For the time being, looking through a list Father obtained of people who possessed magical qualities in this generation, had become my daily work.
Produced by the magical a.s.sociation, you could say this list, as it is now, was an estimated list of people who would be able to get into the royal magical academy.
However, there were some exceptions. The game heroine’s name was not in here. Her case was certainly an exception, since she was a person that was admitted midway; At present, her magical abilities would not have been recognized yet.
Among the group of names on the list, I would mark down some of names with a circle. From those of the five dukedoms and its branches, I selected the children of these notable aristocrats.
‘Wouldn’t people with high social status have higher chances of being the capturable characters?’, was my expectation as I selected these names. For those potentially high social-cla.s.s people in particular, I marked down with a double circle.
However, this wasn’t a sure hit.
(How should I say it, I wanted a group photo shot similar to how the j.a.panese take it)
That time when I remembered Wolf from the game, I had the liberty of getting his full name and portrait. However, I got this list by telling my father that『I want to know a little bit about the other people who will be attending the magical school with me…』, if I tell him 『While you’re at it, I also want a portrait of each and every one of them…』, it might put him off.
Or perhaps, rather than being a problem, it was impossible. Pictures only became prevalent in modern day j.a.pan.
By the way, the name『Shade』wasn’t in this list.
It was possible that the name was a nickname derived from his real name, as I couldn’t find even a trace of him.
Learning that falling behind on the situation was terrifying, one way or the other, I desperately tried to do everything I could. However, I made little progress.
Because of the inspiration I gained, after staking everything on the list and the countless of times looking over it, I became familiar with the names on it.
(Since it’s capturable characters from the game, I’m sure the common feature all of them have will be that they’re all good-looking)
I wonder if I there was a chance I could obtain any rumour about a good-looking guy that could narrow down my search. The chances of that ought to be slim. The moment I request this from my father, my credibility with him will drop, and I won’t be able to fix it without doing something drastic. But if I can succeed with that chance, I was willing to try it…
Interrupting my destructive thoughts half-way, my nanny called me over after lunch preparations were completed.
「…Will my father be joining today?」
「Yes. He is waiting together with a guest.」
「There’s a guest?」
How disappointing.
「Yes, it’s your relative. The madame’s younger brother. Does my lady remember him?」
「It’s Uncle Narcissus, right? I wasn’t informed that he’ll be joining us today」
「That’s correct. The conversation was a sudden one. He wanted to have a consultation with the Master no matter what」
I didn’t know whether this starting point was a good one or a bad one. It was rare for me to attend lunch with numerous people.
「Good day, Uncle. It’s been awhile since I last spoke with you. I’m Lycoris」
I said it with a ladylike manner. For a short while, my uncle had a convincing look of surprise on his face. He was a little slow.
「Lycoris! My, how a child could change, in just a short time of not seeing her. You’re becoming so much like my older sister.」
Telling me that I was similar to my mother, truthfully, made me a little lost for words. After all, with only her portrait, I didn’t know much about the other person.
「Are Aunt and Crinum also well? 」
Crinum was a cousin a year older than me. Although we exchange letters often, in truth, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other.
「Yes. Yes. They’re both fine. But Lycoris – how old have you become?」
「I’m ten years old.」
「I see, I see. At any rate, you look grown up. I wonder if this is what kids are like nowadays. Although that child is younger than you, that kid is considerably–」
「Narcissus.」
Father cut off Uncle’s monologue.
Hearing Father use a slightly hard tone unusual for him, I was surprised.
「Save that talk for later. I don’t want Lycoris to be involved in that discussion」
「Come now. It should be fine, Kaffir. In any case, she’ll find out sooner or later. I don’t mind.」
Kaffir is my father’s name. No one in the house calls him by that name, so hearing it used was a bit out of the ordinary.
Nevertheless, why did father say that he didn’t want me to hear『that talk』? It’s been known for a long time that Uncle goes slightly off topic.
Proceeding with a wrong guess, I wanted to try satisfying my curiosity.
「Uncle. Who do you mean by『that child』? From what I know, Crinum is a year older than me」
「That’s right, it’s not about Crinum, I’m talking about another cousin of yours. That kid… is a child that I had out of wedlock…」
The instant he said something incredibly unexpected, I turned to face my father. I wonder if Father understood the feeling I was facing. He sent a somewhat troubled-looking smile back to me.
「Recently, I’ve taken that kid home. That kid is a boy. His name is Shade」
――――――――――――――――eh?