Volume 5 - CH 1

In the second year of school life, at the end of winter.

The end-of-semester exams were over and the school was about to welcome spring break.

“Mabel, are you sure you’re going to make it?”

“somehow”

“Everyone did their best ~”

I hear such conversations from the girls walking in front of me.

After spring break, which starts tomorrow, we will be in the third grade.

This is the final year of elementary school. It is time for everyone to start thinking ahead.

Will you go on to higher education and choose a career in research? Or graduate and live on your own? This is the question on the minds of many students.

As for me, I had almost decided to become an adventurer.

I was also considering the path of a teacher. It would not be a bad idea to live a life like in my previous life, teaching children about learning.

But if you want good treatment, you will inevitably be employed by an imperial institution like this academy or a nobleman who has money.

I knew myself well enough to know that such things were not in my nature, and above all, I wanted to avoid being around …… powerful people as much as possible.

I don’t want to wield my power and end up being noticed.

This world is run by cunning people who cannot be confronted with the strongest violence, that’s the truth of the world.

It is a heavy burden to deal with such people.

Rough work is much more suitable for me.

I have an appointment with Amiyu.

So, having decided on a career path, I was supposed to be free of the worries that lay ahead. ……

Now, I was a little bit preoccupied for a different reason.

…… it can’t be helped.

He sighs and opens his mouth.

“Amiyu, can I have a moment?”

Amiyu, who was walking in front of me, stops and looks back.

“What’s up?”

“Actually, I need a favor.”

“Asking for help?”

“I want you to come over to my parents’ house.”

“……What?”

“I want you to meet my family …”

“”Ah !? Nah! huh!”

Amiyu says, wide-eyed and blatantly confused.

“What are you saying? Hah, we don’t have that kind of relationship. ……”

“no?”

“I’m not saying no, I’m just saying it’s too sudden!　I mean, I need time to think, you know, ……”

“’That’s true, too. I’ll wait. But I want a good answer as soon as possible.”

“~~~!”

Next to Amiyu, who was blushing and swirling her eyes, Ifa was saying something with teary eyes.

“If it’s…… Amu-chan, I’m fine with it. Congratulations …….”

“Huh, what are you talking about !!”

And then….

Mabel, who had been looking around at our faces, opened her mouth, tilting her head.

“…… courting?”

“Huh? Ye ye ye( No, no, no).”

I reply with a wry smile.

“I got a letter from my parents. Father …… and others want to meet Amiyu. He said he heard a rumor that there is a magic swordsman who passed the top of her class at the academy and uses all attributes.”

There would be a gag order regarding stories of bravery, but it would not stop students from sending letters to their parents’ homes or even talking about souvenirs from back home. To some extent, it seemed that rumors of Amiyu were spreading.

“As someone involved in the study of magic, …… I’m also a student who has my tuition paid for, so it would be a shame to say that I couldn’t bring her along. So, Amu, if you could come with me, that would be great.”

“…..…..”

I suddenly realized that Amiyu was frozen with her mouth wide open.

“Did I mislead you, by any chance?”

“No!　Of course not, you idiot!　I’ll blow you away!”

Why do I have to be blown away?

I asked Amiyu, who was sighing tiredly along with Ifa for some reason.

“So, what do you think?”

“Well, it’s fine. I didn’t have any plans to go home for spring break, and I’m free. But I don’t know much about the etiquette of a nobleman.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m just a country aristocrat from far away, so we usually don’t care about etiquette. I’ll teach you later on, though.”

As expected, there are some people not good at etiquette.

“Oh, you know, Mabel can come too if you want.”

“Me?”

“The Baron Crane’s family is often involved in academic conferences. I’m sure my father will be happy to see his daughter.”

“……I’ll be there.”

“Very good. Then I’ll send a letter on a fast horse right away.”

Good, good.

It’s better to have more than one. I might not have to deal with him ……

As I was thinking this, Mabel opened her mouth.

“Hey, Seika.”

“What?”

“Earlier, you said something about family.”

“What?”

“Is there anyone else?”

“Uh……….”

I answer, looking away from Mabel.

“My brother’s fiancée is there, maybe. And maybe a relative, or a guest. If they happen to be there, well, I’ll have to say hello. You see, Mabel is now an aristocrat, so you know what I mean.”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, really?　But that’s the way it is.”

