国产午夜亚洲精品AⅤ

Chapter 87

“Anyway, what on earth is that Elena woman’s purpose for running her scroll shop?”

Charlotte had been so startled by the news that Elena knew the boy’s whereabouts that she was only now organizing her thoughts about the shopkeeper.

“Well... I can’t say much either, but don’t mages usually have a bunch of secrets?”

“Hmm... Although I can’t fully agree with that, mages often are eccentrics, for sure.”

It was rather common to find unconventional and quirky characters among mages. That was not necessarily meant in a bad way; there were just plenty of individuals with strange characters in that field. So, it was not surprising to come across a mage doing something unexpected.

“I think we should first make sure that the boy is actually being protected before we give this any further thought.”

Everything was still just based on testimony in the form of words. Being able to contact the boy through letters did not matter to Charlotte, and she would only rest assured if and only if she was absolutely sure that the boy was safe.

Given Charlotte’s current state, it was entirely possible she might leave Eleris alone even if she found out she was a vampire, as long as Baalier’s safety was confirmed.

“I just hope she’s not part of a magic society or something like that...”

Charlotte brought up something unexpected, and I tilted my head in confusion.

“Magic society?”

“Um... They are groups that conduct magical research away from the eyes of the public.”

Of course, I was aware of such organizations. Secret magic societies. It was intriguing and sounded a bit like something you would hear from a teenager’s fantasy novel, so I’d had to add it to the setting of the novel.

A magic society would hide underground for the purpose of magical research and experimentation, or for the freedom to pursue their own studies of magic. There was more than one magic society, and they all varied widely in their nature. While some engaged in inhumane experiments, there were those who operated in the shadows to prevent any threats posed by magic as well.

Charlotte seemed to suspect that Eleris might be a member of one such magic society.

To be honest, this sort of suspicion was much better than her accusing Eleris of possibly being a demon.

“Judging by the way her store is run... at least it doesn’t seem like she is part of something like the Black Order...”

As the saying goes, knowing too much can sometimes be a curse and not a blessing.

That could be perfectly applied to Charlotte at the moment.

***

It had been a long day.

We had left the Temple grounds even though leaving the campus was still prohibited, and we were now on our way back. Charlotte had managed to discover Eleris by asking questions alone. It was chilling to witness my simple actions turn into clues, clues that ultimately led to the truth.

My thoughtless attempts to sell scrolls at various shops had created a trail, and my final encounter with Eleris had allowed Charlotte to come to the conclusion that Eleris and her store were suspicious.

Upon arrival at the Temple, Charlotte and I went our separate ways.

I decided to take a few laps around the Temple grounds before returning since I had missed the evening training that day.

It didn’t seem like Vertus had noticed our little excursion, nor did he know where Charlotte and I had been.

To be frank, though, Vertus didn’t really have time to be concerned about Charlotte and me. With the black market incident leaving a trail that led back to Vertus, he had to be focusing all his efforts on resolving the matter as smoothly as possible, hard enough to make his head explode.

I just hoped that none of it would lead back to Sarkegar.

As soon as I finished my run and returned to the Royal Class dormitory, I noticed someone waiting for me.

“... Where have you been all day?”

“I was out exercising.”

It was Harriet de Saint-Ouen.

She seemed slightly annoyed as if she’d been waiting for me for quite some time.

I’d been so focused on following Charlotte around the whole day that I hadn’t given any thought to Harriet’s situation regarding her leave of absence.

“So, how did it go?”

When I thought about it, though, if the talk with her father went well, there really wasn’t any need for her to consult me any further.

‘What could make her wait around for me?’

If we included Vertus’s prompting, it seemed almost guaranteed that the situation would have been resolved favorably.

Harriet still wore a look of hesitation on her face, and she crossed her arms and fell silent for a moment.

“What? Did your father not change his mind or something?”

“... No, that’s not it. He said I don’t have to take a leave of absence, and if Vertus is also against it, then I shouldn’t.”

“... Isn’t that good news, then?”

If she got what she wanted, why did she seem so restless and anxious?

“What’s the matter? Is there a problem? Quick, I need to shower and sleep,” I said with a hint of irritation, and Harriet’s expression shifted subtly.

She seemed extremely uneasy.

“Um... it’s... it’s just that... my father wants to see you.”

