Was There Such an Order?
Was There Such an Order?
"I take it you received my gift well. Scarlett."
Plan's tone was as nonchalant as ever.
Scarlett looked into his crimson eyes. She saw no malice there. No hostility.
The gift.
Right. The gift. The memory surfaced soon enough.
"Ha...."
Scarlett closed her eyes and let out a long breath.
The gift, handed over like dog feed by the Magic Department. Just thinking about it made fury surge up inside her, but right now, that was actually for the better.
Her head cooled. Thanks to that, she could pull herself free of the waves of emotion.
It had been a tsunami, crashing over those waves.
She had been swept away before she even realized it. If she had stayed in that state, things would have spiraled into something far worse.
Scarlett quietly parted her lips.
"...If you're going to pick a fight, at least pick your time and place."
The pauses between each word stretched rather long, but she spoke distinctly.
"Stay quietly in your room. I will summon you separately."
"Scarlett."
The moment Plan called her name once more.
FWOOSH—!
A tremendous wave of heat surged toward him.
Plan's clothes fluttered back. The bouquet in his hand was scorched, reduced to nothing but ash.
In the time it took to blink, Scarlett had unleashed that heat.
Yet Plan was utterly unbothered. Not so much as a singed edge marked his clothing.
"I won the wager against you,"
he continued.
"...Therefore, whatever I do is beyond your interference."
With those words, Plan exercised telekinesis.
Flowers from afar wove together with steady rhythm in his hands. Before long, they had formed an exceedingly beautiful bouquet.
Plan walked slowly. He was heading toward a gravestone.
The female knight watched him approach the grave with a faintly puzzled expression.
She had thought he had come here seeking Scarlett herself. That was not the case.
Plan merely and quietly placed the singed bouquet before the gravestone. The motion was elegant and restrained.
"...."
Scarlett narrowed her brow and blinked several times.
Plan's action was so entirely unexpected that she was flustered, if only for the briefest of moments.
She stared at his figure for some time.
"...Tch."
Soon enough, Scarlett left the place, as if she found it disagreeable.
◈
I returned to my room in the mansion.
The space had been left entirely unmaintained, but I turned its interior structure on its head at once using magic.
"This much should be sufficient for now."
The interior was now as pristine as a sterile room, arranged around a large desk to convey the feel of a study. I also performed my own form of 'optimization' so that an appropriate magical environment was established.
Knock-knock—
"Young Master, did you finish paying your respects without incident...."
The head maid with red hair, Catarina, looked over the state of the room and froze in shock.
After closing the door, she spoke with a pale face.
"Young Master...! I told you, you are not permitted to use magic!"
"It is fine now. Do not concern yourself with that part."
"...."
Catarina fidgeted restlessly, reading my mood. Naturally, she could not bring herself to press me for an explanation.
She let out a deep sigh and went on.
"Yes. Did you return safely from paying your respects?"
"I did."
Curiosity about the original owner of this body's family. Courtesy toward the dead. The head maid's earnest entreaty.
A handful of factors had tangled together and resulted in the visit to the cemetery, but what I felt from it amounted to very little.
[ Hero ]
[ Blazing Knight ]
[ Evelyn Yudit ]
Just how much strength does one need to bear the epithet 'Hero' in this world?
And if that woman was the Blazing Knight, then why does Scarlett remain merely the Knight of Embers? Those were the only things on my mind.
"What of the thing I requested?"
"Yes. I will bring it right away."
The head maid withdrew with polite deference. Outside, the social gathering was in full swing, but that was not my present objective.
I opened Trivia.
[Becky : Whoa, what is this?]
[Becky : Hey guys, can you see what I'm saying?]
[Louis : Yeah yeah. I see it.]
[Becky : This is seriously amazing. Right?]
[Trixie : Not particularly.]
[Becky : Right.]
Before departing for the mansion, I had fine-tuned the representatives' Trivia, and this was the result.
From now on, it was possible to check on their status even outside the academy.
