Chapter 41 - What Even Is Marriage?

“So you were the ghost...”

As before, picking locks seemed to be child's play for her. She must have come and gone from the academy infirmary as though it were her own room.

“Huh? Lucia was a ghost?”

“Yes. It seems your wandering in and out of a locked infirmary has started some strange rumors.”

Wait a moment. Then other students were getting in and doing weird things because she had unlocked the door. This was all her fault. Shouldn't something be done about her for corrupting public morals? This school clearly needed some sort of disciplinary committee.

“I don't think that's it. The infirmary teacher probably gave them a key.”

“I see... Where do I report that teacher, then?”

“Haha, who knows?”

Come to think of it, the infirmary teacher was Laward's... original mentor, wasn't it? In the game, and probably in my previous life as well. There had been a teacher who rescued Laward from the slums of the Seventh District. They weren't referred to as his mentor, but they had definitely existed.

“The infirmary teacher is in Infirmary 2. They moved everything over when they renovated the infirmary a little while ago.”

“So this wasn't even the infirmary to begin with.”

Then what should we call this place now? The abandoned infirmary?

“The hands-on health classroom?”

“...”

“Ahaha.”

Lucia smiled brightly, apparently amused by my reaction.

“Oh, Lord Karma.”

Then she looked up as though something had occurred to her.

“I saw you talking to my roommate in the cafeteria.”

“That was... you too, then.”

The infirmary ghost and Amelia's roommate. Both were this disreputable student.

“You looked awfully close.”

She teased me like a middle schooler who thought exchanging words with the opposite sex was a major event. Her eyes weren't smiling, though.

“Amelia, I mean. Did you know she has a fiancé?”

... What?

“A fiancé?”

It felt as though Amelia's secrets had been coming to light one after another all day...

“Yes, a fiancé. I heard it straight from her.”

“I see. But why are you telling me this?”

“Hmm, who knows? I just thought you should know.”

Hearing that, I could almost hear Amelia's words from earlier echoing in my ears. Hadn't she said none of it was ever ‘just’ anything?

“Being engaged doesn't make you married yet. Though Amelia would fall into the forty-five percent. You can relax.”

“Who exactly are you saying that to?”

“At first, I thought Amelia was under surveillance. I could feel eyes around the dormitory watching our room. I have an uncanny knack for noticing that sort of thing.”

Lucia gave a small laugh.

“After all, Lucia is usually the one doing the watching. I can recognize someone in the same line of work at a glance.”

“The same line of work, you say.”

“It bothered me, so I asked her. She said her fiancé had sent them.”

She shrugged and continued.

“Apparently fiancés send assassins these days. What even is marriage?”

“That certainly... is something I should know about.”

“Just give the word, and Lucia can take care of them. It's my room too, you know. Having those things hanging around is unpleasant.”

“I'll let you know when the time comes.”

“All right. If possible, I'd appreciate it if you decided to get rid of them.”

For once, she seemed sincere. Perhaps she really did find it unpleasant.

“Still, I'm surprised Her Highness told you all that.”

“Amelia? Oh, yes.”

... I called her Your Highness, so why did Lucia get to use her name? That struck me as rather unfair. Come to think of it, without succession rights, she shouldn't even be a Highness.

“At first she ignored me, even though I'm a third-year. But now we talk quite a bit. We've settled the pecking order.”

Lucia smiled as she lightly clenched and unclenched her fist.

“How can you put yourself above a princess?”

Was there really any need for a succession struggle or an election? You could simply overpower everyone like Lucia. Actually, I ought to give that option some serious thought too.

“We fought over who got the bottom bunk, and Lucia won.”

“That was all it was...?”

“Oh, Lord Karma. Did you know Amelia is actually incredibly strong?”

“Hmm?”

I'd just received confirmation from Amelia herself, but it was too soon to let on that I knew.

“I was so surprised. Honestly, I underestimated her because I'd heard she was dead last in the second-year swordsmanship department.”

