Chapter 4: The Creeping Shadows

“I can’t believe it. A hero’s task, just for me...!” I whispered excitedly to myself, peering up at the towering building in front of me.

The staff building consisted of individual research labs assigned to each professor, which were separate from their private quarters. They would often spend loads of time in their labs, poring over tomes, researching new spells, and pretty much furthering their own interests. At the top of this building was the headmaster’s office and my destination. I watched a couple of professors come and go before I worked up the courage to step into the building.

Just as my luck would have it, who should be following close on my heels but him?

“Why the hell are you here, Denning?”

I pointedly ignored both him and the explosions that rocked the building, opting to focus on climbing the stairs instead.

“Ow, my aching body...” I panted. “I should be happy that it hurts, though. No pain, no gain.” I was only able to make it up the many flights of stairs because of my intense workout routine, even if my muscles twinged with every step I took.

I’d recently added to my exercise routine, taking inspiration from Billy Blanks Tae Bo in hopes of getting trim and fit faster. I’d already managed to drop a uniform size just by being persistent. If I can just drop one more size, I’ll fit the largest size they offer and not have to get my uniform custom-made anymore. I can’t wait for that day.

“Phew, that was quite a long stairwell,” I said to myself.

“Hey, pig—I mean, Denning! What are you doing here?!”

I turned around and came face-to-face with that hot-blooded redhead Shuya. I’d known he was following me when I first entered the building, but had he actually stalked me all the way up to the headmaster’s office?

“I should be the one asking you that,” I replied, even as my stomach sank. Could it be that the headmaster also summoned Shuya here? Not just me? So it wasn’t a hero’s task just for me, then... I thought, dejected.

“Wait, Denning! Were you summoned by the headmaster too?” Shuya asked.

I grunted as I shoved him aside.

“Hey, don’t push me! I asked you a question! I said, were you summoned by the headmaster too? Answer me!”

“Oink.” Another shove from me.

“Knock it off!” Shuya shouted, shoving me back this time. “Don’t you realize how heavy you are?!”

It turned into a race to see who could reach the headmaster’s office first, both of us shoving each other back and forth in a sort of tug-of-war until we reached the hefty door at the end of a dark corridor. It’d been a long time since I last set foot here; I hadn’t talked with the headmaster in person since my interview for admission to the school.

“You were summoned too, right? Don’t ignore me!” Shuya insisted.

“I’m ignoring you because you look all tense and nervous,” I replied. “It’s turning my stomach just looking at you.”

“Of course I’m nervous!” he exclaimed. “Aren’t you?!”

“No, not really,” I said, nonchalant.

“Oh, I get it!” Realization dawned on Shuya’s face. “You don’t have many friends, so you probably wouldn’t know the rumors!”

“What rumors?”

“The rumors say that the headmaster summons students with good grades and great potential to his office to give them a letter of recommendation for the Order of Royal Knights, or to introduce them to job offers in the palace,” Shuya explained. “But that can’t be right. I get why I’m here, but why you?”

“Do you even hear yourself? Your grades are terrible. You, getting a recommendation for the Order? Fat chance that would ever happen, so just chill out.”

“Huh?! I have way better grades than you!” Shuya retorted.

Ignoring Shuya, I straightened my back and raised my chin as I faced the door. The old Piggy Duke was gone; I’d turned over a new leaf. Just to prove this new change, I gave the door a respectful knock, instead of banging my head on the door or something equally rude like I’d done in the past.

“You could give a guy a little warning, Denning! Let me brace myself first,” Shuya groaned.

“Be quiet. I can’t hear the headmaster over all the noise you’re making,” I hissed, straining my ears. I didn’t want to risk missing a single word.

“Who goes there?” A quiet voice, solemn but kind, drifted out from behind the large door.

“I-It’s Newkern!” Shuya shouted. “Shuya Newkern!”

Jeez, he’s so loud! That really hurt my ears!

“Ah... It’s you, Shuya. Are you alone out there?” the headmaster asked.

“I’m here too, Headmaster,” I said. “It’s Denning.”

“Which Denning might that be?”

“I’m the exceptionally chubby Denning,” I replied. At that, I heard coughing coming from the room for some reason. Most of the people of House Denning were fit and muscular, so a chubby person like me was a rare specimen indeed.

“Please come in,” the headmaster said after a pause. “I have been expecting you.”

I opened the door without hesitation. Light spilled from the headmaster’s office and illuminated the dark corridor.

Colorful plants filled my vision.

Countless shades of green covered the entirety of the spacious room, sunlight shining in from the outside on the array of greenery. For a long moment, I stood rooted to the spot, floored by the ethereal scene before me. Valjean did mention that the headmaster’s office was all but a botanical garden when he came here before.

“Hey there, you two.” The headmaster popped out casually from the sea of green. “I heard some chatter outside. You two seem to get along with each other quite well.” With his robes of gray, a long, white mane, and a fluffy beard to match, the headmaster was a stark contrast to the plants around him.

“Headmaster Morozov! I am honored to receive your summons! Uh, it is a pleasure to mee—” Shuya paused as he registered the headmaster’s words. “Wait a minute! There’s no way I would get along with Denning, sir!”

“That’s my line,” I retorted.

Shuya Newkern was hot-blooded, simpleminded, and he got carried away easily, but it was hard to truly dislike the guy. He was the protagonist of Shuya Marionette, not the Piggy Duke. In the anime, Shuya and the Piggy Duke were like night and day compared to each other.

My past self would pick a fight with anyone, anywhere, at any time. I would disrupt classes and play pranks with my spells all day long. Shuya, with his strong sense of justice, would confront me about my behavior at every given opportunity. We fought over the smallest things whenever we ran into each other at school. However, ever since I changed for the better, our arguments with each other dwindled, and eventually, we stopped interacting much at all. That is, until we were both summoned by the headmaster.

“Headmaster, is it true that you asked for me?” I asked. “Or was I called here by mistake?”

“Yeah, about that!” Shuya exclaimed. “Why is Denning here?!”

I had to know before the so-called “hero’s task” began that my being there wasn’t a mistake. If the headmaster says something like, “Hm? No, I didn’t call for you. I said to call for Dennis, not Denning. What have you done, Loco Moco...?” I...I’ll cry. My fragile heart won’t be able to take it.

“No, it was not a mistake. I wanted to talk to the both of you,” the headmaster replied. “Where do I begin? First, Slowe. It appears that the rumors were true. You are a completely different person from the boy that I remember. I recall you were a gloomy student who kept many things bottled up, and yet now, here you stand, looking straight at me with bright eyes. You may be a little obese, yes, but you have lost weight as I heard.”

The headmaster pushed up his monocle. “Now, as for you, Shuya. Is that bulge in your breast pocket the crystal ball you never leave your room without, perhaps? I hear that you use it to perform divination.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right!” Shuya said. “I can hear the voice inside the crystal ball!”

“Well now, that is interesting. Are you able to ask it about the reason you were summoned here today?”

“Please leave it to me!” Shuya took out his crystal ball and shut his eyes in concentration. His face went slack, all emotion draining away as the air around him shifted and changed. “Let’s see... ‘Be cautious, something mysterious and foreign lurks within the school grounds...’” Shuya opened his eyes, a look of confusion crossing his face. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Quite an interesting result. I see that I was right to summon you here. Your fortune telling reputation around campus precedes you, and that is not without warrant too, no doubt.”

“Um, this might sound a bit weird, but it isn’t always accurate!” Shuya stammered, backpedaling hard. “Sometimes this crystal ball says weird things! Please ignore it!”

“Not at all. Quite the contrary, it was quite an accurate prophecy,” the headmaster said with a nod. “I see you call your fortune telling ‘the voice of the crystal ball.’ It’s just like you to choose humility over arrogance in regards to your own powers.”

Shuya put away his crystal ball and sent me a smirk. Urgh, don’t look so full of yourself. You’re just parroting whatever the crystal ball tells you. Listen here, Shuya. I know more about you and everyone else than you do about yourselves!

“You two students are the epitome of the freedom of expression, a quality which this institute holds in the highest regard. You two have strong personalities—no, unique personalities, which is a rare find. That is commendable,” the headmaster said. “It would be boring if everyone looked and acted identically, would it not? In fact, I celebrate diversity.”

The institute encouraged its students to be unique. It was because of this celebration of diversity that even a problem student like me was able to enroll. When I was first sent to Kirsch, I sat through several tests and had an interview with the professors afterwards. Headmaster Morozov was greatly interested in me then, even though I was already a problem child by that point. There was much debate amongst the staff about letting me enroll in the academy; some of the strongest opposing arguments said that I would be a stain on the institute’s reputation. In the end, it was the headmaster who decided to accept me, or so I heard.

“You can make highly accurate predictions with that crystal ball of yours, I see.” The professor hummed in thought. “You certainly are quite unique in your own way, Shuya, but in terms of uniqueness, you cannot win against Slowe here.”

“Professor Morozov!” Shuya protested immediately. “Please don’t compare me to the pi— I mean, to Denning! He’s not unique. He just eats and sleeps all day long!”

