It’s Not Much

Where on earth is she going?

Helena amplified her suspicions even more as she followed that girl.

‘…Was there a place like this?’

It was an area she had never seen before.

Within it, Yena moved her steps without hesitation, as if she had a specific destination.

How could one not be curious?

‘This time I might actually get something.’

The intuition honed through her long years as a lady-in-waiting awakened her senses.

A secluded, desolate space.

With only Yena moving hastily in sight,

Helena licked her lips and her eyes glowed ominously at the thought that she might finally gain some definite results.

“Phew…”

Yet she kept her heart and mind cold.

There was nothing good about getting excited.

Now was the time to focus all her energy on following that Yena─

Tap, tap tap!

Helena advanced, treading on the roof tiles.

Under the setting sun,

Her shadow fluttered and darted through the air.

‘Where on earth is she going?’

Helena furrowed her brow as she stepped forward.

Her suspicions kept growing.

She had never headed somewhere for this long, nor was this an area with any special buildings.

Old buildings presumed to be already closed.

A dirt road with not a single non-human race like elves or dwarves that were commonly seen…

There was nothing to do here.

It was even stranger since this was the joint training grounds, not the military academy.

What purpose could she have to move so hurriedly?

Trudge─ Trudge─

Yena’s footsteps echoed all the way over here.

They could be heard clearly in this desolate space devoid of people.

Of course─

She wasn’t worried since she was using mana to erase her presence, but Yena’s seemingly urgent movements bothered her.

‘Could it be.’

A single hypothesis filled her mind for a moment.

What if that child had noticed my presence?

What if that’s why she’s circling this place devoid of people?

…No, that can’t be.

Helena immediately stopped her brief imagination and shook her head.

It’s absolutely impossible.

It can’t be possible.

How could a cadet who is a commoner and whose overall abilities don’t even exceed grade 7 detect her tailing?

“Ha.”

It must be a ridiculous imagination.

Helena thought so and let out a short, dry laugh.

She must have been tense.

It was like various thoughts were coming up because she hadn’t lost Yena for the first time, and she was needlessly worrying about non-existent things.

‘That can’t happen.’

How could she detect the aura of me, a lady-in-waiting?

It must be anxiety stimulating emotions.

Helena strongly resolved as she watched the girl move with her black hair fluttering and the hem of her skirt swaying.

Enough with strange thoughts,

Focus on the investigation.

“Hm?”

Thud─!

But that mindset soon came to an end.

“Where did she suddenly…”

Yena, who had been clearly visible, disappeared.

No presence could be felt.

Is this how someone who encounters magic for the first time reacts?

Despite following her with mana drawn up in her body, that effort was ridiculously wasted as she lost her again.

‘This shouldn’t happen.’

So it made no sense at all.

This time she had prepared thoroughly.

Of course, she was confident that the same thing that happened at the military academy wouldn’t occur, she was certain.

But what is this?

She had let her slip away in vain.

‘Maybe really…’

By this point, the hypothesis from earlier weighed on her mind.

What if she’s already been toying with me?

It had only been a few days since she prided herself that such a thing could never happen, but while her heart cried out in denial, her reason was thrown into confusion.

Isn’t there an upper limit─

No matter how much her skills had declined, it was strange to lose a commoner cadet, and a low-ranking one at that, dozens of times.

Unless her official grades were falsely recorded…

Crack─!

“Ugh!”

Helena bit her lip at the sudden pain.

She couldn’t continue her contemplation any further.

The stinging pain felt in her limbs scattered her concentration.

And,

“…H-How?”

Yena, whom she had been searching for so desperately,

“Hello?”

Was greeting her with a bright face, hands behind her back.

And that too on the roof of a building─

On a rooftop that was difficult to climb in the first place.

---

What kind of feeling is astonishment?

Some might say it’s an abstract expression and can’t properly describe its characteristics.

However…

If one could see Helena’s expression right now, I believed they would clearly understand what it means to be astonished.

“Ye-Yena Freud?”

Eyes trembling violently from side to side.

Shaking limbs.

Mouth wide open as if saliva might drool out.

She was explaining well what it means to be startled out of one’s wits.

Gurgle─!

But that moment of silence was brief,

Helena roughly threw herself backward to widen the distance.

