Chapter 62.
"Oh, if it isn’t Den! You came early!"
The sullen-faced Flam dropped his head and turned around, but then found me and waved his hand.
No, you have the wrong person.
I turned my head and tried to pretend I didn"t know him, but it was too late as Flam came towards me with a bright face.
"You know him?” Alice asked me in disbelief.
No. Right now, I don"t know him.
I avoided Alice"s eyes. Flam, who approached me, found others and greeted them.
"Oh, Mr. Lisbon is also here. It has been a while.”
Flam approached Lisbon naturally and shook hands.
"Yes, it has been a long time."
Seeing Lisbon shake hands with Flam, someone seemingly uncivil, Alice looked on like a rabbit staring at a perverted bear being arrested.
"Haha, please speak comfortably.”
"Oh, uh... yeah."
He still seemed uncomfortable speaking informally.
"Who is that person?"
Alice seemed to find it hard to believe that Lisbon and I knew Flam, a man who lacked courtesy even if you washed your eyes.
"Oh! Alphonso, long time no see!"
"Yea! Long time no see!”
Flam hugged Alphonso as if they were good friends and urged me to answer.
"Hmm, how should I say, a trainee colleague."
“So you"re saying you are friends?” Alice asked.
“Friends... Well, I guess I can’t say we aren’t necessarily."
Alice sighed as she looked at me with eyes that seemed to advise me to be more selective about friends.
"Ha, please tell him that such a discourteous behavior like that is dangerous. Especially at banquets hosted by someone of status." Alice added after a moment. "Because the sparks might fly towards you too."
"Hahaha, I understand." I nodded with a smile.
There was nothing wrong with what Alice said. The training center did not designate etiquette as a mandatory subject for nothing. If you were rude or lacked etiquette in front of a high-ranking person, not only would it undermine the dignity of the civil servant but there was also a risk of being executed on the spot.
Of course, civil servants were the emperor’s people in name, so unless they had a great amount of power, it would usually just stop at the level of disciplining and lecture. However, I learned in etiquette cla.s.s that there were cases where civil servants made mistakes and were killed on the spot by Duke Asteria, one of the two biggest dukes.
This was an empire of rank and status. It was not sinful to divide by a cla.s.s in this world unlike in my past life. Even so, Flam wasn’t a fool, he wouldn"t act like he just did in front of high-ranking people.
But just in case, I"ll have to wake Flam up on etiquette.
Flam, who was chatting with Alphonso, came to me shoulder to shoulder with Alphonso. For the tall Flam and small Alphonso to be shoulder to shoulder, Flam had to bend his knees slightly and Alphonso had to go on his tiptoes.
I sighed and tried to give a warning, but Flam spoke first.
"Hahaha, I"m going to explore the magic school with Alphonso. Would you like to join us?"
"Let"s go together! Yea?" said Alphonso
"It"s a magic school, so it’s surely full of wonders!" Flam continued.
"Right, right!" Alphonso happily agreed.
They encouraged me with their sparkling eyes. Besides, Alphonso was from the b.u.t.terfly Tribe, which was likely surrounded by more magic than the magic school, so I didn"t know why he"s so excited.
"No, I am ok." Honestly, it"s annoying.
"Really? What a shame."
Flam and Alphonso left to explore the school with a look of disappointment.
Well, maybe Flam and Alphonso were wise. Attendance must have been checked on the list when we came in. With so many people here, I didn"t think anyone would notice that they were not in their seats.
I"ll just fill up my stomach and disappear somewhere too. While I made up my mind, I heard Yuria’s voice.
"Alice, Den!"
Yuria waved and came from behind the banquet hall.
"Where did you disappear to without a word?"
When Alice pulled Yuria"s cheek, the latter looked teary.
"It hurts, it hurts."
Alice let go of Yuria"s cheek, scoffing. Then she touched her finger.
"Did you put on makeup?" Alice asked.
"Ehehe. Yeah."
Yuria blushed shyly and glanced at me for some reason.
"You look pretty."
I didn’t notice much change, but I decided to start with compliments. Personally, I didn"t like the smell of makeup because my sense of smell became sensitive after my previous life.
"Ehe, thank you."
"Hmph, even though you detestingly say you don’t want to when I ask.”
Alice seemed a little sulky.
"You look pretty like this."
No, was she just a tsundere?
I"ll recommend twin-tails to Alice later. Twin-tails were for tsunderes.
Yuria looked around and asked Alice, "Did Alphonso not come?"
"Den"s colleague or something went to explore the magic school with him."
"Colleague? Oh, Mr. Flam?"
At Alice’s apathetic words, Yuria seemed to think about who it was but realized soon after.
"Flam?"
Flam quickly joined hands with Alphonso and disappeared, so Alice missed the introductions and didn’t even hear his name.
Alice gave me a side scowl. "Hnng, I guess I was the only one who didn"t know.”
"Ahhaha, well about that—”
"Well, it’s fine." Alice turned her head.
Oh, jeez, she’s really upset.
