CH 54

12-15 minutes 27.05.2023

Chapter 54

It was on a day when May had just begun. After the morning classes ended, I was having lunch with my usual three friends, Emilia and Melinda. The place was a bench in the courtyard.

“It’s warm, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

It’s almost private because normal nobles wouldn’t have the idea to “eat lunch outside because the weather is nice” like us. My mother calls this “picnic.”

Descent of the Legendary Archmage C...

“Oh, that’s right.”

As I closed my eyes feeling like photosynthesis, Melinda said as if she remembered something.

“Rebecca, your fan club has been formed.”

“Eh?!”

“I already joined!”

I almost dropped my fork from the shock. Emilia ignored me.

“What do you mean… who started it?”

“They said it was Vanderlei Slutarch-sama.”

“Nii-sama?!”

“Maybe it’s for you. Like Kyaran Goudes’s “cronies”.”

I remembered the face of my brother who I haven’t seen for about a month. His smile was shining in my memory.

“There was also a girl who got into a fight with Rebecca about her bust during the spring.”

“What are you talking about…?”

I scowled with all my might. I don’t have any such memory, but maybe it’s something someone else talked about. Please stop it.

“Ah, it’s Hanna Horton-san, right! I talked to her! She said she had decided to submit to Rebecca-sama’s beauty!”

Emilia smiles and claps her hands together.

The faint hope that it might be someone else’s story is quickly snuffed out.

Putting the bento box aside, I stand up.

“I’ll ask the teacher to abolish it.”

“What?!”

Leaving Emilia with a face that looks like the end of the world, I head for the staff building.

The teacher of life guidance would probably be appropriate. Walking on and on, I knocked on the door of the Law Research Laboratory.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

I open the door and enter. The smell of books and warmth envelops me, and a voice comes from the back.

“Slutarch? Another question about the class?”

“No, Stone-sensei, today for a different reason——Oh?”

As I looked into the back of the research lab, I blinked.

It’s usual for the teacher, Stones, who is the master of this room, to be buried in books, but today there was someone else.

“Ah… Hey.”

It was Brian Marc. He’s the younger brother of Olivier Marc, whom I talked to a little during [spring]. He nods with his head, so I also bow.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

“Oh, Marc, don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Yes.”

Brian stands up and walks past me, leaving the room. I wonder if I made him feel uncomfortable. I watch his back as he leaves, wondering what they were talking about.

“What happened today?”

Stone-sensei calls out to me. His rational, mercury-like eyes are looking at me.

His hair reaches his back and is loosely gathered on one side. He is tall and slim, but not in a weak or narrow way, instead, he gives off a sense of elegance.

In short, he is quite handsome.

That’s no surprise, since he is one of the newly added targets for conquest in part 2.

There are a few changes in part 2 of the Otome Game. One of them is the addition of new targets for conquest.

As a side note, one of the changes is the addition of a [reverse harem] mode. It seems like you can build romantic relationships with multiple targets at the same time.

When I explained this to His Highness, he muttered “Is that sane…?” I agree. If Emilia is surrounded by men, I’d rather imagine that they are all doing muscle training together.

When I think of Stone-sensei in that route, it’s interesting to think of him as a member of the reverse harem.

“Stone-sensei, can you abolish one of the fan clubs?”

“That one’s yours, isn’t it? That’s absurd. It’s the person who made it.”

“I’ll talk to my older brother about it…”

Stones shakes his head. I have no choice. I decided to use my last resort, [strategy book knowledge]. I lower my eyebrows and open my mouth like I’m talking to myself.

“Is that so…Maybe I should consult His Highness Llewayne.”

“Wait, hold on.”

Stones changes his expression.

He is actually the king’s brother and His Highness’ uncle.

It’s an unnecessary hidden setting. According to the strategy book, “Those who choose the Stone-sensei route will be [lucky to be a royal].”

I think he’s worried that if I talk to His Highness, the strict king, who is also his own older brother, might say something.

Of course, I don’t intend to consult His Highness. I don’t want to bother him with something so trivial.

“Alright, I got it, I’ll figure something out.”

I smile and say thank you before leaving the room.

I head towards the courtyard, following the way I came. Students usually don’t enter the staff building unless they have business. It’s quieter here than in the main building.

Could that be why? At a timing when I couldn’t think of any other reason why he would want to be alone with me, Sajad Mahajanjiga walked towards me from the front.

“Hey, Slutarch-san…You look kind of tired, don’t you?”

I swallow the words, “It’s because of you,” and face him. He’s still the same man with a cold expression in his eyes.

“Shall I show you a dream where you can relax?”

“No, don’t worry about it. Thank you for your concern. Good day.”

I ended the conversation with a smile that didn’t give any indication. As I started to walk away, I felt someone staring at me from behind, but he didn’t follow me.

