Impossible.
“Where do you dare… that filthy mouth…”
Colette Bloodberry felt a shame so intense it could tear her guts out, not from the destructive pain rising in her back, but from being overwhelmed by the demon race before her.
‘Impossible! Impossible!! How dare a brat like that…! How could they possibly overwhelm me, who is about to become the next Magic Deity?!’
Spitting out the blood pooling in her mouth with great difficulty, Colette pushed herself up from the ground with trembling hands.
Who in the world would have expected her to lose to a fifth-grader from the elementary section of Cosmos Academy?
She herself had only imagined how to cruelly toy with Murmur, so this defeat was unacceptable.
“Well… that’s how it is…”
The defeated one, sweating profusely from her forehead, deludes herself.
She dismantles and reassembles the situation at will. Unable to accept the cold reality, she could only console herself in this manner.
‘An elementary school brat couldn’t have learned summoning magic… There’s no way they could know…’
She painfully dredges up a cold truth.
‘That’s why they perfectly exploited the loopholes in Dual Casting… Yes, that makes all the stories make sense.’
She covers the result that torments her the most with her palm.
‘The reason Her Highness the Crown Princess sent me to Cosmos Academy was… that. Yes…’
Colette wipes the blood flowing from her nose and glares at Murmur before her.
A brat with pale, white skin.
A monster with high, red horns.
A small, soft-bodied bug whose head doesn’t even reach her waist.
“Hehehe… As expected, I am a genius mage… destined to become the Magic Deity…”
Blood dripping from her mouth, Colette finally creates the truth she so desperately desired.
‘The reason I couldn’t find the sealed Demon God was simple…! Yes! Yes! The Demon God hadn’t awakened.’
The rigid adult, unable to accept her defeat, conjures a vile, filthy smile.
‘This brat. This brat is…!’
Finishing her thought, Colette raises her right hand high.
“Apologize to Esme. As an adult, you must take responsibility.”
“Yes… kekeke… Well said. For a demon brat, you sure know how to talk about responsibility.”
Colette begins to gather all the magical power in her body.
“Yes! As you said, I’ll take responsibility! If you’re the flesh and blood of the Demon God, then it’s an adult’s responsibility to kill you right here─”
“Stop it! Aunt Colette!”
Esme, shouting in a sharp voice, pushes aside the staff trying to stop her and rushes forward, spreading her arms wide in front of Murmur.
With her small body, there’s no way she could block the massive fireball Colette created, but Esme rushed out anyway.
To protect her friend.
“Esme…”
“Auntie… you lost! You lost the duel!”
“… What a truly stupid and filthy thing to say. Esme. The duel doesn’t matter at all.”
Colette looks at her niece, Esme, standing in front of Murmur, and further amplifies the fire element gathering in her palm. It was a blatant attempt to use advanced magic, not the intermediate magic she had used so far.
“The bug behind you is the flesh and blood of the Demon God. Do you know that? If you are the young lady of the Bloodberry family, you must kill that monster.”
Colette cackles in a way that sends shivers down one’s spine.
“The flesh and blood of the Demon God? What’s that?”
“Is what that lady said… possibly true? Balkan?”
“The Demon God? Isn’t that the god the demons worship?”
“I think I’ve heard of it… Didn’t they all die a long time ago?”
The people’s doubts naturally shift in the direction Colette wanted.
“So Count Colette lost…”
“If it’s the flesh and blood of the Demon God, isn’t that dangerous?”
“But is it true? Is it real? Not just made up on the spot?”
“If it’s the Demon God, it’s dangerous! This is why demons are no good!”
The common sense that had just been betrayed made Colette’s story incredibly sweet to those who had just been betrayed.
There’s a vile reason why a fifth-grade demon brat had to defeat a powerhouse who was about to become the Magic Deity.
They tore apart the sweet delusion with their hands.
How sweet is it? Isn’t it easier and more familiar than the uncomfortable, bitter truth that the little girl before them did her best to defeat Colette?
“Now, step aside. Esme.”
“… No.”
“Didn’t you hear your aunt? The trash behind you…”
“Murmur isn’t like that!”
Esme shouts, spreading her arms even wider.
“The Demon God’s… I don’t know! I don’t know about that! Murmur is just a good friend!”
The small, delicate young lady shouted her best to show how absurd the delusion people were tearing apart was.
“Cute and…! Kind! A good friend who worries about me… Esme enough to duel with Auntie!”
“Ah… I see. Esme.”
Colette nods. A glimmer of light briefly swirls in Esme’s eyes.
“You… keep making disgusting statements that throw our family into the trash. Aren’t you ashamed before your mother?”
“Auntie…?”
“If you’ve been seduced by demons, there’s nothing we can do. It’s an unavoidable matter.”
