Chapter 163: Prologue to the Final Battle
Walking out from the long, complex path of the underground cave and into the fresh air under the sun, the light stimulated his eyes. Kobayashi couldn't help but shield his brow with his hand. The western sky was slightly yellow, signaling the arrival of dusk.
After a simple physical examination by the medical team, the group temporarily disbanded, and he carried Henriette to the infirmary to rest.
The previous experience had made the man-hating girl no longer resist his touch. She obediently curled up in his arms, her sleeping appearance cute. Even when placed flat on the bed, she did not let go of his hand.
"Kobayashi..."
A familiar voice came from the doorway. Frey walked into the infirmary with a basket. Seeing her, Kobayashi's expression twisted slightly.
Don't tell me it's another strange sandwich.
"Frey, are you worried about Henriette too?"
"Y-yes... a little... worried."
The timid Frey nodded, but what she didn't say was that she wasn't worried about Henriette, but about him.
"This is for you."
"...Allow me to ask first. You didn't add anything strange, did you?"
The sandwich was brought to his mouth. Although he wouldn't avoid it like a snake or a scorpion, he was still a little resistant in his heart.
"N-no."
This time, she did not put on an aggrieved, crying act, but simply shook her head. Seeing that she didn't look like she was lying, he chose to believe her one more time. Besides, he had been in the cave for a long time and was indeed a little hungry.
With his hand being held by Henriette, he had no choice but to open his mouth wide and take a bite of the sandwich she offered.
"Delicious."
He praised from the bottom of his heart.
The taste was a little better than an ordinary sandwich. The fact that nothing strange was added was a bonus point. It was ten thousand times more delicious than before.
"Frey, even if you don't add strange things, a normal sandwich can quickly capture my stomach."
"Really?"
"Really, I promise."
"I-is that so? I understand."
Frey's cheeks flushed slightly.
Seeing that she had listened, he let out a sigh of relief. It seemed he wouldn't have to eat strange sandwiches anymore.
After finishing the sandwich, she finally spoke. "On... my way here, I saw... the Tyrant Rex."
"Charlotte?"
He raised an eyebrow.
Her current situation was very bad. Having publicly "assassinated" the Headmaster twice, she had already been branded a wanted criminal. To appear again at a time like this and attract the attention of others... it was absolutely impossible that no one was directing her.
Is that guy Cedric (Alice) trying to continuously make Charlotte cause trouble in public to solidify her reputation as the culprit? His methods really are crude and vile.
He thought for a moment and said, "Frey, you should stay out of what happens next. I'm worried you'll get hurt."
The most disgusting thing about an unhinged chaos seeker is that they have no bottom line and will use any vile method they can think of. They are troublesome and annoying. Frey could also easily become a target.
"No. I... I want to help too," the timid girl said, uncharacteristically strong. She puffed out her already prominent chest. "Even if I'm not strong, I should be able to help... because I have [Garm]."
Seeing her resolute expression... was it because Charlotte's situation was the same as hers? It seemed the two of them really did have the potential to become good friends.
"...Then you can help."
He thought for a moment and still agreed.
Frey showed a satisfied smile, but then asked with a lack of confidence, "What should we do next? That person... has been hiding behind the scenes all this time. Can we really... find him?"
"Ah, we definitely can. After all, he's already given us clear hints," he said with confidence.
When he had gone to the Executive Committee before, Cedric, who was being impersonated by Alice, had almost laid his cards on the table because of his own wicked hobby. It was just that his automaton butler was not present at the time, and his purpose was to hide his identity and clear his name.
But in the cave, it was already possible to conclude that the two were connected.
So his next task was to capture that butler and force him to reveal who his master was, or to catch Cedric on the spot and solidify the fact that he was the mastermind behind the assassination of the Headmaster.
Who told the Headmaster to keep emphasizing in the cave that the butler's target was him? He would make good use of that.
"Frey, tonight you will..."
"Will this method work?"
"Of course."
The other party had already lowered the difficulty. It would be rude not to find the key to the matter now.
Eight o'clock in the evening.
Kobayashi arrived at the Night Party's combat field. Frey, Loki, and the 87th and 86th ranked participants had not appeared. Because the battle had not started for a long time, the spectating students had already begun to feel bored. But he was in no mood to put on a good show for them.
An hour passed, and besides him, no other contestant had appeared.
"As I thought, the 86th isn't coming either?"
She must have been persuaded by Alice, thinking that the three of them—Kobayashi, Frey, and Loki—had formed a united front and would be difficult to deal with, so she had obediently chosen not to come out and fight.
Based on this, Alice, who was ranked 87th, also did not need to appear in battle.
What a cunning woman.
It had been an hour since he had stood on the stage. According to the rules, he had already fulfilled his obligation. The referee from the Executive Committee also acknowledged this, so he could return to his dormitory to rest.
But he did not go back. Instead, he came to the outside of the girls' dormitory.
Downstairs, Frey had been waiting for a long time.
