I Shall Become the Mediator (1)
This strange incident—or rather, the repercussions of my own actions. Either way, getting tangled up in these exhausting affairs is something I'd rather avoid entirely. So during the school closure, I resolved to minimize outings and hole up somewhere as much as possible. Between Eclipse's after-school activity room and the various other hiding spots I'd long since scouted, there were plenty of places to disappear.
However, I couldn't bring myself to coldly reject someone shamelessly kowtowing and begging me to hear them out just once. I decided Lumein would be the last person I'd listen to.
The lady and I took her to a nearby teahouse and sat her down. It was a place Lady Karalin herself had chosen—relatively quiet and secluded. Yet the one who wedged in beside us and spoke up was...
The person in question seemed rather embarrassed herself.
Lumein fidgeted even while seated, awkwardly steering the conversation elsewhere.
"...Ah, um. Sorry for interrupting your date, everyone. It feels like I've ruined the mood—"
"That's not true at all!"
"You did ruin it, though."
The lady and I gave completely different answers. Good grief.
Ever since I boldly declared, "Honestly, it seems I'm in love," Lady Karalin appeared to have decided she would be open about it in front of others. Of course, she'd always been that way, but back then it was unconscious. Now she was simply bold.
Still, showing this side of ourselves to others remained burdensome for me. Things had seemed to move quickly then, yet we hadn't made any promises, nor had we progressed any further...! It had only been a single day. Even if I'd resolved to become someone worthy of her station, I wasn't there yet.
This felt like announcing myself as company representative to the press with a face capture—without even stamping the contract. So I leaned in and whispered to the lady, whose stance conflicted with mine.
"My lady, I did mention it before... but shouldn't we at least pretend to mind other people's eyes right now? More talk circulating around us will only make things more troublesome—!"
She frowned, then soon broke into a playful smile.
"So you're saying you're dying of embarrassment right now?"
"Ah, ugh—"
...I truly couldn't win against this woman.
"One caramel milk tea and two hot black teas are ready."
At that perfect moment—as if to wrap up the awkwardness—our drinks arrived.
Lumein wrapped both hands around her cup and slowly studied us, as though calculating which expression would keep the conversation safe. Since I'd already agreed to hear her out, I had no intention of playing coy. This seemed like an unavoidable habit born from her circumstances. Just like us, she had to watch her surroundings because of her background at Sigmund.
The daughter of the elf chieftain taken hostage during the Western Great Expedition—so it makes sense.
Sympathizing with the unintended situation we'd created, I spoke first.
"So, Chief Lucas's daughter—what business do you have with us northerners?"
"...As expected, you know who I am."
"I heard quite a lot from Jurchen."
"Honestly, that man..."
Quietly sipping her milk tea, she seemed to conclude that speaking directly was best. She stated her business plainly.
"There's nothing more to hear. It's because of Jurchen, as we just mentioned..."
Since Lady Karalin merely shrugged and closed her eyes, leaving it to me, I narrowed my gaze at Lumein.
"Because of the incident reported in the papers?"
"Yes."
She only let out a heavy sigh. The stress must have been overwhelming.
"After the crown prince's death during the forest practical training, you're aware the related parties are being investigated once they recover, correct?"
"Jurchen is no exception. Regardless of anything else, he was a party member who stayed by the lady's side."
That was true. Hilken was the same. During the forest practical training, she'd covered for Lady Karalin after Vankite reduced her to minced meat, pinning everything on Yagnus. She had perfectly executed my final order by delivering the cartridge straight to Figaro, the newspaper club president. Then she'd been struck down by the sword Queen Mother Sabrina wielded in her fury over losing her son. Now she was being investigated in various ways beneath the academy. That was why she couldn't even visit me in the hospital. The message I'd barely received said she wasn't being tortured—for now. Still, it infuriated me that they'd locked up my junior who'd worked so hard. But with the imperial family having drawn their blade, there was nothing I could do except wait. Since the order was set, I'd likely be summoned soon anyway.
But why was Lumein bringing this up now?
"Jurchen was scheduled for questioning soon, but he caused trouble in the meantime... It feels like the director stepped in and pinned the entire incident on him."
"...Pardon?"
Ah. So that's how it was. Things had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
"The logic is that someone who stirs up problems and disturbances like this is capable of anything. After locking him up, they're searching for evidence—or fabricating it—to pin Prince Vankite's demon army collusion on him."
"His neck wasn't enough, apparently."
"Exactly. Professor Sire also seems to be glossing things over with a recommended resignation... But since this concerns the imperial family's prestige, they're trying to shift everything onto Laghound, which holds relatively lower status."
...Damn those bastards. We weren't particularly close, but they dared to touch my subordinate who helped the lady? Even I was trembling with rage. Lumein must feel as though fire had fallen at her feet. She was only being one-sidedly pursued by Jurchen, the eldest son of the hostile Laghound family. Yet for Lumein, brought here as a mere hostage, Jurchen had cast aside his duty to inherit the territory and rushed in—so she couldn't feel no sense of debt. Thinking that way, Jurchen truly possessed a proper romantic and pure-hearted spirit.
"But why are you telling us this, Lumein? Aren't Laghound and the elves traditionally hostile?"
The lady, who couldn't possibly know this, listened quietly before asking. Lumein hesitated briefly, then answered.
"That person likes me. From long ago. Since childhood, he's always followed behind me like a shadow. Saying he'd protect me, he went and beat up everyone who hurt me—one by one. And each time, I was the one who had to clean up after him."
"Aha. I see. So this time too, you have to handle it somehow, but it's beyond your control, so you need help."
Lumein nodded at the lady's words.
"Yes... This is something I, who am merely a hostage, cannot resolve. How could I possibly stand against the imperial family and overturn the academy's decision?!"
"Well, we feel much the same. No matter how much we represent the North itself, we can't reach the center either."
"...Y-yes, as expected."
"So rather, it's surprising. I can't understand why someone as prudent as you would judge that we could do something and come asking for a favor."
Yet Lumein only fixed her gaze straight ahead, ears perked.
"At least, I believed Yohan had the power to change something."
"...Oh?"
"I know because he saved me. And afterward, as I kept hearing stories about Yohan, I vaguely felt it. In a situation with no visible answer, if it's this person... perhaps he could show some light."
...Listening to her praise me like that, the lady finally seemed to find Lumein's words interesting. It was the same for me. I couldn't fathom why she'd judged me that way, yet she'd grasped it quite well. If Jurchen was so easily pinned with Vankite's crimes, then this incident—raised with such a grand purpose—would become meaningless. That was something I could never accept. Having heard the story, I had to act. Because I was the kind of person who had to.
Then Lumein looked at me and spoke.
"...But I can't ask you to help. This is still my matter, and I must resolve it on my own level. So if you have any plan, could you share it with me?"
"Well. This seems like something I have to step into as well."
"...R-really?!"
"It's not a matter of wanting or not. If things are flowing this way, it no longer feels like someone else's problem."
Since Lady Karalin and I would think alike anyway, there was no need for discussion. As expected, she merely sipped her black tea in quiet thought. With color returning to my previously gloomy face, I muttered to Lumein, who was now sparkling as she stared at me.
"I've been trying to keep it on hold, but this time, I'll have to blow the director away as well."
"...Pardon? Yohan...?"
"If the stagnant water has thoroughly rotted, we must either scoop it out or break the embankment to discard it. I've left alone all the things acting unpleasantly until now, but this behavior is already a red card."
That's right. It had to be this way. Only then could we secure permanent peace in the world where the lady and I would live. We had to eliminate our enemies and find comfort. But the current Sigmund was not like that. It needed constitutional reform.