Volume 1 - CH 7

A month had now passed since the start of my school life.

I was finally getting used to my new lifestyle, though Pelmann was still often on my heels. That aside, the number of people wanting to start a fight with me were fewer than ever.

“Ah..! G-good day, Miss Mylene!”

“Hehe, my, aren’t you looking quite lovely today?”

“Fufu, thank you for the compliment.”

The second-years had begun paying me lip service. It felt strange to have them flattering me like this, but it was something I had gotten used to seeing as a mercenary — it was more of a nostalgic strangeness than anything uncomfortable.

At the same time, I was getting pretty good at acting like a proper lady in front of them.

“Hehe, our second-year upperclassmen are finally understanding Lady Mylene’s greatness!”

“Mhm, and it feels quite fitting for her to stand over the others like this.”

“Could the two of you not exaggerate so?”

…It was pretty embarrassing to be directly praised like this.

And really, what were their goals? Colette seemed happy enough watching her prospective subordinate (me) gain prestige. Albert, on the other hand… I really couldn’t tell. Most of the time, it felt like he wanted to prop me up as some sort of godly being or deity, and that was terrifying in its own right.

Well, Albert aside, I quite enjoy this relationship I have with Colette.

I wasn’t sure about the whole ‘friends’ business, but it was nice way to spend the time, especially when the upperclassmen were finally leaving me alone.

…There was just one problem.

The ringing of the school bell caught my attention.

“It is already almost time for class again.”

“Oh, already?”

That was the warning chime indicating the afternoon classes would soon begin.

And so we hurriedly left the dining hall, returning to the classroom just in time.

We took our seats as the instructor arrived.

“Good afternoon everyone, let us begin class… Hmm, there are… six people absent? And everyone else is seated.”

There were six absences.

It was a very obvious number of absences.

…This was the one problem I noticed.

There wasn’t an epidemic or sickness going around, and yet we had these six absences. It was all too suspicious.

In the first place, the Academy was a boarding school — a prestigious one with strict rules for attendance, at that. For six students to be absent at the same time suggested there was something big happening.

There had been absences before, but it had become glaringly obvious there was something else going on with how many were gone starting this past week.

And the ones absent the longest had now missed more than a week of class.

By now there were about twenty students missing from each grade year… Each of them was a child of aristocratic origin, so it couldn’t have been just a coincidence.

It could be me next — the unspoken fear was gradually building up and becoming more obvious by the day, making the atmosphere much gloomier than usual.

Right now, the leading rumors were saying the absent students had either become afflicted with some strange new disease or been kidnapped by a trafficking organization.

“Heloise was absent today…”

“She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would play around with magi-drugs…”

…And of course it was impossible to stop people from gossiping.

Well, the truth would always eventually come out.

From what I had heard, most of the absent students were taken from their usual rooms and moved to a quieter side of the dormitory, apparently to live in isolation. The area was under strict quarantine, and no visitors were allowed in.

It wasn’t that they had come down with an unknown illness… No, the truth of the matter was drug use.

And when I said drug use, it wasn’t medicine that I referred to. Rather, this was a drug that induced a temporary high, a euphoria so extreme that it ruined their body and mind as a result.

They called it the magi-drug.

For an institute as prestigious as this Zelfoir Academy of Magic, it would be an irredeemable scandal if this were to come to light, and yet they could do nothing to stop their students from gossiping about it. As it stood, this magi-drug and its abusers were the main cause of the dark atmosphere at the Academy.

…Well, despite all of that, it really had nothing to do with me. To be honest, I was actually quite enjoying the peace and quiet.

In the first place, drugs were an emotional crutch, a weakling’s way of escaping their harsh reality. And really, seeing someone else fall apart was an all too sobering way of understanding the dangerous consequences of using or becoming involved with them.

For me, having seen how a magi-drug had been the final breaking point for Iltania in its final days, I knew all too well to avoid it completely.

If any of these kids got addicted, it wasn’t my business. What they did had nothing to do with me, so long as they stayed out of my way.

That being said, it was surprising to me that these brats, despite having all of this privilege and luxury, would willingly use magi-drugs.

Having learned the material ahead of time, I only absentmindedly followed along with the lesson, passing the time considering such meaningless thoughts. Before I knew it, the class was over.

And as usual, Albert and Colette came to my desk in this passing period between classes.

Our conversation topic was, of course, on the rumors going around the school about the absences.

“There are quite a few students absent now. In our class alone, there are six missing students… Do you think the rumors are true?”

“I wonder about that as well, but really it has nothing to do with us.”

“Haha, oh Mylene, as brusque as usual.”

It may be tactless to dismiss it like so, but that really was how I felt about it.

Still, it was a real downer to keep hearing about this. It was really starting to annoy me.

But since it was happening here at the Academy, there was no way that we wouldn’t eventually become involved…

While I did nothing to hide how tired I was of the rumors, Colette, on the other hand, had a subdued look on her face.

“How lamentable it is that children of noble households would turn to narcotics. Why does it happen, I wonder?”

“I as well wondered the same at first, but perhaps it is because they want for nothing that they crave the forbidden stimulation of this magi-drug, though I cannot say I understand such a desire.”

