The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

Clatter clatter – The sound of neat dishes and the ch chatter of Yurasia and Stella filled the air.

Ophelia, who was munching her food with a face that looked like she’d bitten into a lemon, kicked my leg under the table with a thud.

I looked up while chewing on my meat with a nom nom sound.

Her expression clearly asked, ‘Why on earth did you call me here?’

The reason? Just treating our kind senior to a meal as her junior from the same academy.

Well, there are a few other reasons, but for now, that’s it.

With this thought, I shot a sideways glance at Ophelia.

I couldn’t tell what my expression was like, but Ophelia flinched and buried her gaze into her plate.

“Hmm…?”

Stella let out a meaningful snort as if she had caught our silent exchange.

At that sound, Yurasia also turned her gaze back and forth between Ophelia and me.

“Eliaernes.”

“Yeah?”

“When did you get to know Ophelia-senpai?”

At Stella’s question, Ophelia’s face stiffened.

I figured she was worried I might mention we met at the Information Guild, but what to do now?

I contemplated while chewing on my meat with that nom nom sound.

Well, there’s really nothing to think about.

The Information Guild… Sure, it’s a bit narrow, but it’s nice to have people who bring information.

And besides, it’s kind of Ophelia’s lifeline too.

As a good junior who cares about her senior’s sustenance, I am quite kind.

“This week.”

“…This week? Hmm?”

Stella tilted her head as if she were recalling the memories from this week. She probably wanted to think about the time I was alone.

Even if I didn’t have any time alone, it wouldn’t matter.

Since I claimed we were on friendly terms, what could Stella do about it?

Throwing out a vague answer, I ignored Ophelia’s anxious stare and finished my meal.

And then Stella said.

“Really?”

She put on her clueless act and pretended to understand.

But Ophelia couldn’t relax.

“By the way, Young Lady.”

Yurasia took up Stella’s question.

“I heard Ophelia-senpai got her suspension lifted today… When did you become close?”

I paused my chewing and mulled over Yurasia’s words for a moment. Suspension. Suspension? Suspension…?

What, suspension? No way.

What is my expression like? Did I manage my expression well?

Normally I’d maintain my composure, but right now, I couldn’t. I was too shocked. Suspension, really?

I briefly averted my eyes to look at Ophelia.

Looking like she couldn’t chew her food anymore, she was gazing at me with a deathly pale face.

Even Stella, who had just gotten her question cleared up, was staring at me wide-eyed.

Yurasia wasn’t laughing with her eyes either; she was watching me with the corners of her mouth turned up.

Pina was just enjoying her delicious meal.

“…Yurasia. How do you know about that?”

“For your safety, I’m keeping an eye on any variables within the academy.”

“Wow… you’re really dedicated, huh?”

“Of course. I’m your dedicated knight, after all. So, Young Lady, are you perhaps telling a lie?”

Are you kidding me?

“No?”

“Oh really? So you befriended her today?”

“No, we became friends before.”

The three of them, who had been watching me, tilted their heads in unison. I didn’t understand why I had to make this lame excuse, but I opened my mouth nonetheless.

“We randomly met in the dormitory and became friends.”

Dormitory! The mention of that word brightened Ophelia’s complexion.

Stella nodded and resumed her meal, and Yurasia, though still skeptical, nodded as if she could accept this for now.

I wanted to tease Yurasia for daring to interrogate me, but I decided to hold back today.

I could just watch Yurasia, who makes a face every time I train her.

And as for Pina…

Yum yum. The food is just so tasty.

*

“You, why are you doing this to me?”

“Using informal speech?”

“This is the academy…!”

“And so? Shouldn’t I treat you as a senpai?”

Ophelia, whose lips were twitching, lowered her head and pleaded softly.

“…Why are you doing this to me…?”

“What did I do?”

“Hey… Do you really not know why I’m asking?”

“Yeah. I genuinely don’t know.”

The night grew deep.

