「ROYAL COLLEGIUM — TRAINING ARENA」
THE SAME MORNING — 9:00 A.M.
"Lord Earl, will you be assisting me again today?"
Miss Eliza walked beside Lord Earl and Lady Brenda as they approached the training grounds. Her voice softened around the question, carrying the same fragile lilt that had already begun to wear on Lady Brenda's patience.
"Miss Eliza, Earl is already tasked with assisting me and Zen. You have Keith."
"Oh… it is just that Lord Keith does not seem to like me very much."
Miss Eliza lowered her gaze toward her boots, but Lord Earl stopped the explanation before it could become another appeal.
"Miss Eliza, you are not here to win people's hearts. You are here to uphold your duty. Focus on your performance, not your peers."
"R-right. I am sorry."
They entered the arena beneath the overlapping voices of knights and recruits.
With the expeditionary companies back, the grounds were considerably more crowded than they had been during the previous days.
Orders carried from several directions, accompanied by the scrape of boots and the steady movement of groups assembling for instruction.
A familiar laugh rose above the noise.
"HAHAHAHA! He is so stupid!"
Lord Earl looked toward the upper bleachers. Lord Keith had returned to his seat beside G6, his face still flushed with amusement over Rarlen's humiliation. G6 appeared less impressed by his continued enjoyment than by the event itself.
"Reise."
"Lady Reise? Where?"
Lady Brenda followed Lord Earl's gaze, then immediately raised her hand.
"Oh my! Lady Reise!"
G6 looked down and tilted her head. She lifted one hand in acknowledgment without bothering to move it, but the small gesture was enough to send Lady Brenda hurrying up the steps.
Lord Earl followed at a more measured pace, leaving Miss Eliza to make her way after them.
"Keith! You hog."
Lady Brenda stopped beside the rail. Lord Keith's delighted expression soured as he looked from her to Lord Earl.
"Great. The Nocturnes."
G6 ignored his complaint and turned toward Lady Brenda.
"Hey. How have you been?"
"I have been wonderful, despite how much I missed you!"
"Take it down a notch, Bree," Lord Earl said as he reached them. "How was the Utility Department, Reise?"
"Functional."
G6's attention had already returned to the training ground.
"Are you here to train?"
"Yes. I am to oversee Brenda and Zen, though he is running late."
I wonder if Zen has any strength left after that pitiful sight.
The memory of Lord Zen struggling to hold raw mana beyond his palms brought a faint movement to her mouth. Lady Brenda leaned against the rail beside her.
"What about you, Lady Reise? You are in a dress, so I suppose you are not training?"
"That's right."
G6's gaze found Pete among the recruits below. A senior knight was speaking sharply at him, and the boy stood with his shoulders drawn tight as he listened.
"But I think I'll hang around. The view is... revealing."
"Really? You are going to stay and watch me train?"
Lord Keith straightened, apparently interpreting the decision as a personal favor. Lord Earl and Lady Brenda rolled their eyes at almost the same time.
"If you don't shut up, I will push you off this rail."
"Meanie."
Lord Keith's smile survived the threat. It faded only when Miss Eliza reached the top of the steps and approached the group.
"You have returned home, Lady Reise."
"Was it that obvious?"
G6's flat response left Miss Eliza momentarily silent. Beside her, Lord Keith looked disproportionately pleased by the exchange.
"You… have very good taste in fashion, Lady Reise," Miss Eliza offered.
"Yeah. If a slit up to the thigh and a daring neckline is your definition of 'good taste,' then I suppose I do."
Miss Eliza managed a strained smile. G6 gave her no further assistance and returned her attention to the anxious boy below.
"Why don't you all commence your training? I would hate to be blamed for your continued stagnation."
"You have a real talent for phrasing insults as sensible advice, Reise. Good job."
Lord Keith stood as Lord Earl turned toward the staircase.
"Then I suppose we should proceed. Keith, more training, less commentary. I would prefer Miss Eliza not add to my existing workload."
Miss Eliza's eyes widened briefly. Lord Earl had spoken without raising his voice, but the boundary was unmistakable.
These people… they draw their lines with words as sharp as blades, Miss Eliza thought.
She followed them down, leaving G6 beside the rail.
❈.❈.❈
Nearly an hour passed before Lord Zen arrived.
By then, practice swords were clattering across the arena, and the repeated calls of spell names carried between the different groups.
Lord Zen approached through the activity with none of his usual ease. His face was pale, dark circles marked the skin beneath his eyes, and every step appeared to require more attention than he wished to admit.
