Episode 27: The Bird in the Cage

TN: start of Chapter 2: Birds flying in the sky


–Amelia’s PoV—- 

A bird in a cage.

 That would be the most appropriate way to describe Amelia-Rose.

 I know me better than anyone else.

 I will never leave my cage, my wings are torn off and I can only lie on the ground.

 But as such, I receive nothing but praise from those around me.

”As expected of Amelia-sama!”

“Lady Amelia is not only beautiful, she is wise and wonderful.”

“You are indeed the eldest daughter of the Rose family, the three greatest noble families. Truly magnificent.”

 I’m tired of hearing those words.

 The people who are praising me are not praising Amelia. I praise and honor the bloodline of the three great noble families and think it is pure and wonderful……..

 The aristocracy’s constitution will not change. I already knew that from a very young age. The children of the other nobles, and the children of the three great nobles too, think they are special. No, they’ve been made to believe that…….that’s all I could think of.

 The Rose family is the top of the three major aristocracies.

 I was born into this family and I have never once had a complaint. My appearance is excellent, my intellect is sharp, and my magic skills in particular are already said to be up to a platinum grade platinum magician.

 But I have nothing to offer. I’ve been staring at my empty self all this time. It’s too empty, too drab. That’s what I am now I thought when I entered this academy. I have nothing to gain anyway. I was just going to be praised by the people around me and climb the path of glory.

 The rail where everything is set in stone. All I have to do is run and run and run through it. There was no sense of accomplishment.

 But I met him. He was a very strange boy, aloof, and very sure of himself.

“Amelia. What’s up?”

“No it’s nothing…”

“Speaking of which, it’s time to qualify. You’re going to be in the contest, right?”

”Yes. I am among the top three noblemen, so I’m going to try to win the rookie competition.”

“Right. I’m rooting for you. You can do it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

 I hate myself for sticking the mask on.

 I knew.

 That he is the ‘Ice Blade Magician’, one of the seven great magicians of the world. But he is so much more than that. His very existence was dazzling to me.

 It is true that his past must have been tragic. But he overcame it and here he is.

 I admire him. And I am yearning for his existence.

 He”s not like me.

 He has the wings to fly into the sky. Even if that ability is limited right now, Ray will surely be even greater. I had a hunch that I would be.

 But I am a caged bird. My wings are torn off and I can’t fly away…a pitiful bird.

 So I shall do my best to stay in that cage today. Let’s put on the mask and act as the eldest daughter of the Rose family. It’s not Amelia that everyone is looking for. It’s Amelia-Rose, the girl of the three noble families.

 I don’t have to be me. I belong to the bloodline and I’m the one who inherits it.

 That’s why I’m putting on my mask today.

 To the me who will surely never be anything else.

 Will I be there…?

 ◇

–Ray’s PoV–

“…Abby-san!”

 Without stopping to pay attention to the banging noise, I walk into the dean’s room. For once, it wasn’t something I could tolerate very well.

I came to this room as soon as the morning class ended and it was lunchtime.

”Hm? What’s the matter with you, Ray? You’re in such a hurry.

“What is going on there! Why………why is that woman…….?”

“Oh, you mean Carol. She just said she was bored. Besides, after that incident it’s my job to keep the inside of the academy safe.”

“In that case, I’ll do my best!  So please, ……please fire that woman at least……..!

Huh? Ray-chan, are you saying that? I miss you so much sis……..capi☆

“Hee….. Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

 I guess she knew I was coming to talk directly to Abby, and from behind me, Carol’s just appears.

 Now that I think about it, it’s unusual to have three of the seven great wizards in this same space…but more importantly, I had to do something about this woman.

 Carol-Caroline.

 Also known as the ‘Magician of Illusion’.

 A sorcerer who is open about her name and fully discloses her identity and other details. Probably, among the seven great sorcerers, this guy is the most well known right now. The media has also taken advantage of her appearance and character to feature her in their articles.

 Carol’s day job is as a researcher. Like Master, but unlike Master, Carol is a researcher to the core. Especially when it comes to handling the code, I don’t think there is anyone who is on the right side of this guy.

 However, due to the nature of her sorcery, she is an all-rounder who can also handle actual battles.

 It’s a good thing that the three of them, Master, Abby and this guy, are best friends from the same time period… I met them when I was a little kid, but… but…

 I still couldn’t get rid of that fear.

 I don’t mind saying it myself, but I’m proud to say that I have a personality that isn’t fazed by a few things. But……….when it comes to this, when it comes to Carol, I’m no good……

 My instincts warn me that this woman is dangerous……..mainly in a sexual sense…….

“Hmmm………Rei-chan is getting so big…….”

“Wait, stop. In the meantime, just stay away from that point…”

“What? It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, can’t I just hug you?”

“No … no … absolutely, positively no …”

“I’m sorry for what happened, okay?”

“And then you’ll do the same thing, won’t you?”

” Ufufufufu. You do understand.”

“You’ve got the same look in your eyes as you did then……”

“Because I am nothing but a good person now you know? After all, I had my eye on you when you were little, and I was right! Isn’t it like that? Capi☆”

 I know. This woman tried to attack me when I was very young.(TN: LOL! We got a shotacon here!!!)

 While I was asleep at my master’s house, this woman somehow crawled on me at night.

 At the time, I was terrified that I was going to be eaten for real, so I immediately cried out to my master. Of course, my mentor was furious with me when she found out about this, but as this nepotistic personality of hers would have it, she didn’t care about that at all.

 I’ve been so traumatized by Carol that I can’t sleep satisfactorily at night for a while.

 Of course women are beautiful beings, and it’s natural to admire them. But there are exceptions to everything. For me, that is this Carol-Caroline.

“Well, Ray, relax. Carol is very useful, even by the nature of her magic. I hope you’ll bear with her.”

“Yeah… and Carol’s in charge of our class….?”

“Yeah! Nice to meet you, Ray-chan!”

“….”

 It was the first time for me coming to this school and I wanted to drop out. But I couldn’t do that now, so I held it together here.

“Well, Ray. You know that the Magic Swordsman Competition is coming up soon. Aren’t you going to compete?”

” No I am not…….because of what happened before. And although I can release my abilities on a limited basis, it doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t go out of control again.”

“What~, You’re not going to be on the stage~? You could have won the rookie competition with room to spare, right〜? Don’t you want to be more noticeable~?”

“Unlike you, I just want to live a normal life as a student…”

“What~? Really~? Well, I think that’s a good idea too☆ Capi☆”

 Ugh…………

 Many of the seven great sorcerers are creatures of the quirk, but I think this woman is one of the most annoying of all. I would basically respect anyone no matter who they are, but inevitably, I couldn’t do so just for Carol.

” Hmm. Well, Lydia has asked me to do everything possible to help Ray.  I can not force him to do anything.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. He’s an incredibly foolish apprentice.”

“Ha ha…..”

 I laughed bitterly, but I didn’t deny it because it was sort of the real deal.

“Well, give up on Carol. She’s an excellent sorcerer, even with her personality and behavior like this.”

“Yes…..”

“Terrible! Abby, you say that too. Oh, god, I’m puffy! That’s it!”

Ah…..Farewell, my peaceful school life………


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Also please check the new series I am doing Sayonara Ryuusei, Konnichiwa Jinsei(LN)
and Clearing an Isekai with the Zero-Believers Goddess(LN)

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