Chapter 4 - A Fict.i.tious Dinner(1)“Will you… go out on a date with me?”
Was what Charl had said. With flushed cheeks and an upward glance.
Thinking he had heard wrongly— wishing he had heard wrongly— Raishin confirmed her request.
“—Huh?”
Whether it was an attempt to hide her blush, Charl indignantly spoke,
“Is your head as bad as your face? I asked you to go out on a date with me.”
Having received a considerable verbal attack, Raishin felt dazed.
Trying to comprehend what she had just said was like trying to catch a slippery eel.
“After school today, clear your schedule. Got that?”
The first to react was Yaya. While turning pale and started trembling all over,
“W… W… While he appreciates the fact you came all this way to invite him, Raishin already has plans after school. He doesn’t have the time to go out with you.”
“It’s fine. I’ll make room in my schedule.”
Yaya ground the fragments of the broken cup in her hand into smaller pieces.
“W-well then, I should go. I’ll see you later at the lecture hall.”
With the innocence and awkwardness of two people who had just started dating, she hurriedly left.
Watching her awkward figure retreat, Raishin let out a yawn.
“What’s up with her? Giving me the creeps this early in the morning—“
A violent chill suddenly pa.s.sed through him.
For a brief moment he had a hallucination that the grim reaper was about to separate his head from his body with his scythe. Timidly turning around, he saw Yaya’s hair rising into the air, wriggling like she was medusa.
“W-wait a minute… calm down, ok? Just take a deep breath and count to the biggest prime number you can think of… please?”
A second later, a wail of agony echoed throughout the tortoise dormitory.
“… You really are a boisterous man. Is your brain infested with roundworms?”
Being strangled, just before his vision turned completely dark, Raishin’s consciousness was jolted back by the sound of a familiar voice insulting him.
Perhaps she came to her senses, or the appearance of someone else startled her, but Yaya let go of Raishin’s windpipe.
Oxygen rushing into his starved lungs, Raishin turned to face the owner of the voice.
Standing there was a bespectacled female student— Lisette. Accompanying her was a beautiful boarding mistress. Unlike Charl who had audaciously walked in, Lisette had obtained permission to visit the male dormitory.
Without even so much as a smile, Lisette handed him a large envelope with a businesslike att.i.tude.
“… What is this?”
“Is it not obvious if you think about it? Or has your brain been completely eaten by roundworms?”
“Why are you so fixated with roundworms?”
Lisette threw him a look of disdain, before reverting back to her businesslike manner.
“The contract between you and the disciplinary committee— also, all the material we have on Cannibal Candy.”
(2)It was half past three. It was a little before cla.s.ses were scheduled to end.
Although he still had a lecture remaining, he had skipped out of cla.s.s at Charl’s insistence.
Seeing him covered in fresh bruises he had seemingly gotten out of nowhere, Charl eyed him suspiciously.
“Why are you all beat up? Did you have a scuffle with a lion or something?”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just Diana being jealous.”
“Such an incomprehensible man.
“You’re the incomprehensible one, he thought. Thanks to Charl’s whim, Yaya was clearly in a bad mood. Even now her pupils were unnaturally wide, and as dark as a bottomless lake.
“Well whatever. Come with me.”
Charl lead the way, walking out of the lecture hall. As usual, Sigmund was riding atop her hat. Wagging his tail left and right, it made him look oddly adorable.
After exiting, Charl continued walking without stopping for a break. Leaving the main street, they searched behind the technical vocations building, inside the grove, and the inside the backyard.
No matter where they searched, the only constant was more walking. Even though they chose paths with no signs of anyone traversing them, they found nothing.
All too quickly, two unproductive hours pa.s.sed.
Street lights in the vicinity had been lit, and the setting sun had disappeared behind the walls.
With Yaya releasing killing intent, the situation was becoming unsettling.
Charl looked like she wasn’t going to give up yet. Arriving at a deserted path where the remnants of an automaton had been discovered the night before, she gave him an order that reeked of false pride behind it.
“Raishin, walk back and forth along this path ten— no, twenty times.”
“… Is this some sort of charm?”
“Don’t be absurd. It’s obvious you’re going to be a decoy.”
Her answer was as he expected. Fed up, Raishin let out a sigh.
“Even if Cannibal Candy does appear, it’ll be ok since I’ll defeat it. So just relax and let yourself be attacked. Now go!”
“I refuse. Besides, Cannibal Candy only comes out in the middle of the night.”
“— Where did you hear that from?”
