Chapter 88

One year since their reunion.

If there was one new thing Carina had learned about Estelle, it was that her tone of voice changed noticeably whenever she talked about a certain person.

In those moments, Estelle would suddenly sound just like any other girl her age.

Estelle said,

“Baron Winslet is famous for walking away from his position as heir to a count’s house and making it on his own, right?”

Carina replied,

“Isn’t that a bit romanticized? I heard he was kicked out after committing a serious offense.”

“Well, same difference. More or less the same thing.”

“……”

Carina felt the urge to argue how those two things were definitely not the same rising up in her throat, but she decided not to burst Estelle’s warped bubble of admiration.

After all, her goal was to gather information on a high-risk individual. Nothing more.

“So?”

“I had the chance to meet him in person.”

“Oh, yeah. I know. That was about a month ago, right? At Baron Keith d’Alembert’s exhibition or something?”

“You don’t have to make it so obvious that you’re tracking his every move.”

“Sorry. Occupational hazard. So?”

“The Baron was every bit the gentleman I imagined. Kind and honorable, and even though he’s incredibly talented, he never brags. He carries himself with such grace.”

The deeper Estelle’s eyes grew with emotion, the more Carina felt like she was being forced to eat something disgustingly sweet.

“Well, from what I heard, that man’s personality is…”

Estelle ignored Carina’s interruption and went on.

“And he even has such a delicate sense of aesthetics. Carina, want to see this?”

As she spoke, Estelle pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket.

When she unfolded the neatly folded cloth, a transparent object, like glass, emerged from within.

It was a small sculpture in the shape of a sparrow.

“The Baron made this for me with magic back then. Isn’t it pretty? I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away, and it’s still exactly the same. Even though it’s made of ice!”

“This is ice?”

“Touch it. Go on.”

Estelle’s subtle pride was starting to get on Carina’s nerves, but curiosity managed to override the irritation for now.

Gotta focus on gathering information.

She reminded herself.

The sparrow-shaped sculpture, supposedly crafted by Winter Winslet with magic, did indeed feel like ice.

Its surface was smooth like metal, and its interior crystal clear.

And just like ice it was cold.

But if it’s ice… shouldn’t it melt?

As she rubbed her thumb over the sparrow’s belly, wondering that very thing, Estelle suddenly snatched the sculpture out of Carina’s hands.

“Don’t rub it so hard. It might melt.”

“You little….seriously!”

“I’m taking it with me to Libron. It’s… the last memento I have, I guess.”

When someone played the pitiful card like this, it always made the person questioning them look like the bad guy.

Carina clicked her tongue.

“So sly for a princess.”

It had been a while since Carina was reminded that unless Estelle was in some unfortunate or miserable situation, this was closer to her true nature.

“Still, it is kind of amazing. How does a piece of ice not melt after a whole month?”

“Maybe because it was made with magic?”

“That can’t be it. The others don’t act like this.”

“Maybe it’s because the Baron is an exceptionally skilled mage.”

“Listen to you…what a loyal fan.”

Well, considering that the effects of magic could vary widely depending on the caster’s ability, Estelle’s theory wasn’t entirely baseless.

Estelle continued,

“Anyway, I made up my mind the day I received this sparrow sculpture. Just like the Baron, who earned his title through his own achievements rather than relying on his family background… I decided I’d try to accomplish something on my own, too. I have two hands and two feet, don’t I?”

“Then instead of becoming a diplomat, why didn’t you just go all in and learn magic like him?”

“That dream died a while ago.”

“Oh dear.”

“It’s not that I didn’t have any talent for magic… but the opposition was just too strong. That’s why I decided to go abroad.”

“But you know, don’t you? Once you go abroad, it’ll be hard to come back to this country. You won’t be able to see that Baron Winslet you like so much anymore. Are you okay with that?”

“A fan is still just a fan. I have to take care of my own life, too. And besides…”

“Besides?”

“I have the most amazing friend joining me on my final journey.”

“…What?”

Carina furrowed her brows.

“You don’t have any friends.”

“…That kind of hurts, you know?”

“No, I mean wasn’t I the only one who ever talked to you or hung out with you?”

“You’re really full of yourself. Time passes, and the world changes, Carina.”

“Don’t tell me… it’s an imaginary friend or something? What’d you name them? Bruce? Wilson?”

“Wow, unbelievable. Are you upset that you’re not the princess’s ‘most amazing’ friend?”

“How funny.”

Even as they bickered, Carina was mentally reviewing the princess’s travel schedule to Libron.

The direct train heading east in two weeks would include a handful of dispatched diplomats and a single knight escort.

None of the diplomats had any known connection to Estelle.

That was intentional. It had been arranged that way on purpose.

In fact, one of them was an intelligence agent tasked with monitoring Estelle’s actions.

“Then who the hell could it be?”

“Looks like even the great Director of Intelligence doesn’t know everything. If you really beg, I might tell you.”

“Forget it. I’m not that petty. I won’t ask.”

She’d find out who Estelle’s so-called friend was soon enough anyway, once she got the report from the subordinate planted in the envoy group.

Their walk was coming to an end.

The exit at the end of the arched path was coming into view.

Estelle spoke.

“I feel like I’ve been talking about myself the whole time. How have you been lately, Carina?”

“Me? Same as always. Wrestling with imperial bastards who think our kingdom is their backyard, traitors selling out our country, and packs of hyenas looking to take a bite out of us.”

