The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

Silence fell in the room.

The only sound was the cheerful chirping of the birds coming from outside.

I focused again on the paper that had fallen to the floor.

I picked it up and examined the contents closely.

[Secrets of the Eustetia Duchy.]

It’s a more detailed account than the memoir I saw in the Forbidden Library about Arisa’s activities after returning to the Empire.

While that memoir ended with personal speculations, this paper recorded everything as certain facts.

And on the very last page, there was just one sentence.

[The current Duke of Eustetia does not have the blood of Hero Arisa Eustetia.]

What on earth does this mean?

Why is it in Stella’s room?

Has she read this?

If she has, she must have hidden it.

When did she read it? Last year? Earlier this year?

Right now, it is the year 956 of the Empire Power.

According to the information Silina provided, the Side Branch and the Dark Mage met two years ago.

So did Stella know back then? Was that why she was aware of me at the beginning of the semester?

Then what’s the reason for bringing me here?

Blackmail? Me? Why now?

The timing is impeccable.

I’m chasing this issue, and I found this in Stella’s room.

Did someone give her orders?

I lifted my gaze to look at Stella.

I don’t know what my expression looks like.

However, Stella, upon meeting my gaze, began to tremble violently. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice was tinted with moisture.

“…E-Eliaernes.”

“I’m listening, so speak.”

“Right now… I don’t know what you’re thinking, but… first of all… you need to misunderstand.”

“Misunderstanding?”

Misunderstanding? What am I supposed to misinterpret?

Is she saying that it’s a misunderstanding that I’m not a descendant of the Hero upon first learning this information?

Is she calling it a misunderstanding that Stella may have had this information and spread it?

Is thinking that Stella and the Side Branch are in cahoots a misunderstanding?

Is considering that Stella might have struck a deal with the Demon Race a misunderstanding?

Should I kill her on the spot? Even if not that, should I restrain her and extract information?

I took steps toward Stella.

I threw the paper I was holding to the ground. The paper infused with mana tore apart. The wind scattered the torn pieces, stopped by the barrier of air between Stella and me.

I reached out—CRACK!—and tore the barrier apart.

Drops of blood seeped through the torn barrier.

Blood flowed from the outside of my clenched fist and inside.

I spread my hand and grasped the flowing Drops of Blood.

“Hey.”

At my call, Stella looked at me with tearful eyes.

“How much do you know?”

“…You?”

Stella, biting her lower lip, rubbed the tears near her eyes and glared at me.

“I… I called you to tell you what I… my speculations upon seeing what you just found.”

“How am I supposed to believe—”

“Of course! You wouldn’t trust me. I wouldn’t trust myself either! You found what I had hidden first. But… but I… I really wanted to tell you because I was… worried about you…!”

Squinting and listening to Stella ramble, I glared at her.

Tears fell from her navy-blue eyes. The bitten lower lip bore clear teeth marks, and her tightly clenched fist trembled pitifully.

Should I believe her? What she just said?

Am I being too suspicious? Am I being pathologically doubtful, as Silina said?

What was my first resolution after being reborn in this body?

To kill the Demon King?

No.

There was something I decided even before that.

To not trust humans.

It wasn’t because I was betrayed by Kaloso.

I made that resolution long before.

Not just me, but all of us felt that way.

We—yes, we—were betrayed countless times by humans.

It was a world where the situation was unfavorable, and humans were dying minute by minute.

In such a world, many humans joined hands with the Demon Race. Humans deceived, betrayed, killed, and sold other humans.

As a result…

Luna bore scars that never healed from the pain. Every night, Arisa suffered from phantom pain due to torture, Paulo developed a mental illness, and Kaloso lost one eye.

I was on borrowed time, with less than 15 years left to live.

So I decided not to trust humans anymore.

And yet…

“…Who did you get this information from?”

Why am I making this choice?

Is it the influence of being a woman?

Have I become a bit more emotionally honest, like a girl of this age? Has my heart weakened?

My feelings churn uncomfortably. It feels like absolute crap, and emotions I can’t control mock me.

CRUNCH! I bit down hard and asked again.

“Tell me. Who did you hear it from?”

“…I-I don’t know.”

“Ha…”

I had expected that.

I thought she wouldn’t know who the source of this information was either.

However, I did understand that the source of the information brought from [Uranos] and the source of the information Stella mentioned were the same person.

“Okay, then… tell me step by step when, where, who, and how you got this information.”

“…You’re actually believing what I say…?”

“Not yet. I’ll listen and then judge.”

Stella glared at me with red-rimmed eyes.

“What if I can’t believe you? Are you going to hit me?”

Her ridiculous question made me snicker—hiss!

“Stop talking nonsense and explain first.”

“…Okay. First, let me heal you a bit.”

Her fingers trembled as she waved them in the air. Soon, the purple mana that rose from her fingertips enveloped my hand, giving a refreshing sensation.

