Ch.4848. Distrust, and Hatred (11)

Starting the day, attending lectures.

After classes ended, I often spent time with Hena. What was once unfamiliar had somehow become part of my daily routine.

There were times when I felt oddly alone at the Academy. I’d rather not think about that too much.

Anyway, when I was with chatty Hena, I no longer felt lonely.

I enjoyed this peaceful daily life, savoring freedom without being chased.

“Today, you know, that jerk Noel and John came asking for more of my bread because they couldn’t forget the taste? So then…”

The conversations Hena brought up weren’t the stuffy, rigid dialogues typical of nobles.

They were natural stories about people. Utterly ordinary, everyday tales.

Sometimes our talks would drift into curiously different territories.

Hena mentioned that Junon once properly put Professor Kyoph in her place in Class E.

Before the end-of-term evaluation, when Junon answered every question from the Magic Formula professor flawlessly, she witnessed the face of Professor Kyoph—commonly known as the Witch—contort in a satisfying way.

With no more questions left, Professor Kyoph walked away from Junon almost like she was fleeing, when she suddenly tripped and fell. Silvia felt like everything she’d just eaten had been completely digested in her stomach from the satisfaction.

As rumors around the Academy suggested, Junon never cowered when confronted with injustice and oppression, but fought back.

Silvia felt momentarily depressed recalling her own actions, but was inwardly relieved to hear that those who used to pick fights had disappeared.

Also, Hena said she once saw Junon walking down the corridor after an uncharacteristic visit to the physical training room, and she was barely able to walk.

According to Hena, Junon had plenty of enthusiasm but had trained so excessively that she must have been completely drained. Hena even stood up from her chair and demonstrated Junon’s walking style. At that point, Silvia covered her mouth to hide her laughter, worried about appearing frivolous.

Though Junon appeared intellectual and proper, she could also be clumsy or show inexperience when trying something new.

In duels with nobles, she occasionally received penalty calls, but would grit her teeth and charge in, forcing victories.

When she finally made it into the top 5% in written exams, it was the epitome of human triumph.

So when listening to stories about Junon, Silvia would sometimes catch herself smiling unconsciously, applauding in admiration, or even praying with clasped hands, thoroughly immersed in the tales.

Hearing these deeply human stories about Junon from Hena had become her greatest joy lately.

Just like those few happy times from childhood when she would fall asleep to her mother’s voice reading books while nestled in her warm embrace—a warmth that was no longer there.

As a result, meeting Junon had somehow become difficult.

Though Silvia roughly knew where Junon might be staying, her feet wouldn’t take her there.

It all started with a conversation about the end-of-term evaluation.

“Ugh… why did I do that back then?”

After collapsing in the rain during the final field test of the end-of-term evaluation.

After groaning in pain and getting up, she started spinning around grabbing her hair when she recalled what she had said.

The crowning moment was realizing she was in her underwear only after Junon pointed it out while grabbing her collar.

Counting the days since she last saw Junon… it had already been three days. Whenever that memory surfaced, she would kick her blankets and cover her eyes with a pillow, denying reality.

The truth was, Junon was someone she should be grateful to, someone whose help she should readily accept if needed.

She couldn’t keep avoiding her like this.

Silvia immediately went to the bathroom to check the mirror.

***

Her gray hair had been unraveling and twisting in the mirror for dozens of minutes.

Though tangled, it somehow wasn’t neatly tangled—much like how Silvia seemed to become a different person when she saw Junon.

“This is too difficult…?”

She was trying to braid her hair as Hena had taught her, but she wasn’t particularly skilled in this area.

While she wasn’t bad at chores like cooking, laundry, and cleaning, or even academics and magic, she was particularly weak when it came to grooming.

“No. Let me try once more…!”

Nevertheless, she tried styling it again, only to be dissatisfied when she turned to look at the finished result.

She undid her hair again. Then braided it again for practice.

“It suits you well. ────.”

It suits you well.

That single phrase had prompted her to undo and redo her hair countless times.

Some might think there’s no meaning in fussing over this grayish-white hair, but as a woman, paying attention to one’s appearance is perfectly normal.

Some people feel pride just from catching others’ glances.

Others enjoy the act of grooming itself.

And, perhaps the biggest reason, wanting to hear that one phrase—”it suits you well”—from someone you’re interested in.

