Chapter 158, Convinced by the Existence of a Certain Something (: Fake)

Translator: Nonon

Proofreader: Silavin

 

POV: Mary

 

I snuck out from the school festival clean up to see Violet’s group off. I did get permission beforehand though.

It’s not like I’m slacking off. I just want to see them off as a friend before we part ways.

It’s totally not because I felt embarrassed to face Vermillion and the others after they asked me to dance at yesterday’s school festival wrap-up, hugged me, tried to kiss me, and fought over me, resulting in everybody in the Luna class helping out with cleaning up after the school festival. I just want to see my friends, Violet and Mr. Clo, off.

… From the outside I must look like a terrible woman. I know I’m infuriating for running away when I know so many people are in love with me.

That being said, I am not going to stop living the way I am now. Eventually I want to get used to it so I don’t run away.

 

“So I came to see you off. I’ll miss you, but I look forward to seeing you again someday.”

“Thanks, Sue… I mean, Mary.“

 

I was holding Violet’s hand and saying goodbye in front of the facility where the Warp Stone was located.

It seems like she’s not used to calling me by my name yet, but I’m glad she’s trying.

…Maybe it would be better to just call each other by nicknames. I think I saw a manga with a similar storyline in my past life. It might be a good idea to greet her with ‘Hey Vio!’ the next time we meet.

“Hahaha, I might come over to play again in a while, so I’ll be in your care then!“

“Yeah, I look forward to it. By the way, are you okay now?“

“I threw up so I’m fine now.“

“I see… wait, you threw up?“

“Yeah, after that I accidentally ended up drinking more alcohol thinking it was water. Because of that, my dress was completely ruined.“

“I see… you have to be more careful.“

 

She was also saying goodbye to Kriemhild, whom we bumped into in front of the facility.

They both expressed regrets about their parting like we did… but I felt like Violet’s expression was more natural when she was with Kriemhild. As expected, they’re that much closer because they were friends since Violet was at the academy. I’m a little jealous, but… but I’m the one who drove her out of the academy, so it’s probably impossible for us to suddenly become friends. One day, I’ll work my way up to the point where we’ll be so close that we’ll go into hot springs together and fondle each other’s chests…!

…Looking at it this way, things are pretty complicated. In a sense, Kriemhild is somebody who had her place stolen by me. And the Heroine and the Villainess getting along so well is just weird—oops, let’s not go down that lane.

 

“…I will see you again someday too, Your Highness.“

“…Yeah.“

 

Violet also said goodbye to Vermillion, who saw me sneak out and followed me.

The atmosphere was full of mixed feelings, but I felt like it would become worse if I stuck my nose in there. If somebody had to be involved, it would be better if it was somebody else like Kriemhild or Ms. Cyan. Besides… Yesterday when we parted with Violet, His Highness seemed a little different.

That wouldn’t be something possible or allowed in Ring of Fire – oops. I should only use that knowledge as a reference.

 

“By the way, where’s Mr. Clo?”

“He went back first to prepare for the ‘Re-Coming Medusa’ (warp-stone).”

“I see, it does take some preparations to use it.”

 

Hearing my question, Apricot was somewhat wary at first, but since we had formed a good rivalry after yesterday’s battle, she replied.

Yesterday I realized that in terms of magic, she’s probably on par with Vermillion or even better. She might become my junior next year, so I’m looking forward to that.

And I would also like to have a long talk with her one day. Many of the names of her techniques strike a chord with me, so it might be a good idea to talk about magic names next time.

The alternative name she came up with for the Warp Stone is nice too… especially the ‘Re’ part. I wonder if it should be spelt the western way. For a second Vermillion looked puzzled by what it meant.

 

“Oh? Speak of the devil-, hm? Is there a problem?“

 

When the topic switched to Mr. Clo, he came out of the building.

At first I thought he had come back to tell everybody that it was time to go because the preparations had been finished, but judging from his expression, that didn’t seem to be the case.

How should I put it… he looked infuriated?

