https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3986di/61/
Short Story: The Crisis of an Armored Girl with no Sense of Crisis (Part 2)
“Monette, so this is where you were.”
Monette had been sleeping peacefully until a low, deep, yet gentle voice woke her up.
Trying to get up while still half-asleep, she let out a drowsy, “Hm?” when she found she couldn’t move her body.
Forget her body, she couldn’t even move her hands….
“Sleep paralysis!? Oh no, it’s scary!!”
“No Monette, your weight reduction magic just wore off.”
Once again a man’s face suddenly appeared in Monette’s field of vision which was until now, limited to just the ceiling above.
His face had a kind and gentle expression. The young man with the tender face had a gentle expression, and his dark brown hair lightly swayed downwards.
Seeing his face, Monette called out, “Alexis-sama.”
Next, a beautiful woman appeared at Alexis’s side and peered down into Monette’s face as well. This was Gina, Monette’s witch teacher.
“Hi~, Monette. Morning,” she gently called out. ….her voice was dripping with sensuality like always though.
“Weight reduction…. oh, I remember. But what are Alexis-sama and Gina-san doing here?”
“Right now, there’s nobody in this entire castle who deserves to be asked, ‘What are you doing?’ more than you…. Well, it’s whatever. I ran into Uncle a bit ago, and he told me to come see you.”
According to Alexis, he and Gina just happened to be walking together when they came across Ordo.
He told them that Monette’s lightening magic had worn off, that they should go help her right away, and he also took the opportunity to slyly slip in an appointment with Gina while he has the opportunity.
Witches are weirdos. Even if it’s a king asking them a favor, they could easily brush the request away with a, “Sounds troublesome, so no thanks.” However since Gina was so focused on helping Monette in that moment, “Understood,” she agreed to the meeting without thinking too much about it.
“Purposefully aiming for that timing…. he really is a shrewd old man.”
“Well but, he did inform us that you couldn’t move. So Monette, what should we do?”
“Could you please lift my body up? My pouch is underneath my torso and has a spare scroll for just such an occasion.”
As long as she gets her spell, Monette could easily solve the problem herself.
Despite saying he was there to help though, for some reason Alexis lowered his eyebrows and apologized.
“I’m sorry. Actually, my arms are hurt right now.”
“Your arms?”
“Yesterday, I had Percival give me some sword training, but I must’ve pushed myself a little too hard. They’ve been in pain since waking up this morning. I went to see a doctor, and they told me that while it shouldn’t affect my usual day to day life, I shouldn’t lift any heavy objects….”
A set of iron armor that’s lost its weight-reduction magic would definitely fall under the category of ‘heavy objects’.
With that being the case, Monette turned her eyes towards Gina. The iron helmet prevented anyone from actually being able to follow Monette’s gaze–maybe because she could feel the gaze fall on her or maybe because of a witch’s intuition or maybe because she just thought it was her turn to speak–Gina gave a gentle smile and confidently declared, “Leave it to me!”
She would save the day by casting her own weight reduction magic. Just what you’d expect from a senior witch.
Monette was relieved that things would be quickly resolved. And then after a single moment, a mass of soft, fluffy white hair appeared in Monette’s field of vision.
The fluffy blob floating near the ceiling….is Gina’s familiar cat Concetta.
A spider riding on its back peeked out from the side and gazed downwards. This is Monette’s familiar, Robertson.
“Gina-san, did you cast a spell on Concetta?”
“Yes, I hung her there. She wanted to go for a walk in the forest, so I made her a little lighter. It rained yesterday, so since there were puddles all over the place, it would make it easier for her to jump over them.”
“…..Gina-san, are you drunk?”
“Yes, maybe a little. I was taste testing the wine I would be drinking tonight.”
Gina’s smile is serene and graceful.
The woman herself says, “maybe a little,” but it’s clear from her eyes and the heat in her voice that the simplicity in her words are from intoxication.
After all, Concetta, who should have been made just a little bit lighter, was floating through the air on the ceiling. As for the bit about the wine, Alexis shrugged his shoulders and confirmed the ‘taste-testing’ resulted in three empty bottles.
“Now, Monette, I’m going to cast the weight reduction magic on you.”
