Overreaction
All things considered, Cecilia’s somewhat absurd first day at the Academy passed without further incident. At the very least, none of the professors spouted anything utterly bizarre, and nothing strange happened with the students seated around her either. So I suppose it went well enough, in its own way... or maybe not. Whatever.
At any rate, once Cecilia’s schedule for the day concluded, I escorted her back to her dormitory room before slipping out once more.
"What does our little junior think about all this?"
"I'm not sure. The execution was amateurish, but it's rather puzzling that incidents keep targeting Her Highness like this. It isn't as if she's the First Prince or First Princess—she's only the Third Princess."
"Right? Makes you feel like there's definitely more lurking beneath the surface... Though I guess we won't know right away."
I followed Lyn down into an underground sector of the Academy whose existence I hadn't even suspected. Navigating the murky subterranean passages behind her, watching her diminutive frame and the soft swish of her fluffy tail, the surroundings eventually began to shift.
"Is this the place?"
"Yep."
"It looks... remarkably well-suited for locking someone away."
"Doesn't it? It comes in handy, so make sure to remember it, Junior."
"Understood."
At the end of the gloomy tunnel lay a cluster of reinforced chambers built like prison cells. This was undoubtedly where they had stashed the red-haired female student who tried to harm Cecilia.
"Tucked her right inside here. Her limbs are securely bound, and she hasn't had a scrap to eat or drink since the entrance ceremony began this morning, so..." Lyn remarked that our guest wouldn't be in the best of shapes by now before swinging the door open.
Inside, the girl sat tied hand and foot to a heavy chair. Having evidently put up quite a fight, her uniform shirt and skirt were disheveled in several places, but her eyes still glared with vicious venom.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
"...Senior, please take out the gag."
"Sure thing."
A gag had been stuffed into her mouth to keep her quiet, but extracting information required letting her speak. I had Lyn remove it, and the moment it came out—
"You crazy bitches! Kidnapping and locking someone up out of nowhere—cough! What the hell do you think you're—hack!"
"......?"
"Cough! Give me some water, you—ghrk!"
The instant she was freed, she started screaming at the top of her lungs, only for parched throat convulsions to cut her off in a fit of hacking coughs. Anyone watching might have mistaken her for an innocent victim.
"Hey."
"What? Gonna snap my arm again?"
Her brazen attitude pissed me off. A lot. It reeked of shameless audacity, and seeing the brat who had just tried to assassinate Cecilia acting so cocky rubbed me completely the wrong way. Of course, anyone willing to pull a stunt like that wouldn't be right in the head to begin with, but... a spark of genuine rage flared up inside me.
"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm going to do."
I stepped toward the tied-up girl and reached out for her hand. Unlike this morning, I didn't twist her arm. I went for something far more precise, far more agonizing.
Snap!
"Aaaagh—!"
"Who said you could run that mouth? Do I look like I came here for a friendly chat? Are you an idiot, or just brain-dead?"
"Guh... aaah...! You, you fu—ghk! What the hell is..."
I bent one of her fingers backward until the tip of her middle finger neatly kissed the back of her hand.
Originally, I had intended to go somewhat easy on her since she was a fellow academy freshman, just like Cecilia. Besides, having overheard on the rooftop that she took the job on a noble's commission, I had planned on showing a sliver of leniency. But that would have been far too generous for trash like her.
"You dare attack an Imperial Princess and think you can flap your gums at me? Do I look like a joke just because I'm shorter than you?"
"Kh-ghk...?!"
"Well? Isn't that right? I'm tiny, wearing a frilly maid uniform, so you think I'm harmless, don't you? And the senior behind me just looks like a cuddly little cat beastfolk, right?"
I leaned my weight down onto her snapped finger, driving it harder against bone and cartilage as I spoke.
"I'm going to ask straight. Answer properly if you don't want the rest of your fingers making out with the back of your hand."
"Ngh... ah..."
"Who hired you? What were the exact terms? And how much was the payout?"
Still bearing down on her broken middle finger, I stared down at the terrorist squirming and stifling her groans in the chair. When she hesitated, deliberating her options, I gave it another gentle nudge.
"Aaargh!"
"Answer me."
"I-I don't know! I never even heard who the client was...! It was just... it was an assignment offering five hundred thousand credits! All I was told was to throw a dagger at the blonde woman giving a speech during the Academy entrance ceremony!"
"That's all?"
"Kh... I never met the client in person...! The guild just brokered the job! They concealed the specific details and only gave me the bounty!"
Should I snap another finger? The urge crossed my mind, but I held back for now. She truly seemed ignorant of the mastermind, having recklessly attempted terrorism through a middleman. Asking about the guild was the logical next step. It wasn't as if someone at her level would know the client's identity anyway.
