episode_0053

“I will keep an eye on Mia Crowfield.”

At first, I thought about hiding it, but our diligent princess would come to me every weekend to study together. She wasn’t the type to study all day long, but it seemed like she thought it was only natural to review the lessons she had learned during the week on weekends, even though it wasn’t exam season.

Surely, when it comes to exam season, she will study incredibly hard.

It will be helpful for me too. Well, I do try to listen to the lessons multiple times if there’s something I don’t understand during regular class hours.

Anyway, if I didn’t say this in advance, Alice would definitely end up looking for me here and there.

“… Did Crowfield do something wrong?”

“No, not really.”

I lightly shook my head in response to Alice’s slightly worried question.

“It’s just that Mia Crowfield could be a threat.”

In the original game, she was one of the top-tier characters as a magic dealer. By enhancing her staff to the maximum and properly equipping Marmauros, she could deal damage equivalent to the ultimate skills of others with just regular magic. Especially in the first game where the balance wasn’t perfect, with a few easy-to-use Marmauros, she could almost endlessly unleash her magic on her turn.

Although this world was somewhat different from the game… there were still some system elements that remained the same. If the magic from the game also existed in this world, even with just that ‘some,’ my life would be in danger.

“Do you plan on eliminating her or something?”

Alice’s expression as she said that was full of rejection. She couldn’t help it. From Alice’s perspective, who didn’t know that future, Mia Crowfield was just another classmate.

And honestly, I don’t hold any ill feelings towards Mia Crowfield either. Her father may have been trash, but Mia Crowfield herself wasn’t a bad person. In fact, she was close to being a good person if you just looked at her sense of justice.

“No, not at all.”

That’s why I could answer like that.

What I’m trying to do is to avoid the danger and prepare means of defense, not to eliminate Mia Crowfield, who could be the cause.

I didn’t want to do that… and if I killed a student at the academy, what would happen to the body?

“Really?”

“Really.”

I replied firmly to Alice, who asked me again with a somewhat doubtful attitude.

Alice stared at me as if trying to read my expression, then let out a long breath and nodded.

“… Alright. If you say it with that expression, I have no choice but to believe you.”

… I’m not sure what kind of expression that is. I just remained expressionless as always.

For a moment, I wondered if Alice had some kind of superpower to read people’s emotions.

Of course, I quickly dismissed that thought. If it was based on the original setting, I had already read it in detail. Naturally, the abilities of the characters were included in that.

There were parts that could be considered spoilers for the sequel that were not resolved even in the setting book, but almost all the settings for the main characters had been revealed. Alice did not possess that kind of superpower.

If she did, there’s no way she wouldn’t have noticed the emperor’s plan.

“Well, Crowfield’s attitude did change… if you feel threatened there, you can’t overlook it.”

Alice muttered to herself like that, then suddenly looked at me and said, “Should I help?”

“It’s okay.”

“… You’re too quick to answer.”

Alice seemed a little hurt by my response.

“It’s better to have fewer people following. It reduces the chances of being discovered.”

I had prepared a response in advance, anticipating that Alice would say something like that, and as expected, I needed to use it.

“But still… after I become close with Crowfield, would it be okay to extract information?”

“Your Highness. As the daughter of the Emperor, you are a princess.”

If the daughter of the person who killed her father approaches, it is natural to be extremely cautious. Even though Alice didn’t seem to have any ill feelings, it was still necessary to be vigilant.

If this continues slowly over half a year, who knows what might happen.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

To Alice, who seemed a little disappointed, I reaffirmed once again.

No, rather, I feel much more at ease when I’m alone. It’s more comfortable to be able to relax a bit.

*

Anyway, thanks to me saying that, I was able to separate Alice.

I’ve already done surveillance on someone. When I assassinated the viscount, I was cautious. I thought of all the routes, looked back at each one, and repeated the process of turning back time.

That method also works at the academy. I have high-performance binoculars and a scope that attaches to a gun. Even without attaching it to a gun, it was good enough on its own.

There must be a large window in the dorm room. And it was open to a side with a good view. Of course, it wasn’t like the sudden appearance of a skyscraper in the middle of New York. Even though the surroundings were well maintained, it was still an island in the end. The surroundings were surrounded by buildings.

Instead, there was a large grass field between the buildings and the dormitory, so that looking out the window would be comforting. It wasn’t as vast as Central Park in the middle of New York, but the greenery in the middle of the city had a calming effect on the mind.

It was the weekend, and students were lounging around. Couples were sitting on mats, eating sandwiches affectionately, or some were napping. Well, it’s spring.

But what I was looking at wasn’t such a place.

