Chapter 1: Spring Palace (part one)
On the north of Ichthyes1 continent where we live, there is a country called Lucanrant.
It is a tough country in winter, so it is also called Lucanrant the Country of Ice and Snow.
I know about the tragedy that happened in Lucanrant from the memories of my previous life.
One of the people in the Lucanrant Ducal Family had gone mad and killed all of his family members.
—It is rumored that he wasn’t mad, instead he was a werewolf, and that whispered rumor somehow seems very plausible.
Actually, there was one person who survived this ‘Werewolf Massacre Incident.’
That person is the heroine of this game, Chloe Lucanrant.
After this incident, Chloe was hidden by a wealthy merchant’s family and used the pseudonym Chloe Cloacina.
She would enter the Lindis Magic Academy in the autumn when she becomes 14-years-old, seven years after the Incident, and later, would be involved once again in a bizarre incident.
I am quite sure there were seven capture targets. And each hero had an individual scenario.
It was the type of game where scenarios were released one after the other once you cleared the initial scenario.
I was still in the middle of playing this game and had only cleared up two scenarios.
I had just started the third scenario in the commuter train in my last day.
Yeah, I have not completed the game.
I was stabbed three days after the release date!
Hahaha, it is painful, isn’t it!
Apart from that.
First of all, I have to summarize the memory of my past life and my current life.
I should spread out a large map and confirm the geography of this world.
This continent is roughly composed of four regions.
Lucanrant in the north, Hafan in the east, Aurelia in the west and Ignitia in the south.
These are all old country names and the royalty of these old countries dominate these areas.
The northern Lucanrant is an extremely old country where its people had to migrate north just to make their own country, and they produce many brutal swordsmen who are strong and healthy.
The eastern Hafan is the second oldest country made by an ethnic group who visited this continent, it is located deep in the forest and they produce versatile mages.
The southern Ignitia is a country of dragon knights who can ride on dragons.
At the time when they came to the southern region, the one who dominated Ichthyes was a country called Casketia.
Ignitia destroyed Casketia by the mighty strength of the dragon knights and conquered the southern part of this continent.
They are proud conquerors.
The western Aurelia is the country of alchemists made by the 〈Visitor’s Clan〉 who were the last to come to this continent.
It is still impossible to turn lead into gold, but since we found enormous gold veins, it is the wealthiest region.
The current Duke of Aurelia is my father.
My mother died when I was three years old. Since then, my father is still single without remarrying.
I don’t remember my mother that well.
I can only remember her gentle singing voice and the touch of a gentle fingertip on my cheek.
Is it because I was an unfeeling child or is it because it is hard to establish memory before reaching the age of three years old?
“Erica-sama~~ where are you~~?”
I heard the voice of the maid who was searching for me.
I was caught up in the sentimentality about my mother, but now not so much.
An event that would probably trigger my death flag can start anytime soon.
Right now I want detailed information about Aurelia and Hafan.
I would like to reinforce the knowledge I acquired while living as Erica Aurelia.
Especially, because—
“Oh, found you. Don’t trouble your maid too much, Erica.”
I was found by my older brother.
By the way, this is my older brother’s study room.
It is not impossible for him to find me here.
“Onii-sama, I wasn’t hiding or running away. Before triggering my death flags, I have to collect information and be prepared!”
“Death flag……?”
Oops, my mouth slipped.
“Ah, no, never mind.”
“Hm, well then, let’s go. Everyone is waiting for you.”
I didn’t think that I would meet that person the next day after remembering the memories of my previous life.
I have just barely passed the safe line.
I would have committed an irreparable mistake if I was late by another day in remembering my past life.
Today is the day when the eastern Hafan family would visit the western Aurelia family.
Among them, there is the capture target of the starting scenario of 『Liber Monstrorum』– Klaus Hafan.
The Klaus who I know, that is, the Klaus who was one of the game’s capture targets, had these traits:
At the age of sixteen, he was a versatile mage.
A dignified sharp face.
A cruel character.
He was a boy with dark eyes filled with regrets that couldn’t be wiped out and was a human being who looked resigned all the time.
Although he was supposed to have blue eyes and black hair in the setting, in the CG his eyes were drawn with a color as close to black as possible.
Why did he become such a person?
That was because he thought Ann Hafan, his sister, was killed due to his fault.
But, the one who actually caused Ann Hafan to get killed, was me.
To be precise, it was me who brought Ann to a place where the danger of death was hanging in plain sight.
It was the young villainous lady Erica Aurelia, who was the cause of Klaus’ sister’s death.
(This part will become the cause of my death six years later.)
