Chapter 8
She’s Too Cute
“Yo, Sieg. You’ve been hanging around that first-year girl a lot lately. Won’t your princess Liselotte be upset?”
A month had passed since the start of the new semester.
After not showing himself for a good while, a friend of mine decided to tease me the instant he opened his mouth.
“Your information is quite out of date since you’ve been playing truant for a while, Art. There were some misunderstandings between Liselotte and me earlier, but that’s all settled. We’re getting along famously right now.”
Upon hearing me answer him with a smile, he looked a little surprised, but he seemed to find my answer more amusing than the gossip since he laughed.
Art, or rather, Artur Richter. Even though he was only the son of a count, we had been friends ever since we were young.
“Although… You’re just as flashy as ever, Art.”
In an unusual style for a man, he had loosely gathered, rose coloured hair that stretched all the way down to his waist. It was quite a sight, especially since the ends of his hair were dyed a deep shade of red.
His eyes were only an ordinary shade of hazel, but since they were part of such an unusually handsome face, it was a relief to have somewhere to look that wasn’t exhausting.
“And just as always, you can’t keep your eyes off me at all!”
Art laughed, his voice like that of a tenor.
It was hard to put into words just how much I appreciated having someone that I could speak so openly with despite my status as the Crown Prince.
Although the Richter family had only been bestowed their countship by the Royal family, many of their descendants had received the favour of the Gods over the centuries, and they stood in high standing with the Church.
Art also had an exceptionally strong aptitude for healing and recovery magic, so he split his time between studying at the academy and working at the Church.
He had been ‘playing truant’ for a while to assist the priests in recovery and reconstruction work in the wake of the floods out in the western counties.
Although I suppose the most peculiar thing about Artur Richter, to any onlooker, was just how we spoke as equals.
“So, just what do you think of that little Miss Finne? She’s cute, isn’t she? Any thoughts of eloping? It’s gotta be an elopement, right?”
As Art pestered me about it, I crossed my arms and glared at him.
“Of course I won’t be eloping with her. I’m not you, Art.”
Since Art was most likely going to become part of the Church when he graduated, he had a lot more freedom from his House due to his lack of a fiancée.
I’d already heard rumours about him and the girl who worked outside a shop in town.
Of course, I was aware of my position and wouldn’t do anything to hurt Liselotte.
As I tried to have him back off the subject with a low tone of voice, Art just shook his head.
“Oh, so scary. Are you really the type to get angry about japes like that…?”
He’s saying that if he had asked that before… I would have had a different response?
No, even if I still misunderstood Liselotte’s intentions, I wouldn’t have ever done anything so insincere, right?
No, truly, it’s not just because I think that Liselotte is so incredibly cute that I wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings, okay?
“Now, now, I was just joking, but still, Miss Finne and I are pretty similar, right? The Church asked me to look into it. Could you introduce me to her?”
Ah, so that’s it. I gleaned Art’s meaning from those words.
Certainly, it would be correct to say that Finne possessed a strong aptitude for healing and recovery magic.
“…Well, similar, huh? Similar…”
As I pondered vaguely, Art looked at me dubiously.
“How should I say it… Miss Finne is… Well, she’s much more of the offensive type than you are.”
He looked even more dubious as I continued.
“Eh, what do you mean by that? I heard that she and I had the same aptitudes?”
That’s right. Both Art and Finne weren’t good at using the offensive magic that typically called for flame and water elements.
At least, when it came to regular methods…?
“Well, you’ll know what I mean when you see it. I’ll introduce you to Finne.”
I gave up on trying to explain.
When it came to things like that, seeing really was believing.
Taking the still confused Art along with me, I decided to introduce him to Finne.
“A match would probably be the best way for you to understand. You and I, or perhaps you and Baldur, can form a team and take on Finne.”
“Eh? Wait wait wait. Two on one? I don’t think there’s anyone who can actually take us on if we work together, you know? My cooperation with Baldur Riefenstahl isn’t quite as strong, but we’d be quite compatible, so wouldn’t it still be too much?”
Baldur specialized in fighting by imbuing his sword with magic, so while his offensive power was considerably high, his other attributes were lacking.
Art, who specialized in supporting magic, would probably serve as a great partner.