The source was the disciplinary committee. Yaya had translated the doc.u.ments that Lisette had pa.s.sed to him, and that was how Raishin had come into possession of that particular bit of information.
According to the doc.u.ments, Cannibal Candy was only active from midnight till dawn.
Furthermore, he had never attacked automatons two days in succession before.
In other words, whatever Charl was planning to do was practically useless.
“That’s just what the normal people believe. It’s because of that biased way of thinking that the disciplinary committee and security haven’t been able to produce results. It’s not necessarily true that he won’t start attacking in successive days, or not appear at this time.”
“… That’s another way of looking at it, I guess.”
Raishin scratched his head, deeply troubled. Charl was extremely fired up about this. At this rate, she would force him to search with her till the next morning.
It looked like he wasn’t going to be able to make her give up. Devising a plan, he decided to approach the problem from a different angle.
“By the way, didn’t you say we were going out on a date?”
Charl stared at him blankly,
“Aren’t we on it right now?”
“Don’t be stupid. There’s no way something like this can be considered a date.”
“S-stupid? You called me stupid? When you point fingers at someone, four of them point back at you!”
“I get it. Simply put, you have no friends, don’t you?
“What— I— you—“
“You’ve barely made my acquaintance, and yet you have no one else you can go to for help so you had to ask me.”
He hit the nail on its head. Ever so slightly, tears formed in Charl’s eyes.
“Don’t act so smug. I don’t need to take your know-it-all att.i.tude, you pervert!”
“Let’s go on a date— tricking me into wasting time and energy with such sweet words, forcing me to walk such a great distance I almost crossed the Sanzu river, and denouncing me as a pervert. You really are a piece of work for a lady.”
“I was only trying to help you. It’s my way of showing thanks, accusing me of other stuff is uncalled for.”
“Huh, so you knew about me taking Felix up on his offer?”
She fell silent. It appeared she did know. She had probably overheard it from somewhere or another.
If that was the case, then—
Raishin stole a glance at Yaya. To be honest, he was reluctant to do what he was about to…
“That’s enough of playing detective. It’s time to start the date proper.”
Charl stiffened up upon hearing Raishin’s words. Yaya froze as well.
“Don’t speak such nonsense so freely. I’m a busy person, and I don’t have the time to play around with you.”
“Weren’t you the one who said ‘Let’s go on a date.’? Or is the Belew household a family that reneges on their words?”
He hit her where it hurt. Charl’s shoulders shook with vexation.
“F… fine. Let’s go somewhere then.”
“Good. In that case, let’s go into the city.”
“The city— you mean outside the academy…?”
“Obviously. Since the sun has already set, there’s nothing to do inside the academy.”
A panicked look crept into her eyes. Suddenly becoming very hesitant, she looked down at her feet.
“But if we go into the city, then Sigmund…”
“You idiot. Since we’re going on a date, our automatons won’t accompany us.”
“Uu… Sigmund, say something!”
“Hm. I’m not that thoughtless.”
Spreading his four wings, he flew up from Charl’s head.
“This is a good chance. Enjoy yourself.”
“You traitor!”
It looked like he received her guardian(?)’s consent. Raishin forcibly grabbed hold of Charl’s hand, pulling her along as they walked out of the academy.
(3)Yaya’s face turned a ghastly shade of white as she watched the two of them depart with their hands intertwined.
The tree she was leaning on let out a creak. The next moment, she had crushed the tree like it was made of tofu, splitting it into two.
Staggering like a zombie, she made her way towards the gate.
“Wait, Yaya.”
Biting on to her black hair, Sigmund yanked her back.
“Let go. Let go of me!”
“Did you forget? Automaton from the academy cannot venture out into the city.”
He nodded his head in the direction of the prison-like gates.
“Look. Campus security is already starting to target you.”
Like he said, there were things gleaming within the eyeports.
It was the cold flash of steel. It was obvious they had already trained their sights on her.
“I’ve heard the campus security here has some graduates on their payroll. So not only would you have to contend with rifles, you would also be up against puppeteers. I can guarantee you’ll end up being destroyed.”
“But…”
“Think carefully. If you kick up a fuss here, it will only cause problems for your master.”
It was a blow more effective than an actual bullet.
Yaya flinched, then sank to the floor.
With both hands covering her eyes, she began to weep.
“Don’t cry. Why don’t you have a little more faith in your master?”
“Uu… Faith…?”
“I have lived for close to 150 years now. I have observed many men in that time, and I can tell you there was no sign of l.u.s.t in his eyes. He isn’t going after Charl.”
“… Really?”
