Chapter 6

“Wait, are you really falling asleep?! Don’t use my arm as a pillow! Agh! Everyone, please come back to your senses!” But Iska’s pleading was in vain. “Time to start the pillow fight!” Risya, her shirt still wide open, had grabbed Mismis’s stuffed animal and gotten to her feet. “Oh, Riiisya, that’s mine—” With a loud thwump, Mismis was struck in the face. Risya had been the one to throw the stuffed animal, of course. “…” “C-Commander? Are you okay?” “Now you’ve done it!” Commander Mismis grinned as she stood up. She threw the stuffed animal right back at Risya. “Take that!” However, she was so unsteady that she hadn’t been able to aim well. The stuffed animal sailed through the air—in a completely different direction from Risya—and hit the wall of the living room. She’d lobbed it right at the emergency alarm. Each Imperial forces room had an emergency switch, and Mismis had the one in Iska’s. “Oh……” “I won!” The instant after Mismis shouted in glee, the alarm went off. “Emergency! An emergency has occurred!” The siren wailed. Iska’s room was bathed in red light, making it as obvious as could be that his room was the origin of the supposed problem. “Oh noooo!” “What’s the emergency?” “This only happened because of the stuffed animal you threw, Commander!” “…Zzz.” “You fell back asleep?! Urgh…we—we need to stop the alarm!” This was the forces’ barracks, so armed soldiers were sure to come running over in mere minutes. “Stop the notification system—” “Ah-ha-ha, this is so fun, Iska,” Nene said. “Nene?! W-wait! Please! We need to fix this situation first!” Nene, the happy drunk that she was, had chosen then to latch onto Iska’s arm as well, and she wasn’t letting go. “Nuh-uh! You’re mine!” “Oh my. That looks like fun, Isk. I’d like to join in, too.” Now even Risya was holding on to him from behind. He was only a few centimeters shy of the switch, if he stretched his arms. He was just a finger’s length away… “Let go of me, you two!” “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!” “Your back is so warm, Isk!” Then someone kicked down his door. The armed emergency response squad had just arrived. “Did the alarm come from here?!” “We’re here now, so you’re safe. There’s nothing to—” The soldiers were also carrying guns. And what they witnessed in Iska’s room were the three merry women acting very unladylike. “…” There was Risya, who had taken off her jacket and unbuttoned most of her shirt, then Nene, who was laughing and rolling around on the floor. Even Commander Mismis had removed her jacket at some point, too. “…” This was awkward. Iska suspected the armed soldiers had made some unfortunate assumption about the scene before them. “I-it’s not what it looks like. We just…” Iska waved his hands around desperately, but the soldiers had no mercy. “Inform HQ that we’ve secured three women and have apprehended a suspect.” “A suspect? Do you mean me?!” “You’ll be coming with us on charges of sexual misconduct.” “I haven’t done anything!” Incident report. Imperial soldier Iska Investigated by Imperial headquarters on suspicion of sexual misconduct and abducting three women in his room. Note: Suspect has denied all charges. Meanwhile, in another land…in the Paradise of Witches, the Nebulis Sovereignty’s palace… “…” “Uh, um, Lady Alice…?” Rin felt in her bones that her beloved lady, Alice, was in a terrible mood. The attendant peered at Alice’s face to check on her. “…What is the meaning of this?” Aliceliese Lou Nebulis was a beautiful girl with bright golden hair…but at that moment, she looked grim. “Rin, this incident report is from yesterday, isn’t it?” “Y-yes.” “Do you believe the Imperial soldier Iska in this report is the same Iska?” “…It’s very likely.” “I see.” Alice was silently fuming. She wasn’t taking out her frustrations on Rin, of course, but her attendant could feel some of it sneaking into the edges of her voice. “Rin, what do you make of this?” “Uh, uhh…” She didn’t know how to respond. The Imperial swordsman Iska was their enemy—not to mention Alice’s greatest foe. As far as Rin was concerned, she hoped the investigation would last forever. “Are you telling me that Iska is a pervert? That’s unbelievable. He would never!” Alice, on the other hand, saw things differently. She seemed outraged at the Empire for their silly charges against her dear rival. “What do you think, Rin?” “R-right…um…” She hoped that he’d remain in custody—but if she said this, she knew Alice would turn on her. “I would like to state that the Imperial swordsman is an enemy of our country…but I doubt he would do anything that would go against human morals.” “Yes, exactly!” Alice balled her hands into fists. “I smell a plot!” “A plot?” “Iska would never do anything so perverse. Something must have disrupted the Empire’s internal state of affairs. Someone must be trying to frame him. That has to be it!” “Uh-huh…” “Rin, prepare the bail money to free Iska posthaste!” “What?! You’re going to help the enemy?!” “Yes, and I’m doing this because he’s the enemy.” Alice’s resolve was firm. “I can’t stand by as the person I need to settle things with on the battlefield is held on charges of sexual misconduct. I mean—” She turned to the window, staring to the south, straight at where the Imperial territory would be. “Iska would never spurn me and lay a hand on another woman!” “Someone’s going to get things all wrong if you put it like that!” “But he’s my rival.” Alice was the very image of seriousness. Then again, Rin was right about Alice’s choice of words. “Iska and I are tied by the fate of the stars (for a rematch)!” “And now you make it sound like you’re an actual couple!” “Anyway! What in the world are you doing when you have me around, Iska?!” Several days later, Alice nodded in satisfaction when she received news that he’d been acquitted and released.