The Suspended Student of the Tempest (2)
A cold shiver ran down my spine, sweeping through my entire body.
Adopting my death... as a new narrative?
Even if I had escaped my fate as a scumbag, I had only veered off course for a brief moment.
I shouldn't have messed with causality enough to shake the very foundations of this world.
...Destiny slowly guides you.
But what on earth did that mean?
Beeeeep—!
Thump, thump, thump!
Anxiety invaded my mind, making my heart race at a frantic pace.
"...Whew!"
Get a grip.
Shaking my head, I forced myself to maintain my composure and spoke to the captain of the guard.
"Look, Captain. I understand the situation perfectly."
"Ahem. As I just said, my hands are tied. The Saintess's visit is a matter of utmost secrecy, kept even from His Imperial Majesty—"
"Victor."
When I cut him off and called for the driver, Victor flinched and answered.
"Y-Yes, young master!"
"Climb up onto the roof of the carriage right now."
"Huh? Why the roof all of a sudden...?"
Staring straight into the captain's eyes, I said,
"And once you're up there, yell at the top of your lungs for the whole town to hear: 'The Saintess has arrived in Undine on a top-secret visit, and our carriage is being blocked from entering!!'"
"Y-You crazy bastard!!"
The captain's hairy, lycanthrope arm shot out in a desperate attempt to cover my mouth.
"Y-Young master! You can't do this! Didn't I just tell you it's top secret?!"
"Exactly. So if you want to keep it a secret, open the gates. What do you think will be faster? Letting our single carriage through, or my voice—honed to perfection in front of ten thousand citizens back home—echoing across the plaza?"
"You said you'd keep it a secret...!"
"When did I say that? I don't recall giving you an answer."
"...Ha!"
The captain's jaw trembled.
Despite being the border captain of an entire nation, he looked utterly dumbfounded, completely shaken by the threats of a teenage noble.
Glancing with bloodshot eyes between me and Victor, who was already eyeing the carriage roof, he finally let out a deep sigh and threw his hands up in defeat.
"...In all my years, I have never seen such a thug of a noble. Open it! Open the border gates!!"
Screeeech—
The heavy gray iron gates slowly ground open, parting to either side.
"But do not step a single foot out of that carriage while you are inside the capital! Go straight to the teleportation circle and cross over to the Empire!"
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"What's the point of losing weight? He's still the same scumbag inside—"
The captain's snide remark reached my ears as we passed, but there was no need to waste energy bickering.
Clack.
The carriage began rolling toward the capital of Undine once more.
On the opposite seat, Miel, huddled up with chest-binding bandages wrapped tightly around her, stared at me with utter disgust.
"Wow... You are a literal demon."
"Formal speech."
"You are a literal demon, sir... Arghhh!"
I silently channeled mana into the Necklace of Subjugation while looking out the window.
Now, let's organize my thoughts.
The Goddess of Destiny.
Why would she directly target, or rather, hand down a death sentence to a mere early-game extra like me?
No matter how much I racked my brain trying to recall the past, I hadn't done anything that should make me a thorn in a deity's side.
Repairing my core, seizing the position of family successor, and getting acquainted with the Sword Princess, Iris?
Sure, those actions were a far cry from the original fate of the scumbag Sian.
But that was merely a correction of my personal trajectory.
The world of Ariel revolved strictly around the true protagonist, Cain.
The massive gears of causality turned solely to complete Cain's narrative, and the Goddess of Destiny governed that grand flow.
Just because an extra in some corner of the Brace Duchy shed some fat and got a bit stronger...
As long as it didn't fatally disrupt Cain's main narrative, there was no reason for the Goddess to go out of her way to burn me to death with a magnifying glass.
I haven't even entered the Academy yet. I haven't gone anywhere near the protagonist, nor have I intercepted any major episodes that could shake the world.
The answer seemed to narrow down to one possibility.
If the problem wasn't that I changed my own destiny...
Could it be because I had arbitrarily twisted the crucial destiny of "someone else" who was supposed to stand by Cain's side?
My gaze naturally drifted across the carriage.
My eyes slid toward the opposite seat.
"Argh... I-I was wrong...! Please spare me...!"
