Chapter 138: Settling Accounts! A Ruthless Reckoning!
An hour ago.
While Raishin was in action, Charlotte was also in action. It was just that her actions were full of recklessness and folly.
"You go back, Charlotte!"
Behind her, the dragon automaton Sigmund flapped his wings and scolded in a low voice, like a father chiding his impulsive daughter.
But the impulsive daughter ignored him and continued to walk forward.
Her body was clearly leaning forward, her steps were large, and her shoulders were shrugged in anger.
"Enough! Get a hold of yourself, Charlotte!"
Seeing that she wasn't responding, Sigmund rushed in front of her and bared his fangs, but in his small form, he wasn't frightening at all, but rather a little cute.
However, his master paid him no mind, and even swatted him away with a slap.
"Annoying! You're so annoying! Don't say another word, or I'll change your three meals a day to peanuts!"
"What are you in such a hurry for?"
Sigmund stubbornly stood up again and flew back in front of her, questioning, "That guy... what did Felix say to you?"
"..."
She said no more, her expression gloomy.
He sighed helplessly. "Your expression is too easy to read. There should be a limit to how poorly you hide things."
"Shut up! Since you know, then just shut up and help!"
"Then I can't agree to that even more, Charlotte. If you want to gain that man's recognition, then don't do such a reckless thing. You just need to win honorably in the Night Party, and that will shut the others up."
"But, I can't forgive it! To just watch..."
Her footsteps stopped, her gloomy expression mixed with obvious bitterness.
But she also knew that she was just wrapping her own goals in a high-sounding reason.
Sigmund landed on her dejectedly slumped shoulder and lectured, "Don't let this kind of unjust battle tarnish your dreams. You must, for your family..."
"Wait, the time for chatting is over, Sigmund!"
She interrupted him, her voice tense. At the same time, the dragon's senses immediately reacted, and he looked up, observing the surroundings.
Then, he noticed the anomaly.
About 50 meters ahead, a strange-shaped thing was stirring.
In a particularly dark spot under a tree, a shadow was lurking on all fours. That figure, hiding its aura and crawling silently, was definitely not human!
"Finally found you—"
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and her noble features instantly revealed a ferocity like Sigmund's.
A large amount of mana overflowed from her hair and shoulders. In the darkness of the night, that pale, bluish-white light was as dazzling as the moonlight.
Then, after extending her hand towards Sigmund, the mana gathered into a beam and flowed into the dragon's body.
"It's no good, Charlotte. The light is not enough."
"It doesn't matter. As long as we capture it alive. Use the beam cannon!"
"Roger!"
The dragon opened its mouth and shot out countless dazzling, glowing, fine needles, which flew towards the shadow. The attack landed flawlessly on the automaton's four limbs, pinning it to the ground and immobilizing the strangely-moving automaton.
"Success!" she shouted excitedly.
And just as she was about to step forward and observe the prey she had captured—
"Don't move!"
Suddenly, several angry shouts came from all directions.
From the treetops, from the shade of the trees, from the corners of the walls—the auras of a group of people came from all directions. By the time the girl came to her senses, she was already surrounded.
There were ten lit oil lamps in total.
On the arm holding each lamp was a uniform Disciplinary Committee armband. Under the light, the eyes of the crowd looking at her were, no matter how you looked at it, full of hostility.
"Good evening, Charlotte. Or should I call you... 'Cannibal Candy'?"
Felix, who had used an automaton as bait, had finally, step by step, lured the "culprit" into the trap he had long since set.
Reflected in his hidden, azure eyes was the girl who was about to be framed with a trumped-up charge.
—Just_as_planned.JPG
Under his wide windbreaker, he was hiding a triumphant smile.
After this, all he had to do was use his words to make the girl, who was eager to defend herself, voluntarily expose the Magic Circuits of unknown origin in her room, thus cementing the lie that she was "Cannibal Candy." Then, after his own automaton had taken care of Kobayashi and seized his powerful Magic Circuit, he would pin all the crimes on Charlotte, and he himself could get away scot-free!
That's how it should be. The plan was correct!
Time returns to the present.
When Kobayashi was chasing the automaton Lisette into the sky with magic, his super-powerful Farsight saw the two who were in a standoff. When he realized that her destination was there, he gave her a kick to help speed up the process. It was just that her landing was a little pathetic.
