The Distant Trail Of Ciara Badvia

The Saria Magic Academy
Part 5: Secret Revealed

AN UNREASONABLE SUGGESTION

Tyril meekly looked at the three faces cornering her. Each of the smiles plastered on their faces made her uneasy.

“I actually watched you during class, you know, but I don’t know if you ever noticed us. We always sit right at the back of the practical room, so I know all about your skill. Wanna know what I think? That it’s all a sham. To think a disgrace like you would be Ciara Badvia’s daughter… Embarrassing.”

Tyril bit her lip. The truth about her was something she herself doubted, yet it stung so much to hear someone else call it a lie regardless.

“But I get it. You’re not a bad person, right? You wouldn’t make up a lie like that just to seek attention, would you? I mean, you’re already attracting plenty of it from everyone. Someone is just spreading such a cruel rumor without any evidence, I’m sure. It must be really annoying for you, hm, Tyril? Even though you don’t have the skill for it, the gossip just keeps running wild.

“That’s why we’re going to help you.” The black-haired girl smiled slyly. “All you have to do is acknowledge it for what it is. Say that the story about you being Badvia’s daughter is a big fat lie.”

Tyril’s thoughts ground to a halt; the gears in her head stopped turning and made a sharp, grinding noise, denying her the ability to understand the girl’s words. What is this person saying? What does she want from me? Is she doing me a favor? Or is she being malicious? Even the things she already understood momentarily slipped from her mind.

“There’s nothing to worry about, really. We’ll be right there with you. So, how about we properly apologize in front of the whole school for causing such a fuss over something so baseless?”

“… W-what? The whole…?”

“Of course. Rumors about you have already spread throughout the regular students, and it might even reach the prep students. Regular and preparatory, students and faculty… Shouldn’t we properly explain and apologize to them, to everyone who was misled by false information?”

Even with her thoughts going haywire, Tyril heard the undertone in those words. Strong disdain. Clear contempt. Their ridicule was openly and knowingly in full display. I shouldn’t be here. Deep inside, she knew what to do, but the women in front of her didn’t seem inclined to allow it.

The stockier girl stared hard at Tyril with narrowed eyes. “Zeeland, I think what’s happening isn’t good. Whether you wanted this or not, stirring people up with a silly lie just to gather attention… It just isn’t the smartest idea. I believe you should clear things up and apologize to everyone soon.”

She leaned forward as she pushed her point. While her words seemed devoid of the disdain and contempt of the black-haired woman, her argument was essentially the same.

“Keeping up this lie must be hard, huh?” The shortest of the three smiled flippantly. “Just apologize already.” Her words, too, had venom in them, but it wasn’t as pronounced as the middle woman’s. She also didn’t seem to bother with covering up her own spite.

“All we want is a simple confession—admit that you’re not her daughter. And for the message to reach everyone in the school. That’s all.”

“We’ll gather everyone tomorrow, so hurry up, okay?”

Tyril felt pressured and afraid and indignant all at once.

Certainly, from the outside looking in, one might not find Tyril a convincing daughter of a legendary mage. She couldn’t stop anyone from doubting her, nor did she intend on rectifying that. But to immediately label her as a liar even without proof and to try to force a confession from her—in front of the entire school no less—was akin to harassment.

Just what on earth are these people saying? To Tyril, their actions were incomprehensible. Dread and outrage started taking root within her.

“Ah, w-well, I…” She wasn’t able to muster a proper retort; the only thing that slipped out were confused stutters. It was then someone called her by her name again.

“Oh, hey, it’s Tyril!”

Tyril was right by a staircase. From the floor above, a voice and the sound of footsteps echoed.

“Hey, long time no see! What a coincidence to meet here, huh?”

He dropped his greeting as he was above Tyril, acting overly familiar. He also had spiky golden hair and a wrinkled, loosely fitted white shirt. His saccharine voice completely shattered the tense atmosphere in their surroundings.

It was Ruth. He slowly descended the stairs.

“What’re you doing in a place like this? Oh, are you all friends? We’ve got quite the gathering of cuties here, don’t we? Hey, introduce me too.”

As carefree as ever. Normally, Tyril would find behavior like this overwhelming, but not at this moment. The presence of someone she knew, however little, was considerably reassuring.

The black-haired girl took that as her cue to leave. “Heehee. Let’s leave it at that for today. I did say we’d be brief. But Tyril, we had this discussion with your best interests at heart—I want you to understand that. Take some time to think about what you’ll do. Next time, I hope to hear a positive answer.”

Just as it seemed she was done doing as she pleased, she suddenly leaned in close to Tyril’s face, almost to the tip of her nose. She smiled coldly. “We won’t always be on your side, you know?”

“Well then, until next time…” She turned on her heel and headed towards the exit of the research building. The two beside her obediently followed, like faithful puppies or something of the sort.

———————————————

For more from the author, visit:

Narou: https://mypage.syosetu.com/1258514/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/inui_takafumi

—————

Glossary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_D4XF1ID8j7zti3pG-fqtcd0h0T9aZHK_CXsCrr5gwY/edit?usp=sharing
Revisions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jS9QeSLaJfl6P_-Gl-zAY0dnKPep3or9fUl-HPukc9g/edit?usp=sharing