Colette Bloodberry.
With her silky, beautiful brown hair grown long enough to reach her hips, she was a woman destined to become the “Magic Minister,” the leader of the wizards in the “Magic Kingdom.”
“Answer me, our niece.”
Aunt Colette, whom I always admired and thought was amazing.
“The Demon Race… they are the enemies of the Bloodberry family.”
“Yes, you said it very well. Then what should we do?”
“We must do our best to walk the path of magic.”
“And?”
Colette spoke in a gentle voice, softly gripping her niece’s trembling shoulders.
“…We must.”
“Say it louder.”
“We must kill all the Demon Race. We must become heroes and eradicate every Demon Race in this world.”
“What if you can’t become a hero?”
“Then I will become friends with the hero and, no matter what, work together with them to kill all the Demon Race in this world.”
Colette slowly inhaled and raised the corner of her mouth.
“You seem to remember well, our lovely niece.”
“Because I want to be like Aunt Colette.”
“But… why did you take a class so friendly with that filthy Demon Race?”
The pleasant time with my aunt was now over.
“That’s…”
“Esme, Esme… my pretty niece. What are the Demon Race to us?”
“They are our enemies! Enemies we cannot spare a single one of!”
“Yes, so why did you take a class so friendly with that Demon Race?”
Esme’s lips trembled.
“Murmur is…”
Esme recalled the class she had today.
Unlike the stories she had heard all her life, Murmur was kind. She wasn’t evil or malicious, didn’t look down on her for having stronger magic, and didn’t whine about not wanting to lose Nicasia.
She was a good kid.
A good friend.
Even as a fifth-grader in the elementary section, she knew right from wrong.
“She’s… a good kid.”
“Ah… what are you saying, Esme.”
“Murmur was kind! Auntie! Listen to me…”
“Nonsense! Those of the Bloodberry family must think of them as enemies! We must kill every single one of them without leaving a single one alive!”
Colette shouted roughly, tightly gripping Esme’s small shoulders.
“A-Auntie…”
“Have you forgotten? Or are you pretending not to know? Esme? My beloved niece. Your mother was killed by the Demon Race.”
Esme’s face turned pale.
“You were too young to remember.”
“No… I do.”
“You’re still too young to understand! The Demon Race are the enemies of humans! Even now, they are plotting evil schemes to eradicate us all!”
─ Kwaaaak!
“We have a noble duty. To assist the royal family, protect the hero, and ensure not a single Demon remains on this land.”
“But…”
“There are no good Demon Race in this world. Remember how my sister was killed, your father was tortured horribly and died.”
Esme shed a single tear.
Even this young child knows that much. That’s why she hates the Demon Race. At first, she really, really didn’t like Murmur.
But in today’s class, it was different. She was a good kid.
She couldn’t possibly think of her as the same as the trash who brutally killed her parents.
“I know. I know very well, Auntie!”
“Do you really know?”
“I know. There are really bad Demon Race in the world!”
“Yes… my sister… that excellent and kind child… Ah, I can’t tell you what happened that day because you’re still not an adult.”
Colette sighed.
“She died regretting being born a woman.”
Esme didn’t understand what that meant.
But the story that the Demon Race are terrifying and must be avenged is one she has heard so often it makes her head hurt.
“But Auntie…!”
“Esme, if you’re going to talk nonsense, be quiet.”
“Princess Nicasia! She played with Murmur too! The three of us took magic class together! We even did a group project and did really well!”
Esme spoke with a forced smile.
“Esme…”
“Murmur’s magic was really amazing! It was as amazing as the princess’s…! She never boasted and even adjusted to me! The princess even hugged me!”
“That doesn’t matter, Esme. Group projects… they’re just things that happen in Academy classes, right?”
“Esme doesn’t even use transformation magic!”
“Ah, my niece… Esme…”
Colette gently stroked Esme’s cheek.
“But the princess…”
“Esme, it seems you really need to be disciplined.”
Esme was startled and took a step back, but her shoulders were grabbed again.
“N-No…”
“Esme! Listen well! Your parents were killed by the Demon Race! My sister went through something terrible! We have a duty to avenge the Demon Race!”
The child’s sincerity didn’t reach the hardened adult at all.
Colette rather pitied her.
“How pitiful! The Demon Race are such trash? They have good faces, say nice things, and try to reassure us!”
“Colette!! There’s no need to punish her so severely…”
“Shut up! What do you know, you servant?!”
Colette growled roughly, pushing away the servant who approached with a burst of magic from her palm, and grabbed Esme’s waist.
“The Demon Race are all trash. Your mother was deceived and killed like that! The family’s legacy was burned to nothing!”
“A-Auntie! Auntie! I was wrong! I was wrong!”
“You don’t know… you don’t know… So, Princess Nicasia liked that Demon Race? Then let me tell you.”
Colette grabbed Esme’s skirt and pulled it down, then grabbed her underwear and pulled it off.
Esme struggled desperately in the adult’s arms but was eventually forced to cling to Colette.
“A-Auntie! Don’t hit me! I was wrong! I’ll do better! I won’t be friendly with Murmur anymore!”
“Listen well… Esme, the Crown Princess hates the Demon Race very, very much. She hates them so much she wants to leave not a single one alive.”
Colette raised her hand high.
“So. Remember. The Demon Race are our enemies. Your enemies, and trash that cannot be left alive.”
* * *
“Ugh…!!!”
Holding the toilet with both hands, I spewed out rainbow-colored liquid.
What is this, where did my soft and lively morning go?
I went to sleep excited, thinking I might even try a stretching event, but it’s completely ruined!