As if that wasn’t enough, the remaining mana spread through the room, sending the Drops of Blood on the floor flying out the window.

She must have reached the Fourth Circle; indeed, her magical level had noticeably risen.

“Now, it’s done… huh? Hey! You…!”

Just as Stella was about to speak again, she stared at me with wide eyes.

She was looking at me, but her gaze drifted lower.

“What, what now—”

Following Stella’s gaze, I also looked down.

My abdomen… my leg? My groin?

What on earth is she staring at…?

“Ah, crap.”

—

“How insensitive can you be to not notice the blood flowing?”

While Ellie was showering, Stella went to her room to fetch underwear, clothes to change into, and sanitary pads.

“…It just came out of nowhere.”

Now that Ellie had finished showering, she was using magic to create warm air to softly dry her hair.

“Out of nowhere? So is your flow usually heavy?”

“What do you mean… how would I know if it’s heavy or light? I’ve never seen or asked others about it.”

Ellie’s sulky pout reflected in the mirror. Stella gazed at her, feeling a strange sense of unease.

What’s going on? What’s wrong with Ellie today?

Stella had come to inform her of the information she had seen that made Ellie angry.

But then Ellie abruptly brought food.

Warm seaweed soup, rice, and side dishes containing various herbs. Plus sweet snacks.

Moreover, while Stella was eating, Ellie cleaned the room. She ventilated the space, shook out the quilt, gathered the trash, and organized the belongings.

Of course, after that, when Stella found the paper she had hidden, an overwhelming aura of danger had momentarily engulfed the room.

At that moment, what had Ellie’s expression looked like?

Stella momentarily retraced her earlier thoughts.

Betrayal.

At the moment she found that information, Ellie had shown an intense look of betrayal on her face.

Betrayal is an emotion you can only feel toward someone you trust. However, Ellie seemed to feel that betrayal toward Stella.

That made Stella feel both good and strange at the same time.

Ellie, as Stella knew her, wasn’t the type to display such emotions.

Yet today, she was strangely soft, revealing heightened feelings contrary to her usual demeanor.

Could it all be… because of her period?

Was this the effect of hormones?

Lost in thought, Stella decided to poke Ellie a little.

She was curious about the reaction Ellie would have if she teased her like usual.

“I don’t flow like you. Besides, I don’t really have period pains. Aren’t you jealous?”

“Don’t say stupid things, just think about how to explain.”

Ellie’s tone was as sharp as usual, but her voice was incredibly gentle. Her expression reflected that as well. She wasn’t naturally frowning but seemed to be forcing herself to frown.

So she was just cute.

Eliaernes is cute?

That rebellious and rude girl?

Stella was taken aback by the thought that came from her own mind.

“What’s there to organize? I’m aboveboard. So where have you been wandering around that some unknown human gives me such information? You’re always telling me not to do bad things, but you seem to be running around everywhere?”

“Smart people tend to have many enemies.”

Ellie grinned mischievously.

“How annoying.”

I said it was annoying, but today was quite bearable.

Not a giggling sound but a chortling.

Her gentler laughter sounded pleasant.

“Geniuses tend to attract trouble, you know.”

“So annoying. Poor personality. Crude language. Disrespectful. How can a duchess act like that?”

“Because I’m having my period, so I’m really sensitive. If you keep messing around, you’re really going to be in big trouble.”

Ellie’s voice was less threatening than usual, but her word choices were horrific.

As expected, Ellie is Ellie.

She doesn’t change just because someone is feeling a bit unwell.

“Having your period…? W-What kind of insane thing is that?! Are you crazy?! Can’t you say it a little more nicely?!”

Stella glared at Ellie, who looked incredibly shocked, hesitating for a moment before slowly speaking up.

“But… are you okay?”

I had been worried about it since earlier.

I figured if she had to hear that while not feeling well, it would undoubtedly make things harder than usual.

But she didn’t seem to show a hint of that.

Except for the betrayal directed at Stella, she didn’t seem shocked about the Secrets of Eustetia.

That made me even more worried.

Just because she doesn’t show it doesn’t mean she’s fine.

“What do you mean?”

“…That.”

What does “that” mean? Stella couldn’t pinpoint it, but she figured Ellie must not be fine, so she nodded.

Seeing that nod, Stella gasped—

Why does she actually look okay?

Is she someone who doesn’t care about her family’s matters?

Is Eliaernes a heartless person?

“Are you not in shock or… anything like that?”

“I already knew.”

“…Huh?”

“I already knew. I saw it in the Forbidden Library.”

Stella’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“…The Forbidden Library? So that means… the information was real?!”

“Yeah. It’s true.”

“Can you even say that? I mean, can you even mention what you saw in the Forbidden Library? Isn’t it supposed to be a secret?”

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