Soft and Tender
Soft and tender.
Just like Ansberg Territory, the funeral too had turned into complete chaos.
The Countess of Ansberg, who ought to have been restoring order, took her collapsed daughter inside. Of course, given how badly the girl had already been shaken, a mother carrying Felice away was nothing strange. To those who had just witnessed the scene, however, it looked rather different. It looked exactly as if she were using Felice as an excuse to flee the stage—because the princess’s words had been true, and there was nothing left to refute them with.
Whispers began to ripple through the crowd. Had the countess been lying all along? Could it actually be true that the Wallenstein boy had saved House Ansberg? And the one who claimed it had been the imperial princess herself. Had the countess spoken up at once, things might have gone differently; instead people felt she had simply grabbed Felice and run. The perfect moment to contain the damage had slipped away, and the rumor began to swell beyond anyone’s control.
The princess’s explanation had been explosive—perfectly sensational material for the listeners.
“So the cadets’ mistake caused this whole disaster?”
“Hard to call it a mere mistake. Young Lord Louis Wallenstein supposedly foresaw it and insisted on hunting the gargoyles…”
“Heh. So Young Lord Louis wasn’t a wastrel after all?”
“Come on. Just luck, surely.”
Speculation of every kind spilled from every mouth—about Louis, about the rest of the party.
“Will the Imperial Family really punish House Epsilt?”
“Hardly. The Academy will settle it with a slap on the wrist.”
“Even though an entire count’s house was smashed to pieces…?”
“Even the Imperial Family can’t casually touch a ducal house or the Magic Tower.”
“I’ve never even heard of House Nidia…”
“Esther Kalt—could that be the Saintess?”
Everyone voiced their own theories, yet they all arrived at the same conclusion.
“Then… doesn’t that mean Young Lady Felice also bears responsibility for the destruction of her house and the death of Count Ansberg?”
Tongues clicked in disgust.
“She knew all that and still stood there shamelessly?”
“While people were praising her?”
“No—she knew the full truth and still lied.”
The looks of consolation that had been directed at Felice only moments earlier were gone. Degree varied, but every face now held thick contempt. Watching them, the princess smiled inwardly.
What will you do now, brother? House Ansberg had nothing left but its name, and now even that honor is gone.
Perfect. The only thing that pricked her conscience…
She glanced sideways at Louis. Using him without so much as a proper word of warning left her a little guilty, yet—
In the end, isn’t this good for Louis too?
With a single statement she had publicly secured the credit that would otherwise have been buried. Since it benefited him as well, that was enough.
While everyone else muttered under a heavy atmosphere, one man alone burst into roaring laughter.
“Ahahahaha!”
People stared at him as if he were mad. He, of course, paid them no mind whatsoever. Louis Wallenstein knew who it was without even looking.
Franz Wallenstein, Count Wallenstein, no doubt.
The man strode over to Louis’s side and declared at full volume,
“Well done, Louis Wallenstein!”
Unable to bear the mortification, Louis muttered under his breath,
“Please shut up, my lord…”
Franz whispered back,
“I’ll need the full story later, but magnificent! You stuck it to those Ansberg bastards! Though I can’t say I like that it was the princess who said it…”
“If I did so magnificently, maybe a little money—”
“Shut it.”
Father and son whispered and grinned at each other while the rest of the gathering regarded Count Wallenstein as some bizarre spectacle.
“Hwaaaah…”
I yawned widely. Fatigue had been stacking up in my body lately. No wonder—ever since the nest investigation I had been running around without a single proper rest. Too many things had happened in too short a time. That was one reason.
The other was the white-haired girl cadet who kept materializing in my vicinity with nerve-scraping consistency. She was a thief, after all. Aine’s stealth technique seemed to improve by the day, and every fresh appearance still made my skin crawl. I was starting to get properly irritated. Not a single word of explanation, just lurking around like that—what the hell was she even doing?
Anyway, today was finally the start of break. Only a few days after the funeral. Everyone else seemed busy exchanging farewells with friends before heading home. Me? I had no friends to say goodbye to!
