The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

"I will keep an eye on Mia Crowfield."

At first, I thought about keeping it to myself, but our diligent princess, Alice, had a habit of showing up on weekends to study with me. Although she wasn't the type to study nonstop, she believed it was only natural to review the week’s lessons during the weekend, even if it wasn’t exam season.

No doubt, when exam time actually comes, she’ll probably study even harder.

It’s beneficial for me, too. Well, I do have the advantage of rewinding time during class if there’s something I don’t understand, allowing me to hear the lesson multiple times.

In any case, if I hadn’t mentioned this beforehand, Alice would have definitely been looking for me all over the place.

“...Did Crowfield do something wrong?” Alice asked, with a slight hint of concern.

“No, nothing like that,” I replied, shaking my head lightly.

“It’s just that Mia Crowfield could be a potential threat.”

In the original game, she was one of the strongest magic dealers. With the right staff and the proper combination of Maramorus crystals, she could deal damage on the level of final skills with regular spells. Especially in the first installment, where the balance wasn’t perfect, there were some overpowered Maramorus crystals that made it possible to spam magic almost endlessly on her turn.

Of course, this world has its differences from the game, but some of the system mechanics still exist. If even a portion of the magic from the game remains in this world, that “portion” could be enough to end my life.

“Are you thinking of getting rid of her?” Alice’s expression showed clear disapproval as she asked.

That was to be expected. From Alice’s perspective, Mia Crowfield was just a classmate, someone she knew from school.

Honestly, I didn’t have any personal grudge against Mia Crowfield either. Her father was trash, but Mia herself wasn’t a bad person. In fact, she had a strong sense of justice and leaned toward being a good character.

“No, I’m not,” I reassured her.

What I’m trying to do is mitigate the risk and prepare a defense. I’m not trying to eliminate Mia Crowfield as a potential threat.

And honestly... what would I do with her body if I killed her inside the academy?

“Really?” Alice asked again, just to be sure.

“Yes, really,” I replied firmly.

Alice scrutinized my expression for a moment, then let out a long sigh and nodded.

“...Okay, I’ll trust you since you're saying it with that expression.”

...What expression? I wasn’t even sure what kind of face I was making. I thought I was just keeping my usual neutral expression.

For a moment, I wondered if Alice had some kind of superpower to read people’s emotions, but I quickly dismissed the thought. I’d thoroughly studied the original game’s lore, including the characters' abilities.

There were no spoilers about any special powers revealed in the sequel, and Alice definitely didn’t have any hidden abilities like that.

If she did, she would have noticed the emperor’s plans by now.

“Well, I guess it’s true that Crowfield’s attitude has changed... If you feel threatened by her, we shouldn’t ignore it,” Alice murmured to herself, then looked at me again.

“Do you want me to help?”

“No, I’ll manage,” I replied immediately.

“...You answered that a bit too quickly,” Alice remarked, sounding a bit hurt.

“The fewer people involved in tailing someone, the better. It lowers the chances of being noticed,” I explained, having anticipated her offer and prepared a response.

“But still... what if I befriended Crowfield and tried to gather information from her?”

“Your Highness, you are the emperor’s daughter, the princess,” I said. If the daughter of the person who killed her father approached her, Mia would naturally be extremely wary. While she didn’t seem to harbor any ill will toward Alice, that doesn’t mean she would trust her so easily.

Maybe if you took your time and built a relationship over six months...

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” I confirmed again.

Alice looked a bit disappointed, but I had to be firm.

Besides, I’d feel much more at ease handling things on my own. It allowed me to be more relaxed.

Thanks to my explanation, I managed to keep Alice at bay.

I’d already done my fair share of surveillance. When I assassinated the Count, I’d exhausted myself trying every possible route, rewinding time over and over again to cover all my bases.

Even within the academy, the same method works. I have a high-quality pair of binoculars and a sniper scope, both of which are incredibly useful. Even without mounting the scope on a gun, it serves its purpose just fine.

The dorm rooms all have large windows, giving a good view of the surroundings. The academy wasn’t the only tall building in the area, as it was located in the heart of the city. Despite the meticulously maintained environment around the academy, it was still surrounded by buildings.

However, there was a large lawn between the dormitory and the other buildings, giving a pleasant, open view from the windows. It wasn’t quite as vast as Central Park in New York, but the greenery in the middle of the city had a calming effect.

It was the weekend, and students were lounging on the grass. Couples sat cozily on picnic blankets, sharing sandwiches, and others were stretched out, taking naps. Well, it was spring, after all.

