The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 163: Beware Of The Red-head (5)

The evening.

The moonlight rose over the mountains, and lights came on one by one in the shopping district. Despite the recession, the capital was still active.

It was proof of how big the Empire’s economy was. Even if the prices had gone up, the demand for basic necessities remained the same.

Food was also one of those necessities. Restaurants were a place loved by everyone, the rich and commoner alike.

This was ‘El Cartilla’, a franchise specializing in elvish pasta dishes.

A place where the cream sauce was very smooth and the flavor of herbs was superb. Despite raising prices due to extreme inflation, there were still many customers who came to El Cartilla.

Today, I was one of the customers. I’d only had carbonara from the school cafeteria until now. The quality of a specialty restaurant was just too different.

And so I thought I’d be able to have a good meal for the first time in a while.

Until some Blueberry showed up, that is.

“You’d better decide quickly, sis.”

Rosemary made a sulky face, giving me a look.

“Are you going to live with me or Miss Saliere when you graduate?”

Because it was said quite loudly, the people around them began turning their heads this way one by one.

I was enjoying pasta and this came out of nowhere. Feeling at a loss, I scratched my head.

It was soft and well-treated hair. If it hadn’t been for Lotte, I would’ve never had hair like this.

But unlike my trim external hair, the inside of my head was all tangled.

I had no idea what to do about this.

“Aether made a promise with me first, Lady Blanton. I apologize but I won’t yield on this.”

“No, we need to make it clear. What’s important isn’t the chronological order.”

The two of them weren’t even trying to hide their hostility now. The tension between Rosemary and Lotte had already surfaced enough so that other people could notice it.

“Why does the chronological order not matter? There’s an order to promises, even.”

“Then why don’t we start from the day when we first came into a relationship? If we count that as well, I’d have the advantage.”

Won’t yield this, first came into a relationship that. It was a situation that coud be misunderstood by others.

It also gave me a sense of déjà vu for some reason. I then realized that it stemmed from that scandal with Vermel and inwardly screamed.

At this rate, some weird article might be seen in the school newspaper. A chill ran down my spine at the thought of it.

It had only been a month since I smashed the head of Angelica Totzfel, the head of the Newspaper Club. I didn’t want to pull out my staff for that reason again.

What do I do about this? Vermel wasn’t even here.

“Then let’s have sis decide. I’m done.”

“Did you hear that, Aether?”

The two fiery gazes focused on me, and a big ‘haaa’ came out of my mouth. I unconsciously ran a hand over my face.

I wished this was a love triangle instead so I could choose one and be done with it.

But this was a different kind of story, not something that could be called a love quarrel.

I need to take sis back to the Demon Castle in order to wipe out all these human bastards.

–would definitely be what this big blue Blueberry was thinking.

I’ll use the winter break to finish the ultimate Fire Magic, then the war with the Beasts will be no more. Once everything is over, I want to spend the rest of my life happily with my friend.

And this friend of mine with a good heart wouldn’t try to let me go out of that thought.

My decision was going to greatly influence whether ‘Aether’ fell into Corruption or not. With that being the case, I had to be careful with every choice I made.

“Are you going to live with me or Lady Blanton?”

To eradicate the humans and return to Earth, or to eradicate the Beasts and return to Earth?

If the question was only asking ‘who am I going to live with’, then the answer was obvious. I would be going back to Earth, therefore I couldn’t stay with either party and spend the rest of my life with them.

The relationship with Lotte had also originally been formed with the assumption that I’d be going back to Earth. An ideal business relationship where we’d each benefit from it and then part ways when the time came.

But I failed to maintain that distance starting with the outbreak of the Black Death. I’d gotten too attached to Lotte.

It was a strange thing. None of my good friends in high school and university had ever been this close.

For some reason, I’d become more emotional after coming into this body. I couldn’t know whether it was because it was a girl’s body or it was because that was how Aether was originally.

I had a bit of a guilty conscience towards Lotte, at least. Yet at the time I had been scared that this current relationship would end if I honestly told her that I ‘can’t stay with you until the end’.

Just, it would’ve been fine to say ‘let’s be friends forever’ casually between close friends.

