The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent – 151
EP.151 Rolling Stone (2)
"But why exactly should we be on a first-name basis?"
As soon as I asked that, the already awkward atmosphere froze completely.
"Ah, um..."
Sophia Bianchi's violet eyes darted around before settling back on me.
"Do you dislike it?"
Of course, that was an act. It had been the same in the game. Hardly anyone had seen through her true nature until she fully revealed it, which meant her acting skills were exceptionally good.
Maybe there was a bit of sincerity mixed in. The way she followed me around suggested she wanted something from me, and it would be inconvenient for her if she didn’t get it.
"Lady Crowfield."
Instead of answering her, I turned to Mia Crowfield, who was sitting at the café table with us.
She flinched slightly before looking at me cautiously.
"Have I ever addressed you by your first name?"
"Ah, no?"
Mia Crowfield shook her head vigorously from side to side.
I shifted my gaze back to Sophia.
"I’ve known Lady Crowfield for an entire semester. And yet, I have never called her by her first name. This isn’t a matter of liking or disliking someone; it’s about how familiar we are with each other."
In truth, everyone else at this table called Mia by her first name. Even Alice, despite what had happened during the last break, stubbornly continued to address her the same way.
After finishing my explanation, I picked up my spoon and resumed eating my parfait.
Honestly, it was getting quite chilly outside—not exactly the best weather for a parfait. Given that everyone else at the table had ordered hot coffee, I was probably the odd one out.
But what could I do? It was delicious.
"I see...?"
Sophia Bianchi looked somewhat bewildered at my firm response. Rather than appearing deeply disappointed or hurt, her expression was closer to… blank confusion.
That part might have been genuine.
*
"Sylvia."
Despite the uncomfortable encounter earlier, I didn't stop eating my parfait. I made sure to scrape up every last bit from the bottom of the cup before parting ways with my friends and returning to my room.
Before I even had a chance to organize my thoughts, Alice showed up.
"Do you know something about Sophia?"
Alice asked, her expression serious.
"Sophia Bianchi is a spy sent by the Papal State."
"A spy?"
“To be more precise, she’s a member of the Knights Templar.”
For a moment, Alice's expression went blank.
Standing there with her lips slightly parted, she eventually ran a hand down her face and let out a deep sigh.
"Alright. I won’t ask how you know that."
That was a relief.
Even if I rewound time, this wasn’t the kind of information I could easily obtain. If she pressed for an explanation, the only possible answer I could give would be that I had knowledge from another world—which obviously wasn’t an option.
It was much easier when the other person simply chose not to ask.
Alice took a seat at the guest table in my room, directly across from where I was sitting.
"There are a lot of things I want to ask. Can you answer them?"
"If it’s about Sophia Bianchi, I can answer quite a lot."
"Good."
Alice nodded and spoke.
"Sophia claims she’s from Velbur, the daughter of a knightly family from Lutetia. How does that make her a citizen of the Papal State? Falsifying one's identity is already a serious crime, but impersonating a noble title? That could lead to a diplomatic incident. And yet, she even managed to enroll in the academy with imperial approval—that doesn’t add up."
"The Papal State and Velbur are in a cooperative relationship. While the Papal State did gain independence from Velbur, there hasn’t been any major conflict between them. The territory under the Papal State’s rule is relatively small, just about the size of a single province, and there’s free movement between the two. Plus, there are many followers of the Goddess within Velbur itself, so tensions between the two nations aren’t particularly high."
"So you're saying Velbur helped forge her false identity?"
Alice asked, her expression growing more severe.
"Rather than a fake identity, it’s likely another legitimate one."
The claim that she was the daughter of a knightly family was technically false. However, the family itself did exist. Since that was the case in the original game, it should be the same here. That meant the title was real, and the legal status of being a "daughter" was also valid, at least on paper. Not that it necessarily meant she was their biological child.