Of course, the amount of mana consumed increases in proportion to distance, but I would offset that with Hera's help.
[*Maeve]
[▶ Currently studying theory.]
"Mm."
I gave a quiet nod.
The volume is so vast that allocating today solely to theory would more than suffice. Application can begin tomorrow without being late in the slightest.
"Though...."
[Becky : Aaaargh~ This is hard.]
[Becky : I'm exhausted. I'm so tired my body feels heavy....]
[Trixie : Your body is probably just heavy on its own.]
[Becky : Hey.]
Messages kept popping up on Trivia, which indicated they were studying theory. The situation was contradictory in several ways.
I immediately put pressure on Maeve.
[▷ It looks like everyone is just messing with Trivia.]
[▶ I let them rest for a moment.]
[▶ I'm a bit tired too.]
[▷ Maeve, it seems you found the inside of the frame quite comfortable.]
[▶ I'll finish everything by the end of today.]
[▶ I can keep them from sleeping, if that's all right.]
After laying out the important points clearly, I closed Trivia. The head maid had returned right on cue.
"This is the ledger you requested."
"You've worked hard. You may leave now."
"Pardon me, Young Master."
Catarina did not withdraw but tilted her head curiously.
"I was wondering why the Young Master would suddenly look for the ledger.... I make so bold as to ask."
"I intend to claim the rights I am due."
The answer I handed back to the head maid was brief.
But it is exactly as those words say. I will claim the rights I am rightfully due to enjoy.
'She will not interfere with whatever I do.' That was the condition of our wager, so Scarlett has no standing to say a single word to me, even about the use of the estate's assets.
I opened the cover and examined the contents.
[ Dros ]
[ Knight family. Patronage of 3,000 gold coins. ]
"Hmm."
The moment I looked over the ledger, I understood.
Just as I had wanted, sponsorship funds and the various revenues of the Yudit mansion were all neatly organized.
This was also why I had refused the support funds meant for the Magic Department. I need only spend the gold coins I earned through my own ability, with my head held high.
For mages, it is permitted to bring even mid-grade artifacts to the Subjugation Festival. I intend to purchase the representatives' artifacts with these funds.
"Knight money is out."
First, I did some cutting of my own.
Gold coins Scarlett had won through missions and sponsorship funds from knight families I boldly excluded.
"...?"
But in the middle of that process, I abruptly tilted my head.
[ Isolete ]
[ Patronage of 1,000 gold coins to Plan Yudit. ]
Isolete. This figure had not sponsored the Yudit family, but had singled out the body's original owner for support.
The sum sponsored was roughly a thousand gold pieces at a time.
It was not a vast amount compared to other patronage, but she had been steadily sponsoring him in the same way nearly every month.
Yet the information that should normally be affixed to a name was absent from Isolete. Knight, mage, noble, imperial household member.... All of it.
"Catarina."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Where is all of my money."
I asked the head maid.
"Pardon?"
"The name is Isolete. She sponsored me nearly every month."
At that, Catarina's shoulders flinched. She was visibly quite flustered.
"Ah.... Pardon?"
"Is there a reason you are so flustered?"
"Uh...."
"It is fine, so speak without reserve."
"Well.... The thing is, Isolete is a witch, so.... Everyone is mindful of Miss Scarlett's eyes and...."
Isolete's identity was a witch. My curiosity grew.
In my previous world, 'witch' was a very specialized and systematic profession.
They were mages who, rather than attaching themselves to a specific organization, provided magic under free contracts. I wondered what form a witch of this world might take.
I asked further.
"Then, what became of the gold coins she sponsored."
"Ah, even I am not sure about that...."
Catarina trailed off. That was answer enough.
"Understood."
It mattered little; I could simply reclaim the gold coins. What remained a question, however, was what possible point of contact could exist between a boy of a knight house and a witch.
"The auction begins at night, does it not?"
"Yes. Young Master, but surely you don't mean...."
Catarina spoke with extreme caution.
