Chapter 106: The Tower Crumbles
“Jean, I’m here.”
“You’re here earlier than I expected.”
As the weather started to warm up, Sue visited Apricot Tea Forest. This was actually her third visit.
Her second visit had been before their trip to Crimea, when she had sought him out to request a toxin remover for Halo.
It had taken her an entire day to find his workshop the first time, but it was easy after that.
All she had to do was infuse the magical tool Jean had given her with magic power at the clearing with the barrier, and the barrier to the workshop would open.
She had grumbled that he should have given it to her sooner, but he had retorted that he couldn’t just give a barrier opener to someone who hadn’t even paid him yet.
Jean’s workshop was the same as before, except for a light green ribbon named Rem grazing in front of the house after escaping from the stable.
“Have you made any progress?”
Sue asked hesitantly, standing awkwardly in his messy, still unfamiliar home.
“Hahaha! Not at all!”
Jean threw the documents he was holding into the air and laughed maniacally. His hearty laughter was laced with a hint of self-deprecating despair.
Sue, feeling like it was her fault for asking, awkwardly tried to comfort him.
“It’s okay, you still have plenty of time, right?”
“Ah, right. That’s true, but… The more I dig into it, the more I feel like throwing up. No, I actually did throw up one day.”
Jean shook his head. He looked fine, which was a relief, but Sue couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
She was the one who had said he had plenty of time, but she was also disappointed.
Five years. She knew she shouldn’t expect immediate results, but still…
“How about you?”
“What?”
“Are you doing okay?”
Jean leaned back in his chair, like a swing. It looked like he was about to fall over backwards. Sue, choosing not to point it out, replied,
“Same as always.”
Jean pouted at her dry response.
“Same as always? Tell me something different.”
“….”
Sue pouted back at Jean, who had rejected her answer. He had asked her the same pointless questions during her second visit.
Are you doing okay? How’s academy life?
When she had asked why he was curious, he had simply said, Just because.
“Huh? Why aren’t you answering? I asked how you’ve been.”
Sue, knowing he would keep pestering her, reluctantly gave him an update.
“As I said before, I went to Crimea. I saw the ruins.”
“Ah, Crimea. Nice.”
“These days… it’s Athletics Festival season at the academy. But I’m not participating in anything, so it doesn’t really concern me.”
“Why not? Just sign up for something.”
Jean asked, his voice puzzled. Sue stared blankly at the old wooden floor.
“I’m not good at sports.”
“What does that matter? You won’t have to move much after you graduate anyway. Oh, maybe you’ll dance at parties.”
Jean shrugged, a cookie in his mouth. Sue shrugged back.
He was right, she probably wouldn’t have to move much after she graduated. And as Sue Byron, she was unlikely to be invited to parties, so she would probably just stay cooped up in her house until the curse was broken.
Sue mumbled to herself, vaguely picturing her future,
“It’s okay, I practiced really hard last year.”
And then, she changed the subject, her voice casual,
“Jean, thank you for the medicine last time.”
“Last time? …Ah, the toxin remover.”
The toxin remover she had given to Halo was Jean’s creation. She had specifically asked him to make it more effective than the holy water from the Grand Temple.
Jean clasped his hands behind his head.
“I’m just doing my job. I didn’t expect you to request something new so soon, though. It’s working, right?”
“I guess so.”
She hadn’t asked Halo, so she didn’t know for sure. Halo might have been suspicious and hadn’t taken it yet. But her dark circles had definitely faded recently.
Anyway, it had cost her a lot of money. Including the holy water for Halo, it was a considerable sum.
If Fritz hadn’t given her the reward, she would have been forced to return to her main residence and be scolded by Eren.
“Well, I should be going now.”
Sue gathered her belongings, having finished her report. Jean picked up another cookie from the plate.
“Okay. If you can, try to find some information on the curse caster… Whoa!”
There was a deafening crash. The chair, which had been precariously balanced, had finally fallen over backwards.
“…Sigh.”
Was he really a genius mage? …Was he?
Sue sighed, looking at the long-haired mage, groaning and clutching the back of his head.
***
The Athletics Festival at the Graduation Building was simpler than the one held at the sixth-year building. The students’ main stage was the Imperial Ball in September, so no one really cared about the Athletics Festival.