At the same time, Raishin and Yaya also arrived.
Raishin, with bandages on his head and covered in wounds, had one foot on Yaya's shoulder and the other on her belt, while she was also sliding on the ground. It looked as if he were riding her.
Kobayashi's expression was a little strange.
Raishin quickly explained, "Hey, it couldn't be helped! My body isn't in a condition for fast movement! I had no choice!"
"No, that's not what I mean. After all, I'm riding one too."
He pointed to the combat maiden under his feet.
"It's just that..."
"Just what?"
"With your and Yaya's relationship, riding her should be called pure love. So if I'm riding someone else's automaton, does that make me a cuckold?"
"...What are you suddenly talking about?" Raishin couldn't help but retort.
To be able to joke at a time like this... he had to praise his thick nerves and big heart.
The most infuriating part was that his own automaton was also adding to the chaos.
"Yaya likes being ridden by Raishin!"
"Don't say such misleading things!" he glared at her.
But he had used too much force, and the rib that had been inserted into his chest and abdomen began to ache faintly. He couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air, and his knees went weak, causing him to fall to the ground.
A pitiful sight, covered in wounds.
Seeing this, Kobayashi shook his head in disappointment and sighed. "Akabane-kun, I told you the answer, and you still got hurt. You really are an idiot."
"...Thanks for the compliment."
"Hey, I'm not that tsundere over there. I'm not being sarcastic."
"Right, right."
Raishin chose to deceive himself.
He didn't know where he had learned this trick from. Did this mean he wouldn't be able to tease him anymore in the future?
Kobayashi's mood soured a little.
"Wait, wait!" The mastermind who had been left out was very annoyed. He forcefully inserted himself into the conversation and complained to the two, "Can you not just leave me on the side and chat among yourselves?"
As he spoke, a white thread shot out from his hand. The automaton, infused with mana, forcefully threw off Kobayashi's suppression and returned to its master's side.
"Sorry, sorry. I actually forgot about you."
His apology was very perfunctory, and at the same time, his hostility was directed towards Felix.
At this moment, Felix, however, had a puzzled look on his face. "Have you two not figured out the situation yet? Wait, Kobayashi, the true identity of 'Cannibal Candy' is Charlotte! As the head of the Disciplinary Committee, I must arrest her—"
"Hey, hey, hey. That's enough of the bad acting."
Kobayashi interrupted him, pointed at the combat maiden behind him, and said, annoyed, "Do you think I'll believe someone who just sent his own automaton to attack me?"
"That—"
"Felix, your next line is... 'That was just a mistake, treating you as an accomplice of 'Cannibal Candy'.'"
"That was just a mistake, treating you as an accomplice of 'Cannibal Candy'... Ah!"
Felix could no longer maintain his calm expression.
"This tsundere girl... her mouth is unforgiving and she's always unconsciously making enemies. Afterwards, in her remorse, after realizing her mistake, she will help others out of a sense of compensation. And when you tell her her 'minefield,' she will seriously remember it and not touch it again. How can a person who is so considerate of others be the so-called 'Cannibal Candy'?"
In this instant, Charlotte's chest was filled with a fiery warmth. She had always thought she was a lonely person, surrounded by enemies. Friendship, trust—these were things that had no connection to her.
But—
She hadn't expected that the man before her, with just a few words, had glued her shattered girlish heart back together.
"Actually, you're just angry that I used you, right?"
"You're right."
The next second, her girlish heart was smashed to pieces again.
She pouted. She knew it would be like this.
Felix, although he was glaring at Kobayashi with a displeased expression, after a short while, he laughed again.
He asked with a provocative, arrogant tone, "Well then, what do you want to do?"
"Do you!"
His answer was concise and to the point.
But it gave the surrounding people a strange mental image. A handsome boy x a heroic boy... a picture of beautiful boys embracing each other.
It was a bit hard on the eyes.
"That being said, before we fight, as is customary..." he asked, "Why? Why did you do this?"
"Eh?"
Charlotte's heart leaped into her throat again. Don't tell me...
"You were already about to succeed. Why did you have to make a move on me?"
"Tsk."
The girl clicked her tongue softly again. But at this moment, no one cared about her girlish heart.
Felix laughed. "What else could it be in this academy? Of course, it's to become the Wiseman! I... I will become the king of the world of magic!"
