First Year Second Semester – Q of Diamonds (Part 1)

Note: Please don’t read it in the little pop-up for the reader. For some reason it doesn’t reflect my later edits (which I often make a lot of after publishing), so please click ‘view original’.

One Day I Became a Burikko Villainess Noble Girl, out now.
Honto tutorial here.

Think of it as throwing money at the author and Alphapolis, and getting a book with squiggles and pretty pictures as a pleasant extra.

You might be thinking, ‘Well, do I owe any thanks to Alphapolis the publisher?’, but in fact it is because the publishers are so willing to pick up web novels (Alphapolis in particular) that so many creative stories are being written by people wanting to make it as writers.

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King dude speaks to her in a kingly manner, whereas first prince speaks to her politely.

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“And so, I will be returning to Topageria temporarily.”

I announced to Baka-sama, who was sprawled slovenly in his room.

“Okay okaaay~ Have fun take caaare~”

Without even looking this way, Baka-sama flapped his hand.

I don’t know what for, but immediately after entering the second semester, I was summoned by the Topagerian king.

“I have to travel back and forth twice. To make me head back again…”

If he had something to say, it would have been fine for him to say so during the summer break.

While I’m away from the academy, I have to leave Baka-sama in the care of another guard, so I’m extremely anxious.

“Listen up. Do your very best to avoid troubling other people, and do not skip class either! It was that hard to get you permission to study abroad, so you don’t want that taken away either, right?”

“Geeeez, I get it~ You’re so fussy, Bea-chin~”

Leaving the disgruntled looking Tria behind, I decided to return to my homeland for a while.
That Baka-sama looks a little bit cheerful about this, is a source of insuppressable concern for me.
It’s during times like this that Baka-sama, honestly, doesn’t do anything decent.

※

Just returning to Topageria took almost a whole week.
There are transfer magic circle that lead to the Topagerian royal palace, but because there are few places that have them, I had no choice but to travel there normally by horse.

“But still, it’s so hot…”

To this body that had experienced the fine climate of Garnet, even if just a little, the Topagerian heat felt more intense than usual.

The splendid royal palace was built like the styles of Arabia in my old world, and was a domed shape with a slightly pointed roof. Naturally, the insides are just as splendorous.
This country is rich. Actually businesses in magic items make quite a lot of money. Topagerian soil is overflowing with the materials used for magic items, so you can make as many magic items as you want.
Naturally, our knowledge and techniques regarding magic items exceeds those of other nations as well. After all, when all is said and done, we can produce more.

The king’s room is, in a phrase, ‘gilded splendour’.
The floor, and the walls, and the ceilings are all golden. I can’t calm down at all.
Even in this world, gold, silver, gems and the like are precious.
In the depths of this room was the the king sitting on a throne. Standing quietly next to him was Baka-sama’s older brother, the first prince.
I heard this through Baka-sama, but the two brothers have a lot in common. I wasn’t that nervous.

The king of this nation, Álvaro-sama, opened his mouth.

“Beatrix… Your marriage with the crown prince of Garnet has been decided.”

“Wha-…”

Have my ears gone bad? Just now, I think I heard something strange.

“Beatrix, it’s been decided that you’ll be marrying Prince Royce of the Garnet Nation.”

The first prince, Basilio-sama, kindly repeated it for me, since I was shocked beyond reaction…
Aahh, I didn’t need to hear that again.

“What is with that!? This is the first I have heard of this!”

I accidentally yelled, but neither the king nor the first prince rebuked me… It looks like they had predicted my response to an extent.
Looking at the king, I was probably making a severe expression.
I mean, just now… what they said was something incredibly unreasonable to me.

“The other party strongly wished for it. There is no greater offer. You are aware that he is the crown prince of Garnet?”

“Something like that could just be given to another noble’s daughter.”

Even though if it’s a someone who’d happily cling to an offer like that, there are mountains of other girls…
Whether he knew how I felt or not, the king continued speaking.

