Let's Go to the Academy
Being shut in a cramped space, alone, with the family of a superior I had never even heard of—let alone seen—was a tremendous psychological burden.
It dragged back the feeling from my previous life, the day I drove my advisor's son to school.
That damned brat.
It wasn't even my car. It was a friend's, and he was stuffing his face and scattering crumbs everywhere, so I said a few words about it—and he went scurrying straight to his father to tattle.
And of course I caught a generous helping of abuse for my trouble. It started with my upbringing and didn't stop until it had become a personal attack.
I genuinely wanted to tear his limbs off and scatter them in the sea.
The reason that isn't wanted, past tense, is that I still want to tear that little bastard's limbs off.
An old memory had surfaced and my temper flared for a moment, but there is one lesson to be drawn from the story just now.
When the other person is the superior and you are the subordinate, their family is a superior in all but name. And you must never spoil a superior's mood.
That was why I had kept my silence for over an hour.
"……"
"……"
In truth, I wasn't sure an hour had passed. I hadn't looked at a clock since climbing into the carriage. If Mariella saw me take out a watch to check the time, she might well think, Ah, she keeps sneaking glances at her watch because she hates being stuck with me.
You could call it paranoia. Except it had actually happened to me.
All I'd done was turn my eyes to check the time, and I got a two-hour lecture for it.
Call it the result of repeated conditioning. Mariella was hardly on the same level as that piece of trash, but I couldn't overcome an instinct carved into my bones. It absolutely was not because I disliked Mariella.
…But what if Mariella disliked me?
A chill prickled over my skin. Come to think of it, what had I even done in front of Mariella?
I tried to remember. What came back was me ignoring her and holing up in my room. And Ria's voice, scolding me for it…
Th-this is bad, isn't it?
And now that I thought about it, something was off. According to Ria, I was an object of admiration to Mariella. People don't usually look at someone they admire with eyes that cold, do they?
Don't tell me… I've already been written off?
Mariella had admired me, but the me she actually met was a useless shut-in, an unrecyclable heap of human garbage, a hikikomori who ate and then rolled around locked in her room. Anyone looking at that plainly would think trash. And if she'd seen it while her expectations were sky-high…?
Is there anything—anything—that could salvage my image?
The safest topic would be something to do with magic, but say the wrong thing and I might sound like I was showing off, and if I tried to bring up something else I had nothing to bring up, so should I just talk about the weather, except that's weird, so what do girls even talk about these days, I don't know the first thing about cosmetics or clothes, and if I pretend I do she'll look at me even stranger, maybe I should have studied a little after all, if I just sit here she'll misunderstand, I need to find a suitable topic and open my mouth—
"…When does the carriage leave?"
"……Pardon?"
A quiet voice rang out, quiet but with strength in it.
"The carriage hasn't moved at all. Loading the luggage shouldn't take this long."
A voice as solid as if it had a spine. Mariella's gaze, fixed straight on me, was frightening enough that I turned my head a little.
They're sisters, and yet their atmospheres can be this different. If Ria feels like a soft, warm older sister, then Mariella is the classic noble young lady…?
No. A more precise expression would be…
"A villainess…?"
"…What did you just say?"
"Hic—?!"
D-did she hear that? I thought I'd only said it in my head!
"……I'm aware of it myself, but hearing it said to my face is not particularly pleasant."
Was this all right? No—Mariella was a noble. So if I translated that line into noble speech…?
I know perfectly well my face looks frightening. You didn't need to say it. I'm offended.
"Hic."
The translated version is terrifying…!
"This won't do. I'll step outside and have a word…"
A word? About what? Was she going to tattle to Ria?
"P-please don't…"
"Pardon? Still, someone has to say something, or the carriage won't depart."
The carriage? Right—the first thing she'd brought up was asking when it would leave.
"Sniff… the carriage has already left."
"What? No, that can't—"
"Look."
