Chapter 50 - The Final Heroine

“The Joint Sports Festival. Ah, you mean the Peach Garden Festival,” the chairman said gently.

A spacious office, a plush sofa, and warm tea. By now, this place felt as comfortable as a lounge.

“That’s the name of the Joint Sports Festival. The Peach Garden Festival. It has quite a long history. Our academy, the military academy, and the seminary come together to hold it every year.”

Three different schools. And the Peach Garden. I had a pretty good idea where the inspiration for the name had come from. There was Romance of the Three Kingdoms, of course, but it was also the name of the club we had belonged to.

Computer science, art, and music. Students from three different departments had banded together to make games—or, for some, to build portfolios for job hunting. The Peach Garden. Having been a member myself, I couldn’t possibly forget that name.

“This year is no exception, of course. It’s in October. Are you interested?”

Even if I wanted to ignore some kids’ school festival, I couldn’t. Too many events took place there. Ending 7, Lucia’s second ending—the one that had been locked last time—had come out of it, too.

“Ah, you want to see Laward distinguish himself at the Peach Garden Festival!” the chairman said, as though he had read my mind.

Laward was growing faster than I had expected. Winning the Peach Garden Festival would raise a stat by one rank. It would give him wings.

“Ultimately, yes.”

“Excellent. There’s no limit on first-year applicants. Any first-year who wants to can enter the festival’s main event, the dueling tournament. Well... Laward would be selected even if there were only one slot.”

“That’s unusual. What happens if everyone applies? Wouldn’t that make the event difficult to run?”

“If everyone applies, they’ll suffer crushing defeats against the other schools’ second- and third-years and be eliminated in the preliminaries, won’t they?”

The chairman delivered that brutal assessment as though it were obvious.

“We’re lucky to see even one first-year make it through the dueling preliminaries in a given year. There’s no need to worry. Haha. The students assess their own abilities objectively before applying. Those who don’t will simply embarrass themselves in public.”

“I see. How many students from the other years can participate, then?”

“It varies by event, but for dueling, it’s four per year. Entering multiple events is allowed, too.”

“Four...”

That left enough room to send Rebecca and Lucia as well. There was only one prize for winning each event, so there was no need to enter them in the same one. But I could already imagine the heroines’ reactions.

‘I’m definitely entering the duels! It has to be a real sword fight!’

‘That sounds tiring to Lucia... Lord Karma, wouldn’t dueling be better? I could just fight one match and rest until the next one.’

They would definitely say something along those lines. Lucia might refuse to participate altogether.

“Hmm...”

And there was still one unresolved issue. Ending 7. In that ending, Laward had entered the hunting event with Lucia. And Lucia had said this:

[“Veronica’s back, too, you know.”]

The fifth heroine. The final heroine’s suspension had ended. In other words, the troublemaker would return to school in October, the month the chairman had mentioned.

I should probably approach her ahead of time. I had stopped by the shop where she worked part-time before, but she hadn’t been there.

“Will Veronica be allowed to participate?”

“Who?”

“A student I sponsor. Veronica, a third-year in the magic department. I understand she’s currently suspended.”

“Ah.”

The chairman gave a short exclamation after a moment’s thought. Perhaps unsurprisingly, her name alone had seemed to mean nothing to him, but at the mention of her suspension, he gave a little clap.

“That... student.”

He glanced at me to gauge my reaction and fiddled with his teacup.

“She should be able to. Whether she has any desire to participate in the first place, though...”

That trailing remark was the chairman’s final word on the subject. It was time to wrap up our conversation—and to bring up the most important matter.

Rewards. The Peach Garden Festival offered more than one. Just as when I had opened Houndry’s safe, there was a hidden reward obtainable by meeting certain conditions.

When I played the game, Laward had obtained it by winning the dueling tournament in his third year. Fortunately, his [Intelligence] stat wasn’t a requirement. The hidden reward definitely existed. In fact, if things went well this time, I might be able to get it all three years.

Three consecutive championships. A three-peat.

... Though the first question was whether he could win as a first-year.

