Black Cat Nero
“Haa…”
I let out a limp, empty sigh.
Today had already been packed with more than enough trouble, and I had just put a spectacular finishing touch on the whole mess.
“Aaaagh, damn it!”
I screamed like a lunatic, all alone.
Or so I thought.
“Eek!”
Apparently someone had been there.
Ah, how humiliating.
I hurriedly covered my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a startled female cadet bolting away.
A white-haired girl…
Wait. That back looks familiar.
Come to think of it, Aine had white hair too. The length, the build — it was all roughly the same…
No. I had to be imagining things. Aine had gone off with that bastard Leo earlier.
This was a world where a fantasy game had become reality, after all — cadets walked around with hair in every color of the rainbow. White and silver were common enough.
Anyway. After blowing up at Veronica, every last drop of energy had drained out of my body. When I had been yelling and hitting her, it had felt incredibly cathartic. But now, barely any time later, all that remained was a hollow emptiness.
And then the gloom settled back in.
All I wanted was to crawl back to the dorm and rest. Lie down on my bed, forget everything, and just sleep.
But of course, that kind of luxury was not something the world was about to grant me.
What I needed right now was not rest. It was uncovering Leo’s scheme.
This was not just anyone — this was Leo Epsilt. No matter how hard I tried, I could not picture him putting in honest effort to prepare for a duel with me. I had to find out whatever slimy, underhanded plot he was hiding.
I did not trust Leo Epsilt. Or rather — I trusted, with absolute certainty, that he would pull something despicable. With that as my baseline assumption, I started laying out a plan.
There was no telling when he would make his move. It could be as soon as tonight.
I dragged my exhausted legs — legs that kept trying to wander toward the dorms on their own — and forced them toward the academy store instead.
I was planning to save this for later.
I did not desperately need it yet, and it was not exactly an opportunity I could cash in on right this second. So I had left it alone. But for exposing Leo’s plan, it would be extremely useful.
“Haa…”
I sighed again. I had been doing that a lot lately.
There goes more of my money.
Helon Academy was enormous, so there were several stores scattered across campus. There was even a post office on the grounds. Some were little kiosks selling drinks and snacks. Others stocked class tools and materials, all kinds of equipment — even books and toys.
The one I was heading for was the latter.
If I remember right, you get this during the second-year summer festival.
This particular opportunity was an item. Ever since enrolling at the academy, I had been sweeping up every opportunity I could get my hands on.
First of all, Louis Wallenstein’s body had no particular talent to speak of. That was exactly why the original had turned to things like Magi and fallen. One way or another, I had to get stronger — even if it meant leaning on opportunities. Of course, I had also been working myself to the bone.
Second, there was always the risk of someone else snatching an opportunity first. Leo Epsilt was such a useless idiot that I was not particularly worried about him. But this world was real now, which meant the NPCs were real people too.
Still, this one was not combat-related, and you could only obtain it in the second year. So there had been no need to go out of my way to grab it early. Not anymore.
It was something you could pick up around the summer festival, but the festival itself barely mattered to the main story. This item was useful for the underworld arc that came afterward. The summer festival was basically just a fanservice event for the heroines.
Ah. Thinking about the summer festival dragged my mood down all over again.
First year, Veronica had insisted — forcefully — that we go together. It had actually been fun at the time. Now it was just another memory I wished I could scrub out of my head.
At the end of the festival, watching the fireworks, she had been uncharacteristically quiet, and we had made a promise. Next year, we would come to the festival together again for sure.
Ha. Veronica had probably wiped that promise from her mind ages ago. The fact that I still remembered it just made me feel worse.
Carrying that uselessly bitter memory, I arrived at the store.
“Welcome…”
A limp greeting drifted over from the counter — the kind of voice that drained the energy out of anyone who heard it. Not that my mood had any further to fall after everything that had just happened.
