The Gathering of Eccentrics (1)
Where is the strongest nation on the continent? To that question, everyone except those with an excessively strong pride in their own country or the few who viewed the world through a cynical lens would answer in unison.
The Barhart Empire.
The country once called the Barhart Kingdom had risen to imperial status by forcing the three nations of Morian, Spero, and Nahat into vassalage during the Hegemony War. In the Judgment War, it stood boldly against the Ivestan Empire’s invasion and drove them back beyond the eastern Ural Mountains, claiming the title of the continent’s mightiest power.
The Great Emperor Ludwig Barhart, who had led all those glories, handed the throne to his son seven years ago and devoted himself entirely to founding a new educational institution. So when the academy he created finally opened its doors, it was only natural that talented people from across the continent would flock to it.
“Goddamn it! Who the hell just shoved me?! Was that you?!”
“Huh? Why are you starting a fight out of nowhere, you lunatic? Wanna go?”
“Like I’d back down!”
“Get out here, you bastard!!!”
Uh… yeah. Natural, sure.
“Cheap! So cheap!!! Fresh new weapons straight from the Fergus Workshop are waiting for the heroes who’ll write the next legends!”
“My—my wallet! It’s gone!!!”
“That idiot’s way past the meeting time. Where is he?”
“Damn it, my stomach—ugh!”
“Need a guide?! I’ll take you anywhere in the city for just fifty coppers! What? Too expensive? Then figure it out yourself!”
…………
“No matter how you slice it, this is too much of a mess.”
“Even the dog looks stressed. Look.”
I turned toward where Ligret was pointing. A single dog was desperately weaving through the forest of legs, dodging being trampled. The difficulty looked like it could rival a bullet-hell shooter.
When I reached out experimentally, the mutt slunk toward me as if it might jump into my arms—only to swerve at the last second, rub itself against Ligret’s leg, and start acting cute.
“Hey, you little—”
“Even a dog can spot a wicked miser, huh.”
“Or maybe its nose is just broken. How does it fail to recognize a human weapon that only looks like a girl on the outside?”
“What are you talking about? It knows the other one’s dangerous, so it’s sucking up instead. See? It’s staying perfectly still even when I hold it like this.”
“If you say that yourself, I’ve got nothing left to argue with.”
I stared at the dog sitting motionless in Ligret’s arms like a stuffed toy. Is it even breathing?
Ligret and I were currently in Armatia Estate, the third-largest city in the Spero Kingdom and home to the Midas Merchant Group branch registered under my name.
The entrance requirements were absurdly simple—no status restrictions, no questions about the past, anyone fifteen to thirty years old who paid the modest fee. Because of that, an enormous crowd had poured in from across the continent. This place was one of the preliminary testing sites set up to handle the overflow.
More people meant more profit for the merchant group and more money in my pocket, so I wasn’t complaining.
Still…
“Why isn’t that young lady showing up?”
Theo Midas’s younger sister—in other words, my half-sister—and the person I’d promised to meet in front of the test site was nowhere to be seen no matter how long we waited.
“Maybe she got lost?”
“She’s not a child,” I wanted to say, but with this population density it was entirely possible.
This was exactly when the lack of phones became annoying. Portable communication magic tools weren’t expensive for me, but they required registering terminals with each other first, so they weren’t exactly convenient.
I was just wondering whether I should contact Theo when a different kind of murmur reached my ears.
At the center of the new commotion stood a single girl.
Her silver hair, tinted with a faint blue and adorned with ribbons, flowed well past her waist. The outfit—white fabric accented with black belt and cuffs—looked neat and proper from the front. Only on closer inspection did you realize how bold it was, with its exposed shoulders and back.
Despite her slender white arms and distinctly feminine figure, her face wore a bright, innocent smile that somehow made her look like a flower bud just before blooming.
Hoo. She’s a beauty.
It was an appearance that made the stolen glances around her perfectly understandable. In terms of raw looks, Ligret didn’t lose out by much, but this one barely bothered with any adornment. Her mercenary habits—avoiding anything that might invite trouble and preferring practical clothes—still seemed firmly in place.
