Field Trip (2)
Alley Justinia.
By now, she had grown accustomed to being ignored by the crown prince. Instead, she spent her time circulating among her followers.
She had wanted to spend today with Crown Prince Lucas Deberlu more than anything, but once again Lucas turned his back on her.
“…”
Why am I so unlucky?
She couldn’t capture the crown prince’s interest, and every man she had set her sights on had turned away.
It had started with Kael. He had looked at her with utter disgust before completely ignoring her. After that, she had subtly shown interest in Heidel, only to be politely rejected.
Avon Ragnarok. For a mere commoner to ignore her was simply intolerable.
I am the daughter of a grand ducal house…
Alley bit her lip hard.
This was all Maria’s fault. Everything had gone twisted the moment that girl appeared.
She must have gone around seducing every man in sight. It was obvious Maria was wagging her tail at all the handsome men Alley had carefully collected for herself.
That vixen…
“Oh, right, Lady Alley. Why don’t we all head up to the deck together?”
“Yes. They say the airship’s deck has an incredibly beautiful view.”
“Sounds good. I could use some fresh air.”
Alley went up to the deck with her followers to clear her head.
If she didn’t ventilate like this, her mind would overheat and she might actually fall ill.
Standing on the deck, letting the wind wash over her, she thought back on recent events.
“Lucas Deberlu. That guy likes plain things. Since he’s only ever seen flashy stuff his whole life, a girl like Maria Frendis probably looks mysterious to him.”
Kael Lotus seemed to know something…
But she had earned his hatred, so what could she do? In the end it had only been passing interest. Being rejected by the son of a border margrave was humiliating, yet she still believed she possessed tremendous value.
The other party was simply a scoundrel who couldn’t recognize her worth.
While she sat at one of the tables on the deck, enjoying the cool breeze, her eyes suddenly caught something.
Is that… Kael?
Kael’s figure entered her sight.
And beside him was…
Elia… Ah.
Elia Aventus was clinging tightly to Kael’s arm.
In that instant, Alley felt her common sense shatter.
No way. That iron-walled young lady is acting like that toward the social world’s infamous scoundrel?
Elia Aventus. Because of her signature expressionless face and calm demeanor, she was known in high society as the Ice Princess. Her personality was so unique that she had earned the title even over a grand duke’s daughter from the north.
She gave her affection to no one and regarded everything with wary caution. Countless people who had approached her hoping to become close had tasted only bitterness before retreating.
Yet that same Elia was now holding Kael’s arm, a faint blush coloring her face.
A grinding sound came from between Alley’s clenched teeth.
What happened next was even more shocking.
That person…
Pink bobbed hair, large round glasses, and an almost obscenely large chest.
It was someone she knew from their shared drama classes—Hestia Claudi. The girl was timidly clutching Kael’s other arm.
And finally…
Professor…?
The magic department professor, Lapel Straucht, was playfully hanging off Kael’s back.
In the next moment, Kael’s group blended into the crowd and vanished from sight.
Where did they go?
To Alley, it was an utterly shocking scene.
Even as a grand duke’s daughter, she was sensitive to the rumors and reputations that circulated in high society. But this… this was on another level.
It was a major incident that could reduce every rumor floating around high society to nothing more than chewed-up gum.
Yet her followers seemed completely oblivious.
“What’s the matter, Lady Alley?”
“Huk! You’re not feeling ill, are you?”
“Let’s head back down! It looks like Lady Alley has been in the wind too long!”
“It’s nothing.”
She forced her poker face back into place, but inside, bewilderment was flooding her thoughts.
How is something like that even possible? And inside the noble academy, no less!
Kael Lotus was receiving the love of other women.
The contrast with her own situation—being thoroughly ignored by men—left her with a strange sense of defeat. She couldn’t bring herself to hate him or feel jealous, yet she was forced to endure the turbulent undercurrent of those subtle emotions.
How did he do it? Just what exactly did he do?
What kind of charm did Kael possess? Was it his face? Could he really bring down Elia Aventus with nothing but his looks? Alley simply couldn’t understand what it was that made women flock to him.
Six hours had passed since the airship took off.
It really was much faster than a carriage. After all, this thing flew through the sky.
The airship reached the southernmost region of the empire in just six hours and landed safely at the docking station.
As it had been in the original story, nothing in particular happened inside the airship itself.
Most of the real events would begin from here on out.
"Shadow Magic"
“Hmm… So the last one really is Presence Detection Magic…”
While resting aboard the airship, I had taken the opportunity to finish reading Shadow Magic. At last I was able to learn the final spell.
It was none other than Presence Detection Magic.
Since it shared many applications with the previous section on perception-inhibiting magic, I was able to pick it up very quickly.
A large part of the magic circle had been damaged, but reading the residual thoughts and restoring the spell hadn’t been difficult.
Once activated, I could perceive the positions of objects and people around me even with my eyes closed, as clearly as if they were open.
In other words, I wouldn’t lose my combat ability even in total darkness. Or to put it another way, darkness had just become my home ground.
No wonder the book was called Shadow Magic.
Good thing I didn’t leave this behind…
It was far more useful than I had expected.
Just to be safe, I stored the fully read Shadow Magic inside my subspace, then stood up and prepared to disembark.
It was finally time for the highlight of Avon’s arc—the school trip event.
“The security design was thorough this time, yes?”
“Of course. The same incident as last time will not occur.”
Inside one of the noble academy airship’s conference rooms.
While the students disembarked one by one, several senior professors and board members kept replaying the same video over and over.
Monsters bursting forth. Monsters pouring into the academy interior.
Where had so many monsters come from? And how had such a large number of them attacked the students in unison without fighting each other?
There was still no clue to solving the case. The investigation was only sinking deeper into a labyrinth.
But one thing was certain…
“It is absolutely impossible for this many monsters to appear naturally in the capital. There is a high chance that terrorists are targeting our students. Therefore, everyone must spare no effort to ensure the students’ safety throughout the school trip.”
The previous incident had thrown the entire academy into chaos.
The students who had nearly been injured were all from noble families. In a noble academy, any harm coming to the students would create massive headaches for the professors and the board alike.
“Still… this student is truly remarkable.”
While the video played, one professor pointed at the image with his finger.
In the center of the crystal orb’s projection, a single student was single-handedly dominating a horde of monsters.
“It’s all thanks to him. Unfortunately we couldn’t give him any official reward while covering up the incident, but I intend to extend every possible convenience to that student.”
“Hmm… What was his name again?”
“Kael Lotus. I believe he is the eldest son of Margrave Lotus.”
The professor who had been pointing at the video smiled faintly.
“I see… He really is an interesting student.”
“Interesting… you say?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just my personal way of putting it.”
The professor idly touched the sword hanging at his waist.
He was a person worth looking forward to.
“And… as you said, we must maintain strict security. I’ll take my leave now to oversee the students.”
With those words, he left the conference room.
A sneer slipped from his lips as he walked out.
They don’t even realize the place that truly needs security right now is this very conference room…
The academy faculty were so confident that no terrorists were present. The sight was so ridiculous he couldn’t hold back his contemptuous laugh.