Chapter 17
“Don’t make me laugh!!”
I simply couldn’t believe it. How… how could this happen?
“M-Ms. Rene?”
Ellie gave a startled little gasp, then placed a hand over her chest and trembled. Her cautious gaze turned toward Julia.
Julia deliberately closed her eyes and said simply.
“Ria.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The underachiever sprang to her feet as though she’d been waiting for that command.
“Now, now, calm down, Rene.”
She approached me in an instant, slipped her arms beneath my armpits, and subdued me in a single swift motion. Her strength was impossible to resist.
Then a supremely gentle voice rang in my ear.
“Just think of it as a good experience~”
“Good experience, my ass! I absolutely don’t want to have an experience like this!”
I gritted my teeth and struggled to escape the underachiever’s embrace, but it was useless. Why on earth was this woman so strong?
In the end, I gave up resisting and merely raised my voice in a furious shout.
“I’m never wearing a dress!!”
Having effectively cleared the treasure hunt in first place, we naturally received the highest score and won an invitation to Father’s banquet. (Of course, after the principal’s suspicious “deliberation,” that bastard Kairos was tacked on as a co-first-place winner.)
But before I could enjoy that happiness, an additional one-line announcement came flying at us: [※A ball is scheduled to be held, so all students must dress according to proper etiquette.]
I shouted while shaking my head vehemently, as though denying reality.
“I’m going in my school uniform… I’m going to wear my school uniform… I’m not even going to dance, so why do I have to wear a dress?!”
“Come on. The host specifically asked us to, so we guests should accommodate him.”
Only then did the underachiever release my arms.
“Besides, it’s not like they’re asking us to prepare a dance. They’re just asking us to show the minimum amount of decorum. What would Mr. Friesna think of us if we couldn’t even do that?”
“Don’t refer to Deputy Minister Ludwig—my father—that way!”
“Why? It’s true. Mr. Friesna.”
The underachiever seemed to have no idea what she’d done wrong.
I ground my teeth, then looked away, fearing I might collapse from high blood pressure if this continued. This time, I spoke to Ellie as if pleading with her.
“Ellie, say something to the head of the house. Tell him that we’re going there as students representing Luminus to receive instruction from the Ministry of Magic’s deputy minister, not to idly dance with nobles!”
“M-me?”
Ellie let her eyes dart around for a moment, then answered hesitantly.
“B-but if it’s a ball at the Friesna estate… I really want to attend too….”
“What?”
“There’s an older boy I… want to meet….”
“……Hah.”
Ellie, I never knew you were like this….
I felt completely betrayed. I turned my gaze to Julia, but as though she had been waiting for it, she looked out the window and feigned indifference.
The underachiever placed a hand on my back and said,
“Now, now, that makes it three against one. This time, Rene, you should give in a little.”
“Aren’t you worried, Ria? You… No, I mean, how do you think the nobles there will see commoners like you and me?”
In the end, I pulled out my last resort: a somewhat uncomfortable subject that the original Evan would never have brought up.
“I’m not worried at all?”
But the underachiever replied so casually, as if the thought had never crossed her mind—not even once.
When I stared blankly and asked, “What?”, the underachiever beamed and said,
“My parents always wanted their children never to feel intimidated in front of others. Thanks to that, I’ve attended quite a few aristocratic balls since I was little.”
The underachiever suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Of course, you have nothing to worry about, Rene! I’ll teach you everything from start to finish! Whether it’s aristocratic etiquette or the order of the banquet, ask me anything you want!”
It was a smile as dazzling as the sun.
“That’s not the point!”
My frustration had reached its limit. I wrenched my hand free and cried out in despair.
“Hm-hm~”
Just then, the closed door opened, and Ms. Justina entered, humming to herself.
I reflexively turned toward her. When our eyes met, she grinned and held aloft the… pure-white dress in her hands.
“Ta-da! The dress Rene will wear to the banquet has arrived!”
“Huh?”
“You don’t have a party dress, do you, Rene? But it wouldn’t make sense to buy such an expensive one just for this.”
At that moment, the underachiever suddenly seized me firmly by both arms.