 

“What’s wrong, Clo? Is the procedure taking too long or something?“

 

And noticing that, Ms. Cyan asked Mr. Clo… by the way, I wonder why there is such a deep slit in her habit. Is it torn?

 

“The procedure doesn’t take time. Lady Violet, Gray, Cyan and Apricot can use it right away.“

“Then why — don’t tell me…“

 

… The Bulstrode Siblings were going back to the Valentine Family, so it was understandable why their names were not mentioned in the people he listed. But, with the way he worded that…

 

“Yeah, that bastard banned me from using the Warp Stone to go back.“

 

◆

 

“Sorry, Heartfield. I never thought my Brother would do something so sneaky… or should I say, he’d want to harass you that much…”

 

To summarize, when he checked before coming to the capital, everybody had the permit to use the Warp Stone, but when he checked now, Mr. Clo’s permit had been revoked- or rather, Mr. Clo’s magic powers had been blacklisted and his right to use them had been revoked.

 

“No, there is no need to apologize, Your Highness. That guy is the one at fault.”

“… You’re really calling my Older Brother ‘that guy’ in front of me, huh? But I guess it can’t be helped.”

 

The one behind this was Second Prince Carmine…  I’ve never met him, but he seems to be a sneaky person who loves to do things other people hate.

Apparently returning to Shiki by carriage would take 10 days even with minimal rest, so cutting off fast-travel for Mr. Clo seems to be an effective method to annoy him.

 

“I’ll talk with them and get it lifted right away. It’ll take some time because the process would require a specialized tuner, so it should be lifted by tonight.”

“Thank you very much, Your Highness. However, it’s okay. The reason I was put on the blacklist so easily was because I was already on it… Besides, if I stay, the order to the military force to arrest me would probably be reinstated. That guy knows that, so he’s trying to make me waste time by making me go back with a carriage or something like that.”

“Hmm, that’s… you’re right, I can’t do anything about that suddenly even with my authority…”

 

I asked Vermillion about this, and if I remember correctly, Mr. Clo almost killed Prince Carmine in a duel… or so was the story.

I heard that since it happened during a duel, it could not be treated as a serious matter and he ended up being hated by the Queen because of that. That’s why, it might be difficult for Vermillion, who’s not the Queen’s Son, to remove Mr. Clo from the wanted list.

 

“Alright, then I will come with you too. I can’t bear to be away from you for almost half a month, Lord Clo.”

 

W-wow… Violet spoke without hiding her affection. Vermillion also seemed surprised by her words.

… If she acted this way from the start, she might have had a chance with Vermillion too— no, that’s a very rude thing to think about. I’m sure she said this exactly because she’s talking to Mr. Clo.

 

“I appreciate your thoughts, but it’s okay… I have a means of transportation he doesn’t know about which will get me home in about the same time as you guys.”

“Means of transportation? … Do you mean…”

“Yes, exactly.”

 

A means of transportation that would allow him to return home at the same time as the others?

I wonder what it is.

Warp Stone is undoubtedly the fastest means of transportation. Even if he were to travel to Shiki by carriage, it would be impossible in this world for him to move at the same speed as the others. – Wait, Violet realized what he meant too? She’s looking at him as if thinking ‘then it’ll be fine.’ And for some reason Kriemhild seemed to understand it too.

 

“Ah, there she is. Heeeey.”

 

As Vermillion and I looked puzzled, Mr. Clo looked up at the sky and waved. What might it be? Is there something in the sky?–

 

“Did. You. Call. For. Me. Clo.”

“W-who is this?!”

“Stand back, Mary.”

 

What appeared was a being you could find in sci-fi stories, which landed before us making a gurgling *gogogo* sound.

Enemy? Is this an enemy?

Is this an apostle sent by the awakened defense mechanism of an ancient civilization to destroy modern culture?

 

“Mary, Your Highness. You may be surprised at this sudden encounter. She’s Ms. Robot, and a citizen of Shiki. She might look flashy, but she’s a good citizen.”

“You. Flatter. Me. I. Am. Robot. Please. Forgive. Me. For. Not. Showing. My. Real. Face.”

 

… I see. This really isn’t the world of ‘Ring of Fire’.