Chapter 6
Lutheran
I went to visit Shadow as he prepared for his fight.
"I hear you are against Princess Rose Oriana in your first round. Are you prepared for the outcome?"
"Yup, I've prepared 48 special techniques specifically for this fight," he says as an unreadable look looms over his face.
"48?? I see you're taking this even more seriously than I was expecting... Do you think the situation calls for that level of excessive preparation?"
"Oh yes. I'm not going to do this in a mere half-hearted manner. The crowd won't even know what they're watching, when this match is over the loser is going to be less than a memory in the minds of the crowd," he chuckles darkly.
I grit my teeth. "Perhaps you should go a bit easy on her. Remember, Duke Asshat has a special interest in the princess. And you've already gotten into conflict after stepping on the toes of one cult member where princesses are concerned, need I remind you."
"Oh? Asshat wants something with Rose?" The infuriating boy asks the rhetorical question as if he truly doesn't know. I'm not sure why the pretence other than to mock. After all, who does this brat think he's fooling? Regardless, I decide to respond as if it were a genuine question.
"Yes. He wants her hand in marriage, and wants her body undamaged. So, don't go too hard on her."
A dark expression once again covers the brat's face. "That's disgusting."
Ah, you have designs on this princess as well, young Shadow. I glimpse a small part of his no doubt expansive master plan. He already has Alexia, and by taking Rose from Asshat he would gain political power in two kingdoms. Quite ambitious for the second born child of a Baron.
Not that he will survive once I hand him over to Mordred. He will likely be none too pleased about Shadow interfering with his own plans regarding the girl. It's not like I would ever put myself at risk to protect anyone else, let alone a rival.
"Well, Sherry and I will be rooting for you. Here, take this," I drop my latest creation into his lap. There's enough illicit substance in there to give an entire herd of oxen a heart attack. And knowing the devil child he'll just eat them all like it's nothing and ask for more.
I still remember the mocking look he gave me just a few days ago after discovering the poison on the shortbread... And yet he continued to mock me by eating the entire lot! Accursed child!!! I don't know what his game is. He knows I'm trying to kill him and still treats me like a joke instead of giving me the respect I deserve. Well I'll show him...
Hopefully this latest poison combined with the physical exertion of a battle will be enough. I'm running out of ideas. Otherwise who knows what kind of interference he'll run in the coming days. My plan must go off without a hitch!
I'll observe his match and hopefully figure out a weakness in his defence. Something I can exploit should the time come to turn on him. I'm quite eager to see him fight for the first time.
I walk to my seat in the stadium next to my tool.
"Cid's up next!" She says excitedly.
"Hopefully he leaves the Princess in one piece," I give my honest reply.
"You must have a lot of faith in Cid, Father." She beams up at me, as if a member of the Cult could lose to a pampered princess from the mere kingdom of art. I settle into my seat, expecting to see the surprise on the crowds faces as the Student Council President is defeated by the boy that took out Zenon.
However it seems I'm the one caught surprised. Despite my expectations, I watch in growing bafflement as over the next few minutes, Shadow gets completely and utterly demolished by Rose Oriana.
This is the one that beat Zenon and destroyed a chunk of the city? Getting thrown around like a training dummy like that!?
Is it possible Rose is just that good? She is a prodigy after all…
No. Shadow is just that weak. He's slow to react and not strong enough to block her attacks.
Where are your 48 techniques Shadow? Where's the strength that Zenon was so cautious of? Show me!
Did he have help when he defeated Zenon? I suppose the explosion that destroyed part of the city could have been the result of my mana storing artefact. But why? Is someone pulling wool over my eyes? Is Zenon even truly dead???
It's almost like…. The poison! It's finally affecting him!
Finally some luck! I have to struggle to keep the grin off my face, watching Shadow succumb to my deadly trap.
To check if I was noticed I glance at the tool.
She's staring at the match with wide-eyed horror. Each hit Shadow takes visibly drives her further and further into despair.
A sickly sense of horror rises in me as I recognise the sight of what I'm looking at. The truth I had been too blind to notice until now. This isn't someone watching their friend as I had assumed. This is a girl in love watching the boy she loves fighting for his life.
How could I have been so blind! Shadow has already displayed a propensity to lay claim to that which belongs to others in the Cult. And while I was focused on my plan, he set his eyes on what belongs to me!!!
This just shows his skills of deception are second to none. My talks with him gave me no indication that he was interested in stealing her. And all this time he was luring her away directly from under my nose.
Just what is the masterplot you're spinning that would require Sherry as well as two princesses, Shadow?
Hopefully the poison in his system is going to finish him off before he can finish stealing from me.
As his match ends I get up to visit him and check whether he's succumbed just yet. Even if he hasn't, it's a massive clue on what toxins and what quantities will be effective in the future.
I walk into his room of the clinic, expecting to see him in intense agony, dying from the poison. Instead I see him lying in bed, the poisoned chocolates lying beside him completely unopened and uneaten.
