What Are You Doing, Sis? (6)
What Are You Doing, Sis? (6)
When Rosemary received the career questionnaire from her sister, her breath nearly stopped.
'What kind of plan is this....'
She had almost blurted out a sharp retort. Rosemary pressed a hand over her pounding heart and calmly read the words in silence.
At the moment, she was disguising her eyes as blue, but Rosemary was also a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe.
The Gold-Eye Tribe's most defining trait was superior memory. The body of steel that spirits cursed and pointed fingers at was, to Rosemary, nothing less than a blessing.
If she had possessed an electronic brain made of zeroes and ones, a brain far clumsier than her own, she would have memorized a mere short passage instantly.
"......."
She might have been better off if she had failed to memorize it.
'This is just a declaration of war.'
She did not know who was declaring war on whom, but the circumstances suggested it. If Rosemary's judgment were correct, a tragedy of fratricidal conflict would soon begin.
Her sister certainly had not recovered her memories. Or if she had, she might have decided to share humanity's fate.
'This cannot happen.'
Without Big Sis, even if the Demon King were resurrected, it would be futile. The efforts of the remaining Great Machines of the Nine Heavens might manage to resurrect him somehow, but he would be unable to use his full power.
- Ding, ding, ding
"......."
When she came to her senses, it was almost time for classes to end.
"Sis, I'm going ahead."
Rosemary ignored Akasha's advice to watch Aether closely and rushed toward the Imperial Palace.
The Warp Gate was located there. She had to go to the Demon King's Castle immediately and report.
The moment she returned to her room, Rosemary sought out Duke Blanton. She hastily packed her bag and hurried toward the room situated deep within the Imperial Palace. There lay the high-level Teleportation Array that allowed free passage between the Imperial Palace and the Demon King's domain.
"Shall I accompany you?"
"I'll go alone."
In her urgency, she even brushed off Duke Blanton, who had been tailing her like an adjutant. She acted alone.
In most cases, Extinction-class magic beasts moved in pairs. This was to avoid being assassinated by high-level spirits while traveling alone. Deserting the front line in this manner was therefore tantamount to a grave crime.
So what if it was a grave crime? Every moment counted right now.
As soon as Rosemary arrived at the Demon King's Castle, she called out Akasha's alias at the top of her lungs.
"Middle Sis! Middle Siiiiis!!"
"What. Why are you making so much noise."
Akasha, who had been pacing in front of the empty throne, approached Rosemary.
When Rosemary arrived at the castle, Akasha had been toying with a peculiar-looking machine. It was a donut-shaped iron device called a Tokamak.
"Little sister, why did you come here in the middle of work? Did those bastards get their hands on a Lodestone or something?"
"No... Big Sis...."
"What about Aether?"
Rosemary explained the whole story on the spot, chirping like a baby bird.
She said a great deal, but compressed into a single sentence, this was it:
"Big Sis is going to wreck us all."
"......."
Rosemary landed a clean uppercut with her final words. Admiration flickered within her. Akasha's face looked stupider than any expression she had ever seen her wear.
"She intends to turn a magic meant for the Spirit Realm upon us?"
But unlike Rosemary, Akasha regained her composure quickly. That was why she held her position as the 2nd Seat, Rosemary supposed.
"Are we going to become enemies with Big Sis now?"
"We can't let that happen. We have to bring her back somehow."
"But Aether is smarter than we are. Every plan we've come up with so far has failed. What do we do?"
The very first time. Back when they first learned of Aether's location.
Rosemary had first used the Second Prince to attempt to purchase Aether from Haspelt. At the time, she had deliberately presented an unprecedented offer to keep Haspelt from entertaining other thoughts.
But as she now saw, that plan had fallen apart when her sister passed the Tillet entrance examination.
Next, she had tried to induce her to drop out of the academy through the prince. That was how Prince Clion had ended up taking a direct blow to the crown of his head from a pair of Calipers.
"Think carefully, Rosemary. When did things start going this wrong?"
"Around the time the prince's brainwashing stopped working...?"
"Exactly."
"Right."
It was a fact they had already recognized.
"That elf is the only one capable of breaking the prince's brainwashing. The circumstances all point to that."
"And I tried to find and kill her, but you said she was nowhere to be seen."
"What? She vanished?"
"She withdrew from the academy."
Rummaging through her memories as if rewinding a clock spring, Rosemary continued.
"She must have noticed in advance. She ran away the moment I transferred into the classroom. I turned the Scope magic over every inch, but I couldn't find where she went."
One point was certain: that elf was aware of her own magic.
Which meant she knew Rosemary's true identity. Unless she were eliminated somehow.
Where could she have gone? While Rosemary was scanning possible locations, Akasha suddenly jolted and urged her.
