“Oh—! Hohohoho! Judging by this adorable reaction… it seems the minds of these commoners lack the space to engrave the noble visage of yours truly! I shall magnanimously forgive you! Hmph~”
Her golden hair shimmered. Her red eyes sparkled. Her small fangs adorably protruded. She wore a casual dress that exposed her calves.
“Ho—Hohoho!”
The vampire girl who had suddenly appeared stood proudly at the center of the conference hall, striking a pose as if she were an ancient Greek statue.
‘But… she’s going to have to sit down again anyway… so why all this…?’
Hilde, who had to conduct the meeting, spoke in a blunt but slightly weary tone.
“…Take your seat, [Mist of the Golden Emperor].”
“Hoho! Hohoho! Brynhild! To order me around—how truly insolent—! I understand the duty of leading others as someone who sits in a position of radiance, but to deprive the commoners of the opportunity to admire the most noble incarnation of the night and the epitome of beauty…! You are truly cruel!”
“…Astrid. There’s no one like that.”
“Hohoho!! Of course—!! There’s no one in this entire universe who could dislike my beauty—!! So, commoners, admire me to your heart’s content—!”
“…Astrid. There’s no one who wants to admire you. If you don’t sit down, I’ll consider you absent from the first United Meeting.”
“Hmph…! How boring! I went to the trouble of preparing 17 performances that would be unimaginable even in the minds of commoners just to celebrate your love—!”
“…I’ll accept the sentiment.”
“Hmph, boring person.”
Hilde pressed her fingers to her temples and rubbed them.
“Huu—“
A rare, tired sigh from Hilde. But Astrid, undeterred, began walking confidently to her seat.
The sound of her shoes echoed crisply.
Tap tap
With each step, her lush golden hair swayed, and a cheap soap scent wafted through the air—a sharp minty smell, like something you’d find in public facilities or relief supplies…
‘She’s not a real noble, just the daughter of an ordinary household…’
Upon closer inspection, the bright-colored midi dress she wore had poorly finished seams and slight discoloration, making it believable that it might have been taken from a used clothing donation box.
Her overwhelming appearance and confidence—the two things that completed this chunibyo noble cosplay girl into [Mist of the Golden Emperor] Astrid.
“Hehe~”
Astrid twirled her golden hair around her finger, her red eyes scanning for anyone who might be worshipping her.
“…”
“…” “…” “…” “…”
Silence…
We were all tired of indulging her cosplay for so long. We subtly avoided her gaze from those glittering red eyes.
“…”
Even Skadi, who was completely unfamiliar with Astrid as a third-year, seemed to have already grasped the tiresome nature of her presence just from her entrance alone, turning her eyes away.
Skadi muttered quietly.
“Why are all the [Unique Ether] users in this academy city…?”
Indeed. Excluding the ordinary me, Everyone else had their own quirks, and I agreed.
‘Is it because I’ve been stirring things up? Somehow, they all feel more eccentric and bouncy than in the original…’
Albite, sitting next to me, also quietly lowered her head, trying not to meet anyone’s eyes.
…
‘She’s not a bad kid… but she’s a bit exhausting.’
Vampire girls… they tend to be attention seekers, but Astrid was particularly extreme.
<Hayes High School for Girls>, located in the foggy northwestern forest, was the most geographically isolated of the nine allied schools.
‘Maybe because she’s in a remote corner, she has some sort of compensation psychology, and whenever she appears, she causes a spectacle…’
As the representative of that school, [Mist of the Golden Emperor] Astrid, unlike Bell, didn’t know when to stop her roleplay.
Even as a gamer with a certain level of internal camaraderie, it was tough to continually play along with her cosplay.
Well… aside from that…
There wasn’t anything particularly strange or bad about Astrid. She was like a potted plant that grew well as long as you gave her a moderate amount of attention.
While everyone was lost in their thoughts, a metallic sound echoed through the conference hall.
Click—!
Everyone turned to see Hilde taking out a watch from her pocket. The luxurious silver gleamed in her hand.
Gulp—
Astrid, thinking the watch was very ‘ladylike,’ stared at it intently, swallowing her saliva.
“Wh-what an elegant watch…”
“…”
Of course, Hilde noticed her gaze but ignored it.
“…”
After checking the time, Hilde hesitated for a moment before speaking in a business-like tone.
“…Hmm, since time has been delayed, the event that was supposed to take place before the meeting will be postponed.”
“Haha…☆”
I laughed softly but was sweating inwardly.
‘Do we really have to do that? Can’t we just count the earlier congratulations as everything?’
The representatives of the nine schools, the ten students gathered here, their eyes shining, began the meeting.
It was time for each school to talk about the unusual situations they had witnessed in the academy city. The representatives of each school gave brief reports.
<Hel Subsidiary High School>’s representative, second-year Knight Commander Helena, Helena, dressed in gloomy black armor, completed her report with just one sentence, her voice echoing from within her helmet.
“…No abnormalities in the dark side of the World Tree’s roots.” “I see.”
Huu— Pshh—
“…”
And then she sat back down, her breathing audible.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The four of us who had reached the pinnacle of the martial arts, including myself, stared at her for a while. But despite the attention, Helena remained unfazed.