“Considering the nation, at first I considered a marriage between Tria and that Rhodolite lady he wanted, Garnet rejected it and gave us an extraordinary offer in return. I believe I will accept this offer.”

“St-, Sto-…”

“In our nation, you as well are doomed to miss your chance at marriage, you know. A woman who swings a sword in this nation is kept at arm’s length.”

“However…”

To begin with, I had no intention of marrying anybody. In my family, the count’s family, I have a younger brother after all, and I have no need to think about the matters of my house.
That’s why with this sword of mine, I had intended to live by myself without relying on anybody.
I had intended to cut open a path to my own destiny.

“Daughter of the Count, Beatrix Tapax… For the sake of maintaining friendly relations between our two nations, I command you to wed the Garnet Crown Prince.”

“…-”

If I’m ordered by the king, somebody like me can’t refuse. Just like in the ending of that game.
Without heed to my will, I’m going to get married…
Just like that time when Miss Camille was afraid of a revolution, I too, am afraid of the fate that will befall me.

I’m feeling gloomy…
I was ordered to stay at home until my marriage with Prince Royce, and now I can’t go to the academy anymore.

“I’m worried about Baka-sama…”

It seems that in my place, a number of additional guards are constantly watching over him, but there’s nobody who can really let Baka-sama have it.
…I’ve become even gloomier.

I know that Prince Royce likes me.
But… just because of that, this way of doing things shouldn’t be acceptable.

“Like this, this way of doing things that ignores the person’s will…”

I can’t accept it.

 

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First Year Second Semester – Q of Hearts (Part 7)

Note: Please don’t read it in the little pop-up for the reader. For some reason it doesn’t reflect my later edits (which I often make a lot of after publishing), so please click ‘view original’.

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“Camille, Camille?”

Knock knock, went my door.

“Ohh crap! I just barely made it.”

Entering my room from my window, I shrank the quill. I covered the flower basket with a cloth and pushed it into a corner of my room.
Alright, evidence destroyed.
If he found out that I was outside, he’d definitely get mad at me, right?

“I’m coming, okay~?”

When I opened the door with a click, as expected, Achille was standing there.

“Achille, what’s up?”

“…I should be asking you what you’re doing.”

Achille looked at me with suspicious eyes. …I-, I didn’t get found out, right?

“N-, Nothing really? Just sleeping, you know?”

“Hm~mm?”

His eyes narrowed. Crap… His face tells me he’s definitely certain about something.
Even now, I was desperately fighting back the urge to throw my body to the ground in a dogeza.

“F-, For now… want to come in?”

When I pulled his hand, he obediently followed me in.
I had him sit down on the fluffy clawfoot sofa, and put on tea.
I was going to sit opposite him, but he pulled my hand, and in the end I settled down next to him.

“Camille…”

Achille is acting kind of weird.

“You’re making such a serious face. What happened?”

Achille looked like he was thinking a little, but after that he looked straight at me and spoke.

“…Camille, I,”

“Mn?”

“I… And His Highness as well, have decided to withdraw from the academy.”

“Withdraw?”

“The extremist commoner faction has been growing stronger than expected… To suppress this, His Highness is returning to the castle. I’ve decided to follow him as well.”

…It’s kind of suddenly become an incredible topic, you know?

“U-, Um,”

“Camille, what do you want to do?”

Does it feel like both Royce-sama and Achille have already made up their minds to quit the school?
While I was out plucking flowers, just what happened…?
The situation seems to be more serious than expected. The Revolution End might really happen.
…In that case, I only have one answer.

“Then I’ll quit school as well.”

“Camille? Is that really okay? To decide so suddenly…”

“To begin with, I only entered this school to protect Royce-sama from danger after all. Now that it’s come to this, I think that there will probably be things that I’ll need to do as well.”

For some reason, Achille is making a heartbroken expression.

“Achille? It’s okay, you don’t have to worry. I’ll cooperate with you two. It sounds like it’ll be hard to suppress the extremists, but when it comes to me, I’ve mastered magic to an extent, right?”

