Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: First Princess - (1)
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Erebos Royal Academy's grandest event, the Full Moon Festival, had curtained to a close in what was history's worst catastrophe.
Rumors ran rampant.
The emergence of mysterious shadow monsters. Countless injuries and deaths.
But above all, the fact that a student of the academy—a noble lady from the prominent House Kreuz—had turned into a monster and died was something that could not be overlooked.
"Regarding the tragic disaster that unfolded at the last Full Moon Festival, Erebos Royal Academy expresses its deepest regrets."
And so, Erebos established a truth investigation committee.
"This committee will clarify the truth of this horrific incident unequivocally and take full responsibility to ensure such a tragedy never happens again."
Honorary Professor Hermann, who chaired the committee, turned his head to gaze at the seminarian with deep crimson hair seated in the center of the conference room.
"Sophia Veronica Aquilova."
The committee's first assembly.
Sophia harbored no great suspicion at being called forth. It was perhaps the natural course of events.
A truth investigation committee. A plausible name, but this gathering was less an investigation and more a trial in practice. The structure of the conference room—with its circular seating surrounding Sophia at the center—made that clear.
It seemed they wanted her to serve as a scapegoat to dodge responsibility.
"Sophia Aquilova. You were at the center of the Full Moon Festival catastrophe. And I hear it was you who stabbed Lady Isabella von Kreuz. What are the circumstances?"
"Isabella turned into a monster and went berserk, so I had no choice."
Sophia responded with a detached attitude, using informal speech.
Her bold demeanor made Honorary Professor Hermann's eyebrow twitch.
But what could he do? Sophia was no criminal.
In the past, she might have resigned herself to it.
But things were different now.
Sophia had no intention of being toyed with by those old fogeys. It would be a betrayal of her master, who had affirmed her worth. Thus, she had to stand tall.
And she had evidence.
"...On that point... hm. With the saintess candidate's testimony, we have no reason to doubt it."
Saintess candidate Elise had stepped forward as a witness. She attested that Sophia had fought alongside the monstrous Isabella and was innocent.
"However... where is the saintess candidate?"
There was no sign of Elise in the conference room—not even a glimpse.
The representative from the cathedral wore a troubled expression and shook his head.
"...Well, she's been unaccounted for since this morning..."
"Hmm... surely she must be occupied with important matters."
A witness existed, but not present here.
Yet bolstered by the mention of Elise's testimony, eyewitness accounts poured in from other students and servants about Isabella shrouded in black mist.
"Then let's move to the next item. Why did Lady Isabella..."
The committee, well aware of the facts, could no longer pin Sophia as the culprit.
Thus, as Hermann gripped his gavel to proceed to the next agenda—
Thud.
Suddenly, the conference room entrance grew rowdy.
"You can't come in!"
"Step aside at once! I need to see that wench's face with my own eyes!"
Bang!
Several armored men were shoved aside.
The one who entered the conference room was a burly middle-aged man dressed in fine attire.
"Is that the student? The one who dares claim she killed my daughter?"
"Count Raimund..."
The conference room fell into stunned silence.
Raimund von Kreuz.
The father of Isabella, who perished in this incident, and one of the kingdom's mere seven swordmasters.
Raimund was utterly consumed by grief over losing his daughter. Though House Kreuz's territory and Erebos Academy were quite distant, he had rushed here posthaste upon hearing the news of her death.
"Honorary Professor Hermann, I'm asking right now if that wench killed my daughter."
"Lord Kreuz... There were witnesses earlier. Lady Sophia Aquilova fought against the monster..."
"Are you saying my daughter was a monster right now? Daring to call the sole heir of House Kreuz a monster?"
"...N-No, that's not..."
A swordmaster's influence was truly formidable.
Not only their personal might, but their authority in the kingdom as well.
Under that overwhelming pressure, everyone fell silent.
"...Aquilova."
Count Raimund turned his gaze to Sophia. The intimidation was so intense it made breathing difficult—that was the killing intent emanating from a swordmaster.
Yet Sophia met Raimund's eyes without flinching in the slightest.
Their gazes locked for a moment.
Judging that bloodshed could erupt at any second, Honorary Professor Hermann hurriedly spoke up.
"Lord Raimund, this is information testified by the saintess candidate herself. It's a clear fact that Lady Isabella, shrouded in black mist, caused numerous casualties."
At the mention of saintess candidate, Kreuz scowled.
Elise Aurora de Lua.
Not merely backed by the cathedral's prestige, but a sacred bloodline bearing the authority of House Lua as well.
No matter how bold Count Kreuz, he had no hobby of stirring up a hornet's nest. Thus, he redirected his ire.
"...Then what was Erebos doing until things reached that point?"
Honorary Professor's face broke out in sweat at Count Kreuz's question.
"...Security was flawless. In fact, by Her Highness the princess's order, we had tripled the guards compared to last year's Full Moon Festival. However... this incident originated not from outside, but from within..."
"Meaning there's a traitor inside the academy, I take it."
Count Kreuz turned his head.
"Then isn't the situation clear? The last dregs of House Aquilova orchestrated it all."
"..."
"Who do you think personally beheaded Aquilova's patriarch twenty years ago? It was I, Raimund Kreuz. Father or daughter, the blood of traitors never changes. Same as always this time."