Lady Brenda noticed him first.
"Oh my goodness, Brother Zen!"
Her alarm drew Lord Earl's attention away from the exercise.
"Zen? You look… utterly drained. Are you unwell?"
Ask Lady Reise and Master Daunt, Lord Zen thought wearily.
He stopped before them and offered a restrained bow.
"My apologies, Lord Earl, for my tardiness. I stayed up for the last three nights sorting ancient archives in the palace library. I am simply... sleep-deprived."
"Well, I feel that," Lord Keith remarked from nearby. "Just looking at a book makes me tired, too."
"Do not dare compare yourself to Zen!"
Lady Brenda's glare did little to trouble him. Lord Earl kept his attention on the late arrival.
"It is quite all right. Are you fit to train today?" Lord Earl asked.
"Of course. I had a long rest."
If you can call passing out from mana exhaustion a rest, Lord Zen added silently.
The library supplied a convenient explanation, but it was the practice with Edmund that his body remembered.
Their efforts had continued from the afternoon until midnight before they began sustaining a stable manifestation of raw mana outside themselves. That first success had come at considerable cost.
Even now, the unfamiliar sensation remained vivid beneath his ribs. His body ached, yet the memory of finally holding the form was enough to keep his interest alive through the exhaustion.
"Very well," Lord Earl said. "Let us see what we can improve today."
As the exercises resumed, G6 left the bleachers and descended toward the stone passage bordering the arena. She stopped beneath an archway, where the shade kept her out of the direct sun without obstructing her view of the training.
On one side of the grounds, Miss Eliza faced Lord Keith with her hands raised.
"LIGHT SHIELD!"
A translucent barrier formed before her. She steadied it as Lord Keith lifted one hand and began his own invocation.
"WATER SPEARS!"
Five liquid projectiles gathered in the air. He released them toward the shield in succession, watching how Miss Eliza maintained it beneath the impacts.
The first two sent ripples across its surface. The third opened a visible fracture, and the fourth broke through, scattering the barrier into fragments of light that vanished before reaching the ground.
Lord Keith stopped the exercise and dismissed the fifth spear where it still hovered beside him. The water dispersed while Miss Eliza bent forward, bracing both hands against her knees.
"Take five."
He was barely winded. Miss Eliza nodded without attempting an answer.
Farther along the field, Lady Brenda faced Lord Earl.
"EARTH BULLET!"
A jagged stone shot toward him. He stepped out of its path, letting it strike the ground behind him before correcting her.
"Manifest three at once! Do not let the mana dissipate!"
Lady Brenda reset her stance. She held her concentration through the recovery between casts, then drew on her mana again, her face growing pale as she divided the forming spell.
"Earth Bullets!"
Three smaller projectiles spread toward Lord Earl.
He lowered into a crouch and brought his hand toward the ground.
"Wall Stone!"
The earth shuddered between them. A thick barrier rose into the projectiles' path, catching all three with successive impacts that sent dust drifting from its surface.
"Whoa. That is incredible."
Lady Brenda stared at the wall. Around them, other knights continued their instructions while recruits practiced amid the sounds of shouted spells and wooden weapons.
"Zen, you spar with Brenda next," Lord Earl said.
Lord Zen nodded and began moving into position, but a group of silver-clad knights approached before the exercise could begin.
Chief Rarlen Vinesthorne led them.
"My, my. I had not realized the Bastion had been annexed by Omnia."
His gaze passed over the three Nocturnes, making his meaning plain. Their connection to Omnia apparently interested him more than the training he had interrupted.
"Chief Vinesthorne," Lord Earl replied. "We are in the midst of training. Mind your courtesies."
"Lord Earl, still as frosty as ever. Have you forgotten? I am your senior here."
Lord Keith turned fully toward the exchange. Whatever amusement he had found in the morning had disappeared from his expression.
"Of course I have not forgotten you are a senior," Lord Earl said. "May I ask—you are a Chief, yet still a B-Rank, correct? Zen and Brenda here are also B-Rank. Perhaps you could offer them advice on advancement."
Rarlen's smile tightened.
"I see. Well, my advice is to keep trying hard."
He looked back toward Lord Earl, attempting to recover the advantage.
"Are you also B-Rank, Lord Earl?"
"Oh, no. It would be a poor jest to train B-Rank Nocturnes if I were one myself. My Earth affinity is A-Rank, forty-five out of one hundred. All without the benefit of formal expedition service."
