PMZ 060 – I’ve been found out.

“Gud morning, everyone.”  

I don’t know when I should quit my strange way of speaking, so I put in a little more effort on that, and this time Hayato was the one who covered his mouth with one hand and held back his laughter.  

Mr. Blaze coughed and put his hand on the podium.  

“Today, we will have Ellie-sensei as our assistant for practical training. I’m going to announce the groups now, so Team A, please gather by the window, and Team B, please gather in the hallway.”  

The names were read out in order from the teacher’s mouth, and one by one, the students moved to their respective places.  

The moment Hayato’s name was mentioned, I felt the air in the classroom stiffen.  

“Hayato Riddil — Team A.”  

The window-side A team was clearly excited, while the B team was blatantly dejected.  

Well, that’s is expected, right…? and there’s nothing we can do about it.  

If he is not on our side, Hayato is certainly a scary person.  

After everyone’s name was called, they were divided into their respective teams and gathered around their desks to begin the strategy meeting.  

Usually, the battle has already begun at this point, and we would try to steal the other team’s strategy by using sound tapping magic, lip-reading, or trying to disrupt the other team’s magic, but Today’s Class 2-A was not doing any of that.  

[Team A] has already won, that’s what they thought. The atmosphere in their group felt like they were about to start a tea party.  

“They don’t even know how good he is yet.”  

“Yeah, you’re right, ……. If we try, we might even have a chance to win. Anyway, I’ll think of something.”  

Oh! I like that kind of positive attitude!  

This was the moment when the B team’s favorability rating skyrocketed in my mind.  

It’s a pity that I couldn’t fight together with Hayato, but so be it.  

It’s natural for people to feel compelled to lend a hand to those willing to work hard.  

“That’s right! He is undoubtedly strong, but dealing with monsters is different from dealing with humans.  

Humans have intelligence, right?  

Besides, if we can take advantage of Team A’s relaxed attitude, we might have a chance to win.”  

I spoke up, and the whole of Team B’s attention was drawn to me.  

“…Ellie-sensei is surprisingly fluent for someone who usually speaks in broken language, isn’t she?”  

“… I do try my best to learn it. You are Arthur, right? Daniel praised you! I heard you’re good at dark magic. That’s great!”  

“Eh…? The principal praised me…?  

I can’t believe this is happening,” he said with a happy expression on his face.   

Okay, Let begin the praise strategy now.  

“And then there’s you, Charlotte. Your recovery skills are well known among the staff. I’m sure you have a kind heart. What a lovely lady you are.”  

“O-Oh,… Is that so? Did teachers say that?”  

Okay, I think I got the hang of it.  

Let’s use this momentum to choose the King.  

“Please tell me what kind of criteria you guys usually use to decide the King. Who do you think is the best among us?”  

“I think someone who’s good at the holy attribute is the best, so out of us, I’d say Maurice.”  

“I see. Why did you think it would be better to have someone with strong holy attributes?”  

“You can put your own wards on the necklace, and you have a high resistance to their dark magic. You can wait for the girls to help you, but it’s faster and more reliable if you can handle it yourself.”  

“That’s right, excellent. Then, Maurice, everyone, are you willing to be the King this time? Or you have other suggestions?”  

“Yes, I think that’ s a good idea.”  

“Me too.”  

There seemed to be no objections. Everyone nodded firmly.  

“So, Maurice, I look forward to working with you. Now, can one of you please concentrate on picking up the other side’s plan?”  

“Oh, I’m already on it, ma’am. I’m not a perfect lip reader, but when I combine it with facial expressions and movements, I have a pretty good idea of what they’re saying.”  

“Oh! Miranda, you’re wonderful! What’s the situation over there now?”  

“It seems that Hayato is being asked a lot of questions about the wedding ring he wore. He seems to be bragging about his fiancée. They’ re a little taken aback by his excessive gloating.”  

“…is that something they should talk about?”  

“They totally sucking him off.”  

“… They certainly seem to be slacking off. I’ll be sure to warn the [Team A] about it later.”  

“Miss Ellie, your face is red.”  

Stop it, me… what’s the point of turning into a maiden now!  

No matter how much I love her has nothing to do with class; I have to separate work and love matters professionally.   

Still, I’m happy!  

“If you found out who the King is, please let me know. If Hayato isn’t the King, I think we have a chance to win.”  

Oh no, my face started to grin.  

I gently covered my mouth with one hand and understood a little bit how Hayato felt when he looked at Ellie and made this same gesture.  

I’m laughing a little. Please stop, me. This is not the time for that.  

I regained my composure and called out to the Quinby-three who had been incorporated into Team B.  

“Esmeralda, Brigitte, and Cecilia. Why don’t you take part in the final defense of our King? You’ll be the queens, so to speak.”  