Her limbs were full of pure white ice formations.

All of it was magic I had shot at her.

It was a device I had set up in advance to prepare for any possible situation.

It would be troublesome if she tried to run away.

For Helena, breaking those ice chunks would be no big deal, so she wouldn’t be able to stall for long…

But I could hold her for the brief moment needed to hear my words.

If we start a conversation─

I was confident I could erase Helena’s desire to run away, which is why I had bound her feet like this.

“How did you know?”

“Are you in a position to ask me that? You’re the one who got caught, Lady-in-waiting.”

“……”

“Oh, and since this is a very pleasant meeting, I’d prefer if you didn’t end it right away. You don’t want Rina to have a hard time, do you?”

As expected.

Helena flinched when I mentioned her name.

The lady-in-waiting, who had only tried to escape the situation with a brazen attitude, stopped her steps and turned her head.

“What do you mean?”

Her eyes were full of murderous intent.

Crack─!

The lady-in-waiting fiercely shattered the ice formations stuck to her hands and feet and strode towards me with big steps.

And I,

“Wasn’t it a serious crime to personally harm cadets? If you instigate a third party to do it, you’d receive an even greater punishment.”

Rustle─

I took out a candy from my pocket and spoke while eating it.

With a nonchalant feeling.

I wasn’t nervous at all even though Helena was approaching with such threats.

Because I had Rina as a precious hostage.

What if she picks a fight?

I could just respond appropriately and run away.

Now that my mana had reached 6th grade, I had that much strength.

“Especially if that person is the lady-in-waiting of the imperial family, it could become an even bigger issue.”

“You shouldn’t have any evidence.”

“The fact that you’re standing here right now seems like evidence…”

Is it fortunate in misfortune?

At least no bloodshed occurred.

However, the atmosphere remained at a level of hostility where it wouldn’t be strange if a brawl broke out at any moment.

But I wasn’t worried.

I knew well that Helena adored Rina dearly.

Now that the possibility of harm coming to the imperial princess had arisen, it was clear she wouldn’t move recklessly.

The situation itself also clearly showed who was superior and who was inferior.

“Yum.”

The sweetness of the candy spread in my mouth.

I rolled the tasty lump of sugar around in my mouth and sneered.

Isn’t this such a perfect relationship?

Looking at the conclusion, Helena was caught while chasing me.

She was Rina’s lady-in-waiting.

These two sentences alone could cause tremendous repercussions.

On the surface─

It was obvious that it would be judged that Rina had ordered Helena to investigate me.

I don’t know if that’s really what happened.

However, now that it had come to this, it was clear that the military would draw such a conclusion.

Because it was such a serious matter.

It was very different from the accident in the morning class.

Helena was officially an outsider, and Rina had the tremendous background of being a former imperial princess.

These two people privately threatening and investigating a single cadet?

It was a serious violation of school rules that wouldn’t be strange even if Rina was expelled from the military academy.

“Well, if you don’t think this is evidence, you can believe that. I’m just questioning whether the military academy instructors are that careless.”

“……”

That’s why Helena was just listening quietly.

She couldn’t even open her mouth.

Although her eyes looked fierce and scary and her expression seemed tough, I knew that this was just an outward appearance to hide her bewilderment.

Her mind must be complicated by now.

How did I get caught by a commoner cadet…

She must be pondering this.

I could roughly guess even without seeing.

Of course, Helena’s operation was perfect.

While following me with her presence erased, she showed nimble movements that wouldn’t be strange even if an ordinary person couldn’t see her even with their eyes wide open.

The problem was that I wasn’t an ordinary cadet.

“What exactly do you want?”

Finally, Helena bent her will.

She had somehow approached right in front of me and spoke while biting her lower lip.

Tremble─

How distressed she must be.

I could see her shoulders shaking.

With that vibration, Helena’s short hair swayed back and forth.

…This is how it should be.

I smiled even more brightly inside at those reactions.

This is what I wanted.

The fatigue that had built up due to her annoying tailing all this time flew away in an instant.

Shouldn’t she pay the price for her excessive behavior until now?

“It’s not much.”

For that reason,

I extended my hand with a more refreshed expression.

“You just need to grant a few small favors.”

Smiling primly.