Chapter 18: Vita-chan in prison

“Ugh…geez…why did it have to come to this…!”

In a dirty prison cell, a silver-haired girl named Vita sat crying on the floor.
She was no longer a knight.
She was now a dangerous and foolish criminal.

The charge on her is that of an attempted murder of a civilian, and she used her magic weapons to do it.
No matter how much she struggled, it was still a serious crime.

“Why did I do such a thing?”

She repeated the question to herself thousands of times, but she couldn't come up with an answer no matter how much she pondered.
When she saw the man next to Iris, her mind boiled uncontrollably.

“Honor, family, none of that matters.
I have to get rid of that man right now! The only ones allowed to stand next to Iris are a handful of heroes who have reached the pinnacle of both martial and personal strength.”

Her insane emotions took over and overwhelmed her reasoning.
Before she knew it, she had grabbed her blade and attacked the man with her greatest power, but…

“Ugh…that man named Kurou…he easily defeated me…!”

Vita was defeated in an instant.
She had been educated with abusive methods, and she believed that she had the most powerful strength even among the knights.
But she was easily defeated.

“Ugh…Kurou…!”

If she could, she would have liked to challenge him again.
If she lost to Iris, she could still accept it.
Iris was a genius who became a “First-Class Knight” in her teens and was given the nickname “White Blade”.

She was such a formidable opponent that even the adults of the Camblor family had given up on surpassing her.
It was understandable to lose to her.

But she couldn't forgive herself for losing to a man who is just a nobody.
She will definitely have a rematch someday.
She will make that cold-blooded face of his distort and force him to say, “I give up.”

That's what Vita thought, but…

“Hah, haha…
that day will never come, will it…? This incident marks the end for me.
Those who have become criminals will no longer be given magical armaments…!”

Her brilliant mind tries to suppress her delusions.
She knew it well.
There is no future left for her anymore.

‘If it was just a small trouble, the Branch Chief Hypno would be able to cover it up.
After all, that person is a lapdog of the Camblor family.
But this incident is just too big…!’

Attempted murder with magical armaments alone is already a serious crime.
On top of that, she has harmed someone related to Iris, the “Deputy Commander of the Imperial Magic Knights.”

This is hopeless.
No matter how much Hypno tries to help, Iris will never forgive her.

‘Unless that person Kurou says, “It was all a misunderstanding,” or something like that but that's impossible.’

With a self-deprecating shake of her head, Vita thinks like this.
There is no one who would protect the person who tried to kill them.

“Ahahaha…
I'm done for…!”

Vita buried her face in her knees.
She wants to die because of her own foolishness.
And so, the girl was in despair about her future—when suddenly,

 

she heard a husky voice saying, “You're being released, Miss Vita.”

 

She raised her head in surprise, and before she knew it, there was Hypno, the lapdog of the Camblor family, standing in front of the iron bars.

“H-hey, Hypno-san!? Why are you here…
and release?!”

Vita thought it was a joke at first, but Hypno really opened the prison door with the key he had in his hand.

“Come on, let's go.”

Hypno slowly walked up to her.
She came up to Vita, who was slumped down and stretched his thin hand under the sleeve of his clumsy lab coat.

Vita stared at the hand and asked again, “What do you mean by 'released'…!? What kind of deal did you make…!? What the hell did you do?”

“I didn't do anything.
Kurou-kun, the guy you tried to kill…
he asked me to make it look like it was just a training exercise and withdrew the complaint.”

“What?!”

That's ridiculous――! Who would forgive someone who tried to kill them? The people in the house never told me that such a good natured person existed.

The Camblor family always taught me that everyone, except for blood relatives, is like wild dogs driven by their own selfish desires.
Therefore, it was impossible for her to believe Hypno’s words.

Oh, I got it… Vita got up on her own and released her malice on the tip of her tongue, “Hahaha, so you must have just bribed him with money, right? That's why he gave in! Stop with this ridiculous joke, Hypno-san!”

Vita scolded Kurou as if to convince herself.
“Oh, I get it! Did he fall for your beauty or something? He's the type of guy who would sleep with anyone if they look good, just like that stiff Iris-senpai! Yeah, that's right, he's just as much of a scumbag as you!”

“Shut up.”

“?!?”

Vita's angry outburst was interrupted by a clear and forceful word filled with rage.

‘She’s a… slave of the Camblor family!’ This is not an attitude that a slave should have towards the children of the Camblor family.
Could it be that this rotten dog is angry because she insulted that man? That couldn't be the Hypno she knew.

‘She is a parasite who occasionally frequents the mansion to curry favor with the adults and get special treatment.
A dog who had long since lost any sense of justice…’

That's who she knew this person to be.
He was supposed to be a fake servant.
Vita became even more confused.

“Miss Vita, Kurou-kun decided to forgive you because you are 'just a kid' and he did it for free.
Don't make fun of him like that.”

“Just because I’m a child…
he tried to kill me…? That's a lie…”

“You think it's a lie? But it's true,”

That's when the girl realized something.
There was a faint light in Hypno's muddy eyes and a gentle smile on his lips.

She had never seen such an expression on Hypno before.