“W-Wait, Gina-san! It’s okay!”
The current situation of rolling on the floor was still better than becoming so weightless that gravity loses all meaning and you’d be crawling on the ceiling.
Thinking this, Monette hurriedly put a stop to her, causing Gina to open her eyes wide in surprise.
“That….I’m still sleepy, so I’d like to nap here a little longer!”
“Really? Monette is quite the sleepyhead.”
With a gentle smile, Gina stroked Monette’s cheek.
….or rather, she rubbed her hand against the side of an iron helmet. After, she carefully covered her with a blanket that was in the room.
Gina is a kind senior witch. It’s only because she’s a little drunk and isn’t aware of what’s around her that she is thinking about removing Monette’s ties to the ground.
“Well then, goodnight Monette. If you ever need my magic, feel free to call me anytime.”
“Yes, thank you Gina.”
When Monette returned the goodnight, Gina’s smile softened even further.
“….Monette, I’ll call Percival for you.”
That’s what Alexis then whispered into Monette’s ear.
In response, Monette whispered back, “Please and thank you.”
Monette doesn’t want to lose her ties to gravity and start floating around on the ceiling, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to have things stay as they are. If someone can help her, please help.
She then watched as Alexis and Gina left the room.
All that Monette could do now is watch as Concetta floats along the ceiling as if she were swimming through the air.
It is actually quite the relaxing and peaceful scene. As she watched, her sleepiness returned, and Monette let out a yawn as her eyes closed behind the helmet.
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“Monette, wake up. Monette”
Monette’s eyes suddenly flew open when a familiar voice called her name.
What appeared in her field of vision was another person looking down into the visor of her helmet. His golden hair, blue eyes, and well-defined features gave a sense of gentleness wrapped in a layer of dignity.
“Percival-san”
When Monette called his name in her sleepy voice, he answered back, “Good morning,” with a wry smile.
“Did you talk with Alexis-sama?”
“I believe he said, ‘Monette’s lightening magic has worn off on her armor, and she’s trapped inside. If you don’t save her quickly, she’s going to end up stuck on the ceiling,’ or something of the sort.”
“He wasn’t exactly wrong.”
Alexis probably said it like that as a joke, but nothing he said was a lie. He’s just being a weirdo.
While Monette was thinking about it calmly, Percival shrugged his shoulders. A troubled yet loving expression. Although he hadn’t said anything yet, his expression was overly kind.
Percival reached his hands down towards Monette’s body and easily pulled her up.
As expected of a knight who trains on a daily basis. You shouldn’t go so far as to say it was easy for him….but he didn’t outwardly show any of the strain as he lifted Monette up.
“Could you please remove my gauntlets as well? It will make it easier for me to use my spell.”
“Ah, sure”
Percival took off Monette’s gauntlets with a practiced ease and handed over her pouch.
As a note, other than the extra spell scrolls, Monette’s pouch also contained spare parchment and a pen. Thankfully it didn’t look like the pen had broken or was damaged in this incident.
She pulled out one of the scrolls from the pouch. It was the one that had the weight-lifting spell already written on it.
“….is that a picture of a cat or someone losing big at the poker table?”
“Why obviously it is a picture of a cute kitty-cat playing around in its litter box. I drew it based off Concetta, you can see the resemblance can you not?”
“I can hear Concetta’s dissatisfied meows overhead.”
“Perhaps it is because I drew the picture a little too faithfully. Perhaps I should make the picture a little more slenderly next time.”
“And now she’s angry.”
“Anyway!”
Regardless of the cat drawn on the spell, once it’s in Monette’s hands, the issues are as good as solved.
She immediately got to work and slowly attached the spell to her armor.
Next, she gave a small whisper, issuing her command, and the paper disappeared with a pop running through the air.
The magic was activated.
And the armor suddenly became lighter. Monette then quietly stepped away from Percival and stood to her feet.
As a small test, she jumped up and down. The armor was light. It didn’t do anything for all the noise though.
“Thank you Percival-san.”
“No, don’t mind it. ….It’s only natural for a man to rush to his spouse’s crisis.”
“Spouse….”
Monette couldn’t help but blush as Percival spoke with full unabashedness.
