Chapter 168
The symptoms of running out of magic power apparently resemble anemia. You grow cold all over, your head becomes heavy, and you lose all strength.
Glen has more magic power than most people and has almost never exhausted it, but there was one time when he clearly ran out of magic and collapsed just as he had now. That was when he let his magic run wild at Minerva.
That time, too, had been a magic battle with Hubert... No—what happened then could hardly be called a magic battle. Glen had been unable to do anything and could only run away.
Glen was different now from back then... or should have been, yet in the end, he had lost again.
(...Damn it.)
He had to win this match, for Monica's sake.
"Come to think of it, what happened with the match...?"
When Glen shifted and rolled over in bed, a familiar voice came from above him.
"It's a draw."
Glen jolted upright in bed.
Sitting beside his bed, chewing on dried meat and tipping back a bottle of liquor, was his master, Louis Miller.
"Why are you here, Master!?"
"Who do you think maintained the barrier for this magic battle?"
Apparently, Louis had come all the way there at the request of his mentor, McLagan, to maintain the barrier for the magic battle.
In other words, Louis had seen Glen's entire disgraceful performance.
Glen drooped his shoulders dejectedly and cast timid upward glances at Louis.
"...I lost to that guy again."
In front of his dejected disciple, Louis chanted a short spell and lit a flame at his fingertip.
Then, while lightly roasting the dried meat, Louis spoke in a casual tone, as if it were merely an afterthought.
"Last time, you were just a brat who took life far too lightly and let your magic run wild. This time, you suffered a genuine defeat after giving it your all. Learn to distinguish between the two. Otherwise, you'll misidentify what you need to reflect on."
"........Yes."
"Saving the tracking formula instead of using it from the start wasn't a bad choice. You've grown, haven't you?"
Louis extinguished the flame at his fingertip, then shoved a piece of dried meat glistening with fat into Glen's mouth. Apparently, the meat had been a get-well gift for Glen.
While secretly wondering whether it was right to use a get-well gift as something to eat with liquor, Glen bit into the dried meat.
"Come to think of it, what's this about a draw?"
"The magic tool Hubert Dee brought with him went off. The magic battle ended in a draw."
At least it seemed Monica was in no danger of being taken away by Hubert right away. Glen had been worried about his friend, so he sighed in relief and chewed the dried meat. Meat really was the best when you were tired.
"Ah, thank goodness... Because I lost, Monica would have... Oh, Monica's a friend of mine, you see, but she was about to be taken away by that senior."
"...Oh?"
Unaware that Louis was inwardly clicking his tongue and thinking, What has that useless witch gotten herself into this time?, Glen looked at the bottle of liquor clutched in his master's hand.
"By the way, Master... I don't think bringing alcohol into the infirmary is a good idea."
"Disinfectant alcohol and drinking alcohol are both alcohol, are they not?"
"If you say that in front of Rosalie-san, she'll definitely scold you."
＊ ＊ ＊
"Mmm, mm, mm, mmm~"
Despite having completely run out of magic, Hubert walked down the hallway with his hands in his pockets and an attitude no different from usual.
They had decided to stick to the lie that Hubert's magic tool had gone berserk during the magic battle. His reputation had hit rock bottom, but he did not seem particularly concerned. He was simply the sort of person who paid no attention to other people's opinions of him.
More than anything, he was in the best mood imaginable.
The prey he had chased obsessively several years ago was still alive and well... No, she was even stronger than she had been back then.
(Who would've thought she'd leap into the hunting grounds herself?)
Back when Monica had been at Minerva, she had always run from Hubert, sobbing.
And now that same Monica had thrown herself into a magic battle and confronted him!
Not only that, she had even directed her anger at Hubert!
(Ah, nice... That cold, expressionless face of hers is so enticing, no matter how often I recall it.)
Looking back, when Monica had been at Minerva, she had always holed herself up alone in her laboratory and never tried to interact with anyone besides her teachers.
But the Monica of today was surrounded by friends. She was clinging to the student council as a place to belong.
That attachment was what drove Monica.
(If I wrecked the things she's so attached to... Ah, I'd get to see that merciless, cruel queen again. I really want to smash one of them right in front of Monica, just to see.)
...For example, the man standing in front of him right now, Cyril Ashley.
"Stop, Hubert Dee."
With that, Cyril uttered a shortened incantation.
An ice arrow was held right between Hubert's eyebrows. Even though Cyril should have had almost no magic left after the magic battle had just ended, he had already recovered enough to use sorcery.
Thinking that was quite impressive, Hubert broke into a leering grin.
"Heh, heh, heh~ Don't worry, I ain't gonna force Monica to do anything."
"You're not to be trusted."
"I mean it... for now."
Once he was ready to hunt again, he might destroy this man as a warning right in front of Monica.
Alternatively, he could fawn obediently before that merciless queen and wait for an opening to sink his teeth into her throat.
