"Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh—?!"
Philia stood outside the carriage, her small face fully puffed out, up on her toes, her mild and elegant expression gone over entirely to indignation.
"Casper! What happened? Why, why have you brought this witch along with us!"
Could he... have been bewitched by a pretty face?
Casper, you enormous idiot!
Komachi Yua was standing at Casper's side just then, both hands lowered and resting in front of her skirt, ten fingers unconsciously rubbing back and forth against each other.
To keep up the pretence that nothing was going on, she had turned her face aside and up toward the sky, lips pursed, humming a little tune.
"Lady Philia, this 'Soul-Draining Witch' is my prisoner now."
Casper assumed Philia was worried that Komachi Yua was dangerous. "She's very weak at the moment, and I've put the Killing-Precept Shackle on her... so there's no danger."
Komachi Yua's pursed, tune-humming expression very nearly failed to hold, and her small face reddened despite her.
There's no need to point out the weak part specially!
Hearing that the Killing-Precept Shackle had been applied, most of Philia's wariness came down as well.
The Killing-Precept Shackle was a skill exclusive to the Retribution Knight, one of Casper's two classes. It could turn the target of a person's killing intent around and point it at that person instead.
If the shackled party had no killing intent, nothing happened; the thicker the killing intent, the stronger the urge to take their own life became.
In that way it bound anyone with malice in them very effectively.
But the Killing-Precept Shackle had a range in which it worked. The effect was best within one thousand meters of Casper, which meant a target had to be kept prisoner close by as far as possible, until their killing intent could be worn away entirely.
"I see..."
Philia was still not quite satisfied, and tugged lightly at her deep-blue hair like a large, conflicted cat.
After a few whimpers, Philia glanced sidelong at Komachi Yua and spoke. "Then for the time being, this prisoner needs to travel with us?"
"She does."
Casper, assuming Philia found it a nuisance, added, "It's all right. Nothing of that sort will trouble you, Lady Philia. I can keep watch on her myself—"
Philia cut in at once, a small catch in her voice. "H-how can that be!"
Wouldn't that create opportunities for the two of them to be alone?!
This "Soul-Draining Witch" creature...!
Still putting on that innocent face even now — she absolutely meant to use that pair of soft, wicked things she had so much of on display to tempt Casper!
And Philia's own ripe fruits might be entirely covered by her blue-grey long-sleeved noble dress, but they still stood out proudly, and they were no smaller than this Komachi Yua's!
"Huh?"
Casper had not understood a word of it.
Why was Lady Philia reacting so strongly? Her face had gone red, too...
"Th-this, this... what I mean is, we can't have you working yourself to the bone all alone, Casper."
Philia produced another gentle smile without a single flaw in it, and flowers seemed to bloom around her. "Watching over someone this dangerous naturally requires all three of us.
Isn't that right, Teacher Connie?"
"Mm. I too consider this 'Soul-Draining Witch' still dangerous."
Connie had come out of the cabin at some point and was standing on the ground.
Her height had risen a fair way; look down and you could see a pentagram magic circle turning beneath the soles of her short boots, holding Connie shallowly in the air.
Casper really is too gentle, too sunny by half, not to have simply killed this witch...
Hmph. To keep this witch from seducing Casper, forming a temporary alliance with Philia would hardly be the worst thing...
Oi, oi, oi!
At their side, Komachi Yua could not say a single word just then, but the running commentary in her head did not stop.
Weren't they treating me as a zako?
Why have I suddenly become so very important at exactly this moment, hey!
Her actual strength might have collapsed to that of a stray by the roadside, but "high rank" still made a person easy to suspect like this...
No.
These two were afraid she would seduce Casper!
"Is that so?"
Casper mused a beat or two. "If neither of you minds the effort, I have no objection."
"Then it's decided!"
Once that was settled, Casper showed Philia and Connie something of Komachi Yua's circumstances along with Morag Gideon's letter.
