Total Defense
Moonlight silvered the long pipe as Haghia breathed out a ribbon of smoke. She and Lil looked down together, their laughter low and eerie.
On the ground the barbarians were pouring out aura, coiled as if they might charge at any moment, and in the gaps between those massive bodies the beastkin stood firm. At that unreal sight the clamoring crowd fell silent all at once. Voices died. The torches stopped their dance.
Haghia drifted down from the roof as slowly as a falling leaf and blew a long stream of smoke toward them. The strange air she carried made every throat go dry, and the crowd took a step back as one. With a composure no one would have believed of a woman facing dozens, she walked slowly toward them.
"Something you needed to see here?"
"No—we just want that bastard Blow's face...!"
"Hmm. Where Boss Blow is... I'm rather curious about that myself."
"And who are you?"
Haghia lifted the crest of House Campbell into view. Torchlight glittered on it, and the crowd could only gulp. She added one more line, wearing a sly smile.
"Those of us here have something to collect from Young Master Blow."
"That's not—"
"If it comes to it, we may have to tear the windows off Hills. You didn't come to burn the whole place down, did you?"
"That's right—we've got to take the plates inside!!"
"Yeah!! And drain the wine barrels while we're at it!!"
"Come out this instant and settle the balance, Blow Deblique!!"
Bahama and Rihendel were in a full rage. Every time they spoke the whole alley rang, and the people in front couldn't help but flinch.
Ornn, who had been scowling fit to split his face, stepped up beside Haghia and put the question to them in a low, unmistakable voice.
"Do you have something to collect as well?"
"Ah, n-no..."
"Then will you stand with us?"
"Heh heh. I'd like that just fine."
Haghia exhaled another long stream of smoke. Under those slightly unhinged eyes the raging crowd glanced at one another, shuffled backward, and slipped quietly out of the alley.
A little while later, when every torch that had blazed there had vanished, Haghia tucked the pipe away, looked at Ornn, and smiled.
"That went well."
"You as well, Miss Haghia."
She smiled at that, then beckoned toward Lil, who was still sitting on the roof.
"Come down, won't you? Manager of the second shop..."
"Right now?"
"Yes."
So Lil, manager of the second branch, came down and looked around with an embarrassed face. She had only meant to hover at the edge because leaving felt awkward, and she had ended up far deeper than she ever expected. The exchange that had pulled her in came back all too clearly.
"H-huh? Acting? All of a sudden?"
"You don't strictly have to stay."
"No..."
"Still, it would be a great help if you did. If you'd rather, you can just sit there."
"Where?"
"The roof, for instance?"
I just wanted to run a shop...
Lil felt like crying. She was swallowing that sigh when Liliane came up to her, eyes sparkling.
"Miss Lil! You were so cool!"
"What? All I did was sit on the roof."
"If I were tall, I could sit there and look atmospheric too! As you can see, I'm beastkin, so my legs are short."
"Why didn't you just use illusion magic?"
"But then it wouldn't be me!"
Liliane laughed brightly at Haghia's question. Did these people feel no tension at all? Fed up, Lil's mouth fell open.
"Liliane, there was something off in that crowd. Did you feel it?"
"There was something strange, but it disappeared right away."
"Maybe I should have just acted crazy and gone over there."
"Our goal was protecting the buildings, so that would have been a little... delicate."
While the two of them were talking, little Maled, who had been hiding in the alley, popped out and added in a bright voice.
"Rich and Grown were in the back too!"
"Rich and Grown? What are those?"
"Bosses of the back-alley families."
"Oh? Really? If we tell the young master later, he'll be pleased."
"Right! Won't the indigo sister or the purple sister grind them into powder?"
Maled said it with a bright smile.
...Grind who into powder?
Lil knew both names, since she did business nearby, and she couldn't help but tremble.
A window of the Red Forest opened, and Cunsai's clear voice came from inside.