“Aren't you dead last in the third-year swordsmanship department yourself?”

“If I hadn't slept soundly through first to fourth period that day, I might have lost. I could have suffered the humiliation of ranking below a princess...”

As her sponsor, Lucia's lack of diligence broke my heart. On the other hand, this told me Amelia had gone all out over something as trivial as a bunk bed. Why hide her strength for two years if she was going to use it for that...?

RATTLE!

As I clicked my tongue, the infirmary doorknob moved.

“Haah... It's unlocked again... I thought I made it clear this is an academy...”

Someone was muttering outside the door.

SLIDE—CLACK!

Then the door opened. It actually opened.

“What... are you doing in here?”

The voice behind me was familiar. A voice I hadn't been able to hear in the game, and was grateful I could hear now.

Dark red hair. A female teacher whose mature looks were captivating. The woman I'd wanted to romance more than any of the heroines. It was Grace.

“P-please leave. If anyone finds out you're here, nasty rumors will spread.”

What? Even the teachers knew what Infirmary 1 really was? If they knew, they ought to put a stop to it.

“Hello, Miss Grace.”

Lucia peeked out from behind my shoulder.

Wait. I didn't know whether she'd done that on purpose, but showing herself so openly here, in this situation—

“W-w-what are you doing with a student...!”

Grace pointed her index finger at me. Her face flushed bright red at the same time. Her eyes quivered, unable to focus. In a cartoon, they would have been spinning in circles.

“I knew you were after our female students...!”

The Daywin–Grace route. Locked once again.

041

Coins held: 500.

Even after earning another 300 coins, I was still a long way from 1,500.

Should I focus on achievements with big payouts from now on? Small, easy achievements like the infirmary ghost would be best saved for when I was only a hundred coins or so short. The items I needed to buy might start costing thousands at a minimum. I didn't have time to leisurely collect a hundred or two at a time.

I checked the achievement list again. This time, I sorted by ‘Highest Reward.’

Surprisingly, some achievements offered tens of thousands. The disparity in rewards was greater than I'd expected. That presumably meant the difficulty rose accordingly, though. Killing the final boss, for instance.

I scrolled down to achievements in a reasonable range: the thousands. When I stopped there, most of the achievements on display involved the Death God's cult.

By the point in the game where you needed to earn thousands of coins, Laward would have grown quite a bit. Twenty years old. The story after his graduation. The fate of the world hung in the balance, and the game asked whether you would choose the heroine or your mission.

Many of the achievements involving the Death God's cult required defeating named monsters or its senior members. Named enemies from the cult were worth at least 1,000 coins. Its leaders would be worth far more.

“... Surely not.”

TAP, TAP.

I scrolled back up a little.

[Defeat Daywin Hasgard of the Death God's Cult]

-10,000 coins

Sure enough, there it was... The bounty on my head. Ten thousand coins.

To be dead or alive—that was not the question. Dead only. Killing me was a requirement.

I'd expected it, but seeing it for myself left a bitter taste.

At any rate, I'd confirmed I could earn coins by cutting down the opposing faction one by one. The problem was that I needed 1,000 coins right now, and had no way of finding those enemies yet. I'd have to give earning coins a little more thought.

CLICK.

I dismissed the system window and headed to the cafeteria.

“Ack.”

... Amelia coughed the moment she heard what I had to say. It was a rather undignified sound for a princess.

“C-cough. What did you just say?”

“I asked... why you hid the fact that you have a fiancé.”

“I-I didn't hide it! Hide it, indeed!”

Amelia hastily waved both hands. It was the fastest I'd ever seen her move.

“... I'm sorry. Hasgard, are you very... disappointed?”

Huh? Disappointed? Where had that come from? Why would I be disappointed? I only wanted to tell her that her fiancé seemed to be trying to kill her. That her life was still in danger.

“Are you very... angry?”

Keeping her head lowered, Amelia cautiously raised her eyes to me. Her voice had become so quiet I could barely hear it, and she fidgeted with her hair.