(Ah, this is fun, this is fun. I thought a refined school like Serendia Academy would be boring, but there are so many fun things here now.)
Cyril watched the grinning Hubert as though he were looking at something creepy, but eventually muttered,
"...Do you know the Silent Witch?"
"Heh, heh, heh~ What're you talking about?"
"...In that fog, you let it slip during the magic battle, didn't you? You said 'Silent Witch.'"
So this man's rapid recovery meant that he had not lost consciousness during the magic battle.
Even so, he apparently had not figured out that the Silent Witch was Monica Norton.
Hubert approached Cyril, bent at the waist to peer into his face, and said,
"It's a s-e-c-r-e-t, obviously! If you wanna find out, let's do it again sometime—magic battle."
"Disgusting. Don't bring your face so close."
When Cyril wrinkled his nose and groaned, Hubert clutched his stomach and burst into roaring laughter.
He was not as entertaining as Monica, but this man looked like he would make a fine toy as well.
＊ ＊ ＊
After Bridget released her, Monica returned to the attic room and flopped down on her bed.
"...Nerooo."
When she called out to Nero, sleeping in the basket beside her pillow, she heard happy, mew-like breathing. It hardly sounded like the breathing of a dragon.
"...Bridget-sama found out all sorts of things about me... She hasn't found out that I'm the Silent Witch, but..."
Bridget still apparently believed that Monica was an intelligence agent for House Kerbeck.
But Bridget had indeed discovered that Monica was no ordinary person. More importantly, Bridget now knew about Monica's injured left hand.
"What does Bridget-sama want me to do...?"
Bridget had said that there was a secret about His Highness that she absolutely had to know.
And she wanted Monica to cooperate with her for that purpose.
(...I want to know about His Highness too, but...)
Why was he so obedient to Duke Clockford?
Did he know that Duke Clockford was involved in the Dragon Calamity incident?
Did Felix know that Duke Clockford might have had something to do with the death of Monica's father?
...The questions were endless.
(Should I tell Louis-san about this...? No, but when it comes to His Highness's secret... I feel like I shouldn't tell him.)
Louis had openly declared that he disliked both Duke Clockford and the second prince. On top of that, he still held a considerable grudge over Felix destroying the magic tool he had painstakingly made in just three days.
If Louis learned about Felix's secrets or weaknesses, he would obviously use them to his advantage with great delight.
(Come to think of it, Rin-san still hasn't come even once since the new term began... He used to come much more often...)
As Monica wondered whether he was busy because his wife, Rosalie-san, was nearing her due date, she heard a tapping sound at the window.
Thinking it might be Rin, Monica looked toward the window and widened her eyes. A black cat was perched there. It looked very much like Nero, but this cat had white only on the tip of its tail and the tips of its paws.
A letter bearing a rose emblem was tied to its collar. The cat also carried a small cloth bundle on its back, with a single carrot poking out of it.
When she saw the rose emblem and the vegetables, only one person came to mind—the Thorn Witch, Raul Roseberg.
Monica opened the window and invited the cat inside, then untied the letter and unfolded it.
The letter was written in bold, sweeping handwriting and read as follows:
'Hey, Monica, how are you doing? I'm doing great!
Oh, yeah, listen to this. I invited Ray over to my place the other day. We harvested vegetables together!
Ray said the sunlight was so bright that he would melt, so I told him he looked like a worm! ...Then he cursed me so bugs would swarm me. Man, was I surprised. Don't you think it would be great if I put that curse to good use and made some kind of pest repellent? Oh, and gathering bees to pollinate fruit would be great, too.
I'll have my familiar bring along the vegetables Ray and I harvested. This year's cabbage crop turned out really well, and I really wanted you to try some, but my familiar can't carry a whole cabbage, so I sent a carrot instead.
Come visit sometime, Monica. I'll make you my special cabbage soup!
Oh, right. Sheffield's holiday is coming up soon, isn't it? Around then, I'm going to the Clockford ducal residence to replant their garden.
Isn't this a chance to infiltrate the Clockford ducal residence and expose the duke's misdeeds?
Ray insists he's had enough of gardening and refuses to go, but are you coming, Monica?
I'll bring a few servants from my household for the replanting, so I think you could blend in among them, conceal your identity, and infiltrate the place.
Let's conduct an undercover investigation together!
From the Thorn Witch, Raul Roseberg.'
She had been invited to an undercover investigation with the breezy casualness of someone inviting her out to play.
But this was a chance to investigate Duke Clockford.
The Sheffield holiday mentioned in the letter was exactly one month from now: a day celebrating the Wind Spirit King bringing the winds that herald spring. Serendia Academy would also be closed for the three days on either side of the holiday, including the day itself.
Monica read the letter through once more, then sat down at her writing desk and penned a reply asking to be taken along on the undercover investigation.