"Fuck, Furina, you bitch!!!!"
I was studying civil law in my room, spewing curses fueled by my grudge against Furina. Why? Imagine your exam, which was nine months away, getting moved up by six months. A change that drastic was normally announced years in advance. But that bitch Furina had moved next year’s exam up by a full six months.
And why? For the utterly selfish reason that she wanted to meet me sooner.
"Just wait until I see you... I’ll give you the full spanking course...!"
"I knew it... I should have crippled that bitch back then..."
Peruere, too, was unable to hide her rage toward Furina. Since the exam had been moved up by six months, I had done nothing but study myself to death and could not spend time playing with her. Other than lunch and dinner, I was studying around the clock. Now that Furina had been revealed as the cause, of course her resentment was boiling over. Just look at that murderous glare. She looked like she was about to use Amaterasu. Then again, Peruere might actually be able to use it.
On top of that, Focalors was making me study even in my dreams. Seeing her cackle at Furina for moving the exam up six months because of me, then teasing me by saying we were such a good couple and should stay together forever, made me want to punch her.
I actually did punch her, too. Focalors protested, "Why are you hitting me?! I didn’t do anything wrong!" But since her clone was the one who had done it, I applied the principle of collective punishment and deemed her guilty as well. Focalors argued that it was a law that had long since been abolished in Fontaine, but so what? I was pissed off.
The biggest problem, above all else, was that I had missed the right time to die. I needed water from the Primordial Sea, but I no longer had enough time to go collect it. And would Crucabena kill me now? The odds were approaching zero. Sparring? I had grown strong enough to beat down my seniors. Studying? There was probably no one left in the House of the Hearth who could compete with me in legal matters. Would she want to kill such a talented person with her own hands? She would probably reward me with an outing rather than punish me.
And it was not like I could ask Peruere to kill me, as Cravie had. Peruere had grown into someone who was practically dependent on me. If Citra or Cravie asked her to kill them, she would, but if I said, "Kill me," she would either kill herself or hunt down and kill whoever had made me say such a thing. She would never kill me. How had everything gotten so tangled up...?
"So, Brother. What are you going to do about the exam?"
"Crucabena told me to just go take it. She said she isn’t even expecting me to pass."
Crucabena seemed quite flustered by the exam being moved up six months as well, and said she was not expecting much. She had not received any advance information herself, after all. No matter how many informants she had planted in Fontaine, how could she know when a god made the decision on a whim?
"Brother... when you go to the lodging later, can I come with you...?"
"Huh? Why would you?"
"To kill that blue-haired bitch."
It was a remarkably simple and terrifying answer.
"No. Furina needs to stay alive for now. I’ll handle it myself, so don’t worry."
"All right. I’ll do as you say, Brother."
At times like this, she really was a convenient little sister. She listened so well.
"I’m going to go read the newspaper today, so let’s head out together."
"Okay..."
I headed out through the front gate and pulled out an issue of The Steambird. Ever since Furina set off that massive incident, reading The Steambird in the morning had become part of my daily routine.
[December 31]
[Number of Bar Exam Positions Announced: Twice Last Year’s Total]
[Examinees Hold Mass Protest Before Palais Mermonia]
[Bar Association Raises Concerns Over Declining Lawyer Quality]
Even two weeks later, the fallout from the bomb Furina had dropped still blanketed all of Fontaine. Was this the power held by a ruler...? Even though it was the final day of the year, all anyone was talking about was the bar exam.
"This is Fontaine’s superstar...? Isn’t she a superstar in a rather different sense...?"
That enormous incident looked far too heavy for Furina to bear by herself. And Neuvillette should have final authority, so how had she gotten his approval? That was the biggest mystery.
With a sigh, I kept reading. There was an article saying Furina would hold a year-end performance at the Opera Epiclese. The protesters would surely swarm the place. The police were going to have a hard time. The business section, entertainment section, daily horoscope... its layout was no different from an ordinary newspaper. Another day of Furina taking all the blame... Hm?
The editorial page carried an article about a drug that had recently become popular.
‘Recently, an unidentified drug has begun circulating throughout Fontaine. Though the Fontaine Investigation Bureau is still working to uncover its source and distribution route, this is a matter that must be addressed urgently...’