Hmph. I’m the one who doesn’t want to be compared to you. You carry a crystal ball everywhere and start telling fortunes out of nowhere. It’s true that I was once and probably still am the most infamous student in Kirsch, but you’re not exactly the picture of normalcy either.

“Well now, Slowe. Have you no response to contest such accusations?” the headmaster asked.

“No, I don’t,” I replied after a moment of thought. “He’s telling the truth, after all. Every man, woman, and child in all of Daryth knows that I’m the disgrace of House Denning. I can’t deny it.”

The headmaster’s monocle glinted in the light. “Ever since the day you set foot on our campus, you have remained stubborn and resistant to change. That is why I find your answer just now very puzzling; surprising, even. Your father hoped that being among your peers would change you for the better, but alas, his hopes never came to fruition.”

The headmaster had allowed me to enroll out of the kindness of his heart, but I still acted as I pleased even after I came to Kirsch. For example, I let an actual pig run amok at the entrance ceremony. I mocked everyone and everything I could during class, much to the ire of everyone.

“Slowe, you are a member of House Denning—a member once known as the Prodigy of Wind, at that. You once fully shouldered a great many expectations. And then one day, you suddenly changed... Enough for rumors of your behavior to cross borders. You were sent here to Kirsch instead of to the battlefield, which is unheard of for a Denning, with only your retainer for company,” he continued. “Everyone was shocked. People speculated why the Prodigy of Wind went mad. According to some, you ate the Fruit of Madness, and still others said that you snapped under the insurmountable pressure. You were the subject of much debate.”

“‘The Prodigy of Wind’?” Shuya asked. “What do you mean, Headmaster?”

“Oh, did you not know? That is news to me. I see. It was that long ago...” The headmaster trailed off in thought. “Well, I suppose it is not unreasonable for you to not have heard about this. Your father’s lands are situated in a dangerous location where it is difficult to get any information about the rest of Daryth. Slowe was such a difficult topic for House Denning that nobody breathed a word of him in noble circles for a long time.”

Shuya was taken aback. “Denning, you were that problematic even before you came here...? I thought you went hog wild because your parents weren’t around to keep you in line after you got here.”

“I guess so. My self-indulgence goes way back. It’s amazing, right?” I replied, mostly sarcastic.

“It’s not amazing at all...” Shuya commented dryly.

If the headmaster minded our brief exchange, he didn’t show it. Instead, he pressed on with a question. “Lately my work has taken me off campus quite frequently, so I have not been apprised of the goings-on. Might I trouble you to regale me with any news of the school from a student’s perspective? Even the most minor of rumors will do.”

“Well...” Shuya took the reins on this one as he began reciting the rumors he had heard. About how the dining hall switched up the spices in the food recently, how there was a noble student who got overly friendly with a maid and embarrassed himself trying to get in her pants, how Lord Pauper moved to the first-floor male dorms...

The sunlight shining through the large windows warmed me, and I couldn’t hold back a yawn as drowsiness grew over me. This meeting with the headmaster was going to take ages at this rate. Maybe I should pull off one of my Eight Hundred Secret Techniques: sleeping with my eyes open... Ugh, no. That’s no good. I’d be no better than I was before if I did that.

“I see. It sounds like most of the youngsters are enjoying their school life. As the headmaster, nothing pleases me more to hear...”

I pulled myself together and straightened my back.

The headmaster listened to Shuya with a smile on his face, but he looked down in thought at times. He then looked up, seeming to have come to a sort of decision. “Kirsch welcomes all kinds of people as long as they have talent, regardless of their lineage or troublesome reputations. Nobody knows what manner of talents they could awaken in the future if only they’re given a chance. However...it seems that we have invited some unsavory characters too.” His voice trailed off in a whisper, hoarse and faint.

The tension in the room was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. It was the kind of tension that instilled fear in the hearts of men. Hearing the headmaster’s words, I had a good guess on what he was about to say next.

“—Headmaster,” I said at length.

“Yes. What is it, Slowe?”

“Why are you telling us all of this? Shuya and I are just students. I’m even a problematic one, at that,” I said.

“Huh?” Shuya was confused. “What are you on about all of a sudden?”

“Shuya...” I paused, reining in my irritation. “Has your brain gone to mush and leaked out your ears because you rely on your crystal ball too much?”

“A-Are you calling me stupid?! I could say the same for you!” Shuya exclaimed.

I ignored Shuya and gestured for the headmaster to proceed. The headmaster is suggesting that someone dangerous has infiltrated the school.

“Once upon a time there was a child who caught the Dustour spy who infiltrated the palace,” the headmaster said, giving me a meaningful look. “I remember that child. You handled the situation perfectly. Everyone praised you and commended you, that you were truly deserving of the title of the Prodigy of Wind.”

I had to think hard back on my past, but eventually, the memory resurfaced. As the headmaster said, I’d once dedicated my life to this country. I used to dream of using my power to make this country flourish. Everyone hailed me as the Prodigy of Wind, but in truth, I was just an immature kid who thought that I could be with Charlotte forever, back when she first became my personal retainer.

“Headmaster... There is a spy in this school, isn’t there?”

“A spy...?” Shuya froze. “W-Wait just a minute!”

“Kirsch is home to many young nobles, nobles who are the future of Daryth,” the headmaster said gravely. “It is a very desirable target for those with malicious intentions. Of course, we have never told the students about such plights when they occurred in the past.”

This was the reason the headmaster scouted Professor Loco Moco from the Order of Royal Knights: he wanted someone with the power to protect the students of Kirsch if it was ever involved in a war. The headmaster predicted that the conflict between Daryth and the Dustour Empire would escalate to an all-out war sometime in the foreseeable future and acted accordingly. His concerns weren’t without merit, either; in the anime, members of the Dustour Empire hired a mercenary to attack the institute.

“Then headmaster, you mean...!” Shuya exclaimed.

“It is exactly as you fear, Shuya. I recently discovered evidence of someone attempting to break into my office and into rooms that contain confidential information about Kirsch and its inhabitants. I do not know if they are aiming for the valuables or the information stored there, and I do not know their identity. But I do know that we have a mole here.”

“Th-That’s... You must be joking...” Shuya looked shell-shocked. “I thought that Kirsch was the safest place in the country. We have guards at the gate and all of us nobles can use magic.”

“Indeed, the institute prides itself on its stringent security and safe environment. We even have many students wanting to enroll from other nations,” the headmaster said. “Due to the nature of our school, the royal family of Daryth cannot interfere with how we operate. We have accepted students from hostile nations in the past because we do not discriminate against them for where they hail from.”

The headmaster’s eyes gleamed as he continued. “However, the case we have on our hands right now is unprecedented. The mole is meticulous and hasn’t left a trail for us to follow. We have no information on them... Unless you are an insider of this institute, it is impossible to know where confidential information is stored. Whoever the mole is must be a person of terrific skill for them to go so long without detection. The fact of the matter is that someone among us wishes to wreak havoc on this peaceful school, and I cannot abide by that.”

Shuya was stunned by the headmaster’s frank admission to this ominous situation.

I’m still curious as to why the headmaster gave us this info. What does it have to do with us? Why tell us this? Why tell me? I’m the infamous problem student who starts fights every chance I get, remember? Sure, I used to be the Prodigy of Wind, but that was nearly a decade ago. I stared at Headmaster Morozov, hoping to get a read on the true intentions hidden behind his monocle.

“Shuya, I have heard rumors of your reputation as a fortune-teller for quite a while. You said earlier that something foreign was in this institute, almost as if you were truly able to predict the future. I am amazed by this power of yours. I wish to borrow that power.”

“Uh, thank you?” Shuya blushed and sheepishly scratched at the back of his head. Shuya was both a genius at divination and incredibly perceptive. He could be a bit dumb like the hot-blooded protagonist he was, but he’d earned the approval of whatever extraordinary being lived within his crystal ball for a reason.

I could understand why Shuya was summoned by the headmaster. I knew of his accomplishments in Shuya Marionette. He was the protagonist, after all, and he had a kind of charisma to him that made people want to rely on him. Even I could tell you that much, despite being at odds with him constantly.

“As for you, Slowe.” The headmaster turned to address me.

“Yes. Please tell me why you summoned me here, Headmaster,” I said.

“Loco Moco put your name forward.”

I froze at the unexpected name.

“Your professors tell me that you have been acting strange as of late. You suddenly started training to lose weight, and many suspected that you were preparing for a new prank.” Surprisingly, he let out a chuckle. “It is little wonder, then, that everyone has their eyes on you, Slowe of House Denning, former Prodigy of Wind.”

“Huh? This guy?” Shuya asked incredulously.

“Yes, Shuya. The name of Denning carries a lot more weight than you think,” the headmaster said.

Jeez, being a problem student is hard. Whenever I do something that differs from the norm, everyone questions why. Even the teachers are gossiping about me! And after I turned a new leaf too.

