A Little More Fun
The dazzling light gradually faded, revealing the headmaster’s office now brimming with divine power. Arie’s sudden stunt left me itching to grab her by the collar, but I barely managed to hold myself back. I casually brushed a hand down my chest and spoke to her.
“Sigh… Boss, you really startled me there…”
Even after Arie’s unexpected antics, none of the security devices installed in the headmaster’s office had activated. As I let out a sigh of relief, Arie flashed a mischievous smile.
“Hehe, even our assistant has a cute side. Of course, I’ve always thought so…”
“…Only three people in the world think that about me, and one of them is you, Boss.”
“Hmm… I’m curious who the other two are, but let’s put that aside for now.”
Leaving her with that enigmatic expression behind me, I slipped through the window and into the headmaster’s office. The divine power filling the entire room flowed in a natural, gentle circulation. As I stared at the sight in fascination, Arie stepped closer and explained.
“I momentarily expanded a divine power orb to cover the entire headmaster’s office. Just imagine very thin membranes spread out everywhere. As long as you don’t thrash around too violently, you won’t escape its influence.”
“To create something like this in such a short time… As expected, Boss, you’re incredible.”
“Hehe…”
At my praise, Arie’s silver hair danced as if delighted. It was a phenomenon seen in those with exceptional talent for manipulating their own energy as naturally as their own limbs—for example, people like Hestia when their emotions ran high. Moments like this made her so easy to read, which was honestly a relief…
Arie must have felt embarrassed by my lingering gaze, because she began fiddling with her long hair. Her unusually adorable behavior nearly made me laugh out loud.
“Ahem…! What is it?”
“Nothing at all.”
Arie shot me a look that clearly said I was being rude. Anyway, having successfully infiltrated the headmaster’s office together, we began discussing what to take.
It would be perfectly reasonable for someone to call us idiots for breaking into a Transcendent’s room without even thinking about what to steal, especially since the owner was away… But since Arie had been the one to postpone that decision until later, it wasn’t my problem.
“Honestly, I’d love to take some important documents… but I’d rather not trigger a full academy lockdown. Let’s take something else.”
“May I ask if there’s a particular reason?”
“It would be troublesome if something that will eventually belong to me gets damaged, wouldn’t it?”
“Ah.”
I had no idea when exactly the academy had become hers, but I was relieved she still cared about it. Besides, there was no way truly critical documents would be stored here anyway…
Since she had simply smothered every security device in the room with overwhelming divine power, she didn’t seem to care at all about how many there were or how strong they might be. Sometimes, absolute power really was the simplest and most correct answer…
Arie and I slowly looked around the headmaster’s office. For a Transcendent’s personal space, it was surprisingly ordinary. Of course, the dense traces of barriers hidden in inconspicuous places made it clear that some kind of research had been conducted here. Seriously, couldn’t the guy clean up after himself? What a mess…
As I grumbled internally, Arie, who had been skimming papers on the headmaster’s desk, suddenly broke into a sinister smile as if she’d found something interesting. A wave of unease hit me, and I leaned over to look at the paper she was reading.
“Hehe, this is amusing.”
Arie let out a low laugh, and since I had no appropriate expression to make, I simply gave an awkward smile in return.
Name: Unknown.
Height: Difficult to determine.
Physical Characteristics: Assumed to be extremely ordinary.
Additional Notes: Voice is slightly low and deep. Personality presumed to be kind yet somewhat eccentric. Shows little material desire and possesses a weak enough heart to grant requests if asked earnestly…
The paper contained an incredibly long and detailed description of the mysterious person the headmaster was desperately searching for.
“……”
Who the hell is this? The part about being kind definitely rules me out…
While I stood there completely clueless, Arie nodded slowly with an expression that suggested she had figured it out.
“A Transcendent’s love… truly is quite heavy, isn’t it?”
“…Does this look like love to you?”
“Of course. Obsession is simply one of love’s many forms, you know.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
It was technically correct, yet I couldn’t bring myself to agree. Because obsession was nothing more than a form of possessiveness… And that kind of obsession would crumble easily the moment it faced true fear. I couldn’t call something so shallow love. It was merely a delusion born from intense possessiveness…
Whatever. Regardless of what Arie thought, I had no intention of arguing with her. It wasn’t like I wanted to force my opinion on her anyway…
Arie shook the paper a few times before elegantly handing it to me.
“Shall we take this?”
“…Are you serious? If this paper really is proof of love like you said, the headmaster will be furious…”
“Mmm, it’ll be fine. He’s already memorized it by heart. Even if he notices it’s gone, I doubt he’ll launch a desperate investigation.”
Are you sure about that? From what I can tell, he looks like the type who’d tear the entire academy apart if his pride was wounded…?
But Arie, completely unaware of my anxiety, had already tucked the paper into her clothes. Since I had no confidence I could convince her and she didn’t seem likely to listen anyway, I decided to just let her take it. Still, just in case, I figured I should leave some insurance behind…
— Swish.
While Arie wasn’t looking, I placed a note I had prepared back at the dormitory onto the desk.
“Hehe, shall we erase our traces and head back now?”
Luckily, it seemed Arie hadn’t noticed. Of course, if we stayed here any longer she would inevitably find it, but I had no plans to give her that kind of time.
— Ping…!
When I subtly flicked my hand behind my back, the faint sound of a thin thread snapping rang out. It was such a tiny noise that most people would have missed it, but Arie’s ears seemed to have caught it.
“Assistant…? Did you hear something just now?”
“Huh? I didn’t hear anything.”
“No, I definitely heard it. It sounded like something from a toy instrument…”
It was quite a creative and sharp guess, but unfortunately far from the correct answer. The sound I had just made was actually… the sound of me plucking the edge of a barrier.
— Beeeeeeeeeep!!!
Suddenly, a piercing, unpleasant alarm blared throughout the entire headmaster’s office.
“B-Boss???”
When I called out to Arie in feigned panic, she whipped her head toward the window. She seemed to be securing an escape route, but the window that came into view was now blocked by a strange white membrane.
Arie muttered, visibly flustered.
“…Oh dear, this is a problem.”
“Boss… It looks like this is as far as we go. Thank you for everything until now…”
“A-Assistant! How can you joke at a time like this?!”
I wasn’t joking, though. I really just wanted to stop causing heart-stopping chaos here… I kept that thought to myself, because I knew it would only depress her if she heard it. In moments like these, Arie was surprisingly fragile.
— Boom!
A pure white orb flew toward the window and caused a small explosion. Arie had attacked the barrier sealing the window.
“This won’t work.”
Having judged the situation with a single strike, she turned her gaze elsewhere. She had realized the barrier wouldn’t be easily destroyed. Next, she looked toward the door of the headmaster’s office. The thorough headmaster would surely have taken measures on the few passages connected to the interior, but it seemed Arie still wanted to grasp at any sliver of hope.
— Bang!
She drove a fist wrapped in divine power squarely into the door, but the white membrane protecting it didn’t budge an inch.
“As expected… This won’t work either.”
“T-Then what’s going to happen to us now?”
When I began acting anxious again and looked at her with desperate eyes, Arie’s pupils began darting around even faster.
“It’s okay… I’ll find a way for us to escape somehow.”
Even as she tried to reassure me, I could clearly see how anxious she was. I secretly smiled to myself.
You said you came here for fun, right? If everything went smoothly without any interference, that wouldn’t be fun at all. Don’t you think?