[Are you looking at the map right now?]

“Yes.”

At the ghost chef Ferrol’s question, Camilla gave a light nod.

[You looked before, too.]

“I did.”

I really should hurry and prepare to run to the farthest place from here.

After going to the market yesterday, it became even clearer. I must not stay here long.

Why is it nothing but lunatics all around me?!

Petro. He was filthy infuriating, but I still thought he was, in his way, normal.

A kind, gentle person. Someone who can’t just pass by people in trouble—in short, a good person.

That part of him—being especially kind to everyone around him, particularly to women—was so infuriating, but the Petro Camilla had in mind was that kind of person.

And yet...

What on earth was that yesterday?

Gave me full-body chills.

His face smeared with blood while smiling softly as usual—it was like watching a thriller.

“Haa.”

Thankfully, the dead men’s reputations were utter garbage, so it didn’t become much of a problem.

With the active testimony of nearby merchants, Petro faced no particular legal action... honestly, the fact he’s a duke’s son would have helped.

The three ducal houses—called the families that guard the Empire—are allowed to summarily dispose of criminals.

Even so. How can someone act with not a flicker of hesitation like that...

What was worse came after they died.

Clearly they’d committed plenty of evil while alive; the way their souls left was different.

Countless black hands rose out of the ground, seized them as they were, and dragged them down, down.

[Uwaaaaaaaah!]

[No! I don’t want to go!]

The screams still circled her ears, vivid as ever. The way they howled in desperation.

Instinctively, they must have known.

That wherever they were being dragged was not a good place.

At any rate, I never want to see that again.

She hated the screams of the living, but the wails of the dead made her feel filthy just hearing them.

“Young Lady.”

“Hm?”

A moment later, the butler Rube came looking for Camilla.

“You have a visitor.”

“A visitor?”

Tilting her head briefly, Camilla soon rose and headed out.

“Lady Camilla!”

“...”

An unexpected person was in the receiving room.

“Laila?”

“Yes!”

With a bright smile, Laila trotted up to her.

“What brings you all the way here?”

“I came to thank you!”

Thank you?

“I couldn’t even thank you properly yesterday...”

“Sit first.”

As much as she wanted to cut ties, you can’t exactly throw someone out the door when they’ve come to your house.

Camilla offered her a seat.

“Um... so...”

“...?”

“Isn’t the weather so lovely today?”

“And?”

“Would you like to spend some time outside, perhaps? I also have something I want to give you...”

Now that she looked, Laila was holding a rather large basket. It seemed she’d packed some food.

“Then let’s go to the garden.”

Just as she said, the weather was very fine, so Camilla readily followed Laila’s suggestion.

A short while later, the two left the receiving room and headed to a nearby garden. There, too, a small table was set for taking tea.

“It’s so beautiful here.”

Laila’s smile grew deeper as she looked at the flowers blooming all around.

After admiring the garden for a moment, she opened the basket she’d brought and began taking things out one by one.

As expected, food kept pouring out of the basket.

[Ho.]

Ferrol was the first to react.

A cake piled high with fresh strawberries, a blueberry pie, pillowy bread as if just baked, butter that looked top-quality at a glance, and even fresh fruit juice chilled with ice.

“I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste.”

“...”

“I’ve received so much help, and I wanted to do something in return, but this is all I know how to do.”

“You made these?”

“Yes, even the butter here—I churned it myself this morning.”

It was plainly no ordinary hand. Camilla first spread the still-warm bread with butter and took a bite.

“...!”

What is this? The depth of flavor is no joke.

She didn’t have a gourmet’s refined palate like some food critic, but this was something anyone would praise.

Both in the other world and after crossing over here, she’d eaten a fair amount of butter, but none as nutty and intensely flavored as this.

“It’s delicious.”

“R-really?”

At Camilla’s verdict, Laila beamed a radiant smile.

Until the bread reached Camilla’s mouth, Laila had been watching her with tense eyes; only then did she let out a long breath of relief.

“I grew the strawberries and blueberries myself.”

“You farm, too?”

“Yes—well, it’s not at a level to call ‘farming’ grandly. I just grow the little things my family and I will eat ourselves. When summer comes soon, we’ll get to taste potatoes and corn, too. I planted a lot of them!”