While the rank increase was a game-system reward, this one was a physical object. An equippable item, like the Ring of Disguise.

“What’s the prize for this year’s festival?”

“Haha, I don’t know myself. It isn’t our turn this year. The military academy is hosting, so they’re preparing it.”

“Would it be a weapon or a piece of equipment, then?”

“Who knows? It might simply be prize money.”

“When the academy’s turn comes around, you’ll probably offer the founder’s spear, won’t you?”

“H-how did you...”

Because that was what I had received. The prize at the festival during Laward’s third year had been the founder’s spear.

“That was something I’d only been considering privately... You guessed correctly. Normally, I wouldn’t even have taken it out of the memorial hall, but after that recent incident...”

“You want to get rid of it now that it has an unsavory history attached?”

“No, that’s not... not... entirely untrue.”

He admitted it awkwardly.

“Keeping it at our academy would only serve as a traumatic reminder and spread ominous rumors. The parents are already clamoring for us to blow up the memorial hall.”

“Still, its effectiveness has certainly been proven.”

“By cutting down students...”

The chairman’s shoulders slumped.

“If possible, I’d like to get rid of it this year—no, offer it as the prize.”

“I’m not sure students from the other schools would want it. Isn’t it rather sinister?”

“They probably would. At their age, that might actually make them like it more.”

Fair enough. Some people liked famous swords, while others preferred the opposite: demonic swords.

“But what if an academy student wins?”

“...”

The chairman froze halfway through lifting his teacup.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

This time, he admitted it without hesitation.

“Of course I’d be delighted if we won, but the military academy and the seminary have always been far too strong. We raise students, while they raise soldiers, don’t they? They’re difficult opponents. In fact, we haven’t won in thirty-three years.”

“Sounds like a baseball team.”

“Oh, come now. What team could possibly be like that?”

... Well, there was at least a school like that right here.

“Even so, is it really all right to offer a cultural artifact as a prize?”

“They’re offering a cultural artifact this year anyw—”

“Huh?”

“Oops.”

The chairman flinched and clapped a hand over his mouth.

“I thought you said you didn’t know.”

“... My apologies. We had a gathering recently, and I heard a little. Only a little. I really don’t know anything beyond that.”

“Hmm. I see.”

His eyes genuinely suggested that no amount of further questioning would turn up even a speck of information, so I left it there.

“There can’t be many things they’d consider cultural artifacts anyway.”

I might not have the answer, but at least I had a set of possible answers.

050

I turned a page in the student record I had borrowed from the academy, the paper rustling.

The name at the top was Veronica. Veronica, third-year magic department student. Her age was XX, naturally. Her hometown was the Seventh District. The same as Laward. The same district, the same neighborhood.

In other words, Veronica belonged to a heroine archetype that showed up in practically every romantic comedy or school story: the “childhood friend.”

Unlike the four heroines Laward would meet for the first time at the academy, Veronica had grown up in his neighborhood. In most stories, the childhood-friend heroine seemed to lose out in the end, but the sheer impact of those two words—“childhood friend”—was undeniable.

I could infer their past without even turning the page. They shared childhood memories. They already had common ground and mutual trust.

Long after Veronica left their hometown first, they happened to reunite at the same school. A first-year and a third-year, no less. Had her suspension not ended in time, they might never have met again. How could I even describe how special that connection was?

She was the one who could most easily sway Laward. The fifth heroine. As the final heroine, she was the final boss.

I brushed aside my uneasy thoughts and turned another rustling page.

“Talents/Aptitudes.”

Unlike Rebecca’s, this entry was clearly filled in.

“Contracted with the Spirit of Abundance.”

That was what it said.

A spirit wielder, supposedly a very rare breed. We would have something in common there.

Another rustle. The next page.

“Disciplinary Action.”

A stain on her student record. Veronica was the only one whose entry in this section wasn’t blank...

Let’s see how on earth she had earned a punishment as severe as suspension.

“Suspended for one year under school regulations for organizing gambling on school grounds.”

... Let’s stop looking.