"Is Henriette alright?"
"She's... already asleep."
"Good. Then you go to the venue, Frey. In an hour, you can act according to my request."
"Mmm."
She nodded and led her dozen or so wolf-dogs towards the Night Party venue.
His alibi was already established.
Next...
"RyuZU, I'm counting on you."
"Is Master Kobayashi unable to resist launching a night raid? To break into a girls' dormitory, and even to abduct that underage girl... it's truly unbearable to watch."
"How could I make a move on Henriette? Even if it's a night raid, I would only raid you, RyuZU."
"I-is that so."
Her cheeks flushed slightly. She seemed to care a lot about his "night raid." Even though the two of them were "hot and heavy" every night, she was still a little shy.
Then her figure paused. When she reappeared, she was carrying a girl in pajamas on her back.
Under the cover of night, the two of them quietly took Henriette away, and no one ever knew.
...Except for Cedric.
In the chairman's office of the Executive Committee, the young man who was the master of the room was elegantly drinking black tea.
There were two other figures in the room.
One was the automaton butler, Singh, who had sneak-attacked him in the cave. The other was Charlotte, who was holding the small steel dragon.
She glared fiercely at Cedric above.
Her younger sister being implicated by her, falling into a pit and being on the verge of death, being rescued by him, being frightened and unconscious... she had heard all this news from the other party's mouth. And every time he told her, he had deliberately provoked and teased her, and had not even let her, who was so anxious, go out.
Even now.
"There are less than twenty hours left. Charlotte, you don't have much time."
"But you won't let me go out!"
"That's because... hmm?"
The young man's wicked smile suddenly changed. He seriously took out a crystal ball from his pocket, his movements as if he had received some kind of notification from elsewhere.
He gazed at the crystal ball.
Then, he burst into laughter.
"Things have gotten interesting! Henriette has actually been abducted by the 'Goddess's Vicar'!"
In an instant, a snicker was heard in the room.
It was Charlotte.
She covered her mouth, desperately trying to hold back her laughter. To finally see the person in front of her be thwarted... how could she not laugh?
"Oh my? What's so funny, Charlotte?"
"It's because you treat everyone else like an idiot that you've ended up like this. How does it feel to be outplayed by someone you looked down upon?"
"You're quick to switch sides. The butt that was once loved by Felix... is it going to be offered to that Eastern monkey this time?"
In terms of a sharp tongue, Alice could crush her.
The inexperienced girl could only blush, glaring fiercely at the person who had insulted her.
"What's wrong? Why is your face so red? There's nothing to be ashamed of at this point, is there? Didn't you cry out so happily in front of Felix, like a cat in heat?"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
The girl flew into a rage because her pride had been hurt.
The young man, on the other hand, showed a surprised expression. "I didn't expect you to be so inexperienced... Since that's the case, how about I just strip you naked and throw you onto a street full of ruffians? I'm sure something very interesting will happen."
Charlotte paused for a long moment, the anger in her eyes dissipating.
"...Do as you please."
She threw this line down coldly, as if she didn't want to talk to him anymore. Her attitude was as if she felt it wasn't even worth getting angry at him.
The young man was not displeased by this.
He even went a step further. "I feel very sorry for you, student Charlotte. The once-famous Count has now fallen to the point where not even a shadow can be seen. Her father ran off to some unknown continent, and even her mother wanted to sell her own daughter... Oh, did I not tell you? Actually, Henriette was protected by me when she was on the verge of being sold to a brothel."
"—Liar!" she strongly denied. "Even if my mother were to starve to death, she would absolutely not sell Henriette to that kind of place!"
"But the truth is just that cruel. Oh my— what a moving sisterly love."
Cedric shrugged, indicating that he was not lying about this matter.
"But speaking of which, if I were to throw her... Henriette... to the ruffians for their amusement, I wonder what kind of expression Miss Tyrant Rex would show?"
As soon as his voice fell, a flame of mana erupted in the room.
Charlotte's entire body spewed out a pale, bluish-white fire, and the small steel dragon in her arms also released a black mist. Even a non-magician could see her anger with their naked eyes.
"If you dare to do anything to Henriette, I'll kill your whole...!"
Smack—
Before she could finish her threat, she was slapped across the face and fell to the floor.
This sudden scene made the young man slowly turn his head to look at his automaton.
The butler gave a deep bow. "Please forgive my transgression. But for someone to act so rudely towards the young master, your subordinate cannot just stand by and watch, even if it is a result of the young master's corrupt personality and twisted nature."
A typical villain's logic.
With such a loyal subordinate, the young man naturally had no reason to punish him.
"But speaking of which, the abducted Henriette cannot be ignored."
"Does your subordinate need to make a move?"
"Since the other party has made a move, we can't not respond. I'll leave it to you."
"And what about that man?"
"It doesn't matter if you kill him, but bring his head back as a gift for our Miss Tyrant Rex."
"As you command."
