Day Turns to Night, Lady Arlea
I slipped out onto the Magitech College grounds, dodging the two of them as they clawed at each other.
"Phew. Finally, a moment to breathe—"
A jolt ran through me.
Goosebumps prickled across my skin in a sudden rush. I'd always been told I had good instincts, and the air felt wrong enough that I drew my sword without a second's hesitation.
An assassin, then.
That was the only sensible conclusion. No more, no less — a straight-up assassin. They'd been tailing me, no doubt. I was ready to draw if I had to, but the person who appeared was completely unexpected.
"…Professor Carlos?"
It was Carlos.
He was shaking blood from his blade. Warm blood clung to the grass at his feet, dark and sticky.
"What, there are still remnan—"
Carlos launched himself straight at me. Shasasasak. His speed was absurd — so fast he vanished from sight entirely — then stopped dead right in front of my nose.
"Mikhail?"
If I lifted my head, I'd be close enough to count his pores. Stay calm, Mikhail. Either get flattened by a yandere in a suit, or answer carefully if you want to keep your virginity intact. What do I do, what do I—
I put on my most composed face and started acting.
"What are you doing out here, Professor Carlos?"
"Ah, so it was you, Mikhail. My apologies."
Carlos sheathed his sword. Whew. So he wasn't here with a hunting party after me. I'd freaked out for nothing. If it had come to a fight, I wouldn't have stood a chance against multiple Sword Masters.
"Ahem!"
Carlos cleared his throat, resetting the mood.
"You came because you sensed something, did you? Remarkable talent. As expected of Class A's prodigy — and a servant worthy of our gifted Imperial Princess. This Carlos praises you."
Ugh, spare me the flattery. I've got no scraps to throw you.
"Yes. A chill ran down my spine."
As the tension eased, the stench hit me. Bodies scattered across the garden told me everything I needed to know.
"Several hostiles infiltrated the academy at multiple points. Clever ones — they used disguise magic."
So the little back door I'd marked wasn't some natural wonder after all, huh? Ha. If I'd reported it earlier, maybe Arlea would've given me a reward vacation.
I asked Carlos,
"Professor. Has the suppression of the hostiles been completed?"
"Rabble, the lot of them. Putting down this much is easy work. A few of them were heading that way, though. Hmm."
Please don't get suspicious.
"I didn't even draw my sword."
I waved both hands, denying it as hard as I could.
Lie, Carlos muttered under his breath.
"Nonsense. I can smell combat on you. Just like a White Knight."
White Knight?
What kind of weird nickname was he inventing now. If I was the White Knight, did that make Arlea the obsessive yandere empress? Hss. She actually was, which made it awkward to say out loud. Words have a way of becoming seeds.
"Anyway, I did no such thing."
"Don't tell me you subdued them barehanded? Admirable!"
He wasn't listening anymore.
"Still, I wonder if Her Highness the Imperial Princess is safe."
"Ahem."
I rolled my eyes. I could feel Imperial Execution Bureau agents tucked away all over the vertical garden. No slipping past Carlos and making a run for it. Well — another chance would come. I had plenty of time.
"I was also under orders from Her Highness to return, and ran into trouble carrying them out."
"Good heavens!"
"But her capabilities already surpass the highest level on the continent — and Professor Sophia is with her as well."
I wasn't worried about that woman. If anything, I felt sorry for the Archdemon currently eyeing the continent.
I'd stake my life on it. Right now Arlea had already knocked the Archdemon down a few times and still wasn't satisfied, so she was using it as a punching bag.
That was how much of a balance-breaking monster she was. And I was the one who'd been jumped by that yandere and heard, out loud, "You enjoyed it too, you little slut!" Well — I had enjoyed it, if I was being honest.
Feeling awkward, I rubbed a finger under my nose.
"They seized the opening. Bold enough to move without her escort knight. Quite the leisure they must have. As for Professor Sophia… tch, a genius. Reliable enough."
Fortunately, Carlos seemed to buy it. My face was harmless enough on its own, and the people around me had — for reasons I still didn't understand — built up my reputation for me. I really wished misunderstandings like this would stop happening.
"To stage a large-scale infiltration on a night this deep… Did you take any of them alive? Looks like you killed them all."
"Of course we did."
Carlos snorted. The look he gave me said, What do you take me for?
"They introduced themselves as a suicide corps. But the substance of it? Third-rate fighters whose skills didn't even measure up. Honestly, not even third-rate. Calling them page-level is an insult to the comparison. Street thugs, more like."
Ah.
I'd forgotten to ask the important thing.
"…A suicide corps?"
"The Great Ones of Old. Judging by how thoroughly those pretentious horned bastards had them bewitched — a hundred out of a hundred, it's a heretical cult. Heretics. The kind that live for terrorism and chaos."
The Great Ones of Old.
It sounded like some Cthulhu-style Outer God, but in truth it was a term for Archdemons.
So this scenario is centered on the Northern cult, then.
I frowned and spoke to Carlos. Talk about bad timing. I'd have to fold this hand.
