episode_0095

note..

I didn’t mean to go this far… Was it a bit too much?

I got up from where I was lying and approached Cosette. Cosette fainted, making a sound that I couldn’t tell if it was a scream or a groan, and showed no sign of coming to her senses. And… to be precise, she spilled a liquid that would have greatly hurt Cosette’s feelings as a young lady.

“Heh.. hehe.. oh, it feels so good.. hic..”

On the other hand, Lin was clapping and having fun. Judging from the fact that she was still enjoying herself despite being drenched in sweat from moving around wearing a large doll, it seems that the magic power she had just gained from the situation was quite valuable.

As I was wondering what to do with Cosette, suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Miss, if everything is finished, can I come in?”

Of course, the only person who could come in now was Yu Gram. I was so surprised that I jumped up from my seat.

“Okay, wait a minute!”

Even if it’s Yugram, this isn’t right!

I used my magic right away on Cosette, and wiped away the traces of the water that had spilled over the floor and soaked Cosette’s body, before shoving her into my bed. It felt a little weird, but… there was no problem. After turning on the light in the dark room, I told Yugram that he could come in, and Yugram frowned as he came into the room.

“..Looking at it again, it’s not a very nice situation.”

“Hee, hee..”

As Yugram muttered, Lin waved her hands around, making a sound like a puppy whining. Then, the fake blood created by her magic that decorated the entire room disappeared in an instant. It was a magic that was quite impressive no matter how many times I saw it. Even if I just sold that as research results, I don’t think there would be any problem making a living.

Anyway, Lin, who had all the blood removed, began to tidy up the dolls she had thrown away. The dolls were made so that Lin could act as a ghost, and Lin had made them in a matter of hours, let alone one night, showing her great skill. It seemed that the dolls Lin had been carrying around were not bought from a store, but were made by herself.

I was worried that it might be difficult for Lin, whose stamina is hopelessly low, to continuously move that rather heavy doll-like object naturally due to its size, but judging by the way she looks so happy and drenched in sweat, it seems like she’s quite suited for it.

When I looked at it in a bright place, there were some parts of the ghost’s face that looked quite unnatural. However, the horrifying atmosphere of the situation and the fact that it looked quite plausible when it was half-hidden in the darkness made Cosette fall for it. I took off the fake sword on my back and handed it to Lin, and watched Yugram clean up the room before shaking Cosette awake.

“Cosette.. Cosette. Wake up. Cosette?”

“Ugh… Huh… Huh..?”

I shook Cosette, who was lying on the bed as if dead, awake, and she woke up groggily, making a strange noise. Cosette stared at me blankly for a while, then looked around and sighed heavily.

“What.. Was it a dream?”

“Did you have a nightmare?”

I asked in a serious tone. Cosette nodded with a hardened face. She slid her arms down her forearms and muttered quietly in a tone that still seemed to be chilling.

“I hear a sound like someone is following me in the hallway.. The princess is lying in the room, stabbed by someone.. And there’s a strange woman who’s much taller than the ceiling looking at me..”

“When you say that strange woman, is that the one you’re talking about?”

“..Huh?”

When I pointed my finger at the doll that Lin was busy organizing, Cosette’s head turned very slowly. For a moment, she looked at Lin as if time had stopped, then looked at me again. Then she looked at the doll again, and when she looked at me again, Cosette’s expression was quite angry.

“..Princess. What the heck is this?”

“What Cosette just experienced wasn’t exactly a nightmare, it was a real event, and the culprit was Lin. What more do you need to explain?”

“..ha!”

This was probably the most angry I’ve ever seen Cosette in all the years I’ve known her. Cosette kept muttering something to me with an incredibly bewildered and unpleasant expression on her face, but as I gently tried to calm her down and made excuses that she couldn’t help it because of Rin’s research, she gradually seemed to calm down.

And when Cosette’s anger had subsided somewhat, I brought up the main topic. I said that I tried it first because I trusted Cosette the most. I said that it would be a bit unfair to have such a fun experience alone, and that I should do the same for others. Cosette’s face, which had been angry until then, instantly changed to one of interest.