“That’s not it… That’s not it at all, Camille.”

“…It’s not?”

From the seat beside me, Achille embraced me.

“I don’t want you to help us…”

“Eh-, why?”

Do I hold these two back that much? It’s a little shocking.

“Rather… why did you get confused about that? Helping us suppress the extremists means that you’ll have to do dangerous things, you know?”

Ahhh, that’s what he means…

“I definitely know that. And even if it’s dangerous, it’s fine.”

“Depending on how things go, you’ll have to hurt or kill the extremists, you know?”

“Uu-…”

Achille knows. That in the past, I’ve killed another person.
When I was six years old, I took the life of a villain who plotted to murder Royce-sama.
And at that time, I was shaken and cried in front of him. That’s why he’s worried about it even now.

“B-, But… I’m different from that time.”

A bluff.
Since then, I haven’t killed a single person. The only things that I’ve ended are monsters.
But I know that I can’t stay like this.
Becoming Royce-sama’s bodyguard means that I’ll surely have to kill people again.

“…You liar. Even though you’re scared.”

Achille easilly saw through my lie. For some reason Achille knew I was lying.

“I don’t want you to be in danger, and I don’t want you to get hurt. If possible, I’d like you to stay out of the fight this time, and hole up in the marquis’ estate.”

His left hand stroked my back lovingly.
I’m happy that Achille is worried about me.

“But, I…”

“It’s fine, I know. You’re going to help His Highness anyway, right?”

Achille smiled sadly, so I was bothered that I would be doing something extremely inexcusable to him.

“…Achille, sorry.”

It’s because he was worried about me that he didn’t want me to get involved with the extremist issue.
And despite being aware of his feelings, I have no intention of changing my actions.

There shouldn’t be any way that he’s not dissatisfied with this, but even so he’s prioritising my choice.
I don’t want him to make sad expressions, but my views won’t yield… I don’t know what I should do.

Before I knew it, I was hugging Achille face-on.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. But thank you for worrying about me.”

He’s my fiancé who always, always worries about my safety more than I do myself. Even so, I can’t do as he hopes.

“Camille…”

It’s one of the rare occasions where he’s frozen for a while with his eyes widened.

But, it seems he immediately recovered, and gently hugged me back.

“I have no intention of letting you be in danger by yourself, you know.”

But honestly speaking, Achille’s job isn’t combat. He’s The Thinker type.
It would be terrible if by some chance the excellent Achille was wounded.

“I’m more worried about you getting injured, Achille. Ah-, that’s right, I have to create a magic tattoo to protect you too.”

“…Tattoo?”

Achille looked at me with a dubious expression.

“Mn, mn! Expect great things, okay?!”

There are a mountain of things that I have to do before I leave the academy. My fighting spirit was fired up.
Beside me, certain about something, Achille was lecturing me, all without knowing about the fighting spirit burning secretly in my heart.

 

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First Year Second Semester – K of Hearts (Part 1)

Note: Please don’t read it in the little pop-up for the reader. For some reason it doesn’t reflect my later edits (which I often make a lot of after publishing), so please click ‘view original’.

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“…And so, it’s been decided that we’ll be mobilising in full force to suppress the commoner extremists. Well… rather than ‘decided’, I was the one who made it so.”

So I told my friend Achille, who was sitting before me.

“And the incident with that girl is,”

“We’ll capture her too… I want to hear what ideas she had, to lay her hands on you and Camille.”

He’s talented, so he should understand with just those words.
There’s a chance that that girl is also related to a number of the extremist incidents.

“…It seems that the other day the extremists gained control of a town, didn’t they?”

“You sure heard quickly. Yeah, using military force they hijacked a town. It seems that they plan on using it as their base, huh.”

Honestly, to have let these extremists do as they please, it’s pathetic.

“It is not a territory that we are involved with, but it’s close to a villa, so I’m worried.”

Speaking of which, I think it’s a town not too far from Achille’s villa.

