Arrival at The Mountain
We'd arrived at the academy! Somehow, with Zophy's help, I managed to calm Lillia down and get her into our carriage. Thanks to my parents pulling some strings, the interior was wonderfully spacious. And since the only thing Lillia seemed attached to was the ancient documents she'd protected with her life, we reached an agreement that we'd simply give her a ride.
Even my maid, who had been furious with Lillia at first, seemed to come to terms with her eccentricities after comforting her through the tears. As she settled Lillia inside, she remarked, "They do say every witch has at least one strange quirk."
"Zophy has a real talent for speaking about her own business as if it were someone else's," I replied.
The horses that had bolted returned once the commotion died down, and after the debris was cleared away, nothing remained to obstruct our path to the academy. The rattling carriage carried us several hundred meters higher up the twisting mountain road until we finally reached the midpoint.
The Imperial Magic Academy. Also known as The Mountain. It spread out before our eyes—the empire's one and only academy for magic users, occupying the vast clearing on the mountainside as if it had the entire place on lease. Or rather, owned outright.
The academy looked like a palace courtyard straight out of southern Germany. Where the mountain path ended, an empty lot stood ready for carriages. In front of it, young noblewomen who had just stepped down from their own vehicles were passing one by one through the wrought-iron gate that led into the garden.
The garden itself was staggeringly huge. It was so vast that the prospect of walking all the way to the main building in the distance with a travel-weary body felt almost torturous. There would surely be plenty of sights worth seeing, but with the lingering discomfort from my transmigration still weighing on me, the idea of having to walk that far even after reaching the school filled me with irritation.
Just inside the garden gates, clusters of female students had gathered—not heading toward the palace-like main building, but instead watching the arriving carriages. They stared in our direction.
"A flock of gossips, I suppose? How unpleasant," I muttered without thinking.
Zophy rolled up her sleeves and immediately backed me up. "Shall I dispose of them, my lady?"
"Excuse me? No. Let's not cause any major incidents on the first day. Academy life is going to be difficult enough."
"Understood. Then I'll dispose of them tomorrow."
"That's not what I meant when I said the second day would be fine..."
"I-I have done nothing to deserve disposal, sawa-yo," Lillia said, looking up at Zophy with anxious eyes.
I nodded. "Of course not. You haven't done anything wrong at all."
"M-Miss Duke's Daughter!"
"I truly... haven't done anything..."
But then why, in the original story, had Lillia Cosette died so meaninglessly?
The Complaining Young Lady was a novel that paid proper attention to causality, probability, and foreshadowing. Most of those threads had gone unrecovered thanks to the absurd ending, but Lillia Cosette's early death had been consumed so pointlessly that it was practically forgotten.
That was also why, even though I remembered the character's unique concept, her name hadn't come to me right away. She dies at the hands of a monster during the early dungeon exploration practice. For a character who had shown off such a memorable speech pattern, it felt like the author simply couldn't handle writing it anymore and killed her off.
Academy stories always need a scene to demonstrate that group dungeon-clearing practice isn't safe play but genuine combat training. Still, instantly killing a character who had been laughing "Wahahaha!" felt like a failure of pacing.
After all, this character really hadn't done anything bad. She simply loved ancient documents... and, being from a poor minor noble house, had only crossed paths with the original protagonist because of it. Quite a few readers had dropped the yuri story after a potential heroine candidate was killed off like that. Anyway.
If I knew the exact sequence leading to her death, I could try to intervene, but that part remained hazy. It didn't seem to have been described very well in the story, either.
"My lady."
"Now that I think about it, if I can cast a defensive spell strong enough to perfectly protect books from my own magic, dying in a low-level dungeon seems..."
"Lady Maria!"
"Aaaagh! Zophy, let go of my hair! You're messing it up!"
"What could you possibly be thinking about so deeply that you can't even hear me? We need to get off. The carriage has stopped. And yet you're still so concerned about your hair?"
"Of course I'm concerned, Zophy." I gently stroked my drill-shaped curls. "You woke up before me this morning to style it. If it's already a mess the moment I step out, what will people think of you? I refuse to have anyone see you as an incompetent maid."
"Hmph. Easy to say." Zophy hummed happily and took my hand. "But if you keep ignoring me, I'll pull it without mercy next time. Now, let's disembark, my lady. You too, shortstack."
"Yessir, this shortstack shall disembark, sawa-yo!"
...Wasn't the proper response in that situation something like 'Who are you calling short!'? Her complete submission to power and hierarchy felt almost pitiful.
