What Are You Doing, Sis? (10)
What Are You Doing, Sis? (10)
On the way back after finishing the experiment.
I stopped when I spotted a familiar face.
"Teacher?"
Neatly flowing silver hair swayed gently. It was my homeroom teacher, Professor Herlein.
Professor Herlein had left her lab door open and was sweeping with a broom. Wondering why a professor would be pushing a broom, I glanced at the nameplate affixed in front of the lab.
[Kleis Haspelt]
[Status: Absent]
"......."
"Oh my, what brings you here?"
Herlein tossed the broom aside and approached.
As befitted one of Tillet's noted beauties, her gait was elegant. As the teacher drew nearer, a subtle floral fragrance began to waft through the area.
Still, Professor Herlein, who researched Earth Magic, was cleaning the Fire Magic lab....
"I could ask you the same, Professor. What are you doing in a place like this?"
"A friend's away, I should at least do this much...."
Herlein trailed off with a bittersweet expression. In her gaze, which I secretly studied, I glimpsed the fragments of several emotions.
Professor Herlein was the benefactor who had helped me escape Professor Haspelt. However, from Professor Haspelt's perspective, she was basically a traitor who had betrayed a long-standing trust. Herlein had helped me enroll even while knowing it would strain their friendship.
Why had she done it? Objectively speaking, it was an incomprehensible action.
But I did not bother to ask. Partly because it felt excessively rude, and partly because I judged there was no need to poke a hornet's nest over something already in the past.
"I was just about to head out after an experiment with Rote. Anyway, it's been a really long time since I've been here."
Out of shallow curiosity, I glanced sideways into Professor Haspelt's lab. There was an oddly shaped box by the entrance.
"...What's that box?"
"Looks like her personal belongings. Ah, don't touch it carelessly."
"I won't."
What would I do touching someone else's stuff? I snorted and just looked with my eyes.
Among the assorted antiques, one item caught my eye. It was a metal picture frame sitting at the very top. A photograph of two women was set inside the palm-sized frame.
The woman on the right, with the comparatively sharp eyes, was identifiable at a glance. And the person next to her.... She looked very familiar. Given how much she resembled Professor Haspelt, she was likely family.
"Who's this person here on the left?"
"Clara Haspelt. Kleis's older sister."
"Ah, the one who authored the Spirit Magic textbook."
"That's right. She was also the one who recommended the Iliad exchange student to me."
According to Herlein's follow-up, Clara Haspelt had spent the latter half of her undergraduate years at Iliad. The story was that she had contracted two high-level spirits, as I had heard before.
"Come to think of it, didn't you mention this is the first semester the two schools have signed an exchange student agreement?"
"That only applies to the half-semester length. When I attended, there were already one-semester or one-year exchange programs."
"I see...."
"You said you'd be going to Iliad after midterms, Saliere? I'll say it again then too, but study hard while you're there. Understood?"
"I'll keep that in mind."
Having nothing more to say, Rote and I said our goodbyes and stepped outside. It was already evening.
Maybe because it was early autumn, the weather was growing steadily colder. Rote adjusted her collar and asked.
"Where should we have dinner?"
"Anywhere is fine."
I had no particular appetite. Was it because I had lied to Rote earlier?
Right after the experiment, I made a promise to Rote that I could not keep. A promise that once we drove the magic beasts from the world and a peaceful era arrived, we would spend the rest of our lives together in one territory.
The taste in my mouth was bitter from making a promise I couldn't keep. Wasn't this just a double standard?
"What's wrong? Not feeling well?"
"No, it's nothing."
"Don't tell me your body aches are getting worse again?"
"I said it's not like that."
That time was still a long way off. Rather than fearing the distant future, I resolved to focus on the present.
We walked to the campus cafeteria. The wind, sharp as a well-honed blade, stung my cheeks.
Most of the Empire's territory fell under a cold climate zone. It was still mid-September, yet a cold wave was already arriving.
"Ugh, it's cold. The sentries on duty must be having a rough time too."
Even now, Rote was worrying about the guards patrolling the academy. The proper attitude of a good noble. Count Saliere was undoubtedly blessed in his children.
"Huh...?"
Perhaps it was my imagination, but several patrolling guards were walking toward us. The guards wore yellow armbands on their left shoulders, making them easy to distinguish from civilians even in the evening.
"Students, let me ask you something."
"What is it?"
Analogous to Korea, this felt like suddenly being stopped by the police while walking down the street. Had I done something wrong?
I racked my brain for possible misdeeds. Smacking the crown prince on the head, smacking Angelica on the head, almost smacking Vermel on the head....
Had I been reported for serial assault or something?
While I was scaring myself prematurely, one of the guards continued.