“As you’d expect, now that they’ve done something like taking over a town, we can’t just stay still and watch. I wonder if with this, those old bureaucrats will finally get off their lazy butts.”

I’ve spoken out before about the dangerousness of the commoner extremists.
Despite that, the higher-ups at the castle just let them do as they liked.
They took an optimistic outlook and said irresponsible things like “It’ll probably settle down soon” and didn’t take any precautions at all.
…On the contrary, they even helped hide the existence of the movement.
The reason that not a lot of information reached me, is probably because of that.

An existence like the commoner extremists who hold antipathy towards the country’s policies, was something extremely inconvenient to the old men at the top.
So even now, the movements of extremists haven’t been grasped by foreign countries and the like.
Well, with the extremists taking such radical actions, it’s just a matter of time before they all know though.

“And so, Achille.”

“What is it?”

“I might quit school. I don’t mean right this minute, but pretty soon.”

“…I see.”

Achille wasn’t particularly opposed. He might have known my thoughts somehow.
I have things that I need to do.

“I honestly… wanted to enjoy my school life with you two a little longer though.”

“I too. But if that’s what you say, Your Highness, then I will follow you, you know?”

“If you do that, then I’ll end up having you do a few troublesome and annoying things though…”

“I had that in mind from the start. All that changes is that I’d be doing it a little early…”

When I looked at Achille as he replied indifferently, I understood that he had already come to a conclusion.

“What about Camille?”

“It’s definitely a point of concern.”

Would it be a good idea to pull her away from her school life…?
If I asked her, she would probably happily agree and follow me though.
I’d feel just a little shy about pulling her away from the school she successfully made it into, just because of me.

Moreover, if Camille got wrapped up in this incident… if anything happened, she might be sent to the front lines.
Camille had that much power.
The person herself isn’t aware, but even amongst magicians she’s already being treated as a top class combatant.
That she eliminated a dragon despite being that young is a good example of this.
I honestly don’t want my precious friend to do dangerous things, but the pieces I can use are still limited after all…

Achille understands this too, which is why he wants my answer.

“Achille, what do you want Camille to do?”

He furrowed his neat brows.

“You are asking me? Of course, if possible I would like her to stay at home, you know. I want to make her quit going to this school where her safety isn’t guaranteed, and shut her up in the marquis’ estate to protect her for the rest of her life… But, if I actually do so, then Your Highness’ wish will not be realised.”

“…Yeah.”

In order to realise my wish, Achille and Camille who I trust more than anybody are essential.

“Moreover, Camille herself would likely choose to protect you, Your Highness.”

Achille seemed a little dissatisfied.
He treasures Camille greatly so… I can understand his feelings.
Even so, in the end Achille prioritises Camille’s wishes. It’s his way of loving her.

“By the way, Your Highness, I’d like to ask about Miss Beatrix but…”

“Ahh, I received a favourable reply, so it all went well.”

Just recently I proposed a deal with the king of Topageria.

“Honestly… If she hates you, I won’t care, you know. To treat authority like it’s everything and try to force an engagement…”

“Don’t say that, Achille. Thanks to this deal, didn’t I help you out too? There’s no need to worry about that prince stealing Camille anymore, right?”

It seems that the prince of the neighbouring country has for some reason taken an interest in Camille.
Just like me, he constantly used his authority to aim for her.
…Sorry, but I stopped all of your advances. Those two are important to me after all.

“It appears that the plans of the extremists will be put into action very soon. I want you two to continue taking leave for recuperation…”

“I see, I’ll tell Camille as well.”

While watching Achille who had left the room, I sighed.

“I chose this myself. I won’t regret it.”

From now on, there’s a mountain of things that I need to do. Speaking frankly, I don’t want to do it.
But… I need to.

“Even if it was but an instant, I need to give my thanks for being able to have a peaceful school life.”

It’s been plenty. I’ve managed to experience a normal school life together with Achille and Camille.
With these memories as fuel, I can continue forward.

