Mirror Therapy (3)
Mirror Therapy (3)
"......."
There was no way to tell whether she was embarrassed about calling a completely different person "Your Highness" or not. Her expression hadn't changed in the slightest, after all.
At least I could turn back time. This girl couldn't do that.
"Meyer, Meyer......."
Alice, the real imperial princess rather than Claire, sat down beside me and murmured to herself with a faint furrow between her brows.
"Ah, right. The autonomous state's military commander-in-chief was named Felix Meyer."
And it was only after hearing Alice's words that the name, buried deep in my memory, surfaced faintly in my mind as well.
Only after hearing Alice’s words did the name buried deep in my memory faintly resurface.
It was not a name I had seen in the original story or the game’s setting guide. The only Riklant figure whose name properly appeared in the game was Governor Maximilian Schmidt.
In the Aetherna Chronicles, if a newly introduced character's name wasn't explicitly revealed, the name field displayed something like "a woman with long black hair" or "a rough-looking man." This applied on a per-installment basis rather than across the whole series, so even returning characters from previous games were presented the same way unless someone introduced them or they met the protagonist's party.
Honestly, it was occasionally a little funny. Surely far more players came in through the series than through individual new releases, yet the game would cover half the face of a character the player already knew perfectly well, sometimes even one who'd appeared in the opening, and describe them as something like "a red-haired young man."
Well, the name Felix Meyer was one I'd only heard after arriving in this world, so that was a slightly different matter. Perhaps, in the original story, it had belonged to an extra standing beside the governor who never even received a unique character model.
"That is correct. I am the only daughter of the Meyer family, a military house of the Riklant Autonomous State. I look forward to studying with you."
Her face remained expressionless, but when she said those words, even someone fairly oblivious could have told she was proud of it.
"A transfer student? But Class A's roster should already be full."
"I was able to transfer thanks to His Imperial Majesty's grace."
"Father did?"
Alice's brow furrowed slightly.
Lena Meyer didn't properly understand the relationship between Alice and the emperor. Perhaps she'd imagined an ordinary, unremarkable father-daughter dynamic.
In reality, Alice had gone to the emperor and lost her temper before I came to the academy.
I didn't know exactly how she'd expressed her anger, since I hadn't witnessed it myself, but I could at least tell that Alice didn't think highly of the emperor. Her expression whenever talk of him came up made that clear enough.
Alice's gaze traveled back and forth between Lena Meyer and me.
"We met and spoke in the dining hall this morning."
Though it had really been little more than introductions. Aside from that, we'd simply sat there expressionlessly and passed the time.
Thanks to that, I couldn't remember what I'd eaten for breakfast or how.
"Ah...... is that so?"
Perhaps concluding that staring at me any longer wouldn't yield anything useful, Alice turned her attention back toward Lena Meyer.
"So...... how is it? You're attending an academy in a foreign country, after all. I've heard the autonomous state has several decent academies of its own. Doesn't it feel awkward, coming abroad?"
"It does not."
At Alice's question, Lena Meyer answered at once.
"The Imperial Rondarium Academy is renowned even in the autonomous state. I consider it an honor to have been specially permitted to transfer there."
"But if you'd been attending an academy before, you'd have to leave your friends behind, wouldn't you?"
"I am a year too young to have entered an academy yet. However, because the Governor and His Imperial Majesty judged my abilities highly enough to allow my transfer, I intend only to work hard so as not to hold the rest of you back."
"Hmm...... is that so?"
Hearing that she was a year younger than us, Alice glanced at me.
She certainly didn't look especially short or physically underdeveloped, but Lena Meyer's face did seem somewhat youthful. Rondarium Academy's incoming students were children who turned fifteen this year, which meant Lena Meyer was fourteen, assuming her birthday had already passed.
Alice, who'd been leaning forward slightly, leaned back against her seat again and spoke.
"Well, Father must have had his reasons for permitting the transfer."
The fact that the emperor had his reasons only made Lena Meyer seem more suspicious, though.
Even under that kind of scrutiny from Alice, Lena Meyer's expression didn't change in the slightest.
"...... What was it like meeting the Sword Saint?"