Going by the faint anger behind her words, it seemed Colette was seeing this as a ruler. I answered back with disgust in my voice.

If they had the money, it would be a safer bet to spend it on alcohol instead. Drinking wasn’t healthy either, but looking more like an adult by getting drunk was a far better outcome than falling apart after a temporary high.

But I suppose for those with money, drinking simply wasn’t enough. For some truly incomprehensible reason, they only wanted more and more excitement and stimulation.

And worst of all were the dealers distributing the drugs in the first place; well, I suppose the users were just as bad, since they created the demand in the first place with their weak will, unable to resist the appeal.

…Now that I thought about it, I suppose if Albert or Colette became involved, I would no longer be able to stay out of it. So really, I should say that as long as it affected neither me nor the people I was close to, then I couldn’t care less.

“Pr-princess Colette..!”

Then again, it wasn’t like I could stay uninvolved forever; everyone had their own friends that had other friends, and eventually something like this…

A female student burst into our classroom, breathing heavily. I wasn’t acquainted with her, but I did recognize her as someone Colette would occasionally spend time with.

“Is something the matter, Doris? What has left you in such a panic?”

Hearing Colette call her by name reminded me of something else.

Because the Academy was a gathering of children of aristocratic standing from across the land, it was not unusual for those from the same country to stick together; Albert was with me precisely because of that. Colette was no exception either, and she had a different circle of such friends.

That being said, Colette was still royalty, which meant not just anyone could so casually address her or involve themselves with her, so her own circle of acquaintances was smaller but also much more closely knit.

In fact, it should be just Colette, this girl Doris, and one other person…

“Hannah, she… they said she can’t be with us..! I couldn’t find her at all this morning, but when I went to ask the matron, she said Hannah would be moved to the isolation ward in the dorms! She wouldn’t even let me go see her!”

Colette’s eyes widened in surprise, but her expression quickly hardened.

A dark frown formed on her face; only a moment ago was Colette deriding those who would turn to narcotics, but it seemed that kind of weakness could apply to anyone.

And it seemed the person in question this time was the daughter of an influential noble close to a certain imperial princess.

“…Something urgent has happened that requires my attention, so I shall be taking an absence from our remaining classes today. Mylene, could you inform our instructors?”

Only Colette’s back was visible from where I stood, but seeing Doris’s expression was more than enough to guess the kind of face Colette was making.

I could feel an intense pressure emanating from her back — that was the intensity of her anger, most likely from discovering her follower Hannah’s moment of weakness and the perpetrators who started this entire drug problem.

“Do you need my help?”

“While I appreciate your sentiment, this is a problem for those of us from Colhoun. As the future ruler, I must be capable of solving at least this much by myself when it involves my own people.

I crossed my arms as she rejected my casual offer of help.

“Moreover, I said we are as equals, did I not? If I am to proudly stand beside you, I shoud handle this myself.”

How very like her to say such a thing, but I suppose there was nothing more I could say to her like this.

Instead, I waved my hand, as though pushing her on.

Colette turned her head to acknowledge my gesture, and I caught the slight smile on her face before she turned back and left.

She really was a passionate one. If I had been in her place, I probably wouldn’t have left just like that.

Once Colette was gone, silence fell between us.

If I respected her decision, then what I should do now was stay in class and inform Pelmann of Colette’s absence, but…

“Tch…”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, and Doris flinched in surprise.

“Hey, Doris… I mean, excuse me, Miss Doris?”

“H-huh? Ah, y-yes, Miss Mylene? Is there s-something you need from me?”

She seemed excessively jumpy in my presence, but this wasn’t something I needed to deal with at the moment…

“Could you let instructor Pelmann know that Lady Colette… and I shall be absent for the remainder of the day’s classes?”

“Miss Mylene..!”

Rather, what I needed to do was swat the annoying flies that were beginning to buzz too closely around.

If it hadn’t involved me, I would have ignored it, but now that it was close enough to bother those close to me, I will crush it without mercy.

Though she was still young, Colette was still a talented person who would go on to become the Black Lion, ruling over the militaristic Colhoun as the strongest, most talented leader their country had ever known.

I had no doubts she could handle some small-time lowlife dealer, but…

…there was something wrong. I couldn’t pinpoint why I felt it, but something in me told me I had to act.

It was as though something was urging me on, tugging at my emotional heartstrings. I didn’t know why I felt this way, but I silenced the unease that was building up in me.

…Well, I guess I wasn’t sleeping all that comfortably knowing there were these idiot kids being duped by drug-dealing scum like this. Yeah, that was my reasoning: I just wanted to sleep in peace.

That being said, I suppose I should start with the Academy town. Things might get rough, so I would start with going back to my room to retrieve my weapon; it was a needlessly fancy rapier the old man gave to me, but it was better than having no weapon, I guess…

“Pl-please wait for me! I will go too!”

Albert pinched the hem of my sleeve, stopping me.

I clicked my tongue again in annoyance; now this was going to be annoying to figure out.

There wouldn’t be a problem having one person tag along, but I was hesitant to involve the crown prince of a kingdom with the investigation of a criminal organization.

