Chapter 26: Information Leaks Are Bad

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Translator: Soafp

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Then, guided by Gal, we toured several facilities within the academy.

Victoria and I were just trailing behind Gal, but please don't mind the small details.

“There are swordsmanship clubs, magic research societies, beautification committees, broadcast committees… There are so many clubs and committees here.”

Belchika murmured in admiration.

The Magic Academy has many after-school activities, and once classes end, the students gather and devote themselves to their respective pursuits.

If I'm being honest, I'm interested in clubs too. I had nothing to do with them in my previous life.

But I'm a student council officer, and at night I have to do my street-healing activities, so if I joined a club I wouldn't be able to get enough sleep.

A little disappointing.

“Hm? Gal, what's that building over there?”

“Oh, that's the disciplinary committee's annex. It's where they catch students who cause problems and interrogate them.”

“Can we take a look?”

“Yeah. I already got permission in advance, so it's fine if we go.”

And so, naturally, we headed to the disciplinary committee's annex.

The one who greeted us when we entered was Lucan-senpai.

“Hey. Welcome, little brother. You too, Dog-kun—welcome to the disciplinary committee.”

“Thanks for having us.”

“I've said this so many times, I'm a wolf.”

“Mhm. Sorry to bother you while you're busy.”

“Ahaha, Princess Victoria, there's no need to be so formal. I was just killing time anyway.”

Of course, we can't wander around the disciplinary committee's facility on our own, so from here on we follow Lucan-senpai's lead.

The first place we headed to was a small room.

“This is the interrogation room. It's where we question students who cause trouble.”

“Mhm. Is someone being interrogated right now?”

“Yeah, a student from the Forbidden Magic Research Society.”

Lucan-senpai said with a wry smile.

“What's the Forbidden Magic Research Society?”

“Looks like they tried sneaking in at night to steal a magic tool that belongs to the disciplinary committee. The night patrol caught them.”

“A magic tool…”

“Yeah, a magic tool that detects lies. It's an artifact from an ancient magical civilization that existed long before the founding of the Kishirika Kingdom.”

“An ancient magical civilization!! An artifact!?”

Belchika's eyes sparkled like a child who found a treasure.

An ancient magical civilization.

A civilization that once ruled the entire continent, said to have possessed magic technology far beyond the modern era.

Stories about ancient times being more advanced than today… they're romantic, aren't they?

But a doubt suddenly came to my mind.

“Why is something that valuable kept in the academy—specifically by the disciplinary committee?”

“The Magic Academy is a miniature version of the kingdom's aristocratic society. Some people think, ‘They're just students,' but conflicts between children can lead straight to conflicts between parents.”

“Ohh.”

…Now I'm suddenly scared of what I did to Duke Arnal's son.

Well, he seems to be in love with my Nee-san, so it should be fine. Yup yup.

If you apologize properly, people will forgive you—probably.

“So, a king from several generations ago had one stored at the academy so it could help resolve problems. It's valuable, so it's rarely used though.”

“But why would the Forbidden Magic Research Society want such a magic tool?”

“Well, it uses mental magic, apparently. You know about mental magic? It's a magic lost hundreds of years ago.”

What!?

I didn't expect to hear the term mental magic here.

But thinking about it, mental magic was so dangerous it was banned, and the casters disappeared. No wonder the Forbidden Magic Research Society would be interested.

…I should visit their clubroom sometime.

“Oh? Lucan, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yeah yeah. Uh, you're…?”

“I'm Lidiel. You can just call me that.”

“Oh, you're the person who's gathering the lower nobles and creating a faction, right?”

“Huh? A faction? What are you talking about?”

Lidiel tilted her head, genuinely confused.

As expected, she doesn't realize she's forming a faction.

“So, what is it?”

“What are those disciplinary committee members doing over there?”

“Hm? Oh, those are first-year members training.”

In the courtyard of the annex, several disciplinary committee members were aiming crossbows at targets several meters away.

Some kind of training, I guess?

“Lidiel, do you know about the incident where the Magic Academy was occupied by that mysterious armed group?”

Belchika quickly averted her gaze from Lucan-senpai, pretending to know nothing.

Well, she's the mastermind, after all.

“Yes, I know. I heard many people were injured.”

“Yep. Even if it was a surprise lightning-fast attack, the academy is a place where the future of the kingdom studies. The lack of defense became a serious issue. Especially among the first-years—many lost their will to fight, so they're training them like that.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep, little brother. To solve the problem, they doubled the guards and started training the disciplinary committee so they can fight if needed.”

“Huh.”

“Hey, hey, Lucan.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“C-could I join them for a bit!? I suddenly feel like shooting too!!”

Lidiel grabbed the crossbow on her back and started fidgeting.

Lucan-senpai nodded with a wry smile.

“If you don't mind, could you teach the first-years some sniping tips?”

“Consider it done!! I'll turn them all into first-rate snipers!!”

“Thanks.”

Lidiel leaped out the window to join the training.

This is the second floor, though.

“Mhm. Belchika, is Lidiel good at sniping?”

“Good? She's godlike. Within a hundred meters she can hit a target with her eyes closed. With her eyes open she can hit a target a kilometer away.”

“…Wow. Crossbows shoot that far?”

“No, her crossbow is a holy weapon, completely different from a normal one. Its effective range is ten kilometers. What's scary is that the accuracy itself comes from her own skill. Impressive, right?”

Belchika puffed her chest proudly.

We continued looking around the disciplinary committee's facility, and I started noticing something odd.

“Lucan-senpai, is it just me or is the disciplinary committee unusually motivated lately?”

“Ahh, you noticed? As expected of you, little brother—sharp as always. Lend me your ear for a second.”

“Sure.”

Lucan-senpai whispered to me.

“The truth is, this is just between us, but it seems the knights are seriously moving to capture No-Face alive. They even asked the disciplinary committee for help.”

“Ahfhn.”

“Little brother?”

“Don't mind me.”

Her breath hit my ear and made me make a weird noise.

More importantly—what? They're seriously going to capture No-Face?

“The disciplinary committee is helping?”

“Yeah, only volunteers though. Apparently they're gathering all the injured and sick people in the capital in one place to lure No-Face out. As if he'd fall for something that simple.”

“…Huh.”

“And if they do well, they get an unofficial offer to join the knights, so everyone's motivated.”

“I see, I see.”

I should probably discuss this with Nee-san.

Still, Lucan-senpai, leaking information like that isn't great.

Thinking that, I pushed—cough cough—entrusted the rest of the tour to Gal and headed to the student council room, where Nee-san was probably working.

Victoria followed behind me, apparently tired of the tour.

She's so free, this princess.

The problem occurred the moment I reached for the doorknob of the student council room.

“Nn♡ N-no, stop♡ Fran-sama, not there♡”

“Please surrender yourself to me, Princess Christina.”

“Ah♡ n-no♡ h-hii♡”

What the hell are you doing, Nee-san.