My Beloved Princess ~The Boy Called Incompetent Rises with Only a Sword and the Princess's Devotion~ - Chapter 057: Fight for the Woman You Love, and Die

The castle-like main building. Turn left at the walkway passing its side before the library, and you could reach the Magic Research Building grounds.

Since talking in a rain-lashed connecting corridor was awkward, led by the Princess, Kishō’s group headed toward the shack. The Teacher Building was also on the Magic Research Building grounds, connected to other research buildings by corridors, but since none extended to the shack, they had to temporarily pass through the entrance hall and change to outdoor shoes.

Four students holding Japanese umbrellas.

The Princess walked at the front, with Kōran following behind like an attendant.

Ōka walking beside him jumped to avoid a puddle, tilted her red umbrella, and showed a smile. A somehow devilish smile.

“I see, I see. Shō-kun really is a boy after all.”

“What are you talking about?”

When Ōka plastered on a grin, it was a safe bet the topic wasn’t pleasant. Kishō answered curtly with furrowed brows on guard, and Ōka spun around with her umbrella, taking two large steps.

“Shō-kun, you’re trying to fight alone like this, right?”

“Who knows about that.”

“I can tell. You’re angry someone hurt Yō-chan, right?”

“…Well, of course I’m angry.”

“Ah! Shō-kun really is a boy. You’re trying hard for the girl you’ve fallen for.”

“Th-that’s not it.”

“Ah, you’re embarrassed, you’re embarrassed!”

Ōka giggled with a hand to her mouth. When he passed by affecting composure, Ōka also resumed walking to match his pace:

“Boys, you know, when their girlfriend gets hurt, they absolutely can’t forgive it. No matter who the opponent is, they have to fight risking their life. Die, literally.”

“What’s with that? Don’t say ominous things.”

“Because that’s how it is, so it can’t be helped.”

Large raindrops struck the umbrella. The rainfall was strong, chilly unlike yesterday’s heat. Yet somehow, Kishō felt stifled. Ōka peered up at his face from below.

“Dragonkin males, you know, absolutely won’t forgive someone hurting their consort. No matter how strong the opponent, they challenge them to battle and fight to the death. No profit calculation exists there, and no room for negotiation whatsoever. That’s the kind of species we are.”

Awkwardly averting his gaze from Ōka, the Princess walking gracefully with straight umbrella entered his view. Her long, lustrous black hair appeared to Kishō like it shone brilliantly, decorated with rain droplets. Ōka’s voice blew in from the side along with rain.

“Shō-kun, you’re half dragonkin too, so that blood flows in you. That’s why right now, you’ve resolved to protect Yō-chan. Right?”

Without denying it, Kishō quietly nodded while gazing at his beloved fiancée’s back.

◇◇◇◇◇

Arriving at the shack, the Princess said “I want to talk just with you two first” and pulled Kishō’s hand, entering inside. She arranged her bangs and solemnly began:

“As expected, Elesia Ignoosis lurks in the academy. That you were investigating the Teacher Building means you share the same view.”

“Yeah, I’m about ninety percent sure.”

Had hearing that name stirred his emotions? An unexpectedly loud voice emerged, and Kishō’s voice echoed in the narrow room.

“You said the culprit is among the teachers, right? Just as reference, do you have any prospects?”

“There’s a suspicious person. But no certainty.”

“Same here. So we still can’t determine definitively at this point.”

Jet-black eyes directed straight at him. The Princess with a serious expression bit her pale pink lips tightly, then opened her mouth as if resolved:

“Could I ask you to leave this matter to me?”

“Are you saying I’m insufficient for the role?”

“That’s not it. I’m simply—”

“I know.”

Kishō spoke as if interrupting the Princess’s words.

“But I don’t want to put you in danger. I don’t want you taking unnecessary risks. I won’t let you be hurt ever again. I’ve decided that.”

