The Armorer 61. The Combinator (Patreon)

“It seems like this plan of yours is hanging on the fact that I’m destined to become Empress,” Agatha noted, biting into her strawberry crepe.

“Not really,” I said, chewing on my own coffee-ice-cream crepe pile. “It would be easier to institute Dawn into every aspect of society if you were Empress, but it’s not a necessary step.”

“It’s not?”

“I’m also ahead of the game when it comes to marketing dresses,” I said. “I’m exhibiting her at the upcoming Gala. If I do it right, every noble lady will want to own Dawn. Eventually we’ll shove her into watches too or something and we’ll get the other half of the population.”

“Big plans,” Agatha chopped her crepe with a silver knife.

“Mhm,” I nodded. “The way I see it - it would be very hard for you to fail to become Empress.”

“Why?” Agatha asked.

“Your mom is a two-centuries-old old chimera high-cendai with mountains upon mountains of gold,” I pointed out. “It is in her interests for you to become Empress so that she can push her agenda, whatever it may be.”

“It’ll probably be a very slow introduction of Vows to Eunissi for the servants of the Empire,” Agatha sighed. “And then the general population.”

“Yeah,” I tapped my plate. “That’s something we’ll have to avoid.”

“How?” Agatha asked.

“I dunno,” I shrugged. “I don’t have all the answers. We’ll sort it out when we get to it. For now I’d like to congratulate everyone gathered here on our first meeting of the… Foundation of Dawn.”

“The Foundation… of Dawn?” The eldest princess mulled. “Not bad.”

“First item on the agenda,” I picked up a spoon full of ice cream and stuffed it in my mouth. “Oh God that’s the stuff.”

“What?” Emerald asked.

“Just obsessing over the food,” I laughed. “First item is - gather more Dawn. Inspector - why have you got so few of her?”

“Annya has to rely on public skyship routes to acquire the posters,” Lambert said. “I’ve already notified the other stations that we are picking her up. However, our town lacks a personal skyship. I spend all of our budget on improving the tower so I can’t afford to buy one.”

“Right then,” I nodded. “The Foundation of Dawn humbly requests the use of Galissi Seven for our first mission - collecting the arts!”

“Granted,” Agatha said.

“Excellent,” I swallowed another delicious piece of crepe. “Item two - Baroness Amadea registered me for Nemendias. I don’t know anything about the requirements. Please educate me.”

“Sure,” Agatha nodded. “I was the one to suggest it to my mother, so it falls to me to be your Felicity Cicesore.”

“Elegant Guide?” I tried to understand the weird title.

“There are several requirements for the entrance exam,” Agatha said. “One. The entrant must be brought in for their interview by Felicity Cicesore, a Nemendias student who has a Crest.”

I glanced at Agatha’s crest pin. “Got that one.”

“Two. A noble family must register them and pay for their education. My mother covered this already. Three. The entrant must have a letter of recommendation from a Figure of Authority such as a Justice, Inspector or an Instructor.”

I glanced at Lambert.

“I already have a letter made for you,” he said. “Dawn made me write one."

“Woooo,” I made a small, train-honk sound of approval.

“Four. The applicant must have a letter of recommendation from a Licensed Magic Practitioner aka The Expert.”

“Does an Artificer count?” I asked.

“Yes,” Agatha nodded. “Five. At the entrance interview the applicant must show an exceptional magical skill. Their knowledge of magical theories will be tested. They must look presentable and they will be questioned under the Octagon of Veracity by a panel of eight judges, who are generally Nemendias Instructors. If the entrant is suspicious, which you very much are as a lowborn nobody… the judges are permitted to summon and interview the Figure of Authority, the Expert and the Felicity Cicesore. The Inspector, Artificer and I will have to be present at your interview.”

“I think I got these covered, except for the presentable part,” I mulled. “Grogtilda’s body is still recovering from her time in the dungeon.”

“They’ll definitely interview the hell out of you if you bring Grogtilda in, sis,” Emerald commented. “Can I do my interview first? I don’t want to be outshined by our high-cendai. I don’t even know any exceptional magic…”

“You’ll get in on the mere basis of being an Amadea, Ems. They’ll give you a pass if you perform a simple [Identify] spell in front of them,” Agatha said. “As for Juni… You’ll have to do something impossible, truly exceptional and historic if you want to pass the entrance exam as a lowborn from Undertown.”

“Exceptional magic,” I pondered. “Will the Instructors keep what I show them… a secret?”

“Yes,” Agatha said. “Some entrants show off secret techniques developed by their families. The Octagon of Evaluation will erase the interview from the instructors’ memories if the interviewee requests such at the beginning of the evaluation.”

“We do have a Vow-bound maid. What if I kill her Vow in front of these judges?” I mulled.

“What?!” Everyone’s eyes focused on me.

“It’s supposedly impossible to kill a Vow, right?” I asked.

“Yes. That… will definitely work,” Agatha nodded.

“But I thought that seeing Vows was an incredibly rare skill,” Voltara uttered.

“Oh,” I frowned. “I didn’t think about that…”

“It is an archmage-tier skill. The average mage cannot see Vows,” Agatha said. “But there are rare, incredibly expensive, specialised magitek devices at Nemendias such as the Astralscope and Magopticon that are able to see and visualise Vows. I’ll make sure to book both of them for your interview, Juni.”

“Excellent,” I steepled my fingers.

“We’ll have to plan things out, conduct a few mock interviews,” Agatha uttered tiredly.

“Not a problem,” I said. “We can spend some time in Lomb, learn things about each other, yes? Do you have classes to return to or something?”