“That sounds tough.”

“Especially these days…I’ve been chasing down one particularly amusing guy. Ever heard of someone named Nice Goodman?”

“Not at all. Is that a person’s name?”

“He’s a mage, just like your beloved Winter Winslet… but that’s about all I can say. The rest is classified. Anyway, I’ve been tearing the city apart trying to track him down.”

“You’ve always had a good instinct. Even when we played hide-and-seek as kids, no one could ever beat your sharp eyes. I’m sure you’ll find him this time too.”

“Hide-and-seek, huh. It’s not too far off.”

Just then, a third voice called out.

“Director! Director Valpenera!”

Beyond the end of the path, a young man with a pale face and dimples came running toward them, waving both hands wildly.

Estelle asked Carina,

“Is he one of your subordinates?”

“No, he’s an idiot.”

The young man ran up to them, panting heavily for breath.

“Director! I’ve been looking all over for you. Were you slacking off again in secret?”

“Watch your mouth, Conroy. I’m in the middle of an official assignment.”

“Assignment? What kind of assignment? And the person next to you… huh!”

Conroy hastily bowed.

“I greet you, Your Highness the Princess. I-I deeply apologize for my rudeness!”

Estelle waved a hand as if to say it was fine, and Carina gave her a pat on the shoulder as a casual farewell.

“Well, I’d better get going. Looks like someone’s looking for me.”

“Alright. Take care.”

“You too. All the way to Libron.”

As she turned to leave, Estelle suddenly called out to her.

“Carina.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you… for everything. For coming to see me so often under the pretense of surveillance. Thanks to you, I didn’t feel so lonely.”

Carina was about to snap back with one of her usual sharp remarks, but she couldn’t find the words. So she just turned around and gave a wave instead.

As they walked away, Conroy asked excitedly,

“Director, do you know the princess? You seemed pretty close.”

“Shut it. Anyway, what do you want?”

“Mr. Bray asked me to bring you. He said there’s a pile of paperwork waiting for you.”

“What? I told you. All department duties are Bray’s responsibility while I’m chasing down Nice Goodman.”

“Well, that only applies when you’re outside the castle. Since you’re back now, he says you need to return to the office and handle things yourself.”

“Fine. Then starting now, I’m officially out on field duty.”

“…Huh?”

“I mean, I’m heading out to chase Nice Goodman again. Right now.”

At that, Conroy scrunched up his nose.

“Ugh, seriously. You’re the definition of a salary thief.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing at all. I’ll go let Mr. Bray know, then.”

“Good. And after you do that, you’re coming with me.”

“What? Why me?”

“You’re the only one who’s actually met Nice Goodman in person. Of course you’re coming!”

“You’re just gonna slack off somewhere weird again… Ugh…”

As Conroy sighed deeply, Carina jabbed him in the side with her fist.

“Shut up and watch. I’ve got a feeling… Today, we really might run into him.”

She had the princess’s blessing, after all.

With that thought, Carina burned with renewed determination.

***

It’s been two weeks since I assigned the elixir-making project.

I was grading the results submitted by the students.

“Shannon Quinlivan.”

“Yes.”

“You’re in first place. Excellent work.”

“Thank you.”

Shannon accepted the compliment with a calm expression, as if it were only natural. And in second place…

“Luke Rousseau.”

A senior student with messy hair and thick-rimmed glasses.

He didn’t seem particularly upset about ranking lower than Shannon, who was only a first-year.

However, he was harboring a different kind of resentment toward me.

[Notification]

[A death flag has been raised by this character.]

If it weren’t for the death flag alert, I wouldn’t have noticed the hostility. It was so well hidden that it was almost imperceptible.

Luke Rousseau has had a death flag triggered for me since the very first class.

He’s not the only one, either. Death flags are still popping up all around the academy, each one a problem I need to deal with eventually.

Once I finish the urgent matters related to Carafin, I’ll need to turn my attention to this as well.

Next, in third place was Stephanie Wells, and fourth was Rita Ridge.

“Your results were about the same. Thanks to the quality of your ingredients, you barely managed to produce something that qualifies as an elixir. But still, you followed the recipe well. Good job.”

The two students smiled with satisfaction at the praise.

“And finally, Jacqueline Dogwood.”

Gulp.

A swallowing sound from the front row.

“You’re last.”

“Ugh.”

Jacqueline buried her red hair in her notebook on the desk and mumbled in despair,

“I-It’s still not too bad… fifth place from the front…”

“Even with such rare ingredients, this is barely passable as an elixir. At best, it might qualify as a tonic. I’ll donate it to the academy infirmary.”

And so, aside from the inadequate bottle Jacqueline made, I ended up with four bottles of health elixir.

A better haul than expected.

This….this is the thrill of auto-farming that you’d never experience in the original Candela of Judgment.

This is why I became a professor at the academy.

After the lecture, I returned to my quarters and packed my things.

A bag containing the clothes I’d use to disguise myself as Nice Goodman.

With it in hand, I headed to Rose Blythe’s apartment.

Today was the day Sakis Lubas, one of the Seven Points, was supposed to trade Caraphine through his lackeys.

Wearing a black raincoat and a mask to hide my identity, I made my way to the target location.

A place I’d once visited with Josephine to see a play.

The Estwick Theater.