Chapter 183: Opening Ceremony (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 183: Opening Ceremony (2)
A few days passed.
I spent the rest of my break resting, leaving the remaining cleanup to the Holy Kingdom’s personnel, including the Heresy Inquisitors. Before I knew it, the start of the new semester was right around the corner.
"Whew."
What exactly did I do to make the break disappear with less than a week left?
I closed my eyes and thought back on the short vacation.
...Shit.
"A hell of a lot happened..."
It was enough to make me think, Wait, why is there still time left in the break?
In just a few short months, I realized that far too many things had occurred.
However, there was no reason to dwell on the past.
The future was always more important than what had already happened.
And speaking of the future...
"So you're the one Yerisha was talking about."
I had gone to a meeting spot after Yerisha, the High Elf, mentioned she had something to discuss. There, a pointy-ears I’d never seen before was glaring at me with wide eyes.
"Yenika! I told you to call me 'Sister'!"
When Yerisha scolded her, the girl responded instantly.
"Okay. I'll just die then."
She immediately drooped her ears and started walking toward a tree.
"Stop threatening me with that!"
"..."
Watching Yerisha follow her as if this were a common occurrence, I was left speechless.
She was an elf—no, a High Elf—with a truly unique personality.
"...I'm doomed."
Seeing that, I came to a realization.
The Academy had gained another elf.
And not just any elf, but a High Elf like Yerisha.
This alone reeked of impending trouble.
"Human! I'm back!"
Our doggy made her reappearance as well.
I hadn't even set up a meeting this time; she just found her way to me on her own.
"This is our Princess!"
"Hello."
And as a bonus, the Beastkin Princess, whom Bell had claimed to be close with, was there too.
The Captain had mentioned a salary increase beyond just a performance bonus, so I had a vague idea that the negotiations with the Beastkin had gone well and that Bell's claims were true.
However, actually greeting the Princess of the Beastkin made me see Bell in a slightly different light.
"She ran away because she didn't want to work!"
...Well, that impression didn't last very long.
"...Did you really need to mention that?!"
Watching the Beastkin Princess bicker with Bell, I let out another sigh.
The reason the Princess had come to the Academy was just so RoFan-esque.
It smelled like another incident waiting to happen.
And was that all?
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
There was the Ancestor, who was starting to give off the vibe of a power-level measuring stick.
"Are you that Adam Smith, the second-in-command of the Swordsmanship Department? If so... What? You're telling me to beat the number one first? Isn't it usually the other way around?"
And even a Dwarf royal of the 'Pokémon Trainer' variety, who tried to pick a fight the moment our eyes met.
"I'm screwed."
Sitting alone in the club room, worrying about the second semester...
"......?"
I realized something.
Wait, shit.
Why am I the only one here?
"...Excuse me. I don't care if you have permission from the Imperial Family. I am a Princess of the Empire. No, even before that! Isn't it weird for you to just barge into the girls' dormitory like this?!"
My junior grumbled and lamented my sudden visit, but that wasn't what was important right now.
"I didn't come to look for the key today."
"Stop naturally treating people like tools!"
With a very serious expression, I delivered the important news.
"...Daisy hasn't come back yet."
"...Is this that famous 'lovey-dovey' nonsense?"
My junior looked at me with disgust.
I narrowed my eyes and corrected her.
"Your brother hasn't come back either."
"...Suspecting an affair?"
The Princess also narrowed her eyes and muttered.
"......"
If our RoFan male leads actually had the competence to do that, I would have been cheering and clanging cymbals.
In fact, there was a time when Violet and I tried to push Esid and Sososo together.
And why did we give up on that?
Simply because it looked utterly hopeless.
However, thinking coldly, it was a situation that could easily be misunderstood if one didn't know the whole story, so I gave her a brief explanation.
"I think something happened."
"No way. Who would dare touch the children of great powers like the Empire, or the Saintess, the pinnacle of the Holy Kingdom?"
"There are dark mages."
"Even so, unless they're idiots, they wouldn't..."
"The Academy gets raided every quarter, though?"
To be honest, saying "every quarter" was being generous.
Incidents exploded during every major event.
"......"
Perhaps because she had lived through enough Academy life herself, the Princess seemed to realize what I was getting at.
"......Surely not."
"Then why haven't they returned yet?"
"They say trips never go according to plan. Something must have come up along the way."
"Like dark mages..."
"Aren't you being too dramatic? Dark mages aren't that common—"
The Princess, who had been scowling, suddenly shut her mouth.
Her eyes darted around as she recalled the recent history of the Academy.
"...N-no way."
"......"
"Surely......"
"Surely" is how people get caught off guard.
It didn't take long for our junior to realize this.
...Because the RoFan party still hadn't arrived by the time of the opening ceremony.
The Academy was on high alert.
The Imperial Family was the same.
Uncle Aeryun, who couldn't enjoy his vacation to the end and had to return early, was fretting, and the Academy Director was throwing a fit, saying he couldn't do this anymore. Right around then...
"I thought I was going to die."
The RoFan party returned.
"I reaaaally thought I was going to die!"
While everyone else was taking the RoFan party away to hear about the incident, I grabbed Violet to hear the full story.
"As usual, there was an ambush."
