Chapter 56 - Everyone Has Gone Crazy

[Ending (21) Locked]

[Reunited After Ten Years]

『A familiar face has arrived at the academy.

Never in his dreams did he expect to reunite with the childhood friend he parted with ten years ago.

There had been no news of her all that time. He hadn't even known whether she was alive.

Veronica recognized Laward the instant she saw him and threw herself into his arms.

Their joy is tinged with regret. After ten long years apart, they have only a few short months to spend together.

Can he really end up with Veronica while pursuing the other beautiful girls? Isn't it time to go all in?

Laward places his large hand on the back of Veronica's head and sa—...

Skip.

I closed it there, since I felt like I'd seen a similar scene just a little while ago.

Though the outcome seemed to have been completely different. That was probably why the ending had locked.

Not only had I locked Ending 21, I'd also received a modest fifty coins.

And...

Endings Remaining Until Stage 3 Perk Unlocks: 1

Just one left.

Come to think of it, I should save up more coins to upgrade the [Affection Scouter] again. The next upgrade was [Allows you to see the correct choice], after all.

That would help in all sorts of ways. Wasn't it practically the same as seeing straight into someone's heart?

It was ridiculous that while Laward and the heroines were breaking through barriers and surpassing their limits to grow stronger, I was progressing through dating-sim abilities...

Oh. Speaking of progress, that reminded me.

"Lucia. After school today. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"Hmm? What?"

"We agreed to do that, remember? Don't tell me you've forgotten."

"Oh, that? I already stole the key to the sports equipment shed. You know, the one that mysteriously locks itself the moment the door shuts and absolutely won't open unless someone lets you out from outside."

"That sounds oddly familiar, like something I've seen before, but I never mentioned the equipment shed. And put the key back."

"We're not using it? The blue mattress in there?"

"What have you been talking about this whole time?"

"We're not going? To the room you can't leave?"

"I think you've left out the first part of that, but we agreed to a progress check before the sports meet. Stop changing the subject."

"Ohhh."

Lucia's little shoulders slumped.

"All right. A progress check."

"Finally, we're back to a sensible conversation..."

"We're fighting you, right, Lord Karma? Three against one."

"I'm glad you remember. The training grounds after school. Training Ground B. Don't get it wrong."

"Me, Rebecca, and Laward?"

"No. Not Laward."

He was training in seclusion.

"Then who's the third person?"

"Right over there."

I pointed at Veronica, the ash-haired third-year still standing frozen in the middle of the field.

"Hmm."

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Just thinking you never run out of women, Lord Karma. That news from earlier might turn out to be bad news."

"You know I'm a sponsor here at the academy."

"Hmm. I'd better hang on to the shed key. I'm starting to feel threatened, you could say. I need a trump card of my own."

"Just when I thought you'd finally stopped joking."

"This time I'm finally serious."

"..."

"... But don't look so put off. It hurts my feelings."

"Anyway, the equipment shed—no, the training grounds."

"Okaaay. See you later."

Lucia waved me off as if telling me to get going.

I felt uneasy about getting up and leaving things like that, but I shook it off and headed over to Veronica.

"Veronica."

"Eek!"

Veronica jumped the moment I called her name.

This felt strangely like déjà vu.

"Wh-what? You! Why are you here...?"

"Don't worry. I didn't see anything. I'm holding a skill test and progress check before the sports meet. You should come too."

"You saw everything...! Now I'll never get married. Seriously..."

"No, strictly speaking, it's the opposite. At least one prospect seems to be out of reach now."

"Sh-shut up. But... a progress check? No, before that, what do you have to do with it? Who let you in here?"

"Just listen. I'll be testing the students entering the dueling event. The sports meet is coming up, and its results decide who gets to compete in the Peach Garden Festival."

"Well... I don't know how good the other students are... so that doesn't sound bad. How's it going to work?"

"I'll be your opponent."

"Oh, really?"

Veronica grinned.

"I don't know what's going on here... but you're the one we're fighting?"

"You heard me."

"Fine. I'm in."

She nodded readily.

"I've got something to pay you back for, anyway."

056

"What... What is this...?"

CLANG! CLATTER!

Sparks flew as Daywin deflected Lucia's sword.

"Why is he so strong...?"

By the time Veronica came to her senses, she'd already been knocked out of bounds. She struggled to haul her bruised body upright and dusted off her knees.

"I was going to... pay him back for what happened at the shop..."

Rebecca rushed in as Daywin knocked Lucia back. Aiming for his blind spot, she slipped into an opening—

BOOM!

Daywin's spirit filled the gap.

"Tch...!"

As Rebecca clicked her tongue in frustration, Daywin kicked her.

CRRRASH!

Rebecca skidded across the ground and landed in a heap beside Veronica. But she was up and running again in moments, as if she were used to this sort of thing.

"What are you doing? Hurry up!"

She even tossed those words at Veronica before leaving.

"Huh? Oh, uh..."

She'd just been scolded by a younger student she'd never met. But Veronica was still more confused than offended.

CLATTER!

All the while, the clash of swords rang out.

Daywin currently had four spirits summoned.

'Karma has spirits... And glowing ones, at that...'