After eating dinner and dessert, we all returned to the academy and scattered to our respective rooms.

Just before dispersing, I whispered to Ophelia to come to my room within 30 minutes.

And now, here she is, in my room.

“I’m telling you—if my identity gets exposed, my means of living will be cut off. But just now, thanks to Lady Eliaernes, I almost lost my means of living!”

“If it’s about your means of living, you should take care of it yourself. Why blame me?”

Ophelia shot me a look as if to say, ‘What kind of shameless person are you?’

Sure. I understand being shameless.

But my words aren’t wrong either. If you’re afraid your identity will be revealed, you shouldn’t be roaming around the academy at all; you should always be hiding underground. You came out to the world and got caught.

I won’t take the blame. Probably.

“…Yes. That is correct. Lady Eliaernes has no blame whatsoever. You’re entirely right.”

“Don’t throw out sarcasm; just speak nicely. And I’ll reward you handsomely for today’s incident, so don’t be too sharp with me.”

“Ugh…”

Ophelia, who ground her teeth with a crunch, finally sighed and relaxed.

“…So, is this about a request again?”

“How did you know I solved the labyrinth in the underground channels? When I came out that day, I didn’t feel your presence.”

Did Muyeong come out first back then?

I didn’t sense anything apart from Adelia’s gaze. But Uje knew that information.

By saying that, Ophelia, as Uje’s disciple, should also know that information.

Then the sequence becomes important.

Did Uje inform Ophelia?

Or did Ophelia inform Uje?

Depending on the answer, how I could use Ophelia would differ greatly.

But…

“…You said you solved the labyrinth?”

Ophelia seems to be completely unaware of the fact that the labyrinth was solved…?

“Wait, wait. Lady Eliaernes. Customer. What did I just hear? You solved the labyrinth? Did you do that? How?”

Thud – Ophelia bumped her knees on the floor, then crawled over to my side.

Grabbing one of my legs, she bombarded me with questions.

Is this all an act? Everything could be an act.

Ophelia had been keeping her enrollment at the academy a secret. Plus, when I mentioned I attended the academy, she was visibly shocked.

Was she surprised because we both attend the same academy? No, it’s not that.

That expression reads more like, ‘How can you mention the academy when this happened?’

And it’s embarrassing to say this, but from the entrance ceremony onwards, the rumor circulated that I, Eliaernes Eustetia, had enrolled in Karela Academy.

So Ophelia has been deceiving me.

If that’s the case, a question arises.

Why would she tell a lie that would be exposed so quickly?

Did she think she could get away with it?

I looked down at Ophelia, hanging off my leg. Seeing her sparkling eyes and pleasantly curved lips, the answer became apparent.

“…Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not that smart, are you?”

“No? I’m quite smart!”

Sure. Ophelia is just a bit slow.

She didn’t intend to lie to trick me.

Of course, she has good skills. She’s got gumption. She’s got guts.

But she’s lacking quite a bit in intelligence.

So then, what was the reason to hide her academy enrollment? Someone must have told her to do so.

“You’re Uje’s disciple, right?”

“Gasp.”

See? She can’t even try to hide her expression.

That gasp, the heartbeat, the movements, the expression—she’s not hiding it; she simply can’t.

“W-How did you know…?”

Can I say it?

I could say it, but it’d be better to keep it hidden for now. It’s smarter to show I can extract such information.

“That’s not something you need to know. So, um…”

I paused for a moment.

I wondered how Uje collected this information.

Puppeteer. Puppeteer.

I narrowed my eyes at Ophelia.

Nothing special seemed to be around.

I drew up mana and surrounded my eyes. It was a simple spell Kaloso had taught me. I recalled it and drew the magic circle.

And then I could see.

For now, Ophelia in front of me is the main body.

But…

“Are both your legs in good shape?”

“Huh? As you can see—”

“You’re acting crazy. Both legs are prosthetics. If you lie again, I’ll rip off your perfectly healthy arm too.”

