Quite the Stack

Ester had left.

The first heroine. The one whose every ending had locked shut, leaving no more events to draw her out of the Academy. She had settled her affairs and gone—early graduation, with a thoroughly satisfied look on her face. Though for some reason, the last thing I remembered of her was how she kept dodging my eyes.

With Blash’s letter of recommendation, she would make for the Sisterhood under the Church’s protection. Somewhere grand in the Central Hall, no doubt. Ester would manage just fine. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t worried, but she had promised to write often, so at least I would hear from her.

“Ah.”

Right. Letters.

I only just remembered that mail had been piling up at the place I used to stay. Even if I wanted to tell them the address had changed, I could hardly announce Houndry in District 6… so I had simply left it alone for months.

“…Might as well go look, now that I’ve thought of it.”

I headed back to my old lodging for the first time in a long while.

“It’s been quite some time. We’ve been holding a great many letters for you, Lord Daywin…”

The hotel manager greeted me with an armful of mail. There was even a package in the mix. Quite the stack.

“I kept them just in case. I knew you would come for them eventually.”

“Thanks.”

I took the envelopes and boxes off his hands.

“Not at all. Please do visit us again anytime.”

I had been a top-floor guest, and the manager bowed with impeccable deference. I carried the pile outside and settled onto a nearby bench.

The stationery was all different—Ester’s letters, and plenty of other things besides. I sorted out only Ester’s first and checked them by date.

Eight in total.

In the month I had forgotten about her, she had written roughly twice a week. The shift in her feelings was plain enough if you followed the timeline… Early, middle, late. The early ones were mostly greetings: talk of the Subjugation Festival, thanks, and questions about whether I was well. In the middle, lines like You haven’t replied… began to appear. And then the late stage.

I could almost hear her voice trembling on the page.

Parents?

I riffled quickly through the pile and found an envelope stamped with the Gray family crest.

“There it is.”

It really was there. Not only Ester—her parents had written to me as well. Of course it wasn’t a note that said, Please read our daughter’s letters. As I had told Ester before, I had already corresponded with them once: to ask leave for her not to return home over the break. So they knew my address and had sent something else entirely.

A letter of thanks.

A gift, they said. Mixed in with the envelopes was a package; that must have been it. I tore the wrapping and found candles of every color, each with a different scent. A calm, light fragrance drifted up—the sort of thing that would help a person sleep if you lit it before bed.

There was more in the letter after that, but my mind had already wandered, and I never quite finished concentrating on it.

Ester’s parents had sent a letter and a gift. If I had seen them before the term started, I would certainly have mentioned to her that the present had arrived safely. I hadn’t. Which meant that from the very beginning, Ester had known I hadn’t read the mail. She had known I was lying, and still—

—she had smiled and said that.

Even for me, that was not something I could just let pass. Self-reproach and guilt, they had called it. Next time we met, I would bring her one of those cakes she had enjoyed so much at the Hasgard estate. I had no idea when that would be—but I would wait for it.

“It left quite an impression.”

Blash spoke as he briefly recalled the events in the marquis’s territory.

“Yes. It was a good experience.”

“A good experience… is it.”

Unlike Blash, the bishop wore a sour look.

“The Knight Commander went all the way out there and came back empty-handed. And you still call it a good experience…”

“Yes. We certainly failed to achieve our goal. He refused me flat, after all. Hahaha!”

“It is hardly a laughing matter.”

“It isn’t a crying matter either.”

Blash shrugged, then grew serious.

“Even without reaching the goal, we gained a great deal. First—” He jerked his chin toward Chris, who stood stiff as a board. “—this one’s discipline got hammered into shape.”

“Commander, I wasn’t that far gone…”

“I take it back. Looking at you, you still have a long way to go. Hmm. Second—Ester. We guided a talent under his patronage into the Church. She will be a formidable asset.”

“I heard. Tremendous mana, and she has already mastered holy magic as well.”

“Yes. I saw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that power with my own eyes.”

Blash raised three fingers.

“And third—most important of all—we found signs that the Death God Cult is stirring again. That is the greatest harvest.”

Even the bishop had no choice but to listen closely to that.

“I am disappointed as well, of course. Ester alone is more than satisfying, but he was the one we originally wanted.”

“Hmph. He may never have had the skill we hoped for to begin with. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. If he had joined the Holy Knights, I have a feeling I would have hung him from the ceiling at least once…”

“Is that so. Such a specific premonition. Remarkable.”

