Chapter 35
For the intended presentation, please read this chapter in dark mode!
===
“Miss Lanne, please.”
“...Huh?”
A recruitment pitch into which I had poured my heart and soul.
The blonde girl froze for a long moment before letting out a tiny, dumbfounded squeak.
A brief silence settled between us.
“......”
Her cheeks flushed as though brushed with the fragrance of spring.
Her violet eyes trembled with youthful innocence.
Unlike her usual bold and spirited self, Lanne’s reaction was incredibly girlish.
I tilted my head.
‘Why is she reacting like this?’
I was just asking her to team up with me for the upcoming practical training. Did she hate the idea that much?
‘Well, I guess.’
Lanne was the second-ranked student in Class A.
She was one of the top three students in our entire year.
From her perspective, being asked to team up with a Class E student probably wasn’t exactly appealing.
‘Lanne’s pretty ambitious, too. She probably wants a good grade.’
But!
That didn’t mean I could afford to let Lanne slip away.
Without you, my plan falls apart.
Without you, the event won’t trigger.
No matter what it took, I had to win Lanne over to my side.
“......”
The girl was still frozen stiff.
I rose from my kneeling position and took a deep step forward.
“Miss Lanne.”
Right in front of her.
The distance between us vanished in an instant.
Close enough that if I leaned forward just a little, she might fall straight into my arms.
I filled her entire field of vision.
So that she could see only me.
Those violet eyes went still, as though even her breath had stopped.
“I’ll take full responsibility for you.”
“...Eek.”
I whispered into her ear.
Perhaps because my mask was close enough to brush against the rim of her ear.
Lanne’s scent suddenly drifted past my nose.
Rather than something sharp and seductive, it carried the refreshing fragrance of winter.
Perhaps because my breath brushed the back of her neck, the girl hunched her shoulders.
“I will take responsibility for you, Miss Lanne.”
I’ll take responsibility for your score!
I’ll carry you from start to finish!
I’ll make sure you walk away with a fat stack of points and absolutely nothing to complain about!
So just bring yourself!!
“You won’t have to lift so much as a finger. I’ll handle everything.”
“B-but, th-that, that’s...”
Only then did the girl finally manage to part her lips, stumbling over her words.
Heat had risen into her pale cheeks, making them resemble freshly blossomed petals.
I whispered again.
“Miss Lanne.”
“S-Sir Victor... I-I think something like this is... a-a little too early for students like us...”
“Surely not. Countless students are doing it already, aren’t they? This is exactly the time when everyone is looking for a partner.”
“R-really? Then is this... s-some sort of trend in the capital that I don’t know about...?”
“You could say that.”
“N-now that I think about it... I-I have heard of people being joined through political arrangements from an early age...”
Squeeze.
Since I had never let go of the hand I had taken earlier, our fingers were practically intertwined.
Lanne mumbled incoherently, her pronunciation anything but crisp.
Had spending time with Alice at my request caused some of her mannerisms to rub off on her?
I lowered my head a little more so I could hear her better.
As I did, Lanne’s words became even more garbled.
“Th-they do say children these days mature quickly, but... t-to make such an important decision already...”
“Does age really matter when making a decision? As long as both sides feel the same way, anything is possible.”
“B-but... I still... d-don’t know nearly enough about you, Sir Victor...”
“We can gradually learn more about each other. Isn’t that what it means to become partners?”
“Y-you can’t just be so forceful about something like this...”
Lanne dropped her head.
I was used to seeing her energetic and confident, so watching her act this shy was surprisingly refreshing.
You never even got to see this side of her in the original.
Getting possessed into this world had its perks.
While I entertained those pointless thoughts, Lanne let out a deep breath.
She fidgeted with her lips for a moment, then, as though she had finally organized her thoughts, spoke.
“Sir... Victor...”
“I’m listening.”
I was even wearing a mask, so what was she finding so difficult?
Still unable to properly meet my gaze, Lanne continued.
Her clear voice echoed through the settled silence.
“I, too, greatly admire your prowess, Sir Victor. You are also my lifesaver, my rival... and the first friend I made at the academy...”
“Then why won’t you accept my feelings?!”
“B-but no matter what... I still think m-marriage is a little... too soon for us...”
“...What?”
Marriage?
I immediately reacted to the completely out-of-nowhere word.
I tilted my head as though asking what the hell she was talking about.
Seeing my reaction, Lanne became equally flustered.
“W-what...? Wasn’t that what you meant? You clearly asked me to become your partner...”
“Oh, that. Nothing strange like that. I was talking about the next practical training.”
“The next practical training... You mean forming teams...?”
“Yes.”
“......”
“Was there anything else it could have meant?”
“......”
Sure enough, her entire face turned so red that it looked ready to burst.
The sight of those violet eyes spinning in circles was truly exquisite.
As I leisurely enjoyed the spectacle, a bat poked its head out of my breast pocket.
[Victor.]
Her gaze was slightly cold.
Even in bat form, I could practically see her expression.
[You seem to be enjoying yourself.]
‘Your Highness, this was merely an error that occurred during the communication process...’
[You realized what she misunderstood halfway through, did you not? You looked positively delighted as you kept pushing her.]
‘......’
No.
I mean, yes.
But honestly, I felt a little wronged too.
How was I supposed to resist when her reactions were that entertaining?
It was like leaving a gift set of tuna in front of a cat.
‘W-well... Wasn’t it f-funny, though?’
[My trusted retainer is quite the womanizer, I see.]