"Shut it, Earl! I am A-Rank, forty-six out of one hundred!"
Lord Keith's contribution earned a look of disbelief.
"Really? A single point's difference?"
"I see," Rarlen said, forcing a scoff. "I suppose that is the privilege of being scions of the Great Pillars."
"Indeed. I suppose that illustrates the distance between your station and ours."
Lord Earl held his gaze. The knights behind Rarlen had grown quiet, their attention moving between their Chief and the heir he had chosen to provoke.
"What is happening here?"
Captain Kepler approached with Vice Captain Cortez and Lieutenant Nocturne beside him. Lord Keith's shoulders eased at the sight of his brother.
"Brother!"
"Keith. Are you faring well?"
Before Lord Keith could answer, Lieutenant Nocturne inclined his head toward Lord Earl.
"Greetings, Lord Earl."
"Just Earl, please. We are cousins."
Some warmth returned to Lord Earl's voice, though Rarlen remained uncomfortably close.
"So, where is my nephew?"
Vice Captain Haily Cortez looked between Lord Earl and Lord Keith, searching the group for Prince Dio.
"I believe he has not yet returned from the Main Palace," Lord Earl answered.
Captain Kepler returned his attention to the interrupted exercise.
"Let us return to the matter at hand. What is the issue here?"
His gaze settled on Rarlen.
"Oh, it is nothing, Captain."
"Chief Vinesthorne, are you aware that interrupting training for nothing is a sign of profound disrespect? You are a Chief of Silver Company. You should know better."
Captain Kepler had not raised his voice. Rarlen nevertheless straightened before offering a stiff bow.
"Y-yes, Captain. If you will excuse me."
He withdrew with his companions, leaving Lord Keith to watch them go.
"Brother, that man needs a serious adjustment to his attitude."
"Do not mind him. Continue your training," Captain Kepler said. "We have to greet the new recruits."
❈.❈.❈
From beneath the stone archway, G6 watched the officers depart. The brief contest over rank and family had provided precisely the sort of entertainment she expected from a room—or an arena—full of nobles.
Movement along the passage drew her attention away from them.
Pete was hurrying toward the Bastion.
"Hey there, kid."
He startled and turned so quickly that his boots scraped against the stone.
"O-oh… Lady Reise? Please forgive my disrespect! I did not see you!"
"Easy."
G6 remained in the shade, her black dress blending with the dimness behind her.
"I've noticed you're not participating in the basic training with your squadron."
Pete looked away. His fingers twisted together before he managed a response.
"U-uhmm… w-well…"
"What?"
"The knights said my age disqualifies me from the official recruitment. They said I should just… serve as a page boy instead."
G6 studied him.
His age had already been accounted for. Prince Dio had admitted the fourteen-year-old as a provisional trainee, with full knight status withheld until he met the minimum age and the required qualifications. The exception had been recorded separately and allowed him to train under Bastion supervision.
It had not made his only permitted occupation running errands.
"A page boy? Like a water boy for a basketball team?"
"B-basketball?"
"Never mind. I didn't insist on your admission just for you to become a servant."
"I am truly sorry, Lady Reise."
Pete's shoulders lowered. G6 allowed him to stand beneath her scrutiny for another moment before changing her tone.
"Hmm. Did you know I find this place boring now?"
His head lifted immediately.
"D-does that mean you are leaving?"
"That's right. I've been planning to resign. It's become tedious."
"I… I see."
He bit his lip, making little success of hiding his disappointment. G6 watched the attempt.
"Well, I was. Until I saw you looking like a kicked mutt and heard they'd demoted you to a glorified errand boy."
A hint of challenge entered her voice.
"Since I was the one who insisted on your admission, I suppose I can waste my remaining time on an insignificant child like you."
Better than sitting in that office doing paperwork until my brain rots.
"R-really?!"
Pete's face brightened before he tried to restrain the response.
"But… I do not wish to impose, Lady Reise."
"Cut the act, kid. I saw that spark. Come with me."
G6 stepped out of the archway and crossed toward the training ground. Pete followed hesitantly, keeping close without quite drawing level with her.
The black dress was conspicuous among the uniforms and practice clothes. Lord Keith noticed her approach and turned, his attention moving immediately to the boy behind her.
"Reise! Why is that recruit with you?"
"Why do you care?"
She stopped before the group and motioned for Pete to step forward.
"This is Pete."
"H-hello."
The boy bowed his head.
