9

“Stealing the Original Canon is an evil act that cannot be allowed!”

Kirishiya strongly hurled her voice at Rubelmel.

“Kirishiya-san is angry like that, but I understand Rubelmel-san’s objective now. So then, the one hiding there… who was it again? What is your objective?”

Aiming his face toward Darius, who was hiding behind the bookshelf and trembling before the magic battle, Ains spoke.

“Now that you mention it, Darius-san. Why are you at her side!?”

Kirishiya shot Darius a severe gaze that did not suit her adorable face.

With the air of someone who had no choice now that attention had turned to him, Darius emerged from behind the bookshelf.

“I-I do not know anything! I only entered into a cooperative relationship because she said she wanted to help me recover Father’s evaluation of me! I did not know her true identity!”

Darius protested while spitting as he spoke, but Kirishiya and Seidel were not so naïve that they could not tell he was lying.

He was cooperating in Rubelmel’s outrageous act of stealing the original copy of the “Original Canon.” There was no way Darius would act without asking what benefit there was for him, and without asking who Rubelmel really was.

However, it was also true that there was no evidence to prove it.

“However, from the way Darius-sama spoke when he came here, it is indeed a fact that he cooperated in Rubelmel’s theft of the Original Canon, Princess Kirishiya.”

At Seidel’s words, Darius recoiled as if intimidated.

Seeing that, Kirishiya judged there was no doubt that Darius had aided in the theft of the Original Canon, a national treasure.

“…It does not matter whether he is the eldest son of the Sobi House or a fellow student. As a princess of the Santia Kingdom, I cannot allow Darius Sobi to go unpunished.”

Kirishiya turned a strong gaze upon Darius.

Even so, Seidel’s magic had not reached Rubelmel.

Darius stood at Rubelmel’s side, while Kirishiya faced the two of them together with Seidel. The reason the situation had not moved was because Rubelmel, having neutralized Seidel’s magic, did not follow up with an attack.

Unless they broke this deadlock, they would not be able to capture Rubelmel and Darius, who had cooperated with her.

“It is true that I aided in the theft of the Original Canon! But if all that changes is that its storage location moves from this Sorcery Academy library to the Sobi House mansion, then there is no loss for the kingdom as a whole, is there!?”

Darius spoke as though to say that since the original copy of the Original Canon was not being moved to another country, there was no problem at all.

Of course, as Darius said, if it were kept within the kingdom, then ordinarily there would be no issue, but it had to be stored in a neutral place.

The Sobi House was one of the principal noble houses, alongside the royal family and the Brandy family. In addition, Zoin, the current head of the Sobi House, was an ambitious marquis with ill rumors surrounding him. If the Original Canon fell into the hands of such a man as Zoin, then the balance of power would tilt sharply toward the Sobi House. That would ultimately create unrest within the country, and it would appear in the form of burdens being passed on to the common people.

Kirishiya thought that alone absolutely had to be avoided.

Just as Kirishiya was about to argue back against Darius, Ains spoke to him again from the side.

“Why would having that restore your standing? How were you planning to use it?”

The words were directed at Darius, but at the same time, they were also a question to Rubelmel.

“This is a precious holy relic. The density of its mana, the amount it generates, everything about it is on a different level from other holy relics. If that is the case, then the way to use it should be obvious.”

Rubelmel quietly agreed as well.

In other words, they were viewing it like a mana crystal, as a mana generator.

“I see. …Then I cannot let you have that. Rubelmel-san too, I will have you give it back.”

Ains took one step forward and faced Rubelmel and Darius.

“Ains-sama? Earlier, you said you would not fight me. Have you changed your mind?”

Though her tone remained calm, killing intent leaked from Rubelmel toward Ains.

“No, I am not going to fight. I am just taking it back.”

“My apologies, Ains-sama, but I will never hand the Original Canon over to you.”

Rubelmel gripped the Original Canon tightly and watched Ains’s movements closely, prepared to respond at once if he tried to manifest magic.

“Be careful, Rubelmel. It is irritating to admit, but he is fairly skilled with the sword as well. There is a chance he may try to bring this into close combat.”

Remembering the mock battle between Ains and Talidge, Darius warned Rubelmel.

“Darius-sama, thank you for your advice. (So this brat can be useful after all.)”

Rubelmel confirmed that Ains was not wearing a sword at his waist.

“(In that case, perhaps he intends to use hand-to-hand combat. Ains-san is still, in the end, one of the kingdom’s mages. If it is magic, then dealing with it will probably be easy.)”

Rubelmel decided that the one thing she had to be careful about was letting him close the distance.

“Ains-dono, shall I assist you?”

Seidel threw his voice at Ains’s back.

“That will not be necessary, Seidel-san.”

Replying without turning toward Seidel, Ains spoke.

“Restriction release: ‘Miracle Right Arm.’”

Kirishiya understood at once.

This was the sorcery Ains had shown in the royal castle when facing Lizelotte.

“W-what is that…? That… right arm… what is it?”

For Darius, it was an eerie sight he was seeing for the first time.

From the empty right sleeve of the jacket of one-armed Ains, a translucent hand appeared.

A strange right hand that did not look like a human hand at all.

Rubelmel, too, could not help but widen her eyes at Ains’s right arm. But he still had not launched any kind of attack toward her. Therefore, she could not counter with opposition.

“…Is that Ains-sama’s magic? It is my first time seeing something like it.”

“No, Rubelmel-san. This is not magic. It is sorcery.”

Answering brightly, Ains removed the glove fastened at his right shoulder and put it on the translucent right hand. After opening and closing it two or three times as though confirming the sensation, he slowly shifted his gaze toward Rubelmel.

“…Come at me from anywhere you like. My opposition will strike Ains-san down.”

Rubelmel concentrated even further, but Ains shook his head.

“It is already over. I have taken this back.”

“!?”

Rubelmel saw what Ains held in his right hand.

The Original Canon, which she had been gripping tightly in that hand so it would not be stolen from her. By the next instant, it was in Ains’s hand.

Without taking her eyes off Ains, Rubelmel checked the sensation in the hand that had been gripping the Original Canon. There was no longer any feeling of the leather cover that had been there until a moment ago; she was grasping only empty air.

“…What… did you do? Or rather, what was done to me? If it was some kind of magic, then my opposition should have reacted to it, but it… did not.”