Part 10: The Empress’s Discernment (3)

I stared at the message for a long while, then put my phone away.

... I would put that on hold for now.

Philly Terst wasn’t someone I could face unprepared.

To be honest, she was difficult to deal with. Her appearance and manner of speaking made her seem utterly ignorant of the imperial palace’s world of dirty, clandestine dealings.

But she wasn’t.

Philly was the person most perfectly “suited” to the imperial palace.

Despite being a woman, Philly was a character who actively involved herself in the palace’s politics and power struggles. At the foundation of that was her suspicion of everything.

Within the palace, she was regarded as “a wise woman of exceptional resourcefulness and wit.” After all, she had personally resolved more than a few dangerous incidents involving the palace.

The reality, however, was different.

Philly hadn’t resolved them through mere resourcefulness. She had known from the start. There had been no flashes of inspiration; she had simply anticipated what would happen and responded in the most efficient way.

Imperial blood came with many enemies, even within the palace. That made it easy to earn resentment by appearing too perfect.

Knowing this, Philly put her countermeasures into action “a little late.” To everyone else, that looked like resourcefulness and wit.

If they ever learned what Philly was truly like, all their praise would disappear.

She wasn’t someone the likes of them could dare presume to “praise.”

“... And here.”

Elodie held something out to me. I accepted it without thinking. It was a squat hexagonal prism with a lens set into its center.

... What was this?

“What is this?” I asked, voicing my thoughts exactly.

“A Wizergram.”

“A Wizergram?”

“It’s a magitech device that can record short stretches of time and project the recordings in midair. It’s useful for learning combat techniques or weapon skills. You can view them from different angles, too.”

I turned the Wizergram over, examining it. From her explanation, it sounded like a hologram projector.

“Is this what you said you wanted to give me?”

She had mentioned a promise we’d made, saying she had an Artifact for me.

“Yes. You’re so lazy, I thought you could at least practice while watching this.”

Well, it was a welcome gift.

‘With this, I might actually be able to learn Falling Tension.’

I’d been taking regular close-combat lessons from Atzier lately anyway. If I asked, he would probably let me record them.

“And have you finished reviewing?” Elodie asked.

Understanding what she meant, I nodded. Saibel, on the other hand, tilted her head blankly.

“Reviewing? Reviewing what?”

I smiled wryly. In Saibel’s case, information like this might not actually matter all that much.

Elodie dutifully answered her.

“Our midterms are coming up.”

* * *

Constel’s midterms consisted of written and practical exams. As an institution that trained combatants, it placed a little more weight on the practical portion.

That didn’t mean we could ignore the written exams. The difference in weighting wasn’t that large.

Rank among Constel’s top ten students overall.

The midterms were the first hurdle in completing that assignment from Ampere.

Still, I wasn’t worried about the written exams. I had pasted everything we’d learned in class into the Workshop.

I had a cheat sheet that could never be discovered.

‘The practical exam is the real problem.’

The practical exam was similar to the Joint Mission I’d done before. All I had to do was complete an assigned mission in the field.

Only this time, we would be working individually.

Through my training, Throwing Technique (Dagger) had risen to intermediate level, and sparring with Atzier had also given me Dual-Wielding (Daggers) at beginner level.

By Constel’s standards, I was no longer completely useless. Now I was just Generic Lousy Student Number One.

... I felt like crying.

‘Weaving and Menosorpo aren’t easy to use, after all.’

Learning Falling Tension from Atzier really would be a substantial help.

By the time my thoughts reached that point, I was outside the classroom.

It felt like I hadn’t been here in ages. There had been the incident at the cabin, followed by my stay in the hospital.

All right. Time to do my best to stay inconspicuous again today.

RATTLE

I opened the classroom door.

Good. As expected, no one paid me any attention. Satisfied once again, I took my seat.

When it was time for class, Jane came in. Her expression was unusually stiff today, though.

“... Now, everyone, you see...”

See what?

“T-today, before we start class, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Jane was even stammering. She was smiling, but her expression couldn’t have been more awkward.

“W-well, we have a transfer student joining our class.”

The classroom erupted at her announcement. Some students let out impressed cries of “Ooh,” while others peppered Jane with questions.

But most of them were probably thinking, A transfer student at this time of year?

What was someone doing transferring with midterms right around the corner?

I was thinking much the same thing, but something came to mind.

There certainly was a transfer student around this time... But there was no way she would come here.

“Come on in, Miss Aten.”

At Jane’s signal, the front door opened, and someone slowly walked into the classroom.

Her hair was pure white and lustrous. It glittered as though shattered ice had fallen onto it.

Her eyebrows, her eyes, even her skin were white. The features nestled within her small face seemed to occupy their rightful places with perfect naturalness—neat and delicate.

Each time she blinked, her white eyes were so clear they seemed to summon winter.

“Hello.”

Even her voice was crisp and cold, as though carved from ice.

I stared at the girl greeting us in disbelief. She was exactly the student I had been thinking of.

And she absolutely should not have come here.

“My name is Aten Terst. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The Terst Empire’s Third Princess.

Empress Philly Terst’s third daughter had transferred here.

I had known about this. It was one of the major events, after all. I had known Aten Terst would transfer around this time.

But not here.

‘You’re supposed to go to Aster’s classroom!’