I scanned the whole shop. As expected, the thing I wanted was not even on display. I could not remember the exact details, but in the game the shelf number and position had been clearly marked. Buy it then and you could save money, too.
It was not summer festival season, so of course nothing was out. But I had my own reasoning, and I was certain it would be in this store.
I walked up to the clerk slumped over the counter.
“Uh… can I help you…?”
She eyed me approaching empty-handed with open irritation.
“I can’t find what I’m looking for.”
“If it’s not on the shelves, it’s sold out…”
Not a chance.
“I’d like to buy a summer festival mask.”
“……”
The clerk slowly pushed herself upright.
“Why are you looking for a summer festival mask in the middle of winter…”
She muttered under her breath and headed for what looked like a storeroom door. I followed.
“Which one would you like… Eagle? Lion? Or maybe…”
“A cat, please.”
“A cat…? You’ve got weird taste…”
She paused for a beat, then disappeared into the storeroom.
“Urgh… one should be enough, right…?”
Her voice floated out from inside.
As if I’d be fretting over whether I can afford a single mask.
I raised my voice so it would carry into the storeroom.
“I’ll take every single one you’ve got!”
A brief silence.
“All of them…?”
“Yes!”
The clerk emerged carrying a box. Well, one box was manageable…
Then she went back in and came out with another box, packed full. More money than I had budgeted, but still within reason…
She went back into the storeroom again and came out with yet another box.
Please stop…
Two more trips later, she finally stopped moving. Five whole boxes of cat masks were stacked on the shop floor.
“……”
Swallowing tears of blood, I paid with trembling hands and hauled all five boxes out of the store.
“Come again…!”
Still lifeless, but she actually sounded cheerful. My remaining funds were so tight that one more box and I would not have been able to buy them all. My hands were still shaking from the unexpected expense.
Damn that bastard Leo…
If I’d bought it at the second-year summer festival, one would have been enough.
I staggered into the dormitory with five boxes in my arms.
Bang!
I dumped them down like I was throwing them and immediately started trying on the masks one by one.
This one’s ordinary. This one too…
Four boxes went by in hollow disappointment. By the time I reached the last box, even I was getting tired — and then my hand closed around a mask that felt different.
I knew it instantly.
This is it.
The moment I put it on, it clung to my face — nothing like the stiff, ordinary masks from before. A small smile tugged at my lips.
An item that heightened the wearer’s stealth, blocked sound, and even carried a low-level perception-dampening enchantment. No risk of it slipping off by accident and blowing your cover, either.
The item’s name was…
What was it again? The Nero Mask? The Pluto Mask?
It had been years since I fell into the game. The little details were fuzzy now.
Either way, it was not much help in a fight. But for tailing someone, hiding your identity, or slipping into places you should not be — it was excellent. Like when academy cadets visited the underworld in the original game.
Or, say, when someone like me needs to tail a duke’s heir.
If Leo realized I was digging into him, he would just switch to a different approach. Getting caught by the professors tailing my scheduled duel opponent could blow up into a real problem. And if other cadets caught the traitor Wallenstein stalking the Epsilt heir, that would be just as bad. Either way, nothing good.
That was why I had spent a fortune locking this item down.
As I had said — Leo Epsilt could make his move as early as tonight.
Still wearing the mask, I carefully stepped out into the hallway. Even with a perception-dampening enchantment, staring someone dead in the face in a corridor would not do me much good. After confirming the coast was clear, I made my way cautiously toward Leo Epsilt’s room in the dormitory.
Luck was on my side. The hallway was empty.
Just as I started to relax, footsteps sounded from around the corner.
Now what?
If I simply took the mask off, I would just be another cadet walking the dorm corridor. But I decided to test the item’s performance while I was at it. I moved fast and ducked behind a potted plant in the hall.
And my judgment paid off.
Because the person who came around the corner was Leo Epsilt. He was even carrying something in his hand.
Catching sight of him heading somewhere, I smiled and murmured under my breath.
“Lucky me.”