by Funa
Even if the money they received was not much, recognition like this improved the guild’s reputation as well, so they were more than happy to receive the honor—and the promotion points that went along with it. And so the Crimson Vow left the guildhall with smiles plastered across their faces.
“Mm…”
After the Crimson Vow exited the hall, the clerk who had processed their paperwork looked contemplative.
“What’s wrong, Sharon?” asked her coworker, worried.
The clerk, who still looked rather uncertain, replied, “Hmm, it’s just, those girls who were here a moment ago… I get the feeling that I’ve seen them somewhere before. I mean, if you had come across a party of cute young kids who could capture six bandits all on their own, without injuring the bandits and without taking any injury themselves, you’d think that you’d remember them, wouldn’t you? Argh! I just can’t think of it! I’ve got nothing but brain fog!”
It was only natural that the clerk could not place the Crimson Vow. She might have remembered if she had been dealing with someone who looked exactly as she recalled, but only a vague resemblance could not be expected to ring any bells. It would be one thing, too, if they were faces she had seen countless times, but in this case she had only caught glimpses of their likeness, now and again, in the figures sitting upon her boss’s desk…
Plus, the one who had that unmistakable silver hair had altered her appearance.
“Mmm, nngh…”
“Enough already! Just forget about it, and get back to your work!” her coworker scolded.
And so, the clerk known as Sharon gave up on remembering.
Thus, a potential branch of all the possible paths of history crumbled into dust.
That evening, Mile and the others decided against taking a room at an inn. In order to best minimize the risk of Mile being discovered, they planned to leave the capital that night, as soon as all their affairs for the day were in order.
“All right, so, following your lead, we’ll head over there sometime after they’re done with dinner for the evening. Have you finished up your letter?” Reina asked.
“Ah, y-yes, here it is…”
Mile withdrew a letter from her storage space and handed it to Reina.
“Good. We should try and eat early ourselves. Don’t look so worried, Mile. We’ll be in and out of there before you know it!” Reina assured her with a broad smile, the letter pressed safely to her chest.
***
Late that evening, once classes were over, and both extracurricular activities and dinner for the boarding students had concluded for the night…
Three girls passed through the front gates of Eckland Academy.
Perhaps they were students returning from an after-school outing. There was a girl with red hair, wearing an academy uniform. She was followed by another girl who was particularly well-endowed in one area, wearing a gym uniform, perhaps having gone out for some exercise. They were likely third years, though the gatekeeper found his eyes unfortunately drawn to the parts of the second girl’s body that did not appear to belong to a twelve or thirteen-year-old at all.
The last to come traipsing through the gate, looking rather embarrassed, was a girl with golden hair and the appearance of a swordswoman—likely the older sister to one of the other girls.
There were no problems here. It was far from the sort of scene that required an investigation of any sort as they did not appear suspicious in the least.
So the gatekeeper thought to himself, as he continued to keep his watch.
***
Knock knock!
“Hello? Who is it?” Marcela asked, hearing a knock on the door of her dorm room.
A voice from the other side of the door replied, “A thief…”
“Why the heck would you say that?!” another voice scolded.
“Sorry, it’s just that Mile always answers like that in these kinds of situations…” the first voice replied.
“Since when?! Anyway, what are you gonna do if she starts thinking we’re acting suspicious?!”
They were already acting plenty suspicious.
Marcela rubbed her temples with her middle fingers.
It had been quite a while since she had felt this particular variety of exasperation. She felt almost nostalgic somehow.
“…So, who’s there?”
“A thief…”
“Enough with that already!”
Intrusions like this were common around the time a new group of freshmen entered the academy.
They wanted to talk to her.
They wanted to be her friend.
Please, be my mentor!
Grant me the Goddess’s protection as well!
You’ll take me into the Wonder Trio, won’t you? Or rather, I suppose that would make us the Wonder Quartet! Ho ho ho!
However, Marcela had turned them all down. She had not expected anyone to come crawling back now after all this time.
Just as she was pondering how to handle the situation, she heard a tiny voice. They had been making such a huge fuss before—why speak softly now?
As she pondered this question, she had the distinct impression that her ears were playing tricks on her.
“Bakery. Wringing from the air. Crooktail’s bone. Stepmother and stepsister. Somewhere in the countryside…”
Slam!
“Gyaah!”
Reina had pressed her face to the door, whispering, when suddenly that door was flung open at full force.
Reina toppled back, blood streaming from her nose.
***
“…My apologies.”
It was several minutes later.
Thanks to Pauline’s healing powers, the blood pouring from Reina’s nose had stopped, the pain vanishing with it.
“Th-that’s fine. I know it wasn’t on purpose…”
After hurriedly dragging the three girls into her room, Marcela ran off to fetch Monika and Aureana. They each brought their own chairs and crowded into Marcela’s dorm room.