But at the same time, it would be hard to convince him not to come. With that in mind, I moved in close. His face turned a bright red, and…

“…There’s no time to argue, so if you want to follow me, then do it.”

Every second was important now; the sooner I could get started, the better.

After whispering my intentions and backing away, I could see Albert’s expression having brightened as he nodded in his acceptance.

“Please excuse me, Miss Doris, but please also include Prince Albert in the names to report to Instructor Pelmann. And Your Highness, please prepare a weapon with which to defend yourself.”

“Of course! Thank you very much, Lady Mylene!”

Good grief, this life of mind sure found trouble at every turn. I could let out a tired sigh.

Right now, the leading rumors were saying the absent students had either become afflicted with some strange new disease or been kidnapped by a trafficking organization.

“Heloise was absent today…”

“She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would play around with magi-drugs…”

…And of course it was impossible to stop people from gossiping.

Well, the truth would always eventually come out.

From what I had heard, most of the absent students were taken from their usual rooms and moved to a quieter side of the dormitory, apparently to live in isolation. The area was under strict quarantine, and no visitors were allowed in.

It wasn’t that they had come down with an unknown illness… No, the truth of the matter was drug use.

And when I said drug use, it wasn’t medicine that I referred to. Rather, this was a drug that induced a temporary high, a euphoria so extreme that it ruined their body and mind as a result.

They called it the magi-drug.

For an institute as prestigious as this Zelfoir Academy of Magic, it would be an irredeemable scandal if this were to come to light, and yet they could do nothing to stop their students from gossiping about it. As it stood, this magi-drug and its abusers were the main cause of the dark atmosphere at the Academy.

…Well, despite all of that, it really had nothing to do with me. To be honest, I was actually quite enjoying the peace and quiet.

In the first place, drugs were an emotional crutch, a weakling’s way of escaping their harsh reality. And really, seeing someone else fall apart was an all too sobering way of understanding the dangerous consequences of using or becoming involved with them.

For me, having seen how a magi-drug had been the final breaking point for Iltania in its final days, I knew all too well to avoid it completely.

If any of these kids got addicted, it wasn’t my business. What they did had nothing to do with me, so long as they stayed out of my way.

That being said, it was surprising to me that these brats, despite having all of this privilege and luxury, would willingly use magi-drugs.

Having learned the material ahead of time, I only absentmindedly followed along with the lesson, passing the time considering such meaningless thoughts. Before I knew it, the class was over.

And as usual, Albert and Colette came to my desk in this passing period between classes.

Our conversation topic was, of course, on the rumors going around the school about the absences.

“There are quite a few students absent now. In our class alone, there are six missing students… Do you think the rumors are true?”

“I wonder about that as well, but really it has nothing to do with us.”

“Haha, oh Mylene, as brusque as usual.”

It may be tactless to dismiss it like so, but that really was how I felt about it.

Still, it was a real downer to keep hearing about this. It was really starting to annoy me.

But since it was happening here at the Academy, there was no way that we wouldn’t eventually become involved…

While I did nothing to hide how tired I was of the rumors, Colette, on the other hand, had a subdued look on her face.

“How lamentable it is that children of noble households would turn to narcotics. Why does it happen, I wonder?”

“I as well wondered the same at first, but perhaps it is because they want for nothing that they crave the forbidden stimulation of this magi-drug, though I cannot say I understand such a desire.”

Going by the faint anger behind her words, it seemed Colette was seeing this as a ruler. I answered back with disgust in my voice.

If they had the money, it would be a safer bet to spend it on alcohol instead. Drinking wasn’t healthy either, but looking more like an adult by getting drunk was a far better outcome than falling apart after a temporary high.

But I suppose for those with money, drinking simply wasn’t enough. For some truly incomprehensible reason, they only wanted more and more excitement and stimulation.

And worst of all were the dealers distributing the drugs in the first place; well, I suppose the users were just as bad, since they created the demand in the first place with their weak will, unable to resist the appeal.

…Now that I thought about it, I suppose if Albert or Colette became involved, I would no longer be able to stay out of it. So really, I should say that as long as it affected neither me nor the people I was close to, then I couldn’t care less.

“Pr-princess Colette..!”

Then again, it wasn’t like I could stay uninvolved forever; everyone had their own friends that had other friends, and eventually something like this…

A female student burst into our classroom, breathing heavily. I wasn’t acquainted with her, but I did recognize her as someone Colette would occasionally spend time with.

“Is something the matter, Doris? What has left you in such a panic?”

Hearing Colette call her by name reminded me of something else.

Because the Academy was a gathering of children of aristocratic standing from across the land, it was not unusual for those from the same country to stick together; Albert was with me precisely because of that. Colette was no exception either, and she had a different circle of such friends.

That being said, Colette was still royalty, which meant not just anyone could so casually address her or involve themselves with her, so her own circle of acquaintances was smaller but also much more closely knit.

In fact, it should be just Colette, this girl Doris, and one other person…

“Hannah, she… they said she can’t be with us..! I couldn’t find her at all this morning, but when I went to ask the matron, she said Hannah would be moved to the isolation ward in the dorms! She wouldn’t even let me go see her!”