“... What?”

‘What in the world is she saying?’

Harriet was young, but the Duke of Saint-Ouen wasn’t someone I could deal with, not at my current level.

“Why on earth would your esteemed father have any interest in seeing someone like me?”

My sarcasm caused Harriet’s brow to furrow deeply, but she did not get angry, perhaps having given up on correcting my way of speaking long ago.

Instead, Harriet was playing with her fingers, looking uneasy and restless. She averted her gaze and glanced at me from the corner of her eyes, which only served to make her look cuter.

It seemed she was very nervous about my reaction to what she was about to say.

“It’s just... My father thought that I was incapable of coming up with all of that stuff by myself... I think he found it strange that I would suddenly argue with him over the transceiver that I shouldn’t take a leave of absence because of this and that... He asked me if I was reading off a script written down somewhere, and asked me who was the one telling me to say all of that...”

“... Ah.”

No matter how talented and smart Harriet might be, to the Duke of Saint-Ouen, she was merely his adorable little daughter.

She was probably used to being the cute and affectionate daughter, always saying things like, “I love daddy! Daddy’s the best! I love you!” Given how the novel had been set up—that she was loved and cherished by her family—it was quite plausible.

But the very same sweet, cute, and charming daughter was also probably the child who would straightforwardly declare what she liked and didn’t like, saying, “Daddy I want that!” or “I don’t want to do that!”

That was probably how Harriet usually behaved.

However, when would that same child suddenly start arguing, “Father. Taking a leave of absence at this current time may severely anger Vertus, given his current disposition, which could be problematic. Furthermore, since Vertus has directly indicated that I should not take a leave of absence, I am apprehensive that it might tarnish the honor of our family...” and speaking in such a nuanced manner?

From the perspective of the Duke of Saint-Ouen, it must have been a strange experience.

This sudden uncharacteristic behavior would have led the Duke to the conclusion that she was reading off of something that had been written down. In fact, Harriet had actually written something similar to a script, out of fear that she might forget what to say.

“... So, you confessed that I was the one who wrote that ‘script’ for you?”

“... What was I supposed to do, then? My dad wouldn’t believe me if I said anything else. He said that I’m not the type to say things like that.”

Despite being smart and talented, she was still a child and used to being coddled.

It would be strange for her to mature so suddenly and begin to spout sophisticated sentences, so it made sense for the Duke to suspect that there was someone behind the scenes, and he was right.

It seemed that, for whatever reason, the Duke wished to meet me.

Harriet looked apologetic that she had mentioned my name while under pressure from her father.

‘This kid. Was that why you’ve been anxiously waiting for me until now?’

“Alright, what’s done is done. How did you introduce me to your father?”

“Um... Umm...”

Harriet was once again glancing at me warily, struggling to open her mouth to speak.

“Surely you didn’t say, ‘There’s this jerk from the streets with a foul temper who barges into any place like a damn hoodlum,’ did you?”

Harriet’s complexion went pale, as if I had guessed correctly.

“Did you actually say that? Come here, you hardheaded brat! You’re really going to get it today!”

I approached her slowly, and Harriet pouted as she began to back away.

“I’m... I’m sorry!!!”

I never thought I’d hear an apology coming from her own mouth.

“It’s quite surprising to hear an apology coming from you, but it’s even more infuriating to think that I’m now in some serious trouble because of what you said.”

“I had no choice!!”

‘Cuteness isn’t going to save you this time, Thick-Skull.’

“Come here. You’re getting a flick on the forehead.”

Flick!

I flicked her on the forehead with my finger.

“Ouch! Did you... did you just hit me?! You actually hit me!”

“Of course I ‘actually’ hit you. Should I have pretended to hit you or something?”

“This... this can’t be... You... really hit me...”

Harriet’s forehead turned red as she stared at me in bewilderment. It seemed as if her last bastion of doubt—that I would never actually hit her—had crumbled.

Her expression screamed, “H-How could this be happening to me? Did I really just get flicked on the forehead? This can’t be reality!”

Indeed, cuteness was the best.

I sighed heavily. “I’ll let you off with just this.”

At my words, Harriet’s face turned red again.

“You’re the one who hit me! What do you mean, you’ll let me off?! You’re the worst! You thug!”

