Volume 1 - Epilogue

Three days have passed since Colette Kidnapping Incident.

Or at least, that was what the rumor that went around was called, the rumor that lasted until the noon of the following day. In the end, because she seemingly came home overnight, Colette became known as a delinquent that would randomly go off and have fun without telling anyone.

But only a few students knew the truth of the matter: that Colette really had been kidnapped, and, had things gone even slightly wrong, we would have been facing an international scandal — or war, even.

“…As you may have heard, your previous teacher, Instructor Pelmann, suddenly resigned. And so I, Instructor Ibrahim, shall be in charge of you all.”

The students of the classroom chattered in disappointment as they listened to the new homeroom teacher and heard the news of Pelmann’s resignation.

It was better for them not to know — or rather, it as already unfortunate for them they had unknowingly become caught in something bigger. It was kinda like when random civilians had been caught in the crossfire when Colette led Colhoun’s sudden invasion into Iltania in my previous life.

Either way, since Colette didn’t want it to go public, the incident quietly resolved itself upon her return.

Only some soldiers, officials, and Academy instructors knew the dark truth behind the rumors that had gone around for a time. For everyone else, the stories about the magi-drug became little more than an urban legend, and the rumors about the cause of the absent students had changed to be about a sudden cold epidemic.

“Now, without further ado, let us begin today’s class, shall we? And, let’s see, today we have… three absent students.”

Even so, it had only been three days since the incident, and the Academy was already beginning to change.

There were two main things: the first was that some of the absent students were finally returning to class.

After it was clear what Ludus did and that there had been a cult behind it, the students with milder symptoms were able to leave quarantine.

Those students were the ones that only tried Ludus once and were too scared to try the drug again after its effects had worn off.

This Ludus seemed less addictive than I remembered, and that difference was probably what let its victims break away from its influence.

Meanwhile, the remaining students in quarantine were undergoing treatment for their withdrawal. And at the moment, only Albert, Colette, and I — not to mention the students who had used Ludus but recovered — knew that those students would be able to return after they overcame their problem.

Unexpectedly, the use of Ludus hadn’t caused any sort of stir; it seemed like Zelfoir’s leaders were pretty clueless about what to do about it. At the same time, it wasn’t like these kids would honestly reveal to their own parents that they were using some shady substance, nor would these kinds of parents suspect their own kids of doing so in the first place.

No, the biggest thing to happen was just the Academy trying to cover it all up; as much as they espoused cooperation and world peace, the Zelfoir Academy of Magic was just a gathering of noble children from various countries — a place ripe for conflict from misunderstandings. Honestly, this whole high society thing was so much more complicated than what I’d thought it was like, back in my previous life.

But in the end, nothing really changed at all, and life at the Academy returned to the usual peacefulness.

Our replacement homeroom teacher didn’t seem to be as strict as Pelmann, and I could hear the other students in the front row whisper amongst themselves without a care.

“Hey, why do you think Instructor Pelmann just went and resigned?”

“Beats me, but… I heard someone say he was going back to his hometown to take care of his parents.”

Yep, nothing changed at all… with the exception of the disappearance of a certain teacher.

The other students at the Academy seemed to have really trusted him, but since this class only spent the past month with him, they were sure to forget about him before long.

And just like that, the peaceful days of my school life soon returned.

It might’ve been because it was still early in the term, but lessons like this — learning about things I’d already studied about — was just plain boring. But it suddenly occurred to me that not only had I worked hard every day in my past life, but even after I became Mylene, not a day had gone by where I wasn’t either training or studying. Really, this might be the first time I’ve ever been able to spend so leisurely… and it didn’t feel bad at all.

As I lazily reviewed the lesson material, the homeroom teacher eventually left, and another teacher took his place.

“Good morning, everyone. Shall we get started then? Today we shall be going over the history of our land.”

Three of these teacher swaps went by, and before I knew it, fourth period had begun.

And that was history class. It wasn’t something I was very interested in.

…Now that I thought about it, compared to the history I knew, this current history will probably become something completely different.

After all, the drug that should’ve appeared ten years from now was already out in the open. Besides that, Iltania should also be safe from destruction by Mylene… or, well, I was doing what I thought I should to keep it from happening, at least.

In any case, it was a bit ridiculous to put any effort into learning something so uncertain.

And so, as the lecture went in one ear and out the other, I thought about more important things.

What first came to mind was that Gods of the Moon group.

Pelmann had been part of that cult, but from what I remembered of the previous history, the Gods of the Moon should have also only come out into the open ten years from now.

