell had happened?
Just then, a breathless voice came from behind.
“Haa… haa… Is Sis here?!”
It was Cecilia.
She must’ve recognized Lapis Lazuli’s style or the Ren family swordsmanship and rushed over.
Without even catching her breath, she headed straight for Senia, who was held by Adelrin.
“Ah, Cecil. Come on over.”
Then she grabbed Senia by the nape and forced her head down.
“Sorry! My sister caused trouble!”
“Cecil, wait, let me explain…”
“No! I don’t want to hear it! What excuse do you have for trashing the training grounds like this?!”
Senia could only smile awkwardly at Cecilia’s shout.
“Even if you hate Grace, this crossed the line?!”
Then, suddenly, Cecilia’s gaze landed on me.
“Haribal? Why are you here…”
She looked like she had a lot to say.
Her attitude suggested she knew something.
“I was waiting for you.”
“Me, waiting for me?”
About Senia Ren, the existence absent from the original.
I checked my watch. Basic Fitness class had already started quite a while ago.
Going now would make me late anyway.
So I said,
“Let’s hit the cafe.”
⁎⁎⁎
Senia and Luna were promptly dragged off to the faculty office.
Along with Callux’s words that penalties would be given.
Cecilia’s face darkened as she watched them go.
“Here.”
I handed her the flower tea and vanilla cake, and her frozen expression softened a bit.
“…What, you actually remembered?”
“Not forgetting your two favorite menu items.”
We were seated in the Academy cafe.
To ask Cecilia about Senia.
Truth be told, my impression of Senia up until now had been that she was a precious little thing.
To the point where the original Cecilia seemed normal by comparison.
Leaving that precious little thing unchecked would just keep spawning unpredictable variables like today, so even if I couldn’t control her, I at least needed to get a grasp on her.
Cecilia took a sip of her flower tea and broached the topic cautiously.
“Sis… doesn’t hate most people.”
“Yeah, that much was clear.”
Senia got along well with others smoothly.
She treated everyone kindly regardless of status or relation, so her reputation in the unit had been good too.
That’s why her behavior during the entrance exam felt so jarring. She’d turned into a madwoman out of nowhere.
“But that doesn’t mean Sis likes people.”
“……What?”
“Quite the opposite. Sis isn’t interested in most people at all. That’s why she can treat them all the same.”
A chill ran down my spine.
So all the faces she’d shown so far were just an act?
Reading my expression, Cecilia shook her head and added,
“That doesn’t mean Sis has no emotions. She has clear likes and dislikes. For example…”
She hesitated a moment, then said,
“It’s embarrassing to say it myself, but… Sis likes me.”
Yeah, it showed.
“Ah! Not like that! I mean, she likes me as a little sister!”
I hadn’t thought anything else.
“And she probably feels goodwill toward you, Mine, and Instructor Adelrin too.”
“Instructor Adelrin as well?”
“Yeah. Sis likes strong swordsmen.”
Cecilia cut a small piece of cake with her fork and put it in her mouth.
“When Sis likes someone, she expresses her emotions more clearly than anyone. Like she’s fully revealing her true self?”
“……”
“You get it by now, right? That means there are people Sis hates too.”
“Luna Grace.”
“Yeah. More precisely, the entire Grace Family.”
Cecilia was the same in the original.
The two houses had been at odds since way back.
Sword and magic—like water and oil.
But one thing felt off.
‘Why’s she talking about it like it’s someone else’s business?’
If Senia hated the Graces, Cecilia should too.
But the Cecilia I’d seen didn’t seem all that interested in Luna.
Her personality showed disgust plainly on her face, but with Luna, she’d seemed indifferent.
Then Cecilia dropped an unexpected bombshell.
“The reason Sis hates the Grace Family… it’s because of Mother’s death.”
Mother would be Seidin Ren.
The previous Sword Fairy who died of illness in the settings.
“There were rumors they were involved in Mother’s death. No proof, but Sis seems convinced of something. She hasn’t told me, though.”
