“E-Excuse me! Just a moment! If you do this here...!”
Saying “You can’t” was the airship airport employee’s job.
“What are you doing? You’re not opening the door? I already issued the ticket!”
But this was the Kingdom of Hiaka, where a caste system existed.
And the other party was a Hiaka princess who had shown up with well over a dozen attendants.
Power in this era was an omnipotent thing.
When that noble existence blocked him head-on, he couldn’t be sure whether he was even allowed to stop her.
‘What do I do?!’
The relief pitcher was the Shadow Guard, the Dark Division.
Layme asked.
“Employee. Can you stop the airplane from taking off for a moment right now?”
“Pardon? Ah, th-that is, if I may ask what this is regarding....”
“Answer what I asked. Can you stop it or not.”
“Ah....... Th-that, for safety and security procedure reasons, if it’s not an airship, it’s difficult....”
He was just reciting the manual.
Then Layme stepped in front of Rebecca.
“They say they can’t, Princess.”
“Layme!”
In the middle of her starting to throw a fit again for the first time in years—
“Princess.”
This time Layme approached her with a terrifying expression.
“Isn’t it a safety issue.”
“But, the ticket—!”
“No.”
“.......”
After Layme blocked her,
Rebecca stopped where she was.
It seemed like it really wasn’t going to work.
And if ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) it wasn’t possible, then it was right that it wasn’t possible—an instinctive thought formed.
‘......???’
Then, just as instinctively, a question rose.
Since when was it?
Since when had she started accepting that if someone said it couldn’t be done, then it couldn’t be done?
This was strange.
She was someone for whom everything was originally possible.
Even if, in reality, there were things that couldn’t be done, she almost never accepted “it can’t be done.”
But now she thought it wasn’t going to work?
‘......Since when have I been such a good kid?’
The fact that she herself had accepted it made irritation creep up for some reason.
And now she wasn’t as childish as before—she was aware of it.
The reason she’d wanted to do whatever she pleased was because nothing ever went her way.
Family.
Gender.
Childhood. Parents. The love she was supposed to receive from her parents.
Talent with the sword. Talent as an assassin. Talent as a saintess.
Because none of it had ever gone the way she wanted,
she never accepted that something “couldn’t be done.”
But now it was different.
- Are you telling me to cancel the schedule? It’s a royal event we’ve been preparing for three months....... Fine, then. Want to go somewhere nice together? Just the two of us.
- I’m a little tired today....... But if that’s what our princess wants, of course we should go shopping. What do you need?
- If you want, I can give you my entire world. Fair trade.... All I want is your heart.
That was it. That was the problem.
- My princess.
Sweet Dante...!!
“.......”
If she asked, he did it!
He made everything she wanted come true!
He never said no, not once. That loosened, over a long time, an old complaint buried deep inside Rebecca—a fundamental lack.
That was the problem.
Because of that, when someone told her no, Rebecca had become able to accept that “impossibility” in a healthy way.
“......Is it really not possible? It’s not like I only spent a penny or two on this. I even paid the costs and barely made it in time....”
“No.”
“......All right.”
She decided to give up cleanly.
That was when it happened.
“Heh-heh-heh!”
The airplane door that had been closing swung wide open, and a man came out.
「 │ㅁㅇ)!! 」(「 │MY)!! 」)
At the same time, a single Stigma occupied the entire surrounding space, and Rebecca blinked.
“...Who are you?”
“It’s been a while, Princess~”
“Quan? Why are you here...?”
In the past, it was a relationship between the head of the Dormant Dragon Cadets and a cadet student.
But now she vaguely sensed what kind of heavyweight he was, so Rebecca held back her words.
“It’s nothing~ But do you perhaps need a seat?”
“...For now.”
“Then I’ll yield you one seat.”
At this moment Rebecca realized what role the [Stigma] that had spread just now had played.
Everyone around her—Layme included—every single “ordinary person” was frozen.
Because she was the “master of mana,” only she was resisting the power of that Stigma.
“...What do you want?”
“A thank-you.”
“You want me to thank you?”
“......Hrm, slurp, this isn’t the feeling I imagined, getting it so obediently?”
Anyway.
Quan vanished just like that, and when the Stigma released, everyone naturally guided Rebecca into the airplane.
Like they were hypnotized.
So when she entered the airplane, the first-class seats spread out.
In that spacious space, there was exactly one empty seat.
The man who, right now, should absolutely be at home.
Dante Hiakapo’s seat beside him.
“.......”
Rebecca’s breathing trembled faintly.
“.............”
***
It’s hard to go to the Empire even once.
That was my honest feeling.
The moment I got on, I sensed unknown killing intent and got sensitive.
(Of course, I won’t die, but there’s no way it’s comfortable to be put in an environment where people can die.)
As if Quan barging in wasn’t enough—
Now, the person I never wanted to meet again was approaching too.
“.......”
At this time, I had sunglasses on, arms crossed, pretending to sleep.
Even after hearing her shaky breathing—whether she was angry or whatever—I clenched my teeth and decided to act like I didn’t know.
‘......More than that, how did she get here.’
Quan—fine. He’s a pervert who’s always watching me, so whatever.
But why did that person come here?
“.......”
Soon the airplane lifted into the sky.
In the meantime, the woman sitting in the seat next to me across the aisle stayed still.
I wished I’d raised the partition beforehand. Raising it now would be weird.
After a long time like that,
finally, a voice came from close by.
“What a coincidence. Running into you in a place like this.”
“How did you know to come here?”
“On instinct.”
“Don’t lie.”
“.......”
“.......”
“Then why are you here?”