I remember they made a lot of noise, shouting insults toward Iltania the god and calling Iltania the nation a cursed kingdom for worshipping a ‘vile god’. They also incited the people, directing anger towards Mylene and calling for the downfall of the bearer of the Hair of Sulberia, the symbol of Iltania’s Blessed.

I gently brushed back that same Hair of Sulberia, tucking away an errant lock that had gotten loose from the wind as I thought back on what happened in the past — or rather, the future that had yet to come.

Back then, I had thought the Gods of the Moon was just some rabble-rousing group that was formed at the time to stoke the people’s building anger over Mylene’s tyranny. But now I wasn’t so sure; in this current history, the Gods of the Moon already existed, and they still seemed to hate the existence of Mylene and Iltania the god.

As for their goal, well, Pelmann first said something about me being a suitable vessel for their god or something, but then he went on about taking my head and using it as an offering? I really didn’t know what to make of the things he’d said at the time…

On the other hand, given everything that had happened, would that mean Iltania — and the gods Pelmann mentioned — were real?

“And then… The king at the time, Lorenzo Zelfoir, ordered the Academy of Magic to be built.”

I pretended to be taking notes as the teacher prattled on, but in reality I was putting together a diagram of everything I knew about the Gods of the Moon cult.

Pelmann mentioned they wanted to create a world befitting their god — or some such — and that they needed Mylene’s body to do so.

He kept mentioning a ‘world of chaos’ or something, and yet here his group was spreading Ludus around at a school for children of noble families. Then there was the case with Colette, where Pelmann had hesitated to do anything to her because he considered her a valuable part of their plan.

Putting that all together, I could only suspect that these guys were trying to start a war.

No, wait, or maybe the war was also part of it all, too. Actually, what if their true goal was Mylene’s body? If Mylene’s body was necessary to summon their god, then that would mean the war they were trying to start really was just part of their plan…

Would that mean the civil war I remembered from my previous life… was all part of their plan? They were the ones behind it?

It seemed like too big of a stretch, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but worry now that they had already gotten started on their plan in this current history.

So then why was it that the magi-drug that should’ve shown up ten years from now already showing up now? Why did these cultists move their schedules forward? There had to be something different now compared to then that would make these people alter their course.

The difference… was Mylene, wasn’t it?

In the history I remembered, Mylene had been a selfish tyrant already bumbling her way towards self-destruction. Because of that, those Gods of the Moon guys probably knew they only needed to give the nation a little push to set them on Mylene in the future.

But in this current history, while I couldn’t predict how the future would turn out, was completely unlike the previous one: the current Mylene was me, after all. And because of how I was, the cult must have felt inconvenienced enough that they needed to speed up their plans or something.

Honestly, this was all a bit much for me to take in like this. In the first place, it felt ridiculous basing my thoughts around the final words of a lunatic — one that killed themselves at the very end to keep their secrets, at that.

At the same time, I couldn’t dismiss his words so easily when I personally already experienced an even more absurd reality: that is, how I, a mere mercenary, somehow traveled back in time and became the woman that was the cause of the very war that led to my death.

That being said, I suspected this wouldn’t be the last I’d hear from those Gods of the Moon guys. I was sure they would not only continue trying to lead the world into the worst possible outcome but also to aim for my life, too.

I almost clicked my tongue in annoyance, despite being in the middle of class.

Despite my personality, to the Academy, I was a well-performing student. My efforts here would eventually give way to more cards I could play, which was why I diligently put effort into my studies.

Instead of clicking my tongue, I let out a quiet sigh, just as a bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes.

“Oh, is it that time already? Let us end our lesson here for today then. Please stand!”

We all stood, following the teacher’s words, and bowed before sitting back down. And so ended our morning classes.

Now was the time for the usual lunch break before classes resumed for the afternoon, but…

There was one other big change in my school life.

“Lady Mylene! It is finally noon! Shall we have lunch?”

As usual, Albert had come over to greet me. This was no different before, but the problem here was how I was getting used to his reverent attitude toward me… Well, other than that, nothing had really changed between us.

“Mylene, let us have lunch together. I heard they will be serving the smoked pork you like today.”

What had changed the most was the third member of our group: Colette.

She wasn’t saying anything different from what she always did, but… her gaze, the eyes behind it seemed more intense, and it felt like she spoke with more passion than she used to.

“Um, of course..?”

The dignified voice that I was used to, the proud voice reminiscent of the empress I remembered, was gone. Instead, I could only hear the sweet voice of a lovely girl, a tone that befit her age.