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■ Around this time, Camille was near the greenhouse.
Her basket was overflowing with the various flowers she picked today.

“Great haul, great haul ♪”

＜A Choice Has Appeared＞
→ Go straight home
→ Make a detour before going home
→ Search for the headmaster

Author: If she isn’t back by the time Achille visits her room, a Lectured End is guaranteed (laughs).

 

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First Year Second Semester – Q of Hearts (Part 6)

Note: Please don’t read it in the little pop-up for the reader. For some reason it doesn’t reflect my later edits (which I often make a lot of after publishing), so please click ‘view original’.

A hannya mask is used in noh to depict a madly jealous woman, but characters in fiction that are madly angry are often said to make faces like a hannya.

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“Thanks for today, Tria-sama.”

Thanks to him, I got a lot of different plants.
I’m sure I’ll be able to make a wonderful tattoo.

“Invite me when you head to the greenhouse again.”

“…As long as it’s not during class.”

In the end, Tria-sama skipped all of today’s afternoon classes.
…I’m a little worried that Beatrix will get angry later.

“Ah-, that’s right Camille. After this, how about we have a bit of a chat in my room?”

“A chat?”

“I want to know various things about your magic.”

“Mmmn…”

I’d be fine with going along, but it seems like Achille will get mad at me later, right?
Last time when I went alone to play in Tria’s room, I ended up getting a bit of a lecture from Achille while he stood there like a Nioh statue.
And then, a kabedon… and my first kiss.

“Uuu…”

If I do the same thing again, I get the feeling that it won’t end with just a kiss this time…

I decided to decline.
During the case with Dominique, I ended up declaring myself that “I definitely won’t follow men alone except for you, Royce-sama and Otousama.” after all…

“I’m still in recuperation, so I’ll pass for today.”

“Ehhhhh-!?”

Tria looked suuper unhappy.

“Isn’t just a liiittle bit okay? Even if you’re in recuperation, you seem just fine after all…”

“No, but… Uwoh-?”

Just as I was about to continue my words, I stepped on something.
A-, A trap?
…Doesn’t seem to be. We’re in the greenhouse after all.

“Ouch.”

I heard a voice, and when I looked down…
I was stepping on the back of a man wearing something like a suit.

“Ah-, I’m sorry.”

I quickly removed my foot.
While wondering why there was a person laying down here, I apologised first just to be safe.

The man who was stepped on, sat up languidly.
As for his age, it’s about the later half of his twenties.
He has silky silver hair that hangs to his hips, and familiar, listless golden eyes… Huh?

“Headmaster…?”

Tria muttered in surprise.

“Are you two not in class?”

“It’s already finished~”

Even though Tria gave a frivolous and casual reply, the headmaster showed no signs of getting angry.

Suddenly, the headmaster looked up at me.

“Ah-, Camille Rhodolite.”

“…Yes I am, but…?”

Why is he looking at me in such wonder?

“Camille, you…”

“WAKA-SAMAAAAAAAAA-!”

The moment that the headmaster tried to tell me something, from the entrance of the greenhouse came the angry shout of Beatrix, who was running towards us with a face like a Hannya. With incredible vigour.

“Geh-, Bea-chin!”

Tria’s face immediately paled.

“Sorry, Camille. Let’s talk again some time-!”

After saying that, he escaped in the opposite direction of the greenhouse entrance at full speed.

“BA-… WAKA-SAMAAAA!”

Beatrix was chasing down the escaping Tria.
S-, So fast… At this rate, it seems that Tria will get caught right away.
Like that, the two of them ran out of the greenhouse. May you rest in peace.

“Mn? Huh?”

The headmaster who was lying here up until just a moment ago was now nowhere to be seen.

“Disappeared?”

Without showing any signs of getting up, it seems that the headmaster had vanished.

“I wonder if it was magic…”

Being the headmaster of this academy, it seems that he’s an extremely outstanding magician after all.
I wonder what he was going to say to me…
Well, whatever. I’d be troubled if he lectured me after all. It can’t be helped now that he’s vanished.

