CH 171

Okay, enough of that.

“Let us move on. ――Ah, but before that. Did the Indra in your story play some role in the hidden route? Sword and I have business with that hidden route.”

Damsel Scarlet brooded, and then answered, “…As a matter of fact, I did not clear the whole game. The hidden route is hard, and you quickly run into a bad end if you make a little mistake. As for Indra…she does appear in all routes, but her role is one of making others look better, or rather, that of a truly malicious half-sister…but…I feel like she had an important role in the hidden route…”

“Then let me change the question. Damsel Scarlet, does your character have an important role?”

Damsel Scarlet jumped with a start. Moreover, she started to look pale.

I tried to give her a peace of mind by holding out a hand and saying, “I don’t intend to harm you in any way. I’m very tolerant towards those who aren’t hostile towards me. I can guarantee you that, so please don’t worry.”

“…But, I could also do something hostile without realizing, couldn’t I?” She asked, clearly shaken.

“Definitely not. Being hostile without realizing it is no hostility. Hostility means you would consciously choose to become my enemy and attack me.”

She seemed to calm down a bit upon my declaration.

“……I’m the prince’s fiancée, playing the role of villainess,” she muttered. “In the end, I would become Lady Primrose’s enemy. And after being blamed by the prince’s valet Lord Genius for all the various plots that afflicted Lady Primrose, my betrothal would be revoked. Hearing of that, I would be chased out of the ducal family for my actions would sully the duke’s reputation. That is…my role.”

“Hmm, what an ordinary story. Then do you believe that I might have been burdened with such a role as well?”

Damsel Scarlet was taken aback.

“…You’re right, I just remembered. Lady Indra was good at dark magic, and deeply attracted to the good-looking Cain, who was steeped in darkness himself. Thus she amplified Cain’s darkness in order to make him her own. After learning about her elder sister being a dark magic practitioner, Lady Primrose studied holy magic to deter her sister at first. But, independent of that, she met Cain and then continued to diligently study holy magic. However, this time for Cain’s sake. Her elder sister became jealous about her sister and Cain becoming closer, and got swallowed by her own dark magic. …But, since she has ended up becoming a guy in reality…”

“She hasn’t become a guy. I’m a woman. Or rather, I’ll go back to being a woman. Then things will become a bit more interesting…o-ouuuch.”

My temples were ground.

＊

“…Right… I’m sorry, but I have actually been building up a network of alibis. I have always received lessons from instructors or held tea parties with influential people whenever it seemed like Lady Primrose would be involved in an event. As evidence to defend myself. Lady Indra, you are a commoner, but since you have drawn the attention of the prince and Lord Genius upon yourself, I had also been expecting that the prince would pull back, if you, Lady Indra, put in a good word.”

Sword lifted an eyebrow.

…I’m thankful, but it’s a bother if you react to each and every little thing.

“I don’t mind if it’s that much. After all, I’m going to use you for our objectives as well,” I said generously and looked at Sword. “You’re too tense. We’re of equal status, aren’t we? Besides, it’s not like this has anything to do with you and me. When it comes to other people, you use them and you’re used by them. The same applies to monsters as well, doesn’t it? Our cute monsters are fed at our place and provide us with eggs and milk in return. It’s a very reasonable give-and-take.”

Sword breathed out, “Certainly, you got a point. Though, I’m scared of your idea of using others when I hear 『I’m going to use you for our objectives as well』 out of your mouth.”

I feel like the faces of Damsel Scarlet and Ann cramped up a bit?

“It’s just your imagination. ――Now then, I never played a shojo game, but what has Cain done where?”

Sword looked at me with a face as if asking, 『your still goin’ to continue with this?』.

“Wait, Sword. That’s a story related to our request. If we have to stay in this academy all the time, we won’t be able to go on adventures. I want to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. I must go search for ［Cherry Trees］ with you!”

When I shouted so, Damsel Scarlet widened her eyes as she stared at us.

“…Come to think of it, we agreed on that, didn’t we? Is that the reason for you keepin’ to stir up trouble?”

“Of course it is, or what did you think!? Walking through the hallways, getting the seat of the academy’s strongest, and everything else was all for the sake of flushing out the culprit! Seeing how you couldn’t move freely, I had no choice but to be even flashier in exchange, right!?”

Sword ruffled up my hair, looking full of praise.

“I see, I see, I’d already wondered what you were tryin’ to pull there, but now that you mention it, it does make sense.”

“If you don’t know the other side’s objective, you have no choice but to try to meddle with them, using various means. …And yet, all of these actions didn’t yield a result. At least it doesn’t look like they wanted to have the seat of academy’s strongest, nor use some ritual after getting their hands on a frail-looking sacrifice. Because I realized that it might not work unless the sacrifice is a beautiful girl, I was planning to go with being a woman next.”

“No chance. At this point, no one is going to believe that you are a woman!” Damsel Scarlet declared decisively.

I puffed out my cheeks in discontent, but it can’t be helped either way, I guess.

“…But, we obtained some valuable information. The possibility of a male demonkin student who’s been possessed by a spirit, huh? However, there’s no one with an overly rich amount of magic elements around, is there? Wasn’t it said that demonkin have lots of magic elements?” I asked Instructor Sword.

“Your right. They got more magic elements than humans. But, if compared to you, you might be the one suspected to be a demonkin.”

Eehh…!?