Harriet, fuming with anger, stomped off to her room.

***

The next day was Wednesday, and Wednesdays were reserved for mana attunement training and supernatural power classes. This mana attunement training class was filled exclusively with first-year Royal Class students.

Those who majored in divine power and supernatural powers typically did not attend this class.

However, I attended this class and planned to continue doing so even though I was a supernatural powers major, since magic was useful in its own way apart from supernatural powers.

—Zooooommm... Feel it.... Feeeeeel it....

The class consisted of what seemed like a yoga master instructing students to lie down and giving them some sort of guidance. Listening to it would make you feel strangely peaceful, and send you off into dreamland. In fact, I sometimes wondered if we were all being hypnotically conditioned by this yoga master.

The teacher didn’t say anything even if the students fell asleep, so the students would wake up feeling rather refreshed, hence why everyone liked the class. For me, too, it was just a class where I could zone out and be refreshed.

—The energy... of the universe... is being transferred to you...

‘Ah. Here it comes. The god of sleep is entering me...”’

Everyone woke up again, looking rather dazed. It was an odd sensation. It was like having died briefly and then coming back to life.

I wondered if that yoga master was actually a mage or something. At first glance, he looked more like a Taoist priest than a mage.

“There will be a midterm evaluation in next week’s class.”

That announcement snapped the dazed students back to attention. I was just as startled.

According to the school schedule, the next week was the start of the midterms season.

“... I don’t think we’ve learned anything in this class, so what exactly are we being evaluated on?”

That question came from Kaier Vioden of Class A, and everyone seemed to agree with the sentiment.

‘How do you evaluate a class that seems to consist only of taking naps? What have we been taught, exactly?’

“There are no exams for this class. It is simply a time to check your progress thus far.”

“Progress?”

Everyone started murmuring amongst themselves. The fact that there wouldn’t be an exam was understandable, but what did the teacher mean by progress? How could there be any progress when we hadn’t been taught anything?

Everyone looked confused.

“We will be checking how much your mana has increased, and scores will be assigned based on who shows the highest increase.”

The increase in one’s mana was the metric for evaluation.

“As you all know, you have all been receiving consistent mana enhancement and mana attunement training during this class. It only makes sense that the increase in mana should be the criterion for evaluation.”

Apparently, we hadn’t just been sleeping all along. We were constantly being trained in our sleep.

In fact, I noticed that even though I had only done physical training and not any special magic training, my mana kept increasing. My mana had gone up from 9.9 in the beginning to 11 currently.

It hadn’t been just a random increase; this class was actually aiding me in increasing my mana.

“Anyway, I hope you will all have a mana-filled time until next week.”

The students all gazed at him in a daze. At last, everyone seemed to realize just how impressive this yoga master in front of them was.

***

I was also now able to fully participate in the supernatural power control class. While the raw strength of my supernatural power was not that great, no one in the class could match the speed at which I could activate my powers.

Of course, there was one person whose activation speed was faster than mine. While my ability was nearly instantaneous, I still required a process of thought. But for him, as soon as it came to mind, he could use his ability in an instant.

That was none other than Connor Lint, who possessed the ability of Teleportation. Of course, the issue was that he would be left naked once he used it, rendering it impractical. The poor guy—that outcome completely negated the power of his ability.

Anyway, after him, the fastest one was me, and then Riana de Granz.

To me, the king of self-brainwashing, this stuff was a piece of cake.

“You’re doing well, but I seriously cannot tell whether you’re seriously training hard to increase your physical strength, or if you’re actually just using your supernatural powers. I’ve heard that you’ve been training hard, though.”

In the supernatural powers class, my assigned teacher really had to focus in order to determine whether what I was doing was a result of me using my supernatural powers or not.

Of course, I could tell whether my supernatural power was activated or not, so it didn’t really matter to me.

I definitely felt that my supernatural power itself was gradually developing.

But in the end, supernatural powers were, well...

They were like something you would see in a cringy teenager’s fantasy novel. Powers that awaken when a character unleashed a roar while in a psychologically extreme situation. In fact, in some way, I had experienced that feeling myself.

The process by which a supernatural power developed wasn’t that much different either. Powers would evolve a step further whenever the wielder was in the midst of another crisis, for example, when the main character suddenly destroys everything around them...