I arrived just as I was putting Veronica’s record into my bag. It was the place where she worked part-time, the one I had visited before: a magic-tool shop distinguished by its chaotic banners and amateur paint job.

The inside was bound to be even more of a mess. Taking a deep breath that was almost a sigh, I opened the door.

“Welcome.”

The languid voice of the shop owner, dressed in a maid outfit, greeted me.

“Oh, my. It’s been a while.”

Her expression softened in apparent delight the instant she saw my face. I hadn’t expected her to remember me.

“Did your order arrive safely... Lord Karma?”

Not only did she remember my face, she even knew my second identity.

Startled, I turned toward her, and she shrugged.

“I know the address, you see.”

Then she indicated the ring on my finger with her chin.

“I suppose you didn’t know who made that.”

Of all people, this woman was the magic-tool maker who had created the Ring of Disguise...? That would explain why she knew the address of Houndry’s hideout. But wasn’t the Ring of Disguise supposed to have been passed down through generations of Karmas?

“Are you looking for something today as well?”

She stepped closer and asked while I was still thinking.

“Not an item. Is Veronica working today?”

“Veronica again? She’s just arrived. She’s changing, so she’ll be out shortly.”

She answered kindly, her eyes crinkling in a smile.

“But why have you been looking for Veronica?”

“I’ve been putting the item to good use. It’s quite handy.”

I blatantly changed the subject.

My plan was to establish a connection before the Joint Sports Festival—the Peach Garden Festival—and persuade her to participate, but there seemed little reason to explain that.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

She seemed to realize I didn’t intend to answer, but let it pass without comment. Since she knew I was Karma, she probably understood that I had plenty of secrets.

“Do shop with us again. The magic tools I make are cheap and work wonderfully.”

“I will.”

Just as I nodded...

CLACK!

The staff-room door burst open.

“Boss!”

Ash-gray hair swished with the movement. Veronica glared at the owner, her highly unusual eyes—a mixture of green and purple—wide open.

“You’ve made it smaller again!”

She shouted, pointing at the waist of her maid outfit.

I hadn’t meant to look, but it certainly hugged her waist, accentuating its narrow curve. Even her white stockings were patterned fishnet. No matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t a maid outfit intended for an ordinary domestic worker.

“Oh? Did I?”

“Why do you keep taking in my uniform without asking?”

“But it looks so good on you. I hired you to dress you up to my taste in the first place.”

“I’m not some doll...”

Veronica was raising her voice even further when she turned her head, apparently sensing someone else’s presence. Those unusual eyes fixed on my face.

“Oh, a customer...”

“Yes, say hello. This is Lord Karma.”

What? I had come as an academy sponsor. Why was she introducing me by that name without asking?

“Karma?”

Veronica tilted her head slightly, then gave a little snort and approached me.

“I thought you’d look meaner. What a surprise.”

She pointed at me as she spoke.

Hmm. Since when were we familiar enough for her to talk to me like that?

“Since when were we familiar enough for you to talk to me like that?”

In the end, I said exactly what I was thinking.

Unbothered, she came even closer.

“Who’d have thought that sooo-famous thug would have such a pretty face? Maybe Houndry’s more of a joke than I thought.”

Ignoring my question, she swept her index finger through the air as if to stroke my chin. Before I knew it, she was right in front of me.

Neither her speech nor her conduct had any refinement. She came from the same slums as Laward. Unlike him, she had retained every habit from those days—the kind you never broke without meeting an “esteemed mentor” who changed your life.

She would need the same lessons in social behavior as Laward. Subduing people from the Seventh District by force was more effective. They were more accustomed to it. That was the rule where they came from.

I drew in a light breath. Then I released my mana.

CRAAASH!

Every window in the shop shattered at once, and the already chaotic display cases came crashing down.

Right. Karma. Since she had called me by that name, this was a chance to teach her properly.

Veronica staggered briefly from the shock wave. I seized the finger she had been pointing at me all this time and made it point straight at my face.

“Lord. Karma.”

“Do you understand?”

Veronica gave a very slight nod.