“You can give your friends a fun experience, but it can also give people who hate it a really scary experience that will make them cry. After all, it’s the work of a wizard, so we don’t have to worry about it flying at us.”

“That’s… I really like that saying?”

Cosette smiled brightly, showing that she had completely fallen for it. Unlike me, who was a poor child with few friends, Cosette was brimming with sociability, and was just like the academy’s yard girl.

But as is always the case with girls, even if they were close on the outside, as soon as one of them disappeared, gossip would start to spread.

There were many patterns that started with things like, “Hasn’t she been acting a bit sassy lately?” or “Look at her flirting with guys.” How many things must have made you feel when you saw and heard them? You must have experienced quite a few awkward situations in the middle, and you must have known that you would become a target like that.

Of course, if they were truly close friends, there would be fewer such instances, but at least in the case of Cosette, who had a very wide circle of friends, she would have had quite a few unpleasant experiences.

So, to be frank, should I say that she was excited to have the opportunity to show off to those who usually bothered her a little? Cosette jumped out of bed with a face full of enthusiasm and approached Lin.

“Mr. Lin! Let’s do this together properly! There seems to be a lot of things to change or emphasize in the situation and production, so I’ll do my best to help you out! ”

“Hee.. Heehee..”

Cosette grabbed Rin’s hand and shook it up and down, and Rin, not knowing what to do, smiled wickedly and laughed loudly. Maybe it was because her hair hadn’t gotten any worse yet, but it felt quite different from the smile I’d seen her smile for the first time. Anyway… Now that I have a trustworthy companion, this journey will be much more fun.

.

.

.

After that day, Rin’s behavior changed a little. It was a small change compared to when I dressed her up like a doll and played with her, but the fact that she had changed was significant.

Thinking back to when Lin first started following me around, I could say that it was a huge step forward, and it was very effective in that she stopped being so noisy and drawing attention to herself by doing all sorts of annoying things.

If nothing else came up, he would still follow me around, but instead of swinging a blood-dripping doll around like before, he would carry a notebook and keep writing things down. According to Cosette, it seemed to be a scenario. I heard that the two of them were constantly working to instill the greatest possible fear in the subject.

Or, they would make things like costumes or dolls with great skill. Although they were quite horrifying in appearance, looking at the quick movements of their hands in making clothes or dolls, it was enough to make one wonder if they were not magicians but rather seamstresses.

Anyway, even aside from the fact that it didn’t bother me, I thought it was a change in a good direction because it was closely related to Lin’s research project, and Lin herself enjoyed and was able to work hard on something she liked and was suited to.

Honestly, it started out as a fun thing, but seeing Lin so happy made me feel even better? I felt a certain sense of fulfillment that I had guided someone in the right direction. Also, as I walked around the academy, I heard someone being found urinating in the hallway, and seeing Cosette listening with a pleased expression was quite a different kind of fun.

But does Cosette really remember her own work? Perhaps she doesn’t know, which is why she easily laughs at other people’s misfortunes. However, there was no reason to reveal the truth and diminish Cosette’s dignity as a young lady, so I decided to keep it a secret between me and Lin.

In addition to tormenting those whom Cosette had a personal grudge against, she had naturally tried the same thing on Ayla and Agnes, but while she thought it was natural that Ayla wasn’t afraid at all, she didn’t expect Agnes to be like that either, so it was quite a shock.

As soon as Agnes entered the room, he came straight to me, flipped me over from where I was lying, looked at me for a moment as if I was looking at a very pitiful fool, and then left the room. Poor Lin, who had been waiting in front of the door for Agnes to come in, could only stare blankly at him as he left.

Two months had passed by in a flash as I was enjoying my academy life, creating fun things on my own. As the weather started to get warmer, rumors started to spread around the academy. It was said that the wizards were going back. The horror experience was supposed to be best enjoyed in the summer… It was quite a shame that it was going away like that. However, a hotter topic than that news hit the academy…

“No, is the dean really crazy?”

A notice was posted on the bulletin board saying that a farewell party for wizards was being held.

Even with the added comment, ‘This time it won’t be cancelled’!