I'm Not the Mastermind
“Hello, everyone. I am Shina Astorius, transferring from the Mikael Academy of the Kirinus Empire to Luin Academy. I look forward to a mutually rewarding relationship in which we may spur one another on in friendship and skill….”
Time passed, and the first day of the new term arrived.
Right now, Shina was introducing herself to our class—Class One—as its newest member.
Back straight, not a shred of self-consciousness in her, she spoke with such poise that no one could look away.
I would have liked to do the same.
Hard to concentrate, though.
A burning stare from across the room kept dragging my attention off her speech. I flicked my eyes just enough to identify the source.
Ah. Charlotte.
The reason for that stare clicked into place, and I gave a small nod.
A girl with radiant golden hair was fixed on me from the right, staring as if she meant to bore a hole straight through my skull.
Charlotte Cervantes—born of a minor border noble house, yet already making a name for herself at Luin Academy as a prodigy on the strength of her extraordinary magical talent… or so the official story went.
In truth, she was a poor soul who’d been reading the novel Grand Saga when she got possessed into this world. Same as me: a modern person.
Armed with every scrap of knowledge about the story—meaning the future—she had every reason to find me an eyesore.
After all, in the original plot there was an entire episode where the demonized Shion kept hitting on Charlotte and got thoroughly schooled for it.
Over the break, the demonized Shion boldly approached the girl he’d long had a crush on; Charlotte, finding him unbearable, turned him down; and Shion, unable to take no for an answer, eventually lost control of his emotions and went berserk.
Of course, I hadn’t been demonized, and I had zero interest in Charlotte, so there was effectively no reason for her to be on guard around me—but from Charlotte’s point of view, knowing nothing about the me who wasn’t the novel’s Shion, I probably looked like a bomb one wrong breath away from detonating.
Should I put her mind at ease?
Deep wounds fester, and deep misunderstandings breed conflict. I turned my head toward Charlotte, put on a silly smile, and gave her a little wave.
Crack.
Charlotte’s face twisted into the expression of someone who had just bitten into a bug.
Huh. That… wasn’t the reaction I was going for.
What the hell!
Charlotte nearly jumped out of her skin at Shion’s sudden little wave.
In the book, hadn’t he stayed quiet until Shina finished her introduction? Why was he doing that all of a sudden? Had the demonization process scrambled his brains somehow?
Shion behaving differently from the novel left her rattled. She took a slow breath and cooled her head.
No. It might just be something the novel never bothered to describe. What I need to prepare for is the conversation with him.
Once Shina’s introduction was over and before first period began, Shion would come over and speak to her.
Hoo… So when he talks to me, I refuse him flat. If he looks like he’s about to cause a scene, I put him down immediately.
She ran the scenario in her head, turning the simulation over and over. The demonized Shion would be a strong opponent, sure—but with the power she’d gathered by exploiting every scrap of knowledge from the novel, she could definitely handle him.
“…I am glad to be among you. I hope you will look kindly on me from this day forward.”
Shina bowed, light-blue hair cascading around her shoulders, and every student in the room clapped with something like reverence in their eyes.
Charlotte clapped along halfheartedly and swung her gaze back to Shion—then doubted her own eyes.
Shion was looking at Shina and nodding, wearing an expression that all but said, Heh. I believed in you.
What is that reaction supposed to mean?
It was so completely different from everyone else’s that a thin thread of unease rose in Charlotte’s chest, and her brow furrowed.
Something about the way things were unfolding refused to match her expectations—
Smack!
She gave her own cheek a light slap, shook her head hard, and forced herself back to focus.
Don’t get swallowed by useless noise.
The demonized Shion was no soft target. She needed her wits about her.
She was still reining herself in and sorting her thoughts when—
Scrape!
Shion Frelia rose from his seat.
Here it comes. Charlotte felt it in her bones.
Step. Step.
To anyone else it would have been ordinary footfalls, white noise—but to Charlotte they approached like a weapon.
Step. Step.
Footsteps like a grenade with the pin already pulled. Footsteps like a rabid patient one touch away from turning.
Step. Step.
At last the sound came so close it was right beside her; the distance between Shion and her had all but vanished—
“…?”
And then the footsteps receded again.
That was it. He’d simply walked out of the classroom.
