episode_0104

The written exam is over.

To be exact, I solved all the problems and was the first to come out of the testing room. Roughly… … . It must have taken about 20 minutes.

Normally, I could have just written all the answers as soon as I received the test paper and left, but the only time I could leave the test room was 20 minutes after the test started, so I just timed it appropriately.

“Now, after lunch time, it was training right away…? … .”

I looked out the window with my arms crossed and saw the hidden event that Seria had mentioned. I remembered something about the Gryphon attack.

At that time, Seria said that it was definitely one of the quickest ways to increase favorability with the crown prince.

What can be inferred from the conversation at that time is that this was an event in which Ceria was kidnapped by a griffon, and the crown prince rescued her, instantly building up her favorability.

It’s the common scenario of a captured princess and a hero who saves her.

“… … .”

Sorry, Ceria, that scenario won’t work.

Before I met Seria, I hoped that she would become a prince. The moment she connected with the crown prince, she rebelled and tried to kill them both at once.

But not now. It’s different now that I found out she was possessed. She is too precious to give to the crown prince.

So I’m going to make sure no one has it. For that purpose, all these boards were laid down.

“Phew… … .”

I sighed and uncrossed my arms. So now the question is when does the hidden event occur?

As of now, it is most likely to occur during this training incident. Other than this practice, I don’t often have to deal with monsters.

But how? The royal palace and academy are protected by a barrier stone embedded in the center of the mountain. Even near the mountains where griffons can invade, the barrier is the strongest, to the point where I feel uncomfortable.

No matter how griffon is called the king of the sky, it will not be easy to break through the barrier unless a problem occurs with the barrier stone for some reason.

“Um.”

Should I cause trouble in the barrier? Or does something special happen and the barrier break? The sky is clear, so it probably wasn’t a lightning strike.

Did the griffon bring the stone and drop it? No, the barrier stone is not exposed to the outside. A barrier stone embedded in the ground will not break if a stone falls on it.

The most likely thing is an earthquake… … . Natural disasters are not something I can predict, so I cannot confirm them.

No, it is unclear whether the incident will occur today in the first place. The only thing that is most likely is today, but there is no certainty that it will actually happen today.

“It’s difficult… … .”

It is a hidden event that has never been experienced in all episodes. Even though there was a lack of information, it was too insufficient.

Since I am only moving based on the experience I have accumulated through many rounds and not looking at the future, the risk was too great to trust my intuition and take a gamble.

“What’s the problem?”

Suddenly, I turned around at the sound of a voice coming from next to me, and my eyes met Priscilla, who was holding an armful of paper in her arms.

“It’s nothing. I’m confused about the answer to the last question.”

As I calmly lied and smiled, Priscilla, who had been looking at me silently, said something out of the blue.

“Miss Charlotte, have you eaten?”

What did you just say?

Priscilla asked me if I had eaten first. It was a huge shock, like being hit hard on the chin.

But I didn’t show it at all and just smiled.

“No, I haven’t eaten it yet. After Hermel finished his exam, we decided to go eat together.”

“Is that so.”

Priscilla’s face as she said that was stiff, not because of anger or irritation, but in a different way.

That… … . okay. It was so awkward to see my nephew for the first time, and he seemed like an unfriendly cousin who didn’t know how to treat me.

Of course, if you look at it, Priscilla and I are related by blood, but we have a history of killing and killing each other once. Her harsh but somewhat kind words came as quite a refreshing shock to me.

As I was trying to figure out what to say, feeling a different kind of shock than before, Priscilla fiddled with the edge of the stack of papers she was holding in her arms and opened her mouth.

“The story we had at the cafe the other day. Do you remember?”

“Is this what you said about me taking after my father?”

“No, this is the story before that. This is the story that Miss Charlotte said that she felt that I disliked her.”

“Ah, back then… … .”

When I nodded, Priscilla, who had been looking at me intently, looked out the window and said.

“Are you okay with the time?”

After hearing that, I checked the time. 40 minutes until the written exam ends. It was enough time to have a quick chat.

“Yes. It’s okay.”

I nodded, and Priscilla saw me nodding and started walking somewhere without saying a word.

“Professor.”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you have something to do?”

As if my words had come out of nowhere, I saw Priscilla looking back at me, so I raised my hand and pointed to the document she was holding.

“Isn’t that document, meeting materials, or midterm exam paper?”

“Ah, you mean this? This is not a document, but a piece of paper. It would be a waste to throw away the paper left over from the paper test that took place a few days ago.”