"Rosemary, go back to Tillet right now. Quickly!"
"Why?"
"Why do you think! Don't you realize our sister told you about this plan because she predicted you would come here?"
"Huh...?"
Now that she heard it, it sounded plausible. If her sister had sided with humanity, that mind of hers would have devised exactly this stratagem.
"But I planted a human agent among them. Wherever she goes, they'll report on her situation for me."
"What if Sis figures out who they are and dips them in Aqua Regia?"
"Hey, no way."
For some reason, a shiver ran down her spine.
"No way."
"If it's her, she'd do it and worse."
Rosemary hurriedly grabbed her bag and stepped onto the Teleportation Array. Blue light filled her vision and then vanished, and she was back at the Imperial Palace.
She checked the time. One hour. That was exactly how long she had been absent.
There was no time even to smoke a Mana Cigarette now. Rather than turning on the Scope magic and leisurely spectating, it was faster to move around in person.
She already had a place in mind. Rosemary dashed across the academy with the speed of a horse.
And then.
'There she is.'
Like a predator stalking prey, she held her breath and locked onto Aether as she exited the Liberal Arts Building. All that remained was to approach her and gauge her state of mind.
"Sis, what are you doing here right now?"
She spoke casually, concealing her agitation. Aether replied with a perfectly unruffled expression.
"I just met with the chairman."
"For what?"
"A scholarship matter."
She had to control her expression. She forced the corners of her lips up and acted as if nothing was amiss.
"Wow. Sis, are you the top student?"
"Something like that. So, what did you come looking for me for at this hour?"
"I forgot an item at school, you know."
The two exchanged lies with perfect naturalness. Their shamelessness seemed ready to pierce the sky.
But Rosemary intuited it. Even in telling a lie, she was a step behind. Aether, after all, had shown not the slightest hint of surprise despite the sudden ambush.
"Then I'll be off. See you tomorrow."
As if knowing nothing, Aether walked past Rosemary.
In that instant, Rosemary realized.
'The smell of cigarettes....'
A Gold-Eye Tribesmember smokes a Mana Cigarette in only one of two situations.
When using magic. And when chatting idly with someone.
There was no way she had been firing off magic inside the academy. Aether was not the sort of person to do that without reason.
"......."
A subtle sensation brushed past her cheek, like turbulent air flowing.
It did not take long to recognize the identity of that sensation.
"...The elf bastard."
Veins bulging in her eyes, she trudged toward the back door of the Liberal Arts Building. As she walked, she slowly rolled her neck, and the sound of interlocking metal issued from everywhere in her body.
[You're not returning to the Imperial Palace tonight?]
"No. It's an overnight assignment."
She didn't forget to contact Blanton through Flame Speech. After that, Rosemary coiled herself like a snake and began to lie in wait in the basement of the Liberal Arts Building.
One hour passed. There was no sign of anything.
Two hours passed. Still no sign.
Three hours, four hours, five hours passed in this way. By the time her legs had grown numb from sitting as still as a block of wood—
- Clank
She heard a lock click into place outside. The custodian must have locked the building doors.
It was well past midnight. This was the right time to move.
Rosemary lit a Mana Cigarette. Then she walked toward the room she had once failed to spy on with Scope magic, the room in question.
She steadied her breathing and closed her eyes. Bzzzzzzt. An insect droned noisily from the windowsill. It was a prelude beyond reproach for composing herself.
The Mana Cigarette burned down to its end.
A sword slightly over one meter in length materialized in her right hand. Its tip was a Violin String, a blade in place of horsehair.
The first movement had ended. It was time to play the next.
"I was trying to settle this amicably if I could."
She couldn't endure this any longer. Her patience had reached its limit.
Rosemary slowly opened her eyes. Her blue irises were suffused with a yellow haze.
Golden eyes shone brilliantly even in the darkness. As if they were tracing the future of her tribe.
When a high-ranked magic beast enters combat readiness, it emits a killing intent, whether knowingly or not. Rosemary was no exception. As she moved with the intent to harm someone, the insect's song ceased.
"Oh-ho."
She grabbed the door handle, but it wouldn't turn. It seemed to be locked from the inside.
They had paid some attention to security.
But what was she to do about it?
It was useless anyway.
Rosemary applied force and tore the door from its frame. A ghastly metallic screech clawed at the floor. The screws that held the door popped out one by one. The twisted iron door warped into a grotesque shape.
At last, the door reached the point of being forced open.
Through the gap wafted the musty smell of cigarette smoke and canned food. It was the familiar scent she had caught a short while ago.
She thrust her hand through the narrow opening. She ripped out the chain caught in the middle with her teeth. Chewing through the latch, she walked slowly into the room.
Rosemary smiled, her eyes now fully sclera-white and gold.
"......Found you."