The butler bowed, accepted the mission, and left.
Seeing the master and servant so casually decide a person's life and death, Charlotte caressed her beaten cheek, bit her lower lip so hard it was as if she were about to draw blood, and with her shoulders trembling, tears of unwillingness streamed down.
The other party was always like this.
Stirring up the feelings between the sisters, and then mercilessly destroying them, and even making a move on the people around her.
The young man, seeing her like this, asked curiously, "You seem to have something you want to say, Charlotte."
"You... what in the world are you plotting?"
"Are you asking why I'm bullying you sisters? It's simple. Because it's fun."
"——?!!"
"And, bullying you can also help Felix vent his anger. After all, the two of us—Cedric and Felix—are not only cousins, but also close friends and relatives."
"Liar! You're not Cedric at all!"
"Oh? Is it really okay to say that in front of the person himself?"
"You don't even have to think about it! Since you can use transformation magic, then you're definitely not the real person—"
A surge of fear made her voice tremble. Facing this unfathomable enemy, the girl was already on the verge of collapse.
She asked with a trembling voice, "Who... in the world... are you?"
"I am a shadow," the young man smiled slightly, as if singing with great pleasure. "I am a shadow, without a physical body."
On the other side.
While being pursued by the butler, Kobayashi was also carrying the pajama-clad Henriette and running through the deep forest at night. If anyone else saw this, they would surely think he was a kidnapper.
Especially since the girl was still screaming for help.
"No... I'm going to be taken away by a savage man... and be messed up—!"
"Hey, hey, hey, don't say such easily misunderstood things! I'm saving you!"
"Saving me?"
Henriette blinked.
Although she didn't understand the situation, in the end, she gave up her futile struggles.
Thanks to her stopping her struggles, his speed increased by a notch. Finally, at a little after 9 o'clock at night, he arrived at a spacious, empty lawn.
"Mmm, this is it."
He put her down.
The girl who had been constantly bumped was also very tired. Before the decisive battle began, he would let her rest a bit.
"Um..."
Henriette, who was sitting on the lawn, temporarily ignored the coldness beneath her and asked timidly, "What did you mean by that, Kobayashi? Please explain it properly."
It seemed that to get her to cooperate, he had to tell her the truth.
"Simply put, I'm using you as bait to go fishing."
"Fishing...?"
"That's right. The reason Charlotte is acting so recklessly is because you are being held hostage, so I have to rescue you from the other party's hands. But just rescuing you won't change the current situation. So I have to take advantage of the other party's carelessness to expose the mastermind behind the scenes in one fell swoop. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I-is that so?"
Her dazed look made it unclear if she had understood or not.
"But I didn't expect that there wouldn't be a bomb or anything in your body," he said, as if he had said something terrifying.
"Eh? A bomb?"
The girl kneeling on the lawn was dumbfounded.
He patted her small head. "Don't be afraid. I've already checked. There's nothing strange in your body."
However, this sentence did not succeed in comforting her. On the contrary, it made her cry out again.
"—No! My body has been seen by a man! I can't get married anymore!"
"Is that the main point?"
He was dumbfounded.
And RyuZU even added a backstab, saying with a sharp tongue, "Master Kobayashi, if a master were to ask his attendant to sneak into a girls' dormitory at night for the purpose of looking at a certain girl's body, what kind of punishment do you think such a master deserves?"
"...Please spare such a master's life."
Although that wasn't his purpose, he had indeed done it. What else could he say?
"But we'll talk about the punishment later, because..."
BOOM!
With a loud bang, a certain figure descended from the sky and came to a stop in front of them.
Although he himself had stopped immediately, the air he had brought with him was not so simple. Dust was immediately kicked up all around, and a violent wind messed up everyone's hair.
It was the man who had sneak-attacked him in the cave.
"You came pretty fast."
"As the young master's butler, one must be so excellent."
"What a good butler."
"You flatter me. Then, in order to be a good butler, would you allow this subordinate to obey the young master's command and take your head back with me?"
The butler before him had made a rude request. Surely, no one would agree.
He was the same.
"I must refuse. By the way, since that's the case, could you tell me the name of that brain-damaged young master of yours?"
"...Brain-damaged?"
"Ah. After all, that guy is a mentally abnormal person who loves strategy more than anything."
"Indeed. If this goes on, the Granville family will be finished sooner or later. But..." the man revealed a faint smile, then said in an extremely cold voice, "The butler of the Cedric family is very excellent. If one must pick a flaw, it is that he is... a little quick to anger."
It seemed he was very angry to hear someone speak ill of his master.
To say his master's name was also to declare a death sentence. The implication was that everyone present had to die!
Granville.
It was the family name of the Night Party chairman that Alice was impersonating—Cedric. In other words, she had been planning to throw the dirty water on someone else from the very beginning.
What a cunning woman.
The auras of the two sides continued to rise, and their killing intent gradually became apparent.
And so, the battle where defeat was not an option began.
(End of Chapter)