The Academy Term-End Party (11)
Up until the moment I'd first set foot on that stage, I genuinely believed my plan had come together perfectly.
The soul-drained eyes of the crowd were exactly what I'd been hoping for — finish my speech quickly, step off the stage, done. Or so I'd thought.
But the instant I stood at the center of that stage and opened my mouth, I realized my plan had been built on sand.
Those gazes, steeped in confusion, bewilderment, and irritation, belonged unmistakably to people caught in the Mesugaki skill's provocation.
Even a face that should have stunned everyone into awe was meaningless before the overwhelming performance of the Mesugaki skill.
The moment the central premise of my plan shattered, every other struggle only made things worse.
What could I possibly do, when whatever came out of my mouth got translated however it pleased, leaving everyone's stares prickling against my skin?
That failure was entirely my fault.
The fault of ignoring provocation power so overwhelming that even an evil god could not resist it.
And the fault of never considering how badly things might turn.
If only I'd handled things a little better, Joy would never have had to look at me like that.
Just as I was resigning myself to a situation with no visible answer, what arrived as hope was the sound of Duke Partran's laughter.
He'd burst out laughing amid the simmering discontent, and with the presence befitting a great noble, he took command of the hall.
His mastery of it was so breathtaking that even Grandpa — who had declared the whole thing hopeless — looked stunned, and it didn't take long for every eye pinned on me to swing toward the Duke's face.
Honestly, watching that unfold, how my heart overflowed with gratitude!
I'm so sorry for ever calling you the Careless Duke!
From now on, I'll call you the Not-Careless Duke!
I'll let everyone know you truly carry a great noble's dignity!
No telling how the Mesugaki skill will smear it, but still!
'Lady Alrn.'
Once the whole business ran its course, just as things were about to wrap up, Duke Partran spoke stern words aloud even as he sent a very different message by telepathy.
'Helping you just now was nothing more than honoring our daughter's wishes. If you wish to thank someone, thank her.'
To that line — please take good care of my daughter — I answered with a smile in place of words.
You needn't worry. I will treasure Joy.
Before all that favorite-character talk, Joy is my dearest friend.
For her sake, I would gladly stake this very life.
Escaping the hall, I slipped out of the building, thinned by the party, and heaved a sigh beneath a tree.
'I am never setting foot on a stage again.'
If something like this ever happens, I'll just smash the stage. I am never standing in front of other people again. Once was more than enough of this experience.
'Indeed. I found it a touch vertigo-inducing myself. It was a situation beyond even your abilities to manage.'
'I know, right?'
If Duke Partran hadn't stepped in, how far could things have spiraled?
I honestly don't even want to imagine it.
'So what will you do now?'
'Wait for Father, I suppose.'
After the mess I made, Benedict won't be getting out of there easily.
Sorting it all out will take time.
So let's just rest until then.
Benedict will come looking for me on his own, no doubt.
'Not heading to the dormitory?'
'Grandpa. What happens if the face-obsessed fox sees me looking like this?'
'...A horrifying thought.'
'See?'
'Then where will you go?'
'The place with the most beautiful night view in all of Soul Academy.'
Instead of the dormitory, I'd chosen the clock tower at the very heart of the academy.
Normally a restricted place, yes — but not without ways in.
It needs repairs now and then, needs maintenance. Surely there'd be some passage.
In the game, it only unlocks after clearing a quest in some far-flung region, but this isn't the game.
Let's see. If my memory serves, I press here and here, and...
Thunk! With the sound of the lock disengaging, a staircase spiraling upward revealed itself.
Choked with dust from years without foot traffic, it was hardly a place suited to entering in my present state.
But I didn't hesitate.
As long as the Crow goddess's blessing held, no dust would cling to me, and nothing about my appearance would come undone.
With the heady feeling of having escaped that hell, I bounded up the stairs three at a time, and soon reached the top of the clock tower.
Night falls fast in this world.
Even with magic standing in for science, it remains, at the end of the day, a plaything of the upper class.
Not something ordinary people living ordinary lives get to enjoy.
And so once the sun set, this world settled into a long, long hour of dreams.
Beneath a sky steeped in silence, the stars and the moon danced for one another.
Graceless clouds drifted past like a boorish audience, veiling the scene as they went.
Sleepless birds cried out their praise to the stars and moon — and as I quietly watched it all, I sat upon the railing, swinging my legs, recalling the scene from only moments before.
The people with different eyes, in a hall brimming over with every negative emotion there was.
Joy, brushing off the hands of other young ladies to come to me.
Frey, quietly setting her utensils down and glaring around the room.
Phoebe, eyes closed, offering up her prayers.
Benedict, fists clenched, desperately holding his post.
Carl, resting his hand where a sword's hilt would sit, though he carried no sword at all.
Vishy, staring at me with that exasperated, here-we-go-again look.
Avery, eyes trembling, utterly at a loss.
The professors muttering together at the back of the hall.
And beyond them, the many who looked at me with worry rather than anger.
The ones who thought of me first, despite my mistake.
Their faces felt like living proof that every hour I had spent in this world had not been in vain.
