[588] The Hidden Mastermind (3)
* * *
News of Eden's retirement spread among the Scramble Royal participants.
It happened not long after the quasar exploded.
"Retired?"
Hershy stared, stunned.
'Did he really break the shield?'
In the Golden Wheel's simulation, Eden's defensive ability had ranked number one among the graduating class—no contest.
"There's no more Infinity (○○○○○○)."
Iruki sneered.
"All that's left are Amy and Kaden."
Coming to his senses, Hershy quickly counted the hands.
Shirone's team's strongest set was Sabina's ●●●● (Mine).
'Kaden's hand is…'
○●○● (Democracy).
'Done!'
Hershy shivered.
In a complicated fight of hand combinations, only Iruki could compute what Shirone's team's ultimate hand would be, but he still had one last contingency for the absolute worst.
"Puahaha!"
Hershy's laugh burst out; Dorothy raised an eyebrow.
"What's gotten into you? Gone mad?"
"Well played."
Hershy stopped laughing. "Truly impressive. Honestly, I thought we'd win easily. I'll give you credit for hanging on this far."
"Do you really think Kaden can beat Amy?"
Hershy shrugged.
"Unlike Eden's case, the Golden Wheel's simulation had them as virtually even."
"I don't care who wins."
Hershy seemed certain the Scramble Royal was decided.
"In any case, the winner will be Kaden."
* * *
"Hand over the master card."
Amy held out her hand to Kaden.
"Master card? Oh."
Kaden blinked, as if he'd only just noticed.
"Hurry. You're not planning to be stubborn now that we've come this far, are you? That's not like you."
"The thing is… I don't have it."
"What?"
Amy frowned, confused.
"This morning Hershy took my master card without the team knowing. I couldn't contest it, but your hand was lower than mine anyway. That was the condition Hershy offered in exchange for him chasing you."
"Wait. He took the master card? The master card?"
Amy, suddenly disoriented, reached out and muttered as she checked the participants' card statuses.
Kaden's Democracy was the strongest.
'If the Scramble Royal ends like this, the allied team wins.'
Amy's heart dropped. She spun to Kaden and shouted, "You idiot! Why are you telling me this now? We're going to lose!"
Kaden looked just as bewildered.
"Why would I tell you? We're on different sides, aren't we?"
"Shut up! You clueless—!"
Amy kicked Kaden in the ribs; the shock transferred to his broken rib.
"Ugh! What are you—"
"You're impossible!"
As Amy twisted away and ran, Kaden reached out.
"J-just—!"
"Shut up! We'll talk after your match!"
Her trembling hand went to his broken ribs, a bead of saliva at her lip.
"Ugh!"
There was no sympathy for a mage.
* * *
"Kaden doesn't have the master card."
Hershy declared triumphantly.
"I took it this morning. Even if Amy beats Kaden, she won't be able to nullify the card. And if Kaden wins, well—problem solved."
A heavy silence followed.
"Understand now? The Scramble Royal is a victory for the allied team."
"Iruki."
When Dorothy turned, Iruki asked, "Where is the master card?"
"Who knows. Where could it be?"
Hershy's body flashed.
Sona had already been analyzed and couldn't be used, but teleportation couldn't be cancelled.
"Then we'll see after the match."
At that moment Sabina approached from behind and clamped her hand around his neck.
"Don't move."
A razor-edged air-cut aura shimmered at her fingertips.
"Hah—one last flail? How pathetic."
Dorothy came up with Hickory in tow. "Hand over the master card. Or we'll be forced to use violence."
The ground beneath Sabina's foot writhed; a long centipede shot up like a snake and coiled around her ankle.
"Damn!"
From a tree ten meters away, Pisho descended upside down atop a spider.
"Let Hershy go. That centipede's venomous."
"Don't be ridiculous. You think I'll die alone?"
Sabina tightened her grip on Hershy's neck, Hickory's fist aimed at the Pisho hanging from the tree.
Each held the other's lifeline. Sabina said, "Search him. There isn't much time. We have to find the master card."
Hershy spread his arms as if delighted. "Hahaha! You never disappoint. But what can I do? Kaden's master card isn't with me."
"Shut up and stay still. We'll check that ourselves."
There was a killing intent in Sabina's voice.
"By all means. Just because you received it doesn't mean you still have it. Rummage all you want. If you find it in time, it's your victory."
"Iruki, hurry!"
Only after Dorothy cocked her rocket punch and shouted did Iruki begin to move slowly.
"Ugh, I don't like leaving things to a man. Besides, you still won't find what you're looking for…"
"Iruki."
Iruki cut her off and looked up. "Are you, by any chance, an idiot?"
"What?"
Hershy's face crumpled.
* * *
"Right! I'm an idiot! I am stupid!"
Amy turned and retraced her steps.
When she left the forest, Kaden was still clutching his side and groaning.
"Hey! You could've just forced him to retire, right?"
"That's why I told you to wait—"
"Shut up! There's less than two minutes left!"
Amy grabbed Kaden by the collar, hauled him up, activated Skima, and piggybacked him.
"Oof! Too rough."
"Like I care!"
Casting teleportation repeatedly, Amy landed near the Magic Academy's main gate.
-10 seconds remaining until the end of the Scramble Royal.
"This is insane!"
She'd calculated the strain of teleportation plus carrying Kaden, then ran with him on her back.
5…4…3…
Listening for Lulu's electronic signal, she summoned every last ounce of strength and hurled Kaden.