"What guild? No legitimate guild would take a contract like this."
"That's..."
"Three. Two."
"W-Wait...! Hold on, I'll talk...!"
Just lightly resting my fingertips on her ring finger and counting down was enough to break her reluctance. Was having a finger broken that agonizing? I'd never had one snapped myself, so I wouldn't know.
"...There's a guild that recruits people of low birth, people without proper legal status, or those who can't get normal work. They take on illicit jobs that can't be brokered through regular channels."
"Their name."
"...Nameless."
"Where are they located? Spit it out."
"I don't know where their headquarters is, it's just..."
She began dragging her feet again. Honestly, my patience was wearing thin. I had been holding myself back as much as possible, and it felt like snapping one more finger was the only way to shock some sense into her.
"Answer faster. You want another broken finger?"
"Junior?"
"...Yes, Senior."
"I'll handle the rest. I have to compile the intelligence for headquarters anyway, right? I'll organize everything and brief you later, so why don't you head back to the dormitory?"
"...All right."
I had been about to snap her finger again in a flash of temper, but Lyn intervened. I assumed she stopped me because I was overreacting. There was no real need to escalate the violence when the captive was answering, however sluggishly. Even by my own judgment, I had lost my composure. Definitely.
"Phew..."
"Besides, don't you have a dormitory curfew? I know you could easily sneak back in, but you should get going. Your senior will take good care of the rest."
"...Understood. I'm sorry, Senior. This is my first time handling something like this."
"Hm? Don't apologize! She's a brat who could have killed the Princess, isn't she? What's wrong with snapping a finger or two?"
"...Then why did you stop me?"
"Huh? Because of your curfew, silly."
...Was that seriously the only reason?
I had thought Lyn intervened because I was being unnecessarily brutal, yet she found nothing wrong with torturing the girl. I suppose assassins really are assassins through and through. The clash with my modern sensibilities caught me off guard, but she continued cheerfully.
"It's five-thirty right now, but since it's the first day, curfew starts at six, right? Off you go. Infiltration is my specialty, but I've got quite a knack for interrogation too."
"Understood. I leave her in your hands, Senior."
"Mm-hmm! Safe travels back."
And with that, I suspended the torture session and stepped back out into the open air. Dusk was settling over the Academy grounds, the sky bruising into purple. Realizing how much time had slipped by, I muttered to myself,
"...I got carried away."
I couldn't help acknowledging that I had overreacted back there. I hadn't originally intended to resort to such extreme measures... so how did it come to that? Carried away by sudden temper, I had snapped a girl's finger and pressed into the fracture without a second thought. The sheer cruelty of my own actions shocked me. Killing the two assassins targeting Cecilia previously had been a premeditated necessity, but this was purely an impulsive outburst.
"...Hah."
It wasn't regret, exactly, but the growing ruthlessness inside me felt alien, drawing a sigh from my lips. Even so, my feet kept carrying me back toward Cecilia's dormitory.
Emerging from the underground tunnels, I strolled through the courtyards and paths. Given my petite appearance, passing students eyed me with curious, fond looks—gazing at me like some adorable creature. Walking through those gazes, which I had grown somewhat accustomed to, my thoughts continued to churn.
Why did I get so aggressive back there? There was no need to push things that far. Why did I overreact like that? Why?
No clear answer presented itself, save for the lingering impression that the sight of her had simply infuriated me. But why did it make me so angry? Why on earth?
"Your Highness, I'm back."
"Where have you been? Dashing outside the moment we arrived."
"Ah, I went to buy some milk. We use it for coffee and pasta all the time, don't we?"
My introspection ground to a halt the moment I crossed the threshold into Cecilia's room.
"You ran out so abruptly and stayed gone this whole time just for milk? Be honest. You were wandering around gawking at useless things and lost track of time, weren't you?"
"Heheh, of course not."
"Tsk... Never mind. Go brew some coffee."
"Right away, Your Highness. Would you like milk in it?"
"Do whatever you please. For a maid who wanders around outside and returns late without permission, wouldn't it be fitting to brew the coffee however you see fit as well?"
"I'll make you a cappuccino, then. Please give me just a moment."
After all, I had a foul-tempered princess to attend to. When she greeted me like this the second I walked through the door, how could I possibly ponder deep psychological questions?
If Cecilia had lived in the modern world, she would have made an insufferably ill-tempered boss who got hired through pure nepotism at a major conglomerate. Of course, blessed with that face and that stunning figure... she would have been the kind of popular femme fatale everyone fawned over anyway. Well, that wasn't any different from what she was right now.