“You useless thing!!”
The moment I (Reina) was summoned, Sensei struck me across the cheek.
A dry slap echoed, and I looked at her with my expression killed.
“Do you understand why you’ve been called here?”
”…… The matter that Ouga Veret’s induction into the Student Council is being delayed.”
“That’s one part of it. But a problem larger than that arose today.”
She grabbed my throat and lifted me up.
It was crushing, bones creaking — but I didn’t feel breathless.
Because my body has been reshaped by this person to function that way.
“That Veret brat…… he sensed that your body is a special construct.”
”…………”
I wasn’t surprised.
On the day he first made contact with me, his eyes had been laden with suspicion.
When he spoke with me, he had never once let his tension dissolve.
“You didn’t…… cry for help, by any chance?”
“I did not. He doesn’t hold good feelings for me to begin with.”
“……tch, not a flicker of expression…… creepy child, truly. You don’t think I’ll dispose of you right here?”
I don’t.
If she loses me, Sensei loses her spare.
A magical talent greater than mine — no, more accurately, an individual who could survive the modification of being implanted with that talent — does not exist.
That is why I’ve been able to live this far without being thrown away.
Sensei understands this as well.
And although she was angry, her eyes hadn’t lost their calm.
”…… Tch. Holding a poor-quality apprentice is exhausting.”
“My deepest apologies.”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean in your heart. …… Well, fine. I was waiting for a good reply, but I’ll force Ouga Veret onto the Council as Headmistress.”
When she says force, she must be doing so with a calculus of victory.
Veret-kun is a man with a strong sense of justice.
He owes Sensei a debt for her cooperation in extracting Miss Lebetsenka from Crown Prince Arnia.
Even faced with some degree of high-handedness, he’d swallow it on a tit-for-tat basis. No — he’d definitely swallow it. That was Sensei’s certainty.
In fact, his obstinate refusals up to this point may also be because he hates leaving a debt to Floné Milfonti sitting open.
The fact that the magic academy Council title is desired even by the four great noble houses is proven by House Lebetsenka.
That being so, Sensei’s prediction that he, too, would desire it is not wrong.
It’s simply that the opponent is far more capable than we’d imagined.
As expected of Veret-kun.
He instinctively sniffed out the suspicious smell that couldn’t be hidden and incorporated it into his actions.
“If he joins, Mashiro Liche will naturally follow. Then we can take the two of them to the Inter-Academy Magic Tournament……”
”…… In that case, I’ll use Miss Lebetsenka as a love rival to provoke Miss Liche. Ouga Veret has soft spots for those two.”
“Very well. Be sure to bring both onto the Council. And then bring them, as our academy’s representatives, to that place — the tournament venue.”
“Understood.”
“Once the plan succeeds, this position will lose its meaning. Then we may as well exercise authority while we can.”
A low laugh echoed through the silent room.
Sensei has accumulated long years for the sake of this plan.
The time to fulfill her desires draws near.
The heightened emotional state I’ve rarely seen in her until now must, also, be the cause of that.
I…… don’t feel anything in particular.
I simply fulfill the role I’ve been given — the meaning of Reina Milfonti’s existence.
“After I prepare his appointment papers, I’ll travel to the venue ahead. …… The rest, carry out as I’ve instructed. Even you — useless as you are — should manage that.”
”…… Without fail. For Sensei’s wish.”
“Good. That is the reason I picked you up, after all. ……Now, return to your duties. The Council is busy during lunch break, too, I’d imagine.”
The pressure of moments ago vanished as she put on the Headmistress face the students know and urged me out.
I bowed once more and left the room.
”…………[Heal].”
As I walked down the corridor, I used healing magic to erase the mark from Sensei’s slap.
That’s right — the neck, too. She put quite a bit of force into it, so there may be a handprint.
That she couldn’t break me, however, must be due to her power waning.
Anyone’s output grows limited with age.
Even if it’s the [Floné the Lightning Strike] who tore through countless battlefields and slew enemy commanders.
“Now then — as instructed, let me wrap up my work as Council President.”
The Council is understaffed, so the volume falling on me is naturally large.
…… I’ll have to face off against a mountain of paperwork again.
“——Ah.”
“Oh.”
—— My mood having sunk somewhat, I’d been about to open the door — when a black-haired boy came out from the other side.
That he turned out to be the very Ouga Veret in question meant my body involuntarily froze.
It was a coincidence as if heaven had dropped him in to comfort me.
“Good timing. Council President, I was looking for you.”
“That’s unusual. For me?”
“To invite you to lunch together.”
“Why?”
“I’d caught wind of the Council President’s marvelous skill, and thought I’d love to see it in action.”
”…… Well, well.”
The unexpected words left me unable even to throw back a light reply.
I hadn’t imagined being praised this directly.
I’d been caught off guard, and my unresponsive reaction must have been misread — Veret-kun continued his proposal.
“In exchange, I’ll provide a meal you’ll find satisfying. So — won’t you join us?”
…… It’s strange.
The hostility that had been in his gaze before was thinning.
At first I’d suspected he was scheming to make contact with me to extract information……
But the possibility that this is simple goodwill had emerged.
…… So the invitation just now is also from the heart…… is it?
Inside my chest, various speculations and small ripples of emotion swirled.
…… No, my priorities can be set lower than that.
A target who has been beyond my reach until now is approaching of his own accord.
I can’t let this chance slip.
“In that case — gladly.”
I plastered on my usual unchanging smile and answered.
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