Whether she noticed the stares or not, the silver-haired girl was looking around as if searching for someone.
Like she was looking for a particular person…
…Huh?
“Isn’t that her? The sister you mentioned.”
“Half-sister, technically. But yeah, I think that’s her.”
Unlike Theo’s plain blond, hers was a bluish silver, yet the smiling expression felt strangely similar. The outfit was a bit radical for an apprentice priestess, but there was no rule saying religious people had to dress plainly.
Now that I think about it, she entered the temple not out of faith but to learn magic control.
What do you even call that? A fashion priestess?
Just then she spotted us too. She walked straight over.
“Excuse me, are you Chrome Midas and Ligret?”
When I nodded, the girl gave a flower-like smile and bowed politely.
“My name is Fiore Midas. Please take good care of me.”
After receiving our waiting numbers, we spent the remaining time chatting with Fiore.
“Sorry I’m late. I got stuck watching a painfully dull little play and it took forever to escape.”
“A dull play?” Ligret asked.
Fiore nodded. “Three men who looked like they’d lived sloppy lives from the moment they were born started hitting on me with vulgar lines that matched their faces. I tried to ignore them and walk past, but they blocked my path.”
“Oh? And then?”
“Then a sleazy-looking blond man suddenly appeared, chased the thugs off, and asked if I was all right.”
“Sleazy-looking blond? Like Chrome?”
“Wow, dragging me into this when I’m literally just standing here.”
When I protested the unfairness, Fiore shook her head.
“Same blond color, but that one was gaudy and unrestrained like an over-decorated crown. Chrome feels lighter—like gold leaf. So it’s different.”
…Was she defending me or insulting me?
“Anyway, their eye contact with the thugs was so blatant I knew it was a setup. So I told him exactly that.”
Fiore paused, then recreated the moment with a bright smile that somehow radiated cold air.
“After that he froze solid like a statue, so I left him there and walked away.”
A short silence fell. Ligret turned to me.
“Is there something in your family blood that turns people into weirdos?”
“…It’s different.”
I couldn’t answer right away. Thinking about Bern Midas made me worry it might actually be true. Honestly, compared to the rest of them, wasn’t I practically normal?
“Oh, while we’re at it, we should settle how to address each other. Would it be all right to call you Chrome Oraboni?”
I thought for a moment before answering.
“It’s fine, but I have no intention of hiding the Midas name, so it might cause you trouble too.”
“It doesn’t matter. I feel the same way.”
Fiore answered without hesitation. “It’s better to reveal it openly from the start than to hide it clumsily and let it become a weakness. I think it’s a wise choice.”
Hmm. In moments like this, I could definitely feel she was Theo’s sister.
“By the way, why do you want to attend the academy? You entered the temple and even learned proper magic control. That’s quite thorough preparation.”
“Because it looked like it would be fun.”
Fiore’s eyes sparkled.
“An emperor who made the entire continent tremble and was revered as a god by his own people. The educational institution he created as the final great work of his life. There’s no way it could be ordinary, right?”
Knowing the truth, I could only smile bitterly. It certainly wasn’t ordinary—but it wasn’t the kind of place you could dismiss with such light words, either.
I asked, “But because it was built by a hero famous for war, it might also be far stranger than ordinary people can imagine. Dangerously so. It’s a cliché, but there could be real risk to your life. Is that still all right with you?”
“Even if I look like this, I have some ability of my own, you know?”
When she brought her palms together, crack! The distinctive snap of magic power echoed. Releasing magic without any preparatory motion was clear proof of considerable skill in manipulation.
“Besides, I’ll have a reliable big brother and a dependable guard with me. I don’t think there will be any particular problems.”
At the cheeky answer I let out a small laugh. I wasn’t sure how sincere she was, but one thing was certain—this half-sister had a very entertaining personality.
“Numbers -270 to -279! The ten candidates called, please proceed inside the passage!”
Right, then.
Time to show off the results of the last two years.