Chapter 11 - Between the Main Heroine and the Saintess Who Will One Day Be Subjugated by Her
Between the Main Heroine and the Saintess Who Will One Day Be Subjugated by Her
Translator : Elizabeth
“Oho…… A Commoner Special Scholarship Student, you say?”
The woman with red hair in a black dress, politely called Lady Erancia by her retainer, stared intently at Iris.
It wasn't even particularly a glare.
“……Ugh.”
But just that alone was enough to make Iris freeze on the spot.
Normally, she would absolutely never make such a foolish choice.
However, she is the Main Heroine of this world.
In the original work,
When the Crown Prince and the Duke’s daughter were bickering in the campus earlier,
At the very moment Lucerius was about to slap Anastasia’s cheek,
She is the heroine who enacted the scene of suddenly jumping in between them and getting slapped instead.
Of course, that choice was a scene that only happens when the player selects,
『1. Intrude.』
『2. Watch quietly.』
Number 1 from these options.
But as all female-oriented Romance Fantasy game players do.
Naturally, they would press the choice to intrude.
Perhaps that’s why.
If such a choice is possible in this era.
It only made sense if Iris possessed, somewhere deep in her heart,
A temper almost close to a seizure,
A mechanism she simply couldn't help.
Because that is exactly what is called probability, and also plausibility.
And the existence that switched that mechanism On into a seizure was,
None other than—
“……Ugh! S-The Saintess! Lady Louise is!! Just smarter than anyone else! That, that’s all it is but…… N-No matter if it’s Dark Magic, just because she knows it well……! Sa-Saying she’s fallen…… or a Saintess of Darkness……! Th-That’s too much!!”
—The Saintess, Louise.
Silence fell for a moment.
However, that was simply because everyone was flustered by witnessing something that shouldn't happen.
For a commoner to dare talk back to a noble.
Just as an owner would be flustered if a dog that always listened well suddenly started barking.
It was nothing more than that.
And such a dog,
“Ha, good grief…… I wondered what you were saying.”
Gets scolded.
“Com.Mon.Er. Special Scholarship Student? I will pretend I didn't hear your argument. Since I have no intention of advertising which side I’m taking either.”
“H-How could……!”
“However, it seems you are in need of etiquette education?”
Erancia’s amber eyes seemed to shine for a moment.
Then, so very familiarly, as if she had done this many times usually.
—Slide.
She took something out from her bosom.
It was a whip.
—Whish, crack!
A cheerful sound tearing through the air echoed inside the lecture room.
“I won’t say it twice.”
Erancia spoke towards Iris, as if bored.
“Come before me and receive your due punishment. With that, I will consider today’s matter as something that never happened, both for me and for everyone here—”
It was then.
“I am currently in the middle of a class, Marquess’s daughter Erancia.”
Professor Snake’s distinct low voice completely covered the sound of the whip.
The professor’s Nightshade family is a Count family.
Thus, he used formal language for appearances,
But there was no reason for him to be pushed back by the Marquess’s daughter, not the Marquess who is the family head.
“……Excuse me. I, too, failed to consider the place and situation. Please, show me your generosity.”
“No. I fully understood the intent behind why Lady Erancia had no choice but to step forward.”
As Professor Snake added a formal answer to the formal apology,
—Step, step.
He approached the commoner, Iris, who was still kicking her chair back and standing up.
“H-Hiek…….”
As the distance with Snake closed, Iris’s face gradually turned pale as a sheet.
She wants to run away.
She wanted to run away so badly.
Regret floods in immensely about why on earth she stepped forward like that just a moment ago.
However, the existence called a commoner was one who wasn't even allowed to run away in a situation like this.
“Iris.”
Professor Snake called her name quietly.
But she couldn't answer.
She tried to answer, but was overwhelmed.
Seeing him up close, his height was tall enough that a woman would have to look up.
An aura black as darkness, surpassing gloominess.
The uncanny valley felt from the same expressionless face, whether when she first entered the lecture room or now.
“Ah…… Ugh…… I-I’m sor…… ry…….”
Iris froze pale as she was and couldn't say anything.
Nevertheless, Snake simply continued speaking quietly without a single change in tone.
“As long as you are enrolled in the Academy, we do not discriminate between commoners and nobles, and encourage free discussion without formality…….”
What Professor Snake was reciting as it was, was one of the Academy’s school regulations.
“…Therefore, I, as a professor, have no intention of saying anything to you, a student, about the duty of a commoner or etiquette towards nobles or such outdated customs. I have no interest in the first place.”
Then,
“However—”
For the first time.
Professor Snake showed a different expression, not an expressionless one.
Grin, and,
“—To dare disturb my class. You will have to pay the price for that.”
He merely raised the corners of his mouth lightly.
“……!”
Just that alone made Iris tremble in fear,
“H-Haha…… If it were me, I would have fainted.”
“……H-Hmph. Serves her right. For a mere commoner.”