“The incident during Loco Moco’s class was the deciding factor. He was surprised that you were able to knock out a student who nearly lost control with a single spell to protect him and your fellow classmates. You may have deceived the students, Slowe, but you did not—indeed, cannot—deceive Loco Moco.”

He must have been referring to when I saved Valjean in Practical Magic. Valjean’s magic would have imploded on him had I not knocked him out with a darkness spell. Everyone had their eyes on Valjean at the time, so I thought that nobody would notice what I was doing. I suppose I wouldn’t be able to fool someone of Loco Moco’s level; of course, he would realize exactly what happened.

“You certainly were a problem student. You picked fights with everyone and intentionally messed up every lesson you could. Some teachers even said that you should be sent right back to House Denning. Despite all this, you are a natural at magic, and you are a Denning, a member of the family that protects this country. You are a direct descendant of a family that sends their children out onto the battlefield from their early teens.”

I could say nothing. The headmaster continued through my stunned silence.

“Because of this, you do not panic at anything. You did not so much as bat an eyelash at the fact that someone dangerous has infiltrated the academy. You calmly dealt with the student before his spell could hurt himself or anyone else. You acted exactly like a member of the House in charge of defending this country should.”

“...I guess you could say that,” I said after a pause.

It was true that my family was the House tasked with Daryth’s national defense. Unlike a certain someone, I never had the luxury of moping after losing control of a spell. I threw away such a naive way of thinking along with any chance of having happy childhood memories long ago.

But I was also the guy who chose a single girl over the entirety of Daryth. As a member of House Denning, I was supposed to live for the sake of my country, but I was a fool who wished to live with the girl most precious to me instead.

“You prevented the spell from truly going out of control without anyone but Loco Moco realizing and left the scene with nary a word, or so I hear. Though you prevented what could very well have been a disaster, you did not brag about your achievement and chose instead to keep it a secret,” the headmaster said.

“This guy? Are we talking about the same person here?” Shuya asked, incredulous. The headmaster paid him no mind.

“Now then, Slowe. With all of that said, I think you have an idea why I summoned you both here, considering how much you have changed.”

“Headmaster Morozov... What you’re saying is you want us to look for the intruder,” I said.

Shuya sighed in exasperation. “What are you on about? That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“Shut up, Shuya. This is important,” I hissed.

“Hey, don’t use that tone with me!” Shuya protested.

“Listen up, Shuya,” I said gravely. “If the headmaster and Professor Loco Moco can’t find the infiltrator from whatever intel they can gain on their own, they need to approach the issue from a different angle. No matter how cautious the mole is, they wouldn’t expect students looking for them, much less problematic students like us.”

“Huh? That’s what this is about?” Shuya thought for a moment. “Hey, hold up! I’m not a problem student like you! You’re the only problematic one here, Denning!”

The headmaster nodded solemnly at me; clearly, he meant for Shuya to use his divination powers and me, my skills as a Denning to gather intel about the mole.

“I feel that an unprecedented danger is lurking in the shadows, threatening the peace we’ve built here at this institute. Therefore, I want you two to report back to me about anyone suspicious or any changes you notice from your perspective as students, no matter how small.”

Any hint of my earlier drowsiness evaporated as light filtered in from the windows, making me squint against the glare.

“For this, I will need Shuya’s mysterious power and you, Slowe. Many would object to me relying on you no matter how much you’ve changed. However, my experience as an educator tells me that the two of you, Shuya Newkern and Slowe Denning, are the ones best suited for this task. How exactly you go about this task, I leave up to your discretion.”

“Understood!” Shuya’s voice broke the tension that hung in the air; he was clearly all riled up and raring to go. “I will definitely find this intruder! Please leave it to me!”

As expected of the protagonist, I thought with a roll of my eyes. He rushes into things without thinking, as always. Of course, I had no plans to refuse the headmaster myself. I, too, had a reason to accept. I had someone here who I wanted to protect. Even if the headmaster and Professor Loco Moco had a hard time finding this enemy, I would find them, and I would face them.

“I have sent in a request for aid to the royal family for military reinforcements to apprehend the infiltrator. They accepted my request and will be sending a few Royal Knights in secret. The knights are likely en route on horseback at this very moment.”

“Royal Knights?!” Shuya could not hide his excitement. “That’s awesome!”

“Why would the Royal Knights be assigned to this?” I asked. “They only act when the royal family is involved.”

“Cardinal Maldini is a good friend of mine. He is the one in charge of the Order, and he did not hesitate to accept my request.” Here, the headmaster paused. “...Admittedly, that may be in part because he is eager to make a name for himself. There has been some significant demand as of late for the deployment of the Royal Knights to the front lines due to escalating tension between our nation and Dustour to the north. Cardinal Maldini is wary of giving any more power to House Denning, given that they already wield significant military strength as our nation’s primary defenders.”

Cardinal Maldini was a very prominent figure who administered Daryth’s internal affairs. He was practically the most powerful political figure in the country, second only to the queen herself, and stood toe-to-toe with my father, the leader of Daryth’s military.

“I would like to have a few suspects to name before the Royal Knights arrive, if at all possible,” the headmaster said.

“Please leave it to me, Headmaster!” Shuya declared.

“...When will they arrive?” I asked, cautious.

“In a few days. They said that they will give me a more precise time of arrival at a later date.”

That’s fast. It usually takes a week to travel from the capital to Kirsch. The headmaster must be warier of the intruder than he’s letting on.

“Okay, understood! I will definitely find them!” Shuya exclaimed. “Leave it to me, Headmaster!”

“I will make them regret the day they decided to infiltrate this school, Headmaster,” I promised without hesitation. Exterminating unsavory things sneaking up to ruin the peace, huh...? That was exactly what the Piggy Duke did in the anime, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do now.

“The Great Spirits of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, and Darkness have lent their powers to us since time immemorial, and greatly contributed to the development of each nation on this continent. The royal family, which was a big contributor to the founding of Daryth, is said to have a special relationship with the Great Spirit of Light. It is even said they’re able to speak with that wise Great Spirit—”

Right now, I was in the middle of class. Like always, many students couldn’t stifle a yawn in Professor Arle’s infamously boring Magic Studies class. Since I sat in the top row, I could clearly see each and every student in front of me.

But I wasn’t the least bit sleepy. As the professor droned on about the founding of the country and the history of the Order of Royal Knights, I found my thoughts drifting back to the task the headmaster had entrusted me with. There’s no way I could doze off in this situation. After learning the shocking truth that some shady character had infiltrated the school, I couldn’t even so much as let out a yawn. However, the lecture hall in front of me was the same as always, and I saw Alicia struggling to stay awake next to Shuya like usual.

“Now, on to the history and current state of other countries. Take Lady Cirquista, for example,” the professor began.

“Y-Yes?!” Half asleep, Alicia mistakenly thought the professor had called for her and stood up, only to realize her error too late.

Once Alicia had sunk back into her chair in embarrassment, the professor continued. “The allied country where Lady Cirquista originates from is on the central-eastern side of the continent. There, the Great Spirit of Water lives in the lake at the heart of the metropolis, protecting the citizens of the country and helping the country flourish. Dustour, on the other hand, is on the northern side of the continent and holds the largest amount of territory. There, the Great Spirit of Darkness—”

I tuned back out, my thoughts drifting once more to that spy who’d gotten into Kirsch.

Were they a thief who wanted to steal valuables from the guest parlor, or were they after information on the students? In the anime, some students were kidnapped even before the war began, and afterwards, students were taken as hostages by the invading troops. However, it was currently before the timeline of the anime began, and there was no sign of war yet.

“You students are the future of Daryth. It is absolutely essential for you to learn about other countries, especially our allies in the Great Southern Alliance,” the professor concluded. “Are there any questions?”

There was one thing I was sure of, though. No matter who the intruder was, the fact that they chose to infiltrate a school full of noble mages could only mean one thing: they were a very talented mage who could swiftly adapt to any situation.

“Professor Arle, I want to know about Huzak. It used to sit between Daryth and Cirquista, right? Where did the Great Spirit of Wind that lived there disappear to after the Dustour Empire destroyed the place?” Valjean asked. “Many tried to search for the spirit, but there isn’t even so much as a whisper of any information on them anymore.”

“Ow!” Shuya yelped as Alicia pinched his arm. He’d been fast asleep. I saw it all. Looks like Alicia’s merciless with Shuya as always, huh? I tried to put them out of my mind; I had more important things to worry about.

“That is a good question, Lord Greatlorde. I am afraid to say that nobody knows the answer to your question. Huzak was situated between Daryth and Cirquista, and Altanger was the Great Spirit of Wind that protected it. However, we have no idea where they went. The general consensus is that they hid away, recovering from the wounds they sustained in the war, but—”

The professor’s voice went in one ear and out the other as I thought back on the anime, trying to remember any possible hints about who the mole was. The plot of the anime was mainly centered around Kirsch. Many characters visited the school and interacted with the main cast; so even though it was currently before the anime had begun, I wondered if anyone mentioned anything that could be of use.

