Academy Semester-End Party (7)
The word "insane" changes its meaning depending on how it's used.
Praise. Awe. Exasperation. Fury. Insult, and so on.
No matter which sense it's employed in, "insane" rarely feels out of place — but its original meaning is that one's mind has broken.
And nothing in this world fits that original definition better than the human being known as First Queen Kabadi Soladin.
An uprightness that would gladly offer up her own life if it served her country.
A conviction that never once doubted the rightness of her own actions.
And on top of that, the ability to actually carry out whatever she conceived.
All of these combined meant she held fast to her beliefs until the very moment of her end — a genuine article among genuine articles.
At the instant her breath ran out, her single regret was not remorse for the atrocities she had committed, but regret toward herself — that a better way had existed, and she had failed to find it.
And at the same time, she died smiling, content in the knowledge that someone better than her had arrived to lead the nation.
Seriously. At least the Face-Connoisseur Fox and the Pervert Apostle, crazy as they are, are crazy in a human way. I can understand that much.
This Medieval Trump's entire way of thinking operates on a different wavelength entirely. Empathy is simply impossible.
Someone on the community forums once said she was great precisely because she was a villain with conviction, but not me.
How am I supposed to like a person who may not even have blood running through her veins?
Tastes aside, everyone agreed on one thing: if it meant making Soladin great, Kabadi Soladin was a woman who would do anything. And so the nickname stuck — the Medieval Trump. The Make Soladin Great Again Queen.
As long as Arthur is my friend, and as long as I'm a noble of Soladin, I knew someday I'd have to face that lunatic. But it's way too early for that!
What little power I have right now isn't nearly enough to deal with that madwoman!
Aaaargh.
What on earth would the Mesugaki Skill spew out if I actually met that Medieval Trump?
Based on its track record so far, I'm almost certain the word "insane" would make an appearance.
And if I hurled that kind of abuse at the First Queen—
...wait, hold on.
Wouldn't it actually be fine, if she's completely, thoroughly cracked to begin with?
That lunatic cares about Soladin and nothing else — no thought for her own honor or power. Even an insult might just bounce right off her, no?
Of course, if the target of the insult were some nobody, she'd crush them on the spot. But what about someone who'll clearly be a tremendous asset to Soladin someday?
Right. She's a madwoman I never want to go anywhere near — but honestly, totally broken is better than half-baked.
Shouting "old monster" at someone who might repay a kindness... or might not, but will absolutely destroy an enemy no matter what, like the Second Que—
'Siner Soladin.'
Huh?
Why is this old monster's name written directly beneath the First Queen's name?
Did remembering the name just now make me hallucinate?
In that case, dry my face off and look again.
'Siner Soladin.'
GYAAAAAH?!
What the—!
Why is this person HERE of all places!
"...Karia. Unless my eyes deceive me, I see the names of both Queens at the very top."
"That's right. Both of them declared their intent to attend."
"Why?"
YES! Well said, Benedict!
Why would this woman — who has not one shred of affection for her own son — come to the semester-end party?!
In my entire playthrough of Soul Academy, I never once saw this person set foot in the Academy!
"The First Queen declared her attendance, didn't she?"
Karia remained perfectly composed under the stares of both me and Benedict.
"I don't know the particulars, but it's surely because of that. The First Queen likes to act like meeting the Second Queen is beneath her notice, but in truth it gnaws at her constantly."
Hearing Karia talk — unchanged, whether then or now — I could feel anew just how real her history as the Shadow of the Kingdom was.
After all, Karia was the one leading the Intelligence Bureau back when the two of them had only just become Queens. Of course she'd know the First Queen and Second Queen inside and out.
When it came to most of the royal court's figures, Karia might well know more than I do.
I barely know anything about the characters who played minor roles in the game, after all.
"Anyway, with these two declaring their attendance, this semester-end party has derailed completely from its original purpose. The nobles of both factions have been lining up to announce their participation, each one desperate to show off that their side is alive and well."
As I listened to Karia and read down the participant list, I felt my head begin to swim.
I knew Duke Patran and Duke Kurten would attend. Their own children are here.
But why are the heads of the OTHER ducal houses coming too?!
With the exception of Duke Burrow, who's still recovering, every single one of them is attending!
And why are there so many heavyweights below them as well!
The list is overflowing with nobles who each got a major storyline moment at least once in Soul Academy!
Even as I rejoiced at the appearance of so many names I'd seen constantly in the game, I despaired at the realization that I would have to give a speech in front of all of them and then party alongside them.
...Back at the Patran Festival, I managed to cope well enough.
Back then, apart from a few oddballs and my friends, nobody paid me any attention.
But it's different now! The Second Queen, who's been trying to reel me in, has no reason not to approach me!
Which means the Second Queen's faction of nobles will naturally gravitate toward me too.
And then the First Queen's people will latch on as well.
And just like that, the space around me becomes the hottest spot at the venue — and a graveyard of reputations, buried under an avalanche of abuse.
And right beside it, I'd have to bury Benedict's stomach, riddled with holes.
Benedict apparently shared these sentiments, because the face that had been beaming with delight mere moments ago grew graver with every page he turned.
"...Karia. Might I trouble you to render me unconscious? Using me as the excuse, Lucy and I could slip away quite naturally."
"What kind of nonsense is that? No poison on this earth works on you. If anyone's going to do it, ask the Boss."
"Absolutely not! I could never do such a thing to our Lucy!"
"Then what do you want me to do?"
