Since When Did You Think...
"Since when did..."
"...There, all done."
I did my best to tidy up Orca's wildly disheveled hair. Honestly, I wanted to tell her to go take a shower. She was so caked in dirt and dust that if she lay down like this, my bed would be ruined.
...Should I test the waters?
"Orca, maybe you should wash up after all... I'll do your hair again for you."
"..."
Sigh. She wasn't even listening. Her pouting face, unable to accept the fact that she had lost, made her look exactly like a child. No, actually, with real kids, you could at least force them to wash up if it came down to it. Orca was far stronger than me, so I had no way of forcing her. That made it even worse.
"Don't be so down... I'll buy you something delicious. I heard the shrimp is really good lately. How about it?"
"..."
I knew she would be devastated. She had been thoroughly beaten in the close-quarters combat she prided herself on. Still, I hadn't expected her to get this depressed. To think she wouldn't even react when baited with her favorite food.
...Am I treating her too much like a child?
But she really was no different from an undeveloped child. And it wasn't just her; Leo, who was staring blankly into space beside her, was the same. He looked even more shocked than Orca. Well, he had just lost twice in a row...
"I'll be back in a little bit."
Feeling like staying here wouldn't lead to any progress, I stepped outside to get some fresh air. Looking around, it seemed the match had brought everyone closer. Students who had previously seemed a bit awkward around each other were now gathered in groups, chattering away.
Would the kids I loved so much be able to enjoy a normal daily life like that one day? Would I be able to witness with my own eyes the kind of scenes I had only ever seen in fan art and fan fiction? Just imagining it made me happy.
"Counselor Ophelia."
"Headmaster. What brings you here?"
"...As I thought, you forgot. Didn't I say I would come find you later?"
"Ah."
Now that she mentioned it, she had. I had completely forgotten while tending to the students. ...Was it because I heard about it right after getting so angry at Stella about her age? The scene before me had been so shocking that it must have slipped my mind.
"...Greetings. I have heard much about you."
The third playable character I met, after Orca and Leo. The person with the potential to hold the highest status in this world. The Second Princess, Stella.
I had spent a long time agonizing over how to react when I finally met her face-to-face. Since she was a princess, I wondered if she would appreciate it if I knew proper etiquette, and I even considered studying it. But Stella was the type of character who hated superficial, performative manners, so I had decided against it. Back then, I resolved to just react naturally depending on the situation of our first meeting.
...But now that we were actually meeting for the first time, I had absolutely no idea how to react.
The first meeting I had envisioned was, well... you know. Meeting in a classy, elegant parlor fitting for a princess? Or perhaps in a formal setting where we had to maintain appearances? That was the kind of situation I had expected.
I had never, not even in my wildest dreams, imagined that my first meeting with the princess would involve her walking on eggshells around the Headmaster with a massive bump on her head. How could anyone predict this?
...How am I supposed to react to this?
"...Ahem. I apologize, but would it be alright if we went inside the Counseling Room first? I feel... a bit... self-conscious."
"Ah."
But Stella didn't seem to care about my reaction; she just wanted to move somewhere out of the public eye. Well, fair enough. Even I kept getting distracted by the bump on her head, so the other students would be no different. She was already someone who drew attention just by existing, and now she had a bizarre lump on her head? It would be stranger if she didn't attract stares.
"I'm sorry, but that might be a bit difficult."
"Why?! Why?! It's not like that old hag is the stingy type to pinch pennies!"
"You brat. Did you just call me an old hag again?"
"Kehuh?!"
She was practically begging for a beating. Watching her bring disaster upon herself with her own mouth felt incredibly on-brand for her. She had probably made a slip of the tongue while protesting out of sheer embarrassment. But no matter how embarrassed she was, I couldn't let her into the Counseling Room right now.
"Orca and Leo are in the Counseling Room right now."
"Ah, those two. What of it?"
"They seem quite upset about losing in the areas they pride themselves on. If you go in, Princess, I'm afraid it will only make things worse."
"...? There is no reason to be upset about losing to me. Shouldn't they be proud instead?"
"Ahaha..."
That overflowing confidence and arrogant remark. It was classic Stella. But that was exactly why I couldn't let her in. She would provoke the two of them without feeling a single shred of guilt. Leo might just end up digging himself a hole in the ground to hide in... but Orca might actually try to kill her. So, I absolutely could not let her in. Just like she mentioned during the match, we couldn't have anyone getting arrested for attempted regicide.