“Although, men of that age are usually pretty promiscuous— that is a fact of life.”
Yaya began to cry again. Strangely, her tears seemed to crystallise in a blink of an eye, falling to the earth with a clink.
“Oh boy… the way you’re acting up means this matter is on an entirely different level from simple fidelity to you, huh?”
Sigmund was dumbfounded. Landing in front of her, he started to talk like he was lecturing a novice.
“We are different from humans. Even if you look the same, have the same functions, have as little difference to them as possible— it doesn’t change the fact that you will never be human.”
“Yaya… already knows that… “
“Automaton run on a magic energy supplied to them from their controllers. You could say the relationship between them is like a mother and child. It’s extremely natural for automata to grow fond of their owners… but I think you’re taking it too far. Why are you so persistent when it comes to him?”
“That’s… well… i-it’s s-something I cannot say.”
Fidgeting in embarra.s.sment, she started tracing circles in the ground. That action was extremely human-like.
“Does it have something to with his goal?”
“That’s…”
“Who is he exactly? Why is he so fixated on the Night Party?”
“Well…”
“Attacking us wasn’t his true intention. But if he was willing to go that far, it means there has to be a reason why he’s obsessed with the Night Party. What is it? It doesn’t seem like he’s motivated by ambition or self-interest.”
‘I can’t go into details, but…”
She hesitated for a second. Then she solemnly muttered.
“Raishin is out for revenge.”
“… Hm. At any rate, the both of us are currently without our masters.”
Flapping his wings, Sigmund landed atop Yaya’s head.
“That means we have to watch out for Cannibal Candy, or else—“
“Eh—“
As the darkness of night around them suddenly grew deeper, Sigmund’s eyes lit up like a cat’s.
(4)“As expected of the Machine City. Even at this hour shops are still open for business.”
Walking along the lit streets, Raishin cheerfully spoke.
The sun had already set, but the streets were still bustling with life. The streets were still filled with human traffic, and stores and restaurants were still crowded with customers. There were shoe stores, clothing outlets, jewellery stores, stores that sold mechanical parts and items used in magic arts, as well as shops that handled automata.
“Hey, you two students! Come on in!” “I’ll give you guys a discount!”
They were a.s.sailed on both sides by the voices of the shopkeepers. Raishin chuckled,
“Wow, they’re friendly to Orientals as well.”
“That’s only because you’re wearing the academy uniform.”
Charl, who had been in a bad mood ever since he dragged her out, gave him a stinging reb.u.t.tal.
“Exchange students are rich. They’re VIPs in the shopkeepers’ eyes.”
“I don’t exactly hate that. At least, it’s more believable explanation than compa.s.sion or charity.”
“Hmph… That’s a rather cutthroat outlook.”
“I’m a realist, you know.”
Suddenly, Charl ducked her head and stealthily hid behind him.
Walking towards them was a red faced man.
While he looked a little inebriated, it wasn’t like he was drunk out of his mind.
“… What’s wrong?”
“I-it’s nothing.”
Although having said that, it was clear she was anything but calm.
Abruptly, a bunch of kids laughed behind them, and Charl jumped at the sound.
Raishin stopped, comparing Charl with the hustle and bustle of the city.
“… Haaaa.”
“W-what’s that haaaa supposed to mean? Don’t look so smug.”
“In short, you’re feeling helpless since Sigmund’s not around.”
He hit the mark again. Charl suddenly fell silent.
“That’s normal for puppeteers. But don’t worry. You’ve already seen how strong I am, right?”
“… That’s why I’m worried. There’s no guarantee you’ll try to make a pa.s.s at me later when sendingme back.”
“You really don’t trust me at all, do you? … Well, I guess I reap what I sow.”
With a wry laugh, he started walking again. Charl hurriedly chased after him. If anything, she reminded him of a puppy that didn’t like to be left behind, and he laughed at the thought.
“D-don’t just go off like that. Where are you planning on going anyway?”
“I was thinking of walking along the waterways. Yaya was making a fuss about how the night scenery is supposedly very beautiful.”
“… Hmph, that is so clichéd. If that’s the best you can come up with, let’s just go back. I’m starting to get hungry.”
“Alright. If that’s the case, let’s go grab a bite.”
“So we’re going back to the dormitories?”
“Don’t be such a wet blanket. Let’s find a place with a good atmosphere and eat there.”
“N-no way!”
It was a strong refusal, but almost immediately she snapped her mouth shut, mumbling something.