So Vacher had finally started selling Sinthe. He must be making some serious money now. I had a rough idea of his location, so I could probably raid the place, but right now... Furina’s enormous mess had made all my time vanish. I really felt like I was dying.
"Brother... let’s go make a cake."
"Oh, right. Tomorrow is my birthday. I forgot."
"How do you forget January 1? You’re strange."
Of course I did. January 1 was not my actual birthday.
"Maybe I am strange. Then let’s go make it. Did you say we were all making it together this time?"
"Yeah... The three of us are going to make it together and wish for you to pass the exam, Brother."
"I’m looking forward to it. You’re not going to decorate it extravagantly, are you?"
"Decorating is Cravie’s job... She’ll do well."
I supervised from the side as the children embarked on their boisterous grand cake-making operation in the kitchen. That Citra was about to dump in salt. Good thing I stopped her immediately, or we would have been rushing to spit it out in the bathroom. Once the cake had overcome every hardship and was baking in the oven, we had fun training together for the first time in a while. Peruere smiled and enjoyed herself for the first time in a long while, and I found myself wishing this time could go on forever.
But part of my heart ached. I was fated to make my exit from the stage.
The year changed, and the end of March arrived. Having turned thirteen—fifteen according to my registration—I was preparing to leave the House of the Hearth to take the bar exam.
"This is the constitutional law book, and the civil law book is here..."
"Oh my~ Our Avrora is so diligent, isn’t he? I told you to go take it with a light heart."
"But you still have expectations, don’t you?"
"It isn’t that I have no expectations, but that water goddess moving the exam schedule up was an unexpected variable. Why did she do something that would get her cursed at? I simply cannot understand it."
I knew perfectly well why. She wanted to meet me. Furina’s decision to move the exam up six months had blindsided countless examinees. The protests had died down as the exam period approached, but at first, there were even people directly cursing Furina, saying things like, ‘Even if she’s the Hydro Archon, is that god going to take responsibility for my entire year?’
I heard that an examinee threw a tomato at Furina during the year-end performance. That person was immediately sentenced to the Fortress of Meropide for insulting a god, but Furina was so shocked that she stayed shut in for a while afterward.
According to my predictions, Furina would definitely appear before me today or tomorrow. When she did, I would immediately pick her up and give her a thorough spanking. I was one of the examinees she had blindsided, after all. Let’s see... I had packed the Empty Vision, and I felt like I was more or less ready.
"Then I’ll be going. I’ll arrange my own lodging."
"Oh? Who said we were sending you alone? Shouldn’t we eliminate the possibility that you might run away?"
This bitch was meddling with me to the very end. Where could I even run to in the first place?
"So I have brought the people who will watch over you. Hey, Sergei, Angelina? I’m leaving this boy to you."
Sergei? Angelina? Those were awfully familiar names.
"Oh! That little brat has grown this much? Just as I thought, my eye for people was never wrong!"
"Good grief... He thinks he’s this child’s father..."
That was right. I had reunited with the two Fatui agents who had picked me up and left me at the House of the Hearth.
"Hey, Avrora! It’s been a while! I heard you’re going to take the bar exam, and it brought tears to my eyes! Just as I said, you were going to become a talented man!"
"I have no choice but to agree with that. Fontaine’s laws are notorious for being filthy, after all."
"Angelina... and Little Pepper, was it?"
"Pfft!!!"
Angelina spat out her drink. Apparently, that phrasing had hit especially hard.
"Hey!!! I’m not little!!!"
Sergei, evidently stung, bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Both of you, stop! You two are to make sure Avrora does not do anything strange while taking the bar exam. I chose you because it seems you know one another, but under no circumstances are you to slack off. Understood?"
"Yes, ma’am!!"
With these two... it should be fine, right? At least I thought I could be comfortable around them.
"Then get going. Don’t waste time for no reason."
"Avrora, I’ll carry your luggage, so you just follow along! We should make the trip as comfortable as possible, shouldn’t we!"
"Yes. Understood, Sergei."
And so, together with the two Fatui agents I was meeting again after several years, I set off for the Court of Fontaine.
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