“Oh my god… how did you—?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“E-Emperor too doesn’t know this fact.”

“Emperor doesn’t even know that you’re alive, you idiot.”

I clicked my tongue and leaned back in my chair.

Those prosthetic legs are as natural as a real human’s.

I might need to peel them back to see the joints or the carved magic, but even without doing that, I know I need to be careful.

“Did your master give them to you?”

“Yeah, Uje made them for me himself.”

“Just ordinary legs, right?”

“No, they’re filled with various magic, starting from self-repair to nerve connections… and other things. It’s an incredible… artifact. Hehe!”

“Are there any suspicious spells?”

“There’s nothing questionable. And even if there were, I couldn’t dare to harbor any disrespectful thoughts towards Uje.”

That was made by Uje.

And Uje has likely added some different magic to those prosthetics. Perhaps for surveillance purposes.

Didn’t Ophelia say she’s a disciple?

Then was it to protect her? Maybe.

It seems that the magic Ophelia isn’t aware of suggests that protection isn’t the only purpose.

For now… it’s better not to say unnecessary things here.

Forcing the prosthetics out might relieve my concern, but it could ultimately raise Uje’s suspicion.

Still, I’ve gained some information.

According to Flame Sovereign, Uje seems to have connections to the Cartel. And it feels like Uje is keeping an eye on Ophelia too.

Both are just plain assumptions, but combining those two assumptions leads to a possibility.

Could it be that Uje was the one who ordered her to cut off the side branch information?

Is the side branch closely tied to the Cartel and Uje? The six pillars of the empire. The Puppeteer of the 9th Circle on par with the 8th Rank. A massive cartel that could be said to dominate parts of the continent.

Now I roughly understand why they were so cocky.

Snicker – I pushed Ophelia, who was clinging to my leg, away with my foot.

“But you managed to not get caught?”

“Not getting caught, you say?”

“By Fabiana-senpai and Silina.”

“Oh, yes. That’s to be expected. When I meet them, I never, under any circumstances, show my main body.”

“But you meet me as your main body.”

“That’s…! You forced me into meeting like that, Lady Eliaernes!”

“Well, either way. So you can relay information within the academy, then?”

Having gotten back on her feet, Ophelia nodded her head confidently.

“I can go anywhere except the Imperial Palace.”

“To the Duchy of Eustetia as well?”

“I haven’t tried and never thought of attempting, so I don’t know.”

“Good. Don’t ever plan to try.”

Muttering that, I leaned my upper body forward.

“So, why did you create that play like that?”

I hesitated a lot deciding whether to probe or not.

In the end, I chose to probe.

Why? Is it dangerous? No.

In fact, if I back down, Uje might think he noticed his surveillance.

Before that, it’s wise to ease such doubts a little.

“…Yes?”

Ophelia leaned back a little.

I mirrored her movement, leaning forward.

“The play. Ronan… no, Rozan wouldn’t fall for Erisa’s confession. And what? Luna… No, Lena likes Rozan? Does that even make sense?”

“Well… no, that’s just… um, the play… Why are you getting angry?”

Ophelia scratched her cheek and forced a laugh.

“Aha! You seem to have enjoyed the play quite a bit. Um… yes, well. It’s possible you might not like that romantic line. But that’s just… pure fiction. Only from my head—”

“No, you didn’t write the script for that play.”

“…Four?”

Ophelia’s eyes fluttered.

I thought initially it was suspicious, but talking to her without biases made it clear.

Ophelia is not the type of person who could write such a play.

The script’s owner must be someone else.

“Who wrote it? Don’t think of lying. As I said before, if you lie again, I’ll rip off your perfectly healthy arm.”

And that person is likely…

“It was… it was my master who advised me. He didn’t write it from beginning to end. He just gave me advice! Just advice…!”

“I figured as much.”

Uje.

I knew it.

Uje knows the history of 400 years ago.

How? There’s no way to know besides one method.

Uje has allied himself with the Demon Race.

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