Laila’s eyes sparkled more brightly than ever as she brought up crops.

“...”

Watching her, Camilla felt a strange sensation.

I get it a little.

Why men cherished and liked her so much.

Even Camilla—who’d felt only frustration at that naive, foolishly kind side—found her heart oddly at ease now, just looking at her.

Yes, ease. Being with her, the nerves that had been sharpened only moments ago felt slightly soothed.

“The weather’s so good this time that everything’s growing so well.”

Seeing her so happy over the simple fact that the plants were thriving made Camilla just want to smile along for some reason.

My worries all feel pointless.

She certainly had something that disarmed people.

“Thank you so much for yesterday. And I’m really sorry. It feels like you go through bad things because of me every time...”

Laila bowed her head deeply.

“I wanted to do something more precious for you... I’m sorry.”

“I like it.”

“Pardon?”

“I like things like this.”

Watching Laila’s eyes go round as if to ask really?, Camilla tasted the other desserts one by one.

[I want to taste them too... ngh, how tragic...]

At Ferrol, who’d been sounding a touch excited for a while now, Camilla let out a short sigh.

Even to Ferrol’s eye, the food Laila made must have looked exceptional.

Should I give him ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) some?

If she delivered it herself, even a ghost could taste food—but if he learned that, Ferrol would pester her endlessly from now on.

[I want to eat too...]

...She should probably give him a little.

At the sight of Ferrol sniffling, Camilla’s heart finally softened.

Such is my lot.

Camilla let out a sigh no one could hear.

****

“N-no way.”

“Is that real?”

“How could...”

Midterms ended, and the scores came out.

Students who looked at the midterm ranking sheet slapped up in the corridor gaped without exception.

Because an utterly unexpected result was staring them in the face. A name no one had thought of was written at the very top.

<2nd-Year Top — Camilla Sorpel>

With a perfect score that was hard to believe, Camilla’s name sat in first place; everyone rubbed their eyes and checked again and again.

“Someone who used to scrape the bottom...”

“Is that even possible?”

“Unbelievable!”

Up to now, Camilla’s grades had always been in the lower ranks. It wasn’t that she never tried, but the results weren’t great.

For someone like that to suddenly take the top spot was shocking—and on top of that, a perfect score? It was a result no one could believe.

Try taking the same test paper a few dozen times, like I did.

Then you could score like that and more.

Even with students staring at her with appalled eyes, Camilla was unruffled. She’d expected this outcome to a degree.

[Wow, your grades suddenly shot up! What’s your method?]

At some point, the girl ghost Amy was beside her, letting out a stream of exclamations.

[Did you cheat using ghosts or something? But no—you were in the classroom the whole time while you took the test!]

Ignoring Amy’s questions, Camilla was already focused elsewhere.

That is what surprises me more.

Where the 3rd-year scores were posted—there were familiar names there as well.

The name in the top spot wasn’t anything to be surprised about.

<3rd-Year Top — Petro Jevillan>

That man, sure.

He’d never once lost the top spot from 1st year to now, so fine.

What snagged Camilla’s eye was the name written in 5th place.

<Arsian Sephra>

A man who’d played even lower than the original Camilla, who’d always turned in blank papers and given professors headaches, had ranked in the upper tier for the first time.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“Who, me?”

At some point, Arsian’s voice came from right behind her.

“Have you ever seen a dumb mage?”

“You.”

“...”

Watching Arsian knit his brows, Camilla let out a small laugh.

Recently, Arsian had been attending class without skipping and showing a sort of diligence.

Of course, his prickly temperament was unchanged, so people still didn’t flock around him.

Even now, students had edged away the moment he appeared.

“What’s that next to you, though?”

Arsian looked toward where Amy was.

The instant he arrived, Amy had popped to hide behind Camilla; Camilla could feel her flinch.

“The one you tried to erase before.”

“Why does it keep sticking to you?”

“No idea.”

Seeing Arsian find it strange that she kept company with ghosts, Camilla laughed again.

From where everyone else stands, you’re the weirder one.

Students who’d edged back were now looking between her and him with even rounder eyes than before.

The act of Arsian approaching someone first and speaking—that itself was a rare sight.