He also told Komachi Yua what the journey ahead held.
"Lady Philia may have Connie, a far more professional private magic tutor, but to inherit the throne she needs a good name behind her — a graduation certificate from Dilan United Magic Academy, for instance.
So Lady Philia will be studying there next, and sitting the graduation exam in a month to take the certificate."
Something occurred to Komachi Yua at this, and she started faintly and looked over at Philia.
Philia's expression was very grave now too.
"The reason this... mm, prisoner was able to ambush us is that Morag Gideon gave her the information in advance.
But that information was known only to my household and to Dilan United Magic Academy.
And I can state with certainty that there is no problem within my household..."
Which meant there was an agent of the Church of the Apocalypse inside Dilan United Magic Academy!
Danger!
Komachi Yua patted her own chest, which set the full fruits swaying, and spoke for the first time in front of Philia and Connie.
"My my~ the three of you can rely on me for what comes next, you know?
I may have lost the overwhelming majority of my power, but my memories are all intact. So long as anyone from the Church of the Apocalypse dares appear in front of me, I'll spot them easily~"
Casper's eyes lit up, and he nodded.
"Exactly. We can rely on you to find the agent!"
"..."
Philia and Connie both fixed Komachi Yua with a hard stare, and stared until her back began to sweat faintly.
It seems I shouldn't stand out too much in front of Casper. Being pinned by looks like these makes my nerve go...
"All right, back in the carriage, we've a road to finish."
Philia, smiling in the face with her colour a shade darker underneath, pressed a hand down on Komachi Yua's smooth shoulder, and Komachi Yua jolted head to foot under it. "Besides, this prisoner-lady can't enter the academy dressed like a witch.
I'll have to change your clothes in the carriage and build you an identity... Teacher Connie, if you teleport home and fetch a few outfits, that shouldn't violate my demonstration of ability, should it?"
"It should not."
Connie tipped her head back to look at Komachi Yua and answered quickly, teeth biting down lightly.
Damn it... how are they that large!
They're actually as large as Philia's!
Heavy, hulking monsters jutting out in front of Komachi Yua, and the underside of them casting a shadow that broad...!
Enough to blot the daylight off Connie's face entirely.
And a witch's outfit racy to that degree — this was pure, unadulterated temptation aimed at Casper, wasn't it?
She had to change clothes!
Somewhere inside a hmph, Connie touched down lightly on her toes, turned into a shaft of purple light and vanished from the spot.
Casper resumed his place at the front of the carriage, and then Philia pulled Komachi Yua up into the cabin.
The cabin was finely made but not large — cramped, even.
In theory, after all, this was a carriage cabin meant for Philia to ride in alone.
There were two velvet-backed sofas, front and back, but with Philia seated in the rear one, the front would take at most one more person of Connie's small-loli dimensions.
So Komachi Yua and Philia now sat directly facing each other.
Two proud pairs of hulking things, forced together by the lack of space!
And as the carriage jolted, the four masses of softness shook against one another.
"..."
The cabin was extraordinarily quiet!
Philia glanced sidelong and pretended nothing whatsoever was happening.
Komachi Yua was mortified beyond words, and looked down slightly at the stretch of white and smooth at her own chest, grumbling internally without pause.
"Holy moly, this crown princess lady really does contain multitudes... you can tell at a glance even with the fabric holding them in... but it's fine, I'm no worse off~
Heh heh, and her looks are top tier, very cute — but next to my whole innocent-and-filthy thing, Casper is definitely going to prefer what I've got~"
As for Connie.
All one could say was that in the figure department, it was a total wipeout.
Though the possibility that Casper also had lolicon attributes couldn't be ruled out...
While Komachi Yua was congratulating herself, purple light flickered at her side.
Connie teleported in carrying a large leather trunk stuffed with clothes, and sat down beside Komachi Yua.
"Philia, what should she wear?"
As she said it, Connie tipped her head back to look up at Komachi Yua. "There. Start stripping."