Before Kobayashi could press further, he had already stated his ambition. Then, Felix questioned loudly, "You're the same as me, right? Your purpose in getting close to Charlotte was to use her, wasn't it?!"
He raised his hand towards the automaton beside him. Mana was injected into the mechanism, and the Magic Circuit immediately activated.
The next instant, a beam of light burst forth from the sword in the automaton's hand.
It was the reflection of water!
The stream of water flew like an arrow, transforming into a sharp spear that shot straight at his head.
It was completely different from before.
This time, it was magic. With the blessing of a mysterious power, its might far surpassed that of ordinary swordsmanship.
However—
He formed a knife-hand with his right hand and swatted the water arrow away. He stared intently at Felix and said coldly, "That's right. You're not wrong. I did use Charlotte."
"—What?!"
Felix stared with wide, disbelieving eyes. It was unclear if he was surprised that he had admitted it so readily, or that he had been able to swat away his magic.
"But! I am different from a scumbag like you who plays with a girl's feelings! I need neither her worship nor her adoration, much less for her to pay or sacrifice anything for me! The purpose of my using her was precisely to lure out a scumbag like you! And! What makes me the angriest is that the person you used to cheat on her was me!"
"...Wait! That last sentence was unnecessary!" Charlotte couldn't help but shout.
Every time she was about to be moved to tears, he would inexplicably add an unnecessary sentence, bringing her soaring emotions to a screeching halt. That feeling was really unbearable.
"As I thought! As I thought! Kobayashi, you are an important part of my ascension to the throne of Wiseman! As long as I get you... as long as I get you!"
Felix's gaze towards him was full of fire. He commanded his automaton, "Hey! Get him!"
"Wait a moment!"
He held up a hand. "Before we start, I have a question for the combat maiden over there."
"Huh?! Do you think I'll listen at a time like this?"
"I wasn't asking you, Felix!" he glared at him.
That terrifying pressure left him completely speechless. Perhaps because of his pride, the handsome young man, who had been timid for a moment, had his expression instantly contort in a ferocious twist.
The first time Charlotte saw that expression on his face, her heart of admiration instantly shattered, accompanied by a sharp pain.
And he continued to ask, "I treat 'anything that can think and communicate' as an independent individual. You're not Lisette, are you? What's your real name?"
"Eh? Lisette?!"
Only then did she realize that the automaton hiding behind Felix just now, under the half-broken mask, actually had Lisette's face!
She was thrown into a panic.
It was Sigmund who said in a deep voice, "Calm down, Charlotte. An automaton's face can be changed at will. Perhaps the previous Lisette was indeed a human, but she was probably killed and replaced."
An automaton was, in fact, a DIY project of varying degrees. A skilled modeler could even sculpt the faces of various teachers, so it wasn't strange. It was just that she felt a chill. Having lived in a fabricated lie, she no longer knew who to trust.
Lisette thought for a long moment. Finally, she stated her name.
"—Eliza."
"Very good, Eliza. Then I shall ask my question. Did you attack me based on your own self-awareness, or were you dispatched by your puppeteer to attack me? Based on your answer, I will decide whether to eliminate you."
"Save your sleep-talking for when you're asleep, you maggot."
"In other words, it was your own intention?"
"I think you seem to have misunderstood."
His question had gotten a reaction from her. Her expressionless face immediately changed, revealing a smile like a demon's, her mouth seeming to want to split all the way to her ears.
The people present couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines.
The automaton, with that ghastly, beautiful smile, continued, "Would you refuse a delicacy?"
"...I never thought I'd be a hot commodity in someone's eyes one day."
He mocked himself with a strange tone, then cracked his neck. "Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. But you all seem to have gotten one thing wrong. And that is, I'm really not an automaton."
The stubborn, handsome young man was extremely pig-headed. He would never believe it unless the facts were laid out before him.
"RyuZU."
"Yes, Master Kobayashi."
With his soft call, at some point, the gorgeous attendant had silently appeared by his side.
She stood there abruptly.
The automaton, appearing out of nowhere, drew everyone's gaze.
He said, "Since you all don't believe me, then let me show you mine. And at the same time, the strongest automaton girl in this world!"
Come on. Count up your sins.
And then, a ruthless reckoning!
(End of Chapter)