Colette grips the massive flame gathered in her palm.
“If you like demons so much, then hold hands and burn to death together!”
Even though Esme was still protecting Murmur, Colette didn’t even care.
This woman had never cared about her niece from the beginning.
“Now, stop it.”
“Kuh, ugh…!”
Colette’s hand, holding the massive fireball, was caught by the ‘Cosmos Academy Headmaster,’ wearing black gloves, and couldn’t move.
“Cosmos… Headmaster?!”
“I heard you came for official business from the Magica Kingdom, so I tried to accommodate you as much as possible. But if you act like this, I get angry too.”
“You… you…! You snake-like woman!”
Colette tried to move her hand, but she couldn’t. Her hand, as if frozen forever, was twisted while being held by the Cosmos Headmaster.
“Kuhk! This, this! Let go!!”
“Me? I don’t think I can do that for you. Count Colette.”
“You… idiot!! Can’t you see?! That bug is the flesh and blood of the Demon God! We have to kill it here!”
Even as Colette grits her teeth, the Headmaster, with a sly smile, holds her hand without moving it an inch.
“A bug? There are a few bugs on the playground.”
“Wordplay…! Murmur! That demon over there!”
“Miss Murmur is a precious student of our Cosmos Academy.”
The Headmaster lightly twists Colette’s right hand.
“Ah, ahk…!”
“Whether it’s the flesh and blood of the Demon God or trash, I can let it slide if it’s just a filthy-mouthed noble spouting nonsense. But I can’t overlook someone trying to harm a precious academy student.”
“How… dare…! How dare!”
The Headmaster smiles brightly.
“Yes, I dare. Cosmos Academy was built on the duchy bestowed upon me by His Majesty the Emperor, and the owner of this land is the woman holding your hand.”
“Damn… it!”
The Cosmos Headmaster lightly pushes Colette’s butt with her knee, sending her sprawling.
‘There’s no way I can win against this woman…’
Colette, having exhausted most of her stamina and magical power in the duel with Murmur, belatedly accepts reality.
Even if she had been fully prepared, she couldn’t have beaten the Cosmos Headmaster.
“Cosmos… Headmaster… You’ll regret this.”
The Headmaster doesn’t even respond.
“And Esme…! Don’t think I’ll let you off for tarnishing our family’s name!”
Colette, starting to flex her power again at the child, points her finger once more.
“Auntie! Aunt Colette!”
“You’re holding onto trash and calling it precious! You’ll regret it!”
Esme trembles but doesn’t run away.
And in front of her, ‘Nicasia Holimpia’ slowly walks out.
“Count Colette Bloodberry. You shouldn’t speak like that, should you?”
“Ah… who is this? The princess who likes to play friends with filthy demons?”
“Count Colette, you’ve been recklessly using the inheritance your niece should receive.”
Nicasia’s voice is so cold and calm that no emotion can be felt.
“Niece?”
“What’s that about? Inheritance?”
“Hey… idiot. Didn’t you know? Esme’s parents were both killed by demons!”
At the people’s murmurs, Colette shows a pale expression for the first time.
“Princess Nicasia… choose your words carefully…”
“No. I’m just telling the exact truth. The assets you’re using recklessly now belong to Esme, don’t they?”
“Hohoho… Well, Esme is still young, so…”
“Ah, so that’s why you managed it like that? Giving Esme the ‘Bloodberry Family Heirloom,’ slapping her face, stripping her underwear to spank her butt, and whipping her thighs so hard they couldn’t be covered by stockings… I must have misunderstood the bad rumors.”
The people’s gazes quickly, really quickly, turn cold.
“That kid… isn’t she still in fifth grade?”
“If you hate demons so much, why don’t you do it yourself? I don’t get it…”
“Isn’t that it? Even in Britannia, there was a woman who poisoned her sister to monopolize the inheritance.”
“What, so the story about Murmur was just an excuse? Just to kill Esme and… wow.”
“Esme has been acting strange since morning…”
“The princess said it, right? Isn’t it true?”
“You… you… trash… who don’t even understand the situation… how dare…!”
Colette mutters, her eyebrows twitching.
“Count Colette, I didn’t know you had such a story. I’m sorry. I heard you took Esme’s heirloom and only gave her an allowance… I’m sorry.”
Nicasia bows 90 degrees to apologize, but it’s meaningless. It only stirs up public opinion more.
“Ni, Nicasia…”
“I’m sorry, Count. I misunderstood that my friend Esme was being mistreated… I spoke out of turn about the Bloodberry family’s private matters. I apologize.”
Princess Nicasia apologizing to Count Colette.
Murmur and Esme hugging each other.
The Cosmos Headmaster stating the obvious that harming an academy student is unthinkable.