——I felt a little relieved. Sajad’s ability wasn’t scary as long as I knew the trigger(activation) conditions.

He was an enemy character, but he might not be much of a threat. The second part might end up being surprisingly easy.

Without looking back, I returned to the courtyard.

Emilia and Melinda were still sitting on the bench they were on before. Seeing the two of them made the clouds in my heart caused by Sajad disappear.

“Welcome back, Rebecca. Did it work out?”

“Yes, it looks like it’ll work out somehow.”

“Oh, no! What should I tell the members?”

I ignored Emilia as she bit her lip.

Melinda stood up. It was about time for lunch break to end.

“By the way, both of you, as I said before, you haven’t told Sajad or Mahajanjiga about your dreams, right?”

With a reluctant Emilia, the three of us started walking towards the classroom.

Melinda muttered, “Oh.”

“That shady five high man. Yeah, he talked to me before, but I brushed him off.”

“I was talking to a boy in my class the other day and we bumped into each other, I feel like I got the cold shoulder though…”

Melinda shrugs and Emilia tilts her head.

If Sajad doesn’t try to get Emilia, will he be strong from the start against her? His dislike of commoners seems to be quite strong.

“He’s shady but good-looking, right?”

“Eeh, is that so?”

Climbing the outside stairs and entering inside from the third floor of the school building. There aren’t many people taking lunch in the courtyard, so the path to the classroom inevitably has fewer people.

“Whatever it is, be careful of him from now on.”

If I press, the two of them will reply “Alright.” without explaining the reason. They obediently follow my instructions.

The next class was with everyone in the same class, with Stone-sensei. The classroom is on the second floor. You have to go down the stairs.

While descending the emotionless stairs, I took one step forward to start descending.

——At that moment, someone strongly pushed my back.

My body floated in a strange way. My stepping foot doesn’t reach the ground. I don’t have time to raise my voice.

My body falls straight down and my vision spins. I felt something brightly flash.

With the momentum of being pushed, I roll down the stairs.

My mind goes blank. I heard two people shouting in the distance. Unable to understand the situation, I slowly opened my eyes, which had been tightly closed.

What met my eyes was white scales.

“Ah… Christina.”

“Cuey!”

My Phantom Beast, which should have been in my pocket. Now that I think about it, I saw something shining. It probably changed its shape when I fell.

The big dragon’s body wrapped around me like a coil, protecting me.

“Thank you…”

I hugged its head with both arms and pressed my face against it. If it weren’t for Christina, it probably wouldn’t have ended well.

“Rebecca-sama!”

Emilia, who had run down the stairs, clung to me.

It was only when I saw her, half in tears, activate healing magic and wrap my right hand that I realized I had a scrape.

Melinda, after confirming that I didn’t have any other injuries, stood up and looked up the stairs.

“What happened…? Wasn’t anyone there?”

Her voice was trembling. I tried to call out to Melinda, but I heard footsteps coming closer.

“Hey, did you just fall?!”

When I turned around, Brian Marc had come running.

He was out of breath, he squatted down beside me, and reached out his hand.

“Are you injured? Does it hurt anywhere?”

Reflexively, I took a step back from that hand. My eyes meet a surprised face.

My head was dominated by one suspicion.

————Why is Brian here now?

The timing is perfect. It’s as if it was planned. And even though I last saw him yesterday in [spring], today is already the second time.

Then what about Stone-sensei he just met?

What were the two of them talking about in the lab?

“Rebecca-sama…?”

I returned to myself with Emilia’s voice. She’s still holding my hand, but there are no traces of injuries anymore.

Then I looked at Brian’s expression, which was only pure surprise, and my thoughts returned to normal.

——Calm down. This is just a bunch of skepticism.

The fact that I was pushed down the stairs seems to have made me lose my composure more than I thought. I, who am fundamentally a noble lady, was about to forget how to smile.

I reached out to Melinda, who was watching the situation while swallowing her saliva. I stood up with her help. I lightly shook my uniform skirt.

“I’m sorry, I——.”

Finally, I was able to smile a little.

“I slipped on my foot.”

The choice is silence.

It’s just a hunch, but it seems to me that Sajad Mahajanjiga is somehow involved in this case. If so, this is not under the jurisdiction of the Academy to investigate.

In the first place, falling down the stairs and dying is just bad luck. To kill without actually killing, but to certainly plant fear and pain [to push down from the stairs], this method matches the image of Sajad in my mind.

I attended Stone-sensei’s class with a blank expression after saying goodbye to Brian who was worried.

Nothing particularly strange happened after that.

When I returned to the dormitory that day, I wrote a letter detailing the events to His Highness.

I watched the messenger hawk take the letter and fly into the night sky from the window frame.

There is no description in the scenario of someone being pushed down the stairs.

Something strange is happening at this Academy now.