Absolute Obedience to Orders
"Report all injuries immediately! Anyone else?!"
"All wounded have been treated, sir!"
With the battle over, the academy guards along the city wall began preparing to withdraw.
Next, a platoon of priests, under heavy escort, dashed out beyond the walls to purify the ground where the demons had fallen.
Even the maintenance crews repairing the damaged battlements moved with flawless coordination, everyone responding to the sudden emergency like a well-oiled machine.
"Eight fourth-rank demons? Are they out of their minds? Did some black magic cult swarm in and sacrifice an entire city just to pull this off?"
"We're still assessing the situation."
"For all that, the damage was light. An excellent defense."
"We're looking into that as well, but the demons were suddenly struck by some strange attack and annihilated."
"Right. I couldn't see what it was either. Felt like a sixth-tier spell, maybe."
"I thought it was sword energy, actually."
"No, are you all blind as moles? You were all standing in the same spot—how did every one of you see something different? Ugh, let's just clean up the site first!"
While the guards bustled about the perimeter, inside the academy, students and spectators from the arena were being ushered under control and escorted back to safe locations.
And in a highly secured VIP conference room—
"An act of terrorism committed with black magic of at least the fifth tier, before the honored guests of every nation of the human realm—this incident may well be interpreted as a hostile act of aggression and a declaration of war by the Holy Kingdom against the entire continent. Do you understand the gravity of what has occurred?"
The Chancellor, seated at the head of the round table, fired off the words with a grim expression.
Gathered in that room were the sovereign rulers and envoys of every nation on the continent, the very dignitaries who had been seated in the arena's VIP stands.
The Holy Kingdom's envoy, looking for all the world as if his neck already rested on the guillotine's block, chattered his teeth together in despair.
"W-we have contacted our homeland... A reply should arrive before long..."
"How much more time do you intend to waste?"
The Emperor of the Empire cut in like a blade of frost. There was no one in the room unfamiliar with his reputation. The Holy Kingdom's envoy felt his very marrow freezing over.
"Vext Rusatma, the Holy Kingdom's sponsored student, was a warlock of considerable skill. Judging by the spells he cast, there is a strong possibility he had contracted a high-rank demon. It was only because this was Caesus Academy that this terrorism was repelled without a single casualty. Do you follow?"
"Y-yes, we understand... Our homeland, however..."
"And above all, the greatest credit belongs to Chair Professor Wicker Phedia. Professor Phedia, you stated that you noticed something amiss and intended to expel Vext after the festival. Is that correct?"
Professor Phedia, who had been silent throughout the Chancellor's questioning, answered.
"That is correct."
The moment the reply came exactly as he'd wanted, the Chancellor pressed his advantage and carried the discussion forward.
"As you have all witnessed, honored guests, Caesus's selection of students, the capabilities of its Chair Professors, and its defensive readiness are second to none on the continent. Now, moving on to the matter of the Holy Kingdom, which instigated this incident—I would like to hear the honored guests' opinions on the direction of reparations—"
At that moment, Professor Phedia cut the Chancellor off mid-sentence and rose from his seat.
"Professor Phedia?"
"Vext Rusatma was a third-circle mage and a warlock—he holds no third-star rank. For the purposes of investigation, it would be more efficient to examine the surviving fragments of his heart, even if they've been purified. As you said, the odds of a high-rank demon contract are high. Now then, I have urgent business, so if you'll excuse me."
"One moment—you are the single most important witness! How can you simply leave your seat—!"
The Beast Kingdom's envoy hurriedly tried to stop him, but Professor Phedia did not so much as listen. He turned and strode out of the room, footsteps measured and unhurried.
As if the idea of observing even a shred of courtesy before the most powerful figures on the continent had never once crossed his mind.
That was how urgent his business appeared to him.
"Wha— what in the..."
"I have heard all the reports I need, so all is well. Let the meeting continue."
The Chancellor remarked flatly, as if it were nothing. The Emperor furrowed his brow in displeasure.
"Chancellor."
"Did you have something to add?"
The Emperor raised an eyebrow.