If both parties had a mutual interest, it wouldn't be difficult to legally establish someone as a noble daughter.
"So, does that mean the two nations are allied?"
"Not in an official capacity."
I had caused quite a stir last year. The Papal State had made an effort to appear at odds with Velbur, even though they intended to cooperate behind the scenes.
They had always maintained a front of conflict while secretly working together, so my actions wouldn’t have completely severed their ties. However, they must have become more discreet—enough to ensure that, on the surface, there was truly nothing connecting them.
"But… doesn’t that make it all the more strange?"
Alice tilted her head, puzzled.
"Even if they didn’t anticipate that you would know Sophia’s true identity, why would these two nations, which are supposed to be operating in secret, suddenly act so openly?"
"Because they’re desperate."
My answer was simple.
Yes, they must have been getting impatient. There had been several major incidents in the Papal State.
Starting with Verratti, who still hadn’t fully regained consciousness, to the Emperor’s child suddenly appearing in the Papal State, causing chaos, and then fleeing with an important relic in hand.
The Papal State might even be suspecting the Empire itself by now, possibly believing that everything Lucas had done was an orchestrated plot by the Empire.
Even if that wasn’t the case, the situation was pressing enough that they couldn’t afford to stay idle. From the perspective of Velbur and the Papal State, time was running out.
War requires years—decades even—of careful preparation. And right now, no nation in this world was ready to go to war with the Empire. For countries that had only just begun industrialization, it must have felt like they needed to take some kind of action.
"So they thought they could win us over? That by getting close to the imperial princesses, they could prevent a war?"
"…..."
Hmm, honestly, I wasn’t sure about that.
In the original game, Sophia had only appeared in the second installment, when the war had already escalated. She wasn’t even a character that the protagonist encountered at the academy.
"I don’t have any concrete theories about their goal yet. Perhaps… they simply want to have a conversation with me."
"With you? About what—oh."
Huh?
Before I could say anything else, Alice suddenly seemed to grasp something on her own. Her expression darkened.
"Did something come to mind?"
I asked.
"Huh? Oh, um, yeah… kind of."
But Alice didn’t elaborate.
"If you have any thoughts on the matter, I’d appreciate it if you could share them—"
"Ah, no."
Alice hastily shook her head.
As she stood up, Alice spoke.
"Thanks to you, a lot of my questions have been answered. I appreciate it. I’ll also be more cautious around Sophia."
"Alright…."
As I stared blankly up at her, Alice simply added, “See you tomorrow!” before quickly leaving the room.
…Wait, what was that?
*
Sylvia had a special ability. Perhaps the ability to turn back time.
The professor had once said that even the Goddess couldn’t reverse time.
But if, as the explanation went, she was merely shifting the world's state as if moving objects around, then that alone would be akin to divine power, wouldn’t it?
Did Sylvia realize this? Or was she unaware? At the very least, judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to believe that her power was truly the Goddess’s gift.
The first time Sylvia’s ability malfunctioned was when she visited the place where the Relic had been.
That was when she encountered that mysterious entity, the one wielding an inexplicable power. After it vanished—taking the Relic with it—Sylvia’s ability seemed to return to normal. From then on, she never appeared troubled by it.
And then, in the Imperial Palace…
Ability. Goddess. Relic. The Papal State.
‘If I connected these four keywords—'
"No way."
Alice’s face turned pale.
Could it be that the Papal State…
…
No. No, that couldn’t be it.
She shook her head vigorously to dispel her thoughts. Though the unease still lingered in the back of her mind, she managed to steady herself.
Sylvia’s power was too limited to be truly divine. More importantly, she didn’t possess the kind of abilities the Papal State’s priestess had—she couldn’t heal or bless others.
But even so, Alice now had a good idea of why the Papal State had come.
"I see."
Lying in bed, she stared at the ceiling and muttered to herself.
…She needed to clarify things.
Whether by speaking to Sophia herself or by confronting those pulling the strings behind her.