Something Important
Lately, every cadet attending classes had been visibly excited.
There was still a fair amount of time left until the practical evaluation, but when you thought about it, it wasn’t all that long either.
At first the cadets had complained about the shocking choice of the Dark Forest as the venue. Even the ones who’d been fretting, though, couldn’t help looking forward to it. That was only natural. The evaluation was also supposed to double as a school trip, and Lutern Island—right next to Beorn Island, where the Dark Forest sat—was one of the most famous resort destinations in the entire empire.
Me?
I wasn’t in a position to simply look forward to it. Sure, the rest on Lutern Island after the evaluation was something I was waiting for as well. But right now my head felt ready to explode just from the Veronica event that came before it.
Of course, everyone except me was in high spirits—Master and Aine both.
“Lobster! They say the lobster is famous, disciple!”
“It says there’s tropical fruit everywhere too!”
Master had somehow gotten her hands on a Lutern Island tourist pamphlet and was reading it over and over. Even Aine, who’d been downcast over her sister, looked a little brighter. Especially after I’d promised to treat her sister; she’d been noticeably more at ease.
In the end, I was the only one who couldn’t fully look forward to any of it. This event wasn’t going to be easy, and I needed to prepare. That was why I’d decided we would take on a party mission this weekend—so the newly assembled party could get used to working together first.
Master had newly joined the party. The remaining three had originally been in the same party as me, but with three members gone we still needed to check our coordination again.
I’d arranged to have dinner with the party members and then meet in front of the office at seven to accept a commission.
Someone might ask why we didn’t just go together. The answer was simple: I only ever went around with Master and Aine. During meals the princess would occasionally join us, and I sometimes ran into Lucy for a chat. But I never talked with my former party members besides Aine. That remained true even after Professor John’s orders put us back in the same party. Just because we were party members again didn’t mean I had any intention of hanging around Veronica or Felice on a regular basis.
For the record, Veronica was fine, but Felice was being mocked by the other cadets for rejoining our party.
The day after I’d all but been forced to accept Professor John’s proposal in his lab, he’d announced the finalized practical evaluation teams during combat practice. Once the cadets learned Felice was in my party, they went right back to ridiculing her.
“Ha! You kick him out one day and crawl back the next? Did the prideful Ansberg actually go begging to Wallenstein?”
“Just begging? Looking at her, I’d say…”
One cadet trailed off and snickered while staring at Felice. He never finished the sentence, but everyone present understood the filthy implication. Felice’s face flushed red; the others only laughed harder at the sight.
“Why didn’t you just join Young Master Leo’s party after all that fawning?”
“She didn’t refuse—she couldn’t get in. Their house is finished now, right?”
“True. As if Young Master Leo would even look at her. Serves her right. Heh.”
Naturally Felice had never fawned over Leo, but the cadets mocking her didn’t care. They piled on—how her family was now worse off than even the Wallensteins, how this was karma for all her past arrogance—every word calculated to wound.
Technically the same charge applied to Aine and Veronica: they’d tried to exile me and then been the ones exiled, only to end up back in my party. But Veronica’s status made it hard for them to trash-talk her freely, and Aine was a commoner. The cadets had never paid her much attention to begin with. If they were going to mock someone, tearing into Felice—who’d been riding high only to crash—was simply more entertaining.
After the time I’d stopped them from scribbling on Felice’s desk, I never stepped in again. She’d done me wrong, true, but watching others torment her didn’t give me any real satisfaction. If anything, the cadets harassing her just looked pathetic. That said, I no longer had any obligation to stand up for her either.
So Felice endured the cadets’ ridicule again today.
I, for my part, sat through the lectures as diligently as I could. Lately the lack of sleep made fighting off drowsiness in class a real struggle; the short naps I snatched during every break were the only reason I was still upright.
After finishing the day’s classes we had dinner—the Chairman joined us this time—then Aine, Master, and I headed for the office to accept a commission. The Chairman said she wanted to see Sasha and came along, only to suddenly remember something halfway there and vanish.
“She looks awfully busy.”
“She does, doesn’t she.”
Not that I was in any position to worry about someone else. Honestly, I was probably busier than the Chairman.
The three of us rounded the corner and saw Felice and Veronica already waiting in front of the office door. They’d spotted us as well. Felice stood in silence, eyes fixed on the floor. Veronica glanced at my face, then timidly opened her mouth.
“E-everyone’s here…?”
I didn’t answer. Neither did Master; she still clearly disapproved of both Veronica and Felice. Only Aine gave Veronica a small nod.
I looked over the group. The awkward atmosphere felt like it was trying to kill me. I had no idea how to defuse something like this—and, frankly, no desire to waste words trying. If it were just Master and Aine, we’d be having a good time.
So I spoke in a strictly businesslike tone.
“We need to get used to working together before the practical evaluation… so I was thinking we’d clear one commission this weekend. Everyone okay with that?”
“Yes!”
“I’m fine with it.”
Aine and Master answered in turn. I turned my gaze to Veronica and Felice.
“I… I’m fine too…”
Felice answered quietly, eyes still glued to the floor.
Strangely, though, nothing came from Veronica. I looked at her. So did Master and Aine. After a moment of hesitation, Veronica squeezed her eyes shut and spoke as if she were truly sorry.
“I-I’m really sorry, everyone! This weekend I have something genuinely important…”
She cast nervous glances around the group, then finally turned to me with a thoroughly frightened expression.
“Actually, another Magic Tower—”
“Then sit this one out.”
Veronica had been about to explain further, but I cut her off coldly.
“Uh… uh-huh…”
People could have plans on the weekend. It could simply happen to be this particular weekend. But the whole reason we were meeting was to coordinate ahead of time so we could rescue Sally. Hearing that Veronica of all people was dropping out made irritation surge through me in an instant. Honestly, I’d been a little emotional just now. I still didn’t bother apologizing.
Instead:
“All right. The rest of us are going in.”
With that I opened the door and stepped into the office.
Following Louis, the cadet called Alice went inside. Aine, looking flustered and unsure what to do, trailed after them. Even to Veronica, Aine was a genuinely kind girl. If only she herself hadn’t looked down on commoners from the start and had been a little friendlier… The idle thought floated up unbidden.
Last of all Felice followed them into the office with lifeless steps. Then the door shut, leaving Veronica alone in the corridor.
She remembered Louis’s face a moment ago and flinched, a shiver running through her.
Louis… he definitely looked annoyed.
Annoyed, and disappointed in her. Of course he would. Professor John had forced him to take people he didn’t even want into his party, and the moment he tried to take on a commission she said she didn’t have time. Anyone would be irritated.
No—if Louis did that to me, I’d be fine with it.
The problem was that Louis didn’t feel the same way. This would have been their first party activity together since that final commission when they’d kicked him out. Veronica had wanted to go with them somehow, but this time it was impossible. This weekend she was scheduled to visit the Black Magic Tower.
If Louis had known her lack of time was because of Sally, he would have understood. But there was something Veronica couldn’t possibly know: the man called Louis Wallenstein had been replaced by someone else, and that had slightly shifted the original game’s story and timeline. In the original game, Veronica never went looking for Sally at this particular point.