2/3 Bonus chapter thanks to @Altemer and others on Ko-fi!
Quinie suggested that the three of us enter Roach’s mansion.
She said that Kora would be subdued once we went inside.
I was skeptical, but it turned out to be true. As soon as Kora sat down at the table in the mansion, she seemed to deflate like a deflated balloon.
“……So Kora is the culprit who spread the rumors in Constel?”
“Yes. Or rather, Kora must have been the starting point of the rumors.”
Quinie stated firmly.
But I couldn’t quite understand.
The magic graffiti written on the hallway wall was of a considerable level of magic. It repelled Quinie’s magic power, and even Quinie said that ‘Edwin’ would be needed to undo it.
“……How could Kora have written magic graffiti of that level?”
“Of course, she wouldn’t have created the graffiti herself. But Kora is popular in Constel.”
“……Wait, Kora visits Constel?”
“No. But she often comes to visit me there. She can hide her ears and tail,” Quinie replied with a smirk as Kora turned her head away.
But she has hidden her ears and tail. Rather than hidden, it seemed that they had become invisible. She seemed to want to show me that she was hiding it, even though she hated me.
“It’s an invisibility spell. It’s not hers, it’s the effect of an artifact she carries around.”
When I listened to Quinie, I noticed that Kora was wearing a bracelet on her left arm.
Quinie looked at me as if to see if I understood.
“Are you familiar with it? Invisibility magic.”
“……Ah, yes. Of course.”
I wondered what Quinie was talking about, then I realized that she was talking about weaving, and quickly nodded in affirmation.
I see. Those who saw me fighting must think it is invisibility magic.
“So what does being popular have to do with it? Why is she so popular in the first place? She’s so noisy.”
“Hey! What do you think I am! I’m much older than you!”
“What? Senior, really?”
Quinie nodded.
“She’s older than me. She’s of the White Tiger’s bloodline.”
Kora puffed out her chest with an ‘ehem’.
“Use polite speech, got it?” snorted Kora, puffing out her chest.
“No.”
“Didn’t you just hear me? I’m older than you! Respect for elders should be upheld as a principle!”
What am I supposed to do.
Almost everyone I’ve fought so far was older than me. The only ones who were around my age were Robald Lieff, who I had a brief scuffle with, and then Ellencia.
Even Empress Philly, whose age is greater than mine, lets me call her ‘Miss Philly’.
“And it seems like Quinie-sunbae didn’t use polite speech with you.”
“Umm, it’s fine for Quinie.”
This principle was arbitrary.
I turned to Quinie and continued the conversation.
“So that’s why you’re popular?”
“Kora must have asked someone. To put up a magic bulletin board. Because Kora is coming to see me, of course she’ll be popular with the 3rd years. It’s not impossible for a 3rd year of Constel to put up a bulletin board with that much security. Especially if she didn’t do it alone.”
At those words, I looked at Kora.
Kora wasn’t looking at me, but she was rapidly blinking with a terribly pricked expression.
Quinie squinted her eyes and looked at Kora.
“There aren’t many people who know about my weakness. Aside from Frondier, you, there aren’t many people left.”
“…….”
“…….”
I looked at Kora without saying anything, and Kora continued to avoid my gaze.
Then, as if she couldn’t stand the awkward silence, she squeezed her eyes shut, trembled, and then shouted,
“Yes! I did it!”
Smack!
I smacked the back of Kora’s head, who shouted so confidently.
I did it without thinking, but I didn’t regret it.
Kora grabbed the back of her head and shouted at me while trembling.
“Hey! What’s the big idea!”
“What’s the big idea with you. You should know what that information means to Quinie-sunbae.”
“E, everyone would think it’s just a rumor, so I thought it would be okay! I didn’t know it would become such a big deal. I was surprised too since the bulletin board was still up. It didn’t get erased……. And besides, the wording was different from what I said.”
The wording was different?
I asked,
“What did you originally say?”
“All I said was, ‘Quinie really hates killing people.’ At that time, everyone was just sharing rumors with each other for fun. So, I joined in the conversation and then… But the poster said something completely different.”
Quinie and I looked at each other.
“Even though it’s written differently from what was said, what do you think are the chances that it accidentally got closer to the truth?”
“That’s nonsense. Plus, what Kora said just sounds like she’s trying to potraying me as a good person. It was totally off base.”
…It wasn’t off base, though. Quinie is incredibly kind. She just tries hard to pretend otherwise.
“Then, the person who wrote the poster knew the truth from the start.”
“Right. They made it seem like it was based on what Kora said after hearing her. In case they needed to pin Kora as the culprit.”
Quinie and I looked at Kora.
“What, what’s with that look?”
Quinie said.
“It’s simple, Kora. When you mentioned that story, who was listening? Or rather, someone must have subtly brought up the ‘magic poster.’ Who was it?”
That’s right. That person is the culprit. If Kora didn’t know about the ‘magic poster,’ the one who brought it up to spread rumors about Kora is the suspect.
Kora, with a chuckle, placed her hands on her waist.
“That’s easy. That person is,”
As Kora seemed to enjoy our attention,
“…Who was it again?”
She blurted out something foolish.
At that moment, I was truly infuriated.
But then, seeing Kora’s expression, my anger cooled a bit.
“…Who, huh?”
Kora furrowed her brow and, uncharacteristically, brought a hand to her mouth as she searched her mind.
“…I can’t remember.”
“Huh?”
Even after some time passed, Kora couldn’t recall who the culprit was.