“Hmm. …… That’s why you said you were going to teach me manners earlier. I’m getting a little bit nervous ……. Do you understand that kind of thing, Ifa?”

“I’m a slave,……, so I don’t sit with or talk with them, It will be the same this time.”

“That’s right … I wonder if I can do that too?”

“Probably not. Ah …… well, anyway, that’s why!　The carriage leaves in three days, so everyone get ready. See you later.”

I said goodbye and walked away on my way to the men’s dormitory.

********

“Hah ……”

“You seem a bit overwhelmed, Seika-sama.”

Yuki says on my head on the way to the men’s dormitory.

“Do you really hate going back to that mansion that much?”

“Well, I guess so. ……”

There are people I don’t want to see, two of them.

“Then why didn’t you just say no, like you always do?”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why this time?”

“……As a matter of fact, there’s a very important man at the mansion right now. He’s the one who wants to meet Amiyu and me.”

“Right ……. I thought it odd that two years after the hero girl entered school, you received a letter asking you to bring her along just now, but there was a reason for that, wasn’t there?”

“The world is a messy place, when status and power are involved.”

When I say that, Yuki whispered a little, and then moved a little uneasily.

“That … Yuki doesn’t really understand …”

“……?　What is it?”

As I urged her to do so, Yuki began to talk in small phrases.

“You speak of status and power, …… but in the end, such things can be usurped by force, can’t they?”

“……”

“You are Seika-sama, you can do whatever you want. Why are you so subservient to him? In the other world, even the emperor of the time, Mikado, respected Haruyoshi-sama and treated him as an equal. ……”

I quietly responded to Yuki’s somewhat frustrated tone.

“It’s not that simple……. For example, if you take the position of a great noble or emperor by force, what do you do then?　If I, who am not good at politics and scheming, am in that position, I will only be used by others to their advantage. They have their own struggles.”

“Such things are possible with Seika-sama’s power……”

“Then, would you destroy your political opponents by force?　But what kind of world is there at the end of such a politics of fear?　A parliament that cannot even hold discussions because of the fear of purges, nobles and merchants who snitch on each other in order to kick others off their perch. Politics collapses due to the ousting of the wise men and the suspicion of the people, and the country will eventually be invaded and destroyed by other countries, or the people will revolt. At the very least, this rich country will be lost. And that is the doom that awaits me.”

“……”

“There is a limit to what you can do with power, Yuki. I can’t do everything myself. I’ve learned a great deal of wisdom in that world, but when it comes to politics, I’m no good. The thoughts and activities of people are too difficult to understand.”

I had forgotten such an obvious thing back then because I lived a little too long.

“I couldn’t …… foresee, not even a little bit. I couldn’t have foreseen that I would become embroiled in a struggle for the throne decades later because of my closeness to the poor young emperor Mikado. I couldn’t have foreseen that the enemy camp, seeing that I could not handle my apprentice, would send her to me.”

“……”

“It was a mistake to set foot even a little bit in the world of political festivals. For a politician, even an extraordinary strong man is just one of his pawns. In fact, even the most powerful Onmyouji of all time was killed and had to be reincarnated in another world. If I show my power badly and get noticed…… I may end up in the same situation in this world as well.”

“Then how …… do you plan to continue?”

“live inconspicuously.”

I say.

“Bow down to the great ones and blend in with the multitudes. If I can’t defeat them by trickery, just don’t get involved with them in the first place. Ifyou don’t wield power as much as possible, keep it hidden, then you’ll be fine.

“……”

“At the very least, I have to live that cunningly. Otherwise, I’ll die without being happy again. Although, I’ve been a bit lax of late…….”.

“But so what?”

Unusually, Yuki interrupted me.

“But then, wouldn’t that also mean giving up……?”

I asked back with a puzzled look on my face.

“Giving up?　Giving up on what?”

”It’s …… hard to explain well, but …… hah, it’s nothing.”

Then, Yuki went silent.

I smiled and talked to the ghost on top of my head.

“I’m sorry I’ve been boring you. Is there anything you want to eat?　The exam is just over, so let’s go to the city to buy some food.”

“Oh, then, Yuki would like candied peaches.”

“You like sweets, don’t you?”

As expected of a fox demon.