It was like… No, wait, I shouldn’t be thinking of it like that. I really shouldn’t, but…

“Um… Princess Colette? Why are you walking behind me? Should you not be walking alongside me as usual?”

“Hm? It is only natural for me to be here, Mylene. After all, in my country, it is the rightful duty of those who are weaker to keep behind and support those who are truly strong. Does Prince Albert not do the same?”

She said as much, but her blushing made it all too clear this was a reality that I shouldn’t be thinking of and yet couldn’t escape from.

I had felt like something was different right after we rescued her, but I never would have guessed it was…

“…Hey, the hell happened? Weren’t you supposed to be trying to make me yours or something? How is acting like this supposed to win me over?”

“Ahh! Oh my, how aggressive..!”

I brought my face close to whisper, but that only served to make Colette’s face even redder than before.

“…Nothing much happened. Simply put, when you rescued me back then, Mylene, I realized my own misunderstanding in wanting to make you mine.”

From beneath her flushed cheeks and passionate eyes, Colette gave a smile.

It was a shy smile, but the affection behind it was all too clear…

“In that moment, when you had come for me, I knew it was not my place to make you mine, for you had made me yours. That is the truth of the matter.”

…After all, it was the smile of a girl in love.

…I could feel a major headache building up. Albert was fine, but… Wait, no he wasn’t, but we could at least keep his personality under wraps within the country.

But this? There were too many issues at play now; Colette was a princess — of the same gender! — of another country, and that country, despite being Iltania’s ally, was one of the strongest countries in the world!

The hell was I supposed to do with this? Really, the more I thought about it, the more it became obvious that my problems only continued to grow after coming here to the Academy. I was starting to think it would have been better to just stay home.

“Is… is that so..?”

“Indeed!”

I didn’t know what to say, so I gave a vague response, to which Colette replied with great cheer.

I took a step back before burying my face into my hands as I tried to understand this free-spirited girl, the princess who was harder to manage than Albert.

I wasn’t a very smart person, and there were already a bunch of things I was worrying about. I really wanted the people around me to stop piling on more issues for me to deal with…

Cursing my problems was all I could do, but eventually I found myself arriving at the cafeteria. I ignored the usual stares and sat down at our usual table.

“Ah! Wait! Princess Colette, why are you sitting next to Lady Mylene?! Your usual seat should be right across from her!”

“Why, since that seat is my ‘usual seat’, should I not be allowed to sit beside Mylene as well? I say, Prince Albert, perhaps it would do you well to learn some grace.”

And before I knew it, Albert and Colette had begun arguing over which of them would be sitting besides me.

Ugh, seriously? They were so loud and annoying.

…But I guess, at the end of the day, it was better to be loved than to be hated. What surprised me most was that I didn’t actually dislike this feeling.

And as I watched their ridiculous argument…

…a casual, breezy giggle escaped my lips.

The sound of my laugh caused the two to immediately stop to stare at me.

“What? Got something to say?”

The sudden change in their behavior caused me to react instinctively.

“Er.. ahem. Is something the matter?”

I quickly tried to gloss over my blunder, having remembered we were in the cafeteria and with people watching.

“J-just now, Lady Mylene, that laugh was so refined, so elegant…”

“How mesmerizing… The Mylene just now was truly beautiful… No, wait, I do not mean to suggest that the usual Mylene is any less beautiful..!”

“…The two of you: please stop saying such embarrassing things.”

I desperately held myself back from using my fists to pound the sense back into these two; they were saying embarrassing things with straight faces, and all I could do was to turn away.

Only a moment ago they were locked in a heated argument, and now they were complimenting my appearance, among other things, in perfect harmony.

Deep inside, they really were the same. Honestly, that kind of weird tic was why royalty was so… Oh. That was the reason why I laughed just now.

It was silly to be so worried and serious about everything with these two around. That being said, it seemed I was actually quite suited for this new life of mine.

…It was true; at my core, I was just an uneducated merc. And for that uneducated merc, it was pointless to think so hard about things.

The only real thing I had to worry about was having the power to get rid of anything that would stand in my way. I clenched both fists as though to confirm my own words.

Well, I don’t know how much power I have now, but… If I have enough power to beat even a god, then there wouldn’t be anything to worry about, right?

Either way, whether it was Iltania, or one of the patrons of the Gods of the Moon cult, if they chose to stand in my way, I would simply put them in their place.

Until that time came, I would simply live my life like the proper lady I now was.

I sniffed lightly as I vowed to myself.

Albert cut in with a “Now this is the usual Lady Mylene” while Colette added in her own “I feel safer when she’s like this.” Ah… it really wasn’t easy being a lady.