She tapped the window, and the opaque glass turned clear. That, too, was the work of magic—something like a stand-in for curtains.
"……Huh?"
A foolish sound slipped out of Mariella. I turned to the scenery beyond the newly transparent window, but it was whipping past so fast there was nothing much worth seeing.
"That's impossible. There is no way there could be no vibration at a speed like this…"
"Th-thank you…"
I offered my thanks for the sudden praise, and Mariella stared at me as if I were strange. For an instant I wondered if I'd done something wrong, and my body trembled.
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Wasn't that… a compliment…?"
"A compliment? From me?"
"Well, this carriage… I'm the one moving it with magic, so…… oh."
Her face said she genuinely had no idea what I meant. Only then did I understand just how stupid I had been.
"I-I'm sorry for showing off…"
There was no way she would praise me merely for moving a carriage a little. Ria, who praises you for simply eating, is the strange one. This is what's normal.
I was mortified. I wanted to hide somewhere…
"No. There's simply a part I don't understand. Even if magic is moving it, having no vibration at all doesn't make sense."
"That's, um, just… if you lift the wheels a little off the ground and move it that way……"
"……The ground isn't level, is it? There would be bumps and uneven patches."
"You just account for all of that when you lift it, right?"
"……That can be calculated?"
I nodded at Mariella's question. At my reaction, her mouth fell open.
"Setting the calculation aside—can you keep magic that precise going the whole way? It will be another half day before we arrive."
Was she worried? Well, of course you'd worry if you were driving down the road and the fuel light came on.
I had a duty to put Mariella at ease, so I had to speak without trembling, and with confidence.
"Y-you don't need to worry. The control… and the mana I have left, neither is a problem… I can keep the speed stable, and the illusions I've laid over the outside are fine to maintain as well… so you can relax. You really can."
That was pretty good, wasn't it? I think I managed to speak as clearly as I could, without shaking.
"…Illusions?"
Mariella seemed to be the type who asked a great many questions. She probably wasn't asking because she didn't know. She had written papers with Ria, so she would know the basics.
Then the reason she was asking like that was probably so she could have a conversation with me.
I remembered reading somewhere that conversation is like playing catch. You keep it going on a suitable topic, with the right questions and the right answers. One person talking only to themselves, or both of you saying only what you want to say about entirely different things, is not a conversation.
I nodded and opened my mouth.
"Since it's moving by magic anyway… we don't need horses or a driver, but people would think it strange if there weren't any, so I overlaid them… with illusions."
"……So, to summarize: a spell that moves the carriage while keeping it floating above the ground, and a spell that creates illusions of a driver and horses. You can maintain both of those for more than half a day?"
I nodded. In truth, if you counted the protective magic and the other spells I had running for convenience, there were even more—but I wasn't tactless enough to point that out.
"…So it really is true."
"W-what is…?"
"When I first saw you, I thought my sister was playing a joke."
I couldn't follow. What joke?
"Honestly, it was hard to believe. That a girl like this had written those papers……"
"Ah……"
So that was what she meant. It stung a little, but consider it the other way around. You read a paper, think it's remarkable, go to the laboratory—and some elementary-school child tells you she wrote it. What would you do?
You'd tell them to quit joking and bring their guardian.
I wanted to believe Mariella had thought something similar.
"I'm sorry. For doubting you."
Long golden hair spilled down like a waterfall. Mariella's hair was glossy and straight, clearly well cared for. Different from Ria's curls.
"N-no! It's fine!! So please—please lift your head…!"
Startled, my voice came out too loud. An assassination attempt of this variety was a problem.
Being apologized to is even more uncomfortable…!!
Fortunately, Mariella's head soon found its proper place again. I let out a sigh on the inside.
"Then, um, if it's all right……"
My reaction came a beat late. Unlike the confident voice from before, this one trembled, somewhere shy.
"Could we… talk about magic?"
"Of course!"
This meant we were getting along, right?
Hehe. What a relief.