Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Inside the villa built of high-grade hardwood.
I hummed as I stood in front of the mirror.
Reflected in the mirror was me, Elined, wearing Yggdrasil’s uniform.
Beneath my violet hair, I held a cream-colored coat trimmed with fur in one hand and a red knit dress in the other.
“Should I wear the coat… or would the dress be better…?”
I hesitated for a long time, then my gaze drifted to the dress in the wardrobe.
It was high-quality silk that shimmered faintly like moonlight, and delicate embroidery ran along the edges — plainly a dress of excellence at a glance.
It was the kind of dress one only wore to special places, like parties hosted by nobles.
…My gaze lingered on that dress for a long time, but I shook my head belatedly.
What kind of dress would I wear to a livestock shed? Besides, it was only a classmate’s dinner invitation at most.
Right — I didn’t want to look like I’d dressed up for no reason and gotten all excited.
I put the clothes I had been holding back into the wardrobe.
“…A plain uniform would be better.”
I murmured to myself like that, and standing in front of the mirror I smoothed my uniform one more time.
The neatly tied ribbon knot seemed a little crooked; I re-tied it several times for no reason.
After quietly straightening the skirt of my uniform and putting it on, I glanced at myself in the mirror one last time.
There didn’t seem to be any flaw in my clothes now.
Only my face…
In the mirror, the girl looked like she was expecting something.
When I noticed the faint smile on my lips I hurriedly wiped the expression away.
“…I’m not excited, you know.”
I muttered as if making an excuse to myself, then changed into my sensible shoes and left the villa.
The servants who had been waiting prepared a carriage. We rode it, and by the time the livestock shed’s fence started to come into view—
“Thank you for your trouble. Please let me off here.”
I got out of the carriage and walked to the livestock shed on foot.
My steps felt somehow light.
After all, it was only a dinner invitation.
My gaze wandered to the livestock shed’s fence.
‘Was the livestock shed… always like this?’
The place was completely different from the livestock shed where Villed had been staying earlier in early summer.
Back then the smell had been overwhelming, the ground had been uneven, and everything had felt displeasing.
But now…
“Hm, hm.”
I breathed in.
…Surprisingly, there was no stench at all.
‘Back then it had definitely made my nose sting.’
That had been early summer, and now it was winter — maybe the smell had weakened.
No, even considering the change in climate, it was astonishing that there was no odor where animals lived.
‘Did Villed renovate the livestock shed?’
In any case, that was fine. My heartbeat quickened a little with each step I took.
As I approached the storage room of the livestock shed, I was getting a little nervous… but then my breath stopped.
I hadn’t misheard.
…There were loud voices coming from inside the storage room.
And it wasn’t even Villed’s voice.
‘Are there other people? Surely not like that time?’
I opened the storage room door with a puzzled expression.
There were five people inside.
Among them was an unexpected figure — even “the Empire’s Princess.”
My head went blank for a moment and I opened my eyes wide.
“…Your Highness the Princess. I am Elined Finjer.” I bowed immediately as I pulled myself together.
The Princess smiled faintly and spoke.
“Nice to meet you. Don’t bother with that kind of formal courtesy, Elined. You all learned it, didn’t you. At Yggdrasil, there’s no high or low status.”
“Right, when you’re inside the academy you have to follow the academy’s principles! That’s why I speak casually to the Princess from the start~”
“Keirin, I want to take your hand right now and lead you out of Yggdrasil.”
“No! Then we’d have to use polite speech~ That wouldn’t be fun!”
“……”
Before I realized it I was looking at Villed with a cold gaze, and he didn’t avoid my eyes either.
Clop, clop…
Villed stepped out of the storage room first, and I followed after him.
It was Villed who spoke first outside the storage room.
“Why are you looking at me so fiercely?”
“You didn’t invite only me, then.”
“It’s more fun if everyone enjoys it together.”
“……”
Should I really kill him.
I barely hid the vein that was throbbing on my forehead.
“I felt foolish for worrying about what to wear.”
“What?”
“…Haah, forget it. You’re an idiot.”
“?”
Villed, who had suddenly been insulted out of nowhere, only blinked question marks in confusion as he watched me walk back into the storage room.
…And so,
with the arrival of the final guest, the dinner that had been prepared began.
The inside of the storage room glowed warmly with lanterns and soft lighting.
Seven people were seated around the table that had been set up.
On top of it were dishes of lasagna filled with the rich aroma of cheese and tomato, potato cheese gratin, mushroom cream pasta, and herb omelets neatly arranged.
The drink was sparkling juice made from fermented apples — something refreshing to balance out the heaviness of the cheese.
“This gratin… the cheese is so thick it just melts in your mouth! And this juice is so cool. The Young Master always exceeds expectations!”
A smile spread across Keirin’s lips.
The Princess, after taking a bite of the pasta, blinked her eyes.
“…Wow.”
Ren couldn’t help but exclaim after taking a bite of the herb omelet.
“The scent of herbs lingers delicately… and the balance between the soft eggs and the moist filling is perfect.”
Ren said that to me, then turned to the Princess.
“Remi, forgive me for saying this, but… it’s as delicious as the food I once had when invited to the Imperial Palace.”
“See? Didn’t I tell you? The Young Master’s amazing!”
“……”
Elined’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between the food and me.
She seemed to have a lot to say, but was forcing herself to stay quiet.
For dessert, there was apple cinnamon tart and lavender milk tea.
Just like with the main course, everyone let out a string of delighted exclamations.
“Thank you for the meal~!”
“…Mr. Villed, that was a splendid dinner.”
After everyone had finished eating—
“Now that we’re done, let’s play a game! A game!”