"You… you didn't eat the chocolates?" So you weren't poisoned after all???
"Nah. Had some bad experiences with chocolate recently so I was going to save them for later."
"You… didn't even try one?"
"Not really. Sorry?"
Why now do you refuse the poison when you showed no fear of it before? And what was with that showing in the arena if you weren't poisoned. Are you truly just weak after all? Was it to lull me into a false sense of security? Or just to mock me!?
I'm losing my mind dealing with this lunatic! The labyrinthine manipulations are taking most of my focus just to navigate. I can't afford to have my focus split like that, not when I'm so close to finishing my plan after all these years!
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So Lutheran came to visit me after my match which was nice, but unnecessary. I'm still a little hesitant to eat the chocolate, besides the chance of them being poisoned being non-zero there were also too many bad situations caused by chocolate for it to be a coincidence.
As he's leaving he comes to a sudden stop on the other side and just stares at whoever was about to enter. He grinds his teeth and lets out a frustrated sounding noise too quietly for anyone but me to hear with my mana enhanced hearing.
Finally, he bows, and steps around whoever it was.
Much to my surprise the person that enters after him is none other than Princess Rose. The girl who just (seemingly) humiliated me in the first round.
I can't quite figure out what she's doing here (and I'm an expert at figuring out others' intentions). From what I know she's certainly not the type to mock a vanquished foe. But I can't think of any other reason for her to visit a background character.
She smiles at me.
"I'm glad to see your injuries are not too severe, brave warrior. After seeing you carried off I had feared the worst..."
"Huh?"
She giggled. "I see you are surprised to see me. Yes, I do have the next round in ten minutes. But I just knew I would be unable to focus if I didn't at least check if you were alright, or let you know how much your fighting spirit moved me... Your willpower and perseverance, your refusal to accept defeat even when it seemed hopeless. It was beyond inspiring!"
Ah, that's the Student Council President for you. Such a heroine that she'd check on even a mob character. She even acts as if I did better than I truly did, just so my spirit isn't broken. That's protagonist energy right there!
I nod sagely. "Thanks. Now go, time is short and the audience is awaiting their star."
She gives me a sad smile. "You are correct, the next match should be starting soon. Will you be cheering for me…?"
"Of course!. It's natural for me to root for you."
Her beam seems to light up the room. Literally, I have quite sensitive senses and the room actually brightened by about 200 lumens. Her shoujo powers are quite impressive indeed.
"Thank you, Cid Kagenou... I'll be devoting this next match to you. I hope you recover soon," she says as she hurries out of the room to a match that will hopefully make people forget about the first round.
At least I can be sure that Rose will forget it. Besides coming to see me, this will be a tiny detail in her story. In a few hours she'll forget all about Cid Kagenou, just like I planned it.
Hehehehe….
My next visitor is also somewhat surprising.
"Yo- you were really impressive down there Cid!" Sherry says. She's looking at the ground, but she seems to be making an effort to push down her anger to speak with me.
"Come on," I laugh. "Be serious. I got beaten up and never stood a chance."
"That may be so… But you never gave up!" She looks up and meets my eyes, talking insistently. Then her eyes widen and she looks at the ground again, her face going red. I just wish I knew what I was doing to piss her off.
"Anyway…" She fidgets with her fingers. "I made you these." She hastily holds out a wrapped bundle of something that smells deliciously warm and sweet. I look inside to see home baked cookies. "I figured they could be a celebratory gift if you won… but they can be a get well gift too…. not that I don't think you deserve to be celebrated!"
I give her a smile. "Sherry, they smell delicious." I pause as a thought comes to me. "You didn't… bake them in the same kitchen your father bakes in, did you?"
She looks confused, but shakes her head. "No, I made them in the school kitchens. Father never lets me use the kitchen at home when he's making something. Oh! But I reorganised it like you said."
"And it's safe?"
She nods. "Perfectly safe."
I breathe a sigh of relief. Good thing I thought to have Sherry step in. If she's moved Lutheran's poison he might stop accidentally making baking mixups.
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After being cleared from the clinic I start making my way back to school. Along the way I discover something terrible.
I seem to have picked up a stalker...
Not good.
I'm not sure why she's decided to follow me, but I'm certain that her aim is me. While she's pretending her attention is focused elsewhere, I can sense it directed at me. And wherever I head she follows in secret.
It can't be that she was awed by my showing in the tournament, since my performance was carefully tailored to give the exact opposite effect. Anyone who watched the fight should have already forgotten my part in it... Is it possible she saw through my act?
I discreetly glance at the girl. Brown hair done up into a large bun. A massive pair of glasses hiding her face. Her face does look familiar though, I know I've seen her somewhere. She's wearing the school uniform, but somehow I don't think it's from school that I've seen her.
I probably just passed her on the street somewhere.
