Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Fates That Change Like Meringue Cookies☆ (3)
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Having concluded her business amidst the absurd happening, Vel was finally finished.
She said she would call headquarters before taking the late-night express train back to her garrison.
Alvitt spoke to Vel, her voice filled with doubt.
“Is it really okay to take the train all the way to Mimir Industrial High School and back for such a trivial matter…?”
“…?”
In Alvitt's eyes, Vel seemed like the type of person who would call a taxi for any distance that took more than five minutes to walk.
Mimir Industrial High School and Central Prism Academy weren't that far apart, but they weren't close enough to be visiting back and forth so often either.
But Vel answered in a completely nonchalant tone.
“…Huh? What about it? All the necessary expenses come out of the United Student Council's treasury anyway. Besides, the dignity maintenance allowance I received as a first-year at Aesir Girls' High School is enough to cover train fare for a whole year~”
“A-A dignity maintenance allowance…?! And enough for a year’s worth of train rides?!”
“Isn't that normal for schools in the union? Central Prism Academy is part of the union too… Come to think of it, I guess you guys don't get a dignity maintenance allowance from your school foundation?”
“We don't have a foundation… Forget a dignity maintenance allowance, we haven't even received a survival allowance…”
“Wow~ You guys are actually beggars.”
“…”
Vel covered her mouth with a genuinely horrified expression, murmuring, “Oh my, oh my…”
Alvitt lowered her head.
She could only clench her fists and vent her frustration.
“Th-This damned school…!”
At the same time, Kara and Lotha also clutched their heads and sighed.
“Sigh…”
“Haa…”
“Ahaha—♪”
Be strong, Peach Sisters.
Though you may be poor village girls now, one day you will ride in a grand carriage with a roof as vast as a branch of the World Tree.
I nodded, about to offer Alvitt some silent comfort, but then I flinched.
‘Ah, right, the Shu kingdom fell…!’
The example was too ominous.
The Hard Road to Shu.
A place from which even the great Zhuge Liang could not escape.
Just like the treacherous roads of Shu located in steep mountain ranges, Central Prism Academy was also situated on a steep hillside path.
“…!”
Thinking of Zhuge Liang's tearful final years, a shiver ran down my spine.
Ominous keywords swirled in my head…
The Memorial on the Northern Expeditions, the autumn winds of Wuzhang Plains, Jiang Wan, Fei Yi…
Our own northern expedition had to succeed.
‘Ma Su…! I have to take down Ma Su!’
I resolved that from now on, if I saw anyone who said they wanted to climb a mountain because the view was nice, I would shove my ultimate secret technique, [Pink Lemon Sherbet], into their mouth.
Leaving Vel behind to make her phone call.
We returned to the school from the shopping district, empty-handed.
But I couldn't let everyone starve, so I decided we would soothe our hunger with some tea. We had used up all the tea leaves in the student council room, but there were plenty more stacked in the supply closet, so it wouldn't be a problem even if we had to bring water by the bucketful to boil it.
I clapped my hands, drawing the attention of my juniors who were about to head to their rooms.
*Clap, clap—☆*
My juniors turned at the sound of the clapping.
“…?”
“What is it?”
“Hmm?”
“Why don't we have a little tea time? If we all chat together with Vel when she gets back—☆ our hunger and sadness will all fly away to heaven♪☆”
“Hmm… The reason is a bit sad, but I'm in. The wind feels chilly today… and I want something to drink before bed.”
*Twitch.*
As Lotha was the first to agree, her cat ears twitching, Kara and Alvitt also nodded. Then they each went to their rooms and came back out, changed into comfortable tracksuits.
“Alright, ladies—☆ Follow this cute big sister closely—☆”
“I always feel a sense of dissonance whenever you call yourself ‘big sister,’ senior…”
“I agree. No matter how I look at you, you seem like you're the same age or younger…”
“Yeah, honestly, I don't feel any respect at all…”
I pointed at the chattering Lotha and Kara and said.
“Hey—☆ You two girls saying mean things over there! That's two demerit points—♪”
“Whatever.”
“Heh heh. How terrifying.”
The two in question let it go in one ear and out the other, but it was Alvitt who reacted to the word ‘demerit.’
“What happens if you accumulate demerit points?”
“For your information, if you do bad♪ things and collect 10 demerit points—! Oh, my goodness!”
“If you collect them?”
“If you collect them…!”
Alvitt looked at me innocently.
I puckered my lips at her like a duck's bill and made little pecking motions.
My glossy, pink lips met, making a cute little sound.
*Smooch, smooch—☆*
“You'll be showered with kisses from this cute girl—♡ Mwah, mwah—♡”
“…”
Alvitt looked at me like I was trash.
Not food waste, but more like a slightly dirty, torn piece of newspaper… the kind of crumpled paper you sometimes see while walking through a park.
That was about right.
I felt a sense of satisfaction under her gaze.
