Chapter 54 - One Genius Is Enough

No one knew how things might have changed if the necromancer's paradise had succeeded a hundred years ago.

It was simply as it had always been.

Whoever won was right.

History was written by the victors.

"... That's complicated."

"You don't need to trouble yourself with complicated things. You all just need to do well at school."

And preferably listen to me a little more.

"You all?"

Veronica tilted her head as she asked, but I didn't answer.

The train arrived in the marquisate around dawn. I returned to my lodgings to catch up on a little sleep, then headed to the academy.

"Dueling at the Peach Garden Festival?"

Rebecca looked surprised as we sat talking on a bench beside a walking path.

"I'd love to! You believe in me, Master!"

Originally, I hadn't intended to enter the heroines in the dueling event. My plan had been to have them earn points in other events and build their confidence.

After all, only the dueling champion could claim the prize, and Laward was the only one who stood any real chance against the other schools' aces.

But...

["Ha! The Peach Garden Festival? That thing is nothing but child's play!"]

The words of that military academy brat, Hakan, kept coming back to me.

The prize mattered, of course, but now I wanted to make absolutely sure he got crushed.

Laward had the best chance, but the heroines weren't pushovers either. The dueling event was a knockout tournament. Even if they couldn't beat Hakan, they could wear him down physically and mentally.

"Heh heh..."

Better still if they injured him before he reached Laward.

"Master, you look positively evil..."

"I hear next week's academy sports meet will serve as the qualifiers for the Peach Garden Festival. You'll need to place in the top four among the second-years. Can you do it?"

"Of course!"

"Absolutely not."

A third voice cut in from behind the bench.

Akikira, the school nurse, leaned her head between Rebecca and me and stared steadily at her.

Three blonds at one bench.

Meanwhile, Rebecca had frozen with her fists still clenched in enthusiasm.

"No. What are you talking about? You were carried into the infirmary just the other day."

"W-well, ma'am! It's not like that!"

"Didn't I tell you to rest? Don't you know what rest means?"

"But it's such a wonderful opportunity!"

"Ah, this won't do."

GRAB!

Akikira caught a wrist and began pulling.

"Huh?"

Not Rebecca's wrist. Mine.

"M-ma'am? Why are you dragging Master..."

"You stay right there!"

As she led me away, Akikira turned and jabbed a finger at the ground.

A short while later, she backed me against a wall in an alley between buildings. She was so close that all she had to do was plant a hand against the wall to complete the classic romantic pose.

This was getting my heart racing.

"Lord Daywin, you're Rebecca's sponsor, correct?"

"I am."

"How much do you know about her?"

"At least as much as her student record says..."

"Then you must know how many blanks it has."

The serious tone of Akikira's voice gradually settled my racing heart.

Tch. And here I'd thought I might finally get a relationship event of my own.

"Since you're Rebecca's sponsor, and she seems very fond of you, I'll tell you."

She let out a short sigh.

"Rebecca has no guardian."

"What?"

"I mean... she has no parents."

And what exactly was her point?

Esther was the only heroine with both parents still alive to begin with...

"Rebecca gets very lonely, and she grew up without parents, so I'm sure she's desperate to make a good impression on you. You sponsored her when no one expected anything of her. She'll want to show you only her best side, even if it means pushing herself too hard or using the magic I've forbidden."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Please just let Rebecca graduate at the bottom of her class."

"What do you..."

"She only has to hold on for about another year. She's endured so well until now."

"You're saying she should do nothing and simply graduate as she is?"

"Yes. I can't explain the details, but if you want what's best for Rebecca, that's..."

"Because she loses her memories when she uses magic?"

"... How do you know that?"

Well, the Ending Preview gave me a rough idea, and it came up in the hidden ending too.

Besides, I'd overheard their conversation in the infirmary last time.

"Does Rebecca... know? That you know about it, Lord Daywin?"

"She probably doesn't. I haven't let it show."

"Why... not?"

"She promised to tell me herself in a month. There are about two weeks left now."

Akikira seemed a little surprised at that.

"Until I hear it from Rebecca herself, I don't intend to let on that I know."

"... It's that side of you that makes the children..."

"Pardon?"

"No. It's nothing..."

Akikira folded her arms and tapped a finger against her own elbow.

"Swordsmanship and magic were implanted into Rebecca."

After some deliberation, she finally spoke.

"Implanted?"

"Lord Daywin, do you think it's possible to manufacture a genius?"

It felt like a continuation of my conversation with Veronica on the train.

Artificial slaves.

And an artificial genius.

"I'm not sure."

"Not sure, are you? The mage tower tried to find that answer. The royal family led the research."

"Creating a genius..."

"The research was a partial success. Rebecca became able to wield every weapon, and she has every spell in her head. But she didn't have enough capacity. As that enormous quantity of information came in, more and more information had to be forgotten."

"And that information was Rebecca's memories."

Was it like the memory in a dashcam?

Delete the oldest data first.

Free up space.

"The erasure is still happening. The more she draws on the information the mage tower implanted..."

"The more Rebecca disappears?"

"Yes. If someone hadn't been willing to face the royal family to rescue her, the Rebecca we know would already be gone. The swordsmanship she uses now is fine, since she learned it afterward. But if you push her any harder, she'll use the magic or swordsmanship the mage tower implanted, just like last time."

"Are you certain?"

"Pardon?"