"I had someone to introduce.” Yuria scratched her cheek with regret.
But hearing that there was someone to be introduced made me a little nervous.
"You mean Aria? Were you with her?” Alice asked.
Yuria nodded.
Aria was a name I"d heard before from somewhere. I was getting more and more nervous.
"Yes, ah! Here she comes." Yuria pointed in the direction of a girl.
"Kyak!"
"What"s wrong, Den?"
At the sudden choking sound, Alice was surprised and worried.
"No, kmm, hmm. It"s all right."
I coughed lightly and smiled at Alice.
"Let me introduce you. This is Aria. She"s my new friend at the magic school."
Yuria introduced Arelia, the Third Princess of the Empire wearing a magic school uniform, under the name Aria. Even though the main character of the ball definitely just appeared, the surroundings did not change in a loud manner. Not everyone would know the face of the princess, but it was strange that no one noticed it.
That school uniform... I could feel a slight reverberation of magic from it. It seemed that the reason why people didn"t recognize Arelia was because of that uniform. It seemed a magic circle that prevented recognition was specially engraved into the lining of clothing.
"h.e.l.lo, my name is Aria." Arelia greeted politely with a smile.
d.a.m.n, I should have followed Flam when he suggested exploring the magic school.
Let"s calm down for now.
When I met the princess, I was wrapped and wrapped around by my cloak and mask. Even if Arelia was an anti-magician and my perception-disrupting magic was ineffective on her, she still shouldn’t recognize me.
"Oh my, Den, why are you sweating so much?"
When Yuria tried to wipe the sweat off my forehead with a handkerchief, I declined and took out my handkerchief.
"It"s all right. I"ll wipe it with my own."
But Arelia, who was certainly not acquainted with me, looked at me with glistening eyes.
What, did I get caught?
Where did I make the mistake? I haven"t even made a proper introduction yet.
Ah, my voice!
As a princess, she might have been trained to distinguish people by their voices. After all, voice is the most variable element to identify a person. Yet, I spoke without giving it a thought!
“You must be "that" Den!”
“Pardon?”
‘That Den’? What Den was she talking about? Was she talking about what happened in the palace? Then it was highly likely to be a threat.
Are they threatening that if I don"t want to die of treason for trespa.s.sing the palace, then I should become their chess piece? Or they could be asking for the things I"ve robbed? Even with a glance, there were many corruption-related items, so there would be countless ways to use them politically.
I waited for Arelia to finish, swallowing dry saliva.
"I"ve heard a lot from Yuria and Alice.” Arelia shook my hand, holding back an odd laugh.
I thought there was going to be a note left in my hand, but nothing was given to me.
So what"s with this strange smile?
I looked at Yuria and Alice for a moment. Yuria and Alice avoided my eyes at the same time as if there was something to be guilty about. Only then could I grasp the situation.
What the heck did you say about me?
Still, I was honestly relieved that Arelia didn"t recognize me.
-o-
Cardinal Fernando wore a golden mask and shouted at the three rows of the black-masked people in front of him.
“Are you prepared for the revolt?”
“Yes! We are!” The black-masked people answered aloud in unison.
Fernando burst forth into a satisfied laugh at his own bloodthirsty limbs.[1] "Ahahahaha, that"s good. Eagle, I"ll ask. What is our mission?"
A man standing in the front row of the black-masked people spoke in a disciplined voice. "Kidnapping Third Princess!"
"That’s right. Fox, what are the benefits we can gain from this?"
This time a black-masked woman in the front row answered, "Acquisition of a route to hit the emperor"s neck, and the means to pressure the emperor and other imperial dogs!"
Fernando gave a deep smile. "That’s right! This is an opportunity that will never come again! We"re going to hit hard and hit fast!"
"Yes!" Once again, the masked people answered in unison.
Fernando shouted, taking a step forward, "Let"s go! It is time to lower G.o.d"s iron mace on the wicked!"
-o-
On one side of the sky, the sunset dyed it red, and on the other, violet light of darkness was devouring the sky.
Now that the ball had begun in earnest, tranquil music could be heard from the magic school. From the roof above the clock tower between the magic school and the magic tower, a man wearing a brown mask looked down at the magic school that was painted red by the sunset.
"Ominous," Taurus muttered.
A woman with a red mask suddenly appeared from the opposite roof from where Taurus was sitting.
"Ominous? What are you talking about?” Walking as if ignoring gravity, Scorpio approached Taurus and asked, revealing a captivating smile below the red mask.
Despite the sudden appearance, Taurus answered without any surprise. "Well, I don"t know myself. That red-colored school looks ominous as if it’s about to reek of blood right now."
Scorpio laughed at Taurus"s answer. “Oho, you have a good hunch.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Scorpio did not answer Taurus"s question. "I like misfortune. If it"s full of despair and screams, it"ll be perfect."
Taurus felt goose-b.u.mps. There was not a single hint of falsehood in her words. Feeling that he might rush into the magic school and start a ma.s.sacre, he was on the edge.
1. limbs refers to his subordinates