‘Alvitt's respect for me has been getting higher than the acceptable limit for a while, so I need to manage her affection level with a ‘Clara act’.’
That way, Alvitt's sense of responsibility would be maintained at a reasonable level.
This was all an act with a deeper meaning.
The only flaw was that Lotha's affection level had also dropped, and I still couldn't touch her delectable cat ears.
Anyway, for the first time since I got my juniors their uniforms, I headed to the supply closet in the main building's basement.
“While we're at it, I plan to grab enough supplies to last a few months—♪”
“I see.”
“Is that so.”
“…”
My juniors followed with indifferent expressions.
The path to the supply closet was surprisingly complicated. It was a haphazard route, as if countless illegal extensions had been attempted. It was a place you could only reach by taking a misshapen staircase that crisscrossed from one end of the main building to the other, descending for quite some time.
*Thump, thump—*
Our footsteps echoed through the gloomy, old corridor, lit only by a few small emergency lights and filled with the stuffy smell of dust.
I pointed to the supply closet in the middle of the hallway.
“We're here—♪”
“This is my first time here since the entrance ceremony…”
“Yep♪ Because this kind and cute big sister brought Lotha and Kara their clothes—☆”
“For a school that's so dirty, cramped, and old, the basement is surprisingly complex.”
*Twitch.*
Lotha seemed to be looking around, her pupils shining like jewels even in the darkness.
Just then, a faint sound came from one of the walls.
*Thump…*
*[Screeeech—]*
Her cat ears twitched.
Lotha stopped walking abruptly.
“Huh? What was that sound…”
“Yes—!! Miss Lotha!! You just said something mean, didn't you~♪ Ten demerit points!! Come here, mwah, mwah—♪”
“Aaargh?! You're crazy!! Stop it!! I said stop—!!”
I quickly pretended to shower Lotha's cheeks with kisses, and she, truly repulsed, hid inside the closet.
‘Phew… Avoided the spoiler.’
The time wasn't right yet.
‘We haven't even defeated a single priest from Ratatoskr yet, and it's already crying and making a fuss.’
Clueless spoiler.
Feeling resentful for no reason, I gave the basement wall where the sound had come from a light tap. Then I followed my juniors into the supply closet.
“Hey, kids—☆ You went in already—♪ It hurts my feelings when you leave your senior out in the hallway~”
Inside the supply closet we entered.
A place visible past the lockers where the uniforms were stored.
My three juniors were looking around the closet, which contained a surprising number of items.
“The supply closet is packed with tea leaves—☆ so feel free to take as much as you want to drink~ Fufufu♪”
“S-Senior?! What is…!”
Alvitt was horrified to see the tins of tea leaves that filled one wall of the supply closet like the Great Wall of China. Seeing her surprised anew, it seemed she hadn't noticed them last time, caught up in the atmosphere.
“Wh-What in the world…?! Why are there so many tea leaves when we have no food?!”
“Yep♪ That's because—☆ for girls like us, a cozy tea time is as precious as life itself♪”
“Why would you secure tea leaves before food?! Can't we prioritize our actual lives over something ‘as precious as life’!!”
“Nope—♪”
Like the storeroom of someone who obsessively hoarded food in an apocalypse movie, an entire wall of the supply closet was filled with tins of tea leaves. And each tin was stamped with the names and emblems of schools from the northeastern region of the Academy City.
‘Well, they were actually just giveaways from other schools' events, so I collected a ton of them in my first year.’
We took a generous amount of tea tins from there, along with trivial items like blankets and a drum can, and headed back out.
*Thud—! Clang…*
Fortunately, on the way back, the metallic sounds from the drum can and the tins echoed loudly. So, we could no longer hear the faint spoiler-like sound.
Not that ‘that thing’ was crying anymore, as if it had gotten the hint.
Finally out of the underground passage, I declared an outdoor tea time.
“Alright♪ We are now going to have a leisurely tea time☆ while gazing at the starry night sky—♡”
“Tea time… involves lighting a fire in a drum can…?”
“Lotha, if you dwell on it any longer, you lose. Haha!”
“Good grief.”
“What does it matter! As long as it goes in your mouth, it's a memory and it's romantic! Hahahaha!”
“Ooh! Kara—♪ How rare for you to say something so lovely—♡ I'll give you 4 merit points—☆”
This time, Alvitt reacted to the keyword ‘merit points.’
“There are merit points too?”
“Yep♪ Of course—☆ If there are demerits, there must be merits! It's the just and fair law of maidens! The goddess of justice! A noble virgin—♪”
“Then what exactly are the criteria for merits and demerits…”
Alvitt tried to find some correlation in the ‘Clara noises’ I spouted impulsively without any thought. Kara tapped her on the shoulder and shook her head.
“Comrade Alvitt, if you dwell on it, you lose! Hahahaha! That's romance!”
