Youngest 151
by CristaeEpisode 151
“I don’t need you to look at mine.”
Khalid grumbled briefly, but Grandfather just chuckled and slung an arm around his shoulders.
“Where are you trying to run off to? I’ll make sure you’re thoroughly humiliated. I’ll be evaluating with a cold and meticulous eye… huh?”
Grandfather broke off mid-sentence, and I cocked my head curiously.
Professors were swarming around the A-Class podium.
To be precise… in front of Khalid’s works…
“Oh my. What artistry is this?”
“Can we put these up for auction right away?”
The sleekly sculpted squirrel figurine.
So very different from my own mysterious pile of refuse… Wait, did I just call it refuse?
“This landscape also stands out for its bold, unrestrained brushwork…”
What the—!
I was vexed.
Is there anything he can’t do?
Is this what they call a male lead buff? Is that what this is?
“What are you staring at like that for?”
Sensing my gaze full of inferiority, Khalid asked.
“…Weren’t you just skipping class and using the infirmary as an excuse?”
“Toward the end, I couldn’t even use that excuse. I just went to a few different classes.”
“So, is there anything you aren’t good at physically?!”
It’s unfair!
I didn’t quite know what exactly I felt was unfair, but somehow, I found him annoyingly enviable and bumped the crown of my head into his shoulder.
After that, we spent time admiring the other children’s works, and the nobles we knew exchanged greetings, creating the intimate mood of a private salon.
I sipped at some apple juice from a refreshment table off to the side, glancing out the window.
‘But this does make me a little anxious.’
Had the Second managed to infiltrate the Academy?
Instinctively, my gaze drifted to Khalid.
Our eyes met immediately.
‘It’s alright.’
I saw him mouth the words.
I nodded slightly with a broad grin. Picking up an apple pie, I took a bite, and a sweet sense of relief washed over me.
Maybe that was why…
“……”
I didn’t notice that my father, seated next to me, was watching Khalid and me intently.
‘It would’ve been nice if mom had come too.’
Nibbling away at the apple pie, I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that the whole family was here except for mother…
‘It can’t be helped. Once I get back to Zelox, I’ll have to make sure to brag to her!’
I just knew mom would see the depth of my artistic soul at a glance!
And she was bound to spend the whole day with me!
“Please show your pass.”
The guard spoke sternly.
The Second handed over the stolen pass and swallowed hard.
It was only a temporary pass without a portrait, but her mouth was strangely dry.
“Yes, the pass is genuine.”
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“No. Forgive me, but I’ll need to perform a mana check.”
The Second frowned.
“Huh? I mean, why all of a sudden…?”
“There was a special request from a parent. Because there’s an event here today, we’re reinforcing security.”
A special request from a parent?
It was a place frequented by children of noble families—does that mean someone in the nobility made the request?
…Why?
It’s almost as if… they were guarding specifically against mages.
“…Understood.”
But refusing here would be even stranger, so the Second nodded slowly.
Lifting the neck of her shirt, she swallowed. A familiar magical device came into view.
‘It’s a lot like the one the Fourth always carried.’
A mana detecting artifact with a magic stone embedded in the center.
As the knight awkwardly brought the artifact closer, it was clear it didn’t come naturally to someone who wasn’t a mage.
Moments later, the stone responded.
“Is this… working properly?”
If the stone detected mana, it would turn blue; if not, it would turn red.
It looked red enough… But somehow, there was a tinge of violet…
The knight cocked his head.
“Excuse me, but I’m in something of a hurry. Could you please make it quick? I have to report to the rare books archive on time. Today’s my first day.”
Pressed by the Second, the knight hesitated, then eventually put the device away. There was a long line waiting to enter behind her.
“Yes. Thank you for your understanding.”
And so, she crossed the Academy’s main gate.
‘Thank goodness I wore the restraint. It did seem to react a little to my mana…’
She touched the hard band at her neck.
Once she reached a secluded area, she removed it, and her mana returned. Only then did she feel she could breathe again.
‘I really hate this place.’
How on earth is the Seventh managing to endure in this mana-barren land?
In any case, the infiltration was a success.
The Second’s eyes glimmered as she looked all around the Academy grounds.
‘I have to find her.’
And… without fail…
As she made her vow and started walking, a wave of dizziness struck. With the habitual short ringing in her ears came—
‘BOOM!’
A phantom explosion echoed through her mind.
“……”
The Second clenched her fists.
She’d never actually seen an explosion in person. Maybe that was why her imagination only grew ever wilder, replaying the cruelest scenes over and over inside her head.
‘Fourth…’
Just as a cold sweat broke out,
WAAAAH!
Children’s cheers rang out from somewhere nearby.
Her instincts guided her toward the sound.
And then…
A little ways off.
“…Whew.”
A boy with lemon-colored hair, watching everything unfold, ran a hand through his hair with a troubled expression.
“Why is it only me who notices these things…”
Recently returned from the Imperial Palace to the Academy, Prince Licht adjusted his lips with an air of discomfort.
‘Back at the entrance, didn’t the artifact’s color look a bit… off?’
He had been the one waiting in line right behind the Second.
‘Was it, though?’
He’d obtained some of those artifacts himself to examine them. He distinctly remembered that for ordinary people, the color was a much brighter red…
“Hmmm.”
Should he check again?
‘I hurried back just to see Rubian.’
“Sigh… No helping it.”
He carefully tucked away the scraps of paper in his hand.
They were letters he and Rubian had exchanged throughout the summer.
I was in shock.
The surprise highlight of the exhibition.
The result of the children’s dance with their parents was genuinely shocking.
“I’ve never been so acutely aware of my feet.”
“I sincerely apologize.”
What sort of harm had I done to my father’s feet?
It was just a few simple movements, holding hands with our parents and spinning in circles…
‘I suppose I have to admit it now…’
I…
Had two left feet.
“Turn.”
“Whoosh.”
“With your body, not just your mouth.”
“…But I did turn my body?”
“…”
No, I distinctly remember learning this in dance class. Why can’t I do it?
“Ruby, you stepped on my foot.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Again.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Ah.”
“Oh.”
I must have left hundreds of my unworthy footprints all over my father’s gleaming shoes…
Watching this, my brothers murmured, “…Thank goodness Father’s here. If not…,” and Khalid commented as if making a mental note, “We’ll have to buy you some shoes…”
I had no idea what any of it meant.
“I’ll clean them for you!”
I darted over to a nearby table and grabbed a napkin.
“No, Ruby. You don’t have to—”
Rub rub.
With a penitent heart, I scrubbed at Father’s shoes with the napkin… Eh?
I looked up, face crumpling.
“Oh no… It was a napkin someone used to clean up their apple juice…”
Apparently, it was a cloth that had wiped up spilled juice.
“How refreshing.”
Father regarded his now-sticky shoes as if it were nothing.
“Still, I should change into another pair.”
“I want to change too!”
I sprang to my feet to follow as he turned away.
“Why not just go play with your friends?”
“I don’t want to.”
Cling.
Hanging tightly onto his arm, I felt his deep gaze fall on me.
‘…There it is again.’
That look.
Father was a little strange today. Even when he interacted with me as usual, every now and then he would fix me with that intense stare…
For some reason, it really got under my skin.
“Can’t I?”
“As if I would refuse.”
He quickly returned to his gentle smile and took my hand, walking briskly onward as if nothing had happened.