“This month… I seem to be in a state of economic distress… that is, I’m having financial difficulties…”
“If you’re worried about money it’s fine. I brought out my wallet today, so I can treat you.”
“Eh—<>
Charl’s eyes sparkled.
An instant later, she had snapped out of it, turning her head away with a ‘hmph!”
“I refuse to accept charity from a pervert like you.”
However— her stomach betrayed what she was saying, a.s.serting its opinion by rumbling loudly.
Charl turned visibly red, and started smacking Raishin.
“Insolent buffoon~!”
“… Eh, me? How is this my fault?”
“For me to be embarra.s.sed like this… Unforgivable….!”
Finally, with a hint of desperation and some tears in her eyes, Charl declared loudly.
“Fine. I get it. I’ll have you treat me completely and thoroughly.”
Twenty minutes later, the two of them were in a restaurant along the waterway.
They were seated on the balcony of the second floor.
The light reflected off the waterway could be seen clearly. The building’s interior was a modern design combining steel frames and brick, giving it a good impression without being too pretentious.
For appetizers, they had uncured ham mariné. While Charl chewed on her food, she stared at Raishin’s hands as if she was seeing something curious.
“I’ve heard that the j.a.panese have terrible table manners— surprisingly, you’re very normal.”
“For your information, using chopsticks is way harder than using a fork.”
“You drink your soup by bring the bowl to your lips and sipping? That’s so noisy.”
“There’s nothing wrong with slurping miso soup, it’s just a different culture. Don’t speak ill of another country’s customs.”
With some light banter, but nothing particularly malicious, the dinner continued.
Next, a clear soup with a strong smell was brought to them. Raishin found the taste too strong for his liking, but Charl seemed to like it, cheerfully going “There there, it’s not for everyone.”
While waiting for the meat dish, their eyes met.
She was staring at him like she wanted to say something.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“You should be more honest. Please feel free to speak your mind, my lady.”
He jokingly used polite speech. He thought that would finally get her to talk… although that wasn’t the case. Charl hesitantly opened her mouth,
“… Why did you ask me out?”
“You were the one who asked me out.”
“No. I’m not talking about this… it’s about yesterday, during lunch.”
She averted her eyes. The tip of her nose turned faintly pink, something he thought was surprisingly cute.
While a bit taken aback by the question, Raishin managed to answer.
“Why, you ask— I suppose I was just going with the flow.”
“Going with the flow? What a foolish answer.”
Contrary to being discontent with his answer, Charl gave a little laugh, not as dissatisfied as he thought she would be.
“You really are a reckless person. Not only did you challenge me, the T-Rex, to a fight, you actually had the guts to then ask to have lunch with me. You really are an idiot beyond saving.”
“I thank you for your words of praise.”
“I have a question for this idiot.”
“Ask away, my lady.”
“Why did you target my entry qualification?”
At that point, the waiter brought them their meal. It was veal; just by looking at it they could sense the tenderness. It had been grilled to a beautiful colour, and the fragrant sauce alone whetted their appet.i.tes.
After the waiter had placed their plates on the table, Charl waited for him to leave before continuing.
“There are a hundred entrants in the Night Party. There should have been easier opponents for you to target.”
“… If it were someone I could defeat easily, there would be no point.”
“To make the Nighty Party executive committee take notice of you?”
“No… Well, I guess there was that too, but that wasn’t it.”
Knife in hand, he searched for the right words. He wasn’t good at explaining things.
Just like Charl had said, in order to appeal to the executive committee, defeating a strong opponent would have a greater effect.
Even if he did win his fight, there was no guarantee that he could obtain an entry qualification that way. Beating up countless Benchwarmers to get into the Night Party… if he had done it that way, he would have failed.
However, Raishin’s reason for seeking out a stronger enemy wasn’t just because of that.
“I thought to myself, I’m going to defeat someone and rise up the rankings to take his place. For me to arrive out of the blue and get an entry qualification through brute force seems somehow wrong. So I felt like I had to take some sort of risk, or it would be unfair… Well, I mean, either way it would still be unfair.”
Raishin struggled to express himself properly—in the end, he gave up.
“Sorry. I guess I myself also don’t really understand why I did it. By the way, this is delicious.”
“… I thought you were someone who was hard to read, someone whose thoughts I couldn’t get a hold off.”
Her eyes half opened, Charl spoke in an astounded tone.
“But it looks like you weren’t even thinking. Your thoughts were just flapping about in the wind like a piece of laundry. There’s no way I could have read a person like that.”
“That’s about right. Is that all you want to ask?”