I tried a change of subject. We still had a long while before we'd reach the academy. I didn't want to spend that time sitting among girls who'd fallen into an awkward silence.
Perhaps the one saving grace was that only four people could sit in this seating area.
Charlotte and Mia Crowfield sat in different seats, and Jake and Leo sat in yet another pair. There were plenty of open seats, so having two people each sit like that was never going to cause a shortage.
Jake and Leo had taken seats well away from us, but Charlotte and Mia Crowfield were sitting directly across the center aisle in the nearest seats—close enough to overhear our conversation perfectly well.
The very fact that both of them had chosen the aisle side rather than the window side meant they were interested in this conversation.
Then again, finding a way to keep the emperor in check was probably the whole reason both of them had entered the academy. One of them would even have been perfectly willing to carry out more drastic measures if she could.
"The Sword Saint......?"
"Ah, right, Sis, the Sword Saint really did live up to the title!"
For an instant, seeing Lena Meyer's expression go blank, I thought I might have gained something. But Claire, sitting right next to her, immediately responded with excitement, and the chance to observe Lena Meyer's expression flew away.
"We only trained for a single night, but it felt like my eyes were opened. He watched our swordsmanship, spotted our weak points right away, and corrected them. We practiced practically all night, you know?"
"...... Which is why the fatigue still hasn't faded even now."
Alice spoke while rubbing her face with an expression that had abruptly become extremely tired.
"Oh, come on. Your swordsmanship improved a lot too, didn't it? It'll definitely help in the long run. And he told us to come back, remember."
"...... Don't you think it's a little unrealistic to visit him regularly, when he lives a long way from the capital, and you have to ride in a carriage for a long while after that, and then climb a mountain for several hours before you can even see him?"
"We could just stop by during vacations, couldn't we?"
"...... That tiny cabin didn't look like it had anywhere for people to stay overnight?"
"Huh? Well, we'd just climb the mountain every day, then. It's only a few hours, anyway."
If you got up at four in the morning every day, you'd certainly have plenty of time for training even with the climb up and down.
Of course, Alice pulled a thoroughly disgusted face.
"...... If that ends up being the plan, I'd appreciate it if you left me out of it."
"Really?"
Claire, who'd looked slightly disappointed, immediately brightened her eyes again and looked toward me.
"...... Still, since he is the Sword Saint and all, it might be a good idea to visit him once if you find the time later."
Unable to evade that sparkling pressure, I ended up nodding.
"Good thinking!"
"The Sword Saint...... you mean Sir Frederick?"
No sooner had Claire answered with a beaming smile than Lena Meyer, who'd been quietly listening beside her, cut in. She must have barely managed to wait until the conversation wound down.
"Yeah, that's right."
Claire answered without a hint of fluster, and Lena Meyer took on a slightly dazed air.
"The Sword Saint, in a place so close......."
He was living in seclusion, but that didn't mean he was unknown. If anything, among those who trained in the sword, his name was more famous than those of most royalty or nobility. He was the Sword Saint, after all. Even Lucas had thought of cutting down the Sword Saint as his first objective before defeating the emperor.
Though for some reason, that target now seemed to have shifted to me.
"Yeah. If you'd like to meet him too, want to come along with us then?"
Claire casually displayed that insane social friendliness of hers even to the expressionless girl she'd met for the first time today.
"Would that really be all right?"
...... Ah. She's about to break the concept if she gets just a little happier.
She was still maintaining her blank expression, but I could see the corners of her mouth trembling ever so faintly.
"Shouldn't be a problem. Whether he teaches you or not is up to the Sword Saint himself, and I doubt he'd object just because you came along to meet him."
"......."
He did seem like that sort of person. If someone his acknowledged disciple brought along came to visit, he'd probably accept them readily enough. He'd gone into seclusion because he disliked being bothered, but he wasn't the type to turn away someone interesting, either.
"Thank you!"
Lena Meyer answered in a ringing voice.
"......."
And the space around me sank back into silence.
...... Why?
I didn't know why I felt so uneasy.
In terms of maintaining the concept, I was pretty sure I was doing a better job.
An anxiety welled up faintly, coiling from somewhere deep in my heart.
The problem was that I had no idea what was causing that anxiety.