Chapter 2: Urula Lavender, Daughter of the Margrave
"Haaah... hah, hah, haaah!"
Urula Lavender snapped her eyes open.
She found herself lying on a bed enclosed by white curtains. Not recognizing where she was, Urula blinked several times in confusion.
"Where... am I?" she murmured.
"Oh, you're awake," a woman's voice called out.
"...?"
The curtain opened, revealing a woman wearing a white lab coat.
"This is the academy's infirmary," the school nurse explained. "I'm the school nurse here. Do you understand?"
"..."
Urula gave a small nod of affirmation.
"You collapsed in your classroom. Do you remember what happened?"
"..."
Urula pondered silently for a moment before giving a firmer, deeper nod.
"...Yes. I remember."
She remembered. Oh, she remembered all right. How could she ever forget?
The moment she laid eyes on his face—the shock that struck her chest like a bolt of lightning was impossible to forget.
"You do? When I examined you with diagnostic magic, there wasn't anything wrong with your body... but I cast 【Heal】 and 【Purification】 on you just to be safe. How are you feeling?"
"..."
Urula nodded a third time. Thanks to having slept soundly, she felt completely fine.
"All right, then. I'll go fetch Mr. Carder, so just lie still and rest for a bit."
"..."
The curtain closed, and the patter of the nurse's footsteps gradually receded.
Left alone, Urula stared blankly at the bedsheets... until finally, a tiny whisper escaped her lips.
"...Wonderful."
Her doll-like, exquisitely sculpted face flushed deep crimson, as though illuminated by the glowing rays of a setting sun.
"Wonderful... so wonderful... How beautiful...he is...!"
Replaying in her mind was the boy she had encountered in the classroom—Rest.
The very instant she saw him, her heart had been stolen away. Her very soul had been snatched from her chest.
Light flooded into Urula's previously hollow chest, releasing an overwhelming torrent of emotion.
Joy, anticipation, longing, shyness, awe... Her brain had simply failed to process that sudden deluge of feelings, causing her to spurt a nosebleed and faint dead away.
"...Wonderful..."
Her dainty lips repeated the word once more.
That was how striking, how utterly captivating Rest had appeared through Urula's eyes.
If someone were looking down upon this world from a godlike, third-person perspective, they surely would have doubted the plausibility of Urula's sudden love at first sight.
A girl who had lost all emotion falling head over heels for a guy she just met and regaining her heart—it sounded like a contrived, overly convenient plot turn.
Yet... there was a definitive reason why Urula had been so completely enchanted by Rest.
"...Ah...ah..."
Urula's eyes flickered.
Her amethyst-like irises shimmered, shifting colors like droplets of oil spreading across water, swirling into a brilliant rainbow sheen.
This was the power Urula had inherited from her fortune-teller mother—the Fairy Eye.
It was a special ability that allowed her to see human potential—in other words, the future. Across the entire world, fewer than one hundred individuals possessed such a gift.
Beheld through her Fairy Eye, the boy named Rest was truly kaleidoscopic, changing in infinite ways.
In his future, endless possibilities expanded boundlessly like the cosmos itself. Looking at him felt like being plunged headfirst into an ocean of stardust.
"...Infinite... Truly, infinite...!"
Urula trembled. Large teardrops spilled from her eyes as a cry of pure exultation escaped her lips.
It was perhaps the very first sprouting of true emotion for the girl named Urula Lavender—an explosion of her sense of self.
A profound transformation came over the psyche of Urula, who had been raised purely as a tool by House Lavender.
The sheer awe of witnessing Rest's limitless possibilities thoroughly shattered the rigid shell that had encased her heart.
"Amazing, so amazing...! I have to know him, I have to learn more and more about him!"
Her face flushed bright red as she whispered as if delirious with fever. In Urula's mind, not a single trace of her grandfather's orders remained.
She wanted to know Rest. And she wanted him to know her.
Trembling with the romantic impulses of a young girl her age, she reveled in the sweet, bittersweet thrill of love for the very first time in her life.
◇ ◇ ◇
A girl named Urula Lavender had transferred into the Royal Academy.
That didn't mean anything in the academy fundamentally changed overnight.
Classes proceeded as usual, and after school, students devoted themselves to student council duties, committee work, or club activities.
Yet... at the very least, everything around Rest had changed drastically.
The reason was simple: Urula was constantly clinging to him.
"...Nn."
"...I'm sorry. It's hard for me to move like this. Could you let go a little?" Rest asked, letting out a troubled sigh.
Standing right in the middle of the training grounds, Rest sounded utterly at a loss.
The source of his dilemma was the petite girl latched onto his waist—Urula Lavender.
Why...? Why is this girl attached to my waist like some kind of stylish waist pouch...? Rest wondered in genuine bewilderment as he looked down at the top of her purple-haired head.
Rest stared down at her purple hair with complete perplexity.
