I'll Stir Up a Little Trouble
Me and Seris left the area around the academy.
It had been entirely her idea.
She wanted to see more of the wider world instead of being cooped up inside the academy. And she was right.
The shops near the academy only offered so much to do, and the place was crawling with students.
Of course, Seris was the Saintess of Purity. She shouldn’t have been allowed to wander outside so freely.
This actually got approved.
Tomorrow was the weekend, and the dean had given us his surprisingly relaxed permission.
“How does it look?”
Seris, now wearing fake mustache glasses, kept fiddling with the area above her lip. She frowned, clearly uncomfortable with the prickly sensation.
“Seris.”
“Yes?”
“Do you honestly believe that counts as a disguise?”
“Um… it doesn’t work?”
Her face fell, shock written all over it as she asked again.
“This kind of magic exists for moments exactly like this.”
“B-but… I thought it looked cool.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but if you walk around like that, even a random dog on the street would know you’re the saintess.”
“No way…”
A deflated Seris fumbled to take off the glasses.
“Do you know how to cast a disguise spell?”
“…No. I can’t do anything like that with divine power.”
“Then I’ll help.”
I altered Seris’s appearance and had her change clothes. I swapped my own student uniform for light casual wear as well.
I briefly debated disguising myself too. As a commoner, my face wasn’t widely known. Would it even matter?
Someone might recognize me.
Tomorrow was the weekend. We could easily run into other students who’d also received permission to go out.
No reason to invite unnecessary trouble.
I changed my own appearance, then cast a no-contact spell on Seris. Since we were heading into the crowded streets, I didn’t use the kind that would trigger a full barrier within fifty meters. Instead, I placed a delicate ward around her that would only prevent skin contact with others.
“Shall we go?”
I led Seris into the bustling district. By now the streets were lit up with countless lights.
“The legendary elixir I finally managed to get my hands on—Ellis! First come, first served!”
“Over here! One spray and you can seduce any woman you want?!”
The vendors’ booming voices hit us immediately, followed by a wave of overlapping noise that flooded our ears.
Seris, experiencing this chaos for the first time, kept flinching. Whenever a particularly loud shout rolled over the crowd like a wave, she instinctively tried to cling to me.
“Don’t leave my side!”
“Our skin would touch.”
“But you put up the barrier…”
“Don’t be scared. No one’s going to eat you.”
I guided the thoroughly frightened Seris forward.
“W-who said I was scared?”
She shrugged, trying to look composed, but her scattered responses gave away her true feelings.
“Hmm. What should we do first?”
I looked around. A clown was performing a fire show on a tightrope. The audience cheered wildly every time he successfully navigated the dangerous stunt.
Elsewhere, drunken mercenaries stumbled out of a tavern, laughing raucously. A minstrel sat in a tree, playing his instrument beneath the moonlight.
Street vendors called out to anyone who wandered by, trying to lure in customers. Up above, people leaned out of windows, resting their chins on the sills as they watched the lively scene below.
“…Wow.”
The fear that had gripped Seris earlier had completely vanished. Now her eyes sparkled as she took in the people living their everyday lives.
“It’s wonderful.”
The words came straight from her heart.
“…It really is different from someone like me, locked away in a cage.”
“It’s not.”
“You don’t have to comfort me…!”
I grabbed her hand—technically the edge of the barrier—and pulled her toward the thickest part of the crowd. The important thing wasn’t the technicality.
“Hey, you two lovebirds! You’ll regret it if you don’t buy now! We’re almost sold out!”
One vendor latched onto us immediately. I thought for a moment, then turned toward his stall.
“Let’s take a quick look.”
“Huh?”
Since we’d come all the way out here, we might as well enjoy ourselves. Besides, I’d squeezed plenty of wealth out of the Rosianne family. Splurging at a street stall wouldn’t even make a dent.
“What an adorable couple.”
I followed the voice and found an elderly couple smiling warmly at us.
“C-couple…”
Seris’s cheeks flushed bright red as she timidly pressed herself closer to me. Thanks to the barrier we weren’t actually touching, but to anyone watching we looked completely attached.
“We only have one left.”
The old man grinned, showing his teeth.
“I told you to stop smiling like that, you old fool!”
The old woman’s hand came down on his back with a solid smack. They seemed to have a good relationship.
“Goodness. You’re here to look at the merchandise?”
“Yes.”
“This is the only one we have left… I made it myself. Take your time looking it over.”
She handed me the necklace. It was plain, nothing particularly special about it.
Yet my eyes kept returning to it. For some reason, this ordinary necklace had caught my attention.
It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
Almost as if in a trance, I picked it up and asked, “How much?”
“Just take it. I’ll give it to you for free.”
“Are you sure that’s all right?”
“The fresh, innocent way you two look reminds me of my younger days. Don’t overthink it—just accept it as a gift.”