Keirin’s eyes sparkled as he pulled out a thin paper box.
It was a popular board game played by teams.
“Ah, I know this one. It’s famous.”
“Ren, you’ve played it before?”
“Yes, Remi. It’s quite fun. Let’s play together.”
“That’s fine, but… there are seven of us.”
Karin hesitated as she spoke.
The Princess heard Karin’s words and opened her mouth.
“Then we need one more person, don’t we?”
“We can play with one person missing. I’ll step ou—”
Just as Ren said that with a light smile, Princess Arlhardt cleared her throat softly with an “Ahem!” and turned her gaze somewhere.
…A few seconds later, footsteps approached.
“Good evening, everyone.”
Walking in from the door was Cadet Curio, with short hair.
The Princess smiled faintly and spoke.
“Ah, what a coincidence that Curio just happened to be here. Such a coincidence. Truly.”
“Good evening, Your Highness the Princess. It’s an honor to meet you. What a joyous coincidence indeed.”
Curio looked slightly flustered, his face stiff as he recited the words like reading from a textbook.
“Curio! What brings you here?”
“I was walking at night and saw light coming from this place. Coincidentally, I happened to want to play Magic Board. May I join?”
“Of course. Come on, Curio. Have a seat here. Now we’ve got a full group. Shall we begin?”
And so, eight people sat around and began the board game.
It was somewhat similar to Monopoly.
The teams were: me, Keirin, Karin, and Lapin.
The opposing team was Elined, the Princess, Ren, and Curio.
Keirin, already excited, handed the dice to Elined.
“Here, Lady Finjer, you go first!”
……
“Ah! A Golden Card at this timing?! The Young Master’s luck is ridiculous!”
……
“I’ll build a mansion in Yggdrasil. Get ready to pay a hefty tax, Mr. Villed!”
……
“Ren! This is cheating! How could you lose the Yggdrasil Mansion Contract at a time like this?!”
“…You’ve completely gotten into the game, Remi.”
……
And time passed like that…
Keirin jumped up and down in excitement.
“We won, hooray!”
“This doesn’t make sense. Let’s play one more round.”
“Remi… it’s too late for that.”
Ren glanced sideways toward the dark night sky beyond the window.
“Snoooore…”
Lapin was already asleep in a pile of hay at the corner of the storage room.
It was getting quite late, so everyone seemed to be preparing to head back.
After getting ready to leave, Ren gave me one last smile.
“We only got the chance to talk like this near the end of our first year.”
I silently looked down at her, expressionless.
“Maybe we could’ve become good friends.”
“……”
I neither agreed nor disagreed with Ren’s words.
The Princess then looked at me and spoke.
“Thank you for inviting us.”
“Well then, we’ll be going now, Mr. Villed.”
“See you next time! Bye!”
“……”
I nodded and saw them off until they disappeared from view outside the storage room.
Once they were gone, I sat down on the back stairs of the storage room and opened the Animal Farm System.
“You must’ve been really hungry.”
– Woof!
– Popong.
A white large dog and a blue lizard with a shimmering, iridescent glow appeared before my eyes.
The maximum number of familiars I could summon at once was still only two.
So, I decided to summon them alternately to feed them.
I looked at the Animal Farm’s system screen.
Boogie was sleeping quietly.
Paw was riding on Ramji’s back as it flew. It looked like some kind of game for them.
“Sorry, you two will have to wait a bit.”
– Cheep.
– Kkyap.
The cries of Ramji and Paw echoed from the system screen.
Their voices carried a message that they could wait patiently.
After placing the remaining food into bowls for Hwayo and Shurk, they began to eat contentedly.
As I watched them, a voice came from beside me.
“What are you doing here?”
It was Elined. She hadn’t gone back yet.
“Are these animals you’re raising in the livestock shed?”
She sat down beside me, looking curiously at Hwayo and Shurk.
“…Something like that.”
– Woof!
When Shurk barked, Elined flinched in surprise, her shoulders trembling.
“D-Does it dislike me?”
“No. I think he wants you to pet him.”
“……”
Elined carefully placed her hand on Shurk’s back.
Her hesitant hand soon moved more naturally, gently stroking him as her range of motion widened.
Reflected by Hwayo’s flame beside Shurk, Elined’s eyes sparkled faintly.
“…He’s warm and soft.”
– Pant pant pant…
Shurk stuck out his tongue and wagged his tail slowly, looking quite pleased.
Just as Elined reached out her hand toward Hwayo—
– Phaaa–!
“Eek?!”
When Hwayo breathed out a small flame, Elined screamed and suddenly threw herself at me.
But at that very moment—
Thwack–!
Elined shoved me away with surprising force.
What kind of monstrous strength was that? I fell flat on my backside and spoke in disbelief.
“You’re the one who suddenly hugged me, so why’d you push me?”
“I-I was just startled, that’s all! …Here.”
Avoiding my gaze, Elined offered me her hand.
I sighed and took it, standing up before sitting beside her again.
“Hwayo doesn’t like being touched, so just watch him. He’s not bad, as long as you don’t provoke him. If you give him some food, he’ll take it nicely.”
“…Got it.”
Elined held out a tart to Hwayo.
Hwayo looked wary at first but soon accepted the food she offered, perhaps out of hunger.
– Popong, popong.
Hwayo made a series of little bubbles, seemingly pleased.
“He’s cute.”
Elined kept her eyes on Hwayo for a while, then took a quiet breath and spoke.
“After hearing what you said on the island, I’ve been thinking about it.”
Her violet eyes slowly turned toward me.
“…About the enemy inside the academy.”