Regardless of where we've met before, her attention is clearly focused on me. Or…. actually it feels like it's focused around me. And the aura feels protective. Almost like she's guarding me.
Is… is she a yandere?
Never mind, she didn't see through my act. She's just a psycho like Alexia. Great…
In the end I give her the slip by turning around the corner of one of the school buildings and quickly darting up to the roof. I watch unseen from a safe distance as my stalker turns the corner a few moments later and stops in her tracks, looking around in confusion.
Now that I can observe her I'm starting to wonder if we might have more in common than I assumed. It's clear that she's an attractive girl, yet she's hiding it behind those large glasses and unfashionable haircut as if she's trying to disguise herself as a background character.
The only reason one would do that is if she's a fellow student of the art of looking like a mob!
She must have seen how much of a S-Tier mob I was and decided to observe my skills so she can copy my techniques for herself. How very sneaky of her, I approve!
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to befriend her so that I can share my wisdom as a senior disciple of mob-fu. Next time I run into her of course.
For now, I have class.
I slip in two minutes before class begins, the room is mostly full as I'm the last to arrive. Barely anyone acknowledges my entrance, no one glances up. Instead they're all talking amongst themselves about Princess Rose and the tournament. Score!
I take my seat next to Skel and Po who are surprisingly alive.
"If only we had more chocolates…" Skel was saying.
"You want more chocolates after what happened last time?" I ask.
"Of course!" Po enthuses. "Last time was only a fluke. We learned a valuable lesson, next time I'm going to remain more hidden while studying my target!"
I let out a sigh. "I really don't think you should play around with deadly weapons like those without some sort of safety plan in mind. That's why I haven't done anything with these," I show them the (possibly) poisoned chocolates Gaunt got me.
Their eyes bulge. "Those are the premium chocolates from Mitsugoshi! Come on Cid, you have to give them to us. With these even a girl like Rose would fall for a hunk like myself. They're obviously wasted on you since even with these you won't get anywhere. But I can! So give them over!"
"No," I say, putting the chocolates back in my bag. "You two clearly can't be trusted with weapons of mass destruction such as these. Oppenheimer would be ashamed of you."
I ignore their protests and am instead distracted by the next person walking in. I'd say student as she's around the same age as us, however I'm 99.999% certain she's never sat in my class before.
My stalker enters the room with all the boring energy of a background character. She glances at me for a quarter of a second with a look of relief, then looks away and continues walking towards the back where she takes a seat at the very back of the room. I glance around with amazement. No one paid any attention to her. Someone who isn't in our class just wandered in and took a seat and no one noticed because her background aura was just that powerful!
Bravo! My hat off to your mob-act madam! Perhaps it should be I that is taking notes!
Class begins, Rose enters and starts giving an announcement I'm barely paying attention to. She smiles at something in my general vicinity. I wonder if she remembers me or if she's already forgotten our fight? I'm sure the rest of the tournament was way more exciting.
I'm drawn out of my thoughts when something I've been waiting for for both of my lives happens.
"Everyone freeze! This school is now under the control of Garden of Eden!"
Terrorists take the school hostage. And it seems to be the extremist wing of Garden of Eden, which means I can do whatever I want to them!
Also all the mana in the area becomes difficult to use or whatever. But I already have experience getting around that.
"Garden of Eden, I've heard of you!" Rose draws her sword. "Kidnapping a Princess was foolish enough, but you've made a grave miscalculation attacking a Knight Academy!"
Then her eyes go wide as she realises her mana isn't working.
The terrorists chuckle. "Well well well, guess we got to make an example out of you little missy. We were told to take you out quickly." He draws his sword.
I see, just like the extremists tried to assassinate Alexia a few nights ago, they're here to take out Rose. But they should know that they're making a huge mistake. You fools! With her golden hair, beautiful face, kind personality, and heroine aura… That's a main character you're trying to kill!
I can't let that happen!!!
"Nooooooooo!" I dive between the two just as the extremist is about to assassinate her, fully expecting the blade to strike me down (since it's a background character's role to die in this scene.)
Instead the blade pauses. The terrorists eyes go wide with confusion, and a little fear. He hesitates, and his mouth opens to say something. But that hesitation is all that's needed.
A thick book comes flying from the back of the room, thrown by my stalker who has a look of panicked desperation on her face. It hits the face of the extremist who was about to kill Rose with a loud thud. It doesn't hurt him of course, he's enhanced with mana. But it's enough of a shock to distract him for a brief moment.
Rose steps in front of me protectively and slides the terrorist's legs out from under him with her own. He clatters to the ground and drops his sword, which Rose scrambles to pick up, depriving him of his weapon. His terrorist buddies are staring in confusion, unsure what they're supposed to do.
"Everyone run!" Rose screams, grabbing my wrist and pulling me with her. The room descends into chaos as some students run past the terrorists into the halls, while others climb out the windows.
In the chaos, a bag lies forgotten. Freshly liberated of its chocolatey goods.