Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons Volume 2 E-Book

616th Special Information Battalion

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 302

Beschreibung

Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons Volume 2

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Prologue

Chapter 1 — The Villainess and a Cannon

Chapter 2 — The Villainess Takes on Finals

Chapter 3 — The Villainess Is Done with Tests and Wants to Celebrate

Chapter 4 — The Villainess and Dress Choices

Chapter 5 — The Villainess Says Farewell to the Older Students

Chapter 6 — The Villainess Wants to Start a Magic Research Club

Chapter 7 — The Villainess and New Students

Chapter 8 — The Villainess and Older Men

Chapter 9 — I’m the Villainess, and My Club Room’s Complete

Chapter 10 — A Younger Boy Admires the Villainess?

Chapter 11 — The Villainess Buys a Swimsuit

Chapter 12 — The Villainess Heads for the Beach

Chapter 13 — The Villainess Visits a Former Schoolmate

Chapter 14 — The Villainess Wants to Accelerate

Chapter 15 — The Villainess Wants to Start Saving

Chapter 16 — The Villainess Goes Gathering Medicinal Plants

Chapter 17 — Something’s Up with the Villainess’s Cousin

Chapter 18 — The Villainess’s Likes and Dislikes Test

Chapter 19 — The Villainess and Green Demons

Chapter 20 — The Villainess Grapples with Rebellious Behavior

Chapter 21 — The Villainess and a Dragon

Chapter 22 — The Villainess Becomes a Dragon Slayer?

Chapter 23 — The Villainess Wants to be Escorted

Chapter 24 — The Villainess Is Escorted by a Younger Boy

Chapter 25 — The Villainess Takes Interest in Forgotten Magic

Chapter 26 — The Villainess Reforms Her Weapon

Chapter 27 — The Villainess and Two Brothers

Chapter 28 — The Villainess and Her Maid

Epilogue

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

Prologue

While I was in my first year of college, I was swept into a different world: the world of an otome game.

I had been reincarnated in the world of an otome game called Wish Upon a Shooting Star! And I wasn’t the main character, or even a background character; I was the villainess, of all things!

Yes, I was the villainess, Astrid Sophie von Oldenburg. I’d become a girl given the terrible fate of meeting with her destruction, no matter what route the main character chose to follow. Unless I did something, I was going to be hit with the one-two punch of being exiled while my family’s domain was seized. I had to think of a way to prevent that from happening.

So I figured, what if I can obtain incredible power by fusing this world’s magic with modern weapon technology? Maybe I could use my military might to crush the bad end that fate had in store for me. It seemed like the best option, so I put the plan into effect and made various weapons, including an automatic pistol, an automatic rifle, a shotgun, a machine gun, and a grenade launcher. I’d turned myself into a walking arsenal. When my fate finally arrived, I’d crush it!

At least, that was the idea. Thinking rationally, I realized that winning against the Plusen Empire was going to be difficult with only that level of firepower. With just a small amount of firepower on my side, I’d be fighting against both the nation’s standing army and the armies of local rulers loyal to the emperor. I couldn’t win against fate that way!

I’d also been trying to make sure I’d have support from the Braunschweig family, which my cousin Iris was from, and the Schleswig family, which my friend Vallia had married into. And yet that still didn’t feel like enough to ensure victory.

The way things were, it looked like fate would trample me underfoot. I’d be exiled while my family lost its domain, thus putting an end to my noble lifestyle. In fact, I might even be executed.

I don’t wanna be destroyed! I don’t wanna be destroyed! I don’t wanna be destroyed!

But I knew that whatever god had thrown me into this cruel world would go on ignoring me, no matter how hard I prayed. It was up to me alone to forge a way forward for myself!

“Ah!” I awoke.

It was just a dream? Figures. There’s no way anyone could get reincarnated into an otome game. That was a really long dream though... I suppose I’d better head out for my college classes now.

While still bleary-eyed, I sat up in an awfully large bed. Then, with a great yawn...

“Ahh!”

I see a red-headed girl! Is that a ghost?!

“Wait, no... That’s a mirror...”

Which means...

“It wasn’t all a dream...”