I was not sad. On the contrary, I was glad. The time I would have wasted on that nonsense could be spent far more efficiently during vacation.
Some might conclude I was the Academy’s official outcast. That would be incorrect. The Academy cadets were not ostracizing me. I was ostracizing the Academy.
“Huh? Why are my eyes… watering…?”
I muttered to myself. I still could not forget the words Franz Wallenstein had once spoken to me.
“Louis, it is not the world that shuns us Wallensteins. We are the ones who shun the world.”
Damn, what charisma. Truly worthy of a villainous father.
Still, it was not as if I had absolutely no one to bid farewell. Earlier, for instance, I had exchanged a brief goodbye with the princess. Even though it was break, she had claimed she was busy with work and had to leave. She had looked rather apologetic when she said it.
And then there was the shop clerk—the one who had sold me a mountain of masks last time. Of course I was not going there to say goodbye.
“Welcomeee…”
That same drawn-out, energy-draining tone as always.
Bang!
I slammed the entire box of cat masks onto the counter.
“What is thiiis…”
“Refund, please.”
“No.”
Why so decisive all of a sudden?
“I said refund.”
“No.”
Normally she dragged every syllable; only now had her speech returned to normal.
“Why not?!”
Thinking about it, I had completely forgotten the elementary fact that refunds are usually allowed. Was I actually an idiot?
I set that concern aside for later and started arguing.
“Look, items bought at the Academy shop are normally refundable—”
“That’s the other shop… This one is no refunds…”
“There was never any rule like that!”
When I pressed her, she pondered a moment, then pulled paper and pen from under the counter and scribbled something. A second later she propped the paper on the counter.
No exchanges or refunds after opening the product.
A phrase I had seen countless times back in Korea before falling into this world. That aside—
“You just made that up! And these weren’t even packaged to begin with!”
I jabbed a finger at the box and shouted. She answered,
“You opened the box… right…?”
I nodded.
“Then you opened it… No refunds…”
“Aaaargh! I just said you made that rule five seconds ago! Aren’t you just a clerk?!”
“I’m the manager…”
Ah. Manager. She regarded me for a moment with a faintly pitying look, then said,
“Um, customer…?”
“Yes?”
“Who in their right mind buys cat masks these days… You cleared out my entire stock. You really think I’d refund that…?”
Unnecessarily honest, wasn’t she.
In the end I left the shop again, still carrying the box of cat masks.
“Have a nice day, c—customer…!”
I ground my teeth and seriously wondered whether this world possessed anything resembling a consumer protection agency. I had thought I might recover a little money; failure.
I checked my wallet. It was now truly desolate. And even those last few coins were scheduled for complete annihilation today. I walked into another shop and spent every remaining handful of cash on as much food as I could. “As much” was still pitifully little, of course. I slung the bundle over my shoulder and headed into the Academy forest, climbing the hill, past the magic castle, across the swamp, into the dark cave—
“Oh, it’s my disciple!”
Ah. Hauling the bundle uphill had tired me so much I started daydreaming without noticing.
“Master! Um… what’s that in your hands?”
“Perfect timing! Today I found some rather tasty grass roots, plus soft, tender tree bark!”
She announced it as though boasting about a prize catch. Tears sprang to my eyes. Who describes tree bark the way people describe meat…
“Hic…”
“Disciple, what’s wrong?!”
To be honest, emptying my last coins on food earlier had felt a little wasteful. Looking at this scene, though, I was glad I had. At my sudden tears she dropped the grass roots with a soft patter and rushed over.
“What happened?!”
“Ah, nothing. More importantly, please take this.”
I held out the bundle. She untied it with a puzzled expression—then—
“Hahk!”
—let out a short scream and began thrashing her tail wildly. Watching that, she looked less like a cat and more like a dog…
Not an insult.
Anyway, after a moment of pure joy she suddenly launched herself at me and crushed me in a tight hug.
“You’re the best, disciple!”
“G-get off—!”
I stammered, but she paid no attention and kept squeezing as she spoke.
“Oh! Disciple, I have a present for you! Wait just a moment!”
With that she vanished into the cave in a flash.
A present? What could it be?