Colette’s eyes widened in surprise, but her expression quickly hardened.

A dark frown formed on her face; only a moment ago was Colette deriding those who would turn to narcotics, but it seemed that kind of weakness could apply to anyone.

And it seemed the person in question this time was the daughter of an influential noble close to a certain imperial princess.

“…Something urgent has happened that requires my attention, so I shall be taking an absence from our remaining classes today. Mylene, could you inform our instructors?”

Only Colette’s back was visible from where I stood, but seeing Doris’s expression was more than enough to guess the kind of face Colette was making.

I could feel an intense pressure emanating from her back — that was the intensity of her anger, most likely from discovering her follower Hannah’s moment of weakness and the perpetrators who started this entire drug problem.

“Do you need my help?”

“While I appreciate your sentiment, this is a problem for those of us from Colhoun. As the future ruler, I must be capable of solving at least this much by myself when it involves my own people.

I crossed my arms as she rejected my casual offer of help.

“Moreover, I said we are as equals, did I not? If I am to proudly stand beside you, I shoud handle this myself.”

How very like her to say such a thing, but I suppose there was nothing more I could say to her like this.

Instead, I waved my hand, as though pushing her on.

Colette turned her head to acknowledge my gesture, and I caught the slight smile on her face before she turned back and left.

She really was a passionate one. If I had been in her place, I probably wouldn’t have left just like that.

Once Colette was gone, silence fell between us.

If I respected her decision, then what I should do now was stay in class and inform Pelmann of Colette’s absence, but…

“Tch…”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, and Doris flinched in surprise.

“Hey, Doris… I mean, excuse me, Miss Doris?”

“H-huh? Ah, y-yes, Miss Mylene? Is there s-something you need from me?”

She seemed excessively jumpy in my presence, but this wasn’t something I needed to deal with at the moment…

“Could you let instructor Pelmann know that Lady Colette… and I shall be absent for the remainder of the day’s classes?”

“Miss Mylene..!”

Rather, what I needed to do was swat the annoying flies that were beginning to buzz too closely around.

If it hadn’t involved me, I would have ignored it, but now that it was close enough to bother those close to me, I will crush it without mercy.

Though she was still young, Colette was still a talented person who would go on to become the Black Lion, ruling over the militaristic Colhoun as the strongest, most talented leader their country had ever known.

I had no doubts she could handle some small-time lowlife dealer, but…

…there was something wrong. I couldn’t pinpoint why I felt it, but something in me told me I had to act.

It was as though something was urging me on, tugging at my emotional heartstrings. I didn’t know why I felt this way, but I silenced the unease that was building up in me.

…Well, I guess I wasn’t sleeping all that comfortably knowing there were these idiot kids being duped by drug-dealing scum like this. Yeah, that was my reasoning: I just wanted to sleep in peace.

That being said, I suppose I should start with the Academy town. Things might get rough, so I would start with going back to my room to retrieve my weapon; it was a needlessly fancy rapier the old man gave to me, but it was better than having no weapon, I guess…

“Pl-please wait for me! I will go too!”

Albert pinched the hem of my sleeve, stopping me.

I clicked my tongue again in annoyance; now this was going to be annoying to figure out.

There wouldn’t be a problem having one person tag along, but I was hesitant to involve the crown prince of a kingdom with the investigation of a criminal organization.

But at the same time, it would be hard to convince him not to come. With that in mind, I moved in close. His face turned a bright red, and…

“…There’s no time to argue, so if you want to follow me, then do it.”

Every second was important now; the sooner I could get started, the better.

After whispering my intentions and backing away, I could see Albert’s expression having brightened as he nodded in his acceptance.

“Please excuse me, Miss Doris, but please also include Prince Albert in the names to report to Instructor Pelmann. And Your Highness, please prepare a weapon with which to defend yourself.”

“Of course! Thank you very much, Lady Mylene!”

Good grief, this life of mind sure found trouble at every turn. I could only let out a tired sigh.

◆

“Things are as lively as usual here. There is nothing suspicious, as far as I can see…”

As we arrived at the city proper, Albert muttered his observations under his breath.

And it was as he said: the streets were busy with people walking this way and that, and we would be hard-pressed to find any place that looked “suspicious.”

All along the street were greengrocers offering fresh produce, stalls selling preserved sweets, and all a variety of shops peddling different wares.

This was the town that grew out from the Academy, whose students came from all over; in more ways than one, this was where money from across the land gathered. As a result of that, the economy was healthy and thriving, and, like Albert said, there wasn’t even a hint of a seedy darkness around…

“They ain’t stupid enough to be selling their crap out in the open. There’s probably some shady stuff happening somewhere else.”

…but that was only because they were good at hiding. And while public safety should be pretty good here, what with all the children from noble families around, there were always places to hide where the law cannot see.

It could be in some hidden backalley off the main streets or in the seedy shadows of some unpopular pub. It was easier to find back in the final days of Iltania, but even then no one was stupid enough to openly peddle narcotics where anyone could find them.

There was nobody from the Academy around, so I just explained it all to Albert in the way I usually did.