"His Imperial Majesty has decreed that all Flare Scrolls in your possession be surrendered to the state. You're Aether... that is, the student who developed the Flare Scroll, correct?"
...Wait. This situation was unusual.
"Henceforth, the development and operation of the Flare Scroll shall belong solely to the Philiut Empire. As subjects of the Empire, severe punishment awaits should you fail to obey the law."
Rote's mouth hung open. She wore an expression of disbelief.
"This is absurd. The Imperial Constitution states, 'All persons shall possess the freedom of magic development and scroll possession'!"
"A constitutional amendment was approved today. It's been quite exhausting for us because of that."
"Without any announcement period...."
Yeah, I knew this day would come eventually.
I bit my lip as I pulled the scrolls from my hip pack. It was a moment where even my bean-sized remaining appetite completely vanished.
That crazy bitch, Rosemary.
"......."
Ah, my side felt empty. With all the Magic Paper gone en masse, my shoulders felt noticeably lighter too.
"...What do we do now? If we can't make the Flare itself, we can't miniaturize it either, can we?"
Rote was right. I let out a string of sighs and mulled over what to do and how.
"Ah."
"What is it?"
"Right. That thing existed."
...It was a bit of a gamble, but I had to try it.
**
Duke Blanton's office, lavishly adorned in gold.
The space was as opulent and extravagant as the crown prince's own room. A brilliantly sparkling chandelier, and jewelry on display shelves embroidered like the Milky Way. Was it not a perfect space to enjoy while sipping wine?
"It's been a while since I've tasted something sweet!"
Rosemary emptied her glass and let out a cheer.
-Your Imperial Majesty! Please reconsider! Why do you suddenly seek to amend the constitution!
-The outcry from mages who have heard the news is rising! We beg your discernment─!!
Thanks to the efforts of Duke Blanton, that is, the 7th Seat 'Orleyang', the constitutional amendment was successful. Now, the state would control all development and production of Flare Scrolls in Philiut.
And was that all? She had also shattered the prestige of the reformist nobles who proposed using spirit-embedded paper money. All with nothing more than the emperor's command.
"Absolute monarchy is so easy to handle, you know."
Once she seized control of the emperor and his close aides, things resolved this easily. Rosemary giggled and threw herself onto the king-size bed.
In the corner of the bed was a black sea-turtle plushie. Rosemary picked up the turtle doll and hugged it tight to her chest.
"Soon now."
Once she stole the Lodestone that was due to arrive at Tillet soon, she would have no more business with the Empire. She could regard that day as the date of House Philiut's annihilation.
-Clunk
"Oh, that was fast?"
"Yes. I have returned after disposing of all the tasks you entrusted to me."
Duke Blanton, who had entered and firmly locked the door, produced twenty scrolls from within his coat.
"These appear to be all the Flares retrieved from the 2nd Seat."
"...Why would anyone carry around twenty of these?"
"The objective was likely to capture us."
"That gives me the creeps."
Rosemary inspected the scrolls one by one and smirked. To her expert eye, the Construction Array was unmistakably that of a Flare.
"You skim through something so complex and make a judgment just like that. Most impressive."
"I make scrolls out of planets, so analyzing to this degree is child's play."
Rosemary acted as proud as a kindergartner who had aced a dictation test. But Duke Blanton's expression was not entirely bright.
"It is still too early for you to rejoice."
"Yeah. I know."
Currently, Rosemary held two hypotheses regarding Aether.
1. She has lost her memories and mistakenly believes she is human.
2. Even if she has recovered her memories, distrust toward the Demon King's army remains, leading her to side with the humans.
"If she's lost her memories, all I have to do is help her get them back. And if she still doesn't trust us, then I just need to show her that humans are far worse in that regard."
"I see. Now that we've confiscated the Flare, her reaction to this can be used to gauge the state of her memories."
"Exactly. If she gets angry at me for taking the Flare, that becomes evidence she knows who I am."
Of course, this was merely 'gauging'—she did not actually need to ascertain the presence of amnesia.
"Now, let's see. There's a special activity tomorrow. The Basic Magic-Stone Studies professor said he'd be holding class in the campus museum. At that time, I'll sweet-talk my sister and get her to focus her consciousness on the 'Mirror of the Inner Self' that I placed there. That should make things certain, don't you think?"
The Mirror of the Inner Self she had set up in a dungeon she personally created a while back. Its power was marvelous.
The person who gazes into the mirror gets released from all manner of mental debuffs, including amnesia, and literally gains an opportunity to converse with their own 'inner self.' In doing so, they become much more honest with themselves.
The mirror had been disguised as an ordinary antique. Her sister would view it without any particular suspicion.
"I look forward to tomorrow."
A smirk twisting her lips, Rosemary flopped down onto the bed.