"Are you thinking of visiting the auction house?"
"I have no reason not to visit."
The head maid was fretting, about to add a few more words, when—
Knock-knock—
"Head Maid, I think you need to come out for a moment!"
Someone knocked on the door urgently. Catarina bustled out of the room.
I have no particular hobby of eavesdropping, but perhaps thanks to the room's 'optimization,' whispers that touched the door reached my ears.
"Has this sort of thing happened before?"
"It's been nearly ten years. What in the world was she thinking, visiting the mansion...?"
"What should we do? She says if we'd just let her see the Young Master briefly, she'll leave quietly."
"Are you insane? Letting a witch into the mansion? Miss Scarlett has both eyes wide open on the matter...."
A witch.
Hearing merely those two syllables, guessing who the central figure of the story was proved not difficult at all.
I opened the door and stepped outside.
"...."
The maids froze in unison.
The next moment, they moved swiftly to block my path. Every last one of them was pale.
"Y-young Master?"
"Young Master!"
Catarina broke into a sweat as she spoke.
"Young Master. It is almost all concluded. You need only remain in your room a little longer."
"What is."
"The social gathering will end shortly. The order is that afterward, you are simply to share a meal with the Head of the Household."
"An order, you say. From whom."
"It is an order from Miss Scarlett."
"Was there even an order like that."
I let out a scoff.
I had merely been in my room because I had things to do of my own, but it seemed the maids had assumed I was dutifully carrying out orders.
"...Isolete. Where is that woman now."
I am curious about this witch.
It is only natural. What possible connection could a boy born into a knight household have with a witch?
"...."
No answer came back. If I wandered the social gathering hall, I was bound to run into her sooner or later. I started to walk.
"Young Master! You mustn't! Young Master!"
The maids scrambled to block my path. I used telekinesis to hang them by their collars in midair.
"Young Masterrr!"
Catarina's cry was desperate. But they merely floundered in place, like garments on a hanger.
Leaving all of it behind me, I entered the social gathering hall.
Brilliant lights and a wide space full of people.
Perhaps because I had seen only the academy's figures of late, their heavily adorned appearances looked particularly dazzling.
"The mansion has grown even finer in the meantime~"
"Your Excellency the Treasurer, what a place to meet you."
"The Subjugation Festival of the Magic Sword Grand Festival begins soon, I hear."
Conversation buzzed busily all around.
Yet even among that great crowd, there was one presence that stood out all too conspicuously.
The Knight of Embers, Scarlett.
Even inside the social gathering hall, she alone held fast to her light armor. But her slender, long-limbed frame was, in itself, more elegant than any ornamentation.
"...."
The moment Scarlett spotted me, her face went rigid. But she could not approach me.
"Even in light armor, you shine so brightly."
"Yudit is truly a fine knightly house."
Many people had already surrounded her like a fence. I likewise did not bother heading that way.
Isolete. Finding her was the objective.
"...!"
Meanwhile, every person who noticed me went wide-eyed. They stopped their chatter mid-sentence and froze.
With each step I took, the social gathering hall grew quieter and quieter. Voices dwindled; the eyes fixed on me multiplied.
"I told you it's not allowed.... Just go back."
"I only mean to see to my business. Cough...!"
Inside that silence, I finally spotted Isolete.
An aura of mana scattering wildly in every direction without being reined in, a complexion pale enough to be ghostly, and long black hair flowing all the way down to her waist.
That one is likely the witch Isolete.
I moved to approach her.
But at that moment.
"Plan."
In a voice so small only I could hear it, someone abruptly blocked my path.
Short-cropped red hair and golden eyes that shone with a strange light. A woman of striking appearance.
"Why don't you just head back to your room."
She smiled brightly at me, then turned her head briefly to check Scarlett's expression.
I know this woman's name.
To be precise, I had seen her in the academy newspaper.
"...Janet."
Janet Franz.
She was the squad leader of the Celestial Axis Knight Order.