“Ah, I see.”

Priscilla nodded and started walking again.

The place we arrived at was Cafe Seratori, a place with a familiar blue wooden door.

“Professor, why are you here… … ?”

“The academy’s cafeteria was a bit inappropriate for talking about this or that, so I came here. The manager of this cafe has a heavy mouth.”

“Professor, the cafe here is open from 6 PM.”

“I heard from the store manager that Miss Charlotte often visits during lunch time. I’m sorry for coming outside of business hours without telling you, but I can’t think of a suitable place to talk other than here.”

… … Wait a minute, the cafe owner said I was coming over during lunch time? If you tell me all that useless information, it seems like you don’t have a heavy mouth, but rather a very light-hearted one.

As I was looking at Priscilla, swallowing words that I didn’t necessarily say out loud, she tried to open the cafe door.

Rattling――

However, the tightly closed door seemed to have no intention of opening.

“――”

Priscilla, who was quietly looking at the handle she was holding, pulled the handle once again. The same sound as before was heard again and the door shook.

Of course, the door only shook slightly under the force of the pull, but did not open.

She quietly took her hand off the handle and spoke with a calm face as if nothing had happened.

“… … Let’s go to my lab.”

“… … Yes.”

The road to her lab was very quiet, unlike the road to the cafe. Normally, I would have spoken first, but I kept my mouth shut.

Even though it happened in the 6th episode when I was clueless and ignorant, the fact that I was killed by such a fool was so shocking and shameful that I couldn’t even open my mouth.

That’s how she arrived at her lab.

“This is my lab.”

Her lab, which I entered for the first time in all episodes, was a space that came to mind as being truly desolate.

Her lab is neatly organized with experiment tools such as flasks and beakers, a dirty blackboard that looks like something has been written on and erased several times, a desk with experiment tools on it, and a pair of chairs worth sitting on. There was just that much.

“It’s a pretty dreary space.”

“Because it is a space for research.”

As she said, this space, which did not feel like living at all, gave the impression that this was a place solely for research.

“Please sit down for a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

She said that and entered the room in the corner of the lab with a sign saying ‘Preparation Room’. I guess about 10 minutes have passed since then. She still hadn’t come out of the room.

Why on earth are you preparing for it to take so long? poison? no. It was two years later, after I turned 17, that she created the tasteless, odorless poison that would kill me.

Of course, she completed the poison a long time ago, and there is a possibility that she was just looking for an opportunity to use the poison, so she shouldn’t let down her guard.

I sighed deeply and decided to look inside the lab to get some more information.

“Um… … .”

The first thing I looked at was a blackboard with traces of chalk on it.

Looking at the pure white chalk powder remaining, it looked like something had been recently written and erased, but it was completely unrecognizable.

When I gently wiped it with a suitable cloth, the traces of the writing remaining behind the chalk dust were revealed, albeit faintly. It was all about alchemy and chemical formulas.

I wanted to look elsewhere, but all I had was the experiment tools, so there was nothing else to look at.

“There’s really nothing… … .”

In the end, not being able to get any information, I quietly returned to my seat and sat down. After another 5 minutes, the door to the preparation room, which had been closed, was opened.

I blinked at the strong scent of coffee wafting out as soon as the door opened. Could it be that the coffee had been brewing for 15 minutes?

As I quietly looked at the open door, Priscilla, looking somewhat tired, came out holding a beaker in each hand.

“You made me wait for a long time. Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. But that… … .”

“It’s coffee.”

I know that, but… … .

I couldn’t say anything and just gave a small smile, so she put down the coffee in front of me, took another chair, and sat across from me.

“You seem to be on good terms with the princess.”

“Maybe it’s because we share the same room?”

“Is that so.”

She nodded slowly and took a sip of coffee.

“I came back a bit far, but let’s talk about what we were talking about earlier.”

“Are you talking about the story we had at the cafe back then?”

“Yes.”

Priscilla nodded, quietly took a sip of coffee, and sighed quietly.

“… … There was something I wanted to tell you about what happened back then, so I called Miss Charlotte.”

After a brief pause, she spoke with a slightly sad expression.

“Actually, I am your… … . So, this is the person who becomes your aunt.”

“I knew it.”

“As expected――Yes?”

I knew it. The professor was the only one who thought I didn’t know.

He smiled slightly with that meaning in mind.

Silence fell in Priscilla’s laboratory.