“Kara♪ Plus 6 merit points—♡ Come here! I'll give you a kiss as a reward! Mwah~☆”
“I respectfully decline.”
“So mean—☆”
After many twists and turns, our tea time began.
In the open space in front of the dormitory building, the branches and firewood piled inside a steel drum can were emitting a warm light.
The night sky, a curtain of starlight descending below the gently glowing white branches of the World Tree. In front of the quiet dormitory, the taste of the tea we drank while watching the night sky and the blazing bonfire was exquisite.
*Slurp—*
In truth, we had just carelessly thrown water and tea leaves into a kettle and boiled it, so the tea's original aroma was long gone. We were just drinking it to forget our hunger and warm our bodies.
“*Slurp.*”
“…*Gulp*.”
“…*Hoo*—”
My juniors drank their tea quietly, blankets draped over their shoulders, as they gazed at the bonfire. Among them, Lotha couldn't even take a sip, perhaps because she couldn't handle hot drinks well.
A bonfire lit under the dark night sky.
Girls in tracksuits, wrapped in old blankets.
Bitter tea being swallowed to forget hunger and cold.
“…”
Isn't this just the scene in front of a day labor office at dawn…?
A wry laugh escaped me.
I thought it felt like a familiar scene.
But it wasn't half bad.
“…”
Alvitt spoke in a quiet voice while drinking her tea.
“…Senior Vel is late.”
“Huh? You're right. It's not like her to just disappear without a word…”
Lotha, who hadn't taken a single sip and had been continuously blowing on her tea, reacted to that. And Alvitt continued, her gaze still fixed on the bonfire.
“Is it because of the… dungeon gate corrosion? I feel like something bigger than we thought has happened.”
The words Alvitt casually tossed out.
They added a chill to the comfortable silence that had been ongoing.
“…”
“…”
“…”
We were all sharing the uneasy feeling we had harbored since leaving the bakery empty-handed.
“…”
And I quietly put down the cup I was drinking from.
It seemed something truly serious had indeed happened.
Because there was the presence of someone rushing towards this place that resembled a day labor office.
“You guys—!! Wait up~!! Help me out—!!”
*Thump, thump, thump—!*
A kid wearing the same red tracksuit as us.
Vel was running toward the bonfire, waving her hands and shouting urgently as she crossed the school grounds.
“…Senior Vel?”
*Clatter.*
Alvitt and the rest of us, who had been drinking tea, quietly set down our cups and looked at Vel.
“…?”
“What's wrong?”
And Vel, who had run over at a very high speed as befitting a high-level ether user, pleaded with a desperate expression.
“Aaaaaah—!! This is a disaster!! Those guys from Gjallarhorn at the garrison—!! They ignored my standby order as the field commander and went to the northern sector!!”
“What?!”
“On top of that, they started roaming around the northern sector on their own and got into a fight with the kids from Scarlet Academy—!! I can't handle this alone!!”
We looked at each other without a word.
***
The Vice President of the United Student Council.
Sieglinde walked past dozens of aides who were trying to stand and greet her, and knocked urgently on the president's office door.
Her expression was frightfully tense, and her black wolf ears were trembling.
“My apologies, President. The ether reception is poor, so I've come to report in person.”
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“…!”
The moment they heard it, the aides who were about to stand and greet her all rushed out.
Three knocks.
It was a signal for a grave matter that only executive-level students and above were permitted to hear.
After the presence of the quickly departing aides faded, a girl's indifferent voice came from inside the room.
“…Enter.”
“Pardon the intrusion.”
*Creeak.*
Inside the United Student Council President's office.
There, sitting at her desk, was the silver-white haired girl… Brynhildr, her expression as stoic as ever.
Sieglinde stood at attention and delivered her report.
“The commander of the Gjallarhorn investigation team dispatched to Mimir Industrial High School in the northeastern sector, Sigrun, has unilaterally led her team to investigate the northern corrosion zone. It's reported that they've clashed with students from Scarlet Academy whom they encountered in the northern sector.”
“…”
“In the… process, there are reports that one of the Five Colors… [The Crimson Trajectory] has intervened…”
*Clang—!*
Before Sieglinde could even finish her sentence.
Brynhildr stood up, grabbing the lance that was behind her chair.
And without looking back, she gave an order.
“…Arrange for a train to the northern sector.”
“It's already been arranged.”
“Understood.”
*Step, step.*
And with that, Brynhildr left the president's office without a moment's hesitation.
“…”
Sieglinde was mentally listing the orders she would give the aides to prepare for the president's absence, when she suddenly felt a sense of unease from the objects on the president's desk.
Narrowing her eyes, she identified the source of her unease.
“…?”
For some reason.
The ether telephone with a direct line to the president's office was smashed.
Amidst the shattered pieces of the phone.
She could see… a tiny amount of blood.
“…President?”
Sieglinde stared in disbelief at the doorway Brynhildr had just exited, but only a cold silence remained.