Seraphina POV
"First of all, thank you all for coming. For those yet unaware, when I was examining Lucy's soul I found some sort of seal hidden on it that exceeds even the most complex magical arrays I have ever seen."
After the summer break ended and school resumed, we gathered everyone in the infirmary. Or, in Lucy's game terms, all the capture targets, plus me and Miss Julia, are here to discuss the current situation.
Though I'm pretty sure that idiot was the only one left out of the loop regarding the seal. I think Miss Julia approached Arthur as well for some extra resources, so she's probably just being considerate of him by phrasing her opening this way.
"After a lot of research, getting to dive into all the rare books the Lazarius family holds in their vast library thanks to Seraphina, as well as accessing all the restricted documents held in the royal library thanks to Arthur, I finally have a solid enough lead on this seal. I also want to mention that Hugh's contribution was quite helpful and sped things up. But I hope this gives you an idea on just how hidden this information was and that's partially the reason why I decided to gather all of you here."
Oh? It sounds like that woman who doesn't seem to care about anything, actually put quite a bit of work into this. I just connected her to the head butler of my family and sent a letter to my father asking for permission. Other than that I just let her access anything she wanted, I didn't think it would be this difficult for her.
Well, at least that was what I thought in the beginning. After learning that the Lucy I know came from another world and the seal is probably just containing the 'real' Lucy, I'm actually kind of surprised Miss Julia managed to find anything on it at all.
"But here's the gist of it. While I found no record of this particular magical array, it bears several unmistakable hallmarks of the great mage, Magnus Latimer's work."
"Huh? Magnus Latimer, the founder of the academy?"
So when I hear Miss Julia's explanation, I can't help but voice my surprise. Just what could that old mage have to do with Lucy arriving in this world?
I glance at her, but based on her blank look, I guess she doesn't know what the connection would be either.
"Hasn't he been dead for hundreds of years? How did one of his magical arrays end up on Lucy?"
Arthur seems rather skeptical as well, though for a different reason.
"You are correct, and I don't know how Lucy got involved with something like this either. You haven't done anything that might be connected to Magnus Latimer, have you?"
"I don't think so…?"
Miss Julia explains before directing her question at Lucy.
"...the sword."
"Hm?"
"The sword! Didn't you guys say it was left by an old professor of the academy or something?"
That idiot seems to have an idea and speaks up confidently.
"We found the seal on Lucy before that, though. If you don't have anything useful to add, just stay quiet."
"Huh? Just how long have I been out of the loop?"
And, like usual, he's wrong as I point out how the timeline doesn't fit.
"Sword artifact?"
"Um, it's not important…"
Miss Julia looks at Lucy for an explanation, but she just dismisses it while blushing slightly.
"Well, okay then. And just to be clear, I've checked all of your souls before, and Lucy is the only one affected by this. But since we don't have any leads on how it ended up on her, it's easier to focus on figuring out how to remove it. However, as it is a work of Magnus Latimer, I'd need the original schematics he used when creating it. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, I couldn't find any records of such an array, but after a lot of digging around and with the help of Hugh's connections, we managed to get the location of one of Magnus Latimer's workshops from around the time of the Great War."
"You actually got a location for that? I thought all of the known workshops have already been cleaned out. Where is it?"
"It's in a part of the dungeons not far from here. And it has already been looted, but it has some special circumstances, so with Lucy there, we might still be able to find what we're looking for there."
After Arthur's surprised reaction, Miss Julia further explains, though I catch one part of it that I don't like.
"Wait, you want Lucy to go there herself?"
"Not just her. That's why I gathered all of you here. This operation should be handled by people we can trust completely, and Lucy reassured me that everyone in this room fits that description, at least in her eyes."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just hire a team of mercenaries or have people from one of our families to handle it?"
"How many people could you trust to keep secrets related to Magnus Latimer to themselves? Any sliver of information is worth way more than you might realize. And, like I said, Lucy would need to be there in person. Delegating that to others would probably not be the best idea."
"..."
Miss Julia answers Hugh's question and then all of us fall silent for a moment. But then, it's Lucy who hesitantly speaks up first:
"U-um, also, I'd like to say that you don't have to come along. I would appreciate it, but if you don't want to, I completely understand."
"No matter what happens, of course I'm going."
"Well, I've already come this far, I might as well see it through."
"It's in the dungeons, right? That means we might face some monsters so there's no chance I'm missing out!"
"I still haven't repaid my debt to you so you can count on me as well."