“One more question. What’s with your style of fighting? It’s my first time seeing someone fight alongside his puppet.”
“Ah… That’s something like a cunning trick.”
“Cunning?”
“Originally, I was brought up in a house of war. My clan is… was skilled in fighting as a group.”
Charl’s fork suddenly stopped. Something had caught her attention.
“Controlling a military unit— that was the hallmark of the Akabane clan puppeteers.”
At that moment, the look on Charl’s face changed. She had realised something.
In the academy, there was one person who was skilled in group warfare. The strongest puppeteer, who wielded six female type automata simultaneously.
However, Charl didn’t say anything. Bringing a piece of veal into her mouth, she silently waited for him to continue.
Appreciating her consideration, Raishin continued on.
“Well, they also had someone as talentless as me inside. Just controlling Yaya alone is already a heavy burden for me. Therefore, in place of a puppet I subst.i.tute my own body instead. Luckily, I do have some knowledge of martial arts. So instead of hastily prepared magic, I rely on my fists to fight.”
“Hastily prepared…? So, tell me, what do the Oriental spells looks like?”
“We don’t use spells or invocations. Suimei, Shinkan, Kouen, Tenken— to put it frankly, the Fuurinkazan. Rudimentary battle concepts in word form. In my clan’s case, you can think of it as a… code. By using them I can adjust the nature of the magic energy, the output, the type of magic art and the formation I’m transmitting to Yaya.
‘You verbalise your commands? That sounds like something only a beginner would do.”
“I AM a beginner. I’ve only seriously studied puppetry for two years.”
Charl’s jaw dropped.
“I’m shocked. In that case, why do you want to be the Wiseman? If you’re not even an expert in puppetry, why would you fly all the way over from the East? Why do you want the Wiseman’s throne—“
Raishin raised his finger to stop her.
“I have various reasons for wanting it. Now, I think it’s my turn to ask some questions.”
He evaded her question. Charl had a look of blatant dislike on her face, but to refuse him wouldn’t be fair, or so she thought, so she reluctantly nodded.
“What’s your relationship with Felix? Where did you first meet?”
“Are you interested in him? Don’t tell me, are you really a hom—“
“What did you just say? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“… He called out to me from afar.”
Charl blushed slightly, and her eyes dropped.
“Because I was making enemies without even knowing it… No, that’s fine, right? I’m more comfortable being alone, and I wasn’t planning on getting friendly with future enemies. However—“
Her sapphire eyes clouded over.
“Acting alone has its good points and bad points. There were a lot of people who would get weirdly conceited once they learnt that their opponent was a single one. Damaging my locker, or hiding my bag… really, they had too much free time on their hands. Also, they had the temerity to do stuff that normal people wouldn’t.”
She spoke in an annoyed tone. After that, her expression changed into a gentle smile.
“Felix was a member of the disciplinary committee, so he would look out for me.”
“I see. So that’s when you started to like him.”
“I don’t. Stop speaking such nonsense or I’ll burn you alive!”
“You actually would have preferred if it were him and not me on this date right now, don’t you?”
“Wha—I—You—“
“He did invite you out before. Why did you refuse him? Everything would have worked out as you desired.”
“… I can’t.”
Her anger disappeared. Rapidly losing her spirit, Charl deflatedly looked away.
Her gaze falling onto the darkness of the waterway, she spoke in a hollow voice.
“Felix has a different sort of popularity than the one you have. A lot of the female students are crazy about him. If word got out that I went on a date with him…”
“You would have needlessly increased the amount of enemies you have, huh.”
She fell silent. Not wanting to press the issue any further,
“Let’s change topics. Why do you want to become the Wiseman?”
“… That has nothing to do with you.”
“It doesn’t. But I’m interested nonetheless.”
Charl thought about it for a moment, before half sighing her answer.
“I have a… dream I must fulfil.”
“A dream?”
She didn’t answer. However her lips, which were pressed tightly together, were overflowing with a sad determination. It wasn’t for fame or social status, but her determination was brighter than any fire.
It was something of great importance to Charl. She probably didn’t trust him enough to share it with him and he knew it. Raishin knew that was the end of that particular conversation.
“It looks like you have your own fair share of problems.”
“Hmph. I could say the same about you.”
Charl curtly replied— then she giggled slightly.
Maybe she found it strange, or she enjoyed herself, but she was laughing. When she laughed like that, Raishin didn’t see her as a violent problematic child, or a haughty aristocratic lady, but as a perfectly normal girl.
After treating her to three scoops of ice cream, Raishin stood up.
