The Meeting Before the Meeting
The Meeting Before the Meeting
After finishing her conversation with Blanton, Rosemary crawled into bed.
Though defined as a magic beast by the world, her body was little different from a human's. She lay down on the soft mattress, drawing the steel that had replaced parts of her body along with her.
"Haahm."
The other humanoid demons needed rest just the same. Especially for someone of Rosemary's small build, the time she had to spend asleep was longer than that of other demons.
Rosemary already kept the surveillance magic Scope active all day long. The mere act of using magic placed a burden on the caster's stamina. Even if she smoked Mana Cigarettes or sucked on mana candy to power her spells, her original body could not hold mana, so the strain on her body remained the same. Eight hours of sleep a day were essential for her.
"What, nothing special today."
The hour had passed midnight. After assessing Aether and the pointy-eared elf's movements, Rosemary watched the two of them tilting beer mugs at a tavern and let out a scoff. Judging by the other people around them, today was apparently a day for sharing old stories.
"Right, you two should enjoy the end of term yourselves."
Rosemary shuddered at the smell of alcohol drifting through the screen and monitored the marketplace for a few more minutes.
The moment she concluded nothing special was likely to happen, she tapped out her Mana Cigarette into the ashtray. Her mouth felt heavy, likely from smoking too much.
She sprayed on a perfume made from the plant that shared her name to get rid of the stale odor, and on top of that, she even used a Cleaning Magic spell. This much would eliminate any problems with her natural scent.
Rosemary let out a long yawn and pulled the cotton-stuffed blanket over herself.
There was much on her mind in many ways, but fatigue had to be relieved in due time. She cut off all thought and focused solely on heading for dreamland.
That night. Rosemary, in her dream, was perched atop an enormous turtle while playing the violin. Finding it absurd even by her own reckoning, Rosemary let out a wheezing breath yet raised the corners of her lips in an empty smile.
**
And Vermel was wholly aware that Rosemary lived by that daily rhythm. That was why he had woken at the crack of dawn.
A hangover washed over him, likely because he had drunk far too heavily the night before. Still, he had no time to laze around.
He already had the metal plates and mesh he had prepared in advance. He carried them to the club room.
The club room consisted of three spaces in total. The largest was the workroom. The second-largest was the supply closet attached to the next room over. The supply closet generally stocked whatever items the club activities required.
One more room remained, but unlike the other two, this space was sealed on all four sides. On top of that, it was barely two pyeong in size, so it hardly saw any use among the members.
It was the dumping ground for trash that the supply closet couldn't handle—essentially, a disused storeroom.
However, because the club president, Lorwell, had a meticulous personality, the room currently stood completely empty.
After picking the lock and stepping inside, Vermel began installing the metal plates and mesh one by one on all four surfaces. For the ceiling, where affixing plates directly was difficult, he wove wire netting and layered it repeatedly.
Because of that, the space, which had originally been dark due to having not a single window, now looked exactly like a torture chamber.
"This should do."
The standard method of evading Rosemary's Scope surveillance was to fit all surfaces with highly conductive metal, then completely block out external sunlight. With that, the preparations to receive a guest were complete.
Last of all, he dragged in two chairs and a small, light desk. The space was already cramped to the point of bursting with just three pieces of furniture.
Vermel sat in the chair nearer the wall and produced a thick notebook before him on the small desk.
To anyone else's eyes, it was an utterly ordinary leather-bound notebook. Its insides, however, were anything but ordinary.
Of course they were. It was packed solid with the fortuitous encounters he had seized right after landing in this world, ones he had missed, plus relationships, and numerous strategy routes.
Vermel opened the notebook to about its midpoint. Palm-sized crimson candy wrapping was stuck broadly inside. That was not all. The inside of the wrapper had something written on it in sharp cursive.
[If u r not Korean, we could talk in EN]
It was an alphabet slightly different from the letters used in the Philiut Empire, and at the same time, Earth's own international standard language, corresponding to modern grammar.
Vermel believed that he was the only person in the entire Arens Continent who could write and read such a sentence.
It was a communication method and composition that some might find childish, yet even this felt welcome to him.
"...Done."
From now on, the war situation would change drastically.
Because there would be two of them, not one.
**
The appointment with the possessor was for after sunset. Before that, Professor Herlein had called for me, so I decided to visit her first.
[Please, won't you let me out?]
The Hardcover Book I had locked away with a padlock kept throwing a tantrum, but I ignored it lightly. Having received Professor Herlein's summons to the President's Office, I had my luggage about half packed before leaving the dormitory.
Honestly, I hardly cared one way or the other about meeting the president. I walked briskly into the academy's main building.
"Oh my, you're here?"
The voice of a familiar mentor. Yet Professor Herlein's expression was not as soft as her tone had sounded. Her complexion looked both harried and resolute—the complete opposite of her usual insouciant manner.