"I'll go to Her Highness at once. May I leave the cleanup to you?"
"Stating the obvious. Go.
We'll handle the exterior. Everyone! Come, let's keep processing!"
At Carlos's word, Imperial Execution Bureau agents scattered in every direction. While they dealt with the outside, I stepped into the university interior.
I shoved aside a barricade that had somehow blocked the entrance — and ran straight into the suicide corps.
The moment I saw them, I scowled. Haah. Look at them muttering the second we meet.
"Halt."
I prepared to charge — and suddenly the suicide corps clutched their heads and collapsed.
Woooooo—
My mind went blank at the abrupt turn. What kind of farce was this?
"O-O Great One!!"
"Ugh-gh-ghk!"
A demon intervened, huh. Hss. Well, they do treat people like chess pieces. Same as the Constelations who stack divinity and move however they please. A fly's life was a discardable pawn anytime.
Killing the dog once the hunt is done, is it.
Their plan to kill Arlea had failed, so they were cutting the tail.
Cruel bastards. Demonic bastards.
Ah, right — they were actual demons.
I was nudging the corpses with my foot when Arlea and Sophia came sprinting down the corridor, faces murderous.
"Mikhail!"
"Ah, Mikhail!"
Sophia chained teleports, trying to close the distance. But Arlea, who arrived by walking on air, was impossible to catch. Sealing ten Circles and binding a portion of one's aura were not remotely the same thing.
Crrrack—
Shit, my bones! My bones are breaki—
Crack—
Uuuuugh!!
"Y-Your Highness… I think you're holding me a little too hard."
I tried to push Arlea off while enduring the pain.
"Ah. I was just so scared I… And I'm not even that strong, you know? Mikhail. Are you all right?!"
Arlea flushed and jerked her head up. The heat of battle hadn't fully left her yet — I could feel a warm pulse. Slower than when we'd pressed skin to skin and devoured each other like animals, but still.
Is it louder because my bones are broken?
I focused harder on that instead.
Arlea, even if you say that, it doesn't make you a frail princess.
…If I said that out loud, my head would leave my shoulders. In the end, I stayed still until Arlea calmed down.
A few days later.
A warrant arrived from the Imperial Ministry of Justice.
In a nutshell, my charges boiled down to this:
You're from the Johan family. You look like a heretic. Care to get grilled?
.
.
.
"Ah."
It was summer.
The Imperial Ministry of Justice team, dispatched for fact-finding and stabilization — no, the Heresy Inquisition — investigated the unsavory incident that had unfolded at the academy. In the process, I was also placed under suspicion. Entirely because of my status.
The son of a traitor, and the informant who sold out his own house. Once a man has betrayed, you never employ him again. Same principle.
"You're free to go now."
"Ah, thank you."
But the dramatic defense of the two yanderes who loved me got me released.
Not only that — not guilty. The Empire even promised compensation for falsely accusing an innocent man.
While I was still sitting there stunned, Arlea's side moved first. She summoned me, saying there was urgent business.
"Your Highness. I've arrived. About this urgent matter…"
The moment I stepped into her chambers, what greeted me was Arlea in a bathrobe, mid-drinking session.
"Oh, Mikhail?! Come here!"
Arlea pulled me in, her words mushy and slurred.
"Why are you always so late?"
I scratched the back of my neck, awkward.
"I was at the administration office and—"
"Administration office? When do you ever talk about that… this man."
"Pardon?"
"Is it because of what happened in the Madria territory a few days ago. Looks like the magic still hasn't fully washed off. Treating the Empire's National Scholar this carelessly… of course an execution was called for."
Wait. National Scholar?
What the hell was she talking about.
Arlea, who had been muttering in a murderous tone, flipped her expression as easily as turning over a hand.
"Honey. You worked so hard again today. Want me to pet you? Or — ah, should we go right after washing up?"
I gaped like a carp, completely thrown.
Honey?
D-Don't tell me she's figured out my identity?!
No. My eyes shot to the door. It had been open — then Arlea remotely controlled it, and it locked with a click.
Ah.
A sweet, fruity scent tickled my nose from Arlea's embrace, along with a soft powdery fragrance. And under it all, the thick reek of alcohol climbing up.
There was only one answer.
"Your Highness. Have you been drinking?"
I took hold of both her arms.
"Mmhm. Yep."
Arlea nodded. Then, as if proud of herself, she thrust one arm high.
"Heh. Hehehehehe!"
In one of her hands was an uncorked bottle of wine. So that was the source of the fruit smell.
"How much did you drink?"
"A ton. At least a few glasses' worth, you know, but I've been so stressed lately. Being empress isn't easy. C-Can't you have just one drink with me?"
Sweet wine, sweet wine! she seemed to say, nestling her head against my chest with obvious pleasure.
…This is my chance.
I twisted my eyebrows into a knot.
Arlea was the type whose film cut the moment she drank. She wouldn't remember a thing. Like she'd eaten crow meat.
I decided to play along. Escape had already failed, after all.