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The Traveler Who Arrives in Spring Brings Death to the Academy – Part 01

By the time Rapunzel was twelve, she was the most beautiful child under the sun. The witch locked Rapunzel up in a high tower that had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top. When the witch wanted to enter, she stood below and called out:

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair.”

—The Brothers Grimm, Rapunzel.

---

—Prologue—

It was contained in a small body.

So for a long time, the people of that country were unaware of its existence.

It took the form of a little girl.

So no one noticed.

The bizarre darkness sleeping deep within the layers of luxurious ruffles and laces.

A maze.

A terrifying brain that would serve as the first step in changing dark history.

It lived quietly inside a little girl named Victorique.

Victorique’s brain was a vast, dark, bizarre and complex maze. No one could even catch a glimpse of it, let alone understand it. Victorique was like a lone king without territory or subjects, so to speak. An enormous land. Vast knowledge, and a Wellspring of Wisdom. Victorique was always bored. So she holed herself up in a library tower that reached to the heavens and read books. For a long time, no one came there.

A woman who knew her murmured, “I think bored means she’s lonely.”

But now a vassal was about to arrive.

The vassal was a small boy with black hair. Born in a distant foreign country, he had an unfamiliar skin color and a good-natured, yet somewhat stubborn look to his face. His name was Kazuya Kujou. He had come a long way across the sea. He climbed the library tower…

And finally met her.

---

The year is 1924.

Sauville. A small country situated in a corner of Europe, with a long and grand history, bordered by France, Switzerland and Italy.

If the Mediterranean coast, known as a summer getaway for the nobility, was the opulent entrance to Sauville, then the Alps were the secret attic of the vast castle. At the foot of the mountains stood St. Marguerite Academy, a prestigious school for the children of nobility.

It was a spring day this year when a girl and a boy met.

A mysterious girl named Victorique, known as a Gray Wolf, holing up in the library tower of the school, and a foreign exchange student from a country in the Far East, Kazuya Kujou.

---

Kazuya Kujou was a serious boy.

You could say that that was his only redeeming trait. On top of that, he was hard-headed, quiet, dull, and bland.

He was the youngest among four siblings. His oldest brother was a martial arts master, the second a brilliant inventor, and his beautiful older sister was a dancer.

Although he didn’t possess any unique trait, Kazuya was the most serious and had the best academic record. Thanks to that—and because he was the third son, he did not have to succeed as head of the family—his father, the patriarch, decided that it would not be a problem if he were to have an unfortunate accident in a foreign country and could not return home. And so he came to the academy in the Kingdom of Sauville, which had recently begun accepting exchange students from allied countries.

His father was a military man, and he would always tell Kazuya that as the third son of an imperial soldier, he must be this and that. Kazuya himself was always careful not to screw up. As the third son of an imperial soldier, he had to maintain a serious attitude.

“Kujou! Kujou!”

One day, a little past seven in the morning.

The usual Kazuya would wake up in his room in the boys’ dormitory, wash his face, comb his hair, change into his uniform, and go downstairs to the dining hall with firm footsteps.

All the children of nobility slept until the very last minute. Kazuya would usually be up before there was any student in the dining hall. At most, the red-haired, twenty-something, sexy dorm mother, would be sitting cross-legged in a round chair, reading the morning paper with a cigarette in her mouth. Since he was an oriental, and not of noble blood, barely any boys welcomed him. He didn’t have any close friends yet. To avoid feeling lonely, he deliberately chose to be up earlier than the rest.

However, that morning…

Kazuya was in the middle of washing his face when he was startled by a woman’s voice and a banging on the door. He opened the door with his uniform on.

The sexy dorm mother with fiery-red hair and a glamorous body stood there, looking drowsy.

“Good morning,” Kazuya greeted. “I-Is something wrong?”

“Good. I thought you’d be awake. Go buy some cheese and ham!”

“…What?”

The dorm mother dragged Kazuya out of his room and shoved something that looked like a sandwich into the pocket of his uniform.

“Wh-Wh-What’s going on?” Kazuya asked, confused. “Buy cheese and ham? Me? Where? Why?”

“More specifically, I need you to buy 500 grams of ricotta cheese and a kilo of ham. From the morning market. I forgot to go shopping yesterday.”

