Composite Collision (2)

While the Empire’s esteemed high officials were busy nursing headaches over the various incidents unfolding around them, one of the chief culprits—Chrome—was currently being subjected to a relentless barrage of attacks from a hostile monster known as his little sister.

"Fiore, keep that up and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I really will hit you…."

"Doesn’t a little sister who shows not even a speck of respect for her older brother deserve some form of punishment?"

"……."

The silver-haired girl, Fiore Midas, flashed a bright smile and winked with one eye. She had always been quite the prankster, but lately she seemed even more unrestrained. Chrome let out a long sigh at the sight of his nominal little sister.

Though people often said his tongue was his real weapon and that the best strategy was to beat him before he could open his mouth, the truth was that Fiore was every bit as dangerous. In some ways she even surpassed him, which made winning an argument against her no easy task. That said, actually hitting her physically felt a bit much.

But.

"Go, Ligret! Body slam!"

If he couldn’t do it himself, he could always get someone else to do it for him. Chrome issued the order while parodying a famous line from his previous life’s memories, but Ligret simply yawned as if she’d heard a dog barking somewhere in the distance.

"Why should I?"

Ligret looked thoroughly uninterested while Fiore puffed up with confidence. Chrome quickly added,

"You know that explosive hammer you’ve been obsessing over? It looks like you’ll need additional funds to finish it…"

"…!? Wait, Oraboni, that’s cheating—kyaa!"

Ligret silently grabbed Fiore and yanked her forward. Fiore’s face slammed into the sofa and she flailed wildly, but escaping Ligret’s monstrous grip was impossible.

"That should do it, right? So, when can I get the goods?"

"Even though I’m the one who gave the order, don’t you think that was a little… merciless?"

"The Midas bloodline will try anything if you don’t shut their mouths first. This is the optimal solution. A simple body slam wouldn’t have been enough."

"……."

Chrome didn’t have the courage to ask whether that logic applied to him as well, so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, Ligret spoke first.

"So, what are you scheming this time? You’re keeping it so tightly under wraps that this one’s going even crazier trying to figure it out."

"No, I think Fiore’s just having fun messing with me. More importantly, let her go already. You’re going to kill the kid."

Fiore had gone completely limp like laundry hanging on a pole. Chrome spoke with a slightly awkward expression, but Ligret remained utterly calm.

"It’s fine. She’s using White Light to hold on while she acts. If she were really having trouble breathing, she wouldn’t be able to stay this quiet."

Where did you learn that? You didn’t squeeze it out of someone, did you? Not wanting to stir up unnecessary trouble, Chrome looked away from the silver figure sprawled on the sofa and answered. The brief flinch he caught suggested it was probably fine.

"It’s just fishing. I don’t know what’ll bite, but I’ve cast the bait anyway."

"You mean that pink-haired girl is the spy?"

"I’m not sure who sent her, but she’s definitely not acting alone."

In truth, he already knew exactly who was behind her, but there was no benefit in saying it out loud. That Cuella Panel had approached Chrome Midas as part of a honey trap was something anyone could reasonably infer from the current situation. However, the claim that ‘the one behind Cuella Panel is the Empire’s Third Prince, Julius’ would sound like baseless speculation to anyone without knowledge of the original story.

Besides, even the source material itself wasn’t complete. While Chrome was about eighty percent certain that Third Prince Julius was the culprit, there was always the chance that some unknown factor he wasn’t aware of could trigger an unexpected development.

"It’d be nice if something bites the line, but even if it doesn’t, she’s a talented individual. I might as well make use of her while I can. Especially now that I’ve gotten into a spat with Prince Kian."

Kian’s personality was a complete mess, but like any major character from the original story, his abilities were top-tier. Aside from Eisen Hartmann—the personal disciple of the Nacht Archduke and someone of comparable talent—there probably wasn’t a single first-year stronger than him at this point.

Of course, that only applied if he grew along the normal route. Against Iris Otreang, who had come under Chrome’s influence, or the rest of his team, they stood more than a fair chance.

"The arrogant Prince of Morian! Crushed in defeat by a mediocre Spero noble! It’s a shame there’s no easy way to spread the news to the public."

"You really do enjoy this kind of thing, don’t you?"

