Chapter 24: Study Group
Before the Star Festival, the Centrior students would have their regular exams. At this academy, the name of the top ten students with the highest total scores for all subjects would be posted on the notice board. As a scholarship student, Razé decided to aim for the top ten ranking and was studying diligently every day.
ε=(￣｡￣;)fu-
After studying for a while in her room, she put her pen down and took a rest. She folded her hands and stretched her body.
The enemy with the murderous aura who was targeting Carna was yet to be identified. Once they entered the long holiday during the Star Festival, she would have to go back to the military and there were lots of job waiting for her there.
She planned to let her subordinate get some rest after she return. She had learnt that therapeutic healing was important while she was at the academy. So, she wanted to practice the same with her comrades at the military.
Razé didn’t know what her subordinates had done to protect her name. Because they were deemed to be so aggressive and energetic, they were sent for expeditions to Baruda. Each of them was strong so they were doing quite well there. As the person responsible to educate and train them, Razé had been praised for her contribution. Of course, her contribution list was already too long, there was nothing special about this.
Today was Saturday. Razé was wearing shirt and trouser, her usual attire just like what her subordinate has guessed. Folia asked her out for lunch so they went to the dining hall.
“I’m worried about the test …” Folia murmured as she ate her risotto.
Razé: “You’ll be okay as long as you covered the basic and formulas.”
Folia: “There’re so many things to remember. It’s too difficult～”
Razé shrugged her shoulder when she heard Folia’s cry. There was nothing she could do about this.
Folia: “Razé-chan, please teach me～! There are too many things that I don’t understand. I’m afraid my result will be very bad～!”
Razé couldn’t ignore a request from her angel. And she had noticed that the otome game flag had been triggered, so she promised Folia that she would help her with her studies.
Folia: “Oh, right-”
Razé: “What is it?”
Folia: “Let’s do a study group. Let’s ask Carna-sama too!”
Razé knew that this would happen.
Razé: “Okay. Let’s ask her later.”
Folia: “Un!”
According to the original plot, the study group would involve Folia and her love interests only. Razé planned to drag Carna along.
Folia: “Great! Let’s ask the others too. We can share the test questions that we had predicted.”
When they asked Carna, she immediately said yes. Of course, she knew that this was an event, so she wanted to make sure the romance flag with Ruben would not be triggered.
In addition to the three girls, Ruben, Claude, Luca, Ian, and Adis would also join the study group. Razé felt that she was out of place among them, but she decided to join when she heard Carna had baked cookies for the gathering.
The next day, they gathered in a multi-purpose space inside the dormitory. There were 8 of them, so Razé, Adis, Ian, and Claude sat in a row, while Carna, Ruben, Luca, and Folia sat on the opposite side.
It was a matter of course for Ruben to sit next to Carna, while the seats around Folia was full of her love interests. Razé knew that Ruben and Carna were going to show PDA in front of her, and sitting next to her was the guy with the Prime Minister’s face. She couldn’t relax at all so she decided to fully focus on studying.
Razé, who had joined the study group because of the cookies, was silently moving her pen. The other love interests, who at first had been obsessed with Folia and Carna, were reminded of their original purpose after looking at Razé who was so immersed in her study.
Adis teased her as he said, “Why are you studying so desperately, scholarship student? You should be fine even if you don’t study.”
Razé didn’t have the mood to entertain him, so she replied perfunctorily, “If I’m not in the top rank, I’d get expelled from the academy.”
The table went quiet.
Razé Granoli was a scholarship student. The academy had exempted all her expenses. If she was no longer a scholarship student, she would have to quit the school. Hearing her words, the other members started to study seriously.
After a while, Carna spoke out, “Shall we take a break?” They cleared the table as Carna went to get the refreshments.
“Razé,” Carna suddenly called out to her. When Razé turned around, Carna directly fed a cookie into her mouth. Looking at Razé with her mouth full, she asked, “You’ve worked hard. Does the cookie tasted okay?”
It seemed that she had made Carna worried. Razé nodded her head while chewing her food. She was unaware that Carna thought she looked like a squirrel.
Suddenly, Razé felt her tongue started to get numb.
Poison?!
She was immune to poison, so it was not unbearable. But it seemed to be a pretty strong poison. Her limbs began to feel numb.
It was impossible that Carna would poison the cookies. Razé realized that someone was trying to frame Carna, so she immediately took action. She casted an advanced level magic on the cookies, pound cakes and tea that Carna had brought over. She teleported the toxin inside the food to a bottle in her dormitory room. Nobody noticed her magic. Then, she excused herself and went to the washroom. Once she entered the washroom, she casted the same magic to herself but her numbness was still there.