It meant that I was still inside an otome game, and I was still fighting against fate. I was still living the same miserable life of doing whatever I could to avoid destruction. I’d have to continue defusing landmines, otherwise known as love interests, while also preparing for the arrival of the main character.

“Grr! It’s so unfair! I want a do-over!”

“Lady Astrid, what’s gotten into you this morning? Are you still half-asleep?” When my maid saw me getting mad at my own reflection, she looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

Y-Yeah... You’d think something was up if you saw someone getting mad at a mirror. If I can’t even keep it together at home, the maids are going to think something’s wrong with me...

“Lady Astrid, it’s almost time for breakfast. Your mother and father are waiting.”

“All right.” I reluctantly changed out of my nightgown and got ready to head into the dining room.

A girl with bright red hair: that’s what I saw moving around in the mirror.

“I suppose it’s not all bad,” I told myself while caressing the box containing the shotgun I’d made.

Being an otome game villainess might be a pain, but it’s not so bad if it means getting to fire my favorite modern weapons as much as I like! Living in Japan always meant that I couldn’t fire a gun without traveling to Guam or whatever. Living in an otome game world isn’t so bad in that respect.

The only problem is that I have to use these weapons to somehow secure a victory against fate! Damn it, I want a do-over!

Chapter 1 — The Villainess and a Cannon

I was in my third year at the Holy Satanachia Academy of Sorcery’s elementary school.

The sun’s rays felt warm that day, and the weather was perfect for magic. Various things had kept me busy lately, leaving me no time for magic. But for once my schedule was free, meaning I could experiment with magic all I liked!

My latest project was a 120 mm caliber rifled gun. Yes, you heard right: I was trying to make a 120 mm caliber rifled gun.

The reality had hit me during the get-together: I wasn’t ready to take on a nation with my current war potential. I needed much greater firepower for my showdown with fate—something far more destructive than a machine gun or a grenade launcher. I considered making an anti-tank rocket launcher, but even that wouldn’t cut it. That’s why I was trying to make the 120 mm caliber rifled gun found on Challenger 2 tanks, which was a type of main battle tank still in modern use.

The Challenger 2 was one of my favorite tanks. I’d made a plastic model of it during my past life, and I’d even gotten a chance to check out the interior of the real thing while visiting the Bovington Tank Museum. It meant that making the gun itself wasn’t such a crazy idea.

The problem was how to load the shells.

“Do you think you could make this thing?”

“I could, but it won’t work.”

I was talking it over with Mister Gnome.

Initially, I’d thought that making a massive gun was as simple as making a massive gun barrel. But things got tricky when I wanted to make an autoloader system for loading fresh rounds, similar to what most modern main battle tanks used. Those autoloader systems were operated using the tank’s power system, rather than being powered by the recoil at the time of firing. In other words, they used electricity. That was a problem.

I can’t make electricity using magic!

Elemental magic worked through the water, fire, wind, and earth spirits, and none of those spirits could create electricity. And even if there were some way for them to make electricity, a humanities girl like me still couldn’t make anything as complex as an autoloader. But without an autoloader, the weapon’s firepower would nosedive, and firepower was the very thing I needed.

“If only I could power the things I make with mana...”

“That’s impossible. From the moment you create a thing up until you erase it by imagining nothingness, it’ll work according to the world’s natural laws. It’s the same thing that stops you from using magic to make your arrows rain down on enemy territory.”

Well, I’m stuck then.

I could imagine the autoloaders I’d seen in online videos, but recreating them with magic was challenging—impossible, rather. I figured they worked using hydraulics, but a humanities girl like me had no idea how the hydraulics made the autoloader parts move.

Can’t I simplify it somehow?

“I know! I’ll just make a pistol but bigger!” A sudden flash of inspiration had come to me. “Mister Gnome, how about this? This part moves like this, this moves when you do this, this part hits the gunpowder—uh, the talisman, and bam!”

Mister Gnome nodded his head as I sketched a diagram on the ground and explained how it worked.

“I see, I see. This’ll work, but when you fire it, the explosion from the first talisman’s going to hit you too. What’ll you do about that?”

“My fairy, Blau, is friendly with the wind elementals. I’ll get her to handle it.”

“Can you really use this barehanded? The recoil’s going to be horrendous.”

