The Deal
After Terre's declaration of the family head succession battle, I called her aside into a separate room.
The purpose was to hear her explanation about Yuri — the successor of the Celestial Clan.
"Yuri? Why her?"
"I wanted to ask when you two met."
"Hmm."
Terre narrowed her eyes and studied me, wearing the look of someone who had caught onto something interesting. Her mischievous fingers poked at my cheek, again and again.
"Getting interested in Yuri? You go weak in the knees the second a pretty woman shows up."
"...Liking pretty women isn't a crime."
I deliberately played along. It was easier to keep the conversation flowing naturally that way than to explain things at length.
"Remember the terrorist attack in the Max Republic?"
"Of course I do. I got beaten half to death right in the middle of it — how could I forget?"
"I was at a social gathering instead of the Colosseum that day, trying to build up my support base. That's where I met her."
Terre chattered on about Yuri like a natural gossip.
At the social gathering, she had spoken with Jomas, the real power behind the Max Republic, and grown close to him. She glossed over the details with vague hand-waving, but I imagined a great deal of grown-up politicking had passed between them — promises that an alliance would be rewarded with something in kind, that sort of thing.
Anyway, through one channel or another she'd been introduced to his people, and the one who stepped forward offering to lend a hand was that very Yuri.
"She's the top student of Equality Academy, no less. The people of the Max Republic say she even outclasses the students of Purity Academy. Haha!"
Equality Academy — the eternal runner-up. No matter how impressive a top student might be, Terre clearly assumed that a girl who'd failed to make it into Purity Academy couldn't hold a candle to our students.
Underestimating her would cost you dearly.
But I, who knew the truth, found my leg bouncing with a faint, involuntary tremor.
Yuri Crescent.
Disciple of Hecate Crescent, and the successor of the Moon Divine Artifact.
In the second year, there was an event — a tournament gathering academies from across the world to pit their strength against one another. And it was there, at the very end, that the protagonists' party would be stopped by the Celestial Clan — or to be precise, by the successors who served beneath them.
In the original story, Diana was there too, wasn't she?
By the time she'd fallen into my hands, she hadn't managed to join the Celestial Clan — but that changed nothing. They remained a faction arrayed against us.
Following the orders of their masters — the Divine Artifact owners they called teachers — they would sooner or later move to dispose of us.
Against them, the current Eva or Terre, wielding their Divine Artifacts, would win in a landslide. But if they fought unarmed, on equal footing... the other side might just have the edge?
Anyone could ask why I'd bother framing a life-or-death battle with such conditions, but duels at the academy forbid weapons, after all. What result would come of it, if we clashed in the tournament someday?
"What are you brooding about so hard?"
"I was thinking about how to approach that Yuri woman naturally."
Not that I let that thought slip past my lips — it was a private struggle, after all.
"Want to spend a night with her? I could arrange it for you."
"What's gotten into you, playing the benefactor all of a sudden?"
"You've given me something, so I'm simply returning treatment to match."
With those words, Terre settled into the seat beside me. The plush sofa sank under her weight, and my backside slid along the cushion until the distance between us closed on its own.
"Thanks to you, the Endless Waves — this Divine Artifact — came into my hands, and now Yufi and I hold equal authority within House Citrine. Which means I can finally drive her out."
"Is that so? Congratulations."
"It's all thanks to you. But where on earth did you get information like this?"
"That's my precious trade secret. Pry into it and you'll get hurt."
"Tch. You could at least share."
Terre puffed up her cheeks and let her sulky displeasure show, but I ignored it without a flicker of guilt.
Even if I cried, I read it in a book through my Power of Sincere Supplication! she'd call it a load of bull anyway.
"By the way, pushing the family head battle along this quickly. Are you actually confident you can beat Yufi?"
"You think I can't? Even you know I have the advantage."
Terre wasn't lying. This contest was practically a match being spoon-fed to her for victory.
Two bearers of Divine Artifacts — on the surface, the contest might look evenly matched, but the truth was the scales had already tipped to one side.
What is a family head, after all? The ruler who leads the house, the one supported by the many, who guides those beneath them and bears the weight of responsibility for it all.
If raw strength were the priority, Yufi would claim an overwhelming victory — but viewed through the lens of power and influence, the advantage was Terre's.
