Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

I Received a Marriage Proposal.

There had been a conversation like that once.

Right after the midterm exam, after the flag-taking.

It was when Rin came to scout me into Class A.

"It is not a very appealing offer. I am more comfortable here, you see."

"How about you come to Class E instead, Lady Glacia?"

That had been a firm refusal.

It meant I had no intention of going to Class A, so she should quietly back off.

At the same time, it had been something I tossed out half as a joke.

"Can I join Class E too?"

"It may be difficult right away. Yes, I will find a way."

Whether she understood that or not, her response had been shockingly enthusiastic.

Rin left after hinting that she would transfer into Class E.

Of course, I had not been too worried about it.

Common sense said a transfer like that could not possibly happen.

'I can ignore it.'

Rin Glacia.

She was called the greatest genius of this generation.

'Not only in our year, but even counting the years above and below, she's overwhelming enough to deserve the word genius.'

There was no way a girl like that would be demoted to Class E.

Even if there was some possible method, the academy would never allow it.

I had written it off as Rin's usual nonsense, wiped it from my mind completely, and gone on with my life...

'She actually did it?'

I stared at the girl in front of me.

Blue eyes like carved blue ice, and mysteriously tinted blue hair.

She stood proudly in the Class E lecture room, as if nothing were wrong at all.

"...Lady Glacia?"

"It has been a while, Class E top seat."

Rin lightly waved her hand.

Her expression held not even the slightest trace of emotion, making her look rather like a doll.

Even though I had already heard the answer, I had no choice but to ask again.

"Lady Glacia... what brings you to the Class E lecture room?"

"I told you. Starting today, I am part of Class E too."

"I feel like I need a bit of an explanation as to what you mean by that..."

"It is nothing much. I simply moved my affiliation from Class A to Class E."

"No."

That was the part I was asking about.

How in the world did the top seat of Class A fall all the way down into Class E?

"Were you... demoted? From Class A to Class E?"

"Yes."

A simple answer.

She only tossed out the conclusion, with no intention of adding any explanation.

It was Rin's usual way of speaking, plain if you wanted to call it plain, frustrating if you wanted to call it frustrating.

'No... the academy allowed that?'

I could not even imagine what method she had used.

Fortunately, if that was the right word, the girl explained that part with my next question.

"What exactly did you do to get demoted all the way from Class A to Class E...?"

"I received demerit points. Many of them."

"No, how many did you receive...?"

"500 points."

"...Pardon?"

500 demerit points.

What kind of otherworldly stack was that?

No, before that, was it even possible for demerit points to pile up to 500?

"What were the demerit points for?"

"Property damage."

"..."

"I broke a lot."

"..."

Rin answered proudly.

I decided not to ask what she had broken, or how much of it.

If I did, I felt like I would become afraid of the days we would be spending together from now on.

'Even so, if she got 500 demerit points, shouldn't she be expelled on the spot...?'

How was she still enrolled?

The question came to mind, but the moment I remembered the girl's background, I understood quickly enough.

'She has one of the noblest statuses after the imperial family.'

A child of Glacia.

Even if she was treated like a mutant within her family, she still had the status of a duke's daughter.

On top of that, Rin's own talent was outstanding enough to rank among the best students ever admitted.

In short, she was a genius with both background and talent.

'From the academy's perspective, she's basically a natural disaster.'

How could they expel her?

If they expelled her carelessly, they would lose a historic talent and risk offending the ducal family on top of it.

Even in such a headache-inducing situation, Rin's academy-smashing had continued, so it seemed the academy had simply granted Rin's request with bitter reluctance.

'She's a crazy thug.'

If you do not like it, demote me.

Her bulldozer-like behavior seemed to shout exactly that.

"..."

Why had this kid even wanted to come down to Class E in the first place?

I asked about that too, but the answer was no different from before.

"You are here."

"..."

"I came down because I wanted to be in the same class as you."

Apparently so.

'Motherfucker.'

(Hard to say when I did not even have a mother.)

I could only press my fingers to my forehead.

Whether I did or not, the girl who did things entirely her own way came over to the seat beside me and sat down.

Even though she had come barehanded, without so much as a pen or notebook, Rin shamelessly left only one comment.

"I am looking forward to class."

"..."

Her unique winter scent drifted through the lecture room.

Around us, the other Class E students were watching the situation with bated breath.

I quietly muttered to myself.

'Fuck.'

Even after returning from vacation, it seemed my damn academy life had no intention of becoming stable.