“What, us?”  

A sudden invitation to the front line. She was a little bewildered, but she didn’t seem to hate the idea—just one more push.  

“In reality, it was said that it is Queen’s job to protect the King at the very end. I thought that Esmeralda, who held the highest noble position and best grade in magic is the perfect choice to fill the Queen duty.  

Brigitte and Cecilia are the cool knights who protect the King and Queen. I was told that both of them are trained in swordsmanship at home. Wouldn’t you like to put your skill to use?”  

“How do you know that…? How did you know we were learning swordsmanship?”  

“Mista Daniel told me.”  

“Mr. principal, you know everything about us…! I thought you were just ignorant!”  

That’s about right, but not exactly.  

He’s good at teaching, but he’s not very good at touching his students’ hearts as adults.  

“That’s not true. It’s just that he’s a child inside, so teaching children is not for him.”  

I accidentally spoke my mind.  

But I think it’s better to be considered equal among children than to be thought of as indifferent.  

That’s just my perspective, though.  

Team A will probably attack with just the boys, so if the girls are on the front line, they’ll be quite surprised. I think they’ll be hesitating to launch an attack.  

Plus, if the Quinby-three joined the frontline, it would be perfect. Weak-minded boys would not even be able to stand in front of them. {implying they are scared shitless}  

Maurice thought for a moment and then turned to Quinby.  

“I’m sure. It’s normal for girls to support in the back, but if you have the strength, it would be great if you could lend us a hand. What do you think?”  

“Well, I can’t help it. I’ll do it. Brigitte and Cecilia, would it be all right with you?”  

“Certainly!”  

Quinby-three looked somewhat happy.  

I’m sure they wanted to do this together in the past. It’s just that neither side could say it for some reason.  

It’s not easy to handle a girl’s mind, even for me. It just the way it is.  

“I’ll put a ward around Esmeralda and the others. Even if you have a recovery technique, I can’t let the girls get hurt, right? But if the wards don’t hold and it becomes a dangerous situation, feel free to retreat. Your body is more important than winning or losing.”  

“Understood, Mrs. Ellie.”  

So honest!  

That’s touching honesty!  

As I would expect from an elite class member, everyone is ambitious.   

Good. Very good.  

I like that kind of person.  

“Then, let’s make a plan. This time we’re going to use the old school building, but if you have any ideas, please let me know.”  

As I unfolded the old school building map and pointed it at them, some boys suggested guerrilla warfare by pointing out the best points for ambushes and surprise attacks.  

Some radical girls suggested that Team A girls be crushed by the girls from Team B to cut off their support.  

At times like this, there are always girls who don’t voice their opinions and just watch, but there are also girls who stare at the exchange as if they want to say something.  

Such girls usually have unexpected and unusual ideas.  

I’d love to hear what they have to say.  

“You’re…… Nell, right? You have an idea, don’t you?”  

When I called out to her, she flinched and spoke up in a small voice.  

“I don’t know if this is a good idea, but how about a dummy king?”  

“Dummy?”  

“Yes… We’ll use magic to make it glow like the King’s necklace… While the real King remains hidden, the dummy attracts the enemy and runs far away. We will use that chance to launch our offensive force goes to strike down the other team king.”  

I see, the shadow warrior strategy.  

Not bad, but that’s assuming our (dummy)king won’t get caught.  

And it’s not natural for a single person to act alone, so you need to have at least two people assisting him. I’m not sure I’d be comfortable to divide this already small number of people.  

That said, it is not a bad idea.  

Lady Esmeralda and the other girls will make up for the reduced numbers.  

“I think it’s a good idea.”  

“It’s worth a try.”  

“But I’ve never tried magic that just emits light… And isn’t it pretty difficult to keep it up while running away? You can’t use any other magic during that time.”  

“It’s a battle that you should have lost in the first place. This is a great opportunity to try something new.”  

“Eh, I guess that’s right. So, who should we use as dolls? The fastest one here is … Arthur, right? You do it.”  

“Okay… but don’t complain if I get caught too fast.”  

“Don’t jinx it.”  

That’s good. I like this.  

We recognize each other’s strengths and work together. This is the ideal form of cooperation.  

When I was quietly impressed, Miranda, who had been listening to Team A, opened her mouth.  

“I think that… King over there is Hayato. I’ve been observing him for a while, and I’m pretty sure it’s him.”  

Ouch… This is the most unwinnable pattern for us.  

“Well… I think you’re right. That’s what I would do if I were over there.”  

“Yup.”  

A dull air descended over Team B’s head.  

No, no, no. I can’t they get swallowed up in this mood.  

“Let’s set a target. If we can eliminate all of them except the King, let’s count it as our win.”  

“… okay.”  

Oh, morale is going down …if this continue, the discussion will likely become sloppy.  