"It is because of that thoughtless mouth of yours that you cannot go in."
"Eek?! You hit me again! How dare you strike this princess's precious body!"
"It is the only way to make you listen."
"Urrrgh...!"
"We cannot have our students getting hurt. ...How about the Headmaster's office? There won't be anyone there."
"Ah, if it's there..."
"You heard her, didn't you? Go and get that rotten attitude of yours fixed."
Stella glared at the Headmaster with an aggrieved expression, but there was nothing she could do. The Headmaster was the current Emperor's former teacher. Stella couldn't beat her in strength, and she knew both of their personalities too well to run and complain to her father. The Emperor would undoubtedly take the Headmaster's side and declare his daughter to be in the wrong. Knowing this all too well, even a princess like Stella couldn't dare to talk back to the Headmaster.
"Now, Princess, please don't be so angry..."
"...I will spank you later."
"Sure, feel free to try if you can."
Even so, her continued threats showed off her unyielding, stubborn nature. What a headache...
"...So? What do you plan to do with me?"
"Hmm, well..."
"Let me make this clear: I am perfectly normal. ...You had better not believe everything that old hag says. She is getting up there in years, after all."
"I will keep that in mind."
The moment we entered the Headmaster's office, Stella made her declaration out of nowhere, insisting she was perfectly fine. As soon as the Headmaster excused herself, claiming she had business to attend to, Stella confidently took the seat of honor as if she owned the place. It was a very familiar sight.
...Though it seemed less like the Headmaster actually had business and more like she was giving us space, knowing her presence might interfere with the counseling session.
Of course, none of that mattered to Stella. The only thing that mattered to her was that the person who could keep her in check was gone.
"Good grief, that old hag... She has always been like this since I was a child. Telling me I need to tone down my personality, or whatever..."
I let out a bitter smile as I watched her lean back in the Headmaster's chair and complain. Although their relationship wasn't detailed in the game, I could easily grasp the dynamic just by looking at them. Since the Headmaster probably scolded her every time she acted like her usual self, it must have been incredibly annoying from Stella's perspective.
"Though, I do agree with the Headmaster."
"...Hmm?"
"I certainly like your personality, but... you do need to tone it down a bit."
The problem was that her personality really did have issues. Or rather, it didn't suit her abilities. She had a tendency to look down on anyone she didn't acknowledge. And because her threshold for acknowledgment was so high, she wouldn't offer her help to anyone except those she had known for a very long time or whose skills she personally recognized.
Of course, this was likely just the developers' way of balancing game limitations with lore... but as a result, she was unable to utilize her abilities to their fullest potential. I remembered a discussion in the online community about how she would only buff three people at most, despite having the capacity to buff many more. People used to say that if she had generously shared her abilities without holding back, she would have easily ascended to the throne every single time.
When I used a mod to remove the limit on the number of people she could buff, I ended up turning it off almost immediately. It made her so overpowered that the game lost all its fun.
But why did she buff the students this time? Because this was a special situation. Confident that the gap between the students wasn't that large, she had simply thrown her buffs out for her own benefit. If she had felt there was a massive gap when they first entered the academy, she would have spent all her time agonizing over whom to buff, and wouldn't have even dreamed of casting it.
...Well, that was just a theory. The prevailing opinion in the community was that the developers just wanted to showcase her abilities. Personally, I found the latter explanation more believable.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but every single attempt that old woman made to 'correct' me has failed."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Fasting, isolation... all of it failed. Even if someone were to use something like hypnosis on me, I am confident my personality wouldn't change."
"I see."
"Indeed. I have lived my entire life this way, after all."
Confident that her personality wouldn't change even under hypnosis. She expressed her confidence to me with those words.
"Then, what if I were to hypnotize you?"
"Did I not just say? I am confident I wouldn't change even if you used such a thing. I will not fall for cheap tricks that do nothing more than distract the mind."
"How impressive."
"...What is with that half-hearted response? I thought you might be somewhat competent since they said you corrected that wild beast, but it seems you are useless too. In the first place, there is no way I would ever fall for hypno... sis..."
Well, she called it a half-hearted response. What kind of answer would satisfy her, then? I smiled at the dazed princess and spoke.
She really was quite cute. After all, the hypnosis had already been cast the moment we stepped into the Headmaster's office.