My Aria (1)

The audience who had listened to Aria's song ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠started going completely insane. They turned on the family, friends, and lovers they'd come with, biting, tearing, and clawing at them. Kyle was no exception. He seized the unidentified energy crawling up through his head with his Aura, burned it away, and glared at her.

What the hell is this now?

An ability to control people. It wasn't magic. Just like before, he couldn't sense even a trace of mana coming from Aria right now. It wasn't Aura or Holy Power either. Neither of those could manipulate so many people at once. Which meant this was a Force. An innate supernatural power that couldn't be taught. The kind Kyle had only ever seen from one other person until now.

“K-Kyle……”

“Yuri, are you oka─.”

Kyle froze the moment he saw Yuri's face. As an Expert-level mage, she couldn't be controlled instantly. Thick veins bulged across her skin and burst one after another. Even as she fought desperately against the control, she looked at Kyle and spoke with great effort.

“Main… body… if you… knock it… out……”

“─Just hold on a little longer.”

The moment he heard her, Kyle leapt straight toward Aria on the stage. She watched him flying toward her and broke into a sly grin. Sorry, Aria, but you've crossed the line.

Right before Kyle's body could reach her, chains shot in from somewhere and bound his arms and legs.

“Ugh─!?”

The chains clinging to his limbs instantly froze over, merging perfectly with his body. Kyle whipped his head around, confused, and spotted Yuri back at the spot he'd just jumped from. She was holding her staff and chanting.

Double Casting. It was a legacy left behind by an unnamed archmage and a special technique that could make even a four-star mage's life extremely difficult. Sure enough, Yuri, having bound Kyle's limbs in an instant, succeeded in hurling him outside the concert hall.

As he flew through the air under her control, Kyle glanced carefully toward Aria. She paid his gaze no mind and simply kept singing. Her voice spread across the entire academy. Aria's aria began to blanket the world.

Kyle, sent flying by Yuri's magic, immediately went looking for Sera. She hadn't been inside the hall, so he figured she probably hadn't heard Aria's song yet. And sure enough, he found Sera outside the venue, walking along while licking a strawberry candy.

He kicked off the sky and landed directly in front of her, then scooped her up like he was kidnapping her and took off.

“Kyaaaaak─!?”

“Shut your mouth! You might bite your tongue!”

The important thing right now was getting as far away from the concert hall as possible. He didn't know the exact range of Aria's ability, but he could tell that the people outside who hadn't heard the song were still fine. Kyle moved to a spot far enough from the venue to be safe, yet high enough to see the entire academy at a glance, then slowly set Sera down from his shoulder.

“Uwaaaa…… Wh-what the hell was that for all of a sudden!?”

“Sera, this is serious.”

“Wha, what? Suddenly you…… Wait, hang on. There's no one else here. You don't mean… do you? Right? It's not that, is it?”

“I need you.”

Seeing Kyle approach as he said that, Sera squeezed her eyes shut. She braced herself for the impact that was surely coming, but when nothing happened no matter how long she waited, she slowly cracked one eye open in confusion. Kyle stood before her, staring down with a thoroughly fed-up expression.

“Wh-what the heck!?”

“─You definitely told me nothing would happen at the cultural festival, right?”

“Uh… yeah, I did.”

“Then what the hell is that?”

Kyle pointed toward the academy and the concert hall. Sera turned her head to follow his finger and looked into the distance. There, figures that looked like zombies were attacking people.

“……What is that?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“No no no, I'm seriously asking what is that?”

Sera looked at him as if she couldn't understand. Kyle began explaining everything he'd seen without exaggeration. How Aria had revealed her true nature, suddenly gone berserk, and made people lose their minds. How even Yuri had been controlled and attacked him. And so on.

After hearing the whole story, Sera's face filled with shock, as if she couldn't believe it.

“Wait, she's already rampaging? Why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“Aria Vesta's rampage was supposed to happen during her third year……”

“……You knew she was going to rampage?”

“Of course! I told you I know everything, didn't I? Her rampage was originally supposed to happen two years from now!”