I need to change the atmosphere.  

“And I’ll join the attack force. If there is a difference in strength, teachers are allowed to join in.”  

“What? Mrs. Ellie will?”  

“You can fight?”  

“Just as good as anyone, but at least I can. If you’re going to lose, it’s better to lose with the teacher, right?  

That’s right, let’s have a little warm-up game during the next strategy class. Brigitte and Cecilia, please join us.”  

“We’re in?”  

“Yes. When you move your body, your intuition gets sharper. You might be able to come up with a surprising solution. ”  

When I winked at him, I felt everyone’s faces, and the atmosphere softens a little.  

The bell rang, signaling the end of the first period.  

So, Team B girls, please change into your training robes, and boys, please come to the old school building so that we can get to the scene before Team A.  

“Is that allowed?”  

“This much of handicap should be allowed. I’ll talk to Mr. Blaze myself.”  

When I stood up and told Blaze-sensei, who was dozed off next to Team A, in a whisper, “In the next period, Team B will enter the old school building first,” he suddenly woke up and started to nod at high speed.  

I wonder if he’s going to be okay? Maybe he’s at his limit in this black workplace environment.  

I left the classroom, feeling a little worried.  

As I walked out into the hallway, I looked over at Hayato. He was staring at me, and when our eyes met, he smiled at me.  

Pushing down the urge to run over and hug him right now, I return the smile and close the door.  

It was frustrating that I couldn’t stalk him as much as I wanted to.  

But everyone on Team B is also important.  

If possible, I would like to let them win, but well… I can’t picture winning against Hayato at all!  

I’ve never even seen him get serious, and because now that he’s with me, he’s limiting his activities to… I almost had a bad thought, which I hurriedly pushed to the bottom of my mind and turned my attention to my next strategy.  

I went to the locker room to change into my non-so-usual swordsman outfit and headed for the old school building.  

Then I heard Lady Esmeralda’s voice from behind me.  

“Oh my? Mrs. Ellie ……?”  

I turned around and saw the three Quinby girls in their robes standing there.  

First, Brigitte and Cecilia said, “Wow! Your outfit is so cute!” and Esmeralda gave me an unexpected comment, “It’s so much better than wearing the same clothes as the boys.”  

I don’t think I would have gotten such a good reaction if I hadn’t had a skort. Even if it’s only a short one, I think skorts are essential accessories for girls.  

“Where did you get that, Sensei? I’d like to train in that kind of style too.”  

“Me too! I think I can train in a fun mood with that.”  

As expected of girls with the heart of a swordsman, they understand.  

This was bought at the store running by Carlos in the 15th street of the royal capital. Initially, it came without this skort, but I was so embarrassed to use it without, so I put it my own on.  

“I see. This is so cute! I think I’ll go buy one next time.”  

As I was chatting, Lady Esmeralda silently looked at me, then she said in a small voice…   

“Alisha……?”  

I felt the temperature around me drop instantly.  

“What?”  

“By Alisha, you mean ……?”  

Brigitte and Cecilia peeked into my face.  

I turned my head to the side, but that gesture itself was as good as a confession.  

“…oh, my, it’s true! I’ve been thinking about how much you look like someone else today, and I’m sure it’s Alisha!”  

“What are you doing? I mean, Ellie-sensei(laugh)… Maybe you’re spying on Hayato because you’re worried about Him?”  

I surrendered to Quinby-three, who were piercing my heart and soul with their words, and showed them the truth.  

“Oh, jeez! It cannot be helped if you caught me. Yes, it’s me, Alisha! I’m here to stalk him because I’m worried about my fiancée!”  

“My, Oh my, that’s so adorable… But I can understand. When I think of what happened last year, it would be very, very hard for me to leave him alone if I’m in your shoes.  

I might do the same. Your fiancée is such a nice person, it’s only natural to be worried.  

If I didn’t have a fiancé, I would have attacked him too. With someone of his caliber, the fact that he is a former commoner is not even an issue, it’s a trivial matter.”  

The bomb that Lady Esmeralda unleashed exploded in my heart.  

Stop it!  

My life is already zero!  

“No! I won’t give him to you!”  

“Well, well, well. Unfortunately, I’m not hungry enough to steal from others. My fiancé takes very good care of me.”  

“Did you just make fun of me? You just made fun of me, didn’t you?”  

“Mmmm, that’s nice. Oh, you have shown me something nice. For the first time in a long time, I feel like laughing from the bottom of my heart. I’ve also got Alisha’s weakness. …and I also came up with a good plan.”  

Lady Esmeralda said with a mean smile on her face.  

“A good plan?”  

“Yes. It’s called a [honey trap].”  

TL notes:   

I want to tsukkomi… but I had 2, 6000-character chapter after this, so I better get going.