"You remember him? From the recruitment trials?" G6 asked.
"Oh, yes." Lord Earl folded his arms. "The child who claimed to be sixteen when he was actually fourteen."
"Correct. And I'll be overseeing his training while I'm still here."
"WHAT?!"
Lord Keith, Lady Brenda, and Lord Earl spoke together. Lord Zen, still visibly exhausted beside them, watched without joining the outburst.
"That is blatant favoritism!" Lord Keith protested.
"Absolutely!" Lady Brenda agreed.
"I must concur, Reise," Lord Earl said more gravely. "Such special treatment will only invite more trouble for him. He will be targeted by commoners and nobles alike."
"Is that so?"
G6 turned toward Pete.
"What do you think?"
"W-well… I will be fine, Lady Reise. I do not want you to be looked down on because of me…"
He lowered his head, then added more quietly, "But I suppose your plan to leave the Collegium for good will happen now."
"WHAT?!"
The second chorus came from the same three nobles. Lord Keith stepped closer before either of the Nocturnes could speak.
"What is the meaning of this, Reise?"
"You recall I said I'd achieved my goal? That's the meaning. I had reconsidered for Pete's sake, but if you're all opposed… I suppose I'll just leave. Perhaps relocate to the utility department permanently."
Her faint smirk did nothing to reassure them.
"T-that is not happening!"
Lord Keith abandoned his earlier objection with remarkable speed.
"Fine! I do not care if you wish to train the child personally on your own time!"
"Me too! I will even help!" Lady Brenda added.
Lord Earl released a long sigh.
"Very well. If it will alleviate your boredom. But please, do not make the favoritism too overt."
"I see. Alright then."
G6 bent toward Pete, bringing her mouth close enough to his ear that the others could not hear.
"I know what you're doing, you sly little brat."
His eyes widened when she straightened. The smile awaiting him held no warmth, but it carried recognition enough to make him uncertain whether he had been praised or warned.
G6 looked toward the three nobles, whose alarm was already giving way to relief.
Besides, the Queen would never let me leave this place anyway.
Idiots.
「WEST VILLA — G6'S ROOM」
LATER THAT NIGHT — 11:25 P.M.
A single candle burned on the mantelpiece, its light reaching only partway across the room.
Beyond it, moonlight entered through the open balcony doors and lay over the tea table where G6 sat in a simple black nightdress.
She lifted a cut-crystal glass and took a slow drink of whiskey. Across from her, Queen Euphelia occupied the couch beyond the brightest reach of the moonlight.
"I never expected a personal visit from you at this hour."
G6 turned her head slightly toward her guest.
"It gives me the distinct impression you require something."
The Queen remained still for a moment before answering.
"How was your outing?"
"Did you come here for small talk?"
G6 took another sip.
"Well, if you must know... that thing tucked under the daily gazette on the table. That was my souvenir for you."
Queen Euphelia reached for the folded newspaper and laid it across her lap, exposing the bloodstained parchment beneath it. She picked up the document and unfolded it over the gazette.
Her expression hardened as she read.
"This is a log of the knights' departure for the border expeditions."
"Is that so?"
The feigned innocence earned G6 a humorless scoff.
"How did you come by this?"
"Who knows?"
She set down her glass, watching the Queen through the dimness.
"Perhaps I was simply fortunate."
"Cease playing games with me, Reise."
"You're the one who initiated this game the moment you knocked on my door alone. Was that not the opening move?"
G6's tone remained mild.
"However, that little gift would be useless without provenance. I did some… cleaning on the cliff road. I liberated it from bandits who were most insistent they did not wish to be cleansed of their sins."
The Queen's gaze moved briefly toward the dried blood.
Did she… kill them? Queen Euphelia wondered.
"How did they acquire it?"
"That is one question too many. This is your final clue. They claimed ignorance—said it was dropped by a random crow at their hideout."
The small amusement left G6's expression.
"The rest of the puzzle is yours to solve."
Queen Euphelia examined the document once more. The report of its delivery left plenty unanswered, but its presence in the bandits' possession was troubling enough.
"I see. I am… profoundly grateful for this thoughtful gift."
Her fingers tightened against the edge of the parchment.
"Those damnable traitors."
G6 finished the whiskey remaining in her glass and placed it back on the table.
"Now, isn't it time you told me what you actually want, Your Majesty?"
The Queen leaned forward, bringing her face into the moonlight. She looked at G6 for several seconds before speaking, the document resting across her lap.
"Have you heard? The serial murderer has been apprehended."
