Viya knew perfectly well what Ancient Magic meant, and her expression was anything but easy. Ancient Magic counted, in effect, as something foreign to their kind.
If the headmaster weren't sitting on the matter, and the King's people learned of it, the likely ending was a public burning.
In a certain sense, staying in the Temple spared Marilou that threat.
Which made Viya reconsider whether to keep Marilou at her side at all.
Then again, even if she did nothing, Marilou would leave when the contract expired, and the secret Marilou carried, once exposed after she left, would have the Kingdom hunting her down.
In that case...
"Headmaster Parr, apart from the Kingdom, what other powers know of Ancient Magic today?"
"Let this old man think. The demon race, most likely, and that secretive Witches' Assembly. The demons are fanatical believers in Ancient Magic, and the Assembly is rumored to be able to wield it outright.
"Some say the disaster at this academy was the Assembly's doing."
Parr stroked his beard, looking at the resolve in Viya's eyes.
"The demons, is it... I recall the Kingdom once had a hero who could walk into the demons' stronghold alone..."
"Your Holiness, don't tell me you're planning to?"
"The demons have long been searching for someone who can use Ancient Magic, to raise up as their Divine Child. Whoever finds that person becomes the new Demon King."
Parr swallowed. "This old man will consider today's conversation as never having happened. Your Holiness had best say no more."
If the Saintess actually became the Demon King, wouldn't this world be turned upside down?
But the Demon King had laid down an outlandish rule: whoever finds the demon whelp becomes the next Demon King.
Presumably the Demon King of old had simply made the rule up on a whim, never expecting that one day someone would actually be able to carry it out.
"There's no need for nerves, Headmaster Parr. As for me, until the whole truth arrives, this is only conjecture."
Viya changed her flavor of approach. "I would like Marilou's elemental affinity tested again. I've always felt this girl's aptitude goes further than that."
"Very well..."
***
Marilou sat in the room turning the envelope over and over out of boredom. She used to complain that she had no cheat code at all; now that one had shown up, it seemed a touch too large.
What the setting sun in the envelope stood for, Marilou had no idea, nor why there was more than one setting sun inside it. Her head was killing her.
So she opened by choosing to have a nap.
Just then, crisp footsteps sounded at the door.
"Marilou, are you asleep?"
That was Viya's voice!
"I'm asleep."
"You can talk while asleep? I'm coming in."
Viya pushed the door open. Unlike other days, she was dressed today in a full magic academy outfit, a purple pointed hat on her head, the very image of a certain pointy-hatted lady.
"You went out?"
Viya nodded. "I went to the magic academy. I had to see your results, after all. Tell me honestly. Your magical aptitude is quite good. Why are you still unwilling to sit the novice mage examination?"
"Is it? It feels to me like I learn most spells very slowly."
Marilou bit her lip, wearing the face of someone who knew nothing at all.
Presumably used to Marilou being like this, Viya laid a hand lightly over hers.
"Then cast something in front of me, for real. Use my staff."
Marilou took the heavy staff, thought about it, and simply channeled a little mana into it. The magic bubbles that drifted out popped instantly.
"That's... that's it?"
A magic circle flashed through Viya's eyes, and the hourglass on the staff began to turn. "Try again."
Marilou gripped the staff and felt it grow heavier. This time she loosed the bubble spell straight ahead, and the bubbles that flew out struck the wall and shattered the photograph frame hanging on it.
"That doesn't look like someone who can't do magic, does it? Marilou, why did you lie to me?"
Viya's face was very close. Marilou blinked and found it right in front of her own.
"Maybe it's because of the adjustment you just made."
Viya shook her head. "I didn't touch the staff. Feel it properly."
Marilou touched the staff again, and it was true, exactly as it had been when she first took it. Viya had set her up.
"So you have been lying to me. Marilou, you're actually rather good at magic, aren't you?"
Viya wore the expression of someone who had seen through it and gave Marilou's cheek a pinch. Marilou startled: her coasting had been discovered.
"Have I? Maybe if I cast it again now, I wouldn't be able to."
"Is that so? Never mind. I've already reapplied for your aptitude test on your behalf. Using 'I'm not capable' to get out of your lessons is over."
Viya glanced at the novel tucked inside the magic book. "Or is it that I have to kick your backside before you'll move on your own?"
Marilou: ???
Where had that wolfish line come from?
Suspecting Viya had been drinking while she was out, Marilou spoke up:
"I just thought relying on being a mage sounds like a lot of trouble, and dangerous besides. I wasn't deliberately trying to deceive you."
"Compensation. You've eaten all those tonics of mine. You ought to give me some compensation."
Copying what she'd read, Viya took Marilou's chin between her fingers.
"If you aren't honest with me, I won't be going easy on you."
Marilou startled. Verdict: Viya was genuinely annoyed. Why else would her mouth be this pungent?
"What compensation do you want? It's not as though I have money."
"To wring you dry to your limit, obviously. Let me see how deep your mana runs."
Viya pulled off her glove and laid that frost-cold hand against Marilou's arm. "From now on my hand will keep releasing cold. If you don't block it with magic, you'll be an ice sculpture soon enough. Come on."
Marilou badly wanted to pull free, but Viya's grip was tight and she couldn't, so she blocked on instinct. Watching Marilou hold out, the corner of Viya's mouth twitched.
"You know, the prodigy I saw last time lasted seven seconds. A full minute has gone by now. Marilou, you really are a wicked child. Lying to me. You lied to me. How long have you been holding?"
Viya had entirely lost hold of her feelings by this point. She had seen Marilou's aptitude scores and assumed the girl was only hiding a little.
The whole point had been to push Marilou past what she could bear and drive her into running, and then the accident happened. Under Viya's storm of mana, Marilou had blocked it completely on raw magical strength alone.
If Viya had been acting a moment ago, now she was entirely herself.
"I didn't..."
Marilou was nearly in tears. She didn't want to resist either; she would have loved to be frozen into unconsciousness. But this kind of mana resistance was passive.
"Little liar. Who could tell you had this much mana in you? And then you tell me you can't pass a magic examination."
Viya had gone completely off script by now. This was supposed to be a simple test of Marilou, and the script had fallen apart entirely.
This girl...
Honestly. Lowkey, fuck.
Several minutes later, Viya pulled her gloves back on, her face iron-dark, and looked at Marilou curled up on the bed with a smile.
"Out with it. How long have you been lying to me?"
"A month ago?"
"Longer."
"Half a year ago."
"Why did you lie to me?"
Marilou clenched her fists. She could hardly say she wanted to coast and collect a salary. Turning it over and over, Marilou produced a face full of snot and tears and said:
"Because I... I don't want to go to the magic academy!" Marilou drew herself up straight and, to save her own life, went and threw her arms around Viya's waist.
"If I go to the academy I'll have to board there. And if my ability really got exposed and they carried me off, wouldn't you miss me? What if you got angry and stopped giving me money to spend?"
Viya went still. Could it be that her earlier failures to drive Marilou off were because the girl already couldn't leave her?
"But the contract term is nearly over, Marilou. If it truly ends, will you go?"
Marilou sniffed. She remembered that Viya hated being clung to.
So what to do was obvious enough.
Marilou hugged Viya fiercely, even nuzzling against her bewbs, the single behavior Viya loathed most.
She'd be shoved away in the next second for sure!
Right!
Huh. Why was the hold getting tighter?