"All right—if it's over, come in. There's a lot of work to do!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Mr. Ornn, Lil, Liliane, and I will take turns watching the front, so please go on in."
"I can't do that. Since I'm here, I ought to at least check that nothing's wrong with Hills and the Red Forest before I go!"
While everyone rallied together like that, Lil, who had been quietly reading the room, was caught between Haghia and Liliane and had no choice but to climb back up onto the roof.
The day after the crowd had swarmed Hills, House Edfolk and Blow published a statement of regret. Just as they had expected, it only sprinkled a little water on public opinion. It did not put the fire out. By Monday the school was noisy with talk of Blow.
In the joint practical class for the lower years—first through third—Linne Franche deliberately timed her entrance to the lecture hall. Normally she would have gone in thirty minutes early to prepare. She was the one who had made the most Foresti Made, so she was practically carrying Jane's role, and she had no room to spare in body or mind. More than anything, she didn't trust herself to answer the barrage of questions that would be aimed at her.
Arriving exactly on time, she quietly took the front corner seat. A few students clustered around her and studied her face in worried tones.
"Linne, you okay?"
"H-huh? Wh-what...?"
"I mean, the Red Forest where you work is a complete mess right now."
"Yeah, I heard someone even saw people heading that way with torches last night!!"
"Aren't you in huge danger? Did you even go in over the weekend?"
"And how are you making the potions? Just handing out ones you made ahead of time?"
What Blow had told her yesterday came back.
"Linne, if you don't know, say you don't know. All right?"
"Ah... I-I will."
"Good. No need to stretch it out."
Remembering that, Linne shook her head and answered them.
"I don't think so? I-I just... I think I have to go in today too, haha..."
"Really? You were pretty close with that Blow guy."
"Yeah, yeah, I thought you two were really close. He didn't bully you or anything, right?"
"Is that sphere really that dangerous?"
Questions poured in without pause, and Linne was agonizing over whose words to answer and how when someone slammed a desk hard enough to break it. Every eye snapped that way.
"Hey! Will you all shut up?"
Rosalyn Ropert was glaring, contempt written all over her face. At an expression that looked ready to kill someone, the lecture hall went dead quiet.
"Noisy from morning! If you want to chatter, go chatter outside the classroom!"
"We're sorry."
"What's so wonderful that you're going on and on... Hey!?"
"......"
"Not going to answer?"
"Ah, n-no!!"
"What are you doing? Not going back to your seats?"
Faces gone pale, they ran for their seats. Linne followed the three with her eyes and, for an instant, met Rosalyn's gaze. She bowed her head. Rosalyn, arms folded, flushed all the way to her face and turned away.
While Rosalyn was crushing her juniors, in the fourth-year spirit-class lecture hall, Skadi headed for the very back row, doing her best to ignore the stares pouring onto her. Herbena, who should have arrived first and been sitting there already, was nowhere to be seen.
...Is Herbena not even coming to class?
Worry made her bite her lower lip. Cindy, who had come in behind her, tapped her on the back and took a seat first.
"Skadi, it feels like it's been forever since I saw you. Is that just me?"
"Mm... no, well..."
"Where's Herbena?"
"I don't know. I didn't see her over the weekend."
"What's that about? You didn't drink?"
"I can't drink every day, can I?"
"What? That doesn't sound like you at all."
...Does this girl not know anything?
While Skadi stared blankly at Cindy, a few students approached with faces full of curiosity.
"Um, Skadi?"
"Yeah. What?"
"No... you know......"
They were still hemming and hawing when Cindy looked their way and spoke in a flat tone.
"I'm in the middle of a private conversation with Skadi right now."
"Huh? What..."
"About my ex-boyfriend."
"Uh—uh? If it's your ex..."
...Julbert?
Stricken, they carefully retreated. Skadi, just as startled, could only stare at her with her mouth open.
"Cindy, you..."
"Sometimes it's useful if I use it like this."
"Thanks."
"For what?"
Cindy said it as if it were nothing, and Skadi couldn't help a small laugh.