According to the game's original story, Aria would use her ability in her third year to take control of the entire academy and become a witch powerful enough to overthrow the empire. The player was supposed to either stop her using every ability and opportunity they'd gathered over two years, or grow close to her beforehand to prevent the rampage entirely. The former was incredibly difficult and caused massive damage even if successful, so most players chose the latter.

“There was no pattern for her rampaging in first year, so I was planning to take care of other things first and then get close to her……”

“Then why is she acting like this right now?”

“How should I know!? More importantly, we need to block off the faculty office right now!”

“Why the faculty office?”

“Why? Because─.”

Chik, chijijik─.

The hundreds of magic speakers installed throughout the academy began to vibrate. From beyond them, Aria, who had taken control of the academy's center, greeted everyone in a cheerful voice.

“……Hey, that─”

“─Cover your ears, now!”

“Humm～.”

After finishing her song, Aria hummed to herself as she began selecting the next one. What would be good? Dozens, hundreds of songs she'd learned over the years floated through her mind. Honestly, anything would work. Her voice was magnificent enough to entrance anyone who heard it.

“Ahem, then the next song right awa─.”

“That's far enough.”

“……Huh?”

Aria, about to launch into her next number, turned around like she was looking at a broken magic tool. There stood the academy's headmaster, his white beard neatly trimmed. A five-star mage. One of only two master-class powerhouses in the entire academy. Seeing him move normally, Aria realized her ability still couldn't control anyone above master level.

“Headmaster! It's been so long. I think this is the first time we've met since the entrance ceremony.”

“You seem to find this amusing.”

“Ahaha, they say smiling brings good luck. How about you smile too, Headmaster? Honestly, your face right now is a little scary.”

“Are you enjoying this? The current situation?”

At the headmaster's words, Aria tilted her head without dropping her smile. Enjoying it? Of course she was.

“I am. I'm having a wonderful time.”

“─I see.”

The headmaster lifted his staff as if he had heard enough and began chanting a spell. Sharp winds gathered, ready to fly toward her. Even in a situation where a single gesture could mean death, Aria simply smiled as if nothing was wrong.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Cease your ability immediately.”

“Ah, I'm afraid I can't do that. These people are my hostages, you see.”

“……Hostages?”

“Yes. I've given them orders to commit suicide if you kill me or cause me any harm.”

The headmaster stared at Aria with a genuinely shocked expression, as if asking whether she was serious. Ordering them to kill themselves if she was harmed? It meant she had tied her own life to every single person in the academy. Hundreds of students. Most of them were children of prestigious noble families. Some were even members of the imperial family. If they all died or were injured? At the very least, his own life would not be spared.

And this was the grand cultural festival. The academy was open to the public. Countless nobles and distinguished guests had come to watch the students' performances. In other words, by revealing her hand, Aria had forced the headmaster to protect her.

“So. Could you fix this for me quickly? I need to sing.”

“……I'm afraid I can't.”

“What? If you don't listen, someone will die, you know?”

“That's not what I mean. I don't know how to repair magic tools. That is the domain of the Magic Engineering Department.”

“Magic Engineering Department… Hmm, what was that professor's name again?”

Having heard him, Aria sent out a mental wave and summoned the magic and engineering professors now under her control. The dominated professor walked over mechanically, repaired the magic tool the headmaster had destroyed, and disappeared again.

In the end, the headmaster could only watch as Aria sang before him and dominated the people. His head knew that sacrificing her right now, even at the cost of some lives, would minimize the overall damage. But he didn't have the courage to do it. There was, however, one thing he could do.

'Silence.'

The headmaster secretly hacked the magic tool so that her voice wouldn't escape outside. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Of course, if the sound simply vanished, Aria would notice something was wrong. So he manipulated it to broadcast an identical voice from beyond the windows. It was an incredibly complex spell that made cold sweat run down his back, but he somehow managed it, proving he hadn't won the position of headmaster through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠poker. This was the best the headmaster could do.

Someone… anyone who can think of a way to resolve this situation.

He needed someone who could come up with a solution he himself could not imagine.