It’s only natural that a woman’s affection would make her focus all her attention on her hair just from a single comment from the other person.

However, Silvia was rather dull in this regard.

Clearly, at first, she had only accepted the change with a light heart, thinking it might be nice.

But at some point, hairstyle and attire had become extremely important matters to Silvia.

Because she feared Hena’s nagging. Nothing more, nothing less.

So she tried again this time, but mercilessly, her hair refused to take shape according to her wishes.

Deciding she should ask Hena again, Silvia smoothly undid her half-braided hair with a brush.

“But why was I doing this again…?”

Suddenly, as she brushed her hair that had come undone after trying so hard to tie it, she felt a sense of emptiness.

The hairstyle suits me? It’s certainly a nice compliment, but something feels lacking. Other people say things like that too.

Going back to the beginning… it was because of Junon who suggested changing her hairstyle since it might poke her eyes…?

“Huh…?”

Suddenly remembering the reason, she was shocked at herself.

Just changing my hairstyle? It suits me well? That’s not why I’m doing this.

Good heavens. My goodness.

“KYAAAA!!!!!!”

And a scream that wasn’t quite a scream echoed through the bathroom.

When she came to her senses, she realized this whole situation had unfolded because she was thinking about Junon.

“W-when did this…?”

Because she had been constantly talking about other people, she hadn’t noticed, but the cause lay with Hena.

Whenever stories about Junon came up, hadn’t she always heard them from Hena’s mouth?

Now that she noticed, it had always been that way.

Hena would be talking about other people, but would strangely always transition to stories about Junon.

“Heh. Did you perhaps develop feelings for someone?”

That comment suddenly came to mind, along with Hena’s characteristic mischievous smile, as if she had noticed something and wanted to tease.

Hena sometimes pretended not to know things when she actually did, and other times would tease her later for being so gullible.

Only now did Silvia realize she had been completely fooled by Hena. This led to a second scream filled with embarrassment.

“This is no time for this…!”

Today was the day Hena was returning to the Academy after visiting home to help her parents.

Regardless of fixing her hair, Silvia intended to find Hena and get to the bottom of this.

‘I absolutely can’t let her tell Junon. That would make me a laughingstock forever!’

With that determination, Silvia headed to the third-year girls’ dormitory to plead with Hena.

“What? Hena isn’t here?”

“She went out as soon as she arrived this morning, not sure what for.”

‘Left as soon as she arrived…’

If she wasn’t in the dormitory, she must be somewhere in the Academy.

After searching everywhere and asking around, she finally found Hena. She seemed to be looking for something at her personal locker… but that wasn’t the issue right now.

“Silvia…?”

Though she succeeded in finding her mischievous friend after much trouble, Silvia felt intimidated when she actually faced Hena.

“Hehe. Hehehehe… Silvia? Let me ask you one thing.”

“Y-yes?”

Despite her resolve in the dormitory bathroom to somehow stop Hena, she was so unnerved by her friend’s demeanor that she ended up speaking formally.

“You have to answer honestly. Got it?”

Silvia, turned into a meek lamb by Hena’s pressure, just nodded nervously.

“That person you called your friend, you’re talking about Junon, right?”

“Hiccup!”

Correct!

Instead of her tightly closed mouth, her body spoke for her with an involuntary hiccup.

Silvia wondered what to say to Hena, who had clearly noticed all along. Just as she was about to beg her not to tell anyone…

“Starting today, you’re getting special lessons, Silvia.”

She had thought it was just a joke, but apparently not. That’s where the “operation” began.

***

And so, Silvia was diligently carrying out Hena’s request from three hours ago.

“Hey… stop crying, Silvia. Okay?”

*Sniff*

Silvia followed Hena’s advice to formulate a plan. Even now, she wasn’t quite sure why she was doing this.

‘But somehow, I like this situation.’

By continuing to hold back tears, Silvia could see Junon frantically trying to comfort her.

At that moment, Hena’s second piece of advice flashed through Silvia’s mind as she was feeling relieved.

“Don’t stop there just because it feels good. Make him really want to protect you, got it?”

That’s right. Although Hena had suggested a somewhat effective strategy, simply becoming a crybaby wasn’t enough.

Hena had told Silvia to appeal to her charm as a woman, arousing a man’s protective instincts to amplify the effect.