“It’ll be fine if I always use it with my blood magic applied to the max!”

The recoil’s gonna be unreal if I’m wielding a tank gun with my bare hands. But I can handle it! I’ve got blood magic!

Dr. Wolff had warned me that reckless use of blood magic could tear my muscles apart, but daily training would solve that. Lately, I’d been secretly jumping from the third floor of the school building while using my blood magic. So far, I hadn’t broken a single bone.

“Well, all right, I’ll try it...” Mister Gnome still looked reluctant as he set about making the large gun that I’d designed.

I only had to wait a few seconds before he was done.

“We’ve done it!” I cried. “It’s a 120 mm caliber 07-type rifled gun!”

The thing we’d created could only be described as a giant revolver. It was like a double-action revolver where pulling the trigger would automatically load the next round and ready the gun to fire. I vaguely remembered reading in a military magazine that this was a safety mechanism that reduced the chance of accidental discharge.

“This thing is pretty big,” I noted.

“It is rather big,” Mister Gnome agreed.

The finished product was overwhelmingly large. The revolver grip was as tall as a small child, and the trigger, which looked more like a lever, was made to the same scale. The gun also included a side grip for supporting the barrel and an optical sight to assist aiming. I could wrap my right arm around the grip and then fire it by using my entire arm to pull the trigger.

It’s like a monster version of a pistol. Will I even be able to use this thing?

“Let’s start by test-firing it. I’ll load in some rounds.”

I was using blanks as my ammunition for now. The talisman packed into the projectile part would merely create smoke using wind magic. The structure of each round was essentially the same as the ones used in my grenade launcher.

“Blood magic, full power!” Mana rushed through my body, strengthening my bones and muscles. “Here goes!”

Fortunately, replacing gunpowder with talismans resulted in much lighter rounds, so they weren’t particularly heavy. It meant that I could hold the 120 mm caliber rifled cannon with ease, though blood magic probably played a large part too.

“Now, I’m going to aim at that figure three kilometers away.”

There was already a straw figure standing at the very edge of the ranch that was ready to be my target.

“Fire!”

The recoil sent a jolt through my body, but then the blood magic canceled it out.

“Load the next round!”

The revolver cylinder rotated to ready the next shell. Nice. It’s working.

I kept going until I’d fired all five of the rounds loaded into the cylinder. As for the gases that the revolver expelled, Blau used wind to redirect those, so all I felt was a little heat.

“Well? How was my accuracy?!” I trembled with excitement as I studied my target straw figure. “I missed more than I thought...”

I’d only hit with two shots out of five, but I couldn’t do much better without a computer control system.

“This weapon’s not made for precise strikes, but still...”

It was then that I had another flash of inspiration.

I’d once read a book on magic that said blood magic could make simple tools easier to handle. While testing a technique that made the body and a tool operate in tandem, researchers and test subjects who’d never used a kitchen knife before found that they could use the knife to rapidly remove the skin from a grape while using blood magic. It had been as though they’d peeled away the skin with their own fingers.

“Could I use that here?” I considered whether I’d be able to use this same research result when handling my new weapon.

Simply making my body and the weapon move in tandem was pointless. I didn’t just want it to be an extension of my arm: it also had to work with my eyes, or else my accuracy wouldn’t improve at all. To reliably score hits, I had to be able to move the gun so that it followed my eyes as they tracked the target.

So if I can get all of that working in unison...

“All right, let’s try it!”

Now that I’d had the idea, it was time to try it out. First, I loaded five new rounds and held the gun in the same way as before.

“Hmm... First I’ll channel a thin layer of mana along the gun’s surface to link it up with my blood magic...”

Ah. If I accidentally use too much mana here, I’ll make the shells explode. I have to avoid that, no matter what.

“All right. Next, I have to link up the mana flowing through my body with the mana flowing in the tool...”

The parts working in tandem with my body were the grip and the side grip that supported the barrel along with the optical sight. A weak flow of mana linked them to my body, making the grips feel like they were part of me. It felt as though nothing was impeding my movements.

And then there was the optical sight. I could see through it without having to put my eye to it. The visual data flowing through my optic nerve included the optical sight’s reticle. The reticle was appearing in the center of my vision at that moment, but moving the gun barrel made the reticle move at the same time.