“—However, to combat Dustour, which is currently setting its sights on the southern side of the continent, Daryth formed an alliance with the three major countries in the south. Cirquista is one of them, and as all of you know, Lady Alicia is—”

“Hmph. Who would have thought Alicia is a real princess?” one student interrupted the professor’s lecture with a snort. “Cirquista girls are all fashionable and graceful, so I was really excited when I heard she’d be in the same class as me. But ‘Her Majesty’ over there treats poor Shuya like he’s her retainer and does whatever she wants.”

“Exactly! She’s pretty much a first-rate tyrant at this point... Whoa! She threw a textbook at me!” said another, ducking out of the way of the offending textbook. “This is why people say you only have your looks going for you, Princess Cirquista!”

“Shut up! You lot are just good-for-nothing nobles who don’t even own territory. You have no right to speak out against me!” Alicia shouted.

Tsk, the classroom got so rowdy all of a sudden, I thought in displeasure.

This was the usual in Professor Arle’s class; one of the Daryth nobles would mock Alicia and she would reply in kind. Shuya would then desperately try to calm her down as commoner students shook in their seats hoping not to be caught in the middle. Back when I was the blackhearted Piggy Duke, I would shoot off spells and cause more chaos, but I didn’t have the time for such nonsense right now.

“Stop it already!” Valjean exclaimed. “Look at yourselves! This is why other countries slander the nobles of Daryth as violent and sexist! Shame on you!”

“I haven’t seen you since you moved to the first floor, Valjean. You’re still coming to classes, huh?” a classmate jeered. “Shouldn’t you focus on working your part-time jobs instead of studying magic? You can barely afford the tuition fee.”

“Y-You there, I won’t tolerate any more slander from you. If you don’t close that mouth of yours right now—” Valjean snapped.

“Shuya, Shuya!” Alicia cried. “They’re mocking me. Me! Fight them like you always do! ...Are you seriously still asleep?!”

“Mmm...? What?” Shuya mumbled.

“Truce!” one of the students shouted, honing in on Shuya as their next scapegoat. “Professor Arle, Shuya is napping in class! Dozing off in class means points taken off the final exam, if I remember right!”

The professor was quiet for a while. “You’re right, that is the rule... Um, Mister Newkern, sleeping in class will result in a penalty.”

“Huh?” Shuya finally snapped. “Wha— I-I wasn’t sleeping! I swear! It’s a misunderstanding! I was doing something really important last night, so I’m a little sleep-deprived...” His head swiveled around towards the student who’d snitched on him. “There’s a ton of other students sleeping! Did you check with the people around me that I was even asleep?!”

Urgh, I’m at my limit. They’re so freaking noisy. I looked around the classroom. Students who’d been dozing off were shouting that it wasn’t fair of Shuya to throw them under the bus. It seemed that the classroom wouldn’t calm down anytime soon; Professor Arle looked very troubled. I guess I should give her a hand. Shuya, you’ll be the sacrifice here.

“—You don’t have a clue, Shuya.” I slammed my textbook on the desk, and everything in the classroom instantly stilled. It didn’t take anything more than that to get people to avert their eyes, because they feared getting involved with me.

“—What’s that supposed to mean, Denning?” Shuya glared back at me. The whole classroom waited on tenterhooks as we stared each other down.

“I’m telling you to shut up before you say something you’ll regret,” I hissed. “If you don’t know what I mean, then you’re more of a hopeless idiot than I thought.”

“Say what?” Realization slowly dawned on his face. “...Oh yeah, you’re right...”

It seemed that he finally got a grip on why the headmaster only told the two of us about the mole. From what he said earlier... Did he spend the whole night searching for suspicious places? I mean, Shuya acts on his instincts, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

Just then, I felt a pair of sharp eyes on me. Two rows down, the girl sitting next to Shuya glared up at me. She looked delicate like an artwork made of candy. She stared intently in my direction, her long lashes framing her large eyes. When I noticed her gaze, she hurriedly tore her eyes away, sulking like a little kid. Alicia had her golden blonde hair fashioned into two cute pigtails. I thought for sure she’d comment on my jabs at Shuya. What? I thought, almost daring her to say something. You want a fight? Are you angry because I was rude to your friend? If that’s the case, he’s at fault. He nearly spilled the beans and I stopped him, that’s all. But she said nothing. She did chance another peek back up at me; being an outsider in this situation, there was no way she could understand what Shuya and I were talking about.

That’s when it hit me. Seeing Alicia looking at me with that upset expression, I suddenly remembered a character who fit all the criteria for the mole: No Face, a mercenary who lived in the underworld. A gifted mage specializing in dark magic, she used a secret magical artifact used to disguise herself as anyone she wished, and for some reason was obsessed with Alicia’s beauty. Later on in the anime, they ended up attacking Kirsch alongside the troops of the Empire. Speaking of that attack, they ended up admitting to the main cast that they’d infiltrated and stolen otherwise confidential information.

“I shall continue class now,” the professor declared. “Please flip to the next chapter of the textbook. That means you as well, Lady Cirquista.” She paused to allow the class to reopen their textbooks before resuming her lecture. “Chapter Two: The Relationship between Spirits and Magic. I am aware of the number of times you’ve heard this and are sick of the topic, but that is a bad attitude to have,” the professor chided, as some of the students didn’t even attempt to hide their dread. “I’m sure some of you have heard the rumors of the commoner who managed to manifest the ability to use earth magic by now. If you don’t study hard, your talented younger peers will leave you in the dust.”

Of course, I thought, that’s the only thing that makes sense. If No Face really is the intruder, even the headmaster wouldn’t notice. No Face was already powerful enough with the ability to change her appearance at will, but she was also abnormally cautious for a mercenary. She took great pains when infiltrating a location, making sure that she blended with the environment.

“Professor Arle, that commoner was surely the illegitimate child of a noble, weren’t they? They have enough money to enroll here, after all,” one student said, her tone dripping with the desire for gossip.

“Miss Maya, reality is different from those books you love to read,” Professor Arle replied. “The student in question is a commoner through and through... No, that’s not an appropriate way to put it. She is not an illegitimate child, at any rate.”

“Oh, so she’s a girl, huh? I bet she’s on cloud nine right now. All commoners who can use magic are like that,” Maya remarked.

If it was currently the window of time when No Face snuck in to gain a foothold for the later invasion, then everything fit. Once I had this train of thought going, I couldn’t stop it. Now that I had a possible idea of who the mole might be, I could focus on where and how to proceed from there.

Now... I just need to confirm the identity of the mole without anyone noticing me.

Though Kirsch was full of talented young mages like Shuya, if a seasoned mercenary like No Face started fighting no-holds-barred here, it would be a disaster.

“Professor Arle?” Valjean said.

“What is it, Lord Greatlorde?” the professor replied.

“Shuya has dozed off again. Please make sure to penalize him. It is for his own good.”

“It seems that Mister Newkern is quite sleep-deprived today,” the professor murmured after a moment of hesitation.

It wasn’t just us local nobles and commoners whose lives were in danger; the international students, the retainers and maids who supported our daily lives, the professors, the chefs who made food for everyone, and the merchants all made their home here on campus. There were even messenger birds and horses for carriages. And amongst all of these people, there was one precious person who I swore to protect above all.

I won’t let anyone ruin this peaceful place. This solemn vow I made to myself, I would keep it, no matter the cost.

“Hey, Denning, wait up.”

Just as I was about to leave the building, I heard a voice call to me and I turned around. “...Oh, it’s you.”

Shuya stood there, looking exhausted. His usual cheerful demeanor was subdued; he looked a little suspicious as he warily watched students leaving the building. A little obvious, more like.

Shuya was the kind of guy who followed his instincts and acted without giving it a second thought. He had probably left the headmaster’s office and spent the rest of the day and the better part of the night scouring the campus for clues. That would explain why he’d been drowsier than usual in Professor Arle’s class, in any case.

“Just to be clear, I have no intention of being all chummy with you,” I declared.

“That’s my line, Denning,” Shuya said. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Ask me what?”

“...How do you intend to carry out your search?” he asked eventually.

“For?”

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Shuya snapped. “Yesterday, the headmaster—”

“—Use your brain, Shuya. It’s unnatural for us to be talking like this. Have you ever started a conversation with me even once since you enrolled in Kirsch? Why are you purposefully making us look suspicious?”

“I...I knew that,” Shuya muttered in frustration.

I left Shuya standing there rooted to the spot in frustration, heading out into the greenery of the campus that awaited me outside.

He’s probably getting restless, I thought. He’s the anime protagonist, and I know full well that he’s not a bad person at heart. The headmaster’s expectations and his own animosity towards the spy are probably eating away at him. He doesn’t even know where to start. We’ve fought every single time we’ve met, and yet he chose to swallow his pride and ask me for help. He’s obviously beating himself up over it. I heaved a sigh. It can’t be helped. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give him a bit of a hint.

I stopped walking, turning back to face Shuya. “The headmaster and Professor Loco Moco didn’t have a clue, remember? There’s no point searching blindly,” I said.

