True to her word, Patricia didn’t set foot outside her room once before the Sage Festival began.
Her goal was to destroy this country.
That meant, specifically, tearing down the Guardian Barrier that protected the Royal Capital.
I didn't think a single person could dismantle the very foundations of a nation, but the existence of the Guardian Barrier made such a thing possible.
Seriously, this country is a joke.
As far as House Brave was concerned, one common sentiment was that it didn't really matter whether the Guardian Barrier existed or not. Personally, I had no attachment to the thing. It didn't provide me with a single damn benefit, so I wouldn't lose any sleep if it broke.
However, if Mariana ended up as a human sacrifice for that barrier, it would break Alicia’s heart.
Was that what Patricia meant when she said her plan wasn't a bad deal for me?
A peace-addled monkey from the wasteland, huh?
It might be true that I’d gone soft in the peace, but being told as much by that woman was still irritating.
Under normal circumstances, those were the kinds of lines spoken to a person whose destiny it was to destroy the barrier, but I wasn’t even supposed to be in this story.
Wait... was it actually my role because the big shots of this country were so wary of the Brave bloodline?
Like I’d know.
I’d assumed House Brave was just a background element—the mobbiest of mobs that wouldn't even appear in the narrative—but apparently, I’d been wrong.
If the barrier vanished without the authority being passed on, the capital—completely off-guard—would be swallowed by a vortex of chaos as the Duchy Army approached through the other territories.
If that happened, maybe I should just take Alicia and head back to the Brave Territory.
...But would it really be that easy?
I didn't know the scale of their military. If the capital side panicked and tried to invade the Brave Territory in retreat, things would get messy. The Duchy was our fated enemy, a rival we’d been clashing with for generations.
There was no way they weren't keeping an eye on the Brave Territory during all this. They might even be conducting small-scale maneuvers near our borders right now just to keep us from moving toward the capital.
If I were in their shoes, that’s exactly what I’d do.
Patricia was a nasty piece of work. Since she had come here with some kind of countermeasure to keep me from killing her, it was highly likely she’d already accounted for all of this. For the Duchy, using this opportunity to crush House Brave was a valid option.
I’d been played.
Setting aside whatever "role" I was supposed to have, she’d thrown those words at me simply to paralyze me, knowing I was the primary obstacle to her destroying the barrier.
She really was a hateful woman.
"Doggie! Can I have a balloon?"
"Here you go."
"Yay! Mommy! I got a balloon!"
"That's nice, dear. Now, what do you say?"
"Thank you, Doggie!"
Lost in thought, I handed a balloon to a noble child who’d come to the Academy courtyard. I was currently stuffed into a dog costume.
The Sage Festival had finally begun.
People other than students crowded the Academy gates and the courtyard. While the atmosphere among the students of the 1st year Special Class was practically dead, the General Class seemed to be picking up the slack. It was a huge success.
I’d wondered if an academy for snobbish nobles could actually pull off a culture festival vibe, but it was surprisingly harmonious and lively, just like in the game.
"The Student Council... they aren't around, are they? Look, the food stalls from town are here! Let's buy some and eat together."
"As you wish, Lady Ekaterina."
It was the first time I'd seen Ekaterina in a while. She was glancing restlessly around the area as she purchased skewers from a stall.
The lot in the Special Class were all acting like they’d collectively agreed that the Sage Festival was beneath them, but apparently, that only applied when they were in front of us.
This was exactly why I was in a dog costume.
Alicia had been thoughtful enough to suggest that the Special Class wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves if they felt the eyes of the Student Council were on them.
Alicia was far too kind.
Honestly, if they were going to be so secretive about it, they should have just enjoyed it normally from the start. Noble pride was a truly tiresome thing.
"So this is where you were, Brave... I mean, 'Mr. Dog.'"
While I was watching the crowd, a rabbit costume hopped toward me. It was Edward.
"What is it?"
"A summons. From the 'Empress'... I mean, 'Mr. Lion.'"
"Just call us by our names. This is confusing."
The Student Council members were required to wear costumes to liven things up whenever they were out in public. Alicia was a lion. Edward, who lived for masks and playing at "shadows," had been all for the idea of everyone hiding their identities. He insisted on calling everyone by their costume names.
Apparently, for the duration of the Sage Festival, the Student Council was known as the "Fresh Blood Beasts."
As if I cared.
For the record, Mariana was "Mr. Cat." Clive was "Mr. Bear," and Treisa was "Mr. Penguin."
Now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing plenty of costumes in the background art for the game. I wondered if those were supposed to be the Student Council back then, too. It hadn't happened in the Castor Route, so I had no idea who was inside them in the original timeline.
"Doggie! Shake! Shake hands!"
"Yes, yes... anyway, what's the summons for?"
I answered him while dealing with the children who kept begging for handshakes. Edward had been cornered by a kid asking for a hug, so he replied while hoisting the child up.
"There's a vacancy in the magic tournament. It seems the Student Council has to fill the gap."
"Is Alicia asking me to do it?"
"Clive is apparently entering the Ikemen Grand Prix, so it can't be helped."
I looked at the bear costume with genuine doubt. "He's actually entering something like that?"
"Word is he was entered without his permission. Lady Treisa doesn't mess around, does she?"
"Don't lie. Treisa wouldn't do something like that."
It didn't come up much, but she was a model student. She didn't discriminate, and she didn't waste her days at tea parties. She’d worked tirelessly on her studies and training just to join the Student Council alongside Clive. Alicia trusted her implicitly. I couldn't imagine her doing anything that would disrupt our official duties.
More than anything, I knew exactly who would be the most delighted if I entered the tournament. It was the bald idiot standing right in front of me.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
"To see through my ruse... as expected of 'Mr. Dog.' Hmph."
Don't "hmph" me.
The vacancy was on the side of the Duchy students. I’d already heard the report that after being force-fed those "special" cookies by Edward yesterday, they were all currently bedridden and unable to move.
"So yesterday was just a prelude for today?"
"Hmph, who can say? However, guests from the Duchy, as well as representatives from House Pentagram and House Slash, are all here to watch the magic tournament. Don't you think showing off the power of 'Mr. Dog' would serve as an excellent deterrent?"
"I don't think beating up the Academy students scheduled to participate is going to deter anyone."
At a student level, the match would probably be over in the blink of an eye.
"The 1st year student who was supposed to participate is down with a mysterious illness. Therefore, your opponent is me."
"..."
Even through the costume, I could tell he was smirking.
Seriously, the man was a total farce.