When someone suddenly says something outright to you, it’s only natural to feel embarrassed and not know what to do….but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t happy to hear it said.
A deep red blush settled into Monette’s armor-covered cheeks, and despite her shy smile being hidden behind that solid metal, Percival seemed to have sensed what he couldn’t see and smiled shyly as well.
“I somehow feels like you’re embarrassed.”
“It’s just because what you said came too suddenly….hearing you call me simply ‘Monette’ is stimulating enough.”
Percival would always call her ‘Miss Monette,’ but after getting married, he began calling her just ‘Monette’.
It’s something that gives the bride a strong mixture of embarrassment and happiness. She keeps telling herself it’s about time for her to get used to it, yet she can’t stop her cheeks from naturally warming up.
That small complaint made Percival’s blue eyes widen slightly.
He then laughed happily, his own cheeks burning a deep red. It’s the kind of relaxed expression that makes you wonder if this man is really supposed to be a knight.
“Monette….”
Percival called out her name in a calm voice.
When Monette reacted and looked up, his hand gently touched her helmet.
Probably, trying to take it off. After they take off each other’s clothes, they stare into each other’s eyes with nothing between them and kiss….that’d be the usual flow.
Monette’s heart beat faster at the touch of her partner. Even the sound of the metal clanging against each other sounded like a blessing to her at the moment.
And then….
“Meow~…..”
As the sound of disappointment came to her ears, Monette’s eyes snapped open which she had closed in anticipation even though her head was still inside the helmet.
Percival froze as well as the sound came down upon them. When they both looked up, Concetta once again meowed at them.
Even though it was the face of a cat, her face looked like it was pleading for them to, “Please don’t forget me.”
“C-Concetta, Robertson, I’ll get you down right now!”
The sweet air hanging in the air was dispersed by the cry of a cat hanging on the ceiling causing Monette to call back to the poor familiars in a hoarse voice.
Percival meanwhile quietly cleared his throat, probably to hide his embarrassment.
“But Monette, even if you say you’re going to take Concetta, it is Miss Gina’s magic that is making her float in the air isn’t it? Are you able to get her down?”
“I have always known how to remove the magic cast by other witches. However, it can only be done after knowing who cast the magic, how, and for what purpose.”
With the current situation, “Gina used her voice to cast a weight-loss spell on Concetta to make her body feel lighter.” Knowing just this is enough to fix this problem.
….It’s different from that time when Monette had no idea who threw out a curse and why they’d do it.
“Over here Robertson, Concetta”
When the cancellation magic was used, the two familiars floating at the ceiling fell downwards.
They fell more slowly than leaves tumbling from a tree.
After a long period of time, Robertson hopped off of Concetta and onto Monette’s helmet. Concetta came down as well, but apparently not wanting to walk on her own, she forced herself into Percival’s arms to have him carry her.
Doing this, she meowed once to order Percival to, “Get moving.” Or maybe she was just trying to approve of Monette’s magic as her senior witch’s familiar?
“Now that I think about it, Miss Gina told me to invite you to have some wine with her once you’ve woken up.”
“Gina-san, is still drinking? Does this mean she plans on drinking all day to find out what wine she drinks tonight….”
“….As a note, Alexis and Ordo-sama were lying face down on the desk next to Miss Gina when I spoke with her.”
“Even after destroying two members of the royal family, she still hasn’t settled on her wine…..even if I do accompany her, I don’t drink.”
“Yes, that’s why she wants you to sample the food. It sounds like she’s prepared cheese, crackers, and a variety of other foods she wishes for you to compare that all go well with wine.”
“I can live with that I suppose. I am starving after being shipwrecked in my armor, and I have lost almost all my stamina after struggling so much. I need food to recover!”
“You mean while you were sleeping.”
“I was awake. Percival-san just couldn’t see me because my armor was in the way.”
When Monette clearly rebutted his words, Percival simply gave an easy-to-understand wry smile.
The Concetta in his arms started to complain about something, and Robertson began jumping on top of Monette’s helmet while hitting the metal with his front legs.
Perhaps this was them trying to reveal that she had indeed been sleeping soundly….
“Keep it a secret,” Monette quietly whispered at the both of them before, “Let’s go!” the four quickly left the room together.
……END……
Experimental Translations 