“Then how are we supposed to figure it out?” he asked.

“How would I know? Although...” I looked at the transparent crystal ball in Shuya’s hand. He normally used his crystal ball to make money with simple fortune telling, but that thing was anything but ordinary. It was a sentient magical artifact that had guided Shuya on his path to becoming the savior of the world in the anime.

“Is that thing you’re holding just for show?” I quipped. A small flame quivered within the crystal in response.

I was pretty certain my theory was solid, but I needed to confirm it with my own two eyes first. This was the best moment to test my all-powerful anime knowledge.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered to myself.

I was at the enormous dining hall that probably had the capacity for a few hundred people. Beyond the windows, countless maids hustled and bustled around the students who were snacking inside. It was a perfectly normal scene in this perfectly peaceful institute—a snapshot that perfectly illustrated how vulnerable the school really was.

A place like this where a ton of people gathered in a concentrated spot was the perfect target for an attack.

Squatting down, I brushed away the grass to look for what I had in mind. On the one hand, I inwardly prayed that I wouldn’t find what I was looking for; on the other hand, I sorta hoped I would. I was stuck on a figurative pendulum swinging between these two desires when a spirit sat on my shoulder.

“Well... I guess I should have expected this.” There was a carefully concealed magic circle in the grass. The dirt around it looked freshly dug.

Depending on how I chose to wield the knowledge my previous life had granted me, I could do anything in this world. But with great power came great responsibility, a harsh truth I had no choice but to confront as I stared down at the vivid magic circle in front of me. As I suspected, the intruder at Kirsch was the Faceless Woman—No Face.

“I now know for sure that No Face is preparing for an assault on the school in the future,” I muttered to myself. “Jeez... Such a strong character as my enemy from the very start? Life’s tough.”

I allowed myself only a brief moment of despair before I pulled myself together. There just wasn’t time for that. No Face might have been one of the strongest antagonists in the anime, but I had the advantage of knowing a lot about her and what her plans were.

This would be a test case, I decided. This was my chance to test just how far I could go with my powers in this world. If I looked at it from that perspective, No Face was a good opponent for me. I had no reason for fear. Right, Piggy Duke? I asked myself rhetorically.

As if it was answering my thoughts, the wind spirit flew off my shoulder and soared off into the azure-blue sky.

“Guess I’d better go get some lunch,” I muttered.

Many rows of long tables stretched from end to end of the dining hall. Large windows lined the walls beneath the vaulted ceiling, the light of the high noon sun shining through. Maids hustled around and many students chatted amongst themselves while enjoying their meals.

“Please make my portion a large one!” I called out to a maid in a joking singsong, snorting.

The maids hired by the school were responsible for delivering meals to students and refilling our glasses of water. Their uniforms consisted of white lace headpieces, black dresses, and white aprons. Their work wasn’t just limited to the dining hall either; they also took care of the laundry, waitressing, and cleaning for the entire campus. They worked hard day and night to support our daily lives here and were compensated with a monthly salary.

Sometimes the commoners helped out with the maids’ chores for some extra cash. Apparently, the pay was good, so a bunch of students were willing to volunteer.

“Today’s main course is teriyaki-style Roc beast, accompanied by a side soup filled with fresh vegetables and flavorful white bread from House Garla’s lands. Oh, and Miss Tina over there ordered a Chef’s Special Dessert especially for you, Lord Slowe,” a maid said as she placed a silver tray before me, pulling me out of my thoughts about part-time work.

Lunch, finally! I’m famished, I thought, giving the maid a nod. “I see. Thank you.”

But I was in for a nasty shock the moment I laid eyes on my tray. Wait... Th-That’s a lot of food! I gawked at my tray. Look at all this bread! A standard portion is enough! I’m on a diet! I felt several sets of eyes on me and looked up and around. Everyone is looking at me with envy...

“I-I was joking about giving me a large portion earlier...” I mumbled. I was about to call out to the maid who had delivered my tray and apologize for my blunder when I noticed what exactly was happening in front of me.

“Huh?! W-Wait! Why is there a gigantic pile of dessert here now?!” I exclaimed, my hands beginning to tremble in shock.

“Milord, please accept this as a sign of our gratitude!” Maids appeared at my table one after the other and piled a mountain of dessert onto my plate. I could only stare entranced by the assortment of colorful sweets. Among them were some rare dishes I’d never eaten before, not even when I pigged out on everything I could get my hands on.

Then, a familiar voice snapped me out of it.

“Wow, it’s gotten a little out of hand, Lord Slowe,” said Valjean, his tone light. “I did hear that you gave water elixirs to some of the maids to help them with their skin problems, though. Perhaps I should have expected this from them.” He took a step back as he gave me a respectful bow of his head. Valjean wore a black waiter’s uniform, his beautiful golden hair was slicked back neatly, and his sapphire eyes shone under the light. Oh yeah, he mentioned that he started working as a part-time waiter in the dining hall, I thought, looking him up and down.

“Lord Pauper, how in the world did you know that?” I asked, narrowing my eyes in slight suspicion.

“It’s quite strange for maids to have expensive water elixirs, so I was able to make an educated guess. Don’t forget that I work in the dining hall too. I learn all kinds of things, listening to the gossip shared at break time.” Valjean paused, admiring my plate. “Still, that’s a lot of dessert you have there.”

Charlotte mentioned before that the maids loved to gossip, and Valjean’s explanation just now backed up her claims. This means that...“Operation: Reputation Repair” to combat my past as the blackhearted Piggy Duke was probably a success! I cheered in my mind.

“Speaking of which, did you know that some of the staff members in the dining hall were recently reassigned? It caused quite the stir,” Valjean said in a mischievous tone. “I’m sure you’ll know what I mean when you see it, though.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Okay, so...” Valjean cut himself off as if he suddenly remembered where he was. “Oops, sorry. If I start chatting here, the maids will reprimand me. You’ll just have to find out for yourself.” Valjean gave an exaggerated shrug and hurried back towards the kitchen.

It was a strange sight to see a noble doing chores. Seeing the small, warm smiles on the faces of maids and retainers as they looked at this unusual noble, though, it was easy to tell that they accepted him as one of their own.

I could feel a smile creeping onto my face at the heartwarming scene of a noble and commoner speaking comfortably with each other. But I forced it down, straightened my back, and looked around the dining hall. It was full of familiar faces, but I needed to keep my guard up.

After all, a veteran mercenary had infiltrated this peaceful school—one who could change her appearance at will. Nowhere was truly safe.

“Wow, they got really carried away! This is way over the top. How do they not realize that?” Tina said as she looked at my plate. She’d come over from another table and sat next to me in the middle of lunch. The desserts she had ordered for me also arrived, adding to the already-large mountain of desserts on my table. She gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry about this. Apparently, the water elixirs were really effective, and all the maids wanted to thank you for helping them. I really didn’t think it would lead to this. Sometimes they just don’t think before they act on the first thing that comes to mind...”

“I probably would’ve celebrated this without a second thought before, but I’m on a diet now, so this is a little...” I trailed off.

“Yeah, it’s way too much...” Tina said, staring. “I’ll tell them to rein it in next time.”

I focused on eating the savory part of my lunch first. I’ll decide what to do with this mountain of desserts after I finish the main course... As I debated this dilemma, a thought occurred to me. “By the way, Tina. Usually, you keep your distance from me. Is it okay for you to be seen so close to me today?” I asked.

“The dining hall is always pretty full, but the seats around you aren’t taken,” Tina said. “I figured people would think that I was a first-year who only sat here because my eyes were glued to the mountain of desserts and didn’t notice you.”

“You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this.”

“This school is a lot harder on us commoner girls than you’d think. We have to keep our heads low so that nasty nobles don’t notice us, and desperately scrounge together the money for those expensive textbooks...” Tina paused, her eyes fixated on something. “Wait, look at her. Oh, wow. That was close.”

“Huh? Who?” I asked, swiveling my head in search of who Tina was talking about.

“Oh, dear. Oh, wow...” Tina sounded anxious as she pointed her finger. “That girl over there. The white-haired maid.”

Following the direction Tina was pointing in, I spotted a problematic maid. The maid groaned in pain as she repeatedly bumped into the backs of chairs, she occasionally spilled water from her pitcher onto students on accident, and in general, she seemed very clumsy.

“Look at her. She’s going to drop that tray, I swear. I don’t understand why anyone would stack that many plates on a tray at once. Oh, this is bad. She definitely can’t see anything past those plates.” Worry laced Tina’s voice as her eyes followed the unfortunate maid.

I could only see the back of the aforementioned maid, but I couldn’t bear to watch. Her precarious actions could only lead to disaster, so I pointed my wand towards her just in case. Sure enough, the klutzy maid bumped into a student as they stood up from their seat. The tower of plates tilted and wobbled before they toppled over. Everyone braced themselves for disaster.

“Oh no!” Tina exclaimed.

But the disaster everyone braced themselves for didn’t happen.