Meanwhile Christina, Mnevoir's teaching assistant, came into the lecture hall and called out so everyone could hear.
"Grades are out, so please come up front and check them!! The correction period runs until this Friday!"
The moment she finished, students surged forward with no one waiting to go first. When Skadi and Cindy had nearly reached the front, Christina beckoned her over.
...Why is the assistant calling me all of a sudden? Did my score go up too much?
Holding both anxiety and excitement, she stepped up to Christina, who held out a potion and smiled.
"This is a good potion."
"Ah..."
"The professor said you ought to take it and try researching it. With your friends."
"Yes, thank you."
Skadi took the potion from her. A slip of paper brushed her fingertips along with it. Startled, she looked toward Christina, but the assistant had already turned away and was approaching the students checking their grades, sorting the line.
"Time is vaster than you'd think, isn't it, Jane?"
"Are you saying you're bored?"
Blow, who had done everything he could from yesterday through this morning, lay on the guest-room bed staring at the ceiling. Jane sat at the desk beside him, organizing the ledgers that had come to her that morning.
"There's nothing to do right this moment, that's all."
"Once lunch is over, won't word start coming in one by one? Senior Yulia said she was looking into this and that, too."
"If it was going to be like this, maybe I should have just opened. Haghia and Ornn said they drove everyone off."
"That's because you weren't there, Young Master. If you had been, they would have been screaming for you to hand it over."
"You think?"
"They couldn't demand you hand over something you said you didn't have. That's why."
"True. That's fair."
"Even so, I don't want you in danger, Young Master. Everyone thinks that, which is why they're trying so hard."
At her words Blow fell briefly into thought, then rolled over to look at Jane and gave a small laugh.
"But isn't it really strange?"
"What is..."
"It hasn't even been three months since I came back up to Caipol, and things around me have gotten this good."
"That's because you've treated everyone that well, Young Master."
"It's just... strange. The old me looks a little foolish."
"Foolish?"
"It's pathetic, isn't it? Drinking myself stupid in a place this good."
"......"
Jane stopped the accounts and looked at Blow. He let out a deep sigh and went on.
"Sometimes when I think about it, it scares me. If I hadn't had that experience, I'd still be living like that."
"So... wasn't it fate?"
"Even going to that world—I think the reason I could become like this is you, Jane."
"You did well yourself, Young Master."
"No."
"May I ask why?"
"Senior Yulia said so. That if she came back, she probably would have settled for staying put. That it was incredible I didn't go mad over there."
"......"
"Thinking about it, I think the reason I didn't go mad then was because I had a place to come back to."
Listening, Jane thought the face reflected in the mirror had gone a little red, and she quietly turned her gaze elsewhere.
"I'm glad you came back."
"Yeah. If we get through this, I'll work even harder. And I'll be a little better to Herbena, too."
"So you are worried."
"She probably still has the old memories."
"Herbena won't think of it that way. She said this time it looked like there was a reason, too."
"I thought that. But on the other hand I'm a little—just a little—uneasy."
"It'll be fine. We have so much to do. You even said you'd let me do that advertisement."
"Right. And we have to send Melo to school, too."
"That's right."
"But... are you looking forward to it, by any chance?"
At the sudden question Jane's eyes went round.
"To what?"
"The advertisement."
"Ah, no! Looking forward—what are you..."
Startled, Jane was scrambling to steer the talk elsewhere when one of Skadi's servants came in and bowed to Blow.
"Young Master, Lady Yulia has arrived."
"Yeah? Let's go down, Jane."
"Yes."
When Blow came down to the lobby, Yulia—who had at some point made trousers her default outfit—greeted him with a glad face.
"Young Master. Did you sleep well last night?"
"Yes, Senior. Thanks to you worrying."
"I have somewhere I need to be, so I'll get straight to it. First, the City Hall Magic Department has asked you to appear. And..."
Yulia paused. Her eyes flashed sharper than usual.