It’s great that I was able to harvest lots of flowers today.

 

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First Year Second Semester – K of Diamonds (Part 1)

Note: Please don’t read it in the little pop-up for the reader. For some reason it doesn’t reflect my later edits (which I often make a lot of after publishing), so please click ‘view original’.

I’ve um, pre-ordered mine sort of. I wanted a physical copy from Japan so it cost me more than double the retail price, but no regrets!

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Tria always uses ‘boku（僕）‘。However, after the first ‘I’ in his monologue, he corrects himself and uses ‘ore（俺）‘ in the rest of his monologue. Perhaps he’s acting more harmlessly happy-go-lucky than he actually is.

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“The blue flower from before is a terrible poison, but it actually makes good medicine you know~ There are few people who know how to use it though~”

“Could it maybe be used for magic tattoos?”

“I wonder. I’m not knowledgable about magic tattoos after all. What if you picked a few and brought them back?”

“I’ll do that.”

Camille used wind magic to cut the flower so that it would drop into the basket without her touching it directly.
I’,(Boku)… I’m(Ore) looking around the greenhouse with Camille.

“What’s this flower?”

“It’s not poisonous. It’s used in painkiller potions in my country.”

“Woww~ It kinda seems like I can use it, huh! I’ll grab one.”

Camille is walking around, picking flowers in a good mood.
Her constantly changing expressions are truly lovely.
For some reason it seems that she isn’t popular in the Garnet Nation, but she’s a rare beauty. Her personality is interesting too.
And, she has a rare talent in magic too.

“I want…”

“Mn? Tria-sama, did you say something?”

Camille who was walking up a flight of stairs in the greenhouse turned around to me.

“Mm~mm. I didn’t say a thing~”

For a moment, she made a wondrous expression, but she immediately went back to picking flowers.

Aahh, I want her to be mine…

Even when I tried to force an engagement with her, the prince of the Garnet Nation got in the way so things didn’t go well.
I don’t know the details, but it seems that he overbearingly made some deal with my royal father, and my father was on board with his idea too.

It seems that that Éléonore idiot won’t be of any use either…
As a noble girl of Garnet who was in love with Achille, I thought that I would try using her to break the two up but…
…She sure was a useless girl, huh~
Even though she looked completely confident, she was all talk wasn’t she?

“Camille, how about this one~?”

I pointed at a nearby flower.

“Mn? Which which?”

Camille approached me without suspicion. She has no sense of wariness.
How she so easily warms up to people suuure is cute too~
This flower can be used to make a strong sleeping drug, and if you get too close, you’ll be attacked by a sense of sleepiness and lose consciousness.
If by some slim chance she loses consciousness here, I’ll take her home with me!

“What a pretty white flower.”

However, even when Camille got close to it, she showed no signs of sleepiness at all.
Moreover, just when did she pluck it anyway?
She was now holding in her left hand the bright red petals of a flower said to cause full-body paralysis just by touching it.

“C-, Camille… that’s,”

“Mn? This? It smelt good so I thought I’d pluck it.”

Why is she fine even though she’s holding that flower?

“I’ll pick this one too. What a nice scent~”

Camille approached the sleeping drug flower and began sniffing it.
Of course she showed no signs of collapsing from sleepiness.

Honestly, why is she standing there just fine…? Is this also her magic?
Or could it be that the power of her magic tattoos are in effect?
…How bothersome, those tattoos.
I had once casually asked her what effect her tattoos have, but even now I still haven’t fully grasped them.

…If things had gone well I had wanted to take her home with me, but it seems that it’s no good today.
I decided just to give up for today.

If I did things badly and got beaten up, wouldn’t it be uncool?
After all, I still have time and hands to play, right?

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TL: Scumbag Arabian Snape

 

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First Year Second Semester – Q of Hearts (Part 5)

Note: Please don’t read it in the little pop-up for the reader. For some reason it doesn’t reflect my later edits (which I often make a lot of after publishing), so please click ‘view original’.