But Lotte was serious. I could tell from her eyes blazing like wildfire.

“.......”

Those were the ambitious eyes of one who had to have something.

“Hurry up and say it, sis. I need to get back to the palace soon....”

On the other hand, Rosemary’s eyes were as cold as ice. I couldn’t sense any torrential emotion from her. Instead, her eyes were full of hatred for humans and conviction about her sister.

“Yeah, let’s make things clear. We’ll talk about what we’ll do after graduating.”

“What do you mean ‘what we’ll do after graduating’....”

I brought the straw to my mouth without realizing. The rising thirst was gradually weighing on my head and stomach.

Rosemary was blindly devoted to me. If I told her to do something, she did it, and didn’t do something when I told her not to. When I asked for what I needed, she would bring it even while grumbling. She was someone I considered a close sibling after the memories got mixed together.

Lotte, on the other hand, built a relationship over a short time by spending all hours together. We built trust and friendship like constructing a tower of pebbles through continuous give-and-takes. And yet I was still feeling like I hadn’t given to her as much as I had received.

“I might not graduate.”

Words accompanied by political rhetoric suddenly popped out of my mouth.

To be honest, it was closer to the truth than an excuse. I was planning to run away to elf country once I’d mastered everything except Air Magic regardless of what year I was in.

And there I would master the remaining magic and return to Earth. It was the perfect plan. Of course, this was a picture that only I knew.

“Wh-what are you saying...?”

Lotte responded, clearly flustered. Her crimson pupils trembled.

“Does that mean you’re going to live with us without a diploma, sis?”

On the other hand, the corner of Rosemary’s lips went up slightly.

Of course, because it would be a big plus for the Demon Army if her sister came home without even graduating.

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“No, I guess the more accurate way to put it would be that I ‘might not be able to’, because you never know.”

“That isn’t what we’re talking about right now.”

I had to endure Lotte’s grumbling while sipping on my drink. She was probably thinking something like ‘why is she being deceptive?’ just now.

In this case, you needed to answer seriously without hesitating.

“Seriously. I might not be able to graduate from here.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous. You’re smarter than I am.”

“Not because of academic troubles or anything, but because of personal things and lack of funds.”

It was something I’d been thinking about after learning that I had the body of a monster. If I was discovered, then I wouldn’t be able to continue my studies or research.

I’d met a lot of different types of people, so I knew how most of them would react if they found me out. People weren’t very reasonable and rational creatures. By the time that happened, it would be too late no matter how much I tried to explain.

I couldn’t just tell them these things, so my words came out rather ambiguously. Of course, Lotte responded with a dissatisfied face.

No, should I look at it as a highly disgruntled expression?

“Sis... you can always get a loan. You’ll soon be a noble anyway, so why would money stop you from attending school?”

“From what I remember, the state lowered the loan limit because of inflation....”

“You don’t need to get a loan, Aether. Our family can pay for your tuition!”

“Ah? W-wait a minute. Come to think of it, our family was managing a scholarship foundation. I can put your name on the list of applicants. Right, that’s something we can do!”

Man, at this rate I was just going to be sighing until the day was over.

Before I knew it, the two were at it again. The situation wasn’t escalating ‘on the surface’ only because they were each ladies from a Duke and Count family.

If I had been direct, it would’ve been even more troublesome.

As I was thinking that–

“Aether.”

“Y-yeah?”

“The people I hate the most are those who make promises they can’t keep.”

My mind went blank.

This was killing me. How could Lotte change this much over something so trivial?

Had Vermel known? He must have since he was a transmigrator. Fucker, should’ve made me a strategy guide before he left.

Lotte’s eyes were about half-dead. Goosebumps stood on my arms from encountering that chill.

I had to desperately come up with a plan. Now it came to a point where I had to choose between the two.

I couldn’t put off the decision any longer. It was time to hurt someone.

After a short groan, I opened my mouth.

“Rosemary.”

“Yes, sis?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Ah, of co.... huh?”

“If I get to wear the graduation cap, I’m going to live with Lotte.”

The Blueberry spoiled.