"Go, Kaden!"
2…1.
As Kaden's body crossed the gate, another signal came through during the count.
—Kaden, out-of-bounds defeat. The Scramble Royal match time has ended.
—The strongest hand is Mine (●●●●). The winning team is Shirone, Iruki, Nade, Amy, Dorothy, Sabina.
—Rewards and penalties will be applied by the judges.
"Hah! Hah!"
Only after registering all of Lulu's signals did Amy collapse forward and brace herself with her hands on the ground.
"You ignorant fool…"
Kaden lay outside the main gate, writhing and enduring the pain.
* * *
"We won!"
Sabina and Dorothy relaxed and jumped for joy.
Pisho remained expressionless; only Hershy looked dazed.
"Ah…."
It took him a long time to realize how foolish his thinking had been—which really meant that notion had never entered his head at all.
'Why did I do that?'
"When you're backed into a corner, you cling to even absurd hopes."
Hershy's eyes turned to Iruki, who was approaching.
"It's like insurance in a card game. Hedging for a specific scenario is smart, but you can end up forcing every assumption into that one condition."
"Hmph—acting all clever…!"
"Because you were planning a dirty trick…"
Hershy's face crumpled, but Iruki ignored him and turned to Dorothy, recalling her counsel as he continued.
"You stop knowing what's really important."
"…"
Realizing he'd been completely outplayed, Hershy ground his teeth. "See you at the graduation exam. I'll make sure to trample you."
"Try to be helpful instead."
They'd agreed that two people from Shirone's team would be pushed through during the graduation exam.
When Hershy teleported away, Sabina and Dorothy approached Iruki.
"Good work, Iruki."
"Yeah. Thanks for sticking to the plan."
Dorothy said, "We'll talk when the team's together, but the reward terms are awkward. Choosing two people—who decides?"
Before the Scramble Royal, Kaden's emotional reaction had led Shirone's team to offer the best conditions; now that they'd won, how to divide the spoils felt delicate.
Iruki suggested, "How about this: until the graduation exam, the two of us with the lowest ranks get the rewards."
Sabina agreed. "That's a good idea. Honestly, I'm being sentimental, but I want all six of us to pass."
Nobody would intentionally tank their rank just to exploit the Golden Wheel's help.
'We know what really matters.'
Relieved to be back at the Magic Academy, Dorothy smiled up at the sky.
* * *
"Are you really leaving now? You look pretty injured."
Amy had been the one to inflict those injuries, but Kaden knew her by now.
"I can cast basic recovery magic. We'll get a professional healer on the way."
Since the Scramble Royal itself was illegal, they had no intention of stopping by the infirmary.
"Right. You'll come back, right?"
"I just want some fresh air. I'll visit home for a bit. Besides, my rank is pretty high right now."
Thinking about it afterward, the whole thing seemed absurd.
"If I want to drop below Nade, I won't be back for at least a month."
Nade's rank in the graduating class was last, and his return was uncertain.
"Haha! True. Take care. I'll push my rank up while you're gone."
Kaden forced a smile and turned. "Say hello to Maya for me."
"No thanks. Tell her yourself when you get back. Honestly, she makes me uncomfortable."
"Hahahaha!"
Kaden suddenly thought of something and threw his head back, laughing. "Now that I think about it—you two are made for each other. Shirone and you."
Amy's face flushed. "What nonsense? We're not—!"
"You broke one of my ribs, and Shirone broke one a few days ago too."
"…"
"You don't give fractures time to set before you beat people up. I'm really sick of you two."
Amy asked, uneasy, "Do you…?"
"Don't worry. I won't sabotage you anymore. So go and enjoy life."
Leaving the school, Kaden glanced back at Amy and lifted one corner of his mouth. "Karmis."
Amy smiled back to see him off. "Have a good trip, Cross."
* * *
The match's afterglow still lingered as participants gathered around Iruki.
Shirone arrived with Eden; Amy joined last.
"Phew, that was close. Good work, everyone."
They all looked exhausted, just as Shirone had said.
"I don't really want to head back yet. Want to grab a quick bite?"
Amy rubbed her rumbling stomach; Sabina nodded. "I'm hungry too. But what's open at this hour? The campus shop's closed."
Eden said, "Let's go to the cafeteria. I can make something from the ingredients there. I can do something simple. Even the clergy said it was tasty."
"Eden, you?"
Though Eden had lost the duel, his expression was surprisingly calm. "Feeding the hungry is also an act of love."
Iruki nodded. "Good. Let's go. Pisho, want to come eat?"
Even after the allied team disbanded, Pisho stayed put.
"...I'm not lonely."
Pisho was the oldest of the graduating class.
"Who cares? Let's debrief the match. There might've been win chances we didn't expect. You handled the scramble, after all."
"If you put it that way…"
The sting of defeat was sharp, but he knew analyzing failure was important.
Just as Pisho joined and everyone headed for the cafeteria, Shirone called out, "Wait. There's a problem."
"A problem?"
"Entering the cafeteria at this hour would be a breach of school rules."
"..."
Everyone gaped, and in the awkward silence Iruki asked, "Are you serious?"
"Yep. What if a teacher catches us and scolds us?"
Hearing that, everyone sheepishly drifted away.
"Wait! That's really worrying—!"
Pisho hurried to follow Shirone's footsteps. "That's Shirone for you."
"Of course. It's a Magic Academy."
Amy stifled a laugh. "He's not exactly normal either."
Scramble Royal — End.