“O-oh, is that how it is? I apologize for not knowing.”

“Nah, it’s not something you’d normally see or are aware of anyway, so it’s not surprising you didn’t know.”

Albert was royalty after all, so there shouldn’t have been any possibility that he could have ever been exposed to that kind of thing.

In the first place, that should have been part of the kingdom’s public safety office’s responsibilities — that is, keeping him out of that kind of mess. Well, it wasn’t like I knew what they were supposed to do, but I guess if they were making sure he was protected where ever he went, it was surprising they hadn’t confronted me back then when we were togethert.

“Let’s get started then. So the best place to start learning would be in some seedy tavern somewhere, but…”

But for us to go somewhere like that, as we were now…

It’d be one thing to be going to some fancy bar or something, but information gathering worked best at some gloomy, out-of-the-way kind of place filled with shady-looking thugs.

“A ‘seedy tavern’? I do not think going to such a place would be a very good idea…”

“Yeah, I know. We’re not doing it that way this time.”

But those places were out of the question. Albert had put it lightly; it would be disastrous if authorities discovered students like us skipping classes to visit a bar. Even Albert, with his status as royalty, wouldn’t escape punishment.

So what we should do is…

“Albert, you got any money on you?”

“Huh? Yes, I do, but I do not have much… Oh, I see, you will be buying information?”

“Hm, not a bad idea, but any broker’ll just try and scam us, seeing as we’re only noble kids in their eyes. Anyway, just follow me for now.”

And like that I took Albert with me to a certain store.

I mean, it was just a clothing store — not a bar, nor an information broker. There was a certain card we could play here.

I dragged Albert in with me, found the appropriate clothes, and had him put them on.

And when he came out of the dressing room…

“Wh-why do I have to wear women’s clothing?!”

Albert had become a beautiful girl.

“If you’d been a bit more muscular, you’d be wearing men’s clothing instead, so really, if you’re going to blame anyone, blame yourself for that appearance of yours.”

He had on the long-skirted version of an outfit certain attendants wore: a traditional maid uniform.

“St-still..! This is too… No, well, why must we use disguises?”

Incidentally, I had on a blonde wig.

Of course, I wasn’t just having us change our appearance for fun or to show off.

There was a very good reason for all of this.

“You’re a prince, so there’s a good chance a lot of people know what you look like. For me, there’s my hair, so I need to hide that or else they can figure out who I am.”

First of all, the two of us were very conspicuous: Albert was the crown prince of Iltania, while I was the bearer of the Hair of Sulberia. As famous and noticeable as we were, shady characters would purposely avoid us in every way.

“I suppose that is true… But what do we do now that we are in disguise?”

‘What do we do now’ was it? The plan was simple.

“We’ll simply walk around town in disguise. The guys behind the narcotics are selling to Academy students, so if we just casually walk around town, there’s a good chance they’ll approach us themselves.”

All we had to do was aimlessly stroll about. That was it.

“I see..! So that is why we must hide our true identities!”

Albert seemed to quickly accept and understand what I was getting at.

There were already many Academy students who fell victim to the drug in the first place. While it was hard to tell how far the drugs have spread outside of the Academy, the fact that the town was still going day-to-day as normal led me to believe that students of the Academy were their specific target.

And if that were the case, there was no way they would not try and push their product to what appeared to be a pair of delinquent girls skipping out on classes.

So if we just walked around for a time, they should eventually approach us on their own.

“If you get it, then let’s get going. It’ll only be for today, but you can be my… my follower. Your name will be Lulu.”

“Yes, ma’am! It is an honor to serve!”

Albert seemed more than happy to be called my follower, despite this all being part of our disguise.

…We hadn’t even started yet, but I was already feeling worried — worried about both the future of our kingdom and because of how well he fit and looked in women’s clothes.

With that we left the clothing store and began wandering about. I had my wig on, so there was no chance people would recognize me as the bearer of the Hair of Sulberia, but even so we seemed to be attracting more curious stares than usual.

As embarrassing as it was to admit, it was probably because of how attractive this face of mine was. It was beautiful enough that even the old me would have stopped to stare.

And on top of that was Albert in his maid uniform. To be honest, it was still surprising how well the outfit suited him; the subdued and servile look of the uniform combined with his serious and noble demeanor created an attractive gap that was hard to look away from.

“Um… we seem to be standing out quite a bit… Is this still part of your plan?”

“It’s fine. The whole point was to attract attention.”

Well, this much attention was more of a miscalculation, but, to put it in a more positive light, that just meant it was more likely for us to catch the eyes of some unsavory character… and a beautiful woman was the best kind of customer they could catch.

“Let’s walk around some more. We need to look as natural as possible, so let’s buy some sweets and make a lot of noise like we’re talking loudly, like a normal pair of women. They should take the bait from there.”

“Understood! This unworthy Lulu shall follow your every order!”

Albert was really getting into his role. Well, while he seemed to be going overboard with his disguise, I knew he still had a good head on his shoulders; he wouldn’t slip up so easily.

…He seemed to really enjoy all of this, actually. Some of it really wasn’t an act at all; part of it was something natural to him, and that was what made Albert seem even more believable.

