With My New Power, You're Not Going Anywhere
"With my new power, I'll make it so you can't move an inch."
Just as I thought.
Ruby Scarlet.
She was never some "Witch of Calamity" who couldn't control her own flames, who folded the laws of heaven and burned everything in her path.
The greatest culprit behind her misery had always been the Silverrain family.
If the Silverrain family hadn't started throwing their weight around in the first place, I might never have paid them any mind. But their suspicious movements were far more than one or two isolated incidents.
The Silverrain mercenaries who came all the way to the Celestial Spirit Tournament just to hunt her down. The elf with those bizarre, extraordinary abilities.
Every last one of them had a single purpose: eliminate Ruby Scarlet.
Even their attempt to get rid of me stemmed from the same place—they couldn't stand watching Ruby Scarlet change for the better simply because she was with me.
And more than anything, her growing reputation for protecting Gracia Wonder World rather than terrorizing it had made her an unbearable thorn in their side.
But the most important piece of the puzzle remained.
Why were they so determined to kill Ruby Scarlet?
I hadn't known the full reason before, but now that the pieces had finally clicked into place, the answer was clear.
The Celestial Spirit Tournament was both the key card that would deliver a Happy Ending and the event that would guide her toward her revenge.
Ten thousand PT. A knighthood. And the Spirit King's Tear.
Those three things meant she could settle every last debt of her past and begin again.
With the ten thousand PT, I had her use the item Have I Changed?—which lets you disguise yourself as another NPC—to pose as a servant and force a confession out of the family head.
Then, with the item Absolute Recording, which captures any voice without fail, I secured that confession on tape.
It cost five thousand PT in total, and what I actually walked away with was… only five thousand PT. Even so, the chance to reach a happy ending made it more than worth it.
"—Hey, you dense bastard————! Did you forget our plan!? We were supposed to deliberately drive the girl berserk so we could extract Ignis and seal the spirit inside the Spirit King's Tear!"
I clicked the still-playing recorder off with a sharp tick and tossed it onto the table.
"……That's what he was spouting. Well? Did you hear it clearly enough?"
"Ahem……."
The old man seated across from me was the Elder of the Council of Elders—the leader of the elves who propped up all of Gracia Wonder World.
In human terms he was no different from a king, and right now he was clearing his throat while carefully reading my expression.
"With this, the fate of the Silverrain family seems decided. Either erased from history… or torn apart in the most wretched way imaginable."
The elder furrowed his brow as if the whole matter troubled him and murmured in a low voice.
"I understand what you're saying, but…… murder is still not something we can permit. In our peaceful elven society, a bloodbath like that would……."
"Hahaha————! My, Elder, you do tell the most amusing jokes."
I cut him off cleanly and leaned forward across the table.
"Peaceful elves? You coveted a spirit, shattered a fellow clansman's family, and when that wasn't enough you loosed mercenaries into the sacred Celestial Spirit Tournament to stage a massacre?"
"……."
"If this recording gets scattered through the city, what do you think people will call the elves? A noble race? Or beasts so blinded by greed they'll devour their own young?"
"Th-that's……!"
The elder's face drained to the color of ash.
This was no simple threat.
The honor of the entire elven race hung in the balance.
"And as you well know, I belong to the Papal Office. If you try to sweep this under the rug, the Papal Office will raise the matter officially. Under the theme of 'The Corruption of the Elves.'"
"……Humans truly are vicious creatures."
The elder made no effort to hide his distaste as he looked at me, yet a moment later he exhaled a long, resigned sigh.
He understood perfectly well. Right now, I held the hilt of the sword.
"Very well. Do as you wish. But…… we cannot erase the Silverrain family itself. It is a house steeped in the long traditions of the elves. Striking that name from existence would meet fierce resistance even within the Council of Elders."
He tapped the table lightly and fixed his gaze on me.
"Ruby Scarlet. If she becomes the new head of the Silverrain family, wouldn't everything be resolved?"
I simply stared back without answering.
The elder narrowed his eyes like an old fox and continued.
"The dead, after all, have no voice. But what if that death spreads as the sensational rumor of 'noble murder'? No matter that a villain was punished—for a young lady who has only just received her title, the label of 'murderer' would be fatal, would it not?"
A threat that wasn't quite a threat. A persuasion dressed as compromise.
He would cover up the fact that the family head had been reduced to a lump of charcoal—call it a sudden death, an accident—so we should quietly settle things right here.
Private revenge, after all, rather than a proper duel or trial, was the perfect pretext for being buried alive in elven society.
A thin, bitter smile touched the elder's lips as he extended his hand toward me.
"How about it? I consider this a win-win arrangement for both sides."
I looked down at that wrinkled hand for a moment, then let out a short laugh and nodded.
"……Very well. But I have one more condition."
"What else?"
I met the elder's eyes squarely and drove the point home, word by careful word.
"The family name will change. Not Silverrain—Scarlet."
"……What?"
"New wine belongs in new wineskins. The rotten name of Silverrain will vanish into history. From this day forward, that house will be the Scarlet family."
"Ahem…… There is long tradition to consider……"
The elder clearly found the proposal hard to swallow.
I smiled brightly and tipped the top hat resting on my head a little lower.
"Then there's nothing more to discuss. The deal is off……"
I turned as if to leave on purpose. The elder shot up from his seat in a panic.