I’m slowly translating maou again, so yeah.

Also, today is my birthday. If you want to celebrate with me, please go make an account and vote here if you haven’t already: https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=119256

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Achille and I who had woken up in Royce-sama’s room were ordered by our overprotective lord to spend a week recuperating.
Geez Royce-sama, even though it wasn’t that great an injury. His worrying side is just Achille.
Despite speaking of recuperation, it seems that Royce-sama and Achille were having heated and difficult discussions about the commoner extremists. It was difficult so I could hardly understand any of it but… it seems that they’re setting out to arrest the extremists on a large scale.
Unable to join in on their conversation, I was being good and docile in my room… As if.
Thinking that it was a critical situation, I had Royce-sama grab me a large number of magic books from the castle, and began throwing myself into research to develop newmagic.

Anyway, since it’s a reality that the Heroine attacked us, we have to think of measurse to protect ourselves as well.
Having said that Achille was taken by surprise, it was a magic attack powerful enough that he couldn’t fully defend. Normal defensive magic would probably be no good.
There’s nothing to lose in preparing for the worst.

“I mean… that Heroine is OP in a sense.”

The heroine in the game had exceptional magic power since she was born.
And because of that magic power, she could transfer into the magic academy, and was wanted by various powers. Depending on how things worked out, there were even cases when people of the same nation fought each other over her.
To give an example, in the case that the Heroine chooses Tria, the plot develops so that the Garnet Nation picks a fight with them to obtain the Heroine. In the end, Topageria wins, and the Heroine lives happily ever after though.

“Can you deal with a person with such magic power normally? …Or rather, what does the Heroine want to even do?”

I get the feeling that she said something about changing the country or something.
And though I don’t know why, she wanted to get Achille involved in that.

“The Revolution Route…”

So does it really have something to do with the Heroine?

“Could it be that she’s going out with the K of Clovers I wonder? Would doing that cause the revolution?”

I’ve never really come into contact with the Clovers faction from enrolment until now, so I left them alone, but they might have made a move or something. The J of Clovers isn’t in the school, but I saw the K of Clovers at the entrance ceremony.

“Should I try meeting with the K of Clovers…? But, before that I need to get the magic tattoos finished.”

For now, I want to give it a strong enough effect that it can guard from forbidden art ambushes.
Laying down on my bed with a magic book in my arms, I closed my eyes. I can smell a scent unique to my room; the smell of ingredients used for my magic experiments.
Also, there’s the scent of ink and paper unique to books. The books in this world aren’t made from parchment, but paper instead, aren’t they?
While staring at a bunch of pseudo-cinnamon sticks hanging from my ceiling, I considered the design of the magic tattoo.

“Aaahhhhh, I can’t come up with anything~!”

I kicked away the bundles of dry herbs at my feet.
The more impatient I am, the fewer good ideas will come to me. And then I become unnecessarily anxious.

The thing that was most terrifying to me was the fact that Achille had mind manipulation magic cast on him.
It’s a forbidden art that can even change a person’s personality if used wrong. Though it was great that Royce-sama dispelled it before anything bad happened, the horror of my precious childhood friend having such a thing cast on him won’t disappear.

“Achille…”

He wouldn’t stop being half in doubt at the fact that I came from another world, but even so, he said that he liked the me right now.
Royce-sama also accepted me, a person who had continually kept a secret for more than ten years. I want to be able to completely protect these two from the Heroine’s hands.

“Let’s think about things starting with the dyes and ingredients for the magic tattoo.”

Whether or not a good magic tattoo can be drawn depends on three things; the dye used for applying the pattern, the pattern drawn on the body, and the magic attached to it.
Depending on whether this combination is done well, whether or not the magic tattoo works well is basically determined.

“If I remember correctly… there were a lot of different magic plants growing in the academy greenhouse, weren’t there?”