“No,” Agatha replied. “The final few years at Nemendias consist mostly entirely of Noblesse Oblige thesis projects. I don’t have classes right now - I spend most of my time flying around the Empire trying to find several big problems to solve for my next year's thesis. The bigger and more insurmountable the problems, the better my grade will be.”

“Do you want to help me clean up Undertown?” I batted my crystalline-eyelashes at her.

“Do I have to?” Agatha’s expression soured. She looked defeated.

“If you help me clean Undertown for your thesis, Dawn-net can be your other project for next year,” I sunk a hook into the eldest princess. “It will solve numerous administrative problems.”

“You… would give Dawn to me?” Agatha’s mouth dropped. “Let me take credit for your idea? Really? You don’t want to… use her yourself for your own Noblesse Oblige project?”

“Eh,” I yawned, my belly finally stuffed. “I’ll think of something else. Can a Noblesse Oblige project be a collaborative effort?”

“They can,” Agatha nodded. “But there must be a single Luminary - the one who takes the most credit for conception and leadership points.”

“You can be the Luminary of Dawn-net, or whatever,” I shrugged. “You need to impress the royal family to become Empress, yes?”

“Y-yes,” Agatha said. “I must prove myself as absolutely exceptional, above everyone else, above my competition for the prince."

“What competition?” I blinked.

“Is this shield really absolute?” Agatha suddenly hissed.

“It is,” Lambert said. “My tower is perfect, I assure you. You can speak your mind, be at ease. Nothing and nobody will hear you. No artefact or mage is be able to peer through the barrier Antoine designed.”

“R-right,” Agatha growled. She turned back to me. "Prince Licor is engaged to… nine other princesses.”

"Oh," I replied.

“Being Engaged means nothing! The Emperor wants the best of the best for his son. It's like a bloody game for the royal family. This is why I keep saying that I won’t necessarily end up as Empress. Becoming the First Wife of the future Sovereign… isn’t easy. The other Baronies defile me whenever they can so that their daughters can marry the prince. Their tabloids magnify my flaws and failures or straight up print disgusting lies about me. I… hate them so very much. I hate my every waking moment. I hate my mother. I wish my mother was dead! Everyday is like an Astral-damned chore, a show where I must be absolutely perfect in every f-fing way.”

Agatha struck her empty plate and it shattered beneath her hand. There were sparks of tears in her eyes. “Some days I just want to be a nobody, I just want to disappear, not be under an f-fing magnifying glass like a pretty f-fing butterfly.”

“Aggie, oh Aggie,” Emerald rushed out of her chair and hugged her sister tightly. “You don’t have to be alone anymore. I’m here for you! I’ve always known that something was wrong… but I was too afraid to ask.”

“You’re not alone anymore, Agatha,” I stated. “I’ll help you in any way I can.”

“You will?” Agatha sniffed.

“I will,” I affirmed. “Tell me the names of these tabloids and I will destroy them or make them work for us. I was planning on subjugating some tabloids for myself.”

“H-how?” Agatha hiccuped.

“I have a knife that can cut down anything,” I said. “I’m a ghost in possession of lost knowledge from one hundred million years ago. I’m a girl from Undertown with a debt of two million obliss. I’m a very dangerous chimera high-cendai with no detectable future… and most importantly I am on your side.”

The eighteen-year-old human-chimera stared at me with sad, tired eyes. There was a glimmer of something new in them now, a spark of hope.

"Whatever hardships you're facing, tell us about them," I said. "The Foundation of Dawn is on your side now. Tell us your dreams and we will help you fulfil them. The whole point of our secret group is so that we can do things for each other… things that we are unable to do alone."

"I do want… to be the Empress. I want to solve the problems plaguing the Empire. I want to win the centuries-long war with Novazem," Agatha sniffed. "Why are you doing this, Juni? Why are you helping… me?"

"She's not just helping you," Lambert said. "She's helping me solve the greatest mystery of all."

"She killed my Vow," Voltara added. "And offered to help me become an adventurer."

"Juni opened my eyes," Dawn said. "She is working hard to give me far more purpose and function than my painter Ambiss Huron had ever envisioned."

"She promised to teach me magic," Emerald mewled, still clinging to her sister. "She brought us back… together, Aggie."

"You're helping me get into Nemendias, Agatha." I said. "Long ago, before I was reborn on Andross as Juni... I was Yulia. I lived on a world called the Earth that didn't have magical hexagrams or the Infinite Dungeon, or dragons. I visited hundreds of cities and made friends in each one. My friends and I helped each other, combined our limited resources and found joy in exploring abandoned places. I intend to do the same here."

I offered Agatha my hand. The eldest princess accepted it.

"Thank you," she said as our handshake broke apart. "I accept your assistance and friendship… I really appreciate what you are doing for my sister."

"Eh," I shrugged. "I haven't done that much yet. You're getting sick of being the perfect princess, right? Let's give you a break."

"How?" Agatha asked.

"I got several makeup kits in Saccy. Let's go redecorate your face into that of a human farmer girl so that you can be as free as you want to today. Ohh… let's buy dresses for each other to host copies of Dawn. Let's have a relaxing, awesome day together."

"Well, I'm out," Lambert laughed. "Please spare me from the horrors of dress shopping."

I stuck my tongue at him. "Whatever, let's go grab Anniya instead and have a girls-only party. Sounds good?"

"Sounds good," Agatha nodded. 

For the first time today, there was a genuine smile on her face. I mentally fist bumped myself. Great success.