Who could have done this? Could it be the plot enforcement? If those people were poisoned, it will definitely push Carna towards her doom.
Razé was appalled when she thought about this. It seemed that there was something or someone that was trying to push Carna to be the villainess. It was a hopeless battle if she couldn’t figure out what or who was her enemy.
I can’t let this happen. The enemy must be out there. I’ll definitely catch them. I don’t want to lose a precious friend who always called out my name with a gentle smile.
Razé moved her slightly numbed body and returned to the table. When she saw Carna cheerfully sitting next to Ruben, she let out a sigh of relief.
The detoxified pound cake and cookies baked by Carna were very delicious. Razé ate a pound cake full of dried fruits, while thinking that she was glad that she joined the gathering today.
I must report this matter to Principal Harlens. I must protect these promising young talents[1]. Carna is the future Empress. She must be protected at all cost.
When Razé turned to look at Carna, she saw Ruben was feeding Carna a cookie. She had a feeling that Ruben did it on purpose. Razé was speechless at Ruben who was being so possessive that he would get jealous at her. She wondered how Ruben would react if he found out that she was one of the Emperor’s Gun.
Adis: “Why are you staring at them? Do you want someone to feed you too?”
Razé: “It’s fine. Carna-sama already did that for me.”
Razé felt annoyed with the playboy sitting next to her.
* * *
That night.
Razé used teleportation and went to see Harlens. His room was on the top floor of the tower clock. She knocked on his door and said, “It’s Orphan. Sorry to disturb you late at night. There’s something I need to report to you.”
The door was opened and Harlens came out wearing a nightshirt. He asked her to come inside and said, “You can just teleport to the entrance hall next time.”
She teleported to the front of the door because she thought it was rude to go inside without permission. But considering that it would be bad if someone saw her standing outside the principal’s house, she decided it would be better to teleported to the entrance hall next time.
She looked at the luxurious room and was stunned for a moment. Then, she immediately reported to him, “When Prince Ruben, Lady Mortens and a few other friends gathered for a study group today, someone had poisoned the cookies baked by Lady Mortens.”
“What?!” Harlens was shocked.
“Fortunately, I was the first one who ate the cookies, so I’ve managed to take immediate action and made sure that Prince Ruben and the others was not poisoned. Based on my preliminary investigation, the poison was mixed into the sugar used by Lady Mortens. I have retrieved the evidence from the garbage bin.” Razé then put the bottle that contained the toxin on the desk.
Harlens’ expression turned into a stern look as he said, “The thing I dreaded the most actually happened.”
He had made arrangement to exercise extreme caution for maximum security this year, and yet this incident still happened.
Never did I imagine that she really would have to do her duty as a soldier here.
Harlens was hoping that Razé could enjoy her school life in the academy. It seemed that that would be difficult now. Harlens let out a sigh as he worried about her.
Razé: “I’ve no proof but I think someone is trying to frame Lady Mortens. The other day, I had felt a murderous aura coming from nearby when Prince Ruben and Lady Mortens were acting affectionately.”
Harlens: “I believe in your intuition. Both you and I will have to handle this matter until we could figure out the situation. I’m counting on you.”
Razé: “Yes sir!”
Harlens frowned when he saw Razé stood upright rigidly. Razé Orphan had a nickname called ‘Ghost of the Executioner’. She was a warrior who would keep fighting even if her limbs were destroyed.
Harlens once saw Razé full of injuries lying on a hospital bed. At that time, he was awed by her fighting spirit that would not fear death. Even though her physical wounds were healed, there was no guarantee that her psychological injury could be healed too. At that moment, Harlens had decided to enroll her into Centrior. He was worried that her personality would be affected.
However, once she entered the academy, Harlens could see that she was a role model student and there was nothing to worry about. She got along well with her friends and performed her duty creditably. She was like a small adult. There weren’t many people that was so reliable as she was.
Harlens was surprised by his own thought.
Stop it. She is my student. She’s not a tool.
He stared at the little girl in front of him. What made her turned into the strongest soldier in the country? She is just a young girl that had only lived for sixteen years. Although he was not well informed of it, her past couldn’t have been easy.
Harlens: “If you have any problem, please consult me immediately.”
Razé: “Yes. Thank you, Principal Harlens.”
Razé smiled shyly at him before she left. Harlens saw her off with a mixed feelings.
[1] ‘Promising young talent’ in Japanese is 金の卵 (lit. golden egg). This phrase will come up many times throughout the story. I’m not sure if I should just use ‘golden eggs’ in the translation. ↩