She hadn't understood what Karma was doing at the academy in the first place, but that was when her confusion had truly begun.

'He moves one of them to his sword to block Lucia.'

So spirits could be used like that, too. Learning something from him as a fellow spirit wielder only added to her confusion and wounded pride.

'Two more block that younger girl's sword...'

They seemed to defend automatically, without him having to give them orders. That left him freer to deal with Lucia's sword strikes.

'What kind of spirits are those? They're nothing like mine... Huh? Where's the last one...?'

"Pay attention."

That last spirit had come straight to Veronica.

BOOM!

The moment Veronica noticed and threw herself aside, the spirit slammed into the spot where she'd been standing.

Shielding herself with her hands from fragments of the shattered training-ground floor, Veronica raised her head.

She was rolling on the ground again. She'd only just struggled to her feet, and here she was again.

Over and over.

"Veronica. Are you just going to keep running?"

"Urgh..."

His taunt brought Veronica straight back to her feet.

"You're not getting me again...!"

TING!

She pulled out a silver coin and flicked it up with her thumb.

The coin spun through the air, then vanished with the sound of something gobbling it up.

At that instant—

BOOOM!

One silver coin's worth of an explosion engulfed Daywin, but he moved one of the spirits fighting Rebecca over to cancel it out.

"... That's not fair."

'Some of us have to spend money to make an explosion that big...!'

Veronica clenched her fist tight, then rummaged through her coin purse again.

If silver wouldn't work, she'd spend more. Even if that meant using a gold coin, or a more expensive jewel.

"Nice one!"

Rebecca, meanwhile, seemed delighted that she now had only one spirit to face instead of two.

But her delight was short-lived.

THUD!

His kick came at her once more.

"Guh!"

She barely managed to block it, but was driven back, her earring swinging wildly.

"Oh, come on...!"

Her otherwise pretty face scrunched up, and her free hand twitched.

"I believe I told you that wasn't allowed."

At his words, however, she quietly gripped her sword again.

'What the hell is all this...?'

The master of the pleasure district was openly strolling around the academy and training students with ease.

Too much had changed during her year away. It felt as if not just the academy, but the whole world was deceiving her.

After the frantic training ended...

"Whew."

The three who'd fought Daywin sat down in a row, looking utterly drained.

"Lucia, what's going on here?"

Veronica asked as she caught her breath.

"I think I'm dying..."

"Don't die. Listen. Does this happen all the time? Here at the academy?"

"If it did, I'd have died yesterday or the day before... wouldn't I?"

"No, just who is that man...?"

"Lord Karma? Oh, I'm not supposed to call him that. Pretend you didn't hear that, please. Cover your ears and go 'aaah.'"

Had she misheard?

Lord... Karma?

"He's always helping us. Though this is the first time he's gone this far..."

"W-wait. Don't tell me you know what kind of man he is and still..."

"Exactly, Lucia. I don't care how exhausted you are, how could you get Master's name wrong? They don't even sound alike!"

Master?

His honored name?

"Oh, sorry about earlier. I'm...!"

Rebecca leaned forward abruptly and looked into Veronica's eyes.

Her eyes were beautiful and sparkling.

"Rebecca, a second-year!"

Her radiant smile only emphasized her beauty, even with her sweat-soaked blond hair plastered to her face.

Rebecca was a beauty who would stand out in any crowd, yet Veronica had never seen her before. With a face like that, she must have caused a stir from the entrance ceremony onward.

"Veronica. Magic department, third year, same as Lucia."

"I know that much. You're the one who rode a horse right into the auditorium at the entrance ceremony. And I heard it was a horse that walked sideways?"

"Just how far have the rumors about me spread...?"

Inexplicable things just kept happening.

"You were using a sword earlier, so you must be in the year below Lucia in her department. Is that how you two know each other?"

"No. Actually, I'm in the year below you in your department. I'm in the magic department."

"...?"

"What's wrong? And I know Lucia because we're both Master's..."

"Why are you in the magic department...?"

Had she turned her back on the world for ten years instead of one?

"Oh, they're here."

Rebecca, who'd been about to say something, suddenly looked off to one side. Two men walked in from the direction she indicated with her eyes.

It was Daywin and Laward, carrying cold drinks in both hands.

'I'm going crazy. So those two know each other, too.'

Arrows crisscrossed wildly through the relationship chart in Veronica's head. Giving up on understanding any of it, she hung her head.

She might have missed a year, but catching up on everything she'd missed was far too much.

"My esteemed mentor, are you sure I don't need to take part?"

"Yes. Someone said we need a... secret weapon of sorts."

That exchange made Veronica's head snap back up.

Esteemed mentor.

Esteemed mentor?

Lucia called him Lord Karma.

Rebecca called him Master.

Laward even called him his esteemed mentor.

They all addressed him differently, but not one of those titles made any sense.

If Amelia, who at least called Daywin by his surname, had been there, she might have cleared up Veronica's confusion. Unfortunately, she'd left for the royal capital.

He was the man who'd inherited the title traditionally given to the master of the pleasure district.

So why...?

"Everyone."

At Veronica's terse utterance, they all turned to look at her.

"Have you all gone crazy...?"