「Argusta-sama?」
「Yeah… Hm?」
The soft yet strongly assertive sensation against my back was, as always, Noie’s chest.
I was being supported by her slender arms wrapped around me.
Oh no. I had completely dozed off.
「Thank you, Noie.」
「Yes.」
When I thanked her over my shoulder, her ahoge swayed gently.
Even now I think to myself, isn’t this system of Noie’s a little unfair?
Noie herself was asleep, yet her body was still moving.
The one controlling that body was someone else’s consciousness.
If the real Noie woke up with even a little fatigue left, she might find it strange, but thanks to her blessing she doesn’t feel tired at all.
As a result, I, who had basically pulled an all-nighter, ended up completely sleep-deprived.
This is bullying. Extremely creative bullying, I think.
「Argusta-sama?」
「Hah!」
I had been complaining inside my head and dozed off again.
No good. We still had quite a while until we arrived at this horse’s pace.
「Sorry, Noie. Can I sleep a little more?」
「Yes.」
With that strong reply, I closed my eyes without hesitation.
-0-
「Do you know what witches desire?」
「The witch from some country said something about a thirst for knowledge, right?」
「Yes. What a witch seeks is 『something no one else knows』.」
After returning to the mansion, she left bathing and dinner to the original Noie.
Now, in her sheer camisole, she pinched the hem and looked at me with absolute-zero eyes.
Say whatever you want. I’m not running or hiding anymore. I like it, what’s the problem?
「I am no exception.」
「So what do you want from me?」
Not even allowed to approach, I was made to sit in a chair while she occupied the sofa.
With another faint smile, she deliberately crossed her legs.
The way she sat on the edge of the bed made Noie’s body look like an extremely domineering queen.
「I control the majority of this child’s spell formations. Do you understand what that means?」
「Not at all?」
A queen-like Noie doesn’t excite me. She looks much better in a maid outfit.
She slowly turned her gaze toward me, the witch inside her smiling thinly.
「……A different world.」
Her suggestive words made me tense up instinctively.
Without making a sound, she smiled even more faintly. Her red eyes looked like a demon’s.
「Don’t worry. The only one who knows is 『me』. Neither Noie nor the others know.」
「……」
「The fact that I control the Spell Formations means exactly that.」
So she also holds some other weakness over her?
The risk of the overly anxious Noie using Spell Formations left and right had come back to bite us in this way.
「……I understand. But I’m not that smart, so I probably won’t understand anything difficult.」
「That’s fine.」
She chuckled softly and gracefully spread both arms.
「What I want is an intellectual game that I don’t know. That’s all.」
「That’s a troublesome request…」
But there was one thing I could think of.
If it was that game that even had maniacs back in my old world, maybe it would work.
I stood up from the sofa and walked over to the desk in the corner of the room.
Using the writing tools left there for some purpose, I drew lines… and wrote numbers in several places.
「Do you know this?」
「No, I don’t.」
She stared at the paper I handed her, then handed it back.
I pointed at the 3×3 grid drawn on the paper.
「There are nine squares made of three by three. And there are nine of those bigger squares.」
「Yes.」
「Some of the squares already have numbers written in them. The rule is to fill every square with numbers from 1 to 9.」
「Sounds simple.」
It looks simple, but once you start it becomes an incredibly good time-killer.
「When you put a number in a square, you can’t use the same number in the same row or column.」
「……」
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
「So the rule is to place different numbers without any repeats in the rows or columns.」
「……Sounds interesting.」
With a thin smile, Noie, no, Islerose, who was currently in control, took the bait.
This game is called Sudoku. It was insanely popular for a while at the school I used to attend.
I wrote down one of the most difficult puzzles from back then and presented it to her. Since there were so few numbers already filled in, I still remembered it clearly.
「If you can solve this, there are more problems after it. How about that?」
「Very well. With those conditions, I will become your teacher.」
I had been wondering how to lure out the game-loving her, but she came out on her own. What luck.
I handed the paper to Noie. She glanced at it and placed it on the bed.
「Then what shall we do today? Start with classroom lessons right away? Or would you prefer questions?」
「You already know the answer, don’t you?」
What a wicked person.
With a faint smile, the face that was Noie’s answered.
「Magic cannot be used with spell formations written on paper.」
She stood up lightly and walked to the desk, then ran the quill pen across a sheet of paper there.
「It’s easy to make something like this, but…」
The paper she held pinched between her fingers gave off a faint light… then burned away entirely.
「I believe the strength is insufficient. That is why spell formations use platinum plates.」
With light steps she returned to the bed.
「Even the arrows that little girl of yours uses have platinum plates inside them.」
Islerose spoke as if she had just remembered.
「When the decorative tip receives impact and shrinks, the small plate inside meshes together to form a single plate, causing an explosion. That is probably the mechanism, correct?」
Her casual words were exactly right. They were correct, but…
「……You took it apart?」
「It was obvious just by looking. Such a toy.」
I thought Lutte’s arrows were supposed to be fairly high-level secrets, yet she figured it out just by seeing them.
She smiled thinly again, looking like a demon, and winked at me.
「If it were me, I could teach you far more brutal and interesting spell formations, you know?」
「No thank you. If possible, I’d prefer normal ones…」
Remembering something, I took out Glodia’s book that I had hidden on the shelf.
This was the one written in here.
「I want to be able to use this spell.」
I opened it and held it out to her. She narrowed her eyes, peered at it, and gave a faint smile.
「Such a simple spell.」
「I want to be able to use it with a blessing on top as well. Can you do that?」
Her eyes narrowed sharply as she glared at me.
「That would mean creating an entirely new spell based on this formula, you know?」
「I don’t mind.」
「……Incantations won’t work. Even if it means embedding multiple plates in your body?」
「I don’t mind.」
I hate pain, but I want at least enough power to protect Noie.
「I see. Then I will enjoy this game you gave me for a while.」
With a thin smile, she reached out, hugged me… and then suddenly lost all strength as if letting go of consciousness.
Wait a second! Don’t just dump a limp Noie on me!
I desperately pushed Noie down onto the bed, and her eyes snapped open with a soft click.
「……Do you want to?」
「We’re going to sleep now.」
「……Yes.」
While listening to her disappointed voice, I looked toward the window.
Ahaha… it was already getting bright outside.
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