[V16C6] The Rules of Prankery

“F-Finally done…!”

In the detached workshop of the Roseberg estate, Raul collapsed onto the desk right as he finished writing the report. As he stretched out his arms, he was approached by a pair of weasels, one gold and one white.

The gold weasel Pikeh snatched the quill from Raul’s hand, while the white weasel Thule gently patted Raul’s head with his tiny paws.

“Done?”

“Can we go pick vegetables now?”

Apparently, Pikeh and Thule had recently discovered the joy of harvesting crops, so they were waiting for Raul to finish his report.

On the other side of the table was Cyril, who was writing a report over twice the length of Raul’s. He paused his quill and admonished the weasels.

“He needs to review it first. Wait a bit longer.”

“You should take a break, Cyril.”

“Yeah. Take a break and go pick vegetables.”

The suggestions from Thule and Pikeh caused Cyril to furrow his brow.

There were already allotted times for breaks and picking vegetables. And besides, Cyril did not know anyone other than Raul eccentric enough to consider working in the fields as a break.

Meanwhile, Raul suddenly sprang up from the desk and shouted, “Alright! Let’s go pick veggies as a break!”

“…”

Cyril almost yelled, “Do the review first!” but he stopped himself.

It seemed better to join Raul and the weasels for a quick harvest break, then finish their review of the report afterwards. As long as it was kept in moderation, Raul could return to work refreshed, and Thule and Pikeh would be satisfied.

Perhaps Cyril had grown soft on them, or maybe he was just more flexible now. He couldn’t tell which.

Either way, it was fine as long as the report got finished before the end of today. They had enough leeway.

Cyril put away the quill as Raul grabbed his straw hat with a cheerful hum.

“Oh right!” Raul exclaimed, remembering something. “Cyril, are you free next week?”

“There’s nothing urgent in my schedule. If you need my help in preparing for your study abroad, then I am willing to lend a hand.”

Raul would be leaving for the Empire soon. Either way, Cyril already intended to help with cleaning up the workshop and other miscellaneous tasks.

However, Raul shook his head.

“Nah, that’s not what I meant. There’s going to be a magical battle between the disciples of the Seven Sages.”

“…What?”

Cyril immediately thought of Isaac and Glenn. According to Raul, they would be participating in the exercise along with the disciples of the Starseer Witch and the Artillery Mage.

“Apparently, the match will give us a better reading on their abilities in case they’re needed, and encourages more interaction between them, or something like that.”

(…Ike will be there?)

This brought Cyril a strange sense of joy. He was genuinely happy to see Isaac being recognized as a disciple of the Sages.

“And for the magical battle,” Raul continued. “My family will be in charge of the preparation and stuff.”

“Why is that?” Cyril asked. “Aren’t the disciples of House Roseberg participating too?”

“Nah, those guys are more like Grandmother’s disciples rather than mine. When it comes to these sorts of events, they usually handle the support, like logistics and record-keeping.”

The family of the Abyss Shaman, House Albright, generally didn’t accept disciples from outside.

The newly appointed Dragon Slayer Mage did not have any disciple either.

As a result, only the remaining four Sages had their disciples participating in the magical battle. Namely, the Starseer Witch, Artillery Mage, Barrier Mage, and Silent Witch.

(Ike started practical magic rather recently. Perhaps I should offer to help…? Me, helping Ike train…? No, that would be far too presumptuous for me… But maybe he could use a sparring partner…?)

Cyril could not shake his habit of placing Isaac on a pedestal, and he was starting to realize that.

To him, Isaac had always been the perfect prince, a genius capable of doing anything. The idea of him teaching Isaac sounded preposterous.

Moreover, Isaac seemed to have noticed Cyril’s bad habit too. That’s why he was showing less restraint now… or so Cyril thought.

Perhaps Isaac was trying to send him the message of, “You don’t need to hold back either”. But even if true, Cyril found it difficult to determine how far he was allowed to step in.