"I mean, are you certain Rebecca will be all right if we keep things as they are?"

"... For now, that's our best option."

"Our best option, you say."

In the end, even Akikira spoke as though a complete cure were impossible.

"So please don't let Rebecca push herself. Wouldn't it be a terrible loss if we could never see that bright child again?"

When I'd played through the hidden ending, I'd trained Rebecca as a mage and sent her to the front lines.

Back then, it hadn't even occurred to me to find a way to make her strong while preserving her memories.

I hadn't cared about a story of filling the emptiness inside, overcoming conflict, and finally finding love.

My only goal had been to reach the ending as quickly as possible.

The Rebecca I'd raised had devoted herself solely to magical training, forgetting not only herself but all the swordsmanship and other weapon skills implanted alongside her magic.

Everything.

She had become a heroine specialized exclusively in magic.

In Laward's hidden-ending party, there had been an archmage.

But there had been no Rebecca.

054

HUMMM

I summoned a light spirit and set it floating before Rebecca.

"This fellow will follow your sword and block it."

I pointed to the spirit, which was flapping its wings and radiating light.

I'd given it the same buffs I had when fighting Karma.

The spirit's automatic defense mode.

"Your assignment is to get past the spirit and attack me. Without using magic."

Until I found a solution, I'd decided to cooperate with Akikira's wishes.

"Aren't you going to teach me swordsmanship yourself, Master?"

Oh, right.

She thought I was a swordsman...

"Not yet. First, try getting past this."

"If I do, will you teach me?"

"Then you'll face two. Once you get past two, it'll be three."

"Aww..."

"Don't be impatient, Rebecca."

WHOOSH

I swiftly moved the spirit.

"Even one won't be easy."

After training Rebecca that way, it was time for the next heroine.

"Ugh... Do I really have to?"

Lucia hung her head. The dark circles beneath her eyes were deeper than usual.

"Don't you think that sort of thing doesn't suit Lucia, Lord Karma? Being in the spotlight is frightening."

"Weren't you the one who said you wanted to make memories before graduating?"

"The timing is terrible. My younger siblings haven't been sleeping lately, and it's exhausting. They're past that age, too. If they take after me and become nocturnal, they'll end up short like me as well..."

"Didn't you say you were looking for someone to look after them?"

"I am. Thanks to you, Lord Karma, I have the money too. But I think the address must be the problem. No one wants to work as a maid in the Sixth District..."

Fair enough.

No matter how well a job paid, if it was in the red-light district, suspicion was the sensible first response.

Unless you were already used to that sort of neighborhood.

"Isn't this your last chance to make your school days memorable? Surely you don't want to graduate like this. No competitions to your name, and grades at the very bottom. Even if we give up on academic improvement, taking part in the Peach Garden Festival will be a good experience."

"Academic... improvement? Lord Karma, what exactly does improving your performance mean? Doesn't that sound terribly sexual?"

What the hell was she on about now?

"..."

"I'm joking. I'll do it. You know I can't refuse an order from you, Lord Karma."

"Right, you were raised that wa—"

"I want to impress you too."

... And that was how I persuaded Lucia as well.

On to the next heroine.

I didn't particularly want to visit Veronica in person again, so I sent a letter.

Prepare to take part in the Peach Garden Festival as soon as you return to school.

From Daywin Hasgard.

That was all I wrote.

"Esteemed mentor... Have I... done something wrong?"

Finally, it was Laward's turn.

"You haven't done anything wrong, exactly."

I'd merely met a fellow named Hakan who had a nature much like his.

And I was merely thinking that, in my previous life, the pair of them had run off, both crazed over women.

"Th-then why are you angry..."

"Laward."

"Yes? Yes!"

"The military academy has a genius named Hakan, and the seminary has a genius named Chris."

"I-is that so? Chris..."

"Yes. The paladin who came with Commander Blash."

"Yes."

Laward nodded solemnly, perhaps remembering Chris's warning that he wouldn't let him off next time they met.

"And you're the one the academy is counting on."

"Ahaha... Thank you..."

"The holy magic you showed in your last spar with Rebecca was excellent. Knowing many spells is good, but not everyone can create something of their own."

"Thank you...!"

"But the same goes for Hakan and Chris. One is strong enough to have become a royal knight, and Chris developed his unique magic before you did."

"... Yes."

"I'm saying you're not good enough yet. We don't need three geniuses. One genius is enough. And that has to be you."

"I'll take that to heart."

Laward nodded vigorously.

"Laward, I don't care that the academy hasn't won in thirty-three years, or that this year looks difficult too. It's not an academy victory I want. It's yours."

"You believe in me that much...! Yes, esteemed mentor...!"

He tapped his chest, his face alight with joy.

"I won't neglect my training until I become that one genius. Esteemed mentor, I'll head to the training grounds now."

"Good."

Just as Laward turned away, I spoke.

"Let's go."

"... What?"

Startled, he looked back at me.

"Didn't I tell you? You're still not good enough. Doing the same training you always do alone won't make you strong enough to beat them in a few days."

"Then you mean..."

"Was it about a year ago that I first taught you magic?"

"That's right. It was before I entered the academy."

The fundamentals of the paladin order.

A whole year had already passed since I'd taught him the F-rank stun spell.

In that year, Laward had refined that spell to the highest level.

Even his [Divinity] stat had reached S-rank.

"It's about time you learned some new magic."