"Damn it all! At this rate I'll simply have to demolish whatever building the party is held in!"
"Hey. Breathe. Calm down for a second."
"If I only knock down, say, half of it—"
"Boss. Would you please get this idiot to shut his mouth? I don't think a single word I say is reaching him."
"Papa?♡ Would you kindly shut your mouth?♡ Everything that comes out of it stiiiinks♡ Honestly, mega gross♡"
"S...it stinks? Does it? I'm so terribly sorry..."
Even with his shoulders slumped in dejection, Benedict remained a mountain — so I turned my gaze away from him entirely and toward Karia, who let out a long sigh.
"Back to business. For you, Boss, attending that party at all would be a catastrophe. So hide yourself in some room until it's time for the opening address, and the moment it ends, vanish together with Benedict. No one in this kingdom can say a word to a man this size anyway, so you'll be fine. Just mumble something about wanting to spend quality time with your daughter and everyone will understand."
It felt reckless, frankly, to pull that stunt at an event attended by both Queens and their entire factions — but if it was Karia proposing it, there couldn't be a problem.
Which meant all I had to worry about was finding an easy way through my speech.
Knock knock. At the sound of knuckles rapping the door, I turned my head to hear Alsaetin's voice.
"My lady. The Apostle of the Art Order has arrived."
Later than I expected. From that pervert, I figured he'd show up at the crack of dawn and spend the morning mangling my expression with every flavor of nonsense.
"You can head over ahead of me, Boss. There are things I need to discuss with this big fellow separately — I'll send him along to you later."
Before I could even open my mouth, Karia had already answered the question I was about to ask.
Mmm. This mind-reading business never quite stops feeling strange.
Every so often, when she hooks in out of nowhere, it sends a faint shiver down my spine.
I gave a shrug and rose from my seat — then hesitated, my eye catching on Benedict sulking beside me.
"Papa♡"
I'd meant to pat his shoulder, but even with my arm stretched all the way out I couldn't reach, so I ended up poking him in the back.
Benedict turned his head.
Oh dear. Look at this man. Lips clamped shut and everything.
Is he still hung up on the thing about the smell?
"Pfft♡ Are you sulking?♡ What did I ever say to make you mope like this?♡"
"I... well, that is..."
"Hmm~♡ To clam up this badly over one teensy joke♡ I don't care much for such a timid papa, you know~♡"
"...It was a joke? Truly?!"
Watching Benedict's face bloom back into color over a single sentence, I returned his look with an enigmatic smile, slipped silently out the door — and then poked just my face back in.
"Sec~ret♡"
With that final word delivered, I shut the door.
Here's hoping that pervert Apostle unleashes his full, unrestrained degeneracy.
That's the only way I'll get through the speech without incident, after all.
"...Our daughter is just too cute. The best."
Watching Benedict tremble with his hand clapped over his mouth, Karia didn't bother hiding even a shred of her disdain.
How on earth did the man who once ruled the battlefield with pure terror end up like this?
The Benedict of today could have sat beside Mira without a hint of awkwardness.
Back then, this taciturn man had been the polar opposite of Mira, who wore every emotion on her sleeve.
She must have worked terribly hard while I wasn't around.
...Though, Mira. Didn't you work a little too hard?
To reduce the man they called the Fang of the Kingdom to this.
If you were still alive, I'd want to ask you exactly how you managed it.
Having recalled Benedict's wife — the woman who died while the evil god held sway over her — Karia exhaled a sigh, closed her eyes, and opened them again.
"Benedict."
A cold voice flowed from her lips.
Not the playful tone she used with Lucy or her apprentice, but the voice of the one who, as the Shadow of the Kingdom, had once made countless people's blood run cold.
Faced with it, Benedict let out a long breath, shook off his theatrics, and straightened his posture.
"Speak."
"Never let that lunatic First Queen anywhere near your daughter."
As the former Shadow of the Kingdom who once led the Intelligence Bureau, Karia knew the First Queen intimately.
She had been the one to gather the vetting intelligence before the woman was even chosen as Queen, and she had served under the First Queen within the royal court until the bureau vanished without a trace. There was no possible way she wouldn't know.
"Think about that lunatic's nature. A girl with a future as promising as Lucy's? She'd take quite a liking to her."
"Then is that not a good thing?"
"For now, sure. But the moment that talent becomes an obstacle — even years down the road — the story changes. That lunatic will gladly sweep an obstruction aside."
"On what basis?"
"Because I was nearly swept aside myself."
"...What?"
"Did I never tell you? The reason I vanished from the Intelligence Bureau, gone as if I'd evaporated?"
"You did not."
"Then let me explain now. Back then, I had no other option. Had I done otherwise, I'd have been buried six feet deep without so much as a whisper."
At the words Karia delivered so matter-of-factly, the look in Benedict's eyes turned darker and far more dangerous.
"That woman is far too dangerous to be allowed close."
The Dean's office at Soul Academy.
Lately the Dean had worn a grin everywhere he went, basking in the rave reviews the Academy Dungeon had received — but the face he wore now was slick with cold sweat and a stiff, forced smile.
"...U-um. So you're saying you would like to experience the dungeon firsthand?"
"That is correct, Dean. Do not trouble yourself over any commotion. As you can plainly see, I have come in disguise, together with my son, in preparation for any eventuality."
Because even the Dean — wielder of the greatest authority in all of Soul Academy — could only be the one groveling before the smiling First Queen of the Kingdom.