First Year First 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’.
TL Note: If any of you read Yomigaeri no Maou, then please check my status report when you have time.
“Camille, Camille… Wake up!”
“Mn……”
What’s going on? There a knock at the door. Even though it’s still the middle of the night…
I can see a golden moon from the window of my room. Even though I wanted to have a deep sleep after walking that far for the picnic yesterday…
“Camille, His Highness has…”
I can hear somebody’s room from the hallway…… His Highness……? Eh!?
“Royce-sama!”
I reflexively jumped up.
It seems that I really wasn’t hearing things. Somebody’s knocking hard at the door. Aahh, it seems it wasn’t a dream. It’s Achille’s voice too.
“What’s wrong? To come here at this hour…”
I promptly headed to the door and undid the lock to my room. Before the door was Achille in light clothing. It’s night, so the hallway that continued behind him was pitch dark.
“His Highness was attacked on the way to the castle… He was abducted by somebody.”
“…Eh?”
My just woken head couldn’t keep up with the information I was suddenly given, and my thoughts stopped for a moment.
Royce-sama being attacked… I mean, didn’t we just come back together from the picnic? He was laughing happily. But then for him to get abducted right after… It’s something difficult to suddenly believe.
“I-… Is Royce-sama okay? There were guards with him, right?”
“It seems that the guards were wiped out, and His Highness was the only one taken… They were almost at the castle.”
For the guards to have been wiped out is no small matter.
“…Why did information come at this time? We parted with Royce-sama at dusk. We weren’t that far from the castle, and even if they were late, the information should have come before I slept.”
“They probably delayed it… We’re just young students, and just “people His Highness have taken a liking to” after all…”
Meaning that guards and soldiers on active duty, and then the heads of prominent n.o.ble families were all contacted first. But still, this is cruel.
“Let’s head to Royce-sama’s room. I’ll use search magic.”
“You plan on chasing His Highness?”
“Of course I am!”
“This is an enemy that completely wiped out the guards, you know?”
“But… If we don’t hurry up and save him, Royce-sama might be in danger.”
Even while we’re talking like this, he might be in danger.
“Calm down.”
I’d lost my composure, so Achille gently hugged me.
“Achille, but…”
“It’ll be okay. The enemy abducted His Highness alive, after all. They shouldn’t immediately kill him or anything, okay?”
“You’re right… But I’m worried about Royce-sama.”
I left the room, and pulled Achille by the hand.
“Let’s go, Achille!”
I know too well that I’ve lost my cool. But even so, I can’t help but worry. Forcefully pulling Achille along, I continued down the hallway. It seems like all the other students are fast asleep. There are no people.
I used magic to unlock the door to Royce-sama’s room, and intruded. Normally there would be two guards posted even in front of the door, but today Royce-sama isn’t here so the area around the room is deserted as well. Royce-sama’s room is two sizes larger than a normal student’s. The furnishing is luxurious too.
“Let’s borrow this.”
I took a memo pad that was on Royce-sama’s desk, and invoked search magic. The memo pad turned into a ball of light, and danced in the air.
“Camille, are you really planning on going right now? I think it’s reckless though.”
“Then I’ll go by myself.”
Following the ball of light, I left Royce-sama’s room. Because there would be a distance to walk, I plan on flying on my quill once I leave the building.
“Camille, wai-…”
“Ugyah!”
The moment I turned the corner, I b.u.mped into something running in the other direction at ferocious speeds. I fell over magnificently, but because Achille supported me from behind, it ended without me tumbling unseemingly.
“Ouchhh.”
Whatever I b.u.mped into was standing there just fine. I’m jealous. While being supported by Achille, I stare at the culprit behind the collision. It was somebody that shouldn’t have been here… How rare. Even though our cla.s.ses have been different lately, so it’s rare that we even see each other’s faces.
“…Raiga-sama?”
Achille was shocked as well, and gazed as Raiga. But that was only for a moment, and he immediately tried to chase him out. As expected of Achille.
“To intrude in the Hearts Cla.s.s’ dorm at this hour, is there something the matter?”
Right, right, I don’t know what he needs in a place like this, but we’re in the middle of something right now.
“Have you seen Mei? I haven’t seen her since I’ve come back.”
By the way, whenever I get called out by him, it’s almost always about Mei.
“Mei-chan? I don’t know anything about that, but…”
“Search for her.”
This flow events again…? I’m not a Mei-chan Searching Machine, you know.
But because there’s the incident this time as well, I can’t be too optimistic about it. I’m worried about her as well.
“I understand. I’ll follow up Mei-chan’s magic power. I’m sorry, but we have an urgent matter of our own, so you’ll have to search for her yourself, Raiga-sama.”
With the magic that I used to search for Mei last time, I produced a magic light that would lead to Mei’s location.
“Mn… Huh?”
Mei’s magic power is weak. Something is happening right now with her body. If it just wasn’t for Royce-sama’s case, I’d want to go after her but… it’s a race against time for Royce-sama.
“Once I’m finished with my stuff, I’ll help find Mei-chan. There’s a good chance that you’ll finish things up before that happens though.”
“Doens’t matter. Just the search magic is plenty.”
Raiga immediately turned around and followed the light to where Mei was. We decided to follow the light and head towards Royce-sama as well.
“No matter what I say, you don’t listen do you, Camille.”
Achille looked astonished, smiling bitterly behind me.
“…Sorry.”
“But you’re not going to quit, right? If it really gets dangerous, I’ll stop you even by force, alright?”
“Uu…”
Turning back to face Achille, I felt regret. He’s smiling, but this guy is actually quietly being terrifyingly mad… I know. That’s the smile he makes when his mood is incredibly bad!
“W-, We have to hurry…”
I decided that I hadn’t seen it, and ran with the light towards Royce-sama. I’m definitely not running away from Achille. Honest.
The light that shone dimly in the dark hallway continued through the dorm. It seems that the light for Mei is going in the same direction as ours, so Raiga is walking in front of us. The lights headed towards a window in the hallway, and then flew out of the building.