As Cyril crossed his arms and groaned in thought, Raul broke in with a cheerful suggestion.

“Anyway, let’s go secretly cheer for Isaac during the battle!”

Cyril could only blink in confusion with his arms still crossed. As usual, Raul did not bother to explain his reasoning.

“…You want me to cheer for Ike?” Cyril asked.

“Yeah.”

“But I’m not invited. Is it even okay for me to be there?”

“It won’t be open to the public, but it’s not like a big secret either. I already got permission from Mary-san, so don’t worry about it!”

“Then what do you mean by ‘secretly’?”

Cyril raised a valid point. If the Starseer Watch gave him permission to watch, then he had no reason to sneak around.

In response, Raul grinned as though he was plotting something.

“This is the perfect opportunity to disguise yourself. I’ll sneak you in with the Roseberg disciples as one of the recorders, and you cheer for Isaac in disguise. Then, once everything is over, you reveal yourself and give him a big surprise!”

The two weasels wagged their tails in agreement.

“Sounds fun,” Thule said.

“We’ll do it,” Pikeh followed.

“No we won’t!” Cyril shouted. “I refuse to cause any trouble for Ike…!”

“But we have Mary-san’s permission,” Raul interjected. “We won’t be causing trouble for anyone, right?”

“Mrgh, that is true, but still…”

“If it was me, I’d be really happy to have my friends cheering for me!”

Cyril found it difficult to argue against that.

This was a prank, and pranks were not exactly good. However, he had fallen victim to Isaac’s prank the other day, so perhaps it could be allowed. That elaborate hairstyle and makeup had been a nightmare to remove.

Once Cyril fell silent, Raul continued his argument.

“Think of it as payback for the other day. A prank for a prank, right?”

After hearing that, everything made sense to Cyril. This was the etiquette of prankery.

No one gets hurt, nothing gets broken, and the target ends up a little surprised. They just need to make sure it is actually “surprise” instead of “disappointment”.

Thinking about it that way, Raul’s plan seemed to follow prank etiquette.

Cyril found himself slightly convinced, but then he realized something important.

“Hold on. Isn’t Monica going to be there too?”

“Well, yeah. She’s one of the Seven Sages.”

Raul’s prank required Cyril to put on a disguise and sneak into the venue.

What if Monica saw him doing this? Getting caught doing something so uncharacteristic would be extremely embarrassing.

(…No, this is more than embarrassment…)

Another emotion welled up inside Cyril’s heart. He knew the name of this petty feeling very well.

“I…”

Pranks are unacceptable. You must act disciplined at all times. Serve a proper role model for your juniors… These were the excuses Cyril kept telling himself.

But they were just a facade to cover his pride.

“…I want to act properly in front of Monica,” Cyril admitted, fiddling with his bangs to hide his reddened cheeks.

“I see,” Raul said in his usual tone. “Then we can do the reveal when Monica isn’t around. Let’s make your disguise perfect so Monica doesn’t recognize you.”

Meanwhile, Pikeh pointed her front paw at a pumpkin in the vegetable basket.

“Try putting that vegetable on your head.”

“No way.”

Cyril immediately shot down her suggestion. Next, Thule jumped onto Cyril’s shoulder and gave his.

“Pikeh and I can hide under your clothes to make you look big and muscular.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Raul exclaimed. “I’ll give Cyril a hooded robe, then we can stuff you guys in the shoulder area…”

“We’ll be his muscles,” Pikeh followed. “Super strong.”

Cyril watched with a wry smile as Raul and the weasels decided his disguise. Perhaps this was another sign of him getting too soft on them.

Since they were offering to help, Cyril supposed that he might as well play along.

“Fine. In that case, make me as muscular as Raul.”

“We can’t make you that strong.”

“Not possible.”

The weasels denied him in unison, leaving Cyril to droop his head in silence.

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