Her previous bravado completely gone, Miel was crawling on the floor, her soul practically leaving her body from the collar's shocking pleasure (?).
Come to think of it, this girl's very existence is anomalous.
In my memory of playing the game for ten thousand hours, a genius dark mage named "Miel" had never appeared once.
In the first place, Miel was the guy—no, girl—who had sneaked into our family's Underground Treasury on Baltar's orders.
No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't recall anyone named Miel or anyone who even looked like her.
Not that I trust my memory blindly.
But ten thousand hours isn't some joke.
If she had grown into some massive mastermind somewhere...
There was no such woman among the key figures of the main story.
I narrowed my eyes, staring down at Miel as she convulsed on the floor.
"Hey."
"Y-Yes, sir! Did you call?!"
The moment I stopped the flow of mana, Miel scrambled up on trembling legs and snapped to attention.
Her youthful face, smeared with tears and snot, looked incredibly pitiful.
"You."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Once your job in the treasury was done, what artifact were you originally planning to steal?"
At my sudden question, Miel's eyes darted around, filled with confusion.
"W-Why do you ask...?"
"Are you going to answer, or do I need to make you?"
"Sir, yes, sir! It was a dagger called the Dragon's Tooth!"
"...The Dragon's Tooth?"
It was a decent dagger, sure.
But wasn't it just a weapon coveted by mages to make up for their lack of close-combat skills?
...Yeah, I don't think she's the one.
Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Lightly tapping my chin, I made an announcement to Miel.
"Miel."
"Sir?"
"Get out of the carriage right now. I'll release your subjugation, so get the hell out of my sight."
"...P-Pardon?"
Miel's eyes widened to the size of saucers.
She rolled her eyes around, clearly suspicious that I was setting some kind of trap.
But when she saw that my expression was completely serious and deadpan, her youthful face lit up in an instant.
"A-Are you serious?! You're really letting me go?!"
"Yeah. If you don't get lost in three seconds before I change my mind, I'm locking you back down. Three, two—"
"Waaaaah! Thank you! May you live a long and healthy life, young master! I won't even piss in the direction of the Brace Duchy ever again!!"
Thud!
Even though the carriage was still moving, Miel flung the door open without a second thought and leaped out.
After rolling on the ground a few times, she quickly brushed off the dust, stood up, and bolted without looking back.
"I'm freeeeee—!!"
Her ecstatic cry echoed down the street.
Leaning against the window frame with my arms crossed, I quietly watched her receding figure.
If my theory is correct, I have absolutely no intention of keeping her.
If she was the culprit who tangled up my causality, then the moment she completely left my sight, that damn system window should either disappear or update.
Miel shrank into a tiny dot in the distance.
Holding my breath, I stared intently at the system window floating in the corner of my vision.
...
...
...Destiny slowly guides you.
"...Son of a bitch."
Even as time passed, the glowing red text remained floating in the air, unchanged by a single letter.
If anything, it seemed to pulse with an even more ominous red light, as if mocking me.
"Sigh."
A hollow sigh escaped my lips.
So Miel really has absolutely nothing to do with my destiny. She's just a cost-effective extra slave who was unlucky enough to cross my path.
I nodded without any lingering regrets.
"Time to get back to work, then."
I slid my hand up.
I channeled a sudden burst of raw mana into the control ring on my finger.
At that exact moment.
"Arghhh?! W-What's wrong with my legs?! Fuck meeee!!"
In the distance, just as Miel was about to happily turn into an alleyway, her body stiffened like a wooden log.
Then, spinning around like a machine, she began sprinting toward the departing carriage.
A hundred-meter dash forced upon her by the Necklace of Subjugation, completely overriding her free will.
"Save me!! Stop meeee!!"
Snot and tears flying, Miel ran like a madwoman and threw herself through the open door of the moving carriage.
Crash!
Face-planting onto the carriage floor, she panted heavily and raised her head, her eyes burning with resentment.
"Pant, pant...! You...! You said you released the subjugation!! You told me to get lost!!!"
Miel poured out her grievances with bloodshot eyes.
Pulling my gaze away from the window, I rested my chin on my hand with an indifferent expression and replied flatly,
"I lied."
"Y-You absolute demon!!!"
The atmosphere in the capital of Undine was definitely different from usual.
