The Devil Lord was successfully duped. I think.
For the time being, she won’t act as long as our side (Alexei) doesn’t reach out to her with any new findings. I hope.
Up next is…
I’m in the meeting room at Professor Tear’s research lab building with Char. She’d just finished her classes for the day and we’re having teatime.
I decide to throw the question at her.
“By the way, Char, can you do me a favor?”
Om nomnomnom, gulp!
“Of course, Brother Haruto!” she gives me a hearty reply after swallowing a mouthful of the cake that I’d brought over.
Next to her, Professor Tear─who, by the way, wasn’t invited to our tea party─is greedily munching away at her slice of cake.
She remarks, “You can’t just start a conversation with ‘By the way,’ when you gave zero context. And accepting a favor without even hearing out the whole story is ill-advised.”
Char responds, “You’ve got it wrong, Professor Tear. A little sister knows what her brother is thinking without him having to say a word. Also, a proper little sister shall not reject her brother’s favor.”
The little professor turns to me. “Is that so?”
Don’t ask me, I don’t know.
Either way, I probably shouldn’t let her accept any favors before listening to the details first. If I let her run off with her grandiose imagination at full throttle, it’s gonna be a hassle later.
✦ ✦ ✦
I’ve prepared a “plot hook” for Char to follow. I spent all last night devising it. Then, I slept in till noon, woke up, and worked on it a little more. I propose what I’ve been envisioning in my head:
“You see, Char, I’ve learned a valuable piece of information regarding the revival of the Devil Lord.”
“Amazing as always, Brother Haruto! But…that should’ve been my job… I’ve caused you to go through the trouble of finding that information. Please forgive me…”
Char looks sincerely woeful about it. Adorbs.
“Oh, no, I just happened to stumble upon this information while I was on another mission. Worry not! No need for you to be dispirited.” Whoops, I sounded like Shiva for a second there.
“What’s with the melodrama again?”
I’ll ignore Professor Tear for now.
To be honest, I feel kind of bad for sort of lying to Char.
But I’m doing this so she can have some fun while I hold up the wall to give Dad some time to negotiate with the nobles. I must stay strong.
“It seems like the Devil Lord isn’t fully revived. And there exists a magical item that holds the key to the completion of their ritual.”
“I see! And we need to retrieve that item before the Devil Lord gets to it first!”
She’s a sharp girl.
“That’s right. More specifically, you must search for the seven secret cards and obtain them before the Devil Lord and the devils do!”
“Whoa!” my sister exclaims. Super-stoked Char is adorbs, too.
“That’s not specific at all.” Professor Tear isn’t impressed.
Char deduces, “Based on the fact that the Devil Lord doesn’t have them in their possession, the cards must be scattered all over the world and nobody knows where they are.”
Yup, yup. Something like that.
“Do you have a way to find them?” asks the professor.
Charlotte continues her deduction. “Bloodless Vier─the insurrection incident in the capital─was probably instigated by the Devil Lord and its subjects to search for the cards.”
Oh, it was?
“But since then, the Devil Lord hasn’t attempted any large-scale atrocities. It must’ve decided to change tack.”
Uh-huh? Which means?
“Secret cards… They must bear the Devil Lord’s suppressed powers. And they’re bound to spread their evil mana throughout the world and bring disaster. The dark energy that oozes from the cards is sure to have a bad influence on everything they come across. When an inexplicable incident occurs, that’s when the secret card will reveal itself!”
Is that so…
The petite teacher comments, “Hmm, so what you’re saying is if you chase after mysterious cases, you’ll be able to find these so-called secret cards.”
“Exactly so, Professor Tear. The cards’ official name is unknown, so let us call them Lucifer Cards: Shards of a Fallen Angel. The Devil Lord has been trying to revive itself in our kingdom, so it’s safe to assume they’re scattered nearby.”
My dear sister ruthlessly overwrites the plot that I spent all night working on.
I was planning to give her a simple, “My senses are tingling! It’s that way!” type of hint, but it sounds like I’m gonna have to set up these “inexplicable incidents” myself.
“Oh?! Come to think of it…” Char says, her expression growing intense.
Adorbs.
“A while ago, one of the students at our academy turned into a ferocious mutant. Although he was saved by a hero of justice, his sanity was destroyed.”
Seriously? Geez, the capital’s surprisingly a bad neighborhood.
Professor Tear responds, “Ah, you mean Schneidel, the son of Marquess Hafen. He was bullying a certain someone, I heard.”
Really? Who?─Oh, me.
Uh, yeah, I was the one Schneidel-senpai was bullying, and he’s the one who lost his mind.
Now I remember.
He turned into a giant mutant after injecting himself with a questionable drug. He managed to return to human form, but it was too late to save his sanity…is what I recall. I even let Char watch the whole thing.
“Looking back, that incident was peculiar. I believe it’s worth investigating.”
Yeah, why not.
Fabricating a whole incident from zero is too much work. And I don’t want to waste Char’s effort.
“I’ll be busy with another case. Will you take on the task?” I ask.
“Leave it to us, Brother Haruto. We, Camelot─nay, now that Numbers has joined, we, Chronos, will do our utmost to fulfill your expectations.”
Char is burning with determination. Again, adorbs.
Anyway, now that Char’s delusions have been upgraded to the official plotline, I know where I stand.
There are a lot of strings I’ll need to pull, but if what lies beyond all that is Char’s radiating smile, it’s a small price to pay.
Hm? My little sister is contemplating again.
“But even if we gather all seven Lucifer Cards, there’s still the undiscovered eighth card that would complete the Devil Lord’s revival…”
Hmmmmm? Do I have to take care of that, too?
My little sister’s grandiose delusions continue to expand with no bounds.