"Ah—no! No! Wait just a moment……"
"?"
"Young humans are far too impatient. Fine. Fine. We'll do it your way. Then this secret stays buried forever. Agreed?"
"……Of course. You have my word."
And so the negotiation was sealed.
Ruby was no longer merely an elf noble who had received a knighthood.
This was the moment she became the rightful head of the Scarlet family.
I had expected a message announcing that a Happy Ending had been achieved to pop up.
But as expected, one puzzle piece still seemed to be missing.
What was certain was that, just like with Elara von Heim, only the matter of offering a little advice remained.
Perhaps, just as I had once guided Elara into becoming a hero, I now needed to lead Ruby toward something as well.
Looking at the situation, Ruby was every inch a noble.
Even as a female elf, she needed to be shaped into a central pillar who would help steer this Gracia Wonder World.
"Um…… Ruby? Is it really all right to stick this close?"
"Ha? What's the problem? You used to glue yourself to my side every single day."
Ruby walked along with her arm naturally linked through mine.
Her words were curt and snappish, yet the arm wrapped around mine carried a subtle, deliberate strength.
And the difference that thin fabric made was far greater than I had expected.
She wasn't simply linking arms. She was steadily drawing my arm toward her chest.
With every step, the generous curves hidden beneath her T-shirt pressed blatantly into the inner side of my forearm.
Soft, pliant flesh transmitted her body heat without the slightest barrier.
That defenseless softness scraped along my nerves like a constant, maddening caress.
"……."
Kuuuh…….
If this were some kind of eroge, I would have already dragged her off somewhere muttering about what we should do next……
It was genuinely frustrating that I couldn't do a single thing here.
Having to stand still like a perfect gentleman, all gentle and proper……
In any case, I pretended not to notice and kept my eyes fixed straight ahead. My gaze, however, drifted downward of its own accord.
The jeans clung so tightly they left nothing of her hip line to the imagination.
With every step, through the deliberate rips, flashes of an elf's uniquely dazzling white thigh flesh appeared and vanished.
The casual clothes only made her noble features look more decadent.
"……What are you staring at?"
Sensing my lingering gaze, Ruby lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes.
She was putting on an arrogant front, yet her pupils had already gone soft and hazy, as if half-lidded with moisture.
"Nothing. The clothes just seem a bit… thin."
"Hmph. Who's worrying about whom? You're the one wobbling around, so I'm the one holding you up. Be grateful."
Ruby snorted and, as if to make a point, pulled her arm even deeper, squeezing tightly.
In that instant the thin cotton T-shirt stretched taut, the contours of her chest standing out even more sharply.
The pressure against my arm grew heavy and deliberate.
This had long since left counselor and client behind—no, it had left every ordinary relationship behind.
It was no different from a female beast marking her territory on something she already considered hers.
"By the way, where exactly are we going?"
"Hey, teacher. You remember? The first time we met."
"……?"
The first time we met?
Back then she had been terrifying.
A pure anger-management disaster who burned and smashed everything in sight.
I wanted to say exactly that, but instead I only offered an awkward smile as if I had no idea.
"Well……"
"We met right here."
Ruby stopped in front of the fountain and folded her arms.
"Back then, when I was about to hunt down that damn Silverrain noble brat, that's when you showed up. You know that?"
She smiled with complete confidence.
I smiled a little in return and nodded.
"That's right."
"Back then I…… really wanted to burn the entire world. I wasn't even allowed to walk around in broad daylight like this, you know."
"Certainly…… that's true."
Now that she was a noble of the Scarlet family, of course no elf would dare treat Ruby Scarlet carelessly.
Moreover, as a noble she had been pardoned of every past sin. The Ruby standing here now was free.
"But meeting you must have been luck……"
"Pardon?"
"Thanks to you, teacher, I felt happiness for the first time. You get that?"
"……Ah. Is that so?"
"Hmph. Dense as ever."
Ruby let out a languid laugh, her seductive eyes curving into soft crescents.
She unlinked her arms and slowly closed the distance between us.
One step.
Close enough that our breaths nearly touched.
Two steps.
Her ripped jeans brushed against my legs as if they might catch at any moment, clinging with dangerous nearness.
"So, about that…… I have something I want to tell you tonight. And……."
Ruby rose onto her tiptoes and brought her lips to my ear.
Hot breath dampened the shell of my ear.
"The price for that slap you gave me at the Celestial Spirit Tournament…… you're going to pay it properly, right?"
"Ah—th-that……."
I tried to step back in fluster, but her slender hand clamped down hard on my shoulder.
She clearly had no intention of letting go.
"……Hmph. I'm a noble now. I can do whatever I want, can't I? Right?"
Her gaze drifted slowly from my eyes to my lips, then slid down the line of my throat.
Like a predator calmly searching for the tastiest cut of meat.
Ruby deliberately crushed her lips against the shell of my ear and whispered in a thick, sticky voice.
"Don't even think about running. With my new power…… I'll make it so you can't move an inch."
She finished speaking, laughed mischievously, and drew her upper body back.
In that instant the loose neckline of her white T-shirt plunged deep under the pull of gravity.
Through the gap, the pure-white, deep valley inside the shirt filled my vision without the slightest defense.
She knew exactly where my eyes had landed, yet instead of covering herself she squared her shoulders and met my gaze head-on.
"Look forward to it, tea·cher."
(Service Cut)