And that was why, even knowing my reputation as "that damnably talented brat" was about to cement itself for good, I could smile with an easy heart.
Who cares what people I don't even know think of me? As long as the people around me think well of me, that's plenty.
- Ding.
Wow, fast as ever, you loser of a Chief God.
When did the speech even end, and you're already sending notifications?
Term-End Party: Opening Address
✅ All objectives complete!
🎁 Reward: [Hero's Soul] has been granted
...Quest clear? Why?
I just manufactured that whole massacre — how on earth does that count as a quest clear?
Oh. I suppose you're satisfied because your apostle proved to everyone how pretty she is?
Haah. Am I supposed to be happy about this? Or should I be utterly revolted, thinking, and this is a Chief God?
Whatever. Thinking is a bother — let's just check the reward.
[Hero's Soul]
[1. One who bears the Hero's Soul drives others onward.]
[2. ???]
...
Nooooo. Excuse me, you pathetic little god.
How many times have I told you — drop the vague descriptions and give me something at game-tooltip level of detail!
I'm your apostle; the least you could do is listen when I talk! Huh?!
Fine, you doing whatever you please isn't exactly new, but look at everything I've done — couldn't you concede a little!
'Well now.'
'What! I'm in the middle of—'
'Someone is coming this way.'
...What?
The moment Grandpa spoke, I sharpened my senses — and heard footsteps climbing the stairs.
What the? Did I not close the door coming up here?
...Right. I was having too much fun racing up the stairs and completely forgot.
What do I do. Is being Scatterbrain's friend rubbing off on me? I swear I'm turning more into her by the day.
Hmmm.
Eh, it'll be fine.
The party's still far from over.
Whoever it is, it won't be a real crisis.
"...Lady Alrn?"
The instant my eyes met the woman who had climbed the stairs, I regretted not bolting down the other way the moment I'd sensed her approach.
Her surprise worn plainly on her face, the woman was the Second Queen of the Soladin Kingdom.
It was Senar Soladin.
That blasted Partran. Bringing up the academy out of nowhere, churning my stomach inside out.
Using the wine as her excuse to slip away from the party hall, Senar spat curses inwardly as she crossed the deserted plaza.
Senar regarded her academy days as shameful memories.
Back when she had still been young.
Before she'd grown accustomed, as she was now, to concealing her emotions and carrying herself with noble composure.
The reckless years when her family's demands to live up to being a duke's daughter made her want to retch — days she could never, ever bring herself to love.
'Senar. Defeated again? Sigh. However did it come to this, child.'
"Damn it."
'Oh my, Lady Bedford. A shame~ truly. With just a little more polish, you'd have won.'
"Damn it."
'This will only wear your body down. You would do better to—'
"Damn it."
'Senar. Cause all the trouble you like, but do not make yourself a burden to me. Because of you...'
"DAMN it."
'Ah, I see. Senar — forgive me — Lady Bedford. My apologies. I shall trouble you no further...'
"DAMN IIIIT!"
Bang! Slamming her fist hard against the building's wall, Senar hung her head and fought to steady her ragged breathing.
I know. I know all of it is a past long gone.
And I know Duke Partran thinks so too — that's exactly why he brought it up so lightly!
But so what! Knowing everything doesn't end the nightmares!
No one alive can look down on me the way they once did.
Even the old guard of House Bedford watch my face before they dare speak.
Those insufferable bitches from back then break into a cold sweat the moment they stand before me now.
Even that damned older sister of mine calls me "Your Majesty," so obediently, to my face.
So the academy nightmare should have ended.
It should no longer be allowed to clutch at my shadow.
Then why — why can I still not crawl free of it!
Walking without aim amid her fury, Senar arrived at the clock tower at the heart of the academy.
Like some cur slinking home — to come back here, again.
Even as she thought herself pathetic, she caught sight of the clock tower's entrance standing open, and blinked.
...Why is the door open?
Every professor should be at the party hall right now.
Don't tell me.
Senar stepped through the door before she even knew it.
She gave no thought to the dust that would soil her.
As if bewitched by something, she wanted only one thing: to reach the person at the top of these stairs.
The slow, echoing clack of her footsteps.
Soon quickening into a brisk clack-clack.
Then hardening into an irritated clack-clack-clack — and when Senar reached the top of the stairs, she swept back her disheveled hair and studied the girl sitting on the railing.
"Ha."
It was not the person she had been looking for.
The person Senar sought was not that beautiful.
Not so frail that one feared to lay a hand upon her.
She did not wear such a mischievous smile, either.
She had no idea why Lucy Alrn of all people was up here, but — well, so much the better.
Now she had a chance to speak with that insolent little brat, just the two of them.
"Good evening, Lady Alrn."
Slipping on the queen's mask in an instant, as she always did, Senar pressed her lips together as she watched Lucy — who merely stared back at her, without so much as a nod.
Patience.
Patience.
That brat is a vital piece for our faction right now.
If my fool of a son is to contend with Rene Soladin, I must secure this little brat, without fail...
"...Hello there, Filthy Old Hag Queen♡ That dust-covered look suits you sooo wonderfully, by the way."
...That fucking brat. For real.