The old woman gave us a gentle push from behind. When I turned, I saw Seris standing there with her head deeply bowed.
“Seris.”
I took a step closer and carefully moved to place the necklace around her neck.
Hmm?
I felt resistance. It was as if something was screaming at me not to put it on her.
The strange part was that Seris herself wasn’t resisting at all. On the contrary, she was holding her breath, clearly waiting for me to do it.
There’s no reason not to.
My instincts whispered that I should put the necklace on her. So I followed them.
I gently brushed her hair aside. The fragrant, silky strands slipped through my fingers.
“Haa…”
Seris let out a shaky breath.
“Stay still.”
“…Yes.”
She swallowed hard, tense. In that same moment, I fastened the necklace around her neck.
“Hik?!”
The cold metal brushed against her nape. Seris flinched slightly, then slowly lifted her face to meet my eyes.
“It’s beautiful. Truly.”
She smiled brightly and touched the necklace. It seemed she was pleased.
The design was far better than anything you’d expect from a street vendor. It wasn’t flashy, but its clean elegance would probably be popular among nobles.
Giving something like this away for free…
I turned to thank the elderly couple, but they were gone. Not a single trace of them remained where they had been standing.
“What the…?”
The moment confusion set in—
“We must correct the empire!”
“The imperial family has joined hands with black magic! How can we allow this to continue?!”
“Step down! Step down!”
A crowd suddenly surged forward, launching an abrupt protest. But this wasn’t an ordinary demonstration.
That was an army.
This was outright treason.
There was no way the authorities would let it slide.
“Purify the empire!”
Knights moved with solemn precision, beginning to surround the bustling streets. The ducal crest was prominently displayed on their uniforms.
The Sivtant ducal house…?
Isana’s full name was Isana Sivtant. Which meant the people causing this commotion belonged to her family.
“E-Ethan.”
The saintess looked at me with anxious eyes.
“We should head back to the academy.”
I had no interest in getting dragged into troublesome affairs. Besides, I had promised the dean.
I wouldn’t cause any accidents.
“You there! Don’t you dare run!”
A knight bellowed at us as we prepared to leave. When I turned to look at him—
What is this?
His eyes were bloodshot and spinning wildly.
That wasn’t all. A proper knight should never show such disarray.
Yet this man only wore the outer shell of a knight. He looked ready to collapse at any moment. His hands trembled violently, as if he were suffering from withdrawal.
“If you run, we’ll brand you as the devil’s servants!”
The knight roared, spouting complete nonsense.
“Haa.”
Dean, I’m sorry.
I’ll stir up a little trouble.
“My lord. The operation was a success.”
The knight saluted as he delivered his report.
“…Continue.”
“We have spread word across the continent that the imperial family is colluding with demons. The Holy Empire should make its move soon.”
“Good. That’s how it should be.”
Valterion Sivtant, duke of the Sivtant house, rose from a large pool of blood-red liquid.
The moment the dripping water touched the floor, a crimson gleam flashed in the duke’s eyes.
“Our information?”
“We have erased all traces. We just received confirmation from a spy within the imperial family.”
“No. We cannot claim it’s fully erased with such half-measures.”
“Pardon?”
“Katrina Aurel Lomenheim. That woman is the problem.”
The Sivtant family had once interacted with black mages. Somehow their connection had been discovered, and the princess had wiped out every black mage operating under the Sivtant banner.
“Her eyes are not those of a human.”
The earlier information could have leaked naturally, but the emotionless gaze she had shown during their private meeting was something else entirely.
That stare had sent a chill down his spine, carrying a dignity even the emperor himself could not match.
“Make sure it ends more decisively.”
“Understood. But what about the young lady…?”
“Leave her. A girl like that will die on her own soon enough.”
Valterion had despised Isana from the moment she was born. A monster who had killed her own mother upon entering the world.
That was why he had never visited her for years. And when she finally developed her own sense of self—
“Get lost.”
She had refused to yield even to a father hundreds, thousands of times stronger than herself. The duke had responded by completely ignoring her existence.
Even when she bared her fangs at the family in an attempt to devour it, he paid her no mind. After all, the chance of her succeeding was practically zero.
He still believed that now.
“Huu.”
Valterion exhaled deeply as he donned his robe.
“It is time to bring the empire to its knees.”
He spoke the words calmly, steeling his resolve.
Bringing down the empire was not some long-held ambition.
Originally, Valterion had enjoyed managing his house and exploiting the pathetic commoners. But at some point, an intense hatred for the empire had begun to boil inside him like madness.
He felt no doubt about that emotion. The empire had always been an eyesore to him.
Therefore, his feelings were perfectly justified. Of course, this was the first time he had actually planned a rebellion.
Yet he could not stop. The overwhelming sense that it must be done had consumed his entire being.
“The empire will fall soon.”
Valterion himself desired it.
And so did the World’s Will.