‘Oh, she’s a [Unique Ether] user, and yet she’s maintaining a poker face? Even though she’s weaker than us, she manages her presence well…’
Finally, it was our turn.
Hilde looked at us and spoke.
“Now, it’s the turn of <Central Prism Academy>.”
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to officially meet you. I’m Albite, the student council president of <Central Prism Academy>.”
“Wow—☆ Applause—☆” “Se-senpai?!”
Clap clap clap
“Huh, um? Should we clap now?” “Hiyaah!! Let’s start with three claps!!”
Clap clap clap
Then, a few students, caught up in the mood, joined in and clapped.
Albite looked at me with a stunned expression. But Hilde, after giving me a pleased look, told Albite to continue her report.
“First of all, our school is very small, so there were no troubles or incidents within the campus… but we did witness several major incidents. Starting from the beginning, one of our students was involved in a large-scale kidnapping case that occurred at the start of the first semester.”
Albite’s report proceeded surprisingly diligently.
She recounted the incidents <Central Prism Academy> had witnessed while following various events throughout the first semester… and the reasons why they had helped.
Hearing this, Eir, Freya, Anna, Astrid, and others showed expressions of approval in their eyes.
‘Well, we can’t talk about the incident where we sabotaged <Mimir Technical High School>’s airship mission… but thanks to running around helping here and there, we’ve suddenly found ourselves in a trustworthy third-party position.’
In fact, Hilde, who had been in contact with me over the phone, was aware of almost all the issues, but she didn’t interrupt or cut off <Central Prism Academy>’s story and listened calmly.
Finally, Albite concluded her report.
“That concludes my presentation. …Clara-senpai, you don’t have to clap.”
“Oh, I got caught—☆”
Albite gave me a sidelong glance, nodded slightly, and took her seat. Those who had been helped by us or had a good impression of us, like Anna, Eir, Freya, and Skadi, spoke appreciatively.
“Ooh, so their student council president is a first-year? That’s really impressive~” “Running around helping others when you see injustice… Hehe, this one’s got potential.” “Hehe, she’s our proud junior—☆” “Well, um… We also ended up receiving help from <Central Prism Academy>... Honestly, I think they were more helpful than <Gjallarhorn>.” “…Not bad. It’s good to have a neighbor who can uphold justice. It’s a shame, though, that Maya uses it as a hideout when she skips out on her duties.”
Ah… Maya, they found out you were skipping out…☆
“The last report should be from <Public Bana Boarding School>, right…”
The last report, as expected, came from <Public Bana Boarding School>, which had handled the biggest event of the first semester.
It was so complicated and chaotic. Even with a concise summary, it seemed endless. Still, it was evident they had tried their best to summarize and present it.
It was like watching a magic-infused PowerPoint presentation, with living purple illustrations.
“Huff, huff…”
Freya, looking exhausted, finished the long report.
“Th-that concludes… the details of this situation… A-any questions?”
Eir raised her hand.
“Uh… so what’s the final damage? Honestly, it was too long for me to follow.”
“Th-the northwest part of the Golden District is completely wrecked… the n-noble faction’s leadership is annihilated… the research faction is cleaning up the mess… 30% of <Public Bana Boarding School>’s funds have evaporated… and we’ve signed the document stating, ‘We won’t cause any more trouble.’”
“Ah, I see. You explain well.”
“A-anyway, because of this, <Public Bana Boarding School> probably won’t be able to hold the summer-fall festival this year…”
“Should we take over? I heard the kids really enjoyed the riot festival last time.”
“No, th-thanks…”
After the summary report on the Eastern Alliance and <Ratatoskr>’s unrest, Katrin, who had attended as a representative proxy for <Svart Technical High School>, sat with a pale face, deeply bowing her head.
‘Well, she’s said to have not actively followed Andrea’s orders… but she’s probably still nervous. She must bear the resentment for the damage her seniors caused.’
If it were me, I wouldn’t even have dared to take on the responsibility of being the proxy. Just the fact that she was here and had taken on the role of a nominal representative was quite respectable.
Skadi also seemed to feel something similar toward Katrin, as she crossed her arms and quietly offered advice.
“…Hmph. The responsibility now falls on you. No one here will harm you, so lift your head. That’s your job here.”
“…Yes.”
As we exchanged information and discussed the damages caused by <Ratatoskr>, we had truly begun to function as a ‘union,’ sharing intel with one another. It was undoubtedly a more united situation than in the original story.
‘I’m glad we can hold meetings like this…’
“…”
Before me stood a white wedding dress.
It somehow matched my measurements so perfectly that it sent shivers down my spine. The pink ribbons and embroidery made it look like something a bride would wear on a bright spring day.
And next to it was a dress with silver and blue embroidery, featuring a restrained design.
“…”
No, right…?
This isn’t what I think it is, right…?
Please tell me it isn’t.
But Hilde, wrapping her arm around my shoulders, whispered sweetly.
“…I couldn’t measure your size properly, so I had to rely on some old records. Sorry…”
“…”
“Let’s receive everyone’s blessings together…”
Hey…
This… this is a bit…