Sophia's eyes grew icy cold.
She had just realized the man who slew her parents stood before her.
"What guarantee is there that this wench doesn't carry the same evil seed planted in my daughter's body? I'll cut open this filthy lump of flesh myself to check. No one objects, I presume?"
Invoking his authority as a swordmaster, even the committee chair could only shrink back.
As the conference room atmosphere turned to one of sitting on pins and needles—
Creeeak—.
The heavy door of the grand conference hall slowly opened.
A new visitor.
"How noisy."
A woman's voice, cold and clear as ice.
All eyes turned to the entrance.
"As I understand it, this is the truth investigation committee. Yet why is the room filled with the shouts of the enraged rather than the witness's words?"
"What? You wench, what did you just...?"
The furious Count Raimund whipped his head around.
But upon confirming the owner of the voice, Raimund lost his words.
"I sympathize with a father's grief over losing his daughter, but one cannot rampage above the kingdom's laws. Summary execution? How utterly archaic."
"..."
"Pardon the interruption."
The woman who entered passed by Raimund and approached Sophia.
"Sophia Aquilova, would you come with me? I have a question."
"...Who are you?"
"Now, who do you think I might be?"
The pink-haired woman smiled with her eyes.
Act 1 had concluded.
The aftermath proceeded much like in the original work.
Judging solely by the outcome, it hadn't deviated greatly from the original plot. Sophia obtained the demon sword and shone as the protagonist. The Shadow's plan had failed.
In the cleanup process, the truth investigation committee was formed, and Sophia was summoned.
As in the original, she would be recognized as the demon sword's owner there.
However, there was one problem...
"Lady Kreuz died."
Isabella von Kreuz.
The noble lady whom Sophia had utterly demolished—she had become a Shade's host and ultimately fell to Sophia's sword.
I only learned of this after the festival ended.
House Kreuz was already infamous for its extremism, and with their daughter dead, who knew how the original story might twist. There was even a chance Sophia, branded the traitor's daughter, would be framed or subjected to reprisals.
"This is troubling."
I was already anxious about what snowball this change might become in the later story.
Moreover, the reason Isabella became a host stemmed from the original plot's distortion caused by me.
Though she was a minor character fated to die in Act 2, my intervention had brought her demise earlier.
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
"Well, what can I do about it."
Spilled water.
No point in dwelling on it.
Not something a lowly priest could intervene in anyway.
I'll just fold my arms and watch from afar, as always. That's the best survival strategy I can take.
I picked up the broom and swept the dust piled in front of the chapel.
Thus, a peaceful afternoon at the academy.
Or rather, what should have been a peaceful afternoon at the academy.
In the wake of the Full Moon Festival disaster, hardly anyone visited the chapel. No devotees came to morning mass, leaving the offering box empty. With the offering box empty, Priest Lowen had no reason to visit.
However.
"Father, I skipped my duties today."
One devotee had come for confession.
Her voice was familiar.
The burnout perfectionist girl who first visited the confessional.
"Sister, what... might that mean?"
"There was a meeting I absolutely had to attend, but I ditched it. It was thrilling. She's probably in a world of trouble right now, wouldn't you say?"
"...I see."
Probably meant skipping class.
"Following your advice last time, I've decided not to demand perfection from myself anymore."
"...That's, yes. A good thing."
"I even diligently followed the advice to intentionally break the rules."
I hadn't meant diligently.
But judging by her excited voice, she seemed to have sorted her mindset well.
Less confessing sins and more bragging about her positive changes.
At least, just as I felt a swell of pride that my counseling had some effect—
"So yesterday, I attended class without underwear."
What?
"The sensation of fabric brushing bare skin. The thrill of possibly being found out. Truly, does one only feel pleasure on the edge of a cliff?"
"...Uh, um..."
"For the record, I didn't wear any today either."
I didn't ask that far, miss.
I learned the unwelcome fact that the girl beyond the partition was going commando.
"Ahem... Sister's indiscretions... aren't really for me to comment on, but... as a young lady, perhaps you should strive to be more modest..."
I stammered it out.
I thought I'd handled it well, but our burnout girl just let out a shrill laugh.
"You're right. As expected, Father is so kind."
"..."
"I'll come again."
Please don't.
A confessional isn't for proudly reporting sins.
As I pleaded inwardly, she suddenly spoke from beyond the partition as if it had just occurred to her.
"By the way, do you know, Father?"
"Know what?"
"There was a huge carriage parked at the academy conference room."
"...A carriage?"
"Yes. One bearing the royal crest."
"..."
As I fell silent, the girl beyond the partition quietly left the confessional.
Even after she departed, I mulled over her words for a while.
"Royal crest..."
There was only one reason a carriage bearing the royal crest would be at the academy.
It was a scene from Throne of the Academy itself.
Between Acts 3 and 4.
After the catastrophe wrought by Archbishop Balua concluded.
During the cleanup, a carriage suddenly appeared.
The one who stepped out was a pink-haired woman.
"As expected..."
The worst-case scenario I'd anticipated had arrived.
"The First Princess."
First Princess Ciris Leisander.
She had come to the academy.
And far earlier than in the original timeline.