Looks like I’d have to step it up, too.

“Here, come try this one, Lulu. It’s a kind of chilled sweet with a weird taste to it.”

“O-of course…”

Oh man, I scared myself pretty good for a moment there; I spoke even more casually than usual as I offered something to Albert.

I had purchased this strange, melty sweet treat made with chilled milk, called ‘ice cream’ and fed a spoonful of it to Albert, who looked as though he would soon melt himself.

…Would the future of Iltania really be all right with this guy ruling it? I forced myself to hold back a sigh.

To the people around us, we must have looked like a very close master-servant pair enjoying a stroll through town; I could hear the sounds of contented sighs coming from all around us…

I really didn’t understand what was so interesting about us to them, but I suppose this was also proof that my skills in acting have improved. Not that I mean to brag or anything, but I might be more versatile than I first thought.

And like that we continued wandering about the city. Albert seemed satisfied being able to do that, but for me, who wasn’t doing this for fun, I found the lack of results frustrating.

But after walking around for a while longer…

“Hey there, li’l missy, I got something good for you, if you interested.”

A wholly unremarkable man suddenly approached us.

“…I apologize, but I was always told not to talk to strangers. Let us be off, Lulu.”

“Huh?! Oh, I mean, yes, ma’am!”

We couldn’t just go along with him just yet. Right now, we’re playing the part of an Academy student and servant pair, so the guy might get suspicious if we were to suddenly be interested in what he had to say as soon as he approached us.

“C’mon, ain’t nobody ever hurt jus’ listening a li’l. Besides, you’re a student, right? Don’t you get tired of all that studyin’? I might have a li’l somethin’, a li’l pick-me-up for the hard-working missy to help wit’ school and wit’ love, ya know?”

“…Oh? Surely you are not referring to that dangerous medicine that has been on everyone’s minds lately?”

As I answered him and took the bait, the man’s face gradually changed. What he didn’t realize was that in doing so, he too, had taken the bait I myself cast out.

“Oh no, no! Nothin’ dangerous, missy! The medicine I got is fine, perfectly good, like a folk recipe. Other medicines for tiredness are risky, but this one’s different: it won’t just make you all energized — it’ll also calm you real good. And there ain’t no risk to your body! Best of all, just taking it will make your magic better too! You’ll start doing real good in all your tests an’ stuff, and you’ll be less tired! You’ll have more free time since you gotta study less, and life will be real good!”

And just like that, our man reeled himself in on our line.

It was unpleasant listening to this guy go on and on about his miracle drug, but this was still important information I didn’t have.

Wait a minute. ‘Make my magic better’? Something like that had happened before…

It was during that fight with William. He swallowed some powder at some point, making him go crazy, but the most surprising thing was when his magical power suddenly intensified. If this drug was what he had used back then…

…We might’ve just hit something big. But we still needed information.

To use fishing as a metaphor, at this point, our guy here had his net out, ready to catch us. What I should do now was jump right into it.

“Hmm… If what you say is true, then this would be a wonderful medicine. But I am not so sure; it sounds a little too good to be true.”

“So how’s about this: I’ll give you a sample of our goods, and you can do what you want wit’ it. You can test it yourself, you can try it on someone, hell, you can even throw it away if you ain’t like it. What’d ya think, somethin’ a bit nice to celebrate our meeting, eh?”

…Did he not realize how shady he sounded? No matter how anyone looked at it, it was way too suspicious how hard he was trying to force his product on us.

“I suppose if you insist this much, then… it would not hurt to take a sample.”

“Not a problem! Thank you for your business! If you want more, just come here again; I can get you some more at a real good price! I’ll be lookin’ real forward to seeing you again.”

The man pushed a small paper sack into my hands before quickly leaving.

“The plan was successful, it seems.”

“Yep, but I doubt we’ll see that guy ever again.”

— not as the blonde noblewoman and maid, anyway.

I stowed the package in my own bag and turned to leave.

“Let’s get out of here already.”

“Are we returning to the Academy?”

“Don’t be stupid, we still have our disguises on. Unless you wanted to go back dressed like that?”

“Ah..! S-so we were, I completely forgot…”

…In no time at all, he had become completely comfortably wearing women’s clothes.

I felt a headache coming on as I pressed a hand to my face in exasperation.

◆

After Albert changed back into his usual clothes, we stopped at a nearby coffee shop.

I chose this place because there were few customers inside and it was hard to look in from the outside. The owner also seemed to not care about the customers he did have, so it was unlikely he would poke his nose into our business.

That made this coffee shop an ideal place to discuss matters we didn’t want overheard.

I took a sip of the tea I ordered – nothing I would ever call ‘tasty’ – before putting on the table the paper sack the man from earlier had practically forced on me.

“Is this the ‘drug’ people at the Academy have been talking about?”

“It most likely is. We didn’t run into anyone else suspicious besides that one.”

I whispered softly to Albert as I carefully reached into the sack.

There had only been one thing inside: a smaller paper package, sealed with glue.

I brought it closer to my ear before shaking, and I could the faint rustle of something granular against paper — an indication of powder inside.

There was something written on what seemed to be the front side of the package; that was probably the name of the drug.