Anyway, I took Zophy's hand and slowly stepped down from the carriage. As expected, every gaze from the onlookers inside the garden snapped toward me. They whispered loudly enough for me to hear even from right beside the gate.
"Oh my god, she really came. It's the eldest daughter of House Letiaponk!"
"She's even prettier than the rumors... Ah, I want to press down on that hair. It looks like it would bounce right back like a spring."
"Wouldn't that count as disrespect and cause a family feud?"
"Of course we'd only do it after becoming friends! At least enough to be able to touch it..."
Hearing the whispers, Zophy looked strangely triumphant. Yes, yes. The exclusive privilege to yank it belongs to the personal maid. So please, just be gentle...
"Are all this year's new students going to be in the same class as her? I'm so jealous..."
You're not even a new student, so why did you run out of the dormitory to stand there? Show some upperclassman dignity.
"No, I heard there are two major figures this year, so anyone caught between them is going to suffer..."
At that moment, a modest two-wheeled carriage came rattling up behind our stopped vehicle and halted. I instinctively recognized its owner.
"Erika."
"Her Highness the Princess? That carriage? How can you tell?" Zophy asked, startled.
The moment I was about to answer 'It's a hunch,' Lillia cut in from behind us.
"As expected of the Witch of Observation, Maria von Letiaponk, sawa-yo. That two-wheeled carriage bears no family crest, sawa-yo. A truly modest carriage owned by a house would certainly display their emblem, yet this one has none at all, as though it were borrowed! No commoner family would be admitted to the academy if they had to rent a carriage to get here, which means a young lady of such exalted status that she wishes to conceal her identity has arrived. That must be the deduction, Wahahaha!"
"You've certainly recovered your energy," I replied, neither confirming nor denying the speculation. There was an obvious flaw in her reasoning, after all.
A moment later, the carriage door opened and the witch of the highest possible nobility in the empire stepped out.
"Baroness Cosette, your conclusion was correct, but the process that led you there was mistaken."
Her voice was clear and melodic, like striking a xylophone in perfect rhythm. Not especially tall, yet she carried broad, confident shoulders and moved with the disciplined steps of a soldier. Long white hair cascaded to her waist, and her golden eyes seemed to declare that the very ground she stood upon belonged to her. The Imperial Princess, Erika Waldmark, looked straight at me and smiled.
"It's been a while, Maria. Of all the faces to see first upon arriving at the mountain, yours feels positively fated."
"Uh, Erika. So... how long has it been, exactly?"
"Over two years. Less than three. It's a little sad that Maria, who is always so precise with calculations, has forgotten how long we've been apart. It was quite an important period for me. Was it nothing special to you?"
"That can't be, Erika." I answered naturally. "I simply had too much to think about. So much that I could hardly believe it had been less than three years."
Yes, I had a lot to think about. After all, in the original novel you were the one who eventually sentenced Maria von Letiaponk to death—the final boss of this body's original owner.
The crowd that had whispered at my arrival didn't utter a single word at Erika's. Most of them seemed unable to imagine that the Imperial Princess would descend from such a shabby carriage.
As Erika began walking toward us with firm steps, Lillia froze first.
"Y-Your Highness."
"Call me Erika, Lillia Cosette. Many things are equal here at the academy."
"You know who I am?"
"Of course. How could I not? The imperial family has always taken great interest in the ancient texts your house manages. I hear you enjoy reading? That will serve you well. There is much to read at this school."
Erika brushed past Lillia and looked ready to ignore me as well as she strode confidently into the academy grounds. I called out to her back.
"Erika!"
"What is it, Maria?"
"You said the pink-haired young lady's reasoning was wrong in its process. What did you mean?"
"Ah, you didn't know, Maria?" Erika shrugged. "This year we have a commoner special student. Elena Kerru. Have you heard the name?"
Of course I'd heard it. There was no way I wouldn't know the protagonist's name from The Complaining Young Lady. But instead of answering honestly, I smiled and said, "No, it's the first time I've heard it."
"I thought as much. Same here. Well then, see you later, Maria. It was good to see you again after so long."
As Erika waved lightly and walked away, Zophy whispered to me. "Are you truly old friends? It feels strangely awkward somehow."
"We used to date and then broke up."
"Pardon?"
"Just kidding. Why do you look so shocked, Zophy?"
"No, it's just... it somehow seemed plausible..."
...It wasn't entirely a joke. Because that was also the relationship I had guessed at between the villainess and the protagonist's helper before witnessing the terrible ending of The Complaining Young Lady.