Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 35: The Saintess and the Crown Princess.

KENG—!!

''Ugh!''

With a simple swing from Claudia, the white-haired guy is pushed back together with his dragon fists. Yes, he can punch out a dragon from his hand, I don't know why specifically dragons either. Probably for the cool points.

''Hm... Rokkaku Ryuji, not bad.'' Claudia strokes her chin. ''Next, Amelia Luminous.''

Oh, it's finally Chloe's turn. 

The white-haired guy clicks his tongue lightly and walks back to the line, leaving the place for Chloe to step up with her sword.

By the way, both the Saintess and the Crown Princess were mages, although they used different elements, while the guy with pale blonde hair was a pure swordsman. They couldn't do that much against Claudia, obviously because of the huge level difference, but now I'm curious about Chloe's performance.

''Come at me anytime.'' Claude says.

Without responding, Chloe ready herself, and the one-handed practice sword in her hand bursts into flame. She then springs toward Claudia, swinging her sword horizontally.

KENG—!!

Claudia blocks that with ease.

KENG—!!

KENG—!!

Well, Chloe is certainly doing better than those guys, she seems calm even though Claudia is parrying every single hit leisurely. 

Hmm... If I were to battle Claudia, how would it go?

Because I have both the broken linking skill thingy and the achievement system—both unique to me, according to Chloe, my main body now has a ton of skills. But my stats and skill quality are not quite on par with Claudia yet.

''Um...''

Suddenly, the female staff member standing beside me speaks up.

''Yes?''

''Do you know why the Saintess has been staring at us since earlier...?''

''I'm not sure.''

Just ignore her. Treats her like your local demon under your bed.

'''' ... ''''

So for a while, only the sounds of swords clashing can be heard in the large Evone Hall.

''Enough.''

''Phew...''

Eventually, the fight comes to an end. Chloe is a bit out of breath, but mostly fine, while Claudia is perfectly normal.

''Amelia Luminous, decent.'' Claudia extinguishes her flame sword. ''Now that I've known your general combat levels, let's start with training right away.''

''Hah... Hah...''

''Ugh...''

''As you know, there was an incident where a demon appeared in the academy's plaza just a few days ago. We cannot be complacent anymore, stand up!''

...Claudia is certainly harsh on training. I heard that this generation of students is called 'The golden generation' because there are a lot more high-leveled students compared to previous years, and this A class even has five students—the highest ever recorded in the history of this academy. But even these talented students could not withstand Claudia's training for more than an hour.

She first made them run around the hall for twenty laps, then proceeded to teach them fighting techniques for half an hour, and finally made them do myriads of body exercises with weights—weighted calisthenics.

''Teaching quality... Excellent.'' The female staff beside me mutters, jotting down on the evaluation table.

Well, our job here is actually to evaluate the lessons' quality and the students' learning quality aside from taking care of emergencies, but I don't have experience in the previous two, so I left it to my colleague.

''Professor Claudia... She has always been like this after losing her beloved pet to a demon.'' The staff says with a bitter smile.

Don't just suddenly dump that info on me, I'm not even curious.

''Is that so.'' I reply normally.

'''' ... ''''

Well, this is awkward. But it's not my fault.

So we stand in this awkward silence for another hour, watching the students getting tortured by Claudia.

''Well, this should do for now. Good work, the lesson ends here.''

When Claudia says that and leaves, all the students let out a relieved sigh.

''Then, I'll excuse myself here. Let's meet again, Miss Maid.''

''Yes, take care.''

I say goodbye to the staff member and go straight to Chloe.

''A-Ah, Aurora...'' Chloe greets weakly, sitting on the ground.

I activate my ice magic, letting a cold mist envelop Chloe's sweaty body. Her face immediately relaxes as she grabs my hand, where the mist is shooting out of, and puts her head before my palm.

''Mind doing it for me as well?''

Suddenly, someone puts their hand on my shoulder, very casually. I turn around to see the same grinning Saintess, and she's sweating. This is the first time I've heard her talking, and... Her voice even though sweet, does have a hint of madness in it.

''Of course.''

I extend my cold aura to the Saintess as well. Below, Chloe has evolved to rubbing her cheek against my hand for some reason.

''Nyahahah! I've never seen a pair like you two!'' The Saintess laughs out loud. ''It's like you guys are siblings.''

That's pretty accurate.

''We are indeed close.'' Chloe slowly stands up and scans around. ''Aurora, do it for Her Highness too.'' She chins the Crown Princess, who's sitting on the ground not far away and panting.

So the three of us walk to the Crown Princess.

''Your Highness, would you like something to cool off?'' I say and extend my hand wrapped in an icy aura toward her.

Both the Saintess and the Crown Princess are mages, but they don't have the ice element, so I'm quite useful here.

''...Go ahead.'' 

Hm, her voice is quite monotone, like Peln's.

''Right, are you perhaps free after this, Your Highness?'' Chloe speaks up. ''I have something to discuss with you.''

''No.'' The Crown Princess replies instantly.

''But I have something that might interest you?'' Chloe pulls out the Rubik's cube, which instantly catches the black-haired girl's eyes.

Sierra Alaina Astra.

At just age 17, she surpassed her older brother to become the Crown Princess of the Empire. People often point fingers at her behind her back, saying that she is cold-blooded, psychopathic, and unhinged, but no one dares to oppose her directly.

That same girl is now sitting across us silently, sipping orange juice while solving the cube intently. 

We successfully fished her just by showing her the cube... Isn't she too easy? And...

''Hyah~! This apple juice is divine!''

Somehow, the Saintess managed to squeeze herself into our meeting. Well, I do understand her reasoning, we must seem very interesting from her perspective. And she doesn't care about politics in the Empire anyway, so this is fine.

''Your Highness.'' Chloe puts down her drink. ''I will be straightforward. I wish to ally myself with you.''

Having Chloe—the heiress of a Duke supporting Sierra is certainly beneficial to solidify her position as the Crown Princess.

''...What do you want?''

But Sierra will need to provide something to Chloe in return.

''I want you to lend me your power in the future, but please rest assured, I won't request something that would damage your image or power. In exchange, I will provide Your Highness my full support and little gadgets like this Rubik's cube should I find them.''

'''' ... ''''

Sierra ponders in silence, her silver pupils remain calm and unwavering.

''Your Highness can consider this cube a present from me, regardless of your decision on my offer.''

''You can't solve it anyway. Last time you raged so much-''

Ah, I slipped.

'''' ... ''''

...Don't look at me like that.

''Pfft- Nyahahahahah! You guys are so funny!''

''You killed me, Aurora...!'' Chloe facepalms.

''Sorry.''

I'm quite used to roasting her back on Earth, and it carries too well to this world.

clack—!

Suddenly, Sierra puts her cup down rather loudly.

''Your offer. I will take it.''

She looks calmly at Chloe. On the princess's hand, the cube that was scrambled by Chloe is now solved.