51. Fast & Furious

51. Fast & Furious

To my beloved Freya.

Freya, how are you? It’s a bit late for this letter, I’m sorry. After coming to the Academy, so many things happened that I forgot to write. I hope you weren’t worried about your sister because you didn’t receive a letter.

Don’t worry too much. Your sister is doing well at the Academy. I’ve made many friends and I’m studying diligently. I’ve become particularly close with a friend named Priscilla. At first, she was shy, but now we’re quite close, and we even shower together in the bathroom.

Priscilla especially loves my tail. After classes end, she clings to my tail every day. I always hug her tightly with my tail too. As Freya said, it’s common for beastmen to hug with their tails among close friends.

Ah, we also sleep hugging each other tightly at night. Since Freya, who used to hug me every night, isn’t here, I feel a bit empty, so now I hug Priscilla instead. Every night, I kiss her forehead before falling asleep, and it reminds me of sleeping with you, allowing me to fall into a deep sleep.

Just a moment, I’ll tell you in detail about how I live with Priscilla. First, when we wash in the bathroom, as Freya taught me….

“….”

Freya’s hand, holding the letter, trembled violently. Freya’s black tail puffed up rigidly with rage, and the wolf beastman attendant who delivered the letter cowered, tucking her tail between her legs.

Freya shot a glare at the attendant once more and reread the letter.

… Rubbing her chest….

Crunch, the letter crumpled. Freya glared at the letter with bloodshot eyes. The attendant squeezed his eyes shut and fled to a corner.

“Hoo….”

She inhaled. She exhaled. After several deep breaths, Freya prepared herself mentally and continued reading the letter, skipping some parts.

… How is Mother doing? I hope she’s recovered her health even a little. I worry that her health might have worsened in my absence. If necessary, I’ll find medicinal herbs in the capital, so please take good care of her.

Freya, you haven’t been hurt anywhere while training, have you? Without me, you have to endure Father’s training alone, and your sister is truly worried if our Freya can endure it….

“Huhu….”

Freya’s wolf ears perked up, and she smiled. She was so happy that her sister was worried about her. Father’s training was nothing, but it was worth it to pretend it was hard.

However, that smile didn’t last long.

… P.S.: I’ve made several friends besides Priscilla. Among them is a girl named Claire, who suddenly asked me to marry her….

“… Why is this girl’s name here.”

Freya’s lips, which had been turned upwards, trembled. Her tail, which had been wagging energetically, stopped moving, and Freya continued reading the letter with a hardened expression.

… Anyway, take care of yourself and live well. I’ll bring my friends during the vacation, so let’s see each other then.

Your loving sister, Skadi.

“….”

Finally reaching the end of the letter, Freya took a breath and murmured softly.

“… Who the hell….”

Judging by the handwriting that seemed to ascend to the heavens, this was indeed a letter from her beloved sister. Although faint, it carried her sister’s familiar scent, and even a tail hair, which hadn’t been completely removed, was stuck to it.

However-

“The writing style is different.”

Freya had seen her sister’s writing style thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times. She knew her sister’s vocabulary, the words she used to end sentences, and her speech patterns. To Freya, who knew all of that, the writing style of the letter felt incredibly awkward.

Moreover, her sister, frankly speaking, wasn’t very smart. If her sister had written this letter, the sentences wouldn’t have been so neatly written.

Therefore, someone must have interfered while her sister was writing this letter. And it was to spite her.

But who?

She hadn’t made any enemies in society. Since she had to manage the family in her sister’s stead, she had always worn a mask and maintained amicable relationships.

“It wouldn’t be Altair, nor would it be Loue… Ossen…? Surely not there.”

Freya’s fingers tapped impatiently on the letter.

“Hey.”

“Y-yes!”

“When you received this letter, did you receive anything else separately?”

The attendant tensed up and replied. Her brown wolf tail was tucked between her legs in fear.

“N-no, nothing!”

“….”