“Ludus…”

And before I could, Albert read aloud the word.

I suddenly became tongue-tied; it felt as though a strange lump had formed in my throat when I heard that word, leaving me unable to speak.

Did he just say Ludus? That was a familiar name.

I quickly tore open the package and dumped its contents onto the paper bag I had flattened beforehand.

What came out of it was a brilliant, red powder. It was in that moment that I understood what was making me so uneasy.

“There should be no way. Why the hell is something like that here..?”

I mumbled bitterly, as though to spit out the disgust I felt.

I couldn’t hold back the discomfort I felt, and I was beginning to taste irritation spreading through my mouth.

“Lady Mylene? Is something wrong?”

Albert noticed I had stopped, and he looked over in concern.

“There’s nothing wrong, I was just a little surprised.”

I answered bluntly, forcing myself to calm down.

Ludus, was it? If I remembered right, it was a word that meant ‘pleasure’, and it was made by drying a certain red flower before crushing it into this fine powder.

…It was this very drug that had spread like wildfire during the final days of Iltania.

Back then, in those final days, it wasn’t so easy making an honest day’s living, and many had no choice but to turn to mercenary work to make ends meet. From there, some would turn to even shadier dealings; as a merc, it was pretty easy to catch wind of some underground deal or backalley information to take advantage of. For these types of unethical mercs, they openly talked about their latest vices, like booze, smokes, and especially narcotics.

Having listened in so often, I knew exactly when this drug, Ludus, should have begun showing up.

There should have been at least another ten years before Ludus become more common. That distinct red powder was hard to forget, so I was absolutely sure I hadn’t remembered incorrectly.

This was getting more and more suspicious…

“I was planning on returning after we finished here, but if it’s like this, I think I need to investigate a little more.”

“I see, I understand. I shall continue accompanying you then.”

This magi-drug, Ludus, had a number of effects when used.

Back during the final days, this stuff was easier to find than even the usual medicines. So many people had used it that I’d seen my share of addicts and its effect on them… but I distinctly remembered none of them suffered any physical problems from abuse.

Other magi-drugs amplified feelings of pleasure at the cost of the user’s health, and they would fall apart before long, so it was astounding that Ludus users seemed to suffer no negative abnormalities. The only thing that was physically different was how much more energetic they became after use.

Even so, that didn’t mean the drug was completely harmless.

Rather than affecting the body, Ludus actually ruined the mind: I wasn’t exactly sure of how it worked, but its most common side effect was turning people explosively violent. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that much of the killing and looting during the civil war was because of this drug, to say nothing of how much worse people acted while under its influence.

All kinds of people were willing to try it simply because it didn’t affect the body; between that, its cheap price, and its highly addictive nature, Ludus had spread across Iltania in no time. If I had to guess, I would say Ludus had played a big part in bringing about the fall of the Kingdom.

And that brought us here; somehow, the magi-drug that should have only appeared in the future was already here and even circulating through Zelfoir, a country that should’ve had a tight grasp on public order. It was as though someone was purposely, secretly disrupting it.

But there was no time to worry about the details. Right now, we had to use what we knew and figure what was going on.

“So here’s the plan: first, we’re going back to the clothing store to put our disguises back on.”

“…Huh? We will be changing clothes again? Ehehe, I suppose I have no choice but to wear those clothes again…”

For some reason, Albert looked strangely happy about this plan.

Well, whatever. I didn’t have the time to worry about it right now. Instead, I got up from my seat, crushing the sack around the powder I had spilled onto it.

I could only hope nothing had happened to Colette…

I haphazardly paid our bill and left the coffee shop without waiting for the change.

◆

“This was… not exactly what I was expecting to learn.”

That was what Albert had to say on the information we had gathered after asking around town about the drug.

After putting on our disguises, we couldn’t afford to be picky about our methods, so we began visiting the seedier taverns for information… The only problem was, I would have felt the same as Albert did had I not known about Iltania’s doomed future.

After all, the townspeople were quite happy to extol the benefits of Ludus.

The rumors from the Academy were already calling it a magi-drug, but to the people in town, Ludus was just a folk remedy or, at best, genuine medicine that improved the mood.

They were most likely on the interim stage, before the adverse side effects began to show. This was exactly what had happened in Iltania.

Of course, by ‘adverse side effects’ I meant the part where Ludus polluted the mind to the point of becoming senselessly violent.

“Yeah, but there’s still something I don’t get.”

“What is it?”

Albert returned my question with his own.

“What are they trying to accomplish, selling Ludus like this? Their goal is to make money, isn’t it? So it makes the most sense for them to start by selling this stuff at low prices and then hiking it up once people get addicted. But they aren’t doing that; we haven’t heard anything about a price increase, and it wasn’t even very expensive to buy in the first place. Hell, the guy even gave us a free sample of it.”

Normally, dealers offered their narcotics at low or no cost to hook in first-timers. That part fit, but then for other narcotics, the price should only go up from there. For Ludus, on the other hand, even after its users became completely addicted, the narcotic stayed cheap, costing no more than normal medicines and remedies.