“Where I am is my business.”
“You should be at our house. You didn’t even tell me you were leaving before you went out.”
“.......”
“Nothing to say?”
“......I don’t know why you’re asking again when you already know everything. Didn’t you know from the start too?”
“That’s it?”
“If I do.”
“......You’re not apologizing?”
I still had my eyes closed, so I couldn’t see Rebecca’s expression.
But from her breathing, it sounded like she was angry or something—her emotions seemed a bit heated.
“I’d like you to answer what I ask. How did you get here. Don’t tell me it was 「Revelation↑」?”
As a Constellation myself, I’d heard that Kreutz had a slot or two open for Revelation↑.
“...Yeah. Revelation.”
“Rebecca. Are you out of your mind?”
“Huh? What?”
“I asked if you’re out of your mind. You become a princess and start using Revelation.”
“Why!”
“If you used Revelation, that means your movements were exposed directly to Kreutz, an enemy nation. And it means even my location and destination—what you requested—were exposed directly to Kreutz too.”
“...These days we’re not really fighting Kreutz.”
“Stop saying pathetic things. Did war break out by mutual agreement? And handling the costs is a problem too. You don’t have a single proper business running, so you must’ve charged it as something like a royal transaction bond. You do know that violates royal law, right?”
“...I know.”
“And you might not know this, but Revelation isn’t something with tight security. It’s different from a roster and a memorandum. Because there are more slots, it’s weaker in security. To put it bluntly, if someone was sharpening a blade to kill you, they could’ve tracked you easily.”
“...I know. I know all of that....”
“What do you mean you know? You’re still pathetic beyond words. If you’d been living normally, you’d be happy and living well as-is—why are you sticking your nose in and scratching up a scab like this for no reason? Do you even know what the international situation looks like right now? Do you know why I’m going to the Empire?”
It genuinely irritated me. Rebecca, who only ever had bad intentions no matter where she popped up. That existence that looked like she was about to throw a tantrum and make me deal with her.
“.......”
After that, Rebecca went silent, so I shut my mouth too.
After a brief quiet, she spoke.
“...Yeah....”
Then she took a big breath in, and breathed out.
“......This is you, though.”
At that moment,
I wondered if I’d misheard something.
Because the voice Rebecca spoke in sounded a little brighter.
“What?”
I asked back.
Rebecca inhaled deeply again.
“So what, then.”
The voice that followed was once again the Rebecca voice I used to know.
“...So what?”
“So what. So what, so what, telling me. Whether I come here or not, whether I violate royal law like fucking hell, whether I hand over my info and your info to Kreutz—so what! Did you ever add anything to my life!?”
“Rebecca Hiakium.”
“Don’t say my name! It gives me the creeps.”
When I threw off my sunglasses and stood up, Rebecca was looking at me with the same vicious eyes as before.
“You get out.”
“No.”
“I said get out. Here. Even now you can leave by teleportation.”
“No. No. I won’t. I’m not leaving. Why would I leave?”
“You’re in the way.”
“So? Whether I’m in the way or not, why do I have to leave? Am I someone who has to do what you say? I’m a princess! Whether you tell me to do something or not, I have no reason to listen to you, you know?”
As our bickering voices got louder, it seemed the sound carried even inside the first-class cabin where [Noise Disruption Magic] was cast. Nearby seats and the flight attendants looked this way.
“......You. Come here.”
In a hurry, I grabbed Rebecca by the wrist and dragged her toward the bathroom stall.
To everyone else, I showed them, through 『World Forgery』, an illusion of me lowering my head.
“Ah, ah! Let go of this!”
Rebecca resisted, but a mage had no way to endure an assassin in a contest of strength.
And so, the cramped airplane bathroom.
“Let go, I said let go! Ngh!”
“Are you out of your mind?”
After shoving Rebecca down onto the toilet stall seat, I asked.
“What the hell is this about.”
Only then did Rebecca’s face come into view.
It was an expression I’d never seen even after talking with her so much.
And I couldn’t understand that expression at all.
“.......”
For some reason, Rebecca’s cheeks were flushed red.
Whether it was makeup or something, under the dim lighting her lips were redder than usual too.
And the eyes looking up at me were rounder than usual.
So, I couldn’t tell what kind of expression this was.
“...What are you going to do about it?”
“What did you say?”
“...I said what are you going to do now. I’m not going anywhere no matter how much you curse at me. You dragged me into a narrow place like this—what are you going to do about it now.”
“.......”
I couldn’t understand.
That Rebecca seemed to be expecting something from me—I couldn’t understand it at all.
By reflex I checked 【Script】, but originally the Hero Party members’ thoughts couldn’t be seen, and now even more so, it was patched so I couldn’t know anything.
“I’m pretty sure I attached a kind man to you. While I wasn’t looking, did you eat something wrong together or something?”
At that, Rebecca sprang up and answered.
“I’m not telling you.”
That answer made it obvious. Rebecca was doing everything in reverse.
Meaning, no matter what reason she came here for, it wasn’t important—Rebecca was opposing me just to oppose me.
Like back then, the first time she ever talked to me.
“......You.”
Rebecca smacked her arm, yanking her wrist out of my hand. The skin that had been pressed down was red.
“......You grab hard, you dog bastard.”
When I looked down again,
Rebecca was once again expecting something from me.
It was still psychology I couldn’t understand.
That was when it happened.
Kwakwa-KWANG—!!!
A massive explosion sounded from somewhere outside the bathroom. At the same time, the fuselage pitched hard, and Rebecca—whose athletic ability was trash-tier—staggered and tilted heavily toward me.