“Huh? Nothing crashed?” Tina was confused. I’d used a wind spell, causing the plates to float neatly onto the long table well before they could fall. Tina oohed in wonder and awe at my display of magic as the maid I’d just saved quickly approached us with large strides.

Wait a minute... Realization slowly dawned on me. I hadn’t recognized her at first because she had her hair tied back in a single ponytail instead of her usual two and was wearing a frilly apron. Up close, however, there was no way I could mistake her for anyone else.

“Th-Thank you very much for saving me, Master Slowe...”

“Ch-Charlotte?!”

“No way! That was you, Miss Charlotte?!”

Tina and I were so shocked that we shouted out at the same time. The Charlotte standing before us was the spitting image of a maid. But I was confused; that couldn’t be right. “Weren’t you helping out in the kitchen, though?”

“A spot opened up because of the recent reassignments, so I requested to change my post. I wanted to check on you, since you’ve been coming to the dining hall a lot lately, but...I didn’t think this job would be so hard.” Charlotte trailed off as she approached, seeing my tray. “Wait, why is there so much dessert here? Did you order all of this, Master Slowe?”

“The maids over there brought it for me. I didn’t ask for it,” I explained. “It’s probably because of... Well, you know what I’m talking about.”

“Oh... Do you mean when you made water elixirs for them before? I see, that makes sense, but...” Charlotte, who had exchanged the gaudy dragon apron for the wonderful maid uniform, nodded at me. Then, she immediately picked up my plate of dessert and placed it on her tray. “I’m confiscating it all.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed. “Wait up. What are you doing?!”

“Ordering a large portion is fine, but this is too much for you. You’ll get fat again. You can’t eat something this sweet on top of your already-large meal. You’re still on a diet, remember?” Charlotte chided as she took the dessert away.

I mean, I had been debating whether I should eat something so fatty during my diet, so I guess she’s helping keep me honest. Just as I thought that, the plate was immediately snatched back from Charlotte’s delicate hands. The culprit: Tina, who had been sitting next to me.

“Oh, come on. It’s fine,” Tina argued. “Lord Denning is working hard every day, so it won’t hurt him to have it. Plus, this is a gift of thanks from me and the maids. He helped my friend too!”

“That’s true. It’s not very nice to waste someone’s gift, Charlotte,” I said, nodding in agreement with Tina.

“Master Slowe, you’re on a diet. You’ve worked so hard all this time, waking up early every morning to train. It will set you back if you give in to such temptations.” Charlotte turned to Tina, unimpressed. “Miss Tina, as Master Slowe’s friend, you should be a bit more considerate.”

“That’s true too, I am in the middle of a diet. Charlotte is right.” I found myself torn about whose side I should take.

“Lord Denning can make decisions for himself, don’t you think?” Tina rebutted. “I’m not saying that he should eat all of it.”

“That’s true. I should make the decision myself. Tina has a point.”

Charlotte pouted, puffing out her cheeks. “You still really shouldn’t. You’re so close to your goal of fitting in a ready-made uniform size. You won’t have to order custom-made uniforms anymore!”

“Oh yeah, you’re right. I can nearly fit into a ready-made size.”

Tina paused as she thought of a response. “Losing weight is important, this is true, but why are you even trying to lose weight in the first place?” She turned to me. “Some people think you’re cute just the way you are!”

“Oink!” I exclaimed in surprise. “Cute?! Me?! I-I see. That’s a different way of looking at it!”

Charlotte and Tina’s back-and-forth slowly grew in intensity. I became a little worried as I realized the amount of attention we were getting. Usually, Tina kept me at arm’s length, and Charlotte also tried to keep a low profile. But now all eyes were on the three of us as the two of them argued over the fate of my dessert.

“No! Don’t eat it, Master Slowe!”

“Just a little bit is fine! Right, Lord Denning?!”

How in the world did this happen?! Huh?! Why are they arguing?! Hm? I turned to look at the offending dessert. Is it your fault? This has to be all your fault! This is all because you exist! Hmph. I am a man of action, and I won’t hesitate to be cruel when I have to be! Prepare yourself!

“Master Slowe!”

Without further ado, I began to brutally decimate the plate of dessert, a gobbling sound escaping me without my meaning to. First, I shoved the dessert that Tina ordered—a treat stuffed with sweet whipped cream—into my mouth. The whole thing fit in my mouth in one go and absolutely just melted on my tongue. I once heard that the head chef of Kirsch was very famous in the dessert world; I could definitely believe that, if the taste was anything to go by, because it was something worthy of presenting to the royal family themselves.

I demolished the mountain of desserts with a spoon in one hand and a fork in the other, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Even Tina was taken aback by the sugary destruction I left in my wake.

“Oink!” I snorted as I finished off the last bite.

“I insisted so many times that you shouldn’t eat all that, yet you did it anyway,” Charlotte sulked.

“Sorry, Charlotte, but please hear me out,” I pleaded. “I didn’t give in to the temptation of sweets.”

“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked at length.

“Losing weight is important. Changing my figure completely is the easiest way to prove to the people around me that I’ve changed my old ways,” I said. “But...when I thought about it, I realized that nobody has ever treated me to food just because they wanted to before. It made me really happy, and I couldn’t turn that kind of gesture down.”

I waved at the maids, who were watching us along with the other onlookers from a distance. In response, they bowed their heads happily, and Charlotte noticed them for the first time since we started talking. They’d looked anxious before; they probably wondered this whole time whether I was going to eat the treats. But now their happiness showed on their faces even though they were in the middle of work. Looking at them, Charlotte seemed to understand my choice, her cheeks slowly deflating with a sigh.

“I understand, Master Slowe.” Charlotte paused for a long moment. “This is the last time, though. I really will confiscate your sweets if this happens again!”

“Okay, understood. I’m in the middle of a diet; eating like this will be an exception and not the norm. I promise.”

“U-Um... Sorry, Miss Charlotte,” Tina said meekly. “I got a little carried away when I saw the maids looking our way. Losing weight is important, so I’ll tell everyone to stop giving Lord Denning so much food. Though he is cute, I think everyone agrees that he’s better off losing weight.”

“Oh... No, I went a little too far too. I’m Master Slowe’s retainer, so I’m too passionate when he’s concerned. Sorry, Miss Tina,” Charlotte said, sheepish.

Charlotte had been elated for me when I obtained the real weight loss potion, and she was the one who’d thought up “Operation: Reputation Repair” in the first place. I knew very well that Charlotte was being tough on me for my own good.

“By the way, Charlotte, you look really good in that uniform,” I said, turning to face her and give her some praise. “Washing the dishes in the kitchen is an important job too, but you’re very cute as a maid.”

“Yeah... You might not realize this, but everyone can’t take their eyes off you, Miss Charlotte,” Tina agreed as she looked around.

“...Everyone is looking at me?” Charlotte asked, puzzled.

All the maids in the dining hall were cute, but Charlotte stood out head and shoulders above them all in the looks department. She was adorable and carried with her a graceful aura, though she was more than a bit clumsy, but that only added to her charm. It was hard for anyone to take their eyes off her.

Charlotte flushed bright red and cupped her cheeks with her hands when she realized everyone was looking at her. She must not have been used to the maid apron yet and was a little shy because of all the attention she was getting.

“You’re a lucky man, Lord Denning. There are a ton of retainers in Kirsch, but most of them are men. Yet you have the sweet, adorable Miss Charlotte cheering you on all the time. It’s a crime, I tell you.” Tina smiled mischievously and Charlotte blushed an even deeper shade of red as she fidgeted. She’d probably forgotten all about the mountain of sweets.

“Th-That’s right... I need to get back to washing the dishes... Master Slowe, I shall return to the kitchen now. I’ll see you later,” Charlotte mumbled before she made a beeline for the kitchen. She clutched the hem of her skirt as she ran off, lacking her usual graceful composure. It was rare to see her so flustered.

Wait a second. Charlotte’s a waitress in the dining hall now; she’s not doing the dishes. You’re not supposed to go back to the kitchen... I sighed internally.

“Miss Charlotte really is adorable.” Watching Charlotte make her escape, Tina teased me in a whisper. “You nobles sure do know how to smooth talk. Do they teach you that back home or something?”

“Of course they...” I trailed off, noticing Valjean looking our way with an amused smile from a distance. “...don’t...”

He accepted the tray from Charlotte as she entered the kitchen, taking over her waiting duties. He smiled at me kindly in the same way Tina did, his face seeming to praise me for not mucking up that conversation with Charlotte. Darn, was he really watching the whole time? A little irritated, I waved Lord Pauper over.

“What is it, Lord Slowe?” he asked innocently.

“You probably already know this, but that girl is my retainer,” I begrudgingly muttered. “Her name is Charlotte. Give her a hand from here on out, will you?”

Lord Pauper graced me with a bow in response. “Please leave it to me. It would be most unfortunate if she gains any...undesirable attention, after all.” Lord Pauper was the personification of the ideal noble, what with his impeccable sense of responsibility towards the commoners and all. I’d seen him patiently helping a maid earlier when I’d been watching him. If he kept an eye on her, surely Charlotte would feel more at ease with her job.