Her death was connected to the Grace Family?
During the entrance exam, Senia had told me she’d lost her goal.
Was that goal her mother?
Hearing Cecilia out made Senia’s attitude start to make sense.
Her goal—and possibly the family that drove her mother to death. No wonder she couldn’t stand their daughter.
“Due to family rules, I was raised outside the estate from childhood. So to me, Seidin Ren is just blood-related; I never felt her as a mother. My mother is just the one nanny.”
Cecilia’s voice was calm.
“If my nanny had died because of the Grace Family, I never would’ve forgiven Luna either.”
The ones who killed Cecilia’s nanny were the Demon God’s cultists.
Black flames only they could wield, and pitch-black burn marks like mine on the corpse.
That’s why the current Cecilia aimed her hatred solely at the Demon God’s cultists.
‘Hold on.’
Then how do I explain Cecilia’s attitude in the original?
One possibility came to mind.
“What if Senia had met her end because of the Grace Family? What do you think you would’ve done?”
“What? Do we really need that hypothetical?”
Cecilia frowned, then fell into thought.
“If that were the case… my answer would be the same. I never would’ve forgiven them.”
That sealed it.
In the original, Senia hadn’t been rescued by me and died.
If evidence emerged that the Grace Family was involved, Cecilia directing her rage at Luna made perfect sense.
In other words, something that had only been backstory in the original was becoming reality before my eyes.
Victor was the type to ally even with Demon God cultists, so I couldn’t rule out Grace Family involvement in the Senia kidnapping.
In the original, Cecilia knew that and showed hostility toward Luna.
But in the end, their relationship improves.
Which meant the kidnapping was likely unrelated to the Graces.
The problem was Seidin Ren’s death.
I had no certainty there either.
But there was one thing I could be sure of.
‘At least not Luna.’
According to Cecilia, Seidin died when Senia was seven.
Hard to imagine a seven-year-old Luna being complicit.
So Senia’s current antagonism toward Luna was just misplaced venting.
The issue was I couldn’t ignore that venting.
‘Playable characters shouldn’t be fighting each other.’
With these unpredictable folks, I couldn’t let internal conflicts fester into problems.
Even if Cecilia had no real thoughts on Luna now, ongoing clashes would sour her view eventually.
And when we needed multiple dealers ahead, this feud would trip me up.
‘I need to patch this up somehow.’
Fortunately, I had a way.
The friendship event from the original.
I knew the trigger item.
Of course, reality being reality, a gift wouldn’t magically fix their relationship.
But it could at least sew the bare minimum bridge.
Then I could resolve things gradually over time.
Luckily, Luna’s gift was easy to get. Neville’s doll shop had it.
‘I know what Luna likes. But…’
The problem was Senia’s gift.
I had no idea what she liked.
But I wasn’t worried.
“Cecilia.”
“Yeah?”
I had Cecilia.
“Know of anything Senia might like?”
At my question, Cecilia stared at me with a baffled look.
“…You’re seriously asking me about Sis’s tastes right now?”
“Yeah. Figured you’d know best.”
“Without asking what I like?”
You already told me everything.
“You trying to buy Sis a consolation gift or something?”
“Exactly. Might as well get one for Luna too. Classmates and all.”
“And you need me for that?”
I nodded, and Cecilia let out a long sigh.
“……Fine! Let’s go!”
What was the problem anyway?
⁎⁎⁎
Back in the classroom, Senia’s mind replayed the words Luna had flung at her earlier.
‘Y-Your very existence is the problem.’
Absurd nonsense.
No, those were originally the words Senia had wanted to hurl at Luna.
The Graces, of all people.
She couldn’t tolerate such brazen words coming from the only daughter of a family implicated in her mother’s death.
That’s why.
She’d lost her reason in an instant and unleashed her Arts without thinking.
Senia’s gaze fell on the greatsword propped beside her desk, the one Cecilia had brought yesterday.
‘A greatsword, really.’
As her fingers brushed the blunt hilt, her mother’s fading voice echoed in her memory.