On her first day, while introducing herself, Urula had stared intently at Rest's face, spurted a nosebleed, and passed out cold.
His classmates had grilled him on what kind of connection they had, but Rest didn't know her at all. A girl with such doll-like beauty wasn't someone he would ever forget if they had met before.
The next day, Urula showed up in class as if nothing had happened, but for some reason, she began following Rest around everywhere.
"Man... you're real popular with the ladies, huh, buddy?" Luid Zistal teased.
"I see you've managed to bag another girl. Must be nice," Maurice Wood added with an envious huff.
"Shut up, both of you..." Rest grumbled.
His friends—Luid Zistal and Maurice Wood—were lightheartedly mocking him.
"Seriously, it's mind-boggling. How come every single high-class beauty in our class falls for Rest?" Luid marveled.
"House Rosemary, House Catleia, House Crocus... and now House Lavender, too," Maurice calculated. "With a lineup like that, you could probably usurp the royal throne if you felt like it."
"That's not funny... Seriously," Rest said, his shoulders slumping heavily.
Rest let out a defeated sigh.
When he cast a rueful glance down at Urula clinging to his waist, her purple eyes stared straight back up at him.
"..."
"Ugh..."
Fixated by her unwavering gaze, Rest was the one who ended up looking away first.
He had no idea what Urula was thinking, but at the very least, she clearly didn't dislike him.
Following behind him, clinging to his waist, sitting in the neighboring desk and staring at him throughout class... Viola and the others had looked quite conflicted over Urula's behavior.
Because Urula looked so young and childlike, they weren't openly jealous.
Even so, perhaps out of a competitive spirit, they had been escalating their own physical affection around campus lately.
I'm not gonna survive at this rate... The stares from everyone around us are killer...
"Listen up, everyone! Line up! Class is starting!" a male teacher bellowed from the center of the training grounds, calling the students together.
They were about to begin their elective Swordsmanship class.
The instructor, a large, short-haired middle-aged man named Oddman, raised his voice toward the assembled students.
"Just like last time, we'll split into two groups for training today! The 'Wolves' will do sword swings before pairing up for mock battles! The 'Rabbits' will start running laps!"
The "Wolves" and "Rabbits" were the group designations for the Swordsmanship class.
The "Wolves" were the students who had won their mock battles held right after enrollment, while the "Rabbits" were those who had lost.
This class was a mixture of students from various departments like the Knight Department and Magic Department, but Oddman openly discriminated against non-Knight students.
He utilized this very system to give preferential treatment to the Knight Department while cold-shouldering the rest.
The only ones getting to swing swords properly are the Knight Department kids and a few mages who can handle close-quarters combat like Luid and me. Even if there's a redemption rule, it's a sickening system, honestly...
"All right, get to it! Also, ah... Lady Urula Lavender of the Magic Department, and Rest. Step over here."
While the other students commenced their swings and laps, only Rest and Urula were called forward by Oddman.
"Um... Is something wrong?" Rest asked.
"...?"
As Rest stepped forward, Urula naturally trailed right behind him.
Oddman shot a dubious glare at the pair standing so close together before speaking in a grave tone.
"...Lady Urula Lavender. You—er, no, I mean, you are joining us for the first time today, correct?"
Oddman addressed Urula with noticeable hesitation in his voice.
Urula remained silent, tilting her head slightly.
"I see... In that case, I must assess your skill level. You will engage in a simple mock battle with me, so please step over here."
"A mock battle? With you, Instructor?" Rest interjected instead of Urula.
The question came not from Urula, but from Rest standing beside her.
"Why would you need to do that?" Rest inquired.
"...It is a necessary procedure. Rest of the Magic Department, you are adept at healing magic, correct? Stand by just in case."
"...?"
Oddman's evasive attitude only deepened Rest's suspicion.
Could it be... he has some connection to House Lavender?
Come to think of it, Oddman was a veteran alumnus of the Royal Guard.
He had ties to Marquis Catleia, the Knight Commander, which was why he acted so strangely around Yuri.
House Lavender is separate from the Royal Guard, but they're the premier martial noble house in the kingdom. There might be some history between them.
"Now, pick up a wooden sword. Do not worry; I shall hold back appropriately."
Oddman adopted a strangely sickening, overly polite tone.
He definitely seemed to be currying favor with Urula.
"..."
Urula looked up at Rest's face before reluctantly letting go of him.
Grasping the wooden sword presented to her, she turned to face Oddman from about two meters away.
"Come at me from wherever you like," Oddman invited, gripping his wooden sword with one hand and motioning forward with the other.
Confidence oozed from his face and posture; he clearly didn't consider the possibility of losing to a young girl for even a fraction of a second.
"...Here I come," Urula said.
She kicked off the ground.
Lowering her petite body, she pounced forward like a wildcat.
"She's fast...!" Rest gasped.
"Wha...!?" Oddman blurted out in shock.
