Too Late to Explain

I skimmed through the mountain of papers piled on the desk, each one scrawled with a request.

The pile went on and on like that. I set the papers down and asked Crystal.

"What's all this?"

"They're request forms, as you can see!"

That much I already knew. I hadn't so much as touched a club activity since reincarnating into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this school, but in Misfortune in Life, club activities had involved taking on all sorts of requests.

In other words, quests. It had been a game with RPG elements, so the system existed to develop your character. Club quests, together with the requests sponsored by the school itself, had also served to carry the overall scenario forward, as I recalled.

"What I mean is, why is the Research Club taking requests like these?"

Farcical as the whole thing was, the club I currently belonged to researched one of the novel series I had written — The Sweeper Detective. Put generously, it was a cultural club. Put bluntly, it was just a fan club.

So why were requests of every stripe pouring into a fan club? Crystal answered in a bright, cheerful voice.

"I don't know why either, but the students have been calling us the Detective Club instead of the Research Club!"

Don't lie to me. You planned this. One hundred percent. If you're going to lie, at least wipe that smile off your face first — that was what I wanted to say, but thinking about it, this girl had never intended to hide it in the first place.

"Haa."

Crystal was the type who kept her word. She'd said she would make things difficult for me, and now she was genuinely manufacturing nothing but headaches.

Maybe it was because the girl taking the requests was like that, but the clients all had a few screws loose themselves. More to the point: do not bring a basilisk to school and raise it as a pet. What are you going to do if someone looks at it and turns to stone?

And asking what to do because your parents aren't your birth parents isn't a request — that's just counseling. Investigate a boyfriend? What is this, a private detective agency?

The only one that even resembled an actual request was the one asking us to prove they weren't the thief.

More than that — why was I even taking this seriously?

"Which request will you take, senior?"

"None of them."

"Ehh, why not?!"

"Because none of them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠interest me. If you want to see me move, bring me a case worth my time."

Even if I had decided to play along with her, I had no intention of wasting time on something that didn't look even remotely entertaining.

After I declared that, Crystal grumbled for a while, but soon she was burning with determination to bring me a more interesting request.

I'd prefer she didn't try too hard.

As I was thinking that, the clubroom door opened and Camilla walked in. She had been the only one to pass both the interview and the screening after that fiercely competitive recruitment, and had become a member of our club.

I was grateful she liked my work, but going that far had felt a bit much.

Something was off about her, though. She seemed strangely restless, which was quite unusual given her usual demeanor. Wondering what was going on, not just my gaze but Crystal's, Jane's, and Peter's all gathered on her at once, and Camilla slowly opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

"Um, Benjamin. I think Miya might be in some kind of trouble."

"Tell me everything."

After hearing Camilla out, I realized that Chapter Two's storyline had begun — and that it was unfolding slightly differently from the version I knew.

Miya Jenkinson could feel her stress steadily approaching its limit.

"Miss Jenkinson! Is it true you went on a date with Prince Felix last week?!"

"I already said no! It was Prince Lucian!"

"Hey, Miya. What's it like hogging both princes' attention?"

Sick of the students who followed her everywhere and relentlessly grilled her with questions, Miya left without answering. She had realized that no matter how many times she denied it until her mouth went dry, it was useless, so she had settled on ignoring them entirely. The rumors, however, showed no sign of dying down.

I don't care. I don't care! Why won't they believe me no matter what I say? If they're not going to believe me, why even ask?!

It had all started with last week's joint-year monster-handling class. Miya's first-year class, Lucian's second-year class, and Felix's third-year class had all participated together.

Monster-handling class was a form of training for students who frequently went out into the city on requests. The main content involved facing various captured monsters provided to the school by knight orders and adventurers, and learning how to deal with them. During that class, Miya had come close to being in a bit of danger.

Danger, yes — but not the kind where her life had nearly been snuffed out. The classes were conducted under the thorough supervision of veteran instructors, so accidents almost never happened.

I just tripped, that's all! I could have handled it just fine even then!

She wouldn't deny that it might have looked a little dicey from the sidelines, but that was all it had been. At that moment, Felix and Lucian, who happened to be nearby, had stepped forward and saved Miya from nearly being attacked by the monster.

She had been ordinarily grateful for that. The problem was that the composition of the scene — that spectacle — had been rather stimulating for the other students who witnessed it.

The image of two princes magnificently rescuing a single girl went beyond merely being a sight to see. It spawned rumor after rumor. At first it had been light whispering, so Miya had laughed it off. But as the days passed it went too far, until it finally mutated into the absurd suspicion that she was caught in a love triangle.

For Miya, who considered the only man in her life to be her brother Benjamin, those rumors were no ordinary source of stress.