“… Does the princess need to apologize? That lady is trash, right?”
Someone’s remark is perfect for igniting the already oil-soaked ground.
“Boo! Colette Bloodberry!! You should be ashamed!”
“Come to think of it, you lost the duel!!”
“Bark like a dog! Crawl on the ground like a dog!”
“Where do you discipline a young niece like that?! It’s just taking out your anger!”
“Apologize! What kind of trash tries to kill their own niece?!”
“You… you…”
Colette Bloodberry, her face pale, takes a step back, but there stands the Cosmos Headmaster with a sly smile.
“Eek…”
Turning her head, she sees Princess Nicasia, smiling and stepping aside.
“I… I…”
Trembling, Colette finally kneels under the fierce jeers from all sides.
“Apologize to Esme.”
At Murmur’s words, Colette presses her head to the ground.
“Esme… I, I was wrong.”
“Count Colette. Can’t you apologize better than that? You were quite eloquent when I saw you at the imperial palace last time.”
“Es, Esme… I tormented you, treated you badly… and recklessly used the assets you should inherit. Please, forgive me, I was really wrong.”
Colette’s apology has just begun, and Esme has no intention of forgiving.
“That’s not the apology Esme wants to hear. Say it again.”
Colette Bloodberry ends up having to repeat a satisfactory apology to Esme several times in front of the people for over an hour.
* * *
“You must have been really scared. I’m sorry! Both of you! I’m really sorry! I wanted everyone to know Colette’s dirty secret…!”
Nicasia, her nose red, comes out and hugs Esme with one arm each, lifting her up and rubbing cheeks.
What are you doing, really? Am I a teddy bear?
“Ugh! But thank you! Princess Nicasia. I didn’t even know such a secret existed.”
“I also looked into it just in case… and found Esme’s parents’ will.”
“Huh? A will? There was such a thing?”
“That bad lady hid it.”
Nicasia finally puts me and Murmur down on the ground.
Now I can finally rest.
“If she hid it… then…”
“Yes, Esme. Everything in the Bloodberry Duchy is yours, as you thought.”
I already knew, so it’s not surprising. Saying it out loud, who would care about the words of a ‘fifth-grade demon child,’ and who would believe it?
“Then…! Then! The mansion is mine too?”
“It was originally yours.”
“The garden too? My mother’s room too?”
“Yes. Haven’t you been able to enter until now?”
“She said it was dangerous and told me not to go in, ah! Come to think of it, can I go into the storage room too?”
“Of course. It’s your house, isn’t it?”
What kind of life did this kid live under Aunt Colette?
“Then… then… I can properly pay Pearl’s salary too?”
“… You haven’t been paying her until now?”
“She always said she couldn’t receive the young lady’s allowance.”
Pearl was Esme’s maid, right? So she had such a story too.
Esme starts smiling brightly, spreading her fingers one by one. She must be deciding what to do first among all the things she couldn’t do until now.
“Phew… Murmur is tired. So tired, it hurts. I want to sleep in my room.”
“You really worked hard today, Murmur… Shall I take you to your room?”
“Wait! Murmur!”
I’m really sleepy, tired, and hungry.
Esme, her eyes sparkling, grabs my hand tightly and speaks.
“Murmur… my mom said if you receive help from a friend, you must repay the favor.”
“Murmur is fine. Just being friends with Esme is enough.”
I don’t want to complicate things by saying I want more and exchanging favors, especially when the situation is already tangled.
I’m already very anxious.
“Don’t say that! Ahem! I, Esme Bloodberry, want to formally invite Murmur, who shed blood and sweat for me, to the mansion.”
“Invite…?”
“Umm… to eat cake together, have a pajama party, laugh, play, and make noise. You don’t have to be at the academy on weekends, right?”
What is this? There was no such event.
“Congratulations, Murmur. You get to eat your favorite cake.”
“Ah! I want to invite Princess Nicasia too, is that okay? It’s more fun with three than two.”
“Oh my… that’s…”
Nicasia is extremely happy but her eyes flicker strangely.
“… Nicasia is Esme’s friend too, right?”
“Yes! That’s right! Princess Nicasia is a friend now, right?”
“Ah! If that’s the reason, then anytime, you’re really welcome! What kind of pajamas would be good? Should we buy new ones? Matching ones for the three of us would be nice too!”
Nicasia, smiling brightly, gently grabs my shoulder.
What? Why? What’s going on?
“Esme… imagine. Murmur in fluffy wool pajamas would be so cute.”
“I don’t want to wear that─”
“Great! Let’s do that! Murmur! We’ll go shopping too, okay?”
Do I really have to wear that? Are you serious?
Is this an April Fool’s joke?!