She had handed over two profiles while saying this.

“W-why those people…?”

“Just look first. This one is the youngest baron leading the Eshrelt Trading Company, one year younger than you, fresh and even cuter than you…”

One was a first-year junior with a cute appearance and sharp personality whom she had seen at the hospital.

“This one, as you probably know, is practically the ideal type for men…”

The other was a second-year, a lively and lovely junior known to every student at the Academy.

Silvia had no idea why Hena had given her these two profiles. She didn’t understand even after hearing the explanation.

The same went for why she was told to be nervous.

Silvia just tilted her head in confusion at Hena, who was frustrated and telling her to get her act together. Seeing Silvia like this, Hena occasionally let out bizarre roars and kicked away from the cafe table, feeling like she was about to burst.

Each time, Hena would growl, making Silvia hesitate, and as a result, Silvia was carrying out the instructions without knowing why.

But did she need a reason? She was quite enjoying the situation now.

Of course, she failed to notice that the number of people had increased considerably, and some were having a hard time due to her crying, but that was beside the point.

“Um… I’m hungry, so would you like to eat together? I found a nice place recently!”

Junon’s plan was to avoid the current situation by buying Silvia food.

He had heard that eating something sweet improves one’s mood. If nothing else worked, he would try to appease her with food.

He was concerned because antagonizing the fans praising Silvia nearby seemed quite dangerous.

Despite Hena’s desperate pleas, the little lamb quickly wiped away her tearful face.

“Y-yes. I’ll go.”

There was no way Silvia would refuse time spent with Junon.

With this, the operation ended in complete failure. Hena’s advice to appear fragile and weak to awaken Junon’s protective instincts had long since disappeared from Silvia’s mind.

.

.

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At the same time, the subjugation battle was proceeding smoothly according to the strategy put forth by the Empire’s greatest minister.

For those who frequently visited the battlefield, Muniher’s presence itself was reassuring, as they were familiar with his name.

No matter how much one practices in simulations, humans cannot act like machines. Therefore, every team makes mistakes.

His experienced eye catches even minor errors and converts them into feedback.

“You took a sloppy formation, Goden. Who was in charge of team positioning?”

“…I’m ashamed. I gave the orders.”

“You know well that taking a standard formation when the enemy outnumbers your vanguard is meaningless.”

As positions are divided, team members must be faithful to their respective actions.

However, situations are never constant, and variables like terrain, climate, and monster types always exist. Minimizing these variables to reduce team damage is the role of the leader who directs positional deployment.

Though temporary, the team that committed the painful mistake of incorrect positioning revealed their inexperience from the first real battle, keenly feeling the absence of their commander, their center.

“In such cases, support types should help the vanguard while casting enhancement magic. Buffers should also assist to buy time. Understood?”

“Hasirt Type 3, I see. I’ll make sure to remember it.”

“Good. Make sure to inform the other team members as well.”

Still, they don’t hesitate to accept and find answers.

The team consists of students whose individual skills are quite excellent, having been closely observed during the end-of-term evaluation.

If they develop correctly, they seem like promising talents who will soon be seen on the front lines.

This was a glimpse of Goden’s excellent judgment.

“Excuse me, sir! Urgent telegram for you, Lord Muniher.”

A soldier rushed to him with a communication device.

Though abrupt without explanation, it was clearly an important and urgent matter.

“From where?”

“Lady Dalia sent it urgently.”

“Dalia?”

A few days ago, following the additional discovery of Osoftera species, he had dispatched a squad including Dalia.

Being omnivorous monsters, they occasionally appear unexpectedly in fields and tend to move along mountain ranges. If not intercepted in the western part of Shute Province, they could migrate south and harm residents.

And now, a telegram had come from that very Dalia. With an ominous feeling, Muniher turned on the communication device.

“Oh? We’re connected! Lady Dalia!”

The voice of a soldier frantically looking for Dalia.

This voice undoubtedly belonged to a soldier Muniher had personally selected and sent recently. Because of this, his ominous feeling transformed into concern. Something was going wrong.

“Muniher, is that you?”

“I’m listening, tell me. What’s happening?”

“Something’s strange. Neither the garrison troops who should be on standby here nor the Osofteras are anywhere to be seen!!”

“…What?”

As he had sensed, something was definitely going awry.