Rest's eyes widened as Oddman let out a startled cry.
"...Hah," Urula squeaked softly.
"Gugh...!"
Thrusting the tip of her sword upward from below, Urula aimed straight for Oddman's throat.
Even though it was an unsharpened practice weapon, getting speared in the throat could be fatal. It was an utterly ruthless strike.
"Hah, hah, hah..."
"Wh—Hey... W-Wait!"
Urula darted nimbly around Oddman, unleashing one strike after another in rapid succession.
Her speed was unexpectedly high, and every blow precisely targeted vital spots—his throat, his groin, his joints.
"Her strikes don't carry much weight... but because she knows that, she's aiming strictly for weak points," Rest observed from the sidelines.
Watching the duel unfold, Rest rubbed his neck and instinctively pressed his knees together.
Just imagining being on the receiving end of that routine sent shivers down his spine.
A highly agile opponent zipping all over the place while unleashing guaranteed lethal strikes—it was an absolute nightmare.
"Ngh... Y-You brat...!"
Unable to endure the onslaught any longer, veins bulged on Oddman's forehead as he launched a heavy counterattack.
Say what you will, he was a Swordsmanship instructor and former knight. His swing was sharp and formidable.
"Watch out!" Rest shouted instinctively.
"...Dodge," Urula murmured calmly.
Rest called out in panic, but Urula didn't show a hint of fluster.
As Oddman brought his wooden sword crashing down from above, she evaded it with a motion as light and silent as a willow leaf swaying in the breeze.
"Wha...!?"
Having been certain of his victory, Oddman stared in bug-eyed shock.
"...Thrust," she stated.
Slinking effortlessly behind Oddman, Urula delivered an upward diagonal thrust from below.
"...Hah."
"Ah," Oddman squeaked.
"Ghyaaah!?"
Urula's wooden sword impaled Oddman's lower body... piercing a single, highly sensitive point.
Fabric tore with a loud rip, followed immediately by a squelching, sickening squish... sound.
"Ogh... gyo... bof..."
Oddman uttered a sound resembling the death rattle of a deep-sea fish.
The wooden sword had punctured through his trousers and undergarments, driving straight into his anus.
"Ha... byo..."
Oddman collapsed forward, passing out cold with his sword-impaled buttocks pointing straight up at the sky. His eyes were rolled completely back into his head, and foam bubbled copiously from his mouth.
"M-Match over..."
"I-Instructor Oddman got taken down...!"
"Right in the asshole... Eek!"
Before anyone had noticed, the students who had been doing sword swings had gathered around to watch the match.
Witnessing their respected instructor's pathetic defeat—and a thoroughly disgraceful one at that—left them standing frozen in utter stunned silence.
Rest was just as shocked. He had never expected Urula to actually win.
"That's incredible... Does she possess extraordinary swordsmanship skills...?" Rest muttered to himself.
"...No. That wasn't swordsmanship," a voice corrected.
"Ryubass?"
A student from the Knight Department answered Rest's self-directed question.
Standing beside him before he realized it was Wilhelm Ryubass, the top-ranking male student among the Knight Department first-years.
"She certainly has dabbled in sword technique. Her skill is respectable enough... but with her level of swordsmanship alone, defeating Oddman should have been impossible."
"Then how do you explain it?" Rest asked in a casual, direct tone.
Rest posed the question bluntly.
Though they belonged to different departments and weren't close enough to be called friends, they were comrades-in-arms who had fought Demon Beast Subnock together. A unique bond had formed between them.
"I don't know," Ryubass admitted.
"You don't know...? You?"
"It is outside my domain. That girl moved as if she already knew exactly how Oddman was going to react."
"..."
"Mind reading, or perhaps..."
"Or perhaps what?!" a girl's voice suddenly boomed.
"Eek...!" Ryubass shrieked.
A girl poked her head right between Rest and Ryubass.
"That sounds like an intriguing conversation! Count me in!" Yuri declared, barging in with sparkling eyes.
It was Yuri Catleia.
Yuri was one of the rare female students taking the Swordsmanship class, and in past mock duels, she had fought valiantly (?) against Ryubass.
"D-D-D-D-Don't talk to me!" Ryubass stuttered frantically.
Leaping back, Ryubass skidded across the dirt with a cartoonish skrrrrt motion.
"Hmm? What's the matter?" Yuri blinked in confusion.
"Don't 'what's the matter' me! Don't come near me, don't touch me, don't speak to me! And... stop bouncing that needlessly huge pile of fat in front of my face, you busty cow!"
Turning pale, Ryubass shouted without a care for who heard him.
Although Ryubass was the strongest among the first-year Knight Department students—and quite possibly stronger than most upperclassmen—his sole weakness was women.
Ryubass harbored an extreme phobia of women. Merely having a female approach him caused his face to blanch and his fingers to tremble uncontrollably.
"Busty cow... That's terrible! After everything we've shared!"