The reticle also moved depending on the angle of the barrel, such that when I pointed the barrel upward, I received information showing how the shell would fly further. I was like an optical distance meter in human form. When I lowered the barrel, the information updated to inform me that the shell would land closer.

Not bad at all! Now I just need to get the straw figure in the center of the reticle, and...

“Fire!”

I started by firing a single shot.

A hit!

Next, I fired the remaining four shells at the straw figure in the same way. Every shot was a hit. My aim was unaffected by involuntary hand movement, allowing me to accurately fire each shell into the target. It was a huge success!

“Yay! I did it!” I cheered while still surrounded by a cloud of hot air that had been heated by the discharged gases.

“Master, was it successful?” Blau asked, looking unsure.

“Hugely successful, Blau!” I told her, raising both fists in the air in celebration. “It’s perfect!”

“That’s great! I’m glad I could be of help!”

“Yup. You’ll get cookies later.”

Without Blau to redirect the discharged gases, this revolver-style rifled gun would never have been possible. Without Blau, I’d have suffered major burns.

“Now tell me...” Mister Gnome said. “Exactly what’re you planning with your excessive war potential?”

“Didn’t I tell you already? I’m going to crush my fate.”

This is gonna increase my army’s firepower dramatically! The problem now is that I can only fire five shots in succession. I’ve gotta come up with some way of making it easier to reload a revolver.

Fantasy games often featured mysterious bags that could hold a lot more than their appearance suggested, but those were absent from this world. Instead of carrying a ton of ready-to-use ammo, I had to keep a bunch of talismans on me and then create my ammo on-site.

Solving those two problems with my new weapon was sure to give me another major boost in firepower. But for the time being, I had to be content with the gun I’d made. Those remaining issues necessitated further research.

Chapter 2 — The Villainess Takes on Finals

The atmosphere at the Round Table of Spirits was tense. That was only natural. Finals were near.

We elementary students could take it all in stride, but the middle and high school students were studying frantically.

You know, you wouldn’t be in this mess if you’d all spent more time studying and less time chatting. The sight made me feel a little high and mighty.

“Laura, is your studying going well?”

“Yes. I’ve put a lot of effort into memorizing history, and I was always good at magical engineering.”

Laura had the composed air of someone victorious. She was leisurely sipping her tea while reading a history book that was popular among young girls recently. The other older students, meanwhile, were throwing themselves at their studies in a sort of desperation. She looked like a true victor.

“What kind of subject is magical engineering? I know that it’s about understanding magic with logic, but I’m still not sure what it’s used for in practice.”

I was studying some high school subjects a little already, but I’d found magical engineering to be incomprehensible. It felt so much like science that I couldn’t help but be put off. Sadly, I knew I’d have no choice but to study it someday.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the devices used to measure the mana of newborn babies. That’s a similar sort of thing. Quantifying magical concepts is a key feature of magical engineering. We take concepts that can only be grasped through experience, and then we do our best to express them in terms of numerical values so that we can think about magic using logical reasoning.”

Ugh. Just listening to that was hard work.

“It’s really not that difficult. Once you’ve memorized a few important equations, the rest is easy.”

“Equations...” As someone who hated science, that was my least favorite word.

“Laura!” called one of the older students. “Could you help me out with this?”

“Lady Laura!” called another. “How do I make sense of this?!”

While we were chatting casually, a flock of lost lambs had begun gathering around Laura.

“You can use the Turing equation here...”

Wow. Laura’s putting her lost little sheep back on the right path, one after the other. That’s just like her.

Although magic was the main focus of the academy, ordinary subjects, such as math and history, were also taught. My problem was that the sciences were somewhat complicated, and they differed from what I’d been taught on Earth in many ways. I knew I had hard times ahead.

I was a humanities student who’d been taught about Pasteur’s experiments disproving the theory of spontaneous generation of life. In this world, however, there was a well-accepted theory that explained how fairies were spontaneously generated by naturally occurring mana. Bah!

I enjoyed subjects classed as humanities, and I could generally learn them by memorizing stories, so I always did well in those areas. High school science, on the other hand, was looking like hell.