“Kishō…”

The Princess wavered her eyes anxiously, looking up from a position one head lower. Unable to withstand that direct gaze, Kishō averted his eyes.

“Protecting the pack is a dragonkin male’s duty. Right?”

The Princess drew her refined brows together as if troubled. Yet the corners of her mouth had loosened.

◇◇◇◇◇

“The missing female student is a fellow first-year, top of Lower School girls. Named Aya. Engaged to top student Seikan, dark attribute aptitude. Father’s peerage is Dragon Heaven-class, pack size about one hundred fifty. Apparently upper bloodline among commoners.”

A meeting was held with four people seated across a long table.

What was different from usual was the presence of Kōran, the academy director’s daughter, who was also in attendance. Wearing the Upper School uniform, she radiated an intensely alien presence. However, she showed no intention of interrupting the Princess’s remarks, remaining silent with her lips curved downward and her arms crossed.

Among them, only Kōran shouldn’t understand the meeting’s purpose, yet not raising a single question showed admirable attendant behavior.

“The female student went missing from around yesterday evening, but no search was conducted. Apparently the teachers judged they should observe for one day.”

The Princess explained the current situation smoothly without pause. Occasionally looking around at everyone as if asking for questions, she progressed the discussion.

“This happened around midday today. The female student in question apparently appeared at the south gate. Of course, leaving the academy is forbidden by academy regulations. Though the gatekeeper noticed and tried to stop her, she forcibly fled through the adjacent small gate.”

The four gates surrounding the academy. The south gate, Lower School’s only entrance and exit, had a large gate and small gate. The large gate was a big gate used for material delivery, normally kept closed. The small gate was basically open with several guards stationed. Since skilled guards were assembled, breakthrough wasn’t easy. Recalling the strict security at the south gate he’d passed through when enrolling, Kishō nodded “as I thought.”

“Breaking academy rules to go outside means expulsion at worst. Plus no merit in forcing breakthrough past skilled guards. If the female student were sane, she wouldn’t attempt such recklessness. Which means, it’s confirmed.”

—The female student had fallen into Elesia Ignoosis’s hands.

That existence whose reality he couldn’t be certain of. The moment doubt transformed to certainty.

“But she secured the female student as a pawn, right? Then why make her escape the academy? She could’ve thrown her directly at Yō-chan like with Alice-chan as a disposable piece.”

Ōka interjected with a question. Who answered was the meeting’s chairwoman, the academy’s top honor student— the Princess.

“Probably dispersing risk. First, hiding a female student within the academy carries too much risk. Because if discovered, she can’t talk her way out. Second, hiding a spare body outside the academy serves as insurance for emergencies.”

“Insurance meaning, she created a situation where she can bail anytime?”

Elesia Ignoosis could move between bodies as just a soul. By hiding a spare body outside the academy, if she failed at her target the Princess, she could simply transfer souls to escape the academy and flee. In short—

“Fully prepared. Completely ready to strike.”

The momentum toward war heightened, and tension filled the place.

Kishō’s first priority was the Princess’s safety. Second, Elesia Ignoosis’s subjugation. That order was unwavering, but—

“One thing I want to confirm. It’s important. Is completely destroying Elesia Ignoosis still difficult?”

“I must say discovering and destroying all spare bodies is difficult.”

Furrowing her brows as if troubled, the Princess said:

“However, if we could kill her instantly without time to activate soul transfer formulas… perhaps… I think… but…”

At that unusually hesitant manner of speaking, Kishō had an inkling.

He himself worried about the Princess and didn’t want to push her. So he intended to step forward in her place and settle things. Similarly if she too worried about Kishō and wished he wouldn’t push himself, she shouldn’t want to provide information that Kishō could handle this alone.

Then, Kishō jerked his chin toward the girl who hadn’t said a word.

“By the way, was it okay to include Kōran?”

“No problem. Kōran won’t say unnecessary things.”

