This Side Has a Better View
This Side Has a Better View
Ability, character... face?
The words had definitely come out of that woman's mouth.
"Just now..."
Baek Ha-na caught herself and pressed her lips shut.
"Hoo."
She let out a short breath.
The emotions that had been about to surge rapidly settled down.
-Ha-na. Don't pay too much attention to what other people say about the professor. You know better than anyone that he isn't the sort of person to care about such things.
The conversation she'd had with Claire after the nightmare came back to her.
-And to become an adult, you must learn patience. Even more so when it concerns the professor.
Be patient when it involves him.
-Of course, the reason for patience isn't for the professor's reputation. I'm saying this because I'm worried that you might get hurt. As I'm sure you know, what the professor values most is not even himself, but your safety.
For me, and for him who thinks of me.
The slowly rising displeasure vanished as if it had never been.
And in its place, her feelings for him filled the void.
"...Ha-na?"
"......?"
She came back to her senses at the sound of Nam Seo-hee's quiet whisper.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, yeah."
Baek Ha-na gave Nam Seo-hee, who was watching her with worried eyes, a light smile.
Only then did the tension drain from Nam Seo-hee's gaze.
"You..."
Baek Ha-na turned her head again at the voice of the woman whose name she still didn't know.
"Weren't you going to say something earlier?"
At the woman's question, Baek Ha-na nodded.
"What is your name?"
"Ah!! Now that you mention it, I never properly introduced myself."
As if she'd only just realized it herself, the woman approached with a smile that reached her eyes. In that moment, several male students nearby swallowed unconsciously.
The crescent shape formed by her slightly downturned eyes was so alluring it could captivate not just the opposite sex, but the same sex as well.
Without a hint of agitation, the woman extended her hand toward the three before her.
"I'm Eleanor."
"I'm Baek Ha-na."
Baek Ha-na and Eleanor.
The two lightly clasped hands.
Watching them, a small doubt flickered in the eyes of Nam Seo-hee and Yoon I-seul.
Because the name of the woman smiling and shaking hands with Baek Ha-na matched the name of this country's queen.
"Are the two next to you your close aides?"
As if she'd noticed their reaction, Eleanor asked, her gaze resting briefly on Nam Seo-hee's and Yoon I-seul's faces.
"No, a friend and a senior."
"I see."
Eleanor nodded, scanning the surrounding Arena Academy students who were glancing sidelong at them.
"I'd like to chat a little longer, but it's about time I headed back."
"Ah, okay."
Baek Ha-na let go of her hand.
Clenching and unclenching the hand where Baek Ha-na's warmth remained, Eleanor smiled.
"I'll see you on the final day."
"......? Sure."
Baek Ha-na nodded, assuming it was a promise to meet again at the party after the closing ceremony.
"Enjoy the rest of your time, then."
Leaving a wave for Baek Ha-na, Eleanor quietly departed.
Nam Seo-hee and Yoon I-seul, who had been watching her receding back, exchanged glances.
"Um..."
"O-oh, hello?"
Several female students approached, greeting them in halting Korean.
And then.
"I'm Yuzuki Mio!!"
"Ekaterina Klimova."
"Jaina Swift."
Before she knew it, Baek Ha-na was surrounded by female students from other academies.
**
"If that child were my daughter, I'd have retired long ago."
From the second-floor railing, Eleanor—who had been speaking with Baek Ha-na just moments before—smiled down at Ha-na, now surrounded by the female students.
"Ahem, Your Majesty. What would you do if someone overheard you?"
"I think you calling me 'Your Majesty' just now is a bigger problem, don't you?"
"Ahem..."
Eddie Holt coughed awkwardly and stepped back.
"They say preparations are complete."
"Is that so. Let's go see what they intended by making such a grand stage."
Eleanor watched Baek Ha-na beam as the female students fed her chocolate, then turned away. She passed the second floor and climbed to the third.
Unlike the second floor with its open access, a small door blocked the top of the third-floor stairs, guarded by two royal knights.
Clang!
The knights drew the swords at their hips to offer a sword salute, then stepped aside.
"Good work. You're dismissed to go rest now."
Eddie Holt opened the door and Eleanor stepped inside.
The first and second floors were filled with all manner of splendid decorations.
But beyond the third-floor door, there were no paintings or sculptures, not even a single common chair. It was an empty space.
"Come in, quickly."
"...I was just about to."