Maybe the solution is to start studying it now? But it’s so boring...

“Iris, are you prepared for the tests?” I asked her while Laura tended to her lost sheep.

“I’m prepared! I’ve been studying hard!”

“Is there anything you don’t understand? I don’t mind teaching you.”

I definitely wasn’t about to fall behind at the elementary level. I was still confident in both sciences and humanities. It might have been another world, but it was still elementary school. Besides, I’d had other home tutors besides Dr. Wolff, and they’d taught me all I needed to know at this point.

“That’s all right.” Iris clenched her little fists and declared, “I’m going to get full marks on the tests!”

This girl’s just too cute.

“Don’t you need to study at all, Astrid?”

Gah. Just when I’m being soothed by Iris, here comes Friedrich.

“I’ll be all right, Your Highness. I’m preparing for the tests in my own way.”

I’d hate to fail at the elementary level, but worse than that would be father forbidding me to use magic at home because of my poor grades. I even had to put my research on hold despite how eager I am to solve the problems with my 120 mm caliber rifled gun!

“Then perhaps we could study together? It would be splendid if we could all become closer by studying together before the test.”

Nooo! What an evil suggestion! You demon!

“Y-Yes, let’s do that. I’ll join your study group.”

Bleh. If the landmine named Friedrich is there, the landmines Adolf and Silvio are bound to be there too...

What the hell is this? How am I supposed to study in these conditions? But refusing could make him mad, so I’d better quietly accept my fate. But remember, I might be accepting you now, but you’ll get what’s coming to you sooner or later, fate!

My feet dragged along the floor as I let Friedrich lead me over to the corner of the Round Table’s room.

Adolf was already there scowling at a history book, and Silvio was reading a geography book with a pained expression. Both looked frantic. They’d both been studying on a daily basis, so they’d probably be fine without having to do anything like cramming all night before the tests.

“Which fields are you best at, Astrid?” Friedrich asked.

“Magic and humanities. I can help a little with any subject that counts as humanities.”

That made both Adolf and Silvio raise their heads.

“So...is there some trick to studying history?” Adolf asked.

“Let me think... Memorization is important, but you also have to interpret history as a story. We tend to remember the names of characters in stories, and any inconsistencies in the sequence of events will stand out.”

I loved history. I’d read every history book I could get hold of in my past life—especially the ones about the history of war! In any case, history was easy to remember if it was interpreted like a story, whether it be war history or something else. Similarly to how wars started for a reason, there was a reason behind every historical event. These reasons then formed a sequence without any inconsistencies, just like a screenplay.

“I see. A story...”

I gave Adolf a book recommendation: “I think elementary-level history is more easily understood by reading A Tale of Many Kingdoms in the library, rather than the textbook. History really is a tale to be told. You’ll still have to memorize the year when each event occurred, however.”

After what had happened at the get-together, I’d stopped feeling quite so wary around Adolf. After all, I knew that he considered Minne his girlfriend. Never let her go!

I have to wonder what Minne and the others are doing. I talk to them a lot in the classroom, but it feels like we’re drifting apart because I’ve been spending so much time at the Round Table lately. I’ll have to arrange something with everyone.

That’s a good idea! Once tests are over, we’ll do something together!

“Miss Astrid, is there also a trick for learning geography?” Silvio asked.

Silvio, you look like you’re going to be sick. Are you all right?

“Geography is best memorized spatially, using a map. If you spread out a map in front of you and write the names of things like mines and local rulers on it, you’ll find them easier to memorize. Just remember that it’s more efficient to memorize where things are in space, rather than simply remembering place names.”

My major was world history, so my advice on studying geography is just what I heard from a friend. Sorry, Silvio.

“I see. A map? A map...”

“Start by drawing your own map. If you can draw the map yourself, it’ll help you memorize things more efficiently.”

The geography they teach us at elementary level is pretty limited. I’m sure he’ll be fine.

“That’s very helpful, Miss Astrid. I’ll give it my all.”

Something’s not right. Silvio studies hard every day. What’s he got to worry about?

“Astrid, perhaps you could teach me some techniques for using magic in practice,” Friedrich suggested.

“Y-Yes, all right. Shall we go outside?”