"Well, if Lyla or you went and beat him up just because of a little argument, the aftermath would be a nightmare. But when students of the same year clash as part of their classes, it’s just cute schoolyard roughhousing."

"……."

Ligret decided to keep quiet about the fact that she had been fully prepared to rush out and beat Kian senseless the moment their argument escalated. Since only Lyla had shown herself that day, the fact that she and Fiore had been tailing him would remain a secret.

Come to think of it, had that wicked merchant noticed that Lyla was following him or not? From the way he had spoken to her, he might genuinely believe it was a coincidence. Then again, with a snake like him, he could just as easily be pretending not to know. Or perhaps he had even realized that she and Fiore were—

"By the way, are you sure Fiore’s okay? She looks like she’s having convulsions."

"—Ah. I forgot."

"Hey, you—!?"

Fortunately, there was no threat to her life.

After the infamous date incident, strange rumors began circulating within the Academy.

There had been malicious rumors about Chrome before, but the latest batch was far more colorful—and on a much larger scale.

"Keh, I knew this would happen. No matter how flashy someone looks on the outside, there’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠always something rotten—"

"Riverhill. If you’re going to badmouth our senior, why don’t you at least take off that robe he gave you first?"

The teammate who had been running his mouth immediately shut up the moment he was called out. Whether it was because he still had some shame left or because he didn’t want to give back the equipment he had received was unclear.

"That’s right! It’s awful how everyone’s talking about Senior like this when they don’t even know him properly!"

Wait, isn’t your own involvement in this mess pretty significant too?

Iris Otreang let out a sigh as she watched Cuella Panel clench her fists in righteous indignation.

Ever since the rumor that Chrome was using his authority to harass his female juniors began spreading, strange looks had been directed not only at Cuella but at Iris as well. It was incredibly annoying.

Unlike Riverhill, who was openly suspicious of Chrome, or Cuella, who blindly worshipped him, Iris simply wished the whole thing would be resolved somewhere far away from her. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem likely.

After all, the leader of the Spero pro-Empire faction that Iris belonged to was Frelia Magnus. And it was a well-known fact that Frelia Magnus and Chrome Midas shared a rather close relationship.

Chrome’s downfall would be no benefit to Frelia, and more importantly, Iris herself—who had been forcibly tied to him—was in danger.

At a time when Alphonse, the representative of the Spero anti-Empire faction, was competing with Chrome and Princess Lyla for the position of right-hand man, Frelia probably wouldn’t abandon Chrome so easily. Still, with that endlessly calculating mind of hers, who could say she wasn’t already cooking up another plan?

Whenever Iris imagined herself being used as a disposable pawn and discarded alongside Chrome, she found herself unable to sleep even after lying in bed.

"As if classes weren’t stressful enough already…"

The ranking competition among the first-years that Chrome had predicted was still raging. Iris and the rest of Chrome’s team had continued their winning streak and now stood at the threshold of the finals.

The problem was the matchups.

The team final opponent was the Morian Royal Family, led by Kian Danach. The individual final opponent was Eisen Hartmann, the personal disciple of the Archduke of Nacht.

Worse, the former was already being treated as a preliminary skirmish or proxy war between Kian Danach and Chrome Midas.

Completely regardless of what Iris herself thought!

‘Maybe I should just throw the match?’

There was nothing wrong with showing off one’s ability, but there were limits. Beating Kian—the Prince of Morian who was almost guaranteed to ascend the throne without any serious rivals—didn’t seem like it would lead to anything good.

When she tried asking her teammates for advice,

"So it’s Prince Kian and his crew, huh? I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠always hated how smug they looked. This is perfect!"

"Let’s do our best for Senior Chrome!"

I shouldn’t have asked.

Riverhill’s stance was simply that it would feel good to give those arrogant, high-nosed boys a good smack. Cuella, on the other hand, was completely blinded by love.

After much agonizing, Iris went to see Frelia. As if she had been waiting for her, Frelia handed her something.

"Um, Lady Magnus, what is this?"

"It’s a handwritten letter from Her Highness the Princess."

"……Pardon?"

"The sky is so clear today."

Staring off into the distance, Frelia let out a soft, knowing laugh—fufufufu. At that moment, Iris understood.

There had never been any escape route to begin with.