“That’s why she should have known her place…….”
The noble children watching the situation from seats far away shuddered,
But showed fishy smiles as if satisfied with the natural sanction.
“Speak, Special Scholarship Student. Why did you dare disturb my class? Did you not see me in front of the lectern? Or, did you intend to ignore me openly? A mere student, to me, a professor?”
“Ah, ugh…… Ah…….”
“Depending on your answer, Special Scholarship Student, I might have to consider expelling you from this class, no, furthermore, even suspension for infringement of teaching rights.”
“…….”
Touch-and-go.
A close call.
As the professor said, depending on Iris’s answer,
The moment her future is decided.
Yes, decision.
It was a decision.
Suddenly,
Iris recalls it again.
—……E-Excuse me! I’m called Iris……!
Meeting the Saintess on the way to school.
—Excuse me, but perhaps…… the Saintess of the Cathedral Church……! Y-You’re right, right?!
Greeting her presumptuously.
—Hm?
And the returning,
—Yep~ I’m that very Saintess~!
So very innocent smile.
There was no malice,
No prejudice,
No suspicion.
Not even any discrimination there.
Seeing her face smiling brightly like that.
I thought for the first time.
That I was glad I came to the Academy.
And until reaching the space of the Crown Prince and the Duke’s daughter,
During that short time,
We talked about all sorts of things.
Of course, the Saintess’s rapid-fire explanations of abstruse knowledge took up most of it.
Just one among them.
To be exact,
—Um…… such a question…… I know it’s rude but…… s-still, may I ask one thing……?
—Yep! Of course~!
—Um…… Saintess, too, before becoming a Saintess…… I-I heard from the Church that you were a commoner like me…….
The question Iris asked as soon as she first met the Saintess.
—……H-How on earth can you shine so much?! Saintess is……!!
It wasn't simply because she was a Saintess that she asked such a question.
She could tell just by talking a little.
It wasn't just because she awakened as a Saintess.
Surely this person,
Even before awakening as a Saintess,
Must have cherished her own light.
As one who wields the same Light Magic,
Seeing the Saintess’s light, she had no choice but to be sure of that.
The Saintess,
To the out-of-the-blue question of the Main Heroine who almost became a Saintess,
—Hm? Do I look like I’m shining?
Was puzzled at first, but,
—Well~ If it looks like that, it must be because you, Irene, 『Observed』 it that way~
Answered surprisingly easily.
—O-Observation…… you say…?
—Yep! Observation!
The Saintess said.
—Do you know~?
Spinning bing-geul~ on the spot.
—This world, this universe~ Changes and is determined depending on how the observer called you observes it?
It was abstruse.
—For example, if you want to observe light as a photon, a result observed as a photon comes out~
I don’t know well.
—If you want to observe it as a wave, only a wave-like result comes out along with interference phenomena~
It was something I was hearing for the first time.
—Furthermore,
But for some reason,
—According to the Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics,
I had no choice but to focus.
—From the very moment you act on what to observe and what to see—
—The world is determined.
—Possibilities converge.
—Eventually, the future is settled,
—And remains as that one among myriad possibilities.
At those words she couldn't understand at all,
Even though she couldn't understand,
Iris felt something,
As if deep inside her chest was tickling.
—Ahaha~♬ You don’t get it, right? I knew it from talking a little, but Irene, you’re a birdbrain who knows nothing about physics!
The Saintess who had been spinning bing-geul~ continuously on the spot,
—So, I’ll tell you easily so that even a liberal arts student from Seoul National University can understand, so even a fool can know~!
Looked at her, and,
—Irene.
Said.
—You are the one who chooses.
Her golden eyes were shining clearly without a trace of laughter.
—How to view this world.
Immediately after,
As if that fleeting serious expression was a lie.
—How is it~♪ Do I still look like I’m shining? Hm? Hm~?♬
The Saintess laughed kya-ruru, kya-ruru.
Rotating bing-geul, bing-geul.
As if she herself had become the center of this world.
She spun, and spun again like that.
Yes,
“……!”
Like herself right now.
“……Th-The ones who ignored were them! Those nobles were first……!!”
As if she had really gone crazy.
“To, to dare ignore Dark Magic…….”
Iris spoke whatever came to mind.
“……Isn't that behavior exactly the attitude of ignoring the Professor and the Professor’s class?!”
Whatever was on her lips.
“I-In the first place…… S-Saintess is! Even if she is proficient in Dark Magic……! That, that is……!!”
As if spitting it out recklessly.
“……That’s just because the Saintess is incredibly! In~credibly!! Smart……!!”
To the point where she herself didn't know what she was saying anymore.
“S-So…… The Saintess is, the Saintess iis……! That’s why she is the Saintess……!!”
The Main Heroine,
Iris decided.
She made up her mind.