“Let’s go. Before we go back to the dorms, there’s something I need to buy.”
Leaving the restaurant, they walked through the city at Charl’s pace.
Window-shopping around town, they spent a long time inside a shoe shop, before heading back to the road that would bring them back to the academy since it was almost curfew time.
“Thanks for helping me decide. I have no clue when it comes to women’s clothing.”
Lightly tapping his package from the shoe shop, he gave Charl a small laugh.
“Hmph. I didn’t expect you to have such consideration for others. That’s quite surprising considering I thought you were an insensitive, selfish, rude and perverted foreign barbarian.”
That was excessively long. However, he found that he couldn’t disagree with her (save for the pervert part), so he didn’t reply.
“Or perhaps the reason why you’re fussing over her to that extent is because that girl is scary?”
“Hm… I’m not sure if scary is the right word for it… dangerous would also be appropriate…”
“Such a pathetic man. To be controlled by your automaton runs opposite to conventional relationships, don’t you think?”
Although she was insulting him, there was no real spite in her words. Charl laughed in a relaxed manner.
Eventually, as the gates of the academy came into sight, she said something unexpected.
“About our talk earlier. When you gave me your reasons for targeting me.”
“Ah… I thought I told you I didn’t get it myself.”
“I get it.”
Hearing her say something so unexpected, Raishin turned to face her without thinking.
“It may only be a little bit, but I think I understand. The feeling of wanting to be punished… That’s because I’ve committed a sin before.”
He was about to ask her what she meant by that— but then he noticed something strange happening up ahead.
“What’s wrong?”
It was past nine. Normally, by this time the academy should have been peacefully quiet.
However, there was some kind of commotion going on inside the gates.
“What’s this? Hey, wait a minute— Raishin!?”
Charl was shouting behind him. However, he didn’t stop. As swift as a gale, Raishin dashed up the path, running towards the academy at full speed.
(5)Just as he had thought, there was a great commotion going on inside the academy grounds.
Even though it was already this late, the students had gathered, and were jostling one another to get a better view.
At the front of the crowd, a rope with the words ‘Keep Out ‘had been hung, and Raishin could see the figures of the disciplinary committee members moving busily about, illuminated by their flashlights.
Spying Felix’s figure in the midst of the activity, Raishin jumped the rope.
Recognising Raishin, Felix smiled up at him.
“Yo, you got here quicker than I expected.”
“Save the sarcasm. What’s the situation?”
“Another automaton has been done in. You want to see it?”
He nodded. Felix signalled another member on the scene to take over, and he guided Raishin inside the garden.
For a brief moment the worst case scenario flashed through Raishin’s mind.
It couldn’t be… There’s no way that it would be…
He quickened his pace. Suppressing his urge to break into a dash, Raishin followed Felix.
Seeing through his thoughts, Felix spoke up.
“Your automaton’s not with you tonight?”
“I went out into the city. I could ask you the same—“
Suddenly, a doubt crept into his mind.
“Where is your automaton anyway? Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen it before.”
“Obviously, I’ve left mine in the Locker. I am a member of the rounds, you know— with the Night Party this close, if I were to bring it about w.i.l.l.y-nilly I’d be opening myself to attacks from ruffians like yourself.”
It was true. Charl had been attacked by a group of ten. To avoid that sort of trouble, some partic.i.p.ants had chosen the quick and easy solution by not bringing their automata out with them.
“I see. So instead of using your own, you were planning to use mine instead.”
“Don’t say it in such a spiteful way. Well, I can’t blame you if you want to think that way. To me, you’re—“
“Raishin!”
Someone cut in from behind, leaving Felix’s words hanging in the air.
An out of breath Charl charged over to them.
“Felix—“
“Yo, Charl. Did you go out into the city with him?”
He was sharp. Even though he wasn’t rebuking her, Charl still winced.
“Wait, don’t get the wrong idea, I was just—“
“Now then, Raishin. The victim is over there.”
Felix coldly cut her off, pointing towards the shadow of a thicket.
Surrounded by a number of disciplinary committee members, a half destroyed automaton was horizontally down on the ground.
This time, the body was in one piece. The automaton was a female model. A scar indicating the heart had been ripped out was present. Shining a light on the wound, the area had been partially melted, but different from all the cases up till now, it had retained its shape considerably.
The automaton’s skin was jet black— it could be concluded this was clearly nothing like Yaya’s.
Looking at the automaton’s head strangely caused a memory to stir.
Directly opposite him, there was a student crying while clinging on to the remains. It looked like he was mourning its death. Looking at his face, Raishin finally remembered.