With me leading the charge, Arthur, Bernard and then Hugh all confirm our resolve.
"Everyone…"
"There's no need to be worked up so much. It's still a relatively easy part of the dungeons, with only weaker monsters, so with all of you present it will probably be a very easy mission. But I'm coming along as well, just in case. So all of you can prepare yourselves and we will enter the dungeons on Saturday next week."
"Miss Julia too…"
Haah, why are you acting so surprised? Even if you believe you weren't supposed to be here, you have already changed the lives of many people. Of course we'd help you with something like this.
Seeing Lucy's eyes widen and slightly glimmer in reaction to all of our responses, I can't help but sigh internally. Since she doesn't want to tell the others about her secret, I decide to keep my words to myself though.
After we confirm a few smaller details with Miss Julia, the meeting comes to an end and I leave the room as well.
"H-Hina…"
"Hm?"
But then Lucy calls out to me after everyone else leaves. She approaches me hesitantly, but eventually decides to speak up.
"R-regarding what we talked about before… Like my past life and everything else…"
"Yeah, yeah. I won't tell anyone. But they will probably find out sooner or later, right?"
"Um, yes. But that's not what I wanted to say. You told me that you… um, won't let me give this body back to the real Lucy…"
"That's not exactly what I said though, but sure."
"Then why are you still helping me with this? I mean, wouldn't investigating the seal go against your wish?"
"You were worried about that?"
"..."
Even I feel a little hurt that Lucy was thinking that way, though her current guilty expression does ease it a little. Hm, actually, this might be a good opportunity to try that move I read about. Ugh, but acting like that will be really embarrassing. Whatever, let's just do it!
I quickly steel my resolve, take a step forward, and adopt an accusatory tone while saying:
"Really? You thought I wouldn't help you with a matter this important to you just because of that?"
"I…"
Lucy instinctively takes a step back when she sees me approach, but then her back hits the wall of the hallway. She gets a little surprised and stumbles over her words.
"Haah, looks like you still don't take me seriously at all."
"That's not…"
"'I'll show you the extent of my love for you, so much so that you won't be able to let go of this life.' Those were my exact words, weren't they?"
"..."
Repeating those lines brings another wave of redness to her face and she averts her gaze. Ugh, I feel the same way repeating this embarrassing line again, but I don't let it show on my face and instead, I place one hand against the wall beside her head and lean forward slightly so I'm still in her line of sight even with her head lowered.
"My love isn't so fickle that I would ignore what you want to do. I understand what kind of person you are, and I know you would do anything for a complete stranger, even give up your own life. I'm not selfish enough to force you to go against your beliefs or change yourself just for me. So of course I will help you, no matter what."
"Then-"
"However, there's still plenty of time for me to do what I want as well. It's not like the 'real' Lucy will be unleashed the moment we find the original documents. Miss Julia will still have to decipher them and then find a way to undo it entirely. Even so, I know that time is running out, but that only means that I'll have to try even harder to seduce you."
"..."
Her cheeks are completely flushed and that little surprised look on her face is rather cute. Judging by this reaction, this move seems pretty effective, though it also takes me a lot of mental strength to keep myself from blushing out of embarrassment. But I force myself to continue since there is one more thing I want to tell her.
"You'll allow me to do that much, right? Though you can refuse me anytime. However, you'll have to tell me clearly and honestly while looking into my eyes. I only accept refusals if they are really your true feelings and it's not just due to some misguided sense of obligation."
"That…"
Seeing a brief look of conflict flash across her face, I let out a quick internal sigh. If she really hated my advances I'd have no choice but to give up on pursuing her. But since it seems like she really can't bring herself to face me under those conditions, I probably still have a chance. Of course, I still maintain a confident expression and don't show any of my internal thoughts on my face.
Hm, I feel like ending things here would still be missing something. One more move that would make her more conscious of me… Ah, what about that one?
With a new idea, I lean even closer until my mouth is right next to her ear.
"Then let's keep getting along and growing closer, okay? Phoo."
"...! Hyah!"
I deliver my words in a teasing tone, then blow a little air into her ear. But then she suddenly lets out a rather strange sound and tenses up. Her reaction takes even me by surprise, but I manage to keep my cool.
I pull away from Lucy, maintaining that confident demeanor before turning and walking away.
Ugh, I say all of that so confidently, but it's still so embarrassing to act like this.
And with my face no longer visible to her, I let my facade fade away and quickly feel the heat rushing to my cheeks.