Chapter 50
Episode 78: Heading to Spica with Friends
Our A-team planned to spend the long vacation in Spica City, so we arranged to meet in front of the academy, where a carriage had been prepared.
Since Selen-sama had returned to the palace, I headed to the meeting point alone and was the first to arrive.
After a while, Cantera showed up.
「Good morning, Cantera♪」
「Morning, Ren♪ Looking forward to today! (Selen in casual clothes is just too cute ♬)」
「Yeah, let’s have fun♪」
Next, Stratos arrived.
「Good morning♪ I thought I came early, but it looks like two people were already here (laughs).」
「I came from the girls’ dorm, after all (laughs).」
「Ren, looking forward to spending time with you today♪ Your uniform looks great, but your casual outfit is super cute too!」
「Ah, t-thanks!」
『Tch, that Stratos…』
Finally, Selen-sama and Slaine-sama arrived, and all of the A-team was gathered.
「Oh my, everyone came early, didn’t they?」
「That’s why I told you we should hurry!」
「The carriage isn’t here yet, so it’s fine, right?」
「Good morning, you two♪ The carriage will be here soon, so just wait a bit.」
Shortly after, Brad-san arrived with the carriage, and we all got on, heading toward Spica City.
During the ride, we enjoyed chatting and reminiscing about the subjugation training, and after safely arriving in Spica City, we headed straight to the longhouse, where I introduced the three boys to Mom.
「Mom, I’m back♪」
「Welcome back, Selen♪」
「Mother, it’s been a while. This time, I’ve brought Slaine-sama, Stratos, and Cantera with me, so please take care of them.」
「Sei, you’ve become even more beautiful♪ And thank you, boys, for getting along with Selen♪」
「Yes.」
「You’ve rented accommodations, right? I’m sorry our house is so small.」
「Not at all! Just being able to greet you, Mother, is more than enough.」
「It’s just a simple meal, but I’ll prepare dinner for everyone, so please stay for that.」
「Thank you very much.」
That evening, we enjoyed Mom’s homemade cooking while chatting about the academy. After that, the boys headed to their lodgings, while we three girls took a bath and then went to bed, ending the day.
*Click…* 〘Mind Communication: S Rank〙
※Allows conversation with a chosen person within one’s consciousness.
➖➖➖ Three-Person Alliance Perspective ➖➖➖
「Hey, Selen’s mom…」
「I could tell she was Selen’s mother just by looking, but even compared to my own mother, she’s so beautiful and youthful (sweats).」
「Do you think Selen will become that beautiful? I’ve never felt so nervous looking at a woman before (laughs).」
「Beautiful, kind, and also a talented cook… I didn’t know someone that perfect even existed…」
※They were all surprised by Carmen’s beauty, but none of the three knew her true appearance, concealed by a disguise.
–
Episode 79: Troubling Elements
「Why are we in Spica City during vacation?」
「Yeah, I didn’t expect the cute girl to be from such a backwater…」
The twins of the Leone Kingdom’s royal organization, the 【Carved】, had arrived in Spica City.
Thanks to information from Count Barios, they learned that his son would be spending his vacation with the prince, princess, and Selen in her hometown.
While they were pleased to have their investigation targets gathered in one place, they quickly realized that this remote countryside would make their investigation more difficult than anticipated.
The small, tight-knit community in this rural area meant that if they asked too many questions, rumors about outsiders would quickly spread.
Plus, it wasn’t exactly a place where students would stay for long periods.
Two weeks at most would be reasonable.
The twins decided to lightly investigate the area around Selen’s house and how she would be spending her time in Spica, before returning to the Imperial capital to report back to Count Barios and the kingdom.
「Tomorrow, we’ll figure out where the prince and the cute girl’s house are, right?」
「Yeah. Since we twins stand out, we’ll split up.」
「OK. I’m going to sleep now. That long trip wore me out…」
The next day, the twins acted separately to track down the prince’s lodging and Selen’s home.