"What do you mean 'shared'?! I have never once been close to you!"
"Hmm? We are warriors who have crossed blades in battle! That makes us bosom friends, doesn't it?"
"Who's bosom friends with who?! Aaah, stay away from me for real!"
As Yuri approached him clad in her gym uniform—an outfit that emphasized her body lines—Ryubass let out a shriek and fled for his life.
"Ah, wait! Today's the day you're going to spar with me!" Yuri yelled, giving chase with the agility of a panther.
Yuri sprinted after the retreating Ryubass with feline swiftness.
"...What was all that about?" Rest sighed softly.
"...Nn."
Urula returned to where Rest stood bewildered.
Tugging firmly on Rest's sleeve, she looked up at him with her deep purple eyes.
"Are you..." Rest started to ask.
"...?"
"...No, never mind."
Seeing Urula silently tilt her head, Rest swallowed the question that had almost escaped his throat.
He felt that once he learned the truth, there would be no going back, so he hesitated to pry into her secrets.
"Hahaha! Wait, wait, wait!"
"STAY AWAAAAAAAAAY!"
Watching Yuri and Ryubass dash across the field while completely ignoring sword practice, Rest lowered his shoulders with a gentle sigh.
The news that a newly transferred girl had defeated the Swordsmanship teacher spread like wildfire across the academy.
Poor Oddman... Losing after being stabbed in the rear by a little girl caused his already rock-bottom reputation among female students to plummet even further into the abyss.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Hahaha! So that's why this adorable young lady is glued to your side?" Isis Carbelt chortled heartily after school.
After school, Rest had arrived at the Student Council Executive Branch office.
The Executive Branch functioned essentially as the disciplinary committee tasked with maintaining peace within the academy. Through a series of events, Rest had ended up joining its ranks.
He had come to the office after being summoned for official duties... and Urula was right beside him. Although he had suggested she head home since school was over, she stubbornly refused to leave his side.
Seeing the two standing side-by-side like close siblings, the leader of the Executive Branch—Isis Carbelt—smiled with amused delight.
"Normally, non-members are strictly forbidden entry... but given that she is the daughter of House Lavender, the premier martial noble family, not to mention skilled enough to fell Instructor Oddman of the Knight Department, we can hardly turn her away. We'll treat her as a provisional member for today!"
"...Thank... you," Urula mumbled, lowering her head while keeping a firm grip on Rest's trousers.
As Isis offered the proposal, Urula bowed her head while continuing to clutch Rest's pants.
"Ooh... How precious! What a truly endearing girl...!" Isis squealed, pressing a hand to her chest as a light blush dusted her cheeks.
Rest could understand how she felt. Though Urula had seemed emotionless and doll-like during her initial greeting, she now exuded the adorable charm of a small animal.
Her face is just as expressionless as before... but how strange. She probably just seemed doll-like on her first day because she was nervous... Rest thought fondly, gazing down at the cat-like girl.
Looking down at Urula, who resembled a cautious cat, Rest reflected warmly.
"So... Captain Isis. Where are the other Executive Branch members today?" Rest asked, glancing around the spacious room, which currently held only the three of them.
He scanned the room. Despite its decent size, only three people were present; the remaining members appeared to be out on assignment.
"Ah, the truth is, a suspicious individual has been creeping around campus again," Isis explained.
"Again...?" Rest grimaced.
"Indeed. 'Again,'" she confirmed.
Rest's face darkened at Isis's reply.
Not long ago, a suspicious intruder—or rather, a total pervert—had broken into the Royal Academy.
That pervert had used advanced magic to toy with the Executive Branch simply to draw scandalous sketches of the academy's female students.
Security was supposed to be tightened after that incident... Don't tell me another intruder broke in?
"What did this suspicious person do?" Rest asked.
"Theft. In a nutshell."
"'In a nutshell'?" Rest echoed.
Why use such a roundabout phrasing? If it was theft, why not just say theft?
"...What was stolen?"
"Underwear."
"...!"
Rest's eyes widened. So it was an underwear thief.
To think such a despicable criminal exists in this academy... Unforgivable!
Just imagining Viola, Primula, Yuri, or Celestine falling victim to such a thing made his blood boil. This had to be resolved immediately.
"More than thirty cases have already been reported. We need to resolve this as quickly as possible," Isis stated.
"Thirty cases?! There are already that many victims?!" Rest gasped in disbelief. If things were that serious, how could he not have heard about it?
It seemed impossible. Had it escalated to such an extent without any rumors reaching his ears?
"Truth be told, the Executive Branch only obtained this information recently... It appears the victims deliberately covered up the incidents without coming forward, which delayed our discovery."
"The victims covered it up...?"
Rest lowered his head, sinking into thought.
He could understand their feelings. Victims of such intrusive crimes often suffered in silence, reluctant to report it to authorities out of shame or fear of public exposure.