I focus on balancing out both defense and offense, but since I’ve known Art for so long, our teamwork made it seem as if we could read one another’s minds.
If you thought about it normally, it sounded like I was proposing to bully a first-year student, especially since the aforementioned student was a girl.
“But if you fought her alone, you’d be cut down instantly, right?”
To really understand Finne’s style, you have to face terror head-on.
Likewise, if Art was defeated immediately, he wouldn’t know what hit him.
As I said that casually, Art stared at me like I’d gone mad.
“…Miss Finne is a recovery magic user, right?”
There was a note of apprehension in his voice now.
“You’ll understand when you see it.”
Once again, I gave up trying to explain the unexplainable.
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To put it simply, Miss Finne had a ‘unique’ fighting style.
The strengthening and recovery magic that she would usually cast on other people for support, she cast on herself instead.
That way, she raised all of her physical abilities to incredible levels then, of course, used her fists.
『Is this the so-called Acolyte of the Punch!?』
『Woow… She really is aggressive, huh? Just where did the cute and cuddly heroine Finne-chan who just wanted to do her best to protect everyone go?』
As I watched Art team up with Baldur to face off against Finne in a practice duel, I once again heard Endow and Coebayashay’s venerable voices echo through the air.
That’s right, she is incredibly aggressive.
Looking over, I saw that Finne had lit her fists on fire and was pummelling Baldur into a corner, the latter desperately looking for a way to escape the onslaught.
They were weak flames, but they did their job to augment the already terrifying power of her small fists, so every swing seemed to be quite dangerous.
By the way, Art had already tasted her punches.
Barely a couple of minutes ago, Finne had taken advantage of a lapse in Baldur’s judgment to dive straight towards Art, who was relying on Baldur’s protection, and launched him into the air with a strong uppercut.
Her magically amplified speed coupled with her small frame made her a terror to try and keep up with in the midst of battle.
“Kuh…. I yield!!”
Baldur, who had been struggling to keep step with Finne after losing the backup of Art’s support magic finally declared that.
『Strong！Finne is the strongest！』
『At this point, no matter how you look at it, can’t it be said that she’s too strong? This really does feel different from the 【Game】after all.』
As I watched Finne and Baldur shake hands after the end of their battle, I cast recovery magic on Art.
“W-Woah…”
Art, after regaining consciousness, walked over towards Miss Finne.
Well, if that guy was able to walk straight away after regaining consciousness, I was sure he could handle the rest of his recovery himself. I don’t need to worry about him.
By the way, Miss Finne is much the same. It’s said that even if she lost an arm, she would reattach it and keep fighting until all the villains had been smacked down. Actually, there’s a precedent for that. It was a story from before she entered this academy.
As I watched Baldur, Art, and Miss Finne happily chat about their mock battle, I suddenly felt a pang of worry.
I had thought that since I heard the voices of the two deities, Liselotte should be present as well, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Why is that?
In the 【Game】that the two venerable ones talked about, Finne was the main character, and until the day that they bestowed their favours, they could only see things from Finne’s point of view.
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Yet although Coebayashay had decreed that she was following Liselotte after bestowing her favour on her, Liselotte hadn’t appeared even though the match was over and I could hear the voices of the Gods.
『Liselotte is secretly watching over what’s going on in the courtyard as she hides behind the topiaaaaaary!』
『In fact, she’s watching Sieg the most, isn’t she? It seems like she’s trying to figure out just how close he is with Finne-chan when she isn’t around, whilst also watching over Finne-chan.』
…What the hell? That’s way too cute.
Then again, Art and Baldur are here too.
And right now, to any onlooker, it would look like the two of them are trying to compete for Finne!
The moment I took a step towards them, pretending not to have noticed Liselotte behind me, a sharp voice echoed before I had the opportunity to call out to them.
“My, what an awful din you are all making. Even the library was swallowed up by your shouting.”
Liselotte finally made her appearance, brushing aside her blonde curl with a flick of her hand.
『Well no, actually, the truth is that Rize-tan went straight to see Sieg after school, but when she tried to call out to him, she noticed that Art was with him so she didn’t, and in that way she kept following after him in secret until she called out to him just now.』
Just how cute can she be?
