Chapter 39: The Headmaster’s Summons
FOLLOWING the monster dispatch mission, the tides had officially turned. Camille had triumphed in two of the tests, and the same students who had previously regarded her with hostility were now starting to consider her a viable candidate for the title. The fact that she had received a blessing from a Fairy Leader helped considerably.
Frankly, it was a shame there were never any Sacred Beasts or Fairy Leaders in HanaKoro. With a couple of Fairy Leaders around, maybe some of those happy-bad endings could have been averted—just look at Sauge and her helicopter parenting! Wait, but…in the game, the monster was defeated without anyone ever realizing its true identity as a Sacred Beast… Maybe that angered the Fairy Leaders…and without their blessings, all the characters were doomed to a tragic fate…
A chill ran down Iris’s spine. Were all the “happy-bad endings” actually a malevolent curse cast by the Sacred Beasts and the fairies?!
Iris silently vowed never to court the wrath of any fantasy creatures.
✦ ✦ ✦
❀❀❀
IRIS was called back to the headmaster’s office—probably about the Holy Maiden Evaluation, she figured. After all, Camille had won the trust of a Sacred Beast and the blessing of a Fairy Leader. As for Iris, she’d proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had no mana whatsoever. For all intents and purposes, Camille had essentially won; there was no real point in wasting any more time.
Iris entered the room and greeted the headmaster, who sat at his massive desk, his folded hands resting just below his nose—the “Gendo pose,” if you will. Then he let out a long, heavy sigh.
Well, this is all very intimidating. Surely you could have simply sent a letter to inform me instead, Iris thought from a detached perspective as she stood in front of the desk and waited for him to speak.
“Miss Iris, I must ask you: have you received Lady Sauge’s blessing?”
This was not how she expected him to open the conversation, and it caught her off-guard. Oh boy, here we go. This is exactly why I never told anyone!
Iris had kept quiet about it on purpose, knowing it would create problems. Not that she was hiding it—okay, fine, she was totally hiding it. But the entire royal palace had already flipped out when they heard she’d gotten blessings from the little ones, and she did not want this news getting back to her parents! Cytisus and Reseda had probably figured as much by now. But they hadn’t witnessed it with their own two eyes, so she didn’t bother telling them outright, either.
“I’m aware that you received fairy blessings in the past, but if the blessings of a Leader are involved, I’m afraid that changes some things. Now answer the question.”
“…Yes, I’ve received Lady Sauge’s blessing.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because…you already knew about the other fairy blessings, and…you didn’t ask…?” Iris averted her eyes. His glasses glinted.
“I see. Well, in light of your severely limited mana—”
“No, sir, you see, I actually have none at all.”
“In light of your severely limited mana,” he repeated sternly, “I thought we might need to reconsider your eligibility for the position of Holy Maiden, but…”
Evidently, he refused to acknowledge her utter lack of mana. I’ve got a bad feeling about this…
“We have no choice but to continue the Evaluation.”
“What? Why?” she replied reflexively.
The headmaster glared at her, tears of frustration pricking at the corners of his eyes. “Why is the question I should be asking you! Why did you keep quiet about this?! The Academy can’t possibly disqualify a candidate blessed by Lady Sauge herself!” He was utterly beside himself with terror. “I just… I don’t know what to do…!”
“Um…did Lady Sauge say anything to you, sir?”
“No! And that’s what terrifies me!”
Yeahhhh, I can relate. Iris looked up at the ceiling.
“If only we’d known… Yes, if only we’d known from the start that you were blessed by Lady Sauge, you would have been crowned Holy Maiden by now!”
“What? No thank you!”
“Don’t give me that! Really, what am I supposed to do? I always knew something wasn’t right, ever since I found out you were rubbing elbows with the former candidate who ghosted us at the popularity contest! I was convinced this ‘no mana’ thing had to be a lie you and Sir Cytisus cooked up so you could work at the Temple of Magic instead!
“That’s why we put you in a situation where you’d need to cast magic—we thought for sure we’d see what you were truly capable of—but no, as it turned out, you honestly couldn’t cast a thing! Not only that, but it angered Lady Sauge! If Miss Camille is chosen as Holy Maiden and Lady Sauge refuses to accept it, there’s no telling what will happen!”
“And that’s my fault?”
“Well, how were we supposed to accept that a girl with multiple fairy blessings didn’t have any mana? When we learned the Aptitude Stone couldn’t measure you, we all thought it meant your aptitude was too high!”
“…Okay, well, I’m sorry, but…”
“According to Lady Sauge, the monster dispatch mission results are invalid. That’s why the Evaluation must continue. Surely both Lady Sauge and Lord Fuchsia will accept the results of the other tests.”
“But I have no mana, sir. Surely, it’s all a waste of time…”
“Well, can you think of any other solution?” He glowered at her.
“Um…I’ll tell her I forfeited of my own free will…?”
“If candidates were allowed to forfeit, Ms. Pavot wouldn’t have needed to ghost us in the first place!”
He raised his glasses up onto his head and rubbed his eyes with both hands. Evidently, the memory of Pavot still stressed him out to this day. “I’m begging you, please just do as you’re told… Please…”
He bowed so low, he pressed his forehead to the desk. Iris couldn’t possibly refuse—after all, it was partly her fault for keeping quiet about Sauge’s blessing. Besides, she could understand wanting to avoid enraging a Fairy Leader. The mere thought of another strike like the one at the Temple of Magic made Iris shudder.
“Very well.”
“And please, please, don’t ghost us like she did!”
“I won’t.”
“Promise me you’ll really, really try, all right?”
“I’ll try.”
With a formal curtsy, Iris left the headmaster’s office. And so, it was decided that the Holy Maiden Evaluation would proceed as planned…