“This must be a dream... The pig was being considerate...?!”

“Hm?” Several rows of tables away, I spotted Alicia staring at me with her jaw hanging open in shock, her silver fork frozen halfway to her mouth. She was muttering things under her breath, but because of the several tables between us, I couldn’t make out much more than that. She’s a little scary like that... I’ll leave her be. Nothing good can come of getting involved with the main heroine of the anime.

“Lord Denning, I’m not exaggerating when I say that Miss Charlotte is cute. Anyone with eyes can see that.” Tina paused. “You didn’t pick her based on her looks, did you? ...Lord Denning, did you use your family clout to snag her or something?”

I had been wandering around the campus looking for magic circles when Charlotte approached me and asked to talk.

“So Charlotte, what did you want to ask me?”

“Um...” Charlotte hesitated. “I’ll get straight to the point. It’s about Miss Tina. I noticed something about her.”

“What is it?”

“Miss Tina had a wand! Why is that?” Charlotte asked.

“Huh? Well, Tina’s a mage,” I said, puzzled. “Of course she’d have a wand.”

“What are you saying? She’s a commoner!” Charlotte said with conviction.

We were in the square in front of the cathedral. A few students were sleeping on the lawn, while others leaned against one of the myriad trees, reading books in the shade. Everyone seemed to enjoy spending their free time just relaxing. I watched this peaceful, unchanging scene, a stark contrast to the restless Charlotte beside me.

“Sure, she’s a commoner, but she was able to awaken her magic recently,” I answered.

Usually, my wonderful retainer was the epitome of grace and nobility.

“...Whaaat?! A commoner?! Using magic?! You must be joking!” she yelled in shock.

That wasn’t the case today, though.

“She’s still a first-year, right? One of the maids I worked with today told me so!” Charlotte exclaimed. “I’ve never heard of a commoner awakening their magic so quickly!”

“You’re too close, Charlotte. Personal space,” I reminded her as she leaned towards me in her emotional state. “But you’re right. Tina was able to awaken some earth magic, even though she only just started her first year. You’re a commoner too, but you’re able to use magic. Is it that surprising?”

“Well, I mean...I guess that’s true, but I’m an exception. That is...” As soon as I pointed that out, Charlotte’s voice grew small as she mumbled her reply. She didn’t have to say anything more; I already knew why she’d gone quiet. It was her secret to tell. I already knew it, but I’d let her approach me when she was ready to talk about it.

I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

“Master Slowe? What is it? Why did you stop?” Charlotte asked.

“Hm? Well...” I hesitated.

My retainer was a kindhearted girl who shied away from conflict. Charlotte seemed happier now living out her life at this peaceful school than she ever had back on Denning lands. I didn’t want to drag her into the hidden conflict in Kirsch right now.

And so...I decided I absolutely could not tell her about the magic circle on the ground I was standing on right now.

“Well, I’m wondering just how talented Tina is, considering how quickly she was able to unlock some of her power despite only recently learning magic properly.” I played dumb, going back to the previous topic to keep Charlotte’s suspicion at bay. Luckily, it seemed to work. Unluckily, her next question was just as difficult.

“By the way, who do you think is better at magic at the moment—me or her?” Charlotte asked after a moment of hesitation. “I mean, it’s probably obvious who is better. I’ve been practicing magic since I was a child. Tina’s experience can’t be compared to mine.”

Aaand there it is: Charlotte’s inferiority complex about her magic.

Despite being royalty, Charlotte was abysmal at magic. She dreamed of one day gaining control over it, but the reality was harsh; Charlotte had never once succeeded at controlling even a single spell. Her spells were all chaotic and caused collateral damage around her. Of course, House Denning could not let such a problematic mage run free, and so Charlotte was pretty much banned from so much as holding a wand. Charlotte was very sensitive about the topic of her magic skills (or lack thereof), and understandably so.

I mean, I’d lent my wand to her in exchange for her being my partner during the speed-eating contest, but that was a special case. If my family found out that Charlotte had used magic without permission, we would both be in a lot of trouble.

“Tina,” I said without a second thought.

“Wha—”

“Tina is probably better at controlling spells,” I explained. “Even though the spells Tina casts are all very basic, she’s able to control them as she wills.”

“I would lose to a girl who’d only just awoken her magic, huh...” Charlotte’s shoulders slumped in dismay.

“But, well...she’s a good person,” I added. “She’s diligent and earnest. I can see how she was able to enroll in Kirsch despite being a commoner.”

“Well, yeah, I get that, but...” Charlotte sighed. “It’s just, why am I so...?”

As I watched Charlotte lament her situation, a wind spirit sat on my shoulder and desperately tried to tell me something. Most spirits weren’t very intelligent, so it was difficult for them to communicate. And that’s not even considering the fact that many spirits would come up to prank me because I could see them, so I usually ignored them. But this spirit was clearly distressed, and I realized immediately that whatever it was it wanted to tell me, it was something serious.

“Maybe I should buy a wand and start practicing again. I hear that store-bought wands are pretty good,” Charlotte murmured. “Hey, Master Slowe, can I—”

“No,” I denied her flat-out. “Remember what happened last time?”

“You’re so stingy. Meanie,” Charlotte said, sulking.

Magic and spirits were closely connected; you couldn’t have one without the other. I was reminded of that fact as the wind spirit floated into the sky and swayed with the wind. I followed it to the back of a bench on the side of the path. It was hard to tell, but there was a small magic circle etched on the back of the wooden bench. It was an explosive spell laced with dark magic. How dare they set up something so dangerous in this school! I thought, seething with anger.

“What is it, Master Slowe? Is there something on that bench?” Charlotte asked.

“No, it’s nothing,” I assured her. “I was just thinking about how life at this school is a lot more peaceful than back at House Denning.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Charlotte agreed. “I love how peaceful this place is!”

Looking at Charlotte’s smile, I stealthily destroyed the magic circle disguised as graffiti.

For the next several days, I ran around the large campus and meticulously inspected every nook and cranny. Pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into the search, I was able to find several magic circles concealed around the campus; on the side of the female dorms, on the side of the front gates, in the emergency food rations storage, even hidden among the graffiti on the wall of the lecture building.

“Damn you, No Face. How many circles did you set up around school?! There are way too many. If all these are set up for the attack on the school... I don’t even want to imagine that.” I shuddered at the mere thought.

I assumed that No Face, who was hired by Dustour, had two main motivations behind her infiltration. The first was to obtain confidential information about the institute and the people who lived here, hence the attempt to break into the headmaster’s office. The second was to set up magic circles in preparation for the attack on Kirsch. She was probably already finished with the latter.

“Should I report this to the headmaster?” I muttered to myself. “It’s going to be hard to explain how I noticed these, though. These magic circles were so well-hidden that even the headmaster couldn’t find them, and he’s lived here for years! I can’t just go up and tell him the reason I could find these all in a handful of days is that I had help from the spirits.”

But I couldn’t rule out the possibility that No Face would notice that I destroyed her magic circles and start a riot, using the chaos as cover to escape. I wanted to destroy as many of them as I could in case that came to pass.

“All right, I’ll report it to the headmaster later.” I paused in thought. “Doing what I need to do during the day is hard with all the people around. I mean, everyone ignores me when I do weird things nowadays, considering my reputation, but Shuya was stalking me today for some reason... I have to be careful.”

I continued muttering to myself. “Shuya is eerily perceptive. Pretty fitting for the guy called the Hot-blooded Fortune Teller. I really don’t want him to find out what I’m doing... I want to deal with the current problem without him getting involved.”

I opened a window, letting the cool evening air flow into my room. From my room on the fourth floor, I looked down at Kirsch, now shrouded in the dark of night. I had a clear view of everything in the campus from my window. A student practiced with a sword under some trees; a boy loitered near the entrance of the girls’ dorms, which was located beyond the sports grounds from the boys’ dorms, like he was waiting for someone; Professor Loco Moco patrolled the campus; and coachmen led horses around by the reins.

I checked to make sure nobody was outside my window.

“Well, I suppose it’s more efficient to destroy those magic circles at night.” Without any hesitation, I leaped out into the darkness.

Stars twinkled and shone in the night sky.

I found myself in a vast plain filled with weeds, an area which normally served little purpose outside of providing a habitat for the wildlife but was also used for horse-riding practice and the like. During the day, dozens of horses probably ran around this field freely, but I couldn’t say for sure because I wasn’t very familiar with it. I didn’t frequent it when I was the obese, blackhearted Piggy Duke since I didn’t take equestrian classes like most of the other students did. I had tried to ride a horse once, but I nearly crushed the poor thing with my weight. I’d never tried getting on one since.

“Oink.” Following the spirit guiding me, I approached the long horse stables.

I thought back on what I knew of No Face; she could change her appearance by using a specific magic artifact and use a dual-element spell of dark and water magic of her own design to set up her magic circles. Spirits despised anything infused with dark magic, so as long as I kept a close eye on the spirits, it was easy for me to find the magic circles. I was at an advantage since I could see them.