Reina, Mavis, and Pauline sat on the bed, while Marcela, Monika, and Aureana each perched on their chairs, facing them.
When it came to an interrogation, it was usually the one who had the higher vantage point who had the upper hand. This principle was what led Marcela to choose this particular seating arrangement. Nevertheless, Marcela could not have lived with herself if she did not offer a proper apology for what she had done.
However, now that that was over and done with, she had no mercy left to spare.
“Let us cut to the chase. The color of the ribbon on your uniform is the one worn by third years. However, I have never seen anyone like you in our year. And you there, in the gym clothes. Those are also of the color worn by third years, but again, I have never seen you before. In other words, you all are trespassers, impersonating students.
“Over half of the students at this school are young ladies of noble birth. As a result, I have no doubt that being caught on these grounds illicitly would be deemed a capital offense…”
The blood drained quickly from their faces.
“W-wait! T-take this!”
What Reina pulled from her breast pocket was a letter, placed inside something that looked like a split bamboo rod.
As she handed this item over, she shouted, “O-onehguy-day-gozighmass!”
“C-come again? I have no idea what you just said.”
“Er, well, that’s just something else that Mile says in situations like these…”
Truly, Reina was in no position to be judging others.
“What in the world is this?” Marcela asked, though she had already correctly judged that the item was a letter.
She withdrew the document from its container and flipped to the back.
…where the sender’s name was not written.
However, Marcela had already realized the truth.
The words that had been whispered from outside of the door. This mysterious trio who she somehow felt that she had
seen before.
Somewhere or other, she knew she recalled seeing these three girls, though not in the flesh.
The wheels of her Adele Simulator spun at full tilt…
“Lower intelligence, separate from common sense, and increase carelessness times five…”
The Crimson Vow were rather taken aback by this strange incantation, but Monika and Aureana looked on, calm and knowing.
And then…
“There!”
Suddenly, Marcela thrust her right hand out into the empty space beside Mavis.
At the same moment, Monika and Aureana dodged, startled.
And then, the seemingly empty space in front of them shuddered, and the silhouette of a human—with Marcela gripping it by the collar—materialized before their eyes.
“Gaaaah!”
“Eeeeek!”
The human figure shouted, and Monika and Aureana shrieked.
“I thought you might be there!” Marcela crowed triumphantly.
“H-how did you…?”
Mile, who had now materialized fully, was speechless. Monika and Aureana looked on in curiosity, eyes round.
Mile had already undone the light-wave-bending magic that she had used to fuel her transformation and had returned to her original face and her silver hair. Terribly shaken, she stared at Marcela in disbelief.
Her sound, her smell—every trace of her should have been perfectly concealed.
There was no way that Marcela could have known she was there. It was impossible!
As Mile wracked her brain, Marcela replied, coolly. “…How did I know? That’s simple: It is because you are you, and I am me. Did you truly believe that yours truly would be unable to detect you?”
Yet even as she spoke, her eyebrows slowly began to knit together. Moisture welled in the corners of her eyes.
Then, she threw her arms around Mile, squeezing her tightly.
“Uuh… U…uwah…”
“Adele!”
“Oh, Adele!”
As Monika and Aureana threw their arms around her from both sides, Mile began to wail, too.
The others watched, tears streaming down Mavis’s face as well, while Reina puffed her cheeks out unhappily.
Even as she clung to Mile, her tears overflowing, Marcela cast a sidelong glance at Reina, understanding her expression instantly.
…Looks like I’ve got a rival!
Mile continued to weep, completely unaware that any of this was happening.
They were on the brink of something truly terrifying—and the only one who realized it was Pauline…
***
“So, what happened with everything here after I ran away…?”
Once everyone finally calmed down, the time came to fill each other in.
Mile isolated the room with a sound barrier, and Marcela, as the representative of the three, began her tale.
“Since you left, we have made a number of connections and obtained some information of undeniable veracity. First off—and this is something it rather pains me to say, Miss Adele—your father is no longer alive. He was charged and found guilty of the murders of your mother and grandfather and of trying to seize control of the Ascham family legacy after chasing away the sole legitimate heir—which would be you. All of this constitutes a capital offense. When you’re charged with an offense like that on three counts, there is no escaping your sentence, no matter what defense you offer up. Then again, it was not as though there was anyone willing to speak on his behalf—not a soul would defend him.
“You were aware, Miss Adele, that you are the sole legitimate successor of the Ascham line—the only one who still carries the family blood? And that your father, who had only married into the family without any legitimate claim, was nothing more than a steward until you were able to assume official control of the estate?”
Mile nodded.
She had never been told any of this directly, but based on her own recollections—as well as everything she had observed after her reawakening as Misato and the details she was able to infer through the lens of Misato’s superior knowledge—she had determined that there was a high probability that this was the case.