Anyway, I included that in the setting of the novel because it seemed cool and convenient. But it was truly a headache now that I had to develop this ability myself.

In the end, it seemed that my powers would grow faster if I was faced with a tremendous crisis, or when pushed to the brink.

However, I certainly did not want to intentionally seek out dangerous and terrifying situations just for the sake of growth...

Crack! Fzzzzzt

!

“Oh, nice, Granz. You definitely seem to have better control than before. Your output seems more powerful too.”

“Thank you.”

Riana de Granz, also known as the supernatural prodigy...

It would have been nice to be like her, with abilities that grew rapidly without having to do anything in particular.

Of course, it wasn’t as though my power was growing at a meager rate, so I didn’t need to rush.

Yet, it was my own fault for creating the world such that powers only became much stronger in a crisis.

***

Ever since I’d started to properly use my supernatural powers in class, there was one particular guy whose expression turned more and more sour every time he saw me.

That was A-6, Heinrich von Schwartz.

The guy who had criticized me for attending the class despite not being a superhuman, only to be thoroughly beaten up by me. He already disliked me, but now that I’d truly awakened my supernatural power, he seemed even more ticked off.

Of course, ever since he’d learned that I was not someone to mess with, he stopped openly provoking me anymore.

“Tch.”

Yet, every time he saw me, he conspicuously turned his head away.

‘At least Harriet looks cute when she does it.’

I had no intention of bothering him, so I just chose to ignore the guy.

On my way back after class, I caught sight of Charlotte, who had just come out of her room. Because of the secrets we now shared, openly acknowledging each other in public spaces was risky.

We didn’t greet each other outright, but Charlotte gave me a small smile as a form of greeting.

Unlike before, Charlotte looked like she was in a good mood. Her expression looked like that of someone who had laid aside a heavy burden from their mind.

The other students around me seemed slightly dazed, probably thinking that Charlotte had smiled at them.

‘Hmm. That reminds me, I need to go to Eleris’s shop to pick up a letter.’

Of course, I’d only pretend to pick up that letter. I still had to write it myself.

***

I decided that I would fetch the letter only after the ban on leaving the Temple was lifted. Leaving the campus without Charlotte was impossible for now, and the two of us going outside together again would look suspicious.

Once again, I found myself facing off against Ellen, practice sword in hand. Ellen didn’t seem to care much whether I showed up to practice or not. If I came, she would help me with my sword training, and if I didn’t, she would do her own thing.

“Aren’t you going to study for the midterms?”

“No.”

The general midterm exams were scheduled for the following week, and then, each class had its own assigned midterm assignments to complete. I hadn’t paid much attention to it, but everyone else was studying in their own way, increasing their efforts around this midterm period.

Both Vertus and Charlotte had to be furiously studying amidst the other imperial tasks that kept them busy, since they needed to score good grades.

Yet here was Ellen, behaving as if it were any other day, unconcerned with the midterms or anything.

“...You’re one of those know-it-alls who don’t study for anything and still end up being class valedictorian, aren’t you?”

“?”

Since I was the one who had written her that way, it was absolutely true. When it came to intelligence alone, B-2 Louis Ankton was the smarter one. However, he was the typical “nerdy” character, which meant that he never scored well in any of the physical education subjects. Therefore, when it came to the written exams, Louis Ankton was the top student, but in terms of overall scores, which included the subjects with private instruction, Ellen was always at the top.

Not studying while spending time with someone who would be at the top of the class without needing to study brought about a sort of inferiority complex.

‘Should I study? Is it even necessary? But then again, realizing I’m dumber than these kids would be quite demoralizing.’

Ellen observed me standing still and tilted her head slightly.

“Aren’t you going to study?”

She was just asking, of course.

But to me, it sounded more like, “Shouldn’t you study because you’re not as smart as me?”

‘Is this girl trying to rile me up on purpose?’

“You’re not studying, so I won’t either!”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I don’t know! I’m just not going to!”

I descended into absurd stubbornness.

‘Grades? I couldn’t care less. Once the gate opens, all this talk of Temple grades and whatnot becomes pointless anyway. You guys can study all you want!’

Thunk!

Suddenly, the door to the training grounds swung open, and someone entered.

“Number 11, you have a visitor.”

“... Ah.”

It was Mr. Effenhauser.