Chapter 82

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

League’s Plan

It took an hour for Katy to ask Hikaru various things down to the smallest details . He was completely exhausted, the opposite of Katy, who was busy putting together any information relating to holy mana with bright eyes, after securely hiding the bullets .

The moment Hikaru stepped out of the laboratory, the assistants who were clinging to the walls all this time, collapsed on the floor .

Learning the hard way just how strenuous the short sword lessons were, Lavia didn’t mention attending classes again . She did, however, decide to go to the magic item lectures with Hikaru .

Katy insisted he show up . Since he wasn’t really busy and League also asked him to come, he pretty much didn’t have any reason not to attend .

「Thank heavens, you’re here . 」League said .

The next magic item class . League looked happy as he was accompanied by three women . With them around, they couldn’t talk in private . Or so Hikaru thought . As soon as the class started, the women were asleep . Their tenacity was, in a way, worthy of praise . They clearly didn’t care about the class, but they still attended just so they could be near League .

「Hikaru . 」League whispered .

Women were sleeping on both sides, so Hikaru and Lavia took their seats behind him . League wrote something down on a piece of paper and passed it over .

『Let’s talk using paper . Can you burn them all afterwards?』

What are we, high school girls? Then again, League didn’t really have much freedom to move about . There probably wasn’t any other way to communicate than this .

『All right . So what did you want to talk about?』

『I want to be acquainted with powerful people from the other six nations before the start of winter next year . I’m talking about students here in the academy . I need your help for that . 』

『Why me? You can do that yourself . 』

『Those Jarazack students taking the great sword class are among the elite in their own nation and they like you . They see you as a friend . It took months for Roy to be friends with them, but it only took you a day . 』

『They’re just a bunch of muscle heads . I haven’t even considered being friends with them . 』

『The result is what matters . I want to make use of that . I’ll pay as much as I can . 』

『I don’t need money and I’m not obliged to help you with that . Besides, those Jarazack dudes are a bit special, I guess . I don’t know about the other students . 』

『You already met Lord Silvester . He enrolled into the academy a few days ago after finding out you were a student here . 』

「………」

Seriously? Hikaru thought as he studied the note . League handed over another one .

『It looks like Professor Katy is interested in you as well . She’s been watching our exchange for a while now . You can use her to get close to students from Kotobi . That’s four out of seven nations so far . See? How can I not possibly come to you for help? There’s something about you . 』

『It’s just a coincidence . 』

(I think it’s too much of a coincidence . ) Lavia whispered from beside him .

(What do you mean? It can’t be anything but coincidence . )

(You get involved with all sorts of people too much . )

(I specialize in Stealth, you know . )

(You have to hide better, then . Maybe you should hide in the shadows of someone who stands out . )

Yes… That’s a good idea .

『Please don’t use me as camouflage . 』

League wrote . It seemed he heard their conversation .

『League, since you’re the one who suggested this, you’re the head . 』

『Let’s make Lord Silvester the head . It’s only natural since the principal is from Zubura as well . 』

League immediately sold out his future comrade without hesitation .

『I’m not sure about this . Is it really a good idea to drag students into politics?』Hikaru wrote .

『We won’t know until we try and I think it’s worth a shot . We have to make a move or nothing will change . 』

A positive outlook . League would surely do it even if he was under constant surveillance and it was hard for him to do anything .

(What are you going to do?) Lavia asked .

What if I refuse? Will Roy do it in my stead? Or that red-haired guy?

As Rumanians, it would take time for them to get close to students from other nations given their history . Which made Hikaru the best option . While him being from Ponsonia might be a disadvantage, the students would rather be with a Ponsonian than those from the allied nations .

What do I do? I don’t even know . Frankly, he couldn’t care less . At first .

But he started giving it some thought after hearing League’s proposition . The Green Ogre heir was facing forward, listening to Katy — rather, pretending to listen . What he really wanted to listen to was Hikaru’s conversation with Lavia, most likely . He wanted to know what Hikaru was thinking .

It’s kinda weird for a top clan of Rumania to ask help from me, a foreigner .

That just showed how desperate and cornered League was . Despite this, he was still chasing his dream of a united nation .

I guess it’s too late to turn back now .

Hikaru couldn’t deny being moved by League’s dedication . He was worried though, because it felt like League was being impatient .

He still planned to attend classes for the time being, so helping out League on the side wasn’t that big a deal . And if he wished to live in peace in this world, it would be in his best interest that Forestia would unite too .

Though the biggest reason why he could concern himself with such childish dreams was because he had someone to share everything with .

This is your fault, Hikaru thought as he glanced at the girl beside him . Lavia cocked her head slightly .

『I’ll help however I can . 』Hikaru wrote on the paper and handed it to League .

For them to make progress, though, they had to get rid of the women monitoring League . In order to do that, League would borrow a laboratory from the academy . If approved, the women wouldn’t follow him in there . Hikaru was not all convinced, but seeing the ladies fell asleep in magic item class, they might stay away from laboratories .

『I’m planning to buy plenty of foul-smelling materials . 』League wrote on the paper .

Hikaru headed to Katy’s lab after class . As usual, the assistants didn’t look too pleased to see him . But as soon as they saw Lavia, they realized he wasn’t really a competition, and their expressions turned gentle .

「You don’t have to leave . 」Hikaru said with a bright smile, of which Lavia later commented as “fake” .

「What? We’re not going to talk about holy mana?」Katy asked, looking disappointed .

「I know this sounds shameless, but I have two favors to ask of you, Professor . They’re not that big of a deal, though . 」

「Shoot . 」

「First, I need permission to use a laboratory . 」

「Oh, you’ve finally become a captive of magic item research!」

「Nope . League, a male student from Rumania, is the one requesting for it . I thought it would get approved fast with your support . 」

「Rumania… League?」

Katy looked as if she had no idea who Hikaru was talking about . An assistant approached and whispered in her ear .

「Ah, that student who actually shows up to my class despite being a member of the Rumania clan . 」

「Is it that unusual?」

「Not really for regular students . But it is when they’re members of a legitimate clan . Anyway, I can help you with that . I’ll get in touch with the admin some time today . 」

「B-But Professor! He’s a Rumanian student!」one of the assistants protested .

「What? You want your own lab too? I can arrange one for you right away—」

「N-No! I really like working with you, Professor!」

The assistant panicked, sensing he was about to get kicked out of the room . It was apparent that they were really just after Katy .

「Really? Okay, if you say so . So, Hikaru . What’s your second favor?」

「Please introduce me to a student from Kotobi . 」

「Introduce you to a student?」

「I’m thinking of creating a place where students can exchange information with others about the things they’ve learned in their classes, and I want someone from Kotobi to be a part of it as well . 」

Katy’s face was clearly saying “I want to be a part of that”, but Hikaru ignored it . He wouldn’t share any information about holy mana anyway .

「I don’t know a lot of people in the academy . I just thought it would be great to interact with others . I’m sure you will introduce me to a wonderful student . Right, everyone?」

「Of course!」

「I’m sure the Professor can do that . 」the assistants replied .

「All right, then . I know just who you’re looking for . 」Katy said . 「My sister . 」