However, no matter how horridly this man had behaved in life, he was still Mile’s father. And so, Marcela relayed this news with a grave expression, in consideration of Mile—or rather, Adele’s feelings—but Mile did not appear bothered at all.
The only memories she had of him were from before her reawakening and the subsequent integration of Misato’s experiences with Adele’s. In truth, those memories were few, and none of them were good.
He was a stranger for whom she felt nothing.
No, he was a monster, who had murdered her kindly mother and grandfather and mistreated young Adele.
As far as Mile was concerned, this was all that man was to her.
The only father she had was the one she called Father in another life, when her name was Misato.
“I see. What of the others? What’s become of the house of Ascham now?”
While Marcela was rather stunned at how entirely unshaken Mile appeared, she continued her exposition.
“Your stepmother was charged with the same offenses. Anyone else who was complicit to or abetted their crimes, as well as anyone who perjured, accepted bribery, or who tried to flee prosecution, was charged accordingly.”
“And my stepsister, Prissy?”
“Ah, well, it was judged that a child as young as her could bear no true sin and that she only behaved in the manner she did under her parents’ influence. However, she did lose both of her parents to their felonies, and there’s little guesswork involved in knowing the fate of a young girl who has lost her status as a noble. There was talk of sending her to a convent, but your father’s family, even if they had no means—or really, any desire—to save their own son, still wanted to protect their granddaughter. They have adopted her as their own daughter.
“His Majesty permitted this, for it seems that our fair kingdom has truly been blessed with a benevolent ruler. I daresay she may be able to strive for some measure of happiness yet, not as a noble by name with any shred of rightful inheritance, but as a common girl, under a noble family’s care…”
“I’m glad.”
Though Prissy had been cruel to her in many ways, it had after all been nothing more than childish bullying; it was not as though the girl’s actions ever had any longstanding impact on Mile’s life. Mile’s response, and the warm smile that accompanied it were reflexive, at the joy of knowing that her stepsister, who had committed only the crime of being born to rotten stock, had not met some terrible fate and would still be able to strive for a normal existence.
That’s just the sort of person Miss Adele is, isn’t it? That’s why it’s so good to be her friend!
Mile’s kindness never falters…
So her two sets of friends, new and old, appeared to be thinking.
“So, Miss Adele, control of the Ascham household now falls to you. Though your whereabouts were unknown at the time, his majesty issued an official decree to this effect in the gathering hall at the palace. In other words, you are now the head of the house of Ascham, her Ladyship, the Viscountess Adele von Ascham.
“For the time being, his Majesty has assumed direct control of the Ascham territories, but as the issues with your family and the attempts on your life have been resolved, he intends to return your inheritance to you posthaste upon your return and relinquish the office of controller of the estate.
“Currently, the house of Ascham is one known to have been shaken by scandal, but the moment that you reclaim control, the Crown will dispatch managerial experts and reputable stewards, house staff, and the like to assist in the redevelopment of your territories. Once that redevelopment is successful, thanks to your involvement with Her Highness, the third princess Morena, you will rise to the rank of Countess, after which you will be engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince or His Highness, the second prince.
“In t
he case of the former, your status would rise yet again, putting you on the same level of succession as the second prince. Alternatively, in the case of the latter, you would become a Duchess upon—”
“Welp! Now that everything I needed to do in this country is taken care of, I guess we better get going on to the next one!”
“Yeah!!”
“Huh?”
Mile cut in abruptly, interrupting the discussion of her own affairs. With this, and seeing the speed with which the other three girls voiced their approval and stood to leave, Marcela immediately lost her cool.
“Wh-what? Now wait just a moment! Where do you think you’re going?! Miss Monika, block the door! Miss Aureana, the window! We won’t let you get away agaaaain!”
***
“Hff hff hff hff hff hff hff…”
The seven girls, scattered about the room, writhed in exhaustion, their clothes rumpled.
Indeed, the battle—more a catfight than an all-out brawl—had finally fizzled to a stop.
“Wh-what’s with these girls?! How could we lose to a group of mere students?! Ones younger than us at that!!” Reina screamed, pinned to the ground.
Indeed the battle had ended in utter defeat for the Crimson Vow.
Seeing as they were in a girl’s dorm room at an academy, fighting against enemies who were not hunters but merely civilian students—students who, moreover, were not even bad people—they had to avoid causing any unnecessary harm to the girls. Therefore, the Crimson Vow had to try to merely suppress their enemies and escape using only brute force and restrictive magic, ruling out fire magic and other more deadly techniques. Yet while their opponents were not strong, the Crimson Vow could not manage to compete with the girls’ speedy restrictive and water magic, and were easily overwhelmed.
“B-but how…?”
Despite her self-imposed limitations, Mile was utterly stunned that she could be so easily overwhelmed by the opposing group’s spells.
Marcela replied, smugly, “You were gone for over a year, Miss Adele. Did you really think that we spent all of that time fooling around?”