Despite it being the hour when various demi-human races should be bustling through the streets, the avenues were strangely quiet.
"..."
Peering out with my enhanced vision after reaching 3-Star, I could see inquisitors and holy knights covertly stationed on rooftops and at the corners of alleys.
An anomalous Saintess being guarded with such heavy security...
Who on earth could she be?
Unlike the original game, the light of the Goddess of Destiny has faded so early.
And now, at the exact moment the Goddess of Destiny is trying to drive me to my death, a variable that never existed in the original story has appeared.
I'm dying of curiosity, but right now, I need to ignore it.
Returning to the Academy is my top priority.
If I twist the episodes any further here, it might trigger an even worse chain reaction.
Before long, Victor's booming voice rang out.
"Young master, we have arrived at the teleportation circle to the Empire!"
I let out a short breath and stretched my stiff neck.
At any rate, we had made it inside safely.
Since there were likely troublesome forces deployed outside, keeping a low profile was the best course of action.
Yes.
Crossing over to the Empire quietly, without so much as brushing shoulders with this newly appointed, anomalous Saintess, was the absolute best-case scenario.
"Get down, Miel. Let's get on the teleportation circle quickly."
"Fuck, my freedom..."
Stepping out of the carriage, the teleportation circle to the Empire, housed inside a massive dome-shaped structure, came into view.
Fortunately, the forces here seemed to have been deployed outside, leaving the interior deserted.
Perfect. No one's here.
Just as I was about to quickly step onto the gate.
Rustle.
From behind a massive marble pillar deep inside the building, someone stepped out soundlessly.
"...!"
I stopped in my tracks reflexively, instantly on guard.
Long, white hair and pointed ears.
Her skin wasn't completely pale, suggesting she was a half-elf.
The bluish light radiating from the teleportation circle reflected off her hair, shimmering with a mystical azure glow.
"Who are you?"
"..."
Meeting my gaze, the half-elf spoke in a dry yet clear voice.
My instincts immediately flared with a bad feeling.
The fact that she could approach while masking her presence to this extent was proof enough that she was no ordinary person.
I swallowed hard.
Don't provoke her. Just pass through quietly.
Feigning composure, I replied in a polite yet distant tone.
"We are simply travelers wishing to use the teleportation circle."
Her transparent eyes slowly scanned me, Miel, and then Victor standing behind us.
"Your origin?"
"...The Empire. We are Imperial nobles."
It was a lie born of pure, baseless intuition.
I felt that if I revealed we were from the Brace Duchy, it would only lead to unnecessary complications.
But Victor, standing behind me, opened his big mouth without a shred of tact.
"Huh? But young master, you're not from the Empire, you're from the Bra— Mmph!"
I whipped my head around, sending Victor a silent threat that I would rip his tongue out if he didn't shut up immediately.
Terrified by my murderous aura, Victor let out a squeak and hurriedly clamped his hands over his mouth.
"Hmm..."
Watching our clumsy farce, the elf let out a soft hum.
Just as I was about to slide my hand toward the hilt of my sword, wondering if we had been found out—
"Well, it is none of my business anyway. You may pass."
She stepped aside quietly, clearing the path to the teleportation circle.
"...Thank you for your consideration."
"..."
I gave a polite nod and quickly stepped onto the circle.
Phew...
I let out a silent sigh of relief.
Seeing how easily she let us go, she seemed to have nothing to do with that grand "Saintess" the captain had been fussing about outside. She was probably just a high-ranking elf managing the teleportation circle.
Once Miel and Victor stepped onto the circle with me, the geometric runes carved into the floor began to glow with a brilliant light, activating the magic.
Whirrrrr!
The distinct sensation of weightlessness from space warping enveloped my entire body.
Once this light completely consumed my vision, we would safely arrive near the Empire's Academy.
"..."
Just before my vision flashed white, my eyes met hers once more as she stood outside the circle.
I saw the corners of her mouth slowly curl upward.
...What is that? Creepy.
Just as the roaring sound of the magic circle reached its peak—
"I shall look forward to it."
"...?"
"Do try to run, young master. Right onto destiny's guillotine."
Flash!
Immediately after, the light swallowed my vision.
...Son of a bitch, she really was the Saintess.