After finishing the quest, I returned to Elbrite as Lily.
Thanks to the sudden quest, I managed to gather quite a bit of PK Points, and in the hideout, there are protective devices as powerful as magic scrolls that high-ranking rankers can acquire.
This should be enough to fend off any average ranker or knight.
“But there’s something I’ve been curious about since earlier.”
“What is it?”
In the office of the Elbrite Principality.
Most routine matters are handled by Besk and Serrek, but sometimes there are moments when I find myself with free time.
Situations arise when Besk has additional tasks aside from his official duties or when Serrek runs low on maintenance time.
In such times, there’s no one to do the work, so I step in to assist.
Leo was lounging on the sofa, rolling around, and asked.
“Why is your name Rapina?”
“Um.”
The reason I named my alternate account Rapina.
“I knew someone.”
“Someone you knew? From Lily’s alien planet days?”
“That could be said.”
‘What a remarkable person.’
Rapina is one of the people from the past.
An Ancient Beast, a pure human who wasn’t corrupted by something like the celestial blood running through me or the demonic races.
She was human and worked as a troubleshooter dealing with things that threw the world into chaos, though she mostly dealt with humans rather than monsters.
“When I was trying to pick a name, she came to mind. The reason I chose to be an assassin partly reflects her image.”
“Oh… So, you were friends with Lily?”
“Friends?”
‘Can I really compare myself to such a great person?’
‘I’ll be catching sinful humans in my own way, while you deal with the more wicked monsters. Even those cursed winged races.’
That’s how I seek my revenge.
“We were friends, I guess.”
“Were friends, huh?”
“Well, most of their fates turned out differently… Anyway, just this and I’ll be done.”
“Oh, I just saw that Lily was about to start a broadcast.”
“Even if I turn it on, no one will believe me anyway.”
Honestly, even if I claimed to be Rapina, no one would believe it.
I pondered for a moment as Rapina before getting up.
“Where are you going?”
“I think Yena is at the academy right now. I want to have a chat.”
Leo is an excellent ranker, a ranker affiliated with the Empire. But to know about the kingdom, Yena would know better than Leo.
■
“Hmm.”
It’s a dilemma.
“Ugh…”
A very big dilemma.
It’s troubling.
Current rank: 15th.
Assassin rank 1 and experiencing a second peak, Ranker Yena.
Yena sat in the Academy’s magic experimentation lab, deep in thought.
In front of her was the fusion magic circle of ‘Light’ and ‘Bolt,’ one of her magic assignments.
For those who just learned Fireball, it might be a bit much, but Rankers are people who have already tasted power.
Although autonomous use had been blocked by the system, now that the door was somewhat open, using simple fusion magic wasn’t too difficult.
“Ah!”
Zzap!
Of course, there are exceptions.
Light and Bolt fused together and exploded in a mana crash.
Yena, who took the brunt of the magical failure, brushed off the remnants of lightning and sighed.
Actually, it’s not that she’s troubled by the failure of magic.
She’s an assassin, and she’s just practicing because Lily emphasized the importance of manifestation magic; she doesn’t particularly plan on using it.
It’s far more efficient to swing a dagger at least once than to focus on casting spells.
So what’s her trouble, then?
“…Isn’t everything going to go wrong like this?”
It’s been nearly three months since the imperial war.
After Lily restored the world to normal, peaceful days seemed to follow, but the reality was a bit different.
Kingdoms that had united against the Empire began to keep an eye on each other and grow suspicious.
You might wonder why the kingdoms, attacked by the Empire, are so anxious to monitor each other instead of uniting.
The reason is simple.
For centuries, the Empire had approached war quite passively.
If they thought they might suffer even a little, they would immediately cease fighting, and the Empire’s strength, the Eight Swords, would not move unless it was something serious.
In essence, the Empire’s military power had only been revealed centuries ago.
Naturally, very few would remember that.
However, the Empire mocked that fact and invaded the world with the majority of its strength alongside the so-called Immortal, the top outsider.
The kingdoms that witnessed the Empire’s powerful strength realized it instinctively.
“We can never win just by sticking together.”
There’s a woman named Lily who might stop the Empire, but her body is one, and she’s not a volunteer.
If they want someone to protect them, they have to pay a high price, like that of a masterpiece, such as Talikal.
Anyway, since that day, the precarious situation of the kingdoms has led them to suffer greatly.