“Yes, you can relax. Though I’m attending, I have no interest in your conversation. Consider me an object just entranced by Onee-sama’s beautiful profile.”

“That’s an absurd argument, but somehow it’s persuasive…”

“Mm. Also, I guarantee Kōran hasn’t fallen into that creature’s hands.”

“Well, if Kuroyō says so, there’s no mistake.”

Just as he started accepting this, another question immediately arose and he tilted his head:

“Come to think of it, you could analyze magic formulas just by touching, right? Then touching Kōran would confirm she’s innocent.”

“Correct. I can definitively state Kōran is different.”

“Then couldn’t you expose the killer by touching everyone in turn?”

A natural question anyone would think of with a little consideration. To this the Princess shook her head sideways as if regretful, saying “I can’t do that.”

“She knows I can decode magic formulas just by touch. If I move carelessly, she’ll almost certainly realize she’s being cornered. If that happens, various inconveniences arise. We should act in secrecy.”

Kishō basically shared the same opinion.

Landing a preemptive strike on the complacent killer’s face. Knowing surprise attacks were effective made it all the more crucial to avoid being noticed.

So he had no objection to that opinion itself, yet somehow Kishō felt dissonance. The type of dissonance like if he possessed the same ability as the Princess, there’d be other approaches.

CLAP!

As if severing his thoughts, the Princess struck both hands together.

“Well then, if there’s nothing else, I think we’ll end the meeting. How about it?”

Though something didn’t sit right, Kishō ultimately didn’t voice that question. Either way, what he’d do from here wouldn’t change.

And the meeting ended, relaxed air flowing into the room. Ōka collapsed face-down on the long table and made an unladylike sound.

“My head hurts from difficult talk.”

“You didn’t say a word partway through. Well, no wonder.”

“Does Shō-kun really understand?”

“Well, for the most part. Though there are parts I haven’t fully organized in my head.”

“Mmm,” Ōka groaned. Apparently frustrated.

Then while still collapsed, she swayed her body left and right like doing the crawl:

“But you know, why did she force through the front where guards are?”

“Now that you mention it. She should’ve escaped from the outer wall.”

Kōran who’d maintained silence with arms crossed and sullen face snorted mockingly.

“Are you stupid? A powerful barrier is stretched on the academy’s outer walls, so obviously she can’t get out. Doing that would trigger an alert and guards would surround her instantly.”

At that high-handed attitude, the Princess’s meager face reacted with a twitch.

“Kōran, what way is that to speak to your future husband?”

“My apologies, Onee-sama.”

“Hey! I’ll retort just in case, but don’t arbitrarily increase my wives.”

Kishō retorted dutifully, but inconvenient voices didn’t reach maidens in love. The Princess asked Kōran with a deadly serious face:

“Did you even make an effort to be accepted in the first place?”

“Yes. I got close enough to almost kiss him.”

“Liar! Don’t describe attempted power play like it was regrettable!?”

What an outrageous big liar madwoman. When Kishō really seriously retorted while spitting, this time Ōka interjected from the side.

“Second harem member acquired! Shō-kun’s popular period has finally come. Now Shō-kun’s pack will officially start up. Big sis might be really moved.”

As if the serious talk had ended, an easygoing world unfolded and fluffy air enveloped the shack. Resisting that erosion:

“Who’s big sis, we’re the same age. No, that’s not it! That’s not what’s important. I want to love just one person. So I don’t need a second.”

“That’s right, Ōka. Not second, but third.”

“Hey, wait a minute. You just counted Ōka, didn’t you?”

“Of course. The second is me in the first place.”

“Ehhh!? Yō-chan’s saying weird things again!”

“It’s fine, don’t count me. Just think of me as Onee-sama’s accessory.”

“You shut up because you’re making this complicated.”

The easygoing world Ōka unfolded swallowed everything and temporarily restored everyday life. However, that was only for a moment. That night, another incident would occur.