"More than anything, joining hands with Jomas and expanding our diplomacy into the Max Republic has paid off. That's going to earn major points in the succession review."
In this generation, showcasing competence like that counted for far more than mere legitimacy of birth.
With her claim as the true master of the Divine Artifact secured on top of it, Terre's odds of winning stood high at this point.
That wasn't to say Yufi had no trump card up her sleeve. All she'd have to do was swallow her pride, kneel before Pallad, and curry the support of Purity Academy — an escape route would open at once.
Not that she'd ever actually do it.
She was only keeping the family head's seat warm as a temporary stand-in for a position she didn't even want. Her own sister volunteering to take it off her hands deserved a standing ovation, not resistance.
The problem lay in Terre's bottomless thirst for vengeance.
"So, the Citrine family headship is nearly in your grasp. What comes next?"
"Do you really need to ask? You already know."
A smile curved across Terre's lips.
A grotesque, chilling smile — the kind you'd see on the ghost of a horror game.
"I'll marshal everything the family has to kill Yufi. If that won't work, I'll take one of her arms at least — make sure she can never live a Guardian's life again."
"That's cruel."
"It's the exercise of a legitimate right. Blood for blood. I can't stand to watch her go on living like nothing happened."
A rift of emotion widening by the second — Terre's negativity had reached its absolute peak. She had hoarded it all, treasured it, saving it to detonate on one person alone, and now she stood on the verge of the blast.
She was like firewood soaked in the heat of its final flame, on the point of crumbling into ash.
"And what about you? You're that woman's boyfriend now. Aren't you afraid I'll come after you for it?"
"If I were scared of that, would I have handed you the Divine Artifact? Don't worry — do whatever you want."
I pretended not to notice her overbearing attitude. If Terre ever chose to vent her rage on me, I would simply take it all. My gamble said: go ahead, try it, if you can.
"...You really are strange, you know that?"
But then she said something unexpected. Suddenly seizing me by the collar, Terre continued in a voice laced with irritation.
"You're hiding something, aren't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Don't lie to me. Like I wouldn't notice!"
Terre shouted, her temper flaring. Her dream was finally within arm's reach — and instead of rejoicing, she was working herself into a fury.
"You and her, both of you acting this indifferent to me becoming family head — does that make any sense to you?"
"What's wrong with that? People don't really care about other people's business."
"No — maybe you don't, but she's different. She always plays oblivious, but the truth is she watches me closer than anyone."
Terre's blue eyes had turned ice-cold, as if a spirit had possessed her. I could see her gritting her teeth against the emotion boiling up inside her.
"You saw me fight Yufi with the Divine Artifact, didn't you?"
"Just a little? By the time I arrived, it was nearly over."
"Do you know what kind of face she made at me then?"
I didn't answer. Knowing Yufi's personality, how she'd react to Terre's long-blossoming moment was obvious without watching — a video I'd already seen.
"She looked absolutely thrilled. Like she was proud of me — putting on this earnest, serious act, but she couldn't hide the smile hanging at the corner of her mouth."
Terre laughed like a madwoman.
Her goal was right in front of her, yet her face was twisted into something far from happy. It resembled that of a clown who realizes, too late, that his whole life has been a comedy.
"That's when it finally hit me. Yufi wanted me to become family head. Isn't that right?"
She demanded confirmation from me.
Yes or no. She forced me to choose between the two.
And here, there was only one answer I could give.
"And what will you do if I say yes?"
I spoke the truth. To the question I'd been waiting for, I answered immediately — as if I'd been poised for it all along.
"Why... why on earth..."
Terre collapsed back against the sofa. She buried her face in both hands and writhed in anguish.
"Why would she do that? Was she planning to atone for her sins even now? To repent?"
"It's a little different from that. Yufi might feel sorry for you — but not for the people she sent to the grave."
"The people she sent to the grave... you mean Father, and the family?"
"Bastards who deserved to die a hundred times over. They may have been precious to you."
"Do you... know the truth of that day?"
I nodded. Instead of words, a single dip of my head declared my intent.
"I'll tell you, if you want to hear it. But in exchange, promise me one thing."
"A promise?"
To Terre, glaring at me like she wanted me dead, I offered my next words.
The very words she would hate most of all.
"Do you have any intention of giving up the family head's seat?"