“Again, why would I be angry...?”

“I-it won't happen again. I promise. I'll tell you everything. He's only my fiancé because our families arranged it. Y-you understand how that works, don't you?”

“I'm afraid I don't.”

“Was there never any talk of a betrothal for you...?”

“Come to think of it, I believe there was. I refused as soon as I heard her age.”

“Her age? Was she older than you?”

It was the opposite, actually. That was why I'd objected.

“Being able to refuse simply because you dislike it is hardly ordinary in itself... I never had that opportunity. I had to promise to marry a man I'd never even met.”

“It seems your relationship is worse now than when you didn't know each other at all.”

“I must have become an obstacle. Well, it comes down to succession rights, as usual. They attached themselves to me early, expecting me to become king. Now I'm of no use to them.”

“Even so, trying to kill you...”

“That's precisely why they're trying to kill me. A ducal house cannot ask the royal family to break off an engagement. Hehe.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“I thought you'd understand such things perfectly. You have a surprisingly cute side.”

She smiled warmly, then returned to her usual expression.

“You needn't worry. They won't be able to do anything while I'm at the academy. I know they're watching, but I cannot strike first either.”

“That must be exhausting.”

“Once the election is over, everything will be all right.”

Amelia smiled bitterly as she spoke.

“What if...”

“What if?”

“What would you do if you recovered your ring and could stand as a candidate again?”

“Even if I entered, the other candidates have already begun working to secure the lords' votes. It would be too late for me.”

“But what if?”

What if a series of ominous incidents made the undead academy founder seem laughable by comparison, and whoever resolved them became a leading candidate?

“What would you do?”

“Don't say such things, Hasgard.”

Amelia's expression darkened a little.

“It's not as though I want to let those who tried to kill me go unpunished. When you say things like that, I end up pinning my hopes on you again. Leaning on you. I don't want that.”

The darker her expression grew, the brighter her anger-heated eyes seemed to shine. That was answer enough.

Getting her the ring and helping her win the election wouldn't be meddling for nothing. Amelia would probably give it everything she had.

Just as I nodded without realizing it...

BUZZ!

The matchbox vibrated in my inner pocket.

“Please excuse me for a moment.”

I lightly pressed a hand over my pocket and left my seat. While searching for somewhere deserted, I briefly thought of the infirmary, but obediently went to the restroom instead.

HISS.

“I'm listening.”

I spoke quietly into the match flame.

-Lord Karma, we've found another hideout.

-They may have realized they were being followed. It seems they've already abandoned this place and fled... but there are a few traces left.

RUSTLE.

A sound followed, as though someone were picking up a sheet of paper.

-We found a partly burned scrap here. They seem to have left in a hurry without waiting for all the documents to burn.

I wondered what had made them relocate so urgently, but for now I focused on his voice. I had no choice.

-Daywin Hasgard.

My name had come up out of nowhere.

-I don't know who this person is... but that's the name written here.

“I see. Is that all?”

I forced myself to remain composed as I asked. He shook his head.

-‘We tried to bring him in, but all we received in return was interference and counterattacks. Even now, leaving this place...’ Ah, the rest of this part has burned away.

“It doesn't matter. Is that the end?”

-No. There's more here.

He drew a breath and read the rest of the document.

-‘We have no choice but to dispose of him. We will give up on him and find another candidate. We have sent the twins.’ That's what it says. What could it mean...?

“... Understood for now. Keep pursuing them.”

-Yes, sir.

Four voices overlapped.

Right. I'd been telling Amelia all this time that her life was in danger, but now I was in the same boat. It seemed they'd given up on turning me into a villain and intended to eliminate me instead. My head, worth ten thousand coins.

“... Ha.”

Was I being hunted in this life too? The reason seemed to have changed, though.

“Not bad.”

The coins were walking right to me. This wasn't like my previous life, when all I'd done was run. This time, I'd face them head-on.