The Approach
She did it after all, Eustia...!
The moment the Protective Artifact signaled the end of the match, I clenched my fist, staring at Eustia as she stood in an arena she had buried beneath a glacier.
I'd been privately worried as her opponent kept pressing her through the latter half of the fight, but in the end she had awakened her potential magnificently. Even compared to the original story, her awakening was timed around the Sword and Magic Festival, so her growth wasn't particularly behind. Having Raphaela help with her training in the spare moments had been worth it.
Wait... she might actually be getting stronger faster than in the original.
In this world, magic was ranked as low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier. Beyond even those, spells of catastrophic power were called super-tier magic. The Ice Age Eustia had used in this match was a technique that, even among super-tier spells, demanded an especially vast amount of mana. The fact that she was still standing reasonably well after casting it suggested she might be growing faster than in the original — because in the original, she had collapsed into mana exhaustion the moment she used it.
I was so worried back then. Looking back, I should have known from the way they put the heroine through the wringer...
Hah. Whatever. At this point, I didn't particularly feel regret or lingering attachment about having transmigrated. More than anything, Eustia was what mattered now.
I watched her back as she left the stage. A little time passed, and once the crowd had recovered their wits and started buzzing again, I headed for her room.
"Let's go, Elda."
"Yes. We're going to where Her Highness is, right?"
"That's right."
I answered Elda as she stuck close beside me. We'd held hands, for once, so I ought to let Eustia know. Elda was considerably strong in her own right, and she served as a professor at the Academy besides — Eustia would surely welcome her joining us.
The match still seemed to be lingering with her, because Elda let out a weighty sigh of admiration.
"Wow, that was some incredible magic. I can hardly believe a student who's only been at the Academy for a little over two months pulled that off."
"You mean Ice Age. It is super-tier magic, so the power was fairly impressive, I'll grant you."
"Uh... you're calling magic of that caliber just 'fairly impressive'?"
Elda stuck out her tongue at that. Huh. What's with that reaction?
...Is my sense of scale off?
Well, I'd been in this body for a fair while now. Losing an ordinary sense of scale was probably inevitable. That said, this Elda girl — the way she was looking up at me with sparkling eyes after my deadpan reaction was a little much.
We exchanged a bit more small talk as we went, and before I knew it we'd passed through the corridor and arrived at the participants' room where Eustia was waiting.
Knock knock.
"Are you in, Your Highness?"
"Ah. You've come. Please wait just a moment. I'll get up and greet you right—"
"No, that's all right. I'll come in now."
"Eh? W-wait—"
The door creaked open. Sensing a flurry of movement as if she were scrambling to her feet, I opened it at once — and the scene inside greeted me.
How grand could a tournament participant's room really be? It was just an ordinary room. What wasn't ordinary was that Eustia was sitting with her back fully exposed, a priestess behind her with a hand pressed to her skin, casting recovery magic.
"Ah."
"Oh."
Our voices crossed. Seeing me come in, Eustia flushed and clutched her clothes shut. In that fleeting instant, I promptly archived the glimpse of her soft-looking side breast and the neat line of her collarbone in my brain's long-term memory.
Man, a random fanservice event out of nowhere...
This wasn't a romantic comedy. Grateful and mortified in equal measure, I turned my head and planted my gaze on the wall.
"Excuse me. I should have waited a moment, as you said."
"N-no. I should have been properly dressed."
Even in a situation like this, Eustia was covering for me rather than blaming me. Did this woman even realize what she was saying right now? Thinking, as always, that she was far too much of an angel, I spoke calmly.
"Please continue receiving the recovery magic. I'll stay like this."
"No. The recovery is finished now, so it's all right."
The rustle of clothes being put on filled the room as she spoke. A moment later the sounds faded, and when I turned my head again, Eustia was properly dressed — still looking thoroughly embarrassed. Feeling awkward myself, I changed the subject by asking the priestess beside her.
"I take it you were the one casting the recovery magic. How is Her Highness's condition?"
"She's experiencing fatigue from using such a vast quantity of mana, but there don't appear to be any other abnormalities."
"That's a relief."
"Yes. However, it would be best if she didn't overexert herself too much in the next match."
The priestess explained this with her eyes slightly narrowed in a slit. She looked familiar, and after a moment's thought I recognized her as Hene, the high priestess who had treated Lucy at the mansion.
I told them to look after Eustia, and they sent this one again.
She must have been quite skilled. Indeed, even right after a brutal match, Eustia's complexion looked considerably at ease.
"Hah."
At any rate, I felt better for it. I found a seat and was taking off my mask when Eustia glanced at Elda and asked.
"Um. How did the two of you come to arrive together?"
"Ah... well, you see."
"Allow me to explain, Your Highness. She has decided to join us going forward."
"...!"
The news that we'd recruited one of the ten strongest in the Empire. Hearing that welcome news, color bloomed on Eustia's face.
"Professor Elda is going to help me? That's wonderful news."