Firing off a few magic spells at the Round Table would annoy the other members, so we both went outside.

“Have you noticed, Astrid?”

“Noticed what?”

“Silvio’s behavior. Don’t you think something’s not right?”

I did notice that Silvio was acting weird. Is it a bug in the game?

“He was acting unusual indeed. Do you know the reason?”

“I believe he had a disagreement with his father, Chancellor Stefan. He even said that the two of them may break off all contact in the future.”

“Huh? Break contact?”

If someone won’t speak to their own father, that’s pretty serious.

“It’s all because my father, Wilhelm III, decided to pursue military expansion based on Chancellor Stefan’s advice. They claim that military expansion is the only way forward if we’re to unify the reich by defeating Osterreich while also preventing the Mellaria Empire from interfering.”

Ah. Wilhelm III was already in favor of military expansion, and it seems Chancellor Stefan sees things the same way. It’s no wonder they’ve expanded their armed forces so smoothly. It all makes sense.

“Silvio seems to think that the decision is a mistake. He believes the matter can still be resolved through talks with the Osterreich Empire and the Mellaria Empire. He argues that it’ll be ordinary citizens who suffer if we deal with the matter by recklessly expanding our military and then waging war.”

He’s another one opposed to military expansion? I’ve no idea how pressing the international situation is because I’m just an elementary schooler, but they say that the age of iron and fire is close. Failing to prepare our military now would be idiocy.

“I take it Lord Silvio is already giving thought to international politics...”

“No, his concern is the role of the chancellor. The chancellor has a responsibility to offer good counsel to the emperor and restrict his actions when necessary. However, our current chancellor opposes my father on virtually no issues at all. That’s the source of Silvio’s dissatisfaction.”

Systems of government are complicated, so I don’t have much to say. But I do get the idea that there’s no one who can put on the brakes because the emperor and chancellor are rushing ahead without any debate. If they’ve made the wrong decision, the damage could be major.

Hmm. From what I’ve gathered about the Plusen Empire’s military preparations, we might be able to fight off the Osterreich Empire, but war with the Mellaria Empire would be tough. Their population is massive, and their infrastructure would make an invasion difficult.

Silvio’s right to think that war would be reckless right now. Not to mention that the destruction of the Plusen Empire would also mean destruction for me. I can’t have that. I can’t have that at all.

But if it’s all going according to the game, the war event won’t happen until I enter high school. By then, the Plusen Empire should have strengthened its military, and the Mellaria Empire might have undergone some political changes too.

I can look at all of this with the game’s happy ending in mind, so I know that any events that didn’t happen in the game won’t happen as long as I’m not interfering with the political situation. Probably...

“What do you think, Astrid?”

“A war right now would be dangerous. We should try to appear friendly while awaiting the right timing. And even when our country has finished its military preparations, we should try to damage relations between the Osterreich Empire and Mellaria Empire rather than rushing into war with them.”

Fighting a war on two fronts is a common cause of defeat. Foreign nations should be overpowered one at a time to avoid the collapse of our own country. As large as the Plusen Empire might be, we lack the population required to prepare for a war with two enemies at once.

“It sounds as though you’re somewhat in favor of war, Astrid.”

“I’m simply thinking about how we can win. But this is just a child’s way of thinking, of course.”

Someone with a brain full of idealistic fantasies like you could do with being just a little more pro-war too. You might not be as bad as Moctezuma, but still.

“Now, perhaps you could teach me some techniques for using magic in practice.”

“Of course. Let’s start with the water element.”

We studied practical applications for magic together, but it was clear that Friedrich had only brought me out here to talk about Silvio because his applied magic was already flawless.

Why does he have to come to me to talk about Silvio? Isn’t that the heroine’s job?

I tried giving Silvio to Lotte, but he doesn’t seem to talk with her a whole lot. It’s looking like Silvio and Friedrich are both landmines that the heroine is going to have to defuse for me.

Later, it turned out that Minne had caught sight of me and Friedrich practicing applied magic together. She got incredibly excited and started asking whether we were finally engaged.

Don’t be ridiculous! And rather than sticking your nose in other people’s business, you ought to be trying to make Adolf fall in love.