“Ugh…”
My head hurts, my horns are throbbing. It’s so hot that even my hands can’t cool it down! Where else do you need to turn on cold water from a shower to cool it down?
『A new event has been confirmed!』
《Play with Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
Actually, there’s a more serious problem than my horns hurting.
『The event has disappeared!』
《Play with Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
The status window is going crazy.
Actually, this is why I spewed out rainbow-colored liquid. It’s so dizzying! What is this trying to do?!
『A new event has been confirmed!』
《Spar with Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
『The event has disappeared!』
《Spar with Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
“Ugh…”
『A new event has been confirmed!』
《Give a gift to Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
『The event has disappeared!』
《Give a gift to Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
『A new event has been confirmed!』
《Play with Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
『The event has disappeared!』
《Play with Esme Bloodberry》
《Time: After School》
“Ugh… Heeeh…”
After spewing out rainbows again, I quickly grabbed the shower and poured cold water over my head.
What is this? There’s no such event in Legend of Academy.
Where else does an event get confirmed and then disappear on its own?
And disappear? That’s the problem. Events only disappear when a character or group’s favorability goes completely negative or when a specific event’s chosen option is completely opposite to the confirmed event’s nature, right?
For example, if I choose the Demon King route, I can’t get along with Nicasia. Since Murmur is plotting evil and terrifying schemes in the Academy, I can never get along with Nicasia.
In that sense, events that can’t be chosen at all are automatically ‘disappeared,’ right?
“What’s… Ugh, what’s going on. Really.”
『A new event has been confirmed!』
The status window appeared again.
Are you just messing with me? Are you happy tormenting such a soft little kid?!
《Talk with Colette Bloodberry》
《Time: Night》
“Huh…?”
Why is this woman appearing now?
I’m still in the elementary section, fifth grade, right? A woman who only gets mentioned in the middle school chapters shouldn’t be appearing now, right?
She’s the woman who first appears when Esme, beaten badly by Murmur, cries and shouts to her aunt.
“No way…”
As the heat from my horns faded, I felt my whole body freeze.
Colette Bloodberry was a member of a secret organization, “Moonlight Dawn,” formed to hate and eradicate the Demon Race.
This woman seriously wants to kill Murmur. She’s a dangerous woman with three dead ends related to her.
“Why is this happening? There’s no way this woman can meet me now?”
I felt my blood freeze, but there was something even more worrying.
* * *
“Murmur? Is something wrong?”
Nicasia’s voice was very kind.
“I’m fine.”
“Really? You’re not eating anything, unlike yesterday.”
I wasn’t in the mood to leisurely cut steak or twirl spaghetti with a fork.
It would be nice to know exactly how the situation is unfolding.
Should I use a bit of Nicasia’s power?
“I’m really fine. But Nicasia, have you seen Esme today?”
“Esme?”
“Since we became friends yesterday, I thought it would be nice to have breakfast together.”
Nicasia blinked a few times and gave a very soft smile.
“That’s a good idea. But it might be difficult today.”
“Why?”
“Ah… Murmur didn’t know? Esme’s aunt, Colette Bloodberry, came to the Academy yesterday.”
What, that woman came to the Academy? There’s no reason for her to come.
“The reason…”
“She said there was something she needed to investigate.”
“Ah, right. The Magic Kingdom often sends people, so it’s not a special thing. Colette is also expected to become the Magic Minister soon.”
The Magic Minister, the person who handles all magic-related matters in a country.
It was a position like a prime minister or chancellor. She hasn’t ascended to that position yet! That woman.
“So Esme will have breakfast with her aunt?”
“Yes, that’s… Oh, she’s here?”
Nicasia pointed with her left hand to Esme, who was walking into the dining hall.
Esme, with her brown hair tied in a cute braid, came in with a lively face that made my worries seem foolish, filled her bowl with food, and sat down as usual.
“Huh?”
No, she couldn’t sit. Esme sat down once, then jumped up in surprise, patted her waist with both hands, sat down again, got up again, and finally managed to sit after about three tries.
The ‘pain’ evident from her scrunched-up face meant my worries were correct.
“So that’s how it is.”
Colette Bloodberry is a woman obsessed with revenge.
No matter how much her fifth-grade niece says she made a friend, nothing will change.
In the eyes of hardened adults, soft children are just mushy, and they look at them with anxiety, like watching a child by the river.
There were quite a few events in the high school section that you had to see to successfully persuade and avoid dead events.
“Sigh…”
I see the future coming for me.
Esme Bloodberry will try to kill me.
In the original, the motive was simple.
Because Murmur kept failing promotion exams. Because the Demon Race, her parents’ enemies, were trampling her as people said and advancing. Because Aunt Colette kept pressuring her to become an excellent mage, causing stress.
Jealousy.
Natural prejudice.
Resentment.
All those negative emotions fermented, and in the high school section, Esme Bloodberry openly tries to kill Murmur.
What gives wings to that action is her aunt, Colette Bloodberry, who became the Magic Minister. A trashy woman who wants to get her niece’s hands bloody and gain a higher position in the Silver Dawn.
“Let’s do it.”
This time is different.
Esme and I became friends, even if it’s only level 1 favorability.
Unlike the original, there’s no accumulated resentment. Just yesterday, we were laughing and exchanging gifts.
In the original, Esme’s dead event could be avoided.
And.
I don’t like it.
Adults who hit even a little child’s bottom and force them to do what they want, I hated that even when playing the original.
“I can do it…!”
“Murmur? Are you really okay?”
“Hiccup! Th-That… the novel I read yesterday was f-fun.”
Nicasia chuckled and looked at me, resting her chin on her hand.
Ah! Really! A child’s body is so inconvenient!