If anyone else heard this, they would have called it nonsense, but for a conversation between reincarnators rich in RoFan sensibility, unnecessary details weren't needed.
"Dark mages again?"
"Technically, yes. But it's a bit vague this time."
I couldn't help but feel a bit tense seeing Violet resting her chin on her hand, looking thoughtful.
If an explanation was needed, it meant the details were different from usual.
"Unlike last year, there were some changes in the group that went to the Holy Kingdom this year."
"...Were there?"
"Excuse me. This is the main scenario route. Could you pay a little attention?"
I had dumped all of that on Violet, so I hadn't really cared.
"What kind of changes?"
"The freshmen joined."
"Ah."
Right, that happened.
Our club had expanded too, but unlike the early days, the attendance rate was so poor that I’d forgotten.
"I mean, the second-year members were all in charge of the big shots. You're the exclusive aide to the Prince of the Leon Kingdom, for starters."
Based on the original work, the After-School Dessert Club should have been a group of extras.
But in reality, each member was the right-hand person to a great power's royalty or someone of equivalent importance.
Even setting that aside, they were all from families that held significant influence in their respective kingdoms.
"In contrast, the first-year concept is mostly people from small nations, conflict zones, or those who are like kites with broken strings."
That’s why their guards were often busy in the field rather than leisurely eating desserts and exchanging information.
"How do you know all that?"
"Because I was near those very people!"
...It was a cry that carried the grievances of a subordinate.
I felt like I had times like that too... Had I become a big shot without even realizing it?
"I get it. I'll give you a positive evaluation during this year's salary negotiations."
"That's not why I said that!"
"Then I'll cancel it?"
"I didn't say to cancel it either!"
Maybe it was because she’d experienced such a massive incident, but Violet's mood was swinging wildly today.
...Wait. Was she always like this?
"Anyway! This time, an incident related to that side got involved."
Violet let out a deep sigh and began to tell the full story.
While returning to the Holy Kingdom, they happened to pass through a small nation.
As it turned out, that place was the kingdom of one of the club members who had been hiding their identity (though Violet already knew).
In the midst of a semi-civil war, the Duke's faction, which was nearing victory, attacked the RoFan party alongside dark mages they had allied with to massacre the royal family!
Forced into the kingdom's civil war, the RoFan party thwarted the dark mages' plot.
In the end, they supposedly defeated the rebel Duke, who had sacrificed his entire family to host a demon within himself.
"What the hell. That's terrifying."
"You lack RoFan sensibility."
"Don't you think you have too much of it?"
No, I wondered if experiencing something like that was really within the realm of RoFan sensibility.
Even if I conceded that such things could happen!
"They finished all that in two weeks?"
"It was close. We wanted to arrive before the opening ceremony..."
"No, is that even physically possible in that timeframe?"
"Whatever. They say hundreds of chapters of a pirate manga only span a few months in-story."
"That's true, but..."
"Anyway!"
She said it would have been possible if the King, who had been snapped out of the demon's mental manipulation by Daisy's holy magic, hadn't held them back, begging them to stay just one more day.
In fact, "one day" was an understatement; the King kept pulling that crap every time they tried to leave, and the fact that they eventually had to literally step over the King to return was even more chilling.
"But the important thing isn't that."
"...If that's not important, then what is?"
"Asran has finally grown enough to actually claim the title of Minor Sword Emperor."
Asran had always been treated poorly, but according to Violet, he was already much stronger than in the original work.
If he had grown enough for Violet to make such an assessment, he must have improved significantly.
The problem was...
"Prince Ellen is a Sword Master, though?"
"And you've already completed that."
"Ah. You mean my magic."
"......"
Violet looked like she had a lot to say, but she bit her lip and let out a sigh instead.
"Anyway. Asran won't be the same as before."
That was a fairly exciting statement.
Since Prince Ellen had become a Sword Master, I needed a sparring partner.
The stronger that partner became, the better it was for me.
However.
"But even that is a minor detail."
"Is the genre of this world horror instead of RoFan?"
"There is a part like that, briefly."
"There actually is one?"
"There was a part where ghost stories were trending, so the author dipped their toe in, but they dropped it quickly because the reception was bad."
"Ah, I see."
The more I heard from Violet, the more I started to wonder what the original author's face looked like.
"This time, Daisy found another piece of the Demon King set."
"......?"
Wait, what the hell did you just say?
"A necklace... no, a pendant!"
"......"
"The effect is a massive increase in mana recovery!"
"......"
"Now Daisy's mana is basically a perpetual motion machine! If she gets either the crown or the helmet, she might actually be able to hold her own against Ellen."
"......"
At those words, I quietly reached into my subspace pouch.
I grabbed the first thing I felt and equipped it right into the helmet slot.
"The Demon King's Helmet."
—Kuaaaaaagh!
"......?"
"Are you talking about this?"
At my words, Violet, who had been staring blankly at my head, tilted hers.
"......Why is that on your noggin?"
Why? Because...
"It's mine."
—Kuaaaagh! Don't talk nonsense!
"......!"
I lightly subdued Violet as she lunged at me and made my declaration.
"I'm a mage."
—Kuaaaaagh!
"Therefore, this is my property."
Daisy or whoever, I had absolutely no intention of giving this up.