Chapter 3 — The Villainess Is Done with Tests and Wants to Celebrate

Finals are over!

There were no incidents. There were no trick questions and no difficult practical exams. Even Adolf and the others who’d been studying furiously at the Round Table were bound to have sailed through. The fact that Friedrich had no problems went without saying.

With tests over, I decided it was time to have some fun.

“Everyone! Let’s do something fun now that the tests are over!”

“Everyone” didn’t mean Round Table members. I was talking to Minne and Lotte and two other girls in my class who I was starting to get on well with. Their names were Brigitte and Sandra, and both were daughters of viscounts.

“What a wonderful idea! With our tests over, I’d really appreciate a change of pace!”

“If you’re to be there, Lady Astrid, then we would be delighted to accompany you.”

Good, good. I like spending time with Round Table members, but I can’t forget about my classmates. Especially not Minne and Lotte when I need them to defuse the landmines Adolf and Silvio for me.

“Will it just be the five of us?”

“Hmm. Maybe I could invite my cousin Iris? I mentioned my plans to her, and she said she wanted to come along.”

That’s right. I’d talked to her about going to have some fun once tests were over, and she’d insisted that I let her come with us. I couldn’t see any problem with a first grader spending time with third graders, but it made me worry that Iris might not have any friends in her own year. I had seen her talk with others at the Round Table a little, though.

“I don’t mind at all,” Minne replied. “It would be an honor to meet a cousin of Lady Astrid.”

“I don’t mind at all either,” agreed Lotte. “Please, by all means, invite Iris along.”

Brigitte and Sandra both nodded their heads too. Oh, what good friends I’ve got!

“So where will we be headed?”

“How about we visit the commercial district, have some tea, and do a little shopping?”

Not a bad idea at all. I might be a magic maniac, but I don’t spend every waking minute thinking about magic. I have some more feminine interests too, like fashion and desserts.

“Didn’t a bookstore open in the commercial district that sells nothing but specialist magic books? Not that we’d want to visit tha—”

“Please tell me more.” Whoops. I guess a magic maniac can’t rebel against their true nature...

“I-I think a better choice of bookstore would be Ackerman Books. There’s an impressive product lineup, and everything is arranged so that you can easily find the popular books.”

“That sounds great. We’ll stop by that bookstore while we’re there. Where’s a good place to eat something sweet?”

“Konditorei Sammer recently became well-known for their amazing cakes.”

Oh? Cake sounds nice. There are lots of desserts at the Round Table, but there’s no cake. My favorites are cheesecake and tiramisu. I wonder if I’ll find something similar.

Heh heh. My metabolism’s super fast lately. It’s probably because of all that moving around I do when I’m using my blood magic. I haven’t put on any stomach fat. Though it’s a shame that my chest doesn’t get bigger at all either...

“I’d also like to look at some dresses,” Minne said. “There’s a banquet coming up for my father’s birthday. I’m hoping to find a suitable, fashionable dress.”

“Okay! We’ll all pick out a dress for Minne!”

Ah. I feel like we’re doing all the girly stuff now. This is a far throw from my history of reading military magazines with potato chips in one hand while wearing cheap, mass-market clothes...

Now I’m a duke’s daughter. I’m the girliest of girls. I’ve grown out of junk food, and now I’m living the celebrity lifestyle. I wouldn’t mind having the military magazines back though... I wonder what the armed forces of Earth are doing right now...

“Where should we all meet up?”

“Let’s meet in front of the statue in Epenstein Square,” Lotte suggested. “That way we won’t get lost, and we can get there by carriage. It could be difficult to find each other in the crowd, but we won’t go wrong if we know to meet at the statue.”

“All right. We’ll meet up in front of the statue in Epenstein Square.”

Now our plan to celebrate the end of the tests was settled. I just had to inform Iris when I saw her at the Round Table so she’d know where to find us.

This weekend’s gonna be nothing but fun!

....

The meeting time was ten hundred hours. I arrived at the statue in Epenstein Square ten minutes early.

The statue was hard to describe. The pose made it look as though The Thinker had finally come up with an idea, but he wasn’t sure it was the right one. If I had to give it a title, I’d call it the Here’s a Thought statue.