Kazuya shoved his tie into one of his pockets. “Why?”

“I was on my way to the grocery store, when I ran into a friend who invited me to a dance party. So I danced, had some wine, and came back. Empty-handed. So go, quick! I don’t have breakfast to serve everyone. I’ll get fired! Hurry!”

“I meant why me?”

“Because you’re an early riser. And wimpy… I-I mean compassionate. Yes, compassionate!”

The dorm mother dragged Kazuya down the stairs and mercilessly kicked him out of the dormitory.

“That sandwich is your breakfast,” she said, her plump, curvy figure swaying. “I’ll be boiling some water and cutting the bread. Hurry up!”

“Uh—”

The door slammed shut.

For a while, Kazuya just stared sleepily at the door. Then he sighed.

“…Okay.”

Reluctantly he started for the main gate.

---

Ever since he was young, women always casually asked Kazuya for favors. It was his sister, he believed, that said it was a talent of his, but Kazuya didn’t think so. If he carried himself with dignity, like the son of a soldier, he would not be asked to do things—or worse, run errands.

He passed through the main gate. Walking down the gravel road to the village, he sighed.

Kazuya Kujou, a quiet and straight-laced man who was extremely timid around women, had a surprising side that he had never shown to anyone. A secret that he kept even from his family and friends. Kazuya was, in fact, quite the dreamer.

Behind his serious and rigid mask, he imagined a wonderful encounter with a beautiful member of the opposite sex. He secretly believed that everyone would one day meet their own girl. In his case, she would be pretty, and they would get along well. Perfect for each other, as though God himself brought them together.

If his father were to find out that he was thinking about such things, he would not only be embarrassed, but would probably get slapped back and forth for not being manly enough.

But somewhere out there is my girl…

Hurrying down the road, he heaved another sigh.

Let’s say, this morning…

He let his imagination run free.

Maybe I bump into a cutie who’s in a hurry. I would ask: “Ça va?” And she would say: “Ça va bien. Merci.” When our eyes meet, she falls in love with me.

Kazuya snapped back to reality. Shrugging, he laughed at himself for imagining such a clichéd scenario.

That doesn’t happen in real life. Anyway, gotta buy the cheese and ham quick and return to the academy. I’ve been studying here for six months and I’ve never been late. The third son of an imperial soldier is never late. Gotta move…

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flicker of motion. A passerby, he decided. Though it was unusual for anyone to be out on the village road so early in the morning.

So anyway, my girl…

Quickening his pace, he dove back into his imaginary world.

I’d prefer blonde hair. Gold is a beautiful color. Dazzling hair that’s nowhere to be found back home.

Suddenly, there was a screeching of brakes.

Kazuya had just turned a corner, thinking about blonde hair and what not, without looking ahead. There was a loud, crashing sound, followed by a hush.

Kazuya came to his senses. “…Huh?”

A shiny, German-made motorcycle had slammed into a low stone wall enclosing a vineyard. It seemed as though it failed to turn the corner and hit the wall at a very high speed. Kazuya’s face turned grim as he realized that if his timing had been a little off, he could have been run over.

A large man wearing a black helmet was sitting frozen on the motorcycle, shocked perhaps from the accident. Kazuya opened his mouth to give him a piece of his mind, but he became concerned when the man remained motionless.

“Um… Ça va?

There was no reply. He took a closer look and saw the man’s stiff face, his eyes wide open and unblinking.

Here I was, hoping to bump into a cute girl, but instead I ran into a huge dude on a motorcycle. Lame. It can’t possibly get any worse than this.

He sighed once more.

And then things, in fact, got worse.

Something fell to the ground and rolled.

It was the man’s head.

Kazuya screamed.

The man’s head rolled around with its helmet still on, coming to a stop at Kazuya’s feet. It was looking up at him with a frozen expression.

“Ça va?” he asked the head.

There was a sound, like water spraying from a fountain. Kazuya glanced up and saw blood spurting out from the base of the man’s neck, painting the headless corpse and the motorcycle crimson.

Kazuya screamed again.

In the distance, the morning sun glittered, shining down on the lush vineyards. It was a pleasant morning.

Running not into a girl, but a headless corpse…

Kazuya knitted his brows into a deep scowl.

I wish I’d never studied abroad.

He let out a deep sigh…

…and fainted.