Chapter 46: Six (1)

“Same party as Carl?”

“Yeah. I ran into him earlier, and he asked me about it. Looks like they can choose their own party members. I told him I’d check with you first and let him know.”

Yuria twirled her pasta with a fork as she spoke to Laysis.

It was evening, the end of a day’s schedule, and the two were having a light dinner in the dormitory cafeteria.

“Seems like it’s a minimum of ten people per party.”

“Dividing them up one by one sounds like a job in itself.”

“They say upperclassmen will join as guides, so it’ll probably be even more. Anyway, should I say yes? Better than joining a random party and just awkwardly standing around.”

Before Laysis could reply, Yuria quickly sent a message through the Archive.

Laysis would adapt to any party without a problem, but she herself was almost guaranteed to make the atmosphere awkward.

It seemed better to be pulled in like this than to be left to her own devices.

Maybe sensing her true intention, Laysis let out a small laugh.

“Try to use this chance to get to know other cadets. You can’t cling to just me forever.”

“…Am I… a bother?”

“Yes, you’re a bother. You cling, and sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with you.”

“Ugh…”

Yuria’s shoulders hunched at Laysis’s blunt strike.

But what could she do?

Regardless of her title as the heiress of the Gray Magic Tower, she wasn’t used to making friends.

She was shy, hated being ignored, and that had fostered a deep-seated sense of defensiveness in her personality.

Even when she wanted to speak kindly, her words often came out sharp and prickly.

“This is a good opportunity. Since we’ll be moving as the same party, there will be plenty of time to talk. Plus, you all have Carl in common, and they’re all good people.”

“How do you know if they’re good people or not?”

“…Are you always going to see the world through such a skewed lens? I know mages are stubborn by nature, but you take it too far, Yuria. If you keep curling up like that, you’ll end up spending your entire academy life as a lonely outsider.”

“…”

With nothing to counter such an irrefutable truth, Yuria pouted.

At first, she stayed quiet because she knew Laysis was right, but as the jabs kept coming, a flicker of defiance began to stir inside her.

“Laysis, you don’t have that many friends either.”

“Me? I have plenty. In our class alone, there isn’t a single cadet I haven’t talked to. I’ve joined clubs and small gatherings, and I’ve made acquaintances from other classes as well.”

At that royal-princess level of social skill, Yuria’s eyes widened.

“…What? Clubs? Gatherings? When did you join those?”

“Gatherings are just casual tea meetings. As for the club, I’m interested in relic exploration. I like studying ancient civilizations and forgotten cultures.”

“Hm.”

Yuria’s mood dropped immediately.

It sounded boring to her, probably because this entire world was already like an undiscovered civilization to her.

“Oh, and Carl joined that too. We ran into each other there by chance.”

“…Carl?”

But what Laysis said next was something Yuria couldn’t ignore.

She stopped twirling her pasta and narrowed her eyes.

“Yes. He joined two days after I did. Said he’s also interested in other civilizations.”

“Are you sure he didn’t join because of you?”

“…Huh?”

The reply came a beat late.

Yuria’s lips curved into a sly grin at that reaction.

‘I knew she was aware of it.’

She must have suspected it somewhere deep down.

Laysis cleared her throat and drank some water under Yuria’s gaze.

“It just happened by coincidence. Carl said he’s interested in civilizations from another world. What he’d researched wasn’t something you could learn in just a day or two.”

“…Another world?”

The words perked Yuria’s ears.

“What’s that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. A world different from Artenia. We’d call it Another World.”

“Hm.”

“The main theme was about the Seven Ancient Heroes. The theory that they were from another world is quite a strong one in academic circles.”

“Hm…”

So that was it.

Yuria nodded in understanding, but her eyes stayed narrowed at Laysis.

“Why… what?”

“Could it be that Carl likes you?”

“What?!”

Her voice cracked.

Laysis’s face flushed red in an instant, her movements flustered and clumsy.

She cleared her throat again, trying to regain composure, but the water had already spilled.

“…I was just teasing you. Why react like that?”

Now it was Yuria’s turn to look surprised, her eyes going wide.

“Why so sensitive? Don’t tell me you actually…”

“Ahem. Don’t say weird things. We just happen to get along. It’s the first time I’ve gotten close to a man like that, so I’m not used to hearing those kinds of remarks. Please refrain, Yuria.”

“Come to think of it, you two were going to go on a date last weekend.”

“It wasn’t a date.”

“When two people go out for dinner alone, that’s a date. Oh, now that I think of it, I barged in without realizing. Sorry about that.”

“…”

Laysis frowned as Yuria kept poking at her without pause.

But Yuria didn’t stop.

“…Now that I think about it, Carl has been especially kind to you.”

“Carl is kind to everyone.”

“That’s what I’m saying. He’s been especially kind to you. And the club—he joined just days after you.”