Freya’s cold eyes stared at the attendant. The attendant trembled, swallowing her breath. Seeing that she truly knew nothing, Freya turned her gaze back to the letter.

“My tail… how dare they touch my sister’s tail….”

A tail, a body part of great significance to beastmen. While useful for balance, it was also, more importantly, a part used for sexual intimacy among beastmen.

That’s why she had always monopolized it under the guise of common sense, a place no beastman would dare touch unless they were lovers….

“… Should I have said it’s only for family? No, that’s not allowed.”

She couldn’t limit her sister’s common sense to the boundary of family. Freya wanted to have a relationship with her sister that went beyond that.

“I was doing so well… why did she have to go to the Academy….”

She had driven away the attendant to isolate her sister. She had manipulated the routes to prevent visitors from meeting her sister. Despite all that effort to twist and change her sister’s common sense, it had all been in vain.

No, it would have been better if it had been in vain. Now, her sister, with her flawed common sense, was wreaking havoc at the Academy. Yes, even at this very moment, her sister, unaware, was giving away her tail to someone else….

“Aargh!!”

Overcome by a sudden surge of anger, Freya screamed loudly. Her face turned red and purple with rage, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Father! Why! Why did you send Sister to the Academy!! What is she going to learn there!!”

Freya stomped her feet in anger. What would her sister learn at the Academy? At best, she’d fill her schedule with sword fighting classes and run wild on the training grounds.

Freya couldn’t understand her father for sending her sister to the Academy. Since she was in charge of administration anyway, it didn’t matter if her sister didn’t go to the Academy.

Just as Freya was about to summon mana in anger and burn the letter, her father, Vidar von Lyra, entered the room.

“Freya. You were here.”

“Yes, Father!”

Freya instantly changed her expression and greeted her father with a bright smile. She saw her father’s face, with his black hair and a large scar on his face.

“Have you finished your studies?”

“Of course! I finished it a long time ago!”

“Good.”

Freya’s father continued.

“You must work hard. Your sister… has many shortcomings in various aspects. When Skadi becomes the head of the family later, you must support her well as her younger sister.”

“Huhu, leave it to me.”

The words “Then why did you send Sister to the Academy?” were about to escape Freya’s throat, but she gritted her teeth and held them back. Her father continued.

“By the way, there are many monsters gathered in the mountain range. Go and deal with them. I will be looking after your mother.”

“Yes!”

Freya grabbed her staff and headed out. Up until then, Freya’s smile hadn’t left her face.

Precisely upon arriving at the mountain range, Freya’s smile vanished as she looked at the numerous monsters. Freya raised her gnarled staff high into the air, drawing green mana, and shouted.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

It was a scream of anguish.

——

A massive crater formed in the middle of the mountain range.

In the very center, Freya stood panting, her staff planted in the ground.

“Sister, sister, sister, sister, sister, sister….”

She had been surviving for weeks without seeing her sister, by using the tail hairs she had secretly collected. But due to the letter she had just read, her obsession had crossed the line.

Freya muttered, letting green mana waft from her staff, then finally looked up as if she had realized something.

“Ah.”

If her sister had gone to the Academy.

“Then I can go too, right?”

Freya began to chuckle. Upon returning to the mansion, Freya ordered her attendant to bring the Academy’s regulations, and there she found a particular clause.

Due to their financial circumstances, commoners often missed the enrollment period, so the Academy allowed mid-term enrollment for commoners who passed the entrance exam.

Although the text stated “for commoners,” there was no mention of excluding nobles. Even if they were excluded, she intended to force her way in. Freya let out a sinister chuckle.

“Ufufu….”

Furthermore, there was no age limit for Academy enrollment. While nobles typically attended the Academy at age 20, it didn’t matter if they were younger.

“Hey!”

“Y-yes!”

Freya called her attendant.

“Prepare the carriage! We’re going to the capital!”

“Yes…?”

The next day, Freya left only a letter behind and immediately departed for the capital. Freya’s father, upon receiving the letter from his suddenly departed second daughter, pressed his forehead and let out a deep groan.