But that wasn’t where my focus was.

The large windows were designed to allow light and fresh air to help students stay comfortable. Without curtains, the rooms were clearly visible from outside. Especially on a bright, sunny day like today.

I was looking at one of the houses outside the academy.

Normally, it would be impossible to observe the dormitory from that far away... but I had a sniper scope.

I could see clearly up to 400 meters away. While people still looked as small as the joints of my fingers, it was enough to “hit a target,” which was all I needed.

I knew exactly which room belonged to Mia Crowfield. There was no need to dig through records; the dormitory layout had been part of the game.

Not every room was detailed, but the key characters’ rooms were.

The protagonist's party’s rooms were, of course, included.

In the game, you could enter most houses freely. Even if you entered someone’s home, the NPCs wouldn’t accuse you of trespassing. Instead, they would tell you about their lives or share random thoughts.

That was probably more of a game mechanic than a reflection of actual behavior, designed to flesh out the world.

...Thanks to that, I knew that Mia Crowfield kept her most important items hidden beneath the floorboards under her bed.

Of course, barging in and opening the door wasn’t an option here, so I had to watch from a distance.

“...”

As expected, the curtains were drawn.

They weren’t thick blackout curtains, but thin, white ones. If the lights were on inside, her silhouette might be visible from the outside, but right now, it was daytime. The sunlight outside was much brighter, so I couldn’t see anything.

...Mia Crowfield was probably in there.

In the original story, Mia loved staying inside her room. She even had a line about how “the world outside the blanket is dangerous...” so it made sense.

She didn’t like the bright sunlight either.

Gloomy, timid.

That was how Mia Crowfield’s character was designed.

...Although, being in such close proximity to the person who killed her father might have dulled that vibe a bit.

“Hm.”

I let out a small sound as I pondered.

With this many characters changing because of my presence, wouldn’t that drastically alter the storyline?

If the story deviates that much, would the future I know still be useful?

“...”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come to a conclusion.

...I guess I’ll deal with that when the time comes.

For now, my priority was to observe Mia Crowfield.

And if worst comes to worst, I can always rewind time.

I should have expected this.

People who love staying indoors might never leave their rooms all day.

I’d been on top of the house for half the day.

The sun was starting to set, and the curtains of Mia Crowfield’s room hadn’t budged.

There hadn’t even been a flicker of light from inside.

Could she be sleeping?

I seriously considered it, but with no movement at all, there wasn’t much to go on.

“...”

Fine. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

I lowered the scope and made a decision.

Since things had come to this, I might as well go visit Mia Crowfield’s room.

Now that I think about it, maybe she didn’t answer my question properly yesterday because of all the people present. It could have made her feel cornered.

If Mia Crowfield is trying to avoid being alone with me, then I’ll just make sure we’re alone.

...But if I go now, wouldn’t that mean I’ve wasted my time here today?

“...”

Alright, I’ve already made enough missteps. Time to have a direct conversation with Mia Crowfield.

After I talk to her, I’ll decide whether or not I need to rewind time.

With that thought in mind, I stretched out my body, sore from crouching for so long.

At least I had the foresight to lay down a military poncho before lying down. It made things a bit more comfortable.

I sighed as I rolled up the poncho.

Fortunately, on my way to the dormitory, I didn’t run into anyone I knew. If I had, those overly friendly people wouldn’t have left me alone.

I wouldn’t have minded going out for a parfait or something, but I had something I needed to do today.

I headed to Mia Crowfield’s room, which was on a different floor than mine and Alice’s.

Standing in front of her large door, I took a deep breath and looked around.

Luckily, the hallway was empty. It was Saturday, after all. A lot of students had probably gone home for the weekend. Or, if they were upper nobles, they were probably getting extra education at home.

But Crowfield’s estate was far away. It wasn’t the kind of distance you could travel to and from every weekend.

Even in the game, Mia Crowfield was always in her room.

Alright.

I raised my hand and knocked softly on the door.

“Miss Crowfield.”

I called out.

“...”

There was no answer.

I knocked again, a bit more firmly this time.

Knock, knock.

...Still no response from behind the door.

I glanced around once more before pressing my ear against the door to listen.

No sound came from inside.

...Is she really not in?

“...”

I hesitated for a moment, then checked my surroundings once more.

...No one was around.

Alright, then.

I had plenty of opportunities, and time was on my side.

I pulled a lockpick out of my pocket.