He belonged to the group which had attacked Charl yesterday; the student who was controlling the Undine automaton. He wondered if this meant this was the Undine. The body’s condition was very different from how he last remembered it, and it threw him off for a second.
It should have been more obvious to him, but the translucency of the body was a result of a magic art converting the body into a liquid state. By default it was a st.u.r.dier construct, as expected.
Charl briefly looked down on the student, dumbfounded.
Then with her eyes burning with a fierce fire, she spun around on her heel.
“Wait, Charl.”
With his back still turned, Felix stopped her in an unexpectedly strong tone.
“I think it would be better if you stopped involving yourself with Cannibal Candy from here on out.”
“But—!”
“Leave Cannibal Candy to the disciplinary committee. Also—“
Felix turned to face Charl.
He didn’t have his usual smile on his face, but his eyebrows were furrowed in sadness.
“I understand your feelings. It’s unfortunate, but I’ll gracefully back out.”
“Eh—“
“You’ve chosen Raishin over me— that’s what’s you have decided, am I right?”
Charl stiffened up in shock.
“No, you’ve got it all wro—…”
“… There’s still work to be done here. I’m sorry, but could I ask you to leave? Also— I don’t think we should see each other for a while.”
Dejectedly turning away, he left.
Charl turned as pale as a ghost, trembling all over.
“What… What should I do…”
“Hey, calm down.”
“Felix… hates… me…”
“Calm down. Look, it’s all just a big misunderstanding—“
“Leave me alone!”
Brushing off Raishin’s hand, she ran off like she was bullet fired from a gun.
Her slim shoulders vanished into the distance. Raishin could only stare in blank amazement at her disappearing figure. Unable to believe what he just saw, Raishin muttered to himself.
“… It’s not something worth crying over, right?”
His words were carried away by the night wind, disappearing like the ocean foam.
(6)Raishin returned back to his room, thoroughly unsatisfied.
“… Yaya?”
He gingerly peeked into the room. Just how badly was she sulking?
The alternative was she was angry. Either way, he wasn’t looking forward to it.
However.
“Welcome back, Raishin <>
Her feet pitter-pattered on the floor as she ran towards him, in an extremely good mood.
“I made dinner. I have confidence in my cooking tonight.”
“Uh… What are you saying…?”
Meals in the dormitory were handled by the canteen. There was no facilities or equipment for students to cook on their own.
His eye glanced over at the table— and he was startled.
“What… are you up to now?”
“What’s the matter? Hurry up and have a seat.”
Yaya beamed at him, beckoning him towards the table.
There were several plates placed neatly on top of the white tablecloth.
All of them were empty.
“What’s wrong with you? Snap out of it!”
“Ufufu, there’s nothing wrong with me. Raishin, you’re being so weird.”
Although Yaya was smiling brightly at him, her eyes were hollow, devoid of light.
Raishin felt a chill creeping down his spine.
Was there a malfunction in her thinking process…!?
Not knowing what to do, Raishin pulled Yaya to him and hugged her tightly.
‘It’s my fault! I’m sorry! So please, return back to normal!”
Yaya cracked, burying her face inside Raishin’s chest—
And then she started to cry.
“Uu, Uu, Raishin is so cruel… Even though you know how Yaya feels, you still chase other women…”
“I said I’m sorry, so stop crying. Look, I got you something.”
He held out the package from the shoe shop. It was something he had bought when he was out in the city with Charl.
Yaya stared at it in surprise, then with a mixture of expectation and unease on her face, there was a rustle of paper as she opened the package.
It was a pair of shiny, black lace-up boots.
It was a little old-fashioned, but well-crafted and elegant.
“When you stepped on the railway tracks that time, your geta became all battered up. It’s hard for you to fight wearing them, and there is always the risk of the strap breaking. So use these for the time being.”
Raishin helped her put them on, and Yaya blissfully smiled.
“A perfect fit… <>
She turned her feet a couple of times in happiness.
Although she was being a little too exuberant, she was back to normal. Raishin let out a sigh of relief.
“Yaya. You’ve been making a fundamental mistake in your thinking. I’m not attracted to Charl or anything, and I didn’t invite her out because I was.”
Dispelling her misunderstanding was dangerous. Raishin carefully and thoroughly explained himself in an easy to understand manner.
“In the first place, I’m not interest in little girls who have to use padding. I prefer someone like Shouko, a lady with full cleavage like the G.o.ddess of harvest.”
“How did you know her chest was fake…? Also, again with Shouko, Shouko, Shouko… !”