The window was wide open for students’ comfort, so if you didn’t close the curtain, the room could be seen clearly. Especially on a sunny day like today, it was even easier to see.

On top of a residential building outside the academy.

It’s impossible to see the dormitory far away from here with the naked eye, but… I had a large sniper scope.

I could see up to 400 meters away. Of course, even if you see that way, people only look as big as a fingertip, but it’s enough to see ‘big enough to hit something.’

I knew where Mia Crowfield’s room was. There was no need to search through the registry. The dormitory building was a part of the game.

Not all rooms were implemented, but the rooms of the main characters were.

Especially if it was the room of the protagonist’s party, it was naturally implemented.

In the original work, you could just enter most houses. There were no characters who would scold you for entering without permission, and they would even tell you their thoughts or what they were doing.

Of course, rather than seeing it as actually going into people’s houses and mining their information, it’s more accurate to see it as a game allowance to clearly show the world view.

…Thanks to that, I knew that Mia Crowfield hides important items under the floor beneath her bed.

I couldn’t just boldly open the door and go in here, so I was looking out the window on top of the building.

“….”

Of course, as expected, the window had curtains.

The heavy blackout curtains were not very thick. Perhaps if there was light inside, the shadow of a person could be seen through the thin, white curtains.

But it was daytime now. The outside was brighter than the inside. Naturally, there was no need for the room to be illuminated by the curtains.

…Mia Crowfield must be inside.

In the original work, Mia Crowfield preferred to be inside the room. It was only natural for a character like Mia Crowfield, who had lines like, “It’s dangerous outside the covers…” to be inside.

Especially, she didn’t like the hot sunlight much.

Quiet, timid.

She was a character with such attributes, fitting her design.

…Perhaps the atmosphere was slightly diluted because her father’s enemy was right next to her.

“Hmm.”

I made a sound of contemplation for no reason, lost in thought.

If there are so many characters that have changed because of my presence, will the future developments change drastically as well?

If the development changes so much, will the future I already know become useless?

“…”

Even after pondering, I couldn’t come to a clear conclusion.

…Well, let’s think about that when the time comes.

For now, observing Mia Crowfield is a priority.

If things don’t work out, I can always turn back time, right?

*

“…”

I should have expected this.

People who prefer to stay indoors all the time might not come out at all, even if they live in a house like this, at the top of a residential area for half a day.

Even as the sun was setting, I didn’t expect Mia Crowfield’s curtains to open.

No, there wasn’t even a hint of light coming from inside.

Is she even in there?

I seriously pondered, but there was no answer as there was no movement.

“…”

Alright.

I thought as I put down the scope I was holding.

Since it had come to this, why not just go and find Mia Crowfield’s room.

Thinking back, Mia’s evasion of my question at that moment might have been due to speaking in front of so many people yesterday.

If Mia Crowfield doesn’t want to create a one-on-one situation, then it’s up to me to make it happen.

…But if I go now and find her, wouldn’t that just make today’s efforts go to waste?

“…”

For now, let’s just have a conversation with Mia Crowfield while I’m at it.

After the conversation, I can decide whether to turn back time or not.

With that in mind, I got up from where I had been lying down for a while, tapping my body here and there to get rid of the stiffness.

Fortunately, I had laid out a military blanket to lie on before lying down.

I let out a deep sigh as I rolled up the blanket.

*

Fortunately, I didn’t run into any acquaintances on the way to the dormitory. If I had, they would surely not have left me alone, being the most sociable people.

Going to a cafe and eating a parfait was quite enjoyable, but there was something I had to do today.

I went to Mia Crowfield’s room, which was on a different floor from my room and Alice’s room.

After taking a deep breath in front of the large door, I looked around.

Luckily, there was no one wandering around the corridor. Well, it was Saturday. There would be many students going home to rest. Or maybe not. The high-ranking nobles might be receiving various other educations at home.

But Crowfield Manor was far away. It wasn’t a distance one would go back and forth every weekend.

Even in the game, Mia Crowfield was always inside her room.

Alright.

I raised my hand and knocked on the door slowly.

“Miss Crowfield.”

And I spoke.

“…”

I waited for a moment, but there was no response.

Raising my hand again, this time I knocked a little harder.

Knock, knock.

But once again, there was no response from beyond the door.

After looking around once more, I pressed my ear against the door of Mia Crowfield’s room to listen for any sounds from inside.

There was complete silence.

…Is there really nothing there?

“….”

After a moment of hesitation, I looked around once more.

…There was no one.

Alright, in that case.

There are plenty of opportunities, and time is on my side.

I took out a lockpick from my pocket.