Though that hesitation ultimately allowed the damages to spread, one could hardly blame traumatized women for keeping quiet.
"...It must have been awful for them. They were probably suffering all alone in distress," Rest murmured sympathetically.
"Indeed... It seems those grown men felt too embarrassed to raise a fuss over having their underwear stolen, so they've been frantically trying to handle it themselves."
"I see....................Wait, what?"
Almost letting the words slip past him, Rest snapped his head up.
"What did you just say?"
"Men," Urula stated flatly from beside him, tugging on his sleeve.
"She said 'men.'"
"Precisely. All the victims whose undergarments were stolen are male students attending the Knight Department," Isis affirmed with a deadly serious face.
She verified Urula's statement without breaking character for a second.
"In short, we are dealing with the 'Knight Department Serial Male Underwear Theft Incident'... With so many victims, this may turn out to be the biggest manhunt in academy history. I need you to begin investigating immediately."
"Ehhhh..." Rest let out a thoroughly disgusted, deflated groan.
He felt all the energy drain out of his body.
While he was relieved that no female students had been targeted... in a way, he had been assigned an even more unpleasant task.
"I'm truly counting on you... Do your best," Isis said, casually wrapping an arm around Rest's shoulder with a warm smile.
The captivating smile from an older woman caused his heart to skip a beat despite himself.
Her alluring aura was undeniably potent.
"W-Wait... You're too close!" Rest squeaked.
"Hahaha, what's the harm? Ever since the Monster Hunt Festival, I've been fascinated by you. I'd love to get to know you better."
"Eek... Excuse me!" Rest blurted out, scooping up Urula under his arm and bolting from the Executive Branch office.
"Ah... Was Captain Isis always that seductive?" Rest panted to himself.
"Carried... Happy," Urula hummed, her expression softening into pure bliss as she hung under his arm.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Knight Department building possessed a structure almost identical to that of the Magic Department.
There were classrooms for lectures, training grounds for practical subjects, and roughly the same total number of students.
The single major difference lay in the male-to-female ratio: while the Magic Department was roughly split fifty-fifty, the Knight Department was overwhelmingly male, at roughly nine to one.
Rumor has it that guys in the Knight Department have zero romantic prospects and fight tooth and nail over any girl... Anyone who arranges a mixer with girls from another department gets treated like a legendary hero... I wonder if that's actually true?
Rest arrived at the Knight Department building.
Since classes were over for the day, students were sparse.
It was rare for Magic Department students to visit the Knight Department facilities, making this Rest's very first time here.
"Nn..."
Urula, who had trailed along with him, tugged on his sleeve.
"Look."
"Huh...?"
Urula pointed somewhere. Turning his eyes toward where she indicated, Rest saw about ten male students huddled together in a corner of the first-floor hallway.
"Today's the day we catch that bastard!" one shouted.
"Don't let him get away! We can't let him keep doing whatever he pleases!" another added aggressively.
In the quiet hallway, the group of men were voicing their indignant resolve.
Every single one of the ten or so men had a muscular build and a fierce countenance.
"Stealing our underwear... Unforgivable!"
"We're gonna smash that creepy pervert to pieces!"
Could those guys be the victims of the incident...? Oh?
Recognizing a familiar face in the cluster, Rest approached and called out.
"Danila," Rest hailed.
"Oh... Rest," the large male student grunted, turning around.
The hulking male student looked back at him.
It was Danila, a first-year in the Knight Department. They had crossed paths several times during Swordsmanship class and worked in the same squad during the Monster Hunt Festival.
"What are you doing over here at the Knight building?" Danila asked.
"Executive Branch business," Rest answered straightforwardly.
"Ah... Right, you're in the Executive Branch. You investigating the underwear thief too...?" Danila scowled.
Danila grimaced, spitting out his words bitterly.
"This is a Knight Department issue. Butt out, mage."
"I can't do that," Rest countered firmly. "These are Captain Isis's orders. If you refuse to cooperate, I'll have to report it upstairs."
"Che..."
Danila clicked his tongue loudly.
Invoking Isis's name clearly stripped him of his confrontational edge.
"Could you tell me what happened? What's the extent of the damage?"
"We have twenty victims so far. Some of us got hit multiple times. All of us belong to the Dueling Club."
Danila relented begrudgingly, answering the questions.
"The Dueling Club?" Rest asked.
"It's a club focused on honing our combat skills through one-on-one duels," Danila explained. "We have fifty members who rent out the training hall after school to spar."
Rest hadn't known such a club existed.
The academy hosted various student organizations dedicated to research, sports, and hobbies, and the Dueling Club was apparently one of them.
"The thief stole underwear and gym clothes left in our club lockers or classroom bags after school," Danila continued angrily. "And get this—they only target worn, sweaty gear! I don't know who the hell is doing it or why, but I'm gonna beat them bloody!"
"So gym clothes were taken too... Have any of the stolen items been recovered?" Rest inquired.