"You've left one thing out. Wasn't it our Aisha, not the Academy, who blocked the Void Dispersal at the very end?"
"Thanks to the Sword Saint's aura, not a soul saw exactly what happened at the end."
Indeed, just as the Chancellor said, Aisha's swirling vortex had engulfed the Main Arena, blotting out all sight.
By the time the wind had settled, no one was there anymore.
"So then—no credit at all, is that it?"
The Emperor was still demanding the floor. The Chancellor finally conceded.
"Of course, the Sword Saint's contribution was great. Honored guests, I ask that you also acknowledge the Empire's role in resolving this incident."
"Well then, since you ask for my opinion—"
Wielding his authority without a flicker of hesitation, the Emperor drew his eyes into a long, cold slant.
"Wouldn't it be a beautiful thing to simply erase the Holy Kingdom from the map?"
The meeting continued.
"Luca, Yuri, want a candy?"
"Mm."
"It's lemon flavor. Eheh. Nice."
The three of them sat side by side on the office sofa, rolling candies around in their mouths, ones they'd fished out of the envelope on the table. The sugar lifted their spirits a little.
"This is no time for this!!"
The sweetness lasted mere seconds before Tia crunched her candy to pieces and slammed her forehead into the table with a bang.
"Master recognized us at a glance, didn't he? Right?"
"He did."
"He brought us straight to his office... He did tell us to wait here, so that's why we're here, but..."
"So manly."
"His hands were enormous. I thought they only seemed big because we were kids back then, but no. They were just big."
"Seeing him in person, he was even more amazing. Ah, and when he hugged us... it was so warm..."
All three of them squirmed in their seats as they replayed their reunion with Wicker in their minds.
The emotions each of them had felt in the first instant of seeing him again were almost identical.
The ache of being unable to put their joy into words, the guilt of not having found him sooner, the anxiety of a future where their bond might drift apart.
But those dark feelings lasted only a heartbeat. Wicker had closed the distance in a flash and swept all three of them up in a crushing hug with those thick forearms of his. Nothing but a fluffy, melting happiness welled up from the deepest part of their hearts.
"No, I mean, it was great and all!"
Tia snapped back to her senses and changed the subject.
"But what about our contest? Is it just going to fizzle out into a draw like this?"
"Th-that's true... Hold on a moment."
Yuri scrunched her brow and closed her eyes. She was receiving an answer from the Goddess.
"She says it hasn't ended yet? The conditions were never fulfilled, apparently..."
"Conditions?"
"Oh, right. Whoever Master calls by their old name first wins."
"Ah."
"And our nametags are still disguised as well."
The three of them checked each other's nametags. Under normal circumstances, only the 5-star or 5-skull titles—Hero, Sword Saint, Sage, Slave—could possibly appear above their heads.
But their nametags read as follows:
Until the contest was decided, the Goddess had granted special permission to alter their nametag display.
It was something that should have been absolutely impossible—but a miracle was owed to them, and if left alone, the three of them looked ready to fight each other until the continent itself lay in ruins. Hence the Goddess's extraordinary measure.
Aisha had nearly had a stroke when she first saw their nametags, but a vague claim that the Goddess had assigned them a new mission was enough to smooth things over.
"So what do we do? Master's bound to call one of our names the moment he comes back."
"Shall we decide the winner by pure luck? Absolutely not."
"Agreed. This is no way for it to end."
"...Then our only option is to beg Master never to call us by our childhood names. We can't exactly explain the full situation to him."
"I never imagined he'd recognize us at first sight..."
"That's how loved we are."
"...Yeah, fair."
"Hehe."
At Luca's offhand remark, Tia went red to the ears and hunched her shoulders, while Yuri floated off into rapture, her pupils unfocusing toward the ceiling.
"The situation's shifted a little, but the contest is back at square one. After all, the conditions—win Master's heart first, or score highest on the graduation exam—still stand."
"I'm going to win. I won't give up the wedding."
"I-I won't lose either! I'll be Master's wiii— wifeeee— anyway, I'm going to win!"