Noticing that Yaya looked like she was about to blow her top, Raishin hurriedly coughed and changed the subject.
“Let’s leave that aside for now. And anyway, I went out with Charl because I wanted to confirm something. It’s related to Cannibal Candy.”
Yaya picked up on something. Her eyes widening,
“Don’t tell me, you suspect Charlotte of being Cannibal Candy?”
“The torrent of light Sigmund fired out would leave behind a similar scar to Cannibal Candy’s handiwork.”
Raishin was referring to the uniquely smooth, gla.s.sy scar, which resembled someone licking a candy.
“There was a million to one chance of Cannibal Candy appearing when Charl and I left the academy.”
“If it did it would create an alibi for Charlotte, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s right. And as a matter of fact, Cannibal Candy did attack— or so it seems.”
“Then doesn’t that mean Charlotte isn’t guilty?”
“No, on the contrary it only makes things murkier.”
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed too convenient.
Up till now, Cannibal Candy had never attacked two days in a row. This time, he didn’t wait till midnight to hunt, and the wound was only half melted. Something felt off about it.
Tonight’s dinner had been fict.i.tious— a sham, and it had deception written all over it.
Yaya didn’t seem to understand. She had a troubled look on her face as she furrowed her eyebrows together in a frown.
“But Sigmund and I were both keeping watch over the rooms the whole time. Without a puppeteer nearby, we wouldn’t be able to manifest any magic energy.”
“There is an exception to this though. Bandolls.”
Bandolls were essentially living machines which housed human parts inside them. Because of that, they could supply themselves with magic energy to a certain extent.
“In that case, her alibi wouldn’t hold up… So, that means it really was a date…?”
“Don’t widen your eyes. Her absence does have meaning.”
Yaya stared at him doubtfully. However, Raishin didn’t explain himself, going over the situation in his head instead.
Indeed, Charl being on a date with him did have meaning. Thanks to that, he was able to grab the enemy by the tail… Or so he felt. If what he saw just now had really been the handiwork of Cannibal Candy—
Just as he was in the middle of his thoughts, he was disturbed by an unexpected knock on his door.
From the opposite side of the old door, the boarding master’s voice could be heard, his voice redundantly easy on the ears.
“Raishin. You have a phone call.”
Raishin left Yaya in the room and went down to the first floor lobby.
The telephone was in front of the boarding master’s office. The receiver was already off its hook, and Raishin picked it up.
“I’m sorry for the late call. It’s Lisette Norden.”
“Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”
“Did you think I would call someone as sad as yourself just for fun?”
“… It would have been better if you’d started with that. So, what do you want?”
“We’re searching for Charlotte.”
“— What did you say?”
“She’s left the Gryphon dormitory. I don’t know if you know this, but Charlotte and I both reside in this dormitory.”
“Are you sure she’s not there?”
“If she was, I wouldn’t be making this phone call, you dense maggot.”
“… You’re right.”
“I thought perhaps she went over to your room to indulge in illicit s.e.xual relations.”
“Are you Yaya? Your leap of logic is spectacular. Stop jumping to hasty conclusions.”
“For you to have insulted me is such a humiliation. Do you have any idea where she might be?”
“… Nope.”
For a moment, he remembered the lone ray of light that had fallen upon her cheek.
“If you do not possess any knowledge, then you are clearly useless. Goodbye.”
There was a click. She had hung up.
Forgetting to place the receiver back, Raishin stood still for a minute.
Was Charl still planning on searching for Cannibal Candy?
Or— Was she about to do something rash?
(… No. Calm down. I can’t do anything if I’m fl.u.s.tered.”
If Sigmund was with her, then Charl would be able to fend off Cannibal Candy... or should be able to. Also, if Sigmund was with her, he would prevent her from doing anything foolish.
However, all this was supposing Sigmund was there. If he wasn’t—
“Dammit, such a troublesome person…”
He slammed the receiver back onto the hook, walking towards the entrance. Just as he was about to dash out of the academy— he stopped like he had been stuck by a bolt of lightning.
His eyes were focused on someone standing there.
Although he wanted to hug her, he couldn’t say that in front of her.
Her kimono was more in the style of a dress, and her ample bosom was so white it almost shone. As if she was hiding her peerless beauty, she had gla.s.ses in the form of an eyepatch over her right eye.
With a bewitching laugh, her voice was like a stringed instrument.
“Tonight’s a fine night, isn’t it boy. The moon is so beautiful.”
“Shouko—“
Raishin finally came to his senses, managing to spit out her name.