As I listened to Coebayashay calmly say that, I kept a straight face.
Not because I was particularly stoic, but rather because it was just so cute that I didn’t know how to react.
“Lady… Liselotte…”
Because Liselotte had appeared so suddenly and so curtly, Finne looked a little cowed as she backed away, showing none of the fiery Finne from the match a few minutes ago. Meanwhile, Art and Baldur stepped forward as if to shelter her.
Half of that temper of hers is just her trying to cover up her embarrassment, so you shouldn’t be so nervous.
“Wellll, you sure are in a good mood today aren’t you, princess? I admit we might have been a bit noisy, but it’s not Miss Finne’s fault. Please be satisfied with my apologies instead.”
As he said that, Art took Liselotte’s hand and tried to kiss the back of it.
SMACK!
Her hand slapped his aside strongly.
Every time Art tried to make frivolous passes at Liselotte like that, he was severely put into place.
Even though Liselott always glared at him like she would a filthy bug, it didn’t seem to discourage him much.
“My business right now is with Finne.”
Speaking with a polite curtness after smacking his hand away, she walked past Art and stood in front of Finne, who had changed into sportswear for her practice match and was wearing a holster on her hip.
“Ah, it’s true after all. Such a deplorably shabby wand…”
In that way, Liselotte took Finne’s wand and held it in her hand.
“If you use such a thing, aren’t you only going to cause trouble for others?”
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In the same breath, Liselotte strongly gripped Finne’s wand in the middle and broke it apart with her hand.
“Oh my, it really must be defective after all, to be broken so easily…”
『Liselotte broke it on purpose!』
『But if Liselotte could break it with so little effort, it really must have been dangerous? If it broke like that while Finne-chan was channeling magic, she could be really hurt.』
Looking at the shattered piece of wood that used to be a wand with cold eyes, Liselotte threw it aside, making Art and Baldur look incensed.
But, after hearing her real intentions through the voices of the Gods, I calmed them down with a quick gesture when they looked ready to yell angrily.
Certainly, if Finne used such a wand, it could end up being dangerous.
Well, not that she really used wands.
A magic wand is a tool that is used to channel magical energy over a distance.
If you’re casting magic on yourself or something you’re touching directly, it’s unnecessary.
‘I don’t know if I really need to use it, but it feels like something I have to wield to be a proper magician…’ Finne had told me earlier.
As if to back that up, Finne didn’t seem particularly shocked by her wand suddenly being broken.
“A poor tool reflects a poor owner, don’t you agree? Therefore, I will give you my spare wand, which should be a little better than that defective thing. Will that do?”
As she said that, Liselotte took out an incredibly expensive looking, top-of-the-line wand that appeared as if it had been custom built to fit both Finne’s hand as well as her magical attributes from her dress pocket.
Since Liselotte’s magic favours balance like I do, it wouldn’t suit her at all.
Ah, what the hell, she’s too cute!
I, as well as Art and Baldur, who seemed to have finally grasped the situation, did our best to keep straight faces. Art struggled to stop the corners of his mouth from turning up, coughing to suppress his laughter. Endure it…!
『Ohhh, it’s the wand that Liselotte had specially made but has held on to for a week while worrying out of her mind about just what to do with it!』
『I see, so she was wondering how to give it to Finne-chan? I thought it was strange how she was constantly fidgeting with that wand in her pocket whenever she was near Finne-chan.』
Ah, I’m done for.
After hearing Endow and Coebayashay’s words, I covered my face with my hands and looked up at the sky.
SHE’S TOO CUUUUTE!!
After a few seconds of bashful agony, I once again returned to my incredibly enjoyable work of watching Liselotte.
Meanwhile, Finne didn’t seem to quite understand just how valuable the wand really was. She stared at it in confusion, but Liselotte kept holding it out with a silent straight face, desperately fighting her embarrassment.
“F-Finne, I suggest you take it…”
“That wand isn’t bad at all. Ah, you should think of it as an apology from Liese for breaking your previous wand and take it.”
As Art struggled desperately to swallow down his laughter, Baldur awkwardly encouraged Finne.
Liselotte eyes twitched as she turned to stare daggers at the two of them but, yeah, that only made her look all the cuter.
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