“Over there, huh.” Lighting up my dark surroundings with a light spell, I brushed away some weeds. There, I found one edge of a magic circle etched into the ground, hidden meticulously. It’s way bigger than the ones I’ve found up until now. I observed it closely. Hmm, this is...

“A magic circle for the Summon Water Golem spell, huh?” Something like a water golem wasn’t normally violent, but this one was enchanted to attack anything that so much as breathed in its vicinity if given half the chance. “It’s even laced with dark magic, programming it to attack the surrounding area when discovered,” I noted. “No wonder Shuya had so much trouble with this spell in the anime. He’s a fire mage.”

If the circle was triggered this close to the students’ and maids’ living quarters, it’d cause widespread panic. Water golems typically weren’t too much of a threat to a mage, but the majority of people in this school weren’t fit for combat. Not to mention the fact that this water golem was enchanted to look like an Aqua Slime. A monster like that suddenly appearing on campus? It’d definitely cause an uproar.

I placed my hand atop the magic circle, trying to figure out how the mercenary’s spell was constructed and reconfiguring it along the way.

“Oh wow, that’s amazing. If the water golem is defeated, it will merge with another magic circle close to it,” I muttered, feeling the magic. “It’s really complex. This is gonna take me all night to undo.”

Nothing less from a mercenary who accepts assignments from Dustour, I suppose. I had to admit, I was a little impressed. I pumped mana into the magic circle until it started to glow with a pale blue light and nearly exploded in my face. I managed to contain it before I set it off, working on making the circle mistake me for its creator. Slowly but surely, I rewrote the spell of the meticulously crafted magic circle from within.

The magic circle crackled. Goosebumps crawled up my arms and down my neck. I’m performing very high-level magic. If I screw this up, goodbye, field, and hello, gaping crater.

“I made the right decision to come at night when no one’s around,” I muttered. Ownership of the circle shifted from the mercenary to me, and I seized that opening the moment I got the chance. “Now for the finish.”

I pumped a ton of mana into the magic circle, which glowed brighter and brighter until it culminated in a blinding flash of light.

●

Meanwhile, at the same time that evening.

A group of riders on sturdy horses advanced down the main road under the cover of night.

“Headmaster Morozov has requested our presence again,” one of the riders said. “We really can’t go against him.”

Their lightweight armor and pure white capes gave them away as members of the Royal Knights of Daryth. Coachmen on horse-drawn wagons and traveling merchants turned back to look at them with widened eyes as they passed. Most citizens of Daryth never had a chance to see Royal Knights outside of official ceremonies or speeches by the royal family, so this was a rare sight indeed.

The royal family in Daryth had a long history; said to have the extraordinary ability to communicate with the Greater Spirit of Light, they were well-loved by the people they led. The royal family was the heart of Daryth—a symbol that needed to be protected at all costs.

The Royal Knights who protected them, therefore, were handpicked from only the best of the best of nobles across the entirety of Daryth. Every one of them was an elite mage—masters of magic and proficient with the blade. They were the cream of the crop of Daryth’s nobles.

Many students in Kirsch dreamed of becoming a Royal Knight, but it was an uphill battle. To even be eligible for the test to enter the Order, you needed the recommendation of the headmaster and to have contributed a required amount of service for the royal family.

“Professor Morozov and the leader of the Order go way back. It cannot be helped,” one of the other knights replied. “That aside, do you think there are any great mages at Kirsch right now? Someone we could potentially recruit, I mean.”

“Well, if I had to pick one person, there is someone,” the first knight replied. “That Denning boy. Not in the sense that he excels, but he’s definitely quirky enough.”

“Denning?” the second knight asked.

“The Prodigy of Wind who fell from grace. You know, the brat that the entirety of House Denning has finally given up on,” the former replied snarkily.

“Hey.” The man at the head of the pack turned back to reprimand his underlings for their lack of professionalism. His curly golden hair swayed in the wind. “We will arrive at Yoram as dawn breaks. After a short break, we will press on to Kirsch and should arrive shortly after noon. Remember that we are Royal Knights and must act accordingly—”

“Yes, Captain Oliver. I know. May the refulgent light ever smite our foolish foes,” one of the knights said, cutting him off.

The Royal Knights, the Swords of the Royal Family, were ready to wield their rapiers against their foes.

●

“I’m so sleepy...” Breathing in the refreshing forest air, Alicia Bulla Dia Cirquista stifled a yawn as she walked down the path. She was a girl with golden blonde hair, eyes that shone with unyielding spirit, and a delicate body like a fine candy sculpture. Even when wearing the modest school uniform, her grace as a princess showed in every move she made.

She looked like a cute agitated kitten as she walked briskly down the path. “Seriously, he really has guts to make me wake up this early in the morning... The nerve.” She wasn’t a morning person, but she had somewhere she needed to be at this ungodly hour.

I hear that Piggy Slowe is jogging every morning. I need to see it for myself, she thought. That was the sole reason why she was out and about when she could barely keep her eyes open.

“Why would he try to lose weight now? His personality is completely different. He’s like how he used to be... No, that’s impossible,” she muttered to herself and shook her head. “Oh well. It’s fine to take a look, I guess...”

She had lived in this school for over a year now, and it was a second home to her. Kirsch housed over a thousand students, and although there were also mage institutes back in Cirquista, none of them came close to being of the same scale. The school was built in the middle of a forest, surrounded by sturdy walls several times taller than Alicia. It was renowned for its security.

“The architecture here isn’t bad, but it’s very behind the times. Daryth usually prides itself in how traditional it is, calling these buildings venerable and all that, but... Honestly, this is why other countries call them old-fashioned,” Alicia muttered. “There’s only one town near the school, and that’s Yoram. I can’t believe that is the third-biggest town in Daryth.”

Monsters lived in the forest outside campus grounds. But the school made sure to cull all but the weakest monsters that students could face, and Alicia heard that there hadn’t been any underground dungeons spawning in the forest in decades.

“If I remember right, the pig’s jog starts from the old research building.” Alicia paused. “Oh, someone’s there.”

Someone moved beneath the dense trees that lined the aged research building, opting not to go down the paved path people used as a shortcut. Thinking it was the person she was looking for, Alicia hurried to hide behind a tree.

What she saw was not what she expected.

Instead of finding a chubby boy struggling to jog down the path, she found someone waving their wand towards a magic circle etched into the ground. A level-headed someone wearing glasses and a black robe; someone that Alicia recognized. But what is Professor Arle doing here this early in the morning? she thought.

“With this drop of my blood, this dark spell will blossom and shatter... Explosion.” As Professor Arle chanted those ominous words, her wand flickered with light and the magic circle was engulfed by the sinister dark clouds that flowed out from her wand. Alicia felt goosebumps crawl up her skin. Despite the warning bells going off in her head warning her to get out of there, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the magic circle.

Doing that, Alicia realized what it was. It was obviously a dark magic circle purposed for destruction.

“Oh, dear. I’ve been spotted.” Alicia froze as Professor Arle’s calm and mature voice reached her ears. The woman who originated from the Magic Academy and taught the fundamentals of magic in Kirsch smiled wide, staring at the overseas student before her.

●

“I didn’t expect someone powerful enough to reconfigure my magic circle to be in this school...” The seasoned veteran was more than a little unnerved by this realization. She had been shocked when she had broken the pretty magic sculpture in the headmaster’s parlor, touching it without thinking, but that paled in comparison to the shock she felt now.

“I haven’t obtained the files on the students and graduates of Kirsch yet, but...” She hesitated. “Maybe I should make a run for it.” Most of the magic circles she had set up around the institute had been deactivated and reconfigured by someone. Upon making this unexpected discovery, the mercenary spent the night hiding in her base in the research building. Luckily, it seems that her base in this deserted building hadn’t been discovered yet, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Her seasoned instincts were ringing alarm bells and demanding her to leave at once.

“I need to make a few new magic circles just in case... Probably just explosive ones will do,” she muttered.

Still, who in the world could manage this? More importantly, how did they discover my magic circles in the first place? She thought back on the numerous magic circles she’d hidden with utmost care. Wait a minute. Even more important than that is... Now that I think about it, it should be impossible for someone to overwrite a magic circle of this level.

She shook her head and focused on planning her escape, clicking her tongue in displeasure. “I didn’t think disguising myself as a teacher would backfire on me. I need the headmaster’s permission for any outings... That’s unfortunate. Urgh... But if I brute-force my way past the guards, the Loco Moco Highland will come after me.”

She would need more preparations if she wanted to get out in the event the worst-case scenario came to pass. Let’s see, what should I do? Do I cause widespread panic in the school? Do I use the monsters in the forest? One plan after another surfaced in her mind when she heard a sound.

“Oh, dear. I’ve been spotted,” she said. She looked up towards the source of the noise; there, she found the foreign student from Cirquista gawking at her. “Well, well. Hello, Lady Alicia.”

The most valuable hostage in Kirsch stood before her.