Eddie Holt entered and closed the door.
Eleanor approached, pushed him aside, and grabbed the door handle.
Wooong──!!
A large quantity of mana flowed through her hand and into the door.
Click.
She pushed the door she was holding.
Instead of the stairs leading down, a small room suited for a private conversation appeared.
Stepping through the door into the new room, Eleanor sat on a sofa placed before a transparent glass wall.
"You must not come down under the pretext of wanting to watch a little more closely."
After following his queen through the door, he closed it and looked at his liege with a dubious expression.
"I understand, so go quickly. They can't start until you go down there, can they?"
"......Yes."
Eddie Holt bowed his head to his liege, who was waving her hand dismissively as if annoyed, and opened the door he'd just closed.
This time, instead of an empty room, a long corridor appeared.
Click.
The moment the door closed, Eleanor unbuttoned a few of the straining buttons on the front of her dress.
"Whew~ Now I can breathe."
Freed from the tightness, she even slung both legs over the armrest of the sofa, adopting a posture that was far from dignified but exceedingly comfortable both physically and mentally.
"He didn't bring the Executor."
Resting her chin on the hand propped on the remaining armrest, Eleanor murmured quietly as she looked down through the glass wall.
The place where today's opening ceremony had been held.
It was the Grand Auditorium, equipped with countless spectator seats and a massive stage.
And the room where she now lay was a secret space, occasionally used to quietly observe the students' abilities.
She swept her gaze over the head professors from each academy, seated as spectators for form's sake.
Among the head professors who harbored tension or anticipation, one person alone was staring at his smartphone with an indifferent expression.
'Jaden Martel.'
The man who was called the Incarnation of Fire before his retirement.
And even after retiring, a man of considerable ability who continued to make his name known around the world through Arena Academy.
The mere fact that he still held the position of Head Professor proved his eye for people remained sharp. Yet his current demeanor made it clear he was utterly convinced that Baek Woo-jin would win.
"Hmm."
Eleanor made a small sound and raised her head.
The figures of Baek Woo-jin and Ben Stiller, standing on a stage larger than most public parks, came clearly into view.
'I can't tell what either of them is thinking.'
One was a madman who lost consciousness from a single slap yet still charged in claiming he could win; the other was an unreadable man who could have ended it on the spot but deliberately escalated the situation.
'If it had been a different event period, I would have played along.'
Originally, all the students and professors now at the party should have been watching this match.
Baek Woo-jin had wanted it that way, and Eddie Holt, who was present, had tacitly agreed.
'A pity.'
But Eleanor had no intention of granting Baek Woo-jin's request.
If the students and professors witnessed today's bout, it would undoubtedly have a massive impact on the ceremony starting in two days.
A monster who could suppress the 23rd-ranked World Ranker as easily as turning over his hand.
And that very monster was the Chief Proctor.
The other students would be so intimidated by that fact alone that they would fail to demonstrate their true abilities.
Of course, that was only if the man named Baek Woo-jin once again overwhelmingly crushed Ben Stiller in the match about to begin.
But Eleanor was certain.
That man, whose natural good looks couldn't even be hidden by his ridiculous glasses, would absolutely annihilate Ben Stiller.
Whether it was his own power or not was irrelevant.
Even if he borrowed the strength of an artifact or something else, it was the same.
'What did he hope to achieve with a mere priest?'
Eleanor's gaze shifted to a woman in white robes standing a short distance from Ben Stiller.
'A servant of the Goddess of Benevolence.'
The cradle engraved over her heart.
It was the symbol of the Goddess of Benevolence.
'Maybe a High Priest or High Priestess could, but...'
How could a mere priest detect an artifact that the 23rd ranker himself couldn't sense?
"But it's been a while since that old man went down. Why isn't he showing his face?"
Grumbling, she tugged on the necklace that ran down below her cleavage.
A smartphone connected to the clasp popped out.
'Still so much work left...'
The moment she thought of the documents she'd left behind and was about to contact Eddie Holt.
Bba-bba-bba-bam~♪
A jarring sound she'd never heard in her life blared from her smartphone.
And an email that flew in.
[ (ʘдʘ╬) This is what happens if you covet my daughter!! (link) ]
As if possessed, Eleanor pressed the link attached to the email.
A very familiar scene appeared on the screen.
She looked back and forth between her smartphone and the view below the glass wall and murmured.
"...This side has a better view."