"I heard about the secrets of this Sword and Magic Festival from the Grand Duke. If someone is targeting Her Highness, I couldn't possibly sit still. I'm a professor, after all — I ought to help my student, shouldn't I?"
Elda said this coolly, with a grin. Watching her, Eustia's expression darkened as if something about it sat poorly with her.
"I'm truly grateful. I had no idea, and I was just about to— ahem...!"
"Are you all right, Your Highness?"
"Y-yes. Something just caught in my throat for a moment."
She wasn't eating or drinking anything, but Eustia cleared her throat with a little cough. Then she turned her gratitude toward me as well.
"During the match earlier, you spoke into my mind, didn't you? It was a great help. Thank you so much."
"You mean the Sound Transmission I sent. I'm glad it was of help."
"And... you called me by my name then."
"Mm. I did."
"Could you... perhaps call me by my name next time as well?"
Eustia leaned toward me, whispering in a voice so small it was barely audible. I'd felt we'd grown closer, talking every night through communication magic lately. Apparently that hadn't been my imagination.
Wait. Come to think of it...
Going on a date at a dessert shop together, talking every night, calling each other by name. Could this be... a green light?
Yeah. No. Don't be an idiot.
A pleasant fantasy unfurled in my mind, but I shook my head and wiped it away at once. Even if Eustia had developed feelings for me, right now we needed to focus on the Sword and Magic Festival. I could think about our relationship later. For now, I simply felt the joy of growing closer day by day to the heroine I cherished, and I answered with a smile that I would.
We talked of this and that after that. Elda peered out the window, then spoke to me.
"The next match should be starting soon. Today's only going through the second round, right?"
"That's right. Tomorrow the semifinals and finals will be held. Newspaper companies from not just the Empire but the entire continent will gather at the venue."
"And that's when you'll expose the Second Prince and the Magic Tower Master's corruption all at once?"
Elda asked as if confirming what she'd already heard from me. She was someone I could trust, so I'd already finished explaining everything. I gave a small nod, then spoke to Eustia.
"Your Highness. I ask again, but are you truly all right with this?"
"Yes. My decision hasn't changed. I'll continue to compete."
"Tomorrow will be dangerous. There's no telling what the Second Prince's side might do."
"But I made a vow. That I wouldn't just hide in the background."
Eustia answered with a face full of resolve. About a month ago, I'd actually asked her if she might sit out the Sword and Magic Festival. I'd figured there was no reason to compete when that bastard Albireo had clearly dug a trap and was waiting. But Eustia had said she would compete — to prove herself as a capable mage in her own right, and as an imperial princess, to personally expose the Second Prince's dirty secrets.
She's gentle, but she isn't weak.
Looking at her as she carved that firm will into those golden eyes, I was certain once again. She really was a good woman. And I vowed that no matter what happened, I would protect her.
"Well then, I'll be off."
"Do your best. I'll be cheering for you."
"Uh, m-me too! You got this!"
Eustia and Elda sent me off with encouragement as I stood at the door. The sight of the two heroines together was, I found myself thinking, a surprisingly pleasant one.
I hope someday I'll get to see all the heroines gathered in one place...
The sight of them, who'd all been apart, coming together in one place because of me. Just thinking about it felt like a dream. To get there, I first had to do my part. A quiet smile rose to my lips, and I left the room for the second-round match.
The second round, to cut to the chase, ended even more easily than the first. My opponent was a knight from some viscount's house in the western Empire, and he was knocked unconscious by Heavenly Demon Reign Step almost the instant the match began. He could apparently use aura, given that he'd made it into the Sword and Magic Festival, but he felt even weaker than Duran, the Righteous Knight.
Still disappointed that I hadn't had a proper match yet, I idly tapped my scabbard.
Tch... how do you not even survive one of those?
At least Duran hadn't gone unconscious. Still, if Luke won his next match, I'd face him in the semifinals. What kind of strength would the grown Star Boy show? Since I wasn't planning to use aura, it might actually turn into a reasonably fierce fight.
Lost in thoughts like these as I headed back toward Eustia's room, a sense of wrongness prickled nearby.
What is this?
A current of mana so faint that only someone who had reached the realm of Sword Master would even notice it. Focusing my senses, I found someone concealing their mana and approaching me. The thought that it might be someone I'd beaten in a match coming for revenge flickered through my mind, but that couldn't be it. There wasn't even a sound of footsteps — whoever this was, they were stronger than those people, without a doubt.
In a corridor where all human presence had been cut off, as if the space itself had been sealed away, I stopped dead and sought the direction the mana current had come from.
Behind me.
The mana control was of a considerable level, but it couldn't deceive my senses. Determined to see who it was, I spun around at once.
...Oh, hell.
The instant I saw what was behind me, I swallowed the curse that tried to leave my mouth. Why was this person here?
A corridor so silent not even a rat's footsteps could be heard. And there, a white-haired old man in a gray robe floated in midair, looking down at me.