Chapter 24
I had come to the secret training ground with Amy.
On the night we were attacked by Scarlet and her group, I somehow managed to calm the furious Golden family by declaring I'd become strong enough to fight on my own. In any normal household, this would be unthinkable. But this is another world, the martial Kingdom of Greifner. My decision was considered a matter of pride.
We agreed that they wouldn't act until I turned the tables on Scarlet myself—but if they deemed it dangerous, the entire family would launch a raid.
I was chilled to the bone when Mother unleashed a fire spell on the garden to blow off her pent-up rage.
Even the neighbors came over, asking what had happened.
I spent the whole night thinking carefully about how to get revenge on Scarlet.
Reflecting on the punishments I had once inflicted on enemies back in Japan, I narrowed the focus down to three main points.
First, make her submit through power.
In the martial Kingdom of Greifner, strength is pride. I'll break that pride.
Then comes love.
The ideal plan is for me to become super cute, seduce Bob, flaunt it in front of Scarlet, and finally dump him like combustible trash. She'll lose her man, get her heart broken, and watch that man be used and tossed away like a rag. I'll shred her pride and her girlish heart.
I've got other plans too, but for now, I'll focus on becoming beautiful.
And stylish, of course.
How well this goes depends on the fashion sense of this other world, but I plan to ban Scarlet and her crew from buying the trendy clothes I'll release as a designer. That'll be my revenge. Just imagining it makes me laugh. It must be torture for a young girl to be left out of the trend everyone else is following.
At Mirrors, I plan to tag my designs as "Ellie Model." As the clothes gain popularity and added value, people will look down on her with superiority—"Oh my, Lady Scarlet doesn't own this trendy piece?" People always love ranking each other.
If I told a coworker in Japan about this, they'd probably say, "Why not just beat her up once you're strong enough?" But that would only mean I won as a magician. It wouldn't be much of a payback.
What matters is proving to Scarlet and her lackeys that Ellie outclasses them both as a woman and a mage.
I should make her feel such humiliation that every time she sees Ellie—me—she's crushed by inferiority.
After all, Bob and Scarlet had driven Ellie to the edge and were partly responsible for her suicide. I can't let that slide. If Ellie were alive, she'd stop me. She was a kind lady. But that doesn't matter anymore. My rage has already passed the point of no return.
If I'm going to do it, I'll do it thoroughly. That's how I roll.
It's a form of revenge that takes time. I need to get stronger, lose weight, get stylish, earn money—there's a lot to do.
I need to tackle all of it in parallel.
I'll need to tell Clarice part of the plan once I get home.
By the way, I've never seen a secretary as competent as Clarice, even in Japan.
She's a super old maid who can spy, knows politics, is great with logic and numbers, skilled in mind reading, and if she's acting as a maid, her attentiveness is flawless. I finally understand why Father and Mother gently refused to make her a personal maid.
Clarice was like a butler for the Golden family, helping with finances, territory, and governance. Recently, she seems to have entrusted the Head Maid position to her daughter, who's also absurdly high-spec.
My revenge on Scarlet overlaps in many ways with my revenge on Bob, so I'll take my time and proceed carefully.
First, I need to become stronger.
If I lose in combat, none of this will matter.
Ellie, watch me. This handsome guy is going to transform you.
"Ellie! How are you feeling?"
"Great. Totally fine."
And so, Amy became my training supervisor.
Father had a chronic lung condition and needed to rest, so he worked indoors at the palace. Mother was busy managing the territory and supporting the knight order, so she couldn't train me. That's why Amy, who could use the advanced magic "Wood" and healing magic, was chosen as supervisor.
It worked out perfectly.
Either way, I had planned to show Amy Thunderbolt.
"So, Sister, watch closely. But don't be surprised and jump on me, okay? Some maid and some head chef already jumped on me and pulled my pants down in shock."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
At my words, Clarice and Barry bowed so low their heads nearly touched the ground.
"Okay, but... is it really that amazing of a spell?"
"It's Thunderbolt, Sister."
".........................................................................................................................................................................................................Huh?"
After a long silence, Amy's face filled with question marks. Her expression showed she couldn't tell if I was joking or serious. Even her dazed look was cute.
"Ah...!"
"Wh-What the...!"
Clarice and Barry were already on their knees, praying to me.
I told them to stop doing that already.
"Sister, are you listening?"
"Huh? Oh, yes... I'm listening, Ellie. But still, that legendary composite magic is just..."
Even Amy, who adored Ellie, couldn't quite believe it.
Apparently, lightning magic really is the stuff of legends.
I pulled myself together, focused, and gathered mana into my palm.
"Here I go."
"Ah, okay."
For some reason, both Amy and I switched to polite speech.
I visualized lightning with the mana I'd built up and released it.
"Thunderbolt!!"
The lightning tore through the air and pierced the ground.
BZAAAAK!
The sharp sound echoed through the training ground, and from the hole left by Thunderbolt, silence and a cloud of dust rose.
"E-E-Ellie!"
"———!!!!!!"
Amy let out an inarticulate cry.
"Ellieeeeee!!!!!!!"
She charged at me like a raging bull and hugged me tight.
She was crying tears of joy, apparently overwhelmed with emotion.
"Ellie... you're amazing, Ellie... That legendary... sniffle... just like Yukimura Sekino... sniff... that lightning magic..."
She tugged at my one-piece dress, used it to wipe her tears as if it were a handkerchief, and tugged again.
"Ellie's going to become an amazing magician... I... everyone always... but... none of my school friends... sniff... or teachers ever believed me... only Father and Mother truly believed... I knew it too, but I was still worried..."
"Sister..."
I gently patted Amy's head.
But today's Amy was on a whole other level.
"That's why... Ellie's become so great... and even mastered lightning magic...!"
"Um, Sister, you're kind of squeezing me too hard?"
"That's why... that's why I!"
"Siiiiisteeeeer!"
"I!!"
"......"
"Ellieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"Miss Elliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
"Wh-What theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
For some reason, Clarice and Barry also lunged at me, hugging me and yanking at the top half of my one-piece with all their strength. Amy kept hugging me tightly with her arms around my back.
"Ellie, you're a genius!!!!"
"Clarice will follow you for lifeeeee!"
"Wh-What theee! Wh-What theee!!"
"Hey! Let go of me!"
The three of them clung to me, tugging my one-piece down with their full weight.
——RRRIIIIIP
"Ah!"
"Aah!"
"Wh-What the...!"
The black one-piece I'd had made at Mirrors ripped loudly into three vertical pieces, exposing me in sports bra-like underwear, revealing my gloriously flabby triple belly.
The three froze in silence, staring at my underwear and bulging stomach.
——Tweet-tweet
Little birds danced cheerfully beside us, pecked each other's beaks, then flew away.
——Sit down.
My cold voice echoed through the training ground.