It was the moment the three of them locked eyes in turn, hardening their resolve—
—when the office door opened, and he walked in.
The moment I stepped into the office, there sat Yellow, Black, and Whitey, all three prim and proper on the sofa.
Joy welled up before I could help it, and a smile spread across my face on its own. All three beamed bashfully back at me. More than anything, they all looked healthy, and that alone put my heart at ease.
Though I barely recognized any of them—Yellow, Black, and Whitey had all transformed completely—it felt a little awkward. I had already gone and hugged them out of sheer happiness a moment ago, after all.
In the original story, Yellow always wore armor, and her voice was nothing but a low rumble, making her sex impossible to determine. That was exactly why I'd mistaken her for a boy.
Black, in the original, was an undead built on a dark elf's corpse. Hadn't she died once and come back? Above all, she'd been the Lich—the absolute apex of black magic.
And Whitey, now that I looked, had been a wolf beastkin all along. In the original she'd kept the white hair, but her body was covered in scars, giving her an utterly wild, feral air.
Every one of them had changed enormously, from the original story and from their childhood selves—but they were unmistakably the three people I knew. Before the girls could grow anxious, I greeted them first.
"It's been a long time, Haya—"
A gust of wind stirred, and in the blink of an eye Yellow's hand was clamped over my mouth while Black was chanting a spell of forbidden words. Whitey, meanwhile, wore an expression that had shifted from anticipation to open disappointment.
What was that about.
"You've gotten even faster than before, Nora—"
This time, Whitey seized my throat in an instant, strangling the sound out of me. Her crimson eyes had grown startlingly feral.
"It's been so long, Master... I mean, Mr. Wicker."
Black was the first to greet me, with a radiant smile.
"Yeah. It's been a long time—all three of you."
"Orabeoni! I missed you so much!"
"Good to see you, mister."
Whitey clung to my waist, and Yellow carefully took hold of my left hand.
"We have... a great deal to talk about. But before that! Can you see our nametags?"
Of course I could see them, plain as day. Swordsman Lucas, Magician Testia, Healer Yuri.
"We're adults now, so from now on, calling us by our childhood names is forbidden. You're Mr. Wicker, so you can keep that promise, right?"
"Absolutely?"
"No exceptions."
"Without fail, I mean it."
All three faces were deadly serious. There was clearly some reason behind it.
"Then I should call you Lucas, Testia, and Yuri, I suppose?"
"Luca."
"Tia is plenty."
"Yuri is still Yuri, you know."
"Got it. Well then, take a seat. I'll brew a pot of tea for each of you."
Before my words had even finished, the three of them went flying like bullets from a gun and settled onto the sofa in a neat row.
"Huh...?"
"Eh?"
"D-did I just move...?"
I'd always thought of all three of them as having sharp reflexes, so something about their expressions seemed off. They looked as if they'd been blindsided by something they couldn't make sense of.
Well, I suppose I'd be stunned too if black-magic terrorism broke out at the academy on my very first day of enrollment.
I brewed the finest tea leaves I had and handed a cup to each of them.
"Drink up. These leaves are good for digestion and for the skin, too—my vice professor brought them back last time, you see—"
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Before I knew it, all three had downed their piping-hot tea in a single gulp and were setting their cups back down on the table.
"Hhk— hhaahhk."
Yuri, whose tea had apparently been too hot, stuck out her tongue and began trembling violently. Why on earth had they been in such a hurry?
I immediately handed her a glass of cold water. Yuri plunged her tongue straight into the cup.
Luca and Tia seemed comparatively fine. They wore strange expressions, as if they'd realized something—a peculiar blend of flustered panic and dreamy rapture.
"Hmm. Well, in any case—welcome back, all of you."
"...Mr. Wicker. We're truly, truly grateful for your thoughtfulness, but—forgive us—may we add just one more condition?"
Tia asked, wiping a nervous sweat from her brow.
"Of course. Anything you like."
"...If at all possible, we'd appreciate it if you were also careful about offering us things."
"Uh... sure?"
You are all perfectly healthy, right?