“????”
Charlotte, every nerve still strung tight, blinked once, then bolted up and checked the hallway.
“Hmm… Now where was it again?”
Out there, a young man was ambling along with a gait as frivolous as his muttering, drifting forward with no particular urgency at all.
“What the hell is that guy.”
The words slipped out as she watched his back.
The thought something is going wrong hit her, and with it the sensation of blood running the wrong way through her veins—one of the feelings Charlotte got whenever a situation refused to bend to her expectations.
And more often than not, once that feeling showed up, something unpleasant followed.
As if possessed, she set off after Shion.
She wanted to talk to the source of every evil himself and shake off this foul feeling as soon as possible.
“Hey.”
She closed the distance at a quick walk and caught up.
“Oh? Well, well—if it isn’t Lady Cervantes. It’s been some time.”
Shion turned with a tilt of his head, face brightening as he greeted her.
That silly, loose-lipped smile was unmistakably Shion’s.
…Something’s off.
But Charlotte caught something strange in his expression.
The corner of his mouth was trembling, just a little.
“Yeah, long time. Crazy, though, right? Who would’ve thought the famous Shina Astorius would transfer to our school.”
“Indeed. Truly, one never knows what the world has in store.”
Normally Shion would have babbled on forever, stretching the conversation as far as he could. Today he was short on words.
“Oh—I heard the Astorius girl stayed at your estate the past few days. What’s she like?”
“An honest, upright person. Like someone who stepped straight out of a textbook, you might say.”
The longer they talked, the worse the tremor at the corner of his mouth became.
Is he… nervous?
She could feel it on instinct. This Shion did not want to be talking to her.
And he looked pressed—like a man who absolutely had somewhere he needed to be.
…Aha.
The puzzle pieces snapped together in Charlotte’s head.
Judging by how impatient he seemed, how time-pressed—
He was on his way to make contact with someone.
Why he’d slipped out of class against the original story, she still didn’t know. What mattered was that he was about to do something.
And there were only two kinds of people a demonized Shion would be meeting in secret: a dark mage, or a demonkin.
Got you.
At last a little ease returned to Charlotte’s chest, and a faint smile touched her lips.
All right. How to play this.
Snatching him with space magic and forcing him to spill everything about his contact was a solid option. Threatening him into wrecking the enemy’s plans was another.
“By the way, Shion—where are you hurrying off to?”
“Pardon? Hurrying? I’m not sure what you mean. I’m simply enjoying a leisurely conversation with Lady Cervantes, am I not?”
Shion cocked his head as if he genuinely had no idea. To a stranger, the performance might have been convincing.
Doesn’t work on me, though.
Charlotte huffed a quiet snort and smiled with her eyes.
“That so? I figured you were sneaking off somewhere dangerous.”
“Somewhere suspicious? Nonsense.”
Checkmate.
“Well then—if it isn’t somewhere suspicious, you can tell me. Where were you going?”
She quietly arranged her mana, ready to trigger a spell at any moment.
And then—
“…!”
A bead of cold sweat slid down his temple as he slowly opened one eye.
It was the first time she had ever seen Shion’s pupils.
Eyes like something holding an abyss looked straight into her.
Gulp.
Charlotte swallowed without meaning to.
“…Must you hear it, my lady?”
He regarded her with one eye still open, looking for all the world as if he were put in a difficult position.
It was a final warning, or something very like it—and her heartbeat spiked.
“Yeah. I really do.”
Fsssh—
A magic circle of intricate design bloomed into being behind her back.
Shion flinched for a second at the sheer hostility of it, then smiled faintly and opened his mouth.
“Hmm. Perhaps this is for the best. I had intended to handle it myself, but with Lady Cervantes here, I believe we can settle the matter far more smoothly. I happened to be in need of an assistant.”
What matter? What horrible scheme was he hiding? And what did he mean, an assistant—
She steadied her breathing and held every nerve taut, ready to strike at any instant.
Whiiirrr!
Her magic circle howled as it spun faster.
“Lady Charlotte.”
She poured every sense she had into each syllable that left his mouth.
And at last the terrible plan spilled from his lips.
That terrible plan was, of all things—
“Do you happen to know where the restroom is?”
?
Charlotte’s thoughts came to a complete and total stop.