"Well... they show up returned the very next day," Danila grumbled. "And for some reason, they're always freshly washed."
"Washed?" Rest repeated, tilting his head in bewilderment.
Rest asked back with a puzzled frown.
Underwear and gym clothes stolen, laundered spotless, and then discreetly returned—what a bizarre crime.
"Is that really a problem, though? If they washed them clean for you, isn't that a favor?" Rest asked innocently.
"Hell no, it's creeping us out!" Danila barked back. "Who knows what some freak did with our gear before returning it!"
"Ah... well, when you put it that way, I guess," Rest conceded.
Granted, these were muscular male knight students, so it didn't sound like a terrifying sexual threat, but if the victim were a girl, it would be horrifying.
Some unknown weirdo taking your clothes, doing God knows what to them, and washing them before giving them back... Yeah, that's actually nastier than just keeping them stolen.
"Investigate all you want, but we're gonna catch the bastard before you do!" Danila declared.
"Alright boys, patrol time!"
"YEAH!"
Danila and the other knight students dashed down the hallway. They were a noisy, overbearing bunch.
Left behind, Rest stood dazed for a moment in utter dismay.
"...Do our job?" Urula asked.
"...Ah, right," Rest sighed, snapped back to reality.
Urula tapped him gently on the waist, snapping him out of his reverie.
He had no solid basis for it, but he couldn't imagine those muscleheads catching the culprit first. He needed to conduct his own search.
"Still... zero clues to go on. What to do...?" Rest muttered.
For now, he activated his magic spell 【Life Search】. Expanding his sensory mana net, he covered the entire Knight Department building. He sensed the presences of students and staff moving through hallways and classrooms, including Danila's loud group rushing around. Nothing felt suspicious yet.
In modern Japan, you'd set up security cameras... but how do I handle this in a magical world?
Given the nature of underwear theft, catching the culprit red-handed was the most effective approach.
However, with the Executive Branch and Dueling Club actively patrolling, would the culprit really strike again today?
"...Seems unlikely," Rest shook his head. He felt bad for Isis, but if the culprit didn't make a move, there was little he could do.
Besides, with male victims, it's hard to get motivated... I'll just do a casual walk-through and report back that nothing happened...
"Found a suspicious guy! Over here!" a male voice suddenly shouted.
"Huh...?"
Just as Rest was preparing to half-heartedly wrap up his duty, a man's shouting echoed down from the floor above.
Through 【Life Search】, he felt numerous people scrambling upstairs, pursuing a target.
The target being chased... was strange. Its mana signature was faint and lacked the distinct feel of a human presence, making it hard to immediately identify as an intruder.
"Did the culprit really show up?! In this situation?!" Rest blurted out.
It seemed recklessly foolish to commit a crime while so many people were actively patrolling.
"Anyway, I'd better go check it out..."
"Ah..." Urula gasped as he pulled away.
"Sorry! Let go of me for a second!"
Detaching Urula's grip from his clothes, Rest bolted up the stairs toward the floor above.
Guided by 【Life Search】, he cut off the fleeing figure's escape route as he leaped up the steps.
"!"
And then... he spotted "it."
It was a figure clad entirely in black—wearing a jet-black robe from head to toe, sprinting silently down the hall ahead of the chasing knight students.
"Is that... a human?" Rest muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Rest squinted as he whispered.
The approaching black-robed intruder resembled the pervert who had infiltrated the academy previously, making him wonder if the same criminal had escaped prison to strike again.
Yet... probing the target's presence with mana, Rest sensed something fundamentally off. It didn't feel like a living person at all.
"Well, for now... 【Wind Wall】!"
Activating his magic, he created a barrier of pressurized air across the hallway, blocking the intruder's path.
The black robe slammed into the wind wall and came to a halt.
"Aha! It stopped!"
"Alright, tear it to pieces!"
The pursuing knight student closed in, swinging his sword with full force at the black figure.
It was a ruthless strike—an attack clearly aiming to kill.
"Huh...?"
Remarkably, the black figure leaped lightly into the air, dodging the deadly slash.
It was an eerie, uncanny movement—like a willow leaf swaying effortlessly in the wind.
"Damn it! Don't let it get away!"
"Stay still, you bastard!"
The other knight students swung their weapons and tried to tackle the target, but the figure evaded every attempt with otherworldly fluidity.
"You damn pervert! Give it up already!"
"...?"
Frowning at the mysterious movements of the intruder, Rest launched an assisting spell.
"【Wind Bind】!"
Swirling currents of air wrapped around the black figure like ropes, immobilizing it entirely.
"Hell yeah! Caught 'im!"
"You made us run all over the place, asshole!"
The knight students pounced on the bound intruder, bashing it relentlessly with their weapons.
"Wait... What the hell is this?!" a student yelled in bewilderment.
A moment later, he let out a dazed, dumbfounded cry.