Above all else.

I don't want Brother to find out. His jealousy would be nice, but he definitely wouldn't just be a little angry.

For the sake of Benjamin's honor, it should be noted that he had never once seen his younger sister Miya as a romantic interest, and never would. Miya's perception, however, was the exact opposite.

From the time their foolish parents had gone off the rails and died in her childhood, her brother had devoted everything to her — his entire life, quite literally. Of course, Benjamin had merely been fulfilling his duty and responsibility as an older brother, trying to protect his sister. But Miya thought otherwise.

Miya Jenkinson believed, without a shred of doubt, that Benjamin Jenkinson was in love with her. Even if Benjamin, upon learning of her thoughts, recoiled in horror and denied it, that belief would not waver in the slightest.

This time was no different.

Haa. I knew it.

After class, Miya headed to the clubroom of the club she had recently joined. The moment she opened the door and saw her furious brother, she let out a sigh tangled with delight and dismay.

"Hah."

After hearing Camilla's story, I made no effort to hide my anger.

The basic storyline of Chapter Two was the conflict between Crown Prince Felix and his younger brother Lucian. There had long been talk that Lucian, the second son, was more talented than Felix, the first prince — and that this would cause their conflict to explode into a fight that engulfed the entire school.

I didn't know how things stood now, but in the original, neither Felix nor Lucian had the slightest desire to fight. The circumstances around them simply wouldn't leave them alone. In the process, Felix and Lucian would get involved with Crystal, and both of their unfortunate pasts would come to light.

The two would keep clashing in martial prowess, magic, academics, and more, until Lucian, exhausted by it all, deliberately made a mistake in magic class — which would trigger Felix's inferiority complex to explode. Spurred on by Felix's rage, Lucian would also unleash the emotions ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had been bottling up. In the original, Crystal intervened in their clash and resolved it.

By beating the living daylights out of both of them, in rather manly fashion.

"Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing."

Expecting the same resolution from Crystal, whose entire mind was currently occupied with playing around with me, was probably asking too much. Besides, even in the original, Crystal's intervention had only paused the fighting temporarily. The resentment between them had never been resolved, lingering all the way to the end.

No — even if they failed to reconcile and became mortal enemies, that wasn't my concern. What mattered was that these bastards had dared to drag my little sister into their fight.

Strictly speaking, Felix and Lucian probably hadn't created the situation on purpose. We weren't close enough to call each other friends, but I knew they weren't the type to do something like that.

"But they're not exactly trying to actively resolve it, either."

"Uh, Brother...?"

Miya, who happened to be walking into the clubroom just as I stood up, called out to me with an uneasy look in her eyes.

"Benjamin, you should calm down a little...!"

"You don't need to worry, Camilla. I'm not about to challenge the two princes to a duel."

I had no intention of making an enemy of the kingdom — insofar as I could help it, anyway. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠But I couldn't just let this slide, so I intended to put a little fear into them.

To that end, before barging into the student council, I headed first to the school's request office.

Contrary to the vague imaginings of outsiders, the student council of the Royal Academy was a kind of neutral territory. Factional fights, power struggles, and every other kind of conflict could only exist if the school itself continued to function. That was why, whether they belonged to the royalist faction, the noble faction, or the commoner faction, everyone in the student council basically worked toward the school's smooth operation.

It wasn't as if there was no trouble at all, but they generally just quietly handled their own duties. Even the followers who usually trailed after them constantly were absent here. Thanks to that peculiarity, the student council had paradoxically become a place where they could, at least somewhat, speak their true feelings.

For the two prince brothers, Felix and Lucian, that was especially true.

"The way these rumors are spreading isn't looking good, Brother."

"Hmm."

The moment the two of them were left alone in the student council room, Lucian brought it up as if he had been waiting for the chance. Felix, who had already been wracking his brains over the same problem, nodded in agreement and spoke.

"That situation back then was just a coincidence. I never imagined it would blow up this much..."

"There are just as many students who love creating rumors as there are students who love spreading them."

The two brothers' greatest worry was that if the rumors kept growing like this, they would naturally reach Benjamin's ears as well.

"Benjamin even went out of his way to create a club named after his own novel, as a warning for us not to bother him. And to show that it wasn't just an empty warning, he even recruited Baker and Fletcher in one fell swoop."

And yet, despite that, their own followers were ignoring the warning and fanning the rumors among the students. They were probably thinking they might be able to use this as an opportunity to pull Benjamin over to their side.

The brothers thought it was utterly foolish.

Felix and Lucian, who had been proceeding with caution all this time because they didn't want to poke a sleeping beast, realized immediately afterward that their decision had come far too late.

The student council door opened, and Benjamin walked in.