Every owl used to deliver letters were killed, the land where the magic academy was located had become a solitary island.
And then, with her whole body turned into gold, the corpse of Erica Aurelia was discovered.
This was the beginning of the first scenario, ‘The Golden Madness Murder Case.’
If I have to spoil it, Ann went into the ancient ruins of Aurelia and was possessed by an evil spirit.
The evil spirit of the ancient ruins was a legendary alchemist.
He, who was the only one who had succeeded in creating the Philosopher’s stone, had been killed by his compatriots who were trying to get the secret of its creation.
The evil spirit possessed by revenge, nostalgia, love and hatred caused continuous deaths by ‘the Curse of Midas2’ at the academy.
Ann, who had been assimilated with the evil spirit for six years, aimed first for me who had gotten her killed and killed me.
Yes, I can understand that feeling very much.
So.
Today I will meet that pair of brother and sister, Klaus and Ann!
I don’t feel bad, but I don’t know what might happen and I am afraid of dying!
What if when I meet Klaus and Ann, I wake up as a villain?
Like the original Erica, I might become a villainous lady who pushed a person into a trap – I can’t stop trembling when I think about everything that can go wrong.
“Erica, are you okay? Are you cold, you seem to be trembling……”
My gentle older brother carefully put his hand on my forehead.
Thank you very much, brother.
He continues to treasure his younger sister who has awakened the memory of her past life without change.
“I’m okay, Onii-sama. I will be seeing some of Hafan’s people for the first time, so I am a bit nervous.”
“You can rest assured, Erica. Eastern people are gentle and kind. Oh yeah, the son of Duke Hafan is older than you by two years, while his daughter is a year younger than you.”
“Yes, I have heard from Otou-sama. Klaus-sama and Ann-sama, right?”
“It will be good if you can become friends.”
“Yes.”
I had calmed down when I was talking to my older brother.
I will do my best.
It was yesterday when I awakened the memories of my previous life, so the countermeasures haven’t been prepared properly.
Still, it isn’t good to be crushed by the tension from the very beginning.
“Aah, that’s right. I will give this to you. Because a spell for courage was put on the stone, even the shy Erica surely can be friendly to your new friends.”
As he said that, my older brother hung a necklace with a stone which had a hint of blue light around my neck.
(This is, a star crystal……)
The star crystal is a mineral which is Aurelia’s special product.
It has another name which was 〈star of the navigator〉.
It is a crystal of a special mineral that emits light as its surroundings get darker in response to weak magical powers.
When you put a piece of star crystal in the size of the tip of a fingernail into a glass tube and use it as a lamp, it emits the same brightness as a candle.
In this 〈Spring Palace〉, such star crystal lamps have been installed everywhere.
However, I have never seen star crystals that are large in size and aren’t put into a container like this necklace.
“Onii-sama, this is–”
“This is a secret from father, okay? This is the result of the research of my friend from the magic academy into the Ruins of Visitor. I thought that it would be a good gift for Erica. I had the stone cut and tailored it into a necklace. Star crystals of this size, it shouldn’t exist anywhere in this world except in that ruins.”
“Eeh……!?”
Ruins of Visitor.
The moment I heard those words, I stiffened.
“Onii-sama, thank you very much. But Otou-sama said that the ruins are dangerous, right……?”
“That’s why, keep this a secret from father.”
〈Ruins of Visitor〉 is the place where Ann would lose her life and it is the place where the evil spirit is sleeping.
The reason why Ann snuck into the Ruins of Visitor in the game『Liber Monstrorum』was the star crystals.
To Ann who wanted this beautiful jewel, the young lady Erica mentioned the dangerous ruins.
Erica’s line in the game played in my head with her character’s voice.
(This is an important stone from Onii-sama! If you want it, you can find it yourself!)
This is–! This is my true death flag!!
I almost threw the necklace out of the window just now, but I couldn’t do such a thing to the present from my older brother and his friend.
If possible, I would like to avoid wearing it too noticeably when I meet the Hafan family.
I spoke with my older brother carefully and smartly so that no suspicious behaviors appear.
“Onii-sama, I’m very happy, but……it’s too obvious. Otou-sama will be there with us after all.”
“Hmm, as expected that’s not good.”
“Then, how about hiding it under my dress?”
“I see, that’s alright.”
I will steadily strike down the death flags.
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1 Ichthyes (イクテュエス): means Pisces in Greek. The more you know lol.
2 Midas: it was a story about a king who was so greedy and wished that everything he touched turn into gold. Meaning, the Curse of Midas is where people died by turning into a gold statue.