“How did he strike you?”

At that, Blash thought of Daywin. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A man who already commanded a range of capable people, who had subdued Chris with ease, who had faced the undead-risen founder with perfect calm.

“Given that he was already hunting the Death God Cult and reported it to the Order, he is someone we ought to work with—but I still cannot claim to understand him. An unreadable man, even after you think you have him figured out.”

“Then best not to cling to regrets.”

“One thing is certain: we are fortunate he is not an enemy.”

“…Mm.”

“Even if he never joins the Order, I cannot overstate how fortunate that is. Thanks to him, we can now pinpoint the cult’s activity.”

Blash made ready to leave with Chris in tow.

“Now it is simply a matter of us moving.”

Whoa. Blash really did send a letter.

Sifting further through the pile, I found an envelope stamped with the Holy Knights’ crest.

That was about the whole of it. The writing somehow carried his manner of speech exactly—odd how that worked.

I checked the rest. Bills, notices, a bank letter confirming ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my funds had been safely transferred to the Academy. Flipping past those, I found another that stood out.

The royal crest. A lion stamped on the envelope.

From Amelia? The only person the royal house brought to mind was her. But wait—had I ever given her my address?

Goosebumps rose along my arms. Whether it was Amelia or not, the thought that the royal family knew where I lived sat badly with me. I swallowed without meaning to and tore the envelope open.

At the top of the page, the sender’s name made me swallow again.

Kairon. The Fourth Prince, who doted on Amelia to a terrifying degree. His message ran as follows:

“…Why does everyone write the exact same thing.”

Unlike Blash’s, the hand did not ring with that booming energy. It was elegant calligraphy, in fact. Amelia had mentioned in passing that the Fourth Prince was grateful to me, but I had never expected a letter in person. How he had learned the address was still a mystery… but either way, he was someone I wanted to meet. Kairon, like me, had been a villain candidate. I needed the measure of him. I never turned away a guest who came to me.

“Hmm.”

That finished the backlog. I had only meant to check Ester’s letters, and far more information had come pouring in than expected. From now on, I would keep up with hers on time.

Sending Ester out of the Academy left me so much lighter. There had been five people to worry about, plus one more—now it was four plus one. Just one fewer, and it felt like finishing a pile of overdue homework. Going forward, this was the way: plant the heroines in influential powers across the kingdom, then harvest them around the time Laward graduated. When the fate of the world hung in the balance and the other side came for a final match, I would gather the heroines I had carefully raised and detonate them all at once.

Priority for early graduation went to heroines like Ester, whose endings were all locked and who had no remaining Academy events—heroines who would only stagnate if they stayed, and who were of no further use here.

“There’s exactly one…”

The royal house again. Amelia. Just as I had neatly slotted Ester into the Church’s vast organization, if I could talk Amelia into going home, I would gain the backing of the royal family itself. She was still an Academy student and tried hard to live that role, but blood was blood—and as long as I lived in this kingdom, that blood was useful. More than anything, her affection route was already finished. All that remained was to send her out.

The problem was—

“Hmph. Ridiculous.”

Amelia flung her midterm report card down in irritation. The problem was that her grades were still abysmal. The fluttering sheet even carried a warning from her instructors. Both the sword instructor and the magic instructor had written that next time, they would not look the other way.

Ester had grown and left cleanly. Amelia still had a long way to go. This was nothing like the case of someone who had simply run out of things to learn. If there was any common ground with Ester, it was this: the issue was not a lack of ability, but whether she chose to show it.

“This school simply cannot contain me.”

“Strange. The one who studies hardest still sees no improvement… Perhaps there is some fundamental problem. ‘Will,’ for instance.”

“…A fundamental problem.”

Amelia was next. Compared to Ester, the road would be far easier.

“By the way, Hasgard—you have been in and out of the Academy a great deal of late. I hear you made a spectacular intervention at the first-years’ outing not long ago. Are you this Academy’s patron, or its guardian deity?”

“Coincidence.”

“Tch. And is it also coincidence that you never once sought me out while wandering the grounds? Insolent thing…”

…Far easier, yes. Unlike Ester, whom I had had to separate from Laward while managing her affection, Amelia right now, as the Scouter showed—

“So you force this body to come looking for you first.”

Affection 99. MAX.

For all her talk, the route was already complete.

…Huh?

While checking her affection, I noticed the Scouter screen had changed. Stage Two privilege, the second one: the Scouter function upgrade unlock.