How else would I know? I had actually seen it while playing as Aster.

Aten would later become an important companion to him. She was a very significant character who sometimes even became his love interest, depending on how the game progressed.

But she had come to my class.

There weren’t any named characters here. There was only me, the worthless character known as “Frondier the Human Sloth.”

Still wearing her stiff smile, Jane spoke.

“W-well, as I’m sure you all know, Miss Aten is His Majesty Emperor Terst’s third daughter. But let’s not worry about that here. Everyone, let’s all get along...?”

You’re the one worrying about it most, ma’am.

She sounded like an elementary school teacher coaxing a group of children.

Understandable, really. Constel might make no distinction between nobles and commoners, but imperial royalty was another matter. And this wasn’t some cousin or maternal relative, either. She was the emperor’s daughter.

Even knowing Constel’s principles, it was hard to treat her casually.

The students were all too dumbfounded to speak.

‘...?’

But why did it feel as though Aten was looking at me?

I hoped our eyes had merely met while she looked around at everyone, but ever since she’d spotted me upon entering, she had kept her eyes on mine.

[“Let’s meet sometime soon.”]

... Philly’s message came to mind.

No. Surely not.

Philly might be quick to act and a seasoned political operator, but would she really send her own daughter to approach me over a mere quiz?

Haha. No way.

“Now, where should you sit? Do we have an empty seat?”

At Jane’s words, Aten immediately pointed.

“May I sit over there?”

It was the seat next to mine.

Without so much as twitching an eyebrow, Aten said,

“I like sitting by the window.”

* * *

‘Frondier de Roach.’

Aten considered him.

She had always been scheduled to transfer to Constel, but her class assignment hadn’t been decided.

Then, just yesterday, her mother Philly had said:

[“Aten, you’ll be joining Frondier’s class, all right?”]

[“Who is that?”]

[“Frondier de Roach. He’s famous at Constel as ‘Frondier the Human Sloth.’”]

[“... That doesn’t sound like a nice nickname.”]

Philly had answered with nothing more than a smile.

... When her mother smiled like that, it usually meant yes.

[“Once you’re there, be friendly with everyone in your class. Frondier, too.”]

[“... Are you telling me to use the other students as a smokescreen so it won’t be obvious that I’m approaching Frondier?”]

[“Oh! Aten, your mother never said that!”]

But that was what she meant.

Aten sighed. Even when talking to her own daughter, her mother concealed too much and spoke too indirectly. What was she to do when her mother’s political habits affected their relationship, too?

[“What do I need to find out?”]

[“Dragon Hearts.”]

Aten raised a finger.

[“Find out everything Frondier knows about Dragon Hearts.”]

[“Dragon Hearts...? This student, Frondier, knows about them?”]

[“Yes. He solved the quiz.”]

Aten’s sigh deepened.

She didn’t know the details, but her mother had clearly been up to some strange trick behind the scenes again.

[“Aten, you’re not thinking something unkind about your mother again, are you?”]

[“No, of course not.”]

[“Right? That’s my girl.”]

[“Nothing besides, ‘I don’t know the details, but she’s clearly been up to some strange trick behind the scenes again.’”]

[“Aten! Being too honest can hurt people’s feelings! Honestly, you were so adorable when you were this little, but now—”]

After that, Philly had subjected Aten to all sorts of complaints, but Aten had more or less tuned them out and no longer remembered them.

During class, Aten stole a glance at Frondier.

‘... Hmm. He really does look sleepy.’

He had a languid face. She often had the same thought when looking at her mother, Philly, but Frondier felt a little different.

There was something dangerous about his languor. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and he gave almost no impression of being either good or bad.

His face was essentially unreadable, and his languid air suggested composure.

‘If he had some ability to go with that, he might be frightening as an enemy.’

But from what she’d heard, he was both lazy and incompetent. It wasn’t particularly worrying.

‘He isn’t doing anything.’

She had heard that Frondier always slept in class, but he was awake. Had that information been a little out of date?

Still, being awake was all he was doing. He seemed to be watching the board and the teacher, but he wasn’t taking notes or checking his textbook.

‘So the part about him being lazy was true.’

Was simply not sleeping an improvement?

‘Well, then.’

Now she needed to befriend Frondier and obtain information from him.

Aten recalled what her mother had said.

[“Apparently, Frondier de Roach has such a poor reputation that he isn’t popular. He’s never even had a girlfriend.”]

[“... And?”]

[“So all my daughter has to do is give him a little nudge, and he’ll fall for you in no time. Your beauty is renowned even in the imperial palace. A boy with no experience with girls will be a piece of cake for you!”]

Hmm.

I see. Just give him a little nudge.

Recalling Philly’s words, Aten waited until class ended.

Then came the break. All she had to do now was give Frondier that little nudge to make him fall for her.

... Except.

Aten remained frozen in her seat throughout the entire break, doing nothing but blinking occasionally.

With her pure-white coloring and exceptional beauty, she truly looked like a doll sitting there. It was so peculiar that even Frondier turned to look at her.

Aten was wasting this crucial opportunity to approach Frondier for the first time, but she had an unavoidable reason.

She was currently pondering a very profound question.

‘... How exactly do you give someone a little nudge?’

Unfortunately, Aten had never been in a relationship either.