If she wants to observe her own future directly,
Surely,
“So I’m not bad and there’s no need to be expelled or reason to be suspended, rather, those people who uselessly whispered whisper whisper!buzz buzz! about the Saintess and Professor’s Dark Magic discussion! Anyway, those people who ruined the class atmosphere on their own accord are more in the wrong!!”
That she would do this.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Silence fell.
No one dared to refute.
“…….”
Even that Professor Snake,
Just remained expressionless,
And was only staring at Iris quietly.
Just how much time passed like that?
Even if the feeling was an eternity.
In reality, it must have been no more than an instant.
“……Special Scholarship Student, your attribute?”
“Y-Yes……?”
“Water, Fire, Earth, Wind. Which of the elements is it?”
“Th-That is…… F-For now…… it’s the attribute of…… Light…….”
It was that moment.
“Ahaha! Ahahaha……! Puhaha……!! W-What is that~ It’s super funny~ Just hilarious~! Ahahahaha~!!”
The Saintess burst into laughter.
And so severely at that,
Enough to clutch her belly because it hurt.
“……Haa.”
Iris’s answer which was like a thief turning on the master (audacious), and,
The Saintess’s sudden burst of laughter destroying the atmosphere as it was.
Professor Snake couldn't help but slap his own forehead smack!.
Then he said quietly as if regretting.
“……From next year, I’ll have to put the lecture name even larger in the introduction. So that fools who read Darkness as Light don’t appear.”
Immediately after saying so, Professor Snake returned to the lectern and announced to everyone.
“The class, today’s orientation, ends here. Do not show useless politics in my lecture room anymore. If you’re going to do it, at least go out and do it where I’m not present. Then, dismissed.”
A notice like a unilateral notification from Professor Snake.
The students, though displeased, had no choice but to leave their seats sluggishly for now.
They didn't come directly to where the Saintess or Iris were and say anything.
However, a few.
“……Cheeky, what? We are in the wrong? For a mere commoner…….”
Especially, the student named Clarice, who had called the Marquess’s daughter Erancia ‘Lady’, glared at the commoner Iris as if to kill her.
Even right up until stepping out the lecture room door.
Naturally, Iris felt that gaze too.
And she thought that gaze was all too natural.
“Ugh, uugh…… Wh-What on earth d-did I do…….”
Even if she regrets it now, it’s already spilt milk.
She even had the thought of going to find them right now, prostrating on the floor, and begging for forgiveness, but,
“Yo~! Irene, you’re quite crazy too, huh? Ahaha~♬”
Before that, the Saintess approached Iris ‘first’ and smiled broadly.
“S-Saintess…… I, I…… What did I just…….”
“Yep! You totally messed up~! Even I, who am a complete stranger to politics or relationships, can tell~?”
Saintess Louise predicted Iris’s future with a tone that felt like even that was a memory.
“Irene is now completely marked, so every~ day~ like me in my convent days, you’ll receive mop water baptism several times a day~ Ahahaha~”
“H-How could……!!”
Iris was doubly shocked by the fact that the Saintess was like that in her convent days,
And the fact that it was the future that would befall her, and made a completely crying face.
But whether she did or not.
Louise, to such Iris, nonchalantly.
So very simply and as if it were nothing, refreshingly,
“But that’s all!”
Just answered like this.
“Yep, at most that’s it~ It’s not like you’re dying!”
Neither comfort nor empathy, nor an expression of intention to help.
Truly an answer from someone with shattered social skills.
But, why is it?
That such words from the Saintess feel so trustworthy.
“Ah…….”
Let’s send such worries flying away in the wind.
It looks serious, but it only looks that way.
In reality, it will be nothing special.
Iris felt as if the Saintess was comforting her like that.
“In the first place, in the future we will create together, there are much more important things, right?”
“Y-Yes……? Together? More important things……?”
“Yep! You said you know how to handle Light Magic too?! So let’s make it together! Laser!!”
“La, Lay-zuh……? What is…… that……?”
“There is, such a thing~! Even if I explain to birdbrain Irene now, you won’t understand~!”
“Ugh…….”
Iris unwittingly puffed up her cheeks at the Saintess.
No matter that they were fellow commoners, right now there is a difference in status like heaven and earth between her and the Saintess.
Even though she knows that,
Iris felt it would be okay. If it’s the Saintess.
And,
“Saintess! No, Lady Louise……!”
Iris, for the first time, presumptuously,
Uttering the Saintess’s name,
“Do you know what?”
Like that time.
Like the Saintess.
Spinning bing-geul~ once on the spot,
Cheekily and cutely putting her arms back on her waist,
Proudly showing off that large chest befitting the name Special Scholarship Student (Teuk-dae-saeng),
“I am not Irene, but Iris~!”
Corrected her.
And introduced.
“Yes, Iris…… Just Iris……! I am!”
Her true self.
To the Saintess.
“So, from now on, not Irene but Iris…… Yes, please call me properly!”
Right now,
This very moment,
Was the second meeting,
Between her, the Main Heroine of this world,
And the Saintess who will one day be subjugated by her.