"I did. I don't particularly care."
"Indulge me, Reise. If you were to decide his punishment, what would it be?"
"I said I don't care."
G6's response remained flat.
"But since you seem thirsty for my opinion... I am not someone who decides punishment."
She turned fully toward the Queen.
"I am the one who delivers it."
Queen Euphelia held her gaze.
Here she goes again with her evasive rhetoric… yet the meaning is clear.
She doesn't judge; she executes, the Queen thought.
"The Head of the Upper Court House is demanding custody of the criminal," she said. "He is an artificial user of Invisibility magic—a bloodline art thought lost with House Neviden. He is not… mentally sound enough for interrogation."
Her jaw tightened before she continued.
"Under the pretext of expertise, they wish to take him. In truth, they want to dissect his blood."
"You're afraid they'll build an army of artificial mages."
G6's smirk returned.
"What's in it for me?"
The blunt question eased something in the Queen's posture, though it did little to resolve the uncertainty behind her expression.
I knew it. Reise is inscrutable. Ally or enemy? Or simply a force of nature, uninterested in anything beyond her immediate sphere? Queen Euphelia thought.
G6 watched the silent consideration without offering to make the decision easier.
"I want you to dispose of him."
The Queen's words were direct, stripped of the careful preliminaries with which she had approached the request.
G6's eyes widened for an instant. Then she laughed.
"Ha. My, my… what are you saying, Your Majesty?"
"Playing the fool?"
Queen Euphelia answered with a thin smile.
"My dear, I read those passages before I entrusted you with that book. The two gates, the one law, who can wield it, its purpose… and the condition it gives for strengthening the power."
G6 tilted her head, drawing the loose hair away from one eye. The Queen found little amusement left in the gaze beneath it.
"If you are thinking of using me, you should leave. Now."
"I would not dare."
Queen Euphelia did not move toward the door.
"I am proposing a mutual benefit. I require certain… pests removed, ones beyond the reach of royal law. You require those very pests to grow stronger."
G6 leaned back and folded her arms.
"You want to make a deal with me?"
Her next laugh was quiet and mirthless.
"This is amusing. Your Majesty, why does your expression suggest you're bargaining with a devil?"
"Does it?"
The Queen's answering smile held.
"Hmm. You really are entertaining to talk to."
G6 let the pause stretch before naming her price.
"I want the Black Ledger."
Queen Euphelia became still.
She knows about the Ledger? she thought.
The record of corrupt nobles and their offenses was not something she had expected Reise to mention, much less demand. For a moment, the question of how she had learned about it threatened to displace the purpose of the visit.
The Queen recovered before asking.
"As your… prospective client, should you not first demonstrate your capability?"
"Clever."
G6 reached for a fresh glass and poured another measure of whiskey.
"Alright."
"You… accept?"
"Didn't you say it was beneficial for us both?"
Queen Euphelia watched the amber liquid settle.
"Now, what do you demand as insurance in case I go back on my word?"
"I don't require collateral."
G6 pushed the glass across the table toward her.
"I could simply come for your head. Now, drink. Isn't our relationship so much cozier now?"
The Queen's hand hesitated before reaching for the glass. There was no raised voice or sudden movement to which she could object, only G6's unwavering gaze and the appalling simplicity of the answer.
So, if I betray our agreement, my life is forfeit? Queen Euphelia thought. How brazen can this child be, to threaten the Mother of the Kingdom so casually? As if titles and thrones mean nothing to her.
She lifted the whiskey and drank. It burned down her throat while G6 watched with apparent satisfaction.
I've killed tycoons and kingpins who held more power than this woman ever will.
There's no such thing as politics.
It's just an errand.
Queen Euphelia lowered the glass and rose.
"Three days from now. The Main Palace arena grounds. I will take my leave."
"Perfect. That's my outing day. I'll drop by then."
The casual delivery made the Queen pause.
Drop by? Queen Euphelia thought, resisting the urge to question her further. This child speaks with the chilling ease of vast, bloody experience.
She answered with a small nod and moved toward the door. Before opening it, she glanced back.
G6 had not left her chair. She remained beside the moonlit table, watching her guest's departure with the same steady attention she had given the bargain.
She raised one hand in a slow, casual wave. Her smile deepened.
A shiver passed down the Queen's spine as she stepped into the corridor.
Is she really going to be my daughter-in-law? Queen Euphelia wondered. What a terrifying monster I've invited into my home.
—To Be Continued…—