As you’d expect from a ‘magic academy’, this school’s greenhouse has plants from other countries the likes of which I’ve never seen before, and lots of improved plant strains as well.
Up until now I’ve been using ingredients that I had on hand, but there might be plants good for a magic tattoo in the greenhouse.
I jumped up from my bed, put on my robe, and headed for the academy’s greenhouse.

※

The academy’s greenhouse was a treasure trove of magic plants.
Regardless of seasons, a lot of different magic plants were in bloom.
It seems that because of these flowers, this place is really popular as a secret date spot.
But right now it’s classtime. Besides me, who’s still recuperating, there shouldn’t be anyone else here. I can slowly go through the different magic plants. I brought a flower box so if I spot anything good I can bring it back.
As long as you’re a student, anyone is free to harvest things in the greenhouse.
It seems that the earth and plants all mostly have regeneration magic cast on them, so even if I pluck stuff, it’ll immediately regow.
Speaking of which, the castle’s “Blue” magicians are researching the use of this magic to cure baldness. If it succeeds, they should be able to expect quite a bit of income.

I went through one by one the plants that seemed usable for magic tattoos.
Suddenly, one flower caught my eye. With individual, think stalks, it was a tall and large, bright blue flower.

“It smells ridiculously good…”

Sweet, but somehow still refreshing… a mysterious fragrance, coming from a mysterious plant.

“Is this a flower from another country?”

I reached out my arm to touch the flower.

“Camille, that’s poisonous you know?”

“Fue-?”

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind me, and I froze at the words. P-, Poisonous…?

“It’s a vivid and beautiful flower, but you can’t touch it with your bare hands. The poison enters through the skin you know?”

A tall figure was standing right next to me. He was holding my arm, and moving it away from the flower. The hand holding my arm had a number of jingly, jangly, flashy accessories worn on it.

“T-. Thanks… Tria-sama.”

There’s only one person who decorates their hand like this. Tria Topageria, the second prince of the neighbouring country, and the K of Diamonds.

“You’re welcome~”

He smiled at me with a friendly smile. I wonder why he’s here.

“Um, Tria-sama… your classes?”

“Ditched em~ Keep the fact that I was here a secret from Bea-chin okay?”

He and Beatrix are both in the Diamonds class, so even if I don’t tell her that he was here, I think that she already completely knows that he skipped class but…

“By the way, why are you here Camille? I heard that you were sick and in the middle of recovery but…”

“Ah-…”

That’s right, if I was still recuperating, it would be weird that I was here.
I came here because I thought that there would be no students here, but to think that I’d be found by Tria.

“I-, It’s the truth that I’m recovering. Today I was feeling a lot better, so I thought I’d sneak out for a stroll.”

“Hm~mm?”

I wonder what Tria is thinking about. His eyes narrowed.
His current personality is comparatively easy to get along with, but even so, there are times like this when I can’t tell what he’s thinking.

“So, were you looking for a flower?”

…Could it be that he was watching from quite a while ago?
I was completely focused on looking for a flower to use in a magic tattoo, so I didn’t notice at all.

“I was looking for a flower that seemed I could use for magic tattoo dye. I want to use a powerful one, so…”

“Oh!? That sounds interesting!”

It was the same last time too, but it looks like Tria-sama is really interested in magic tattoos.

“Heyy, Camille. Would it be okay if I helped out with that?”

“Tria-sama?”

“I’m super knowledgable about plants, so I’m sure I’ll definitely be helpful, you know~? It’s a bargain, you know~?”

Magic plants are absolutely essential for his specialty of magic potions.

“…Is it really okay if you don’t go back to class?”

“Mn. This is more fun after all, and you’re here too, Camille.”

Tria was in a great mood.

“Then, maybe I should ask you for help.”

It’s the truth that he’s knowledgable about plants after all, and there’s also the danger of touching something poisonous like earlier, so I’d be grateful for his help.
But still, this magic academy… Is it really fine for you guys to leave poisonous flowers blooming out where anybody could touch them? I hear that this place is a date spot after all, so I think it’d be dangerous in a lot of ways, but…

 

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