“…”

“And during the Understanding of Combat class, he set up the situation so you could earn points.”

The smile faded from Yuria’s face.

At first, she had just been teasing Laysis with whatever came to mind, but the more she said it, the more suspicious it all seemed.

Individually, they were trivial incidents. But when linked together, they formed something quite plausible.

“…Oh.”

Yuria slowly put her fork down and looked at Laysis cautiously.

“…He really might like you.”

It was the same line as before, but this time, it carried a different weight.

“…….”

Laysis’s expression was starting to turn serious as well.

“C-come to think of it, the Practical Applications of Magic lecture too…”

Practical Applications of Magic was an elective liberal arts course, not a mandatory one.

After being turned down by Yuria, she had applied without telling anyone—only to run into Carl there by coincidence.

‘That time too, and that time, and that time…’

Now that she thought about it, Carl had shown up nearby during some fairly major events.

Laysis swallowed hard and slowly raised her head.

“C-could it really be true?”

“I wouldn’t know. But from what we’ve just seen, it’s looking pretty likely.”

Yuria rubbed her lips, feeling a faint twinge of disappointment.

Maybe the kindness he’d shown her was just a way to get closer to Laysis.

Like the saying goes—if you want to capture the commander, strike up a conversation first.

“…And you don’t seem completely indifferent either.”

“What?! What’s that supposed to mean!”

“The way you’re flustered right now is proof. If you were going to turn him down, you wouldn’t be agonizing over it this much.”

Since transferring in during the last part of upper school, how many confessions had Laysis received?

Even after the university division started, there had been no shortage of people quietly expressing interest from behind the scenes.

But she had rejected all of them.

No matter how exceptional they were, she’d only offered them an awkward smile.

Never once had she been this flustered and shaken.

“And then there’s the fact you drop the title and just call him by name.”

“…That’s a sign of affection. And Yuria, you’ve suddenly started calling him just Carl too, haven’t you?”

“That’s because he said I could.”

“Even though you insisted on using his full name at first?”

“That was because…”

This time, Yuria was the one at a loss for words.

She twirled the ends of her hair around her finger as she answered.

“I was petty. I was sulking because I felt like he’d taken my top spot in theory. …Now I know he’s not a bad guy.”

“I feel the same. Carl is a good person. It’s different from feelings of romance or attraction. Besides, I don’t have the luxury for that sort of thing.”

“Hm.”

The Kingdom of Alforam was a vassal state closely tied to the Empire.

As a princess, Laysis was likely to be used in a political marriage to strengthen that bond.

It was an unchangeable fate.

“…Well, if it comes to it, run away with me. I’m confident I can feed at least one more person.”

“Thanks for the thought. If you were a man, Yuria, I might have fallen for you.”

Laysis let out a laugh and drank her coffee.

It had already gone cold, but the warmth seemed to linger.

While the Bayern Academy was bustling in the middle of the semester—

The underbelly of Polfoardel, the Imperial capital, was also teeming with life.

Though in this case, it was a different kind of activity.

Sssh—

A dimly lit room.

Seven men stood frozen like statues.

The reason was the corpse lying on the floor.

Just moments ago, he had been breathing and alive—but his neck had been sliced by something sharp.

From the cleanly severed wound, bright red blood flowed, soaking the soles of their shoes. None of them dared so much as lift a finger.

“A wise choice. There is an invisible line drawn around you. Cross it even a little, and you’ll bid farewell to this world. Isn’t it a fleeting resonance?”

The only one allowed to move freely in the room was Noah—Six.

He leisurely brewed tea and sipped it as he looked over the frozen men.

“It won’t take long. You only need to wait until your boss arrives.”

“…”

Someone swallowed audibly, the sound echoing in the tense silence.

Six hummed as if enjoying the moment, gazing out the moonlit window.

‘A fine moment indeed.’

He was currently in the middle of dismantling Turgar’s subordinate forces.

For Dirsen to successfully become the boss of Lahan, it was necessary to cut off the opposing side’s arms and legs.

However, the places directly tied to Lahan were heavily guarded.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t storm in, but revealing their identities was something to avoid. So, Six had started by gnawing away at the fringes of Turgar’s cooperating organizations that had no known ties to NOX’s power.

Tonight alone, three such groups had already been erased from the world.

Along the way, their amassed wealth and byproducts were absorbed into NOX’s assets.

Step—

At that moment, footsteps approached from outside.

Six lifted his head to look at the men standing stiffly.

‘No loyalty at all.’

Apparently, none of them were the type to risk their lives warning their boss of danger.

…But it seemed their opponent wasn’t running an underworld crew for show, either.

Crash!

The office door shattered, and a massive greatsword came flying in.

With a snap of his fingers, Six conjured a wall in midair, deflecting the greatsword, and smiled coolly.

“The final guest has arrived. Now then—let the performance begin.”

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