When I turned around, she was smiling brightly for some reason as she said,
“Perfect timing. Let’s have you try it on.”
“……What?”
“Exactly! Our Ria is always so quick on the uptake.”
Ms. Justina clapped her hands with delight.
She began slowly approaching me, fluttering the light, flowing dress.
“W-wait a second…?”
I looked to Ellie as if asking for help, but she merely watched me with an intrigued expression, as though she really wanted to see me wearing the dress.
“I-I don’t want to….”
I felt the terrifying sensation of the underachiever’s hands undoing the buttons of my school-uniform top. I struggled desperately, but it was useless. All I could do was shake my head and deny reality.
Ms. Justina, who had somehow already reached me, added with a bright smile,
“Oh, that’s right. Rene, you also need to prepare for the dance.”
“……Huh?”
Was she taking things even further now? My mind went completely blank.
Ms. Justina continued in a matter-of-fact voice.
“Since Kairos came in first in this test, shouldn’t his partner naturally be you, Rene, the co-first-place winner?”
It was a sound that made my head spin.
※※
“Aren’t you concerned, Vice Principal?”
“Are you referring to the matter concerning Martin?”
“Yes.”
Erica nodded firmly. Verkis quietly closed his eyes and took a sip of black tea. Tap, tap. For a while, the only sound filling the room was his fingers rhythmically tapping his thigh.
“No, I’m not worried. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
It was only after a long while that Verkis answered in a composed voice.
Erica nodded and said, “I see,” then took a sip of tea as well. Then she asked in a slightly hesitant voice.
“You said Ms. Rene was the one who cast that detection spell, correct?”
“According to Teacher Revan’s report, that appears to be the case.”
“……What on earth could have happened between the two of them?”
Her voice held genuine curiosity. With an uncharacteristically helpless expression, Erica clenched her fist.
“I simply can’t make sense of what’s been happening at this school lately. ……The incident involving my little brother, for one, and Ms. Rene’s sudden success, despite having received the lowest score in the first aptitude assessment.”
Erica lightly bit her lower lip.
“And now Ms. Rene has used a detection spell developed by my own brother… I have no idea how I’m supposed to take this….”
“There are several possibilities we could consider.”
Verkis set down his teacup, deliberately affecting calm.
“To begin with, Ms. Rene has never demonstrated any particularly high-tier magic during this exam. Her outstanding judgment was what stood out; every spell she used was first-tier magic.”
“My brother’s detection spell is certainly not first-tier magic.”
“That’s because… it’s a spell that hasn’t yet been officially registered in the Tower of Hierarchy.”
Verkis let out a short sigh.
“I intend to have a formal meeting with Ms. Rene as soon as she returns from the banquet. I’ll ask her how she came to know an advanced detection spell, among other things.”
“……What do you suppose the reason is, Vice Principal?”
“Who can say? Perhaps Evan taught her magic personally?”
“Are you saying my brother was dating Ms. Rene?”
“We can’t rule out that possibility. There was no known connection between the two of them whatsoever.”
“…….”
Rene’s face from her visit surfaced in Erica’s mind.
Alongside the scene the crow had shown her of Rene carrying the unconscious Evan out of the dormitory.
‘……After a lovers’ quarrel?’
A chilling possibility suddenly flashed through her mind.
“No, there’s no way my brother would do that.”
But she soon shook her head and cast the thought away.
Yes, Evan would never hide his first girlfriend from his mother and sister. If he were dating someone, he would surely have sent them a letter the moment they started dating, begging them to prepare a lavish party.
“Then, Miss Erica, what do you believe the answer is?”
“I….”
Countless possibilities were tangled together in her mind. Her brother’s face, Rene’s face, and even Kairos’s face. The faces of countless children who might be involved appeared and vanished.
“Vice Principal.”
Yet among all those countless possibilities, no matter how much she thought about it, there was still only one answer capable of clearly fitting together and explaining these mysterious puzzle pieces.
Of course, that possibility itself sounded utterly absurd… but Erica steadied her churning heart, looked at the vice principal, and continued carefully.
“Could you look into Ms. Rene’s family background in detail? Including the environment she has lived in and everything she’s experienced up to now?”