Although Spica was in the countryside, the nearby dungeon meant there were many hunters, and thus, quite a few inns.
However, they concluded that the prince wouldn’t be staying in a run-down place, so they started their investigation with the more expensive inns.
Their investigation proved difficult.
To obtain information about the guests, they needed someone willing to divulge it for a bribe, but high-end inns were well-guarded and tightly run.
As for investigating Selen’s home, it would be easy to find if they simply asked around as her schoolmates, but doing so would expose them.
In a small town like this, word would quickly reach Selen if someone was asking about her family.
In the end, they decided to patiently monitor the inns and watch for people entering and leaving, hoping to discover where the prince was staying.
They had no success on the first day, but on the second night, they finally spotted the prince and his companions.
「So it’s just the prince, the noble kid, and Cantera? Looks like the princess and the cute girl aren’t with them.」
「They’ll probably go out tomorrow. We can tail them then and see if they meet up with the others, right?」
「Yeah, tomorrow’s the real start!」
At last, the twins had found the prince.
–
Episode 80: A-Class Heads to the Dungeon
The day after we arrived in Spica City, we gathered at the longhouse to meet up with Slaine-sama and the others before heading to the dungeon.
I informed Mom and Selen-sama about the 【Daily Gacha】 I drew the previous day, which included 【Telepathy】, and after they agreed, we were now able to communicate at any time via thought.
I felt a little bad for not telling the other members, but since I haven’t built the same level of trust with them as I have with Selen-sama, I suppose it can’t be helped (sweat).
「Good morning.」
「Good morning♪ The other two are still getting ready, so just wait a little bit for them, okay?」
「「Yes!」」
Once we were all ready, I hugged Mom before leaving.
「Mom, I’m heading out. I love you!」
「I love you too, dear!」
「I’ll be off now, Ma’am.」
「Take care, alright?」
After saying our goodbyes, we set off by carriage for the dungeon, arriving about an hour later.
「We’ll proceed through the dungeon, keeping in our A-team formation. Cantera, since you’re the scout, I’m counting on you to detect any presence around us. And just like in our subjugation training, you’ll handle the frontline defense as well.」
「「Understood!」」
「Alright, let’s move out!」
Thanks to our experience in subjugation training, we moved quickly through the dungeon and managed to clear the boss room on the fifth floor by the end of the first day.
It felt like we were making good progress, so we used the teleportation array to return to the dungeon entrance and called it a day.
I sent a telepathic message to Mom letting her know we were returning, and then we headed back to the longhouse for dinner.
After finishing dinner, we had a brief reflection meeting and then called it a night.
「That went smoother than expected.」
「It’s because we’ve been through subjugation training! We’ll probably make it to the tenth floor tomorrow.」
「Are we just going as far as we can this time?」
「Yeah, I think we can probably reach the thirtieth floor.」
「Wouldn’t that be a new record for the deepest floor?」
「Brad cleared the fortieth floor, so we should be fine♪」
「I’m looking forward to it♪」
After chatting a bit with Selen-sama, we went to bed.
➖➖➖Twin’s Perspective➖➖➖
「Hey, the prince and his group are heading out.」
「Alright, let’s follow them to where the princess and the cute girl are.」
The twins tailed Slaine’s group when suddenly…
「What is this strange feeling…?」
「Damn it! Jarmel, retreat!」
The strange feeling they sensed was from a detection barrier set up by Mystique.
It was designed to forcibly dispel anyone using stealth the moment they entered its range.
Jarmal noticed the barrier and tried to retreat, but Brad wasn’t going to let him escape that easily and restrained him.
「You’re from 【Carved】, aren’t you? If you resist, your head will roll. Understand?」
「Yeah… I’m no match for someone from 【Shadow】.」
「Now you’re going to tell us everything you’ve learned.」
「We value our lives, so we’ll talk…」
Thanks to Mystique’s barrier and 【Shadow】, the twins were captured.
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