The black-robed figure they had finally subdued wasn't a person at all—it was just an empty bundle of black cloth.
"Where'd he go?!"
"An empty shell...? No, it was just cloth moving from the start," Rest observed, stepping forward.
Rest muttered as he stood before the knight students holding the limp fabric in disbelief.
Small wonder the presence had felt so bizarre. It was never a living human, but a piece of fabric animated by magic.
"What does this mean, Rest?!" Danila demanded.
"I don't know either... except that we've been played," Rest shook his head.
Rest shook his head at Danila's demanding tone.
Whoever it was, a highly skilled mage had controlled the black cloth to pull off a decoy operation, completely fooling everyone.
The question is, why go to such lengths...?
"Could it be...?"
"Hey, guys! We got trouble!" another student yelled, sprinting up from the lower floor with a panicked expression.
A student burst up from the stairs, shouting in sheer panic.
"We got hit again! The Dueling Club's underwear and gym clothes in the first-floor locker room were stolen!"
"WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLLLL?!!?"
Danila and his group screamed in utter disbelief at the report.
While they were chasing the decoy upstairs, a fresh theft had taken place elsewhere.
"I see... We got outsmarted," Rest sighed in exasperation.
Rest let out a sigh tinged with dismay.
In short, they had fallen hook, line, and sinker for a diversion. The culprit had used the animated cloth to draw everyone's attention while sneaking into the locker room to snatch the gear.
"Not only skilled in magic, but a calculating mastermind too... What a total waste of talent," Rest remarked.
Why in the world were they going to such lengths to steal underwear from the Dueling Club? He felt genuine bewilderment from the bottom of his heart.
"...Nn."
"Lady Lavender...?"
As he lost himself in thought, Urula appeared and tugged on his shirt hem.
"...You left me behind," she said flatly.
"Ah... sorry about that. My bad," Rest apologized.
Urula looked up at him with her usual impassive face.
Her expression hadn't changed, but somehow her gaze seemed distinctly resentful.
Am I imagining things, or have I learned to read her emotions after spending a few days with her?
"...Did you catch them?" she asked.
"No... unfortunately, it was a fake. A decoy made with magic."
"I see..."
Urula turned her gaze toward the black cloth held in the knight student's hand.
With half-lidded, sleepy eyes, she stared intently at the fabric.
"We're back to square one. Zero leads, so catching them seems tough..."
"...That person," Urula stated.
"Huh?"
Poking her head out the hallway window, Urula pointed down toward the grounds.
"That person is the culprit."
At the tip of Urula's index finger stood a female student wearing a school uniform.
She wore braided hair and thick glasses, looking like a plain student who would spend recess quietly reading paperbacks in a classroom corner.
"Wait, what evidence could you possibly have—"
"Ah...!"
Rest had thought the braided girl looked innocent, but the instant their eyes met, her face turned pale with shock.
"...!"
Turning on her heel, she bolted at full speed.
Contrary to her meek appearance, her movements were astonishingly swift—she was clearly using magic to augment her physical strength.
"Hey, wait!"
Whether she was truly the culprit remained unconfirmed, but when someone ran, human nature urged pursuit. Leaping from the hallway window, Rest activated 【Wind Control】, riding air currents to fly down and land directly in front of the braided girl.
"Sorry, but I need you to tell me—"
"【Fireball】!"
"...!"
She launched an attack without hesitation. Evading the flying fireball, Rest braced as the girl lunged into his chest, unleashing a swift fist strike.
"Hah!"
"Whoa there...!"
Rest guarded the strike with his arm. Having her blow deflected, the girl whipped her skirt around to throw a high kick, which Rest avoided by ducking low.
"Combining magic with close combat... impressive," Rest praised.
Speaking casually, Rest touched the ground to trigger a spell.
The earth surged upward like striking serpents, coiling around her limbs and binding her tight.
"【Earth Bind】!"
"Kyaah!?"
"Calm down. If you keep struggling, I'll have to make it a little painful," Rest warned.
He held up a hand displaying crackling purple lightning. He didn't want to hurt her, but he was ready to shock her unconscious if she resisted.
"Ugh... I surrender..."
Bound and helpless, the girl hung her head in defeat.
"Hey, Rest! What's going on?!"
Danila called out as he rushed out of the building with the other students and Urula.
Seeing the crowd of large male students approaching, the girl turned pale with complete despair.
"I don't know the whole story, but you're going to explain everything," Rest said.
"..."
The girl slouched her shoulders limply and gave a faint nod.
◇ ◇ ◇
"So... you're saying you were a fan of theirs?" Rest asked.
"...Yes," the girl confirmed in a tiny, fading voice, surrounded by Rest and the Knight Department students in the middle of the grounds.
The girl's name was Chanoir Bayce, and she was apparently a fan who cheered for the Dueling Club.
Having supported the club for a long time, she wanted to help her "faves" in any way she could, deciding that laundering their dirty gym clothes and underwear was the best way to support them.