My instincts told me that something major was about to happen, and that this break would not pass peacefully.
Professor Herlein, who had been waiting in the foyer, began to walk. She guided me along the route to the President's Office. I had been in and out of the office enough times by now to walk it with my eyes closed, but the place was ordinarily so stringent that you couldn't easily enter without an escort like this.
I tried to infer what purpose the president had in calling me. The first time, he had summoned me over the Flare weapon, and recently he had called me to issue a commendation for handling the Black Death well.
There shouldn't have been any reason to summon me right then. Tilting my head, I stepped through the office door. With a clunk, the well-lacquered door let out a groan.
"You have arrived?"
President Robespierre greeted a student with formal deference. In this harsh world, he was a person worthy of being called a man of character. I gave a light bow of my head in silent respect.
In the President's Office were the president, myself, and Professor Herlein—and no one else. There was not a trace of any other student or faculty member.
I wondered what he had called me for this time. I rolled my eyes and waited for the president to set down his teacup.
Clack.
"Miss Aether, thank you truly for answering my summons."
"No, I...."
I let out a short laugh. The president followed suit and raised the corners of his own lips.
It was an unspoken question of whether we could begin the subject of the conversation proper. I had no reason to decline. I offered him another eye-smile.
"Hmm, where should I begin. First, even excluding the matter of the Black Death, the achievements Miss Aether has displayed at our school are too numerous to imagine. That said, summoning you every time something occurred felt like it would only increase your foot travel, so I called you today to address several matters all at once."
It appeared there was more than one or two items of business. When the president asked if I had enough time, I asked him, if at all possible, to keep things short.
"I do have another appointment after this."
"I cannot rightfully steal a student's precious time. Very well. Let us proceed swiftly."
A sheet of paper landed in front of me with a thump. At the president's gesture, I rubbed my eyes and took the document he had pushed forward, drawing it to my chest.
A few seconds later, I was reading a line I had not expected. My eyes went round of their own accord.
[You are recommended as a Research Scholarship student for this semester.]
Many other words preceded it, but the single line written at the end was what stood out most.
I was too stunned to speak. Hadn't I already received a research scholarship, or something like one, from Professor Herlein? As I swallowed quietly, puzzling over it, the president spoke.
"It is too early to be surprised."
Swish. Another sheet of paper slid out from beneath the desk drawer. Under the heading 'Announcement of Merit Scholarship Recipients' was a list of many students' names. At the very top of the merit scholarship list, divided from first through fourth year, my name was attached.
"Th-the grades are already out?"
When I asked in a dazed voice, the two of them nodded simultaneously, as if they had made a pact.
My class rank written in the remarks was first place. It meant that this semester I had beaten out the possessor and taken the highest rank among the first years. It was a result made possible because the first semester had focused more on theoretical classes than practicals.
"You already know, but the top student of each year is awarded a full scholarship. However, I have some unfortunate news for you."
"Unfortunate news?"
"Due to the defeat on the northern front and the outbreak of the Black Death, the imperial economy is in a state of severe collapse."
"Ah."
I already knew that much from what I had seen. Even here in the capital, where only the wealthiest people in the empire were said to take their place, free soup kitchens had opened, and people with no connection to piety had gathered in churches, living communally in the name of quarantine.
If things were like this around the Imperial Palace, I could not even begin to guess how the provinces were faring.
"Therefore, starting this semester, the Imperial Household has issued a directive to reduce the scholarship amount to half-payment, even for the top students."
I had expected it, but what could I do? I clicked my tongue internally and nodded before the wall of reality.
"However, you need not worry. That is why this Research Scholarship has been separately arranged."
"Pardon?"
"To put it simply, it's a workaround. It means they're making up the shortfall under another name."
Herlein patted my shoulder with a bittersweet smile.
"You gave up the Flare patent. This Pulse Scroll is similar. Think of this as compensation, at the institutional level, for that."
To receive this sort of consideration—I was truly grateful. If I could, I would have wanted to bow right then and there.
Yes. As grateful as I was....
"Ahem."
I had no idea why these two people's faces were so grim.
They were definitely smiling. They were smiling, yet I got the strong sense that they were forcing the corners of their mouths up. At the same time, it did not look as though they were trying to hide their feelings from me outright.
Ah, of course. The scholarship award was not the main topic of this conversation. Come to think of it, there had never been any reason to walk to the President's Office just to be notified of a scholarship award.
I sorted through the expressions of Professor Herlein and the president, which were changing with each passing moment. Even if I did not know about Professor Herlein, President Robespierre had the look of someone who had a clear request for me.
A picture was gradually forming. I knew what I had to say next.
It must have been nearly a month since I last put on a business smile. I spoke with the most natural grin I could manage.