‘Eh...?’
After insulting me with that single sentence, Carmilla promptly disappeared back into my pocket.
All I had done was joke around a little, and I ended up getting scolded by Her Highness.
This was all Lanne’s fault.
“What’s this? What’s this? Could it be that deep down, Miss Lanne actually had feelings for me?”
“N-no...! I simply m-misunderstood what you were saying for a moment...!”
“That’s troublesome. You see, I intend to remain single.”
“S-Sir Victor...!”
So, partly to vent my frustration, I decided to tease her a little more.
---
After thoroughly roasting Lanne to my heart’s content.
Only once the atmosphere finally settled down did I receive a proper answer.
-Sir Victor and I, together for the practical training... Hmm. I have no objections.
-It would also be another opportunity to witness your prowess.
-I’ll do my best with the mindset that I’m there to learn from you.
Recruitment successful.
Even after getting that flustered, watching her desperately pretend to act like her usual self was pretty cute.
I could probably tease her about this for a while.
“Um... Sir Victor.”
“Yes? What is it, Miss Lanne Kihano, Grandia Academy’s number-one bride candidate?”
“Th-that! You clearly promised you would forget about it...!”
She flailed in panic.
As though annoyed, she thumped my shoulder a few times.
I groaned under the heavy impacts.
“Urk, agh...”
“Now you’re even pretending that hurt...”
No.
It actually hurts.
I’m a glass-bodied weakling with overall E-rank stats.
How dare you treat the weak with such cruelty? My friends won’t forgive you for this, you bastard.
My friends Garurik, Maneur, Absolute Balloon Sword, and Slayers won’t forgive you.
I continued walking while entertaining those pointless thoughts.
‘We need two other members for the practical training.’
The teams had to consist of three people.
Even with Lanne and me, that still left one empty spot.
And I had already decided who would fill it.
I smiled and asked.
“Right, Miss Alice?”
“......”
Black hair that looked as though the night sky itself had been melted down and woven into strands.
Between them, a pair of blue eyes glittered like twin shooting stars.
If not for the uniquely gloomy air surrounding her, she would have been the kind of beauty who immediately drew everyone’s attention.
‘Though right now she keeps her bangs hanging down, so you can barely even see her face properly...’
Well, that didn’t matter.
Recruiting her came first.
Since we would have to coordinate with one another, the person herself actually wanting to participate was the most important thing.
“Miss Alice? Why aren’t you answering?”
I smiled brightly.
The corners of my mask’s mouth twitched along with me.
Alice couldn’t bring herself to meet my gaze, her eyes darting every which way.
But unlike Lanne, her avoidance felt distinctly different.
Rather than embarrassment or confusion, she seemed purely terrified.
“Miss Alice.”
“...Y-yes.”
Only after I called her for the third time did Alice finally respond.
Her lips trembled as though even breathing had become difficult.
She really was terrible at hiding her expressions.
How did literally everything show on her face?
‘Hmm...’
Honestly, I had no idea why Alice was acting like this.
At least as far as I could remember, I hadn’t done anything yet that should have frightened her.
‘Strange.’
I had no idea what was going on, but I still had something to do.
I pushed those idle thoughts aside and tilted my head.
My mask was reflected in her blue pupils.
The corners of its mouth were curled into a rather cheerful smile.
“You’ll join our practical training team, right?”
“Um... I-I...”
The girl hesitantly opened her mouth.
She seemed to be having trouble answering, so I decided to help her out a little.
“You will, right?”
“S-Sir Victor... That’s...”
“You will, right?”
“Um...”
“You will, right?”
“I...”
“You will, right?”
“Uh, umm...”
“You will, right?”
“......”
Perhaps she had been moved by my gentle questioning.
The girl, who had remained frozen stiff the entire time, eventually nodded with tears welling in her eyes.
How nice of her to willingly join us without me even having to beg.
I lightly stroked her head.
“Eek, eeeek...!”
Alice looked like she might die of happiness.
Enjoying her reaction, I completed the practical training team.
---
A few days later.
Inside a certain building at Grandia Academy.
Every light had been extinguished, and there were no windows through which even the faintest light could enter.
A man sat within the pitch-black darkness.
“Heh, heheh... So everything is going according to plan.”
The man wore robes as red as blood.
Perhaps he was middle-aged.
His wrinkled forehead bent forward.
In front of him, pitch-black substances squelched and writhed.
“This is it. With this, it’s over. Even God will finally look upon me.”
The man toyed with the ominous liquid.
[Professor in Charge of Second Years]
A nameplate identifying him as a member of the faculty was pinned to the clothing briefly visible beneath his robe.
“Ahh... My God.”
At the same time, a grotesque tattoo could be seen on his exposed forearm.
An eye.
A tattoo depicting a massive eye opened amid a writhing mass of tentacles.
The man stroked the tattoo, his entire body trembling in ecstasy.
“My God... Oh, my God.”
Stain this academy with blood, and make it Your altar.
I offer the blood of countless insects before Your presence.
Drown the entire continent in slaughter.
“Ahh...”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
---
And as a pitch-black shadow began to fall over the academy.
A certain boy was snickering as well.
A masked boy.
“He must be laughing his ass off right about now.”
Someone’s trap.
And yet, every last part of it was already within the palm of his hand.
“Now then... let’s see what these so-called evil-god worshippers are made of.”
With a faint smile on his lips, Victor ran a hand over his mask.
The corners of its mouth were split all the way to beneath its ears.
The mask smiled gro tes que ly.