In the first place, the victims wouldn’t even realize Ludus had created an addiction until it was too late. I remembered seeing some addicts going through particularly violent withdrawal periods, but that had to have been from Ludus usage over a much longer time.

“It is as though the people behind the magi-drug just want to spread it around and have more people use it… Is that what you are trying to say?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

The only way anything they did made any sense was if their goal was to normalize the use of Ludus — spread it around, as Albert said.

They could be raking in massive profits, but they weren’t. At the same time, even if they weren’t doing it for the money, there was definitely bad intentions behind spreading Ludus like they were.

So the question was, for what reason did they want to spread Ludus around?

In the history I remembered, Ludus had grown in popularity… right before the civil war started.

So was it that the civil war made Ludus popular and turned it into a normal habit? No, wait, considering the timing, it might be reversed…

“Are they… trying to start a war?”

“D-did you say ‘start a war’?!”

“…No, never mind. It was a hasty remark. Don’t mind it.”

“O-oh, I see…”

But despite denying it to Albert, I seriously thought more about that possibility.

We didn’t have much more information to go on, so I couldn’t help but consider that line of thought.

Why would they give Ludus out for free? Was it really to spread Ludus as much as possible? If that were the case, then it would also explain why they chose Zelfoir first: because of the Academy of Magic, a place where the children of aristocrats from across the land came together.

Even if it’s not war, then maybe what they wanted was to strain relationships between countries by getting kids addicted to the drugs.

“Tsk, no matter how I look at it, none of this makes any sense.. huh?”

As I clicked my tongue in frustration, my ears suddenly caught the sounds of scuffling coming from a nearby alley.

And then came a scream. Did this have anything to do with our investigation?

“Lulu.”

“Hm..? Oh! Yes, of course, at once!”

I used my chin to point at the alley after I called out to him using his disguise name. That was a signal for him to follow my lead.

I quietly crept in alone, though I heard soft footsteps behind me.

This dark and narrow alley, cut away from the hustle and bustle of the main street, was like an entirely different world.

There was a foul odor afoot, but I continued onward.

“Oh, how rare; It isn’t every day a child of nobility visits a place like this. Were you looking to buy some ‘medicines’?”

There stood a man wearing a hooded robe, and he stood over another man lying face down at his feet.

“…Who is that?”

“Him? He came at me telling me to stop selling my goods. He had a rather violent outburst about it, so I made him take a nap.”

I repeated to myself what the man had just said; the guy on the floor had tried to stop him from selling his drugs?

Was it because he knew what Ludus was doing to people?

“So how about it? Are you interested? I’ll even give you a discount.”

“No, but thank you for your offer. I received a sample from another gentleman a short while ago.”

“Is that right? Another time, then. Perhaps the next time we meet, we can do business.”

With that, the hooded man walked on past us and back into the main street.

But as we passed, the pendant on his chest caught my eye

This alley was too dark to make out the finer details, but… was that a horned snake motif? There were glimmering red gems where eyes would be.

It looked familiar; I felt like I’d seen that same snake somewhere…

But before I could think more on it, the man had already walked off into the light of the main street.

I could think more about that later; for now, I needed to find out what happened to this man.

“Excuse me sir, but are you all right?”

I called out to the man still on the floor.

If he knew more about Ludus, then that was more information I could use.

However, the man didn’t respond. I slowly inched closer, carefully watching him with suspicion.

“…”

And that was when I finally realized…

“…He’s already dead.”

“Wha..?!”

The man was not just out but permanently out.

Was it because he actually discovered something damning about Ludus?

I turned the unmoving man over; there were burns and scorch marks all over his clothes — evidence of lightning magic.

If they were willing to kill this man just to keep their secrets, then the group spreading Ludus around actually was a serious threat and truly dangerous.

“Wh-what should we do, Lady Mylene?!”

“We alert the guards as we’re leaving. It’ll be bad if we’re caught having to answer their questions.”

All of this was making me even more worried for Colette, who was investigating on her own.

But at this point, I could only hope she doesn’t go too far in over her head…

I turned the corpse back over and quickly left the alley. Once we were back on the main street, I found a guard, telling him about the collapsed man in the alley, before leaving with Albert to remove our disguises.

At long last, we left the town and returned to the Academy.

The entire time, Albert had on a gloomy expression; it was probably from having come up-close to a corpse for the first time.

As someone who already experienced firsthand the ruinous end of Iltania, I didn’t think it was too much of a shock considering the corpse was still intact and human-shaped. But of course, saying something like that wouldn’t help.

“We’ll end it here for now. Remember: do not tell anyone what we saw in that alley.”

“Y-yes, of course not.”

It looked like he would still struggle with this for some time… How had I reacted when I first encountered a corpse, I wonder…

Well, there was no use in wondering about things that hadn’t yet happened in this current world. Instead, it would be more useful to think over everything I learned and confirm Colette’s safety.

Fortunately, classes had already finished for the day, so we were able to return to the dormitory without issue.

And by the time I reached the girl’s dorm, other students were already there, returning from classes themselves.

But I could not find the one person I was looking for. I told myself it was surely because Colette just had not returned yet, but…

In the end, Colette never returned.