***

Like that, several days passed after I returned to the academy.

Daily life flowed by rather peacefully.

It was about time for students to start preparing for the final exams.

Rin, who had suddenly infiltrated Class E, was also living without causing any particular commotion so far.

'It has not even been a week yet, though...'

To be honest, I was scared of what aftereffects would come back to hit me.

Considering the butterfly effect, there would be changes in the upcoming final exams.

'Please, just don't let things get tangled up in some complicated way.'

Of course, worrying did not change the fact that all I could do was pray.

In the end, the days flowed by coolly.

Before I knew it, the season had entered late summer.

Even while enduring the late heat, I was given various tasks.

"Should I organize the documents for this final exam over here?"

"Yes. Divide the sections so they are easy to distinguish."

Javert and I exchanged a few words.

For the first time in a while, I was carrying out my duties as a Direct Aide.

Namely, helping with the paperwork piled high on the desk.

"I have finished sorting them. Shall I start the next section right away?"

"Please do."

Papers turned, and pen tips scratched.

Our hands moved busily.

Time passed without much conversation.

Javert, in particular, seemed almost like a machine.

For nearly three hours, she had been working in the exact same posture she had started in.

"..."

The woman showed not the slightest disorder.

Because of that, the atmosphere made it difficult to carry on any private conversation.

Of course, there was also an exception to that atmosphere.

"Mhi..."

Lua.

The tiny girl was nestled snugly in Javert's arms.

"Mom."

"..."

Javert had Lua sitting on her lap.

Since the girl kept clinging to her, Javert had simply wrapped her in her arms.

Lua seemed endlessly happy with the situation, looking up at the woman and smiling brightly.

"Hehe."

"..."

Poke, poke.

A thin finger kept pressing the woman's cheek.

Even in that situation, Javert only kept moving her pen.

"Mom."

Had that title completely settled in now?

For the one listening, it was a truly awkward title.

Even while silently processing the documents, Javert answered Lua's calls with a few clipped words.

"Mom."

"I am not Miss Lua's mother."

"Mom!"

"I am not."

"Mooom."

"I am not."

Javert kept correcting the title.

Lua ignored that and hugged the woman tightly, rubbing her cheek against her.

"I like Mom... I like you as much as Dad."

That should have been distracting enough, but Javert only moved her hand without making any particular comment.

Could it be that she had fallen for our Lua's cuteness?

As expected, my daughter was the strongest in the universe.

Blending into that atmosphere, I spoke.

"Ahem. Lua seems to like you quite a lot, Professor."

"It is troubling. She is interfering with the paperwork."

"If she is making you uncomfortable, shall I take her down?"

"It is not uncomfortable enough for that."

A response of utter numbness.

If Rin was like transparent ice, this side was like neatly hardened steel.

Hard and cold... but a rather different kind of emotionlessness from the girl earlier.

"Thank you, as always."

I said that as I set down an organized file.

Then the green eyes that had been focused on work for so long turned toward me.

"I do not believe I have done anything deserving of thanks."

"It seems you treat Lua kindly."

"I am only fulfilling basic courtesy."

"Well... aside from that, I am always receiving help from you, Investigator. I always think it was good that I became your Direct Aide."

"The Direct Aide matter was a transaction, was it not? I had something I wanted from Student Viktor, and Student Viktor also had something he wanted from me. It was merely an exchange of interests that arose between us. Do not concern yourself unnecessarily."

"Even so, I am the one benefiting in all sorts of ways."

A rather stiff answer.

I smiled without minding it.

"Investigator, if there is ever anything I can help you with, please tell me. I am your Direct Aide, after all. I hope you will make free use of me."

"Help..."

Javert seemed to think over my words for a moment.

That was quite unexpected.

I had been sure she would say it was fine and move on.

Seeing her fall into thought like this, maybe there happened to be something she wanted to ask of me.

"Hmm."

A short silence.

Javert, seeming to have finished thinking, opened her mouth.

"In that case, there is one thing I would like to ask of you."

"Please speak freely."

The scratching pen tip stopped as if sinking down.

Green pupils like summer thickets.

Inside them, only the masked boy was reflected.

Her red hair hanging at the side looked like rose petals blooming at the end of a stem.

"Student Viktor."

A beauty that was sharp, in the literal sense.

The woman with that beauty threw one indifferent line at me.

"Can you become my husband?"

"...Det?"

And,

The request that came from the woman surpassed imagination.

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