However, Chanoir possessed an extremely reserved personality and couldn't bring herself to ask the boys to hand over their clothes outright.
So... she decided to steal them. Taking their undergarments and gym wear, washing them clean, and secretly returning them.
"I mean... there had to be a better way to go about it," Rest sighed, rubbing his temples to stave off a headache.
He understood her motives, but understanding didn't equal comprehension. Did devotion to one's faves truly drive people this wild?
"And using magic to make a decoy to cause an uproar... that spell you used to move the black cloth was 【Marionette】, right?"
"Yes... it was," Chanoir admitted timidly.
【Marionette】 was a spell that allowed the caster to freely manipulate target objects, though it only worked on inanimate matter, not living beings.
You can use it to attack with blades or stones... but honestly, it's a pretty useless spell in combat, Rest thought.
Rest had mastered the spell himself, but never used it in battle; if you wanted to attack with objects, shaping wind or earth into blades or lances was far more effective.
Chanoir had cast this spell on the black cloth and controlled it remotely while using 【Life Search】 to operate it as a decoy puppet.
"Using a spell mostly reserved for moving luggage or puppet shows to do something so complex... Wouldn't you have been better off entering the Magic Department instead of Knights?"
"Um... well... you see..."
Chanoir blushed bright red and mumbled under her breath.
"I... I like men. That is, men with muscle..."
"..."
"And in the Knight Department, there are plenty of those men... plus I get to see them... flexing their muscles in combat..."
"...I see," Rest nodded, his expression becoming even more baffled, though he tried to show some understanding.
Chanoir possessed... unique preferences. Perhaps she had even engaged in indecent acts with the stolen clothes before washing them.
"So that's the story... What do you victims think?" Rest turned around to ask the knight students gathered behind him.
"..."
Rest turned back to query the knight students standing nearby.
The Dueling Club members exchanged conflicted, awkward looks.
They never expected the thief to be a female student—let alone one of their fans. They were torn between delight at being liked and annoyance at the trouble caused.
"Ah... well, she did wrong, but..."
"She did do our laundry for us..."
"Not knowing who did it was creepy, but..."
"It was kinda helpful. Doing laundry ourselves is a pain."
The knight students voiced their wavering opinions one after another.
"I am so sorry...! I caused you all so much trouble...!" Chanoir bowed deeply to them.
Chanoir bowed her head to them with great vigor.
"I... I love watching you all swing your swords and lances in battle, and I just wanted to support you somehow! That's why I went and did something like this...!"
"Ah!"
As she bowed her head deeply, her heavy glasses slipped off her nose and clattered onto the ground.
Without her thick bottle-bottom glasses, Chanoir looked up nervously.
"Please forgive me..."
"...!"
Seeing her exposed face, every single knight student swallowed hard in unison.
Though she dressed in plain braided pigtails and thick glasses, beneath them lay moist, almond-shaped eyes.
Her features were unexpectedly refined... in short, she was a total beauty.
"No! You didn't do anything wrong at all!" Danila yelled out first.
Danila was the first to shout, his eyes gleaming intensely.
"In fact, washing our clothes was a huge help! A massive help!"
"Yeah! We just overreacted!"
"We'd appreciate it if you kept helping us out in the future!"
Following Danila, the knight students began competing to defend her.
They were clearly trying to make a good impression on a cute girl who was their fan. Men really were foolish creatures.
"Still, stealing is bad!"
"That's true... Alright, as penalty, you're appointed as the Dueling Club manager!"
"We'll be counting on you to do laundry and support us from now on!"
"Y-Yes... If you'll have me..." Chanoir blushed and nodded.
It seemed the matter was settled. For Rest, an outsider, it felt like an oddly unsatisfying and strange resolution.
"Nn."
Urula tugged on Rest's arm as he stood dumbfounded.
"...Lady Lavender?"
"...Was I helpful?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Ah, yeah. You were," Rest nodded to her upturned gaze.
Without Urula, this incident wouldn't have been wrapped up so smoothly. If asked whether she helped, the answer was undeniably yes.
"Thank you. I'm really glad you were here."
"I see... Happy," Urula offered a soft, delicate smile.
Urula smiled gently.
Precisely because she was usually expressionless, her gentle smile possessed surprising destructive power.
"Mmm... Ugh..."
What is with this girl...? Why does she harbor so much affection for me...? Rest wondered silently.
He wanted to ask how she had figured out Chanoir was the culprit, but facing that beautiful smile, he couldn't bring himself to interrogate her.
"Alright boys, back to practice!"
"Yes... I will assist you..."
"...Shall we head home?"
"Nn."
Rest turned his back on Danila and Chanoir, walking away from the Knight Department building alongside Urula.
And thus, the "Knight Department Serial Male Underwear Theft Incident" that had stirred up parts of the academy came to a quiet close.
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