The Kingdom of Jurodis has fallen entirely under the control of the Raider Grim Reaper.
The Musra Kingdom switched sides to ally with the Empire to avoid its wrath.
Meanwhile, the major kingdom alliance that should be stopping such defectors is busy keeping an eye on each other to recruit strong Outsiders… so there’s absolutely no unity.
“Sigh…”
Of course, for Yena, the division among the kingdoms is actually a blessing in disguise.
After all, her guild has been on the black list of the kingdoms since they toppled one in the past.
If the kingdoms fall, it would be nothing but good news for her.
However…
“The economy is in shambles; there’s no solution.”
-Yes- The guild is one of those that made profits through monster byproducts and crops.
Originally, they used to rake in 70% profit from sales, but as the costs of trade routes and taxes from each kingdom skyrocketed, now they’d be lucky to get 40%.
Even that is nearly gone after sharing among the guilds.
Yena is quite a wealthy and famous Ranker, but operational costs for the guild and her personal finances are a different matter.
To avoid burdening each other, they’re only using the money earned from the guild for operating expenses.
However, that’s running dry as well.
“…Should I just use my own money?”
Honestly, she didn’t care much.
After all, she’s been making a fair amount recently and has quite a bit saved up from the past.
She’s confident that using this wouldn’t make running the guild difficult.
Although she hasn’t said it out loud, she has contributed about 10% of operating costs in the last month or two.
‘No way! Once you start using it, it’ll be a bottomless pit, you know? Do you want to be broke, sis?’
‘That’s right. At first, it might seem okay, but it will definitely become a burden. The guild members might not think much of it since they aren’t earning anything themselves.’
But the guild executives stopped her.
It’s not about the money.
If Yena uses her funds, it would certainly weaken the guild’s atmosphere.
…Is time the answer, then?
Or should she just go with her gut since that’s how she’s always acted?
“Yeah. When the Great Cataclysm hits, everything—”
Clank!
The door to the magic experiment lab burst open and someone walked in.
With pink hair and an incredibly flashy magical girl outfit.
The enormous lollipop in her hand radiated starlight.
“Oh.”
Candy Star froze as soon as she saw Yena.
“Candy Star? You can use it without being shy. I’m all done with today’s work.”
“…Okay.”
Candy Star walked past Yena and took her seat at the only designated spot in the lab.
Yena looked back at her.
She felt familiar, as always, even though she’d seen her many times before.
It feels familiar.
I definitely met someone named Candy Star somewhere… but I have no idea who or where.
Maybe I’ll figure it out as I get more familiar with mana.
‘By the way, wasn’t I first in magic?’
The protagonist proudly took first place, surpassing all the rankers in the academy, including the mage ranker Redberry and the second-ranked Leo.
I knew she was a magical girl, but I had no idea she was this overwhelming.
Not to throw shade, but Candy Star did lose to me once.
That ‘designated seat’ can only be used by one person in the academy.
“Candy Star?”
“Why? What do you mean why?”
“Do you have any tips for using magic? The Magic Professor has been praising you a lot.”
“…Why are you curious about that?”
“Uh, because I want to use it well too. Users aren’t very good at magic. That Lord Leo doesn’t seem to be able to use it like you can.”
I’m not just saying that.
I actually heard Professor Lasty say during class, ‘Much better than the little Nymph, the magical girl definitely has talent.’
I didn’t see it firsthand, but it must be true, coming straight from the Progenitor.
Candy Star remained silent at Yena’s question.
“Candy Star?”
“…Are you pretending not to know on purpose?”
“What?”
“Forget it.”
Twitch!
Candy Star’s gigantic lollipop transformed into a thin shape.
Whoosh! Pink starlight poured down, and before long, Yena was flying in the sky, covered in ‘Fly.’
“Huh?”
Clunk!
Crash!!
Thrown outside, Yena looked at Candy Star in a panic, but she was smiling.
Very brightly, with an untainted expression.
“…Sorry! This magical girl Candy Star has some research to do!”
“…”
Staring blankly at her cheerful smile, Yena suddenly recalled a scene.
Just two months ago, smiling brightly and innocently while announcing her victory in front of everyone…
“No way.”
It just doesn’t match the image.
As if that prickly person could be a magical girl…
-My magical shield isn’t working! Ugh… this is bad. I need to raise the output!
“It can’t be…?”
Probably…?
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