Sue was literally spacing out inside the bustling Blue Shark team tent. She wasn’t competing in any events, and she wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about cheering for her team, so she just sat there, drinking the tea the servants had brewed.
Last year, she hadn’t been lonely because she had been partnered with a ribbon for the Ribbon Race, but this year, she was completely alone.
Enzhe had been with Grand Duke Antique since the opening ceremony. And Melaine was constantly scowling, her eyes like a killer’s, so Sue was afraid to approach her.
She had spent the morning running around to different venues, cheering for Noel. But he was competing in more events than she had expected. He was on the Golden Lion team, and he had signed up for almost every event, according to the entry list. He said the team representative had begged him to.
‘Isn’t that basically slavery?’
They shunned him in the classroom, but they wanted to use him for the Athletics Festival. And Noel, out of guilt, couldn’t refuse.
The spectators’ reactions whenever Noel appeared were also hard to bear. Why is he here? His punishment is too lenient for someone who was at the center of that incident.
She couldn’t argue with them, so she was even more annoyed, and she couldn’t cheer for him wholeheartedly.
To make matters worse, the Red Snake team, led by Fritz, was winning every event they reached the finals for.
“…Sigh.”
But it was incredibly boring to just sit in the tent, doing nothing. Even though she was an expert at killing time alone.
Sue finally left the tent, unable to bear it any longer.
She was wondering where to go when she heard that there was a spear-throwing competition at the Third Training Ground, so she headed there.
And then, at the entrance to the Third Training Ground, a strange voice called out her name.
“Viscountess Sue Byron Chiqmefriar, is that you?”
It was a strange voice, but the owner of the voice wasn’t a stranger.
“You’re…”
“Nice to meet you. We met in front of the dormitory before, remember?”
And then, the voice itself became familiar.
Soft, wavy light purple hair, a voice like a chirping bird, a face like a fairy who had descended to earth. A girl she didn’t know, yet felt familiar with, radiating an aura of loveliness.
She was the girl she had run into in front of the dormitory on the first day of the semester.
“I’m Azette, the third daughter of the Delondariwood duke family. I’m in the Red Snake Class. I’ve been wanting to talk to you, and I’m so glad we ran into each other.”
Her upturned eyes and smiling lips were as harmless as a kitten.
Sue curtsied slightly.
“Thank you for remembering me, Lady Delondariwood. You know my name, so I don’t think I need to introduce myself.”
“Yes, you’re Lady Sue of the Byron viscount family, right? Please call me Azette.”
“Yes, Lady Azette.”
Sue actually knew Azette’s name. She was in Enzhe’s class, and she was always chatting with the other girls whenever Sue went to the Red Snake Class, so she couldn’t pretend not to know her.
And it was even easier to remember her because she was one of the few transfer students who had entered the academy this year.
The Delondariwood duke family had their territory in a cold, distant region. They had once been the royal family of the Delondariwood Kingdom.
In other words, the Delondariwood Kingdom had been conquered by the Atlantis Empire and had become a vassal state.
And so, despite being a duke family, they had been unable to enter the capital due to political pressure, and they were now using Azette’s enrollment in Full Bloom as an opportunity to establish their position.
“You’re competing in the spear-throwing competition, Lady Azette?”
Sue, forgetting her manners, scanned the girl’s entire body.
She was wearing thick leather gloves, protective gear on her elbows and knees, and she was holding a large silver spear.
She looked like she was ready to compete.
Azette held out her spear and replied,
“Yes, that’s right. Who are you cheering for, Lady Byron?”
Sue shook her head.
“No one, I’m not here to cheer for anyone. I just came to watch the spear-throwing competition.”
“Oh my, are you interested in spears?”
Azette’s pink eyes sparkled. Sue quickly waved her hands, not wanting to get involved in anything troublesome.
“No, not at all. I really just came to watch.”
“I see…”
Azette’s eyebrows drooped in disappointment. Sue suppressed a chuckle. Her ever-changing expressions were more entertaining than the spear-throwing competition itself.
“Azette, it’s time to get ready.”
A voice called out to her from behind. Sue froze as she saw the owner of the voice.