My Civil Servant Life Reborn in the Strange World

White hair. A characteristic trait of the Butterfly Tribe...

Milpia checked again but still doubted her eyes.

She is a real Butterfly! Why would a Butterfly Tribe member come to the magic school?

The fact that she was taking this seat meant she was not the teacher at least. In reality, although everyone thought of the Butterfly when it came to magic, they had no connection to the magic school. This tribe mastered things they could learn at the magic school before they were ten.

Milpia scoured her mind for information from the imperial palace regarding the tribe.

Butterfly Tribe, William, the Alps, Mount Everest...

Come to think of it, there was confirmed information that General William's niece, Yuria, was entering the magic school. There was no information yet on why she was entering the magic school though.

However, the most reliable hypothesis, though unconfirmed, was related to a top-secret information regarding the admission of Arelia, the third princess of the empire, and that Yuria might have been brought in as her escort.

Then, was the blonde woman sitting next to Yuria the rumoured third princess?

I don't know.

Milpia withheld her judgment.

Of course, contrary to when she was the branch manager, as a field agent now, Milpia's authority to search for information was greatly reduced. Also, the secret information that Arelia, the third princess, might have entered the magic school was one of the pieces of information she had read when she was a branch manager in the past.

Big Mama Intelligence Agency might have finished confirming the top-secret information about now, but now she was in the field with no access to that information. If the woman sitting next to the Butterfly Tribe member was the real princess, there were many strange things about her.

First of all, the princess would not be wearing the magic school’s uniform. Hailing from the imperial family, she could not proceed with any behavior or say any words that could lead to empowering of any one organization’s influence.

And you're saying that the princess would be wearing a uniform that would indicate affiliation with somewhere?

That’s impossible!

There was another strange thing. No matter the fact that the Butterfly Tribe, a battle race, was providing escort, this was Third Princess, the emperor’s daughter. There was no way there wouldn’t be an appropriately large escorting force.

But her senses didn’t pick up on anyone who seemed to be an escort.

Milpia was young, but she was also someone who rose to a branch head of the most important base with her skills. As such, her skills would be of a very high level, so would all the escorts be good enough to fool her senses?

Milpia dared to be confident that the emperor's escorts were not that powerful. She found a few more strange things but couldn't form any conclusions. She didn't know how many times she had been annoyed by a lack of information, but if she lacked information, she just had to collect it.

"Excuse me—"

"Whoa! Safe! Ha, ha."

As Milpia tried to talk to Yuria, an aggressive-looking blonde girl roughly opened the classroom door while breathing heavily.

"Alice! Over here!

Yuria, who was sitting next to Milpia, waved her hand to the woman who had just come in.

Alice came towards Yuria while stabilizing her breathing.

"Hoo, excuse me."

Alice asked for permission then sat between Yuria and Milpia.

"You could have been late,” Yuria smiled as she spoke.

"Yea, our family’s Pushover was dragging his feet. We would have been really late if Den hadn't told us the time,” Alice replied, wiping away the running sweat with a handkerchief.

Milpia was thrown into confusion by the appearance of Alice, the two seemed to be close.

“What time did you leave?” Yuria asked.

“8:30.”

Yuria was surprised. "But somehow you weren’t late."

It was just before 8:50 now, so Yuria couldn’t help but be surprised. No matter how fast you ran from the boarding house to the school, it took more than 20 minutes.

Alice smiled as she put the sweaty handkerchief into her bag. The smile seemed mischievous. "Yea, I flew through a deserted back alley."

"What?! Isn't flying prohibited in the capital?”

The empire prohibited flights near the borders and major cities except for authorized personnel and during certain hours. The mere fact that there were magicians who could fly in the sky required the empire to create an identification system for air defense to strictly control flying objects.

"Den would say that if you don't get caught, it’s fine. Of course, please keep it a secret."

At Alice’s sly reply, Yuria burst into laughter.

"Huhu, I think Den would say that. All right. I’ll keep it a secret."

"Den? Who's Den that is so funny?" a pale, golden-haired girl sitting next to Yuria asked.

"Ah, it’s a friend who is staying at the same boarding house as I. Oh, let me introduce you. This is Alice, my friend who's staying in the same boarding house."

Alice gave a light greeting with her eyes while still seated and gave her own introduction. "I'm Alice von Carter. Are you the one Yuria told me about, who is going to be our friend? Please keep the words from before a secret."

"Oh, yes. I will. My name is Aria von Holistein. Come to think of it, I don't know how Miss Yuria introduced me, but let's get along well."

The girl who introduced herself as Aria was slightly nervous as she shook hands with Alice. Seeing that, Yuria secretly used magic so only Aria could hear her.

- I didn't tell her about Your Imperial Highness’s identity.

Arelia was reassured.

If you looked at Alice, she looked like a woman of nobility, but there was no way that an educated noblewoman would just casually lift her chin and stare at the third princess.

As Arelia and Alice finished greeting each other, Milpia did not miss the gap to join in.

"Is this the first time you two are meeting? Actually, it hasn't been long since I came to the capital, so I don't know anyone. Can I also be friends with you guys?” Milpia smiled and spoke brazenly. If a field agent couldn’t be at least this brazen, then they would starve to death.

Alice became slightly on guard with Milpia who suddenly spoke to them. But Aria smiled and took Milpia's hand.

"Of course! Actually, I have only just arrived in the capital too, so Miss Yuria was the only one I could call a friend. I'd appreciate it if we could be friends."

When Arelia approached her so sociably, Milpia was rather surprised. It was odd to see a person who was suspected of being the princess behaving regardless of etiquette.

Perhaps she was trying to deceive others from her true identity? Why the hell? If it was for personal safety, there was no reason to conceal her identity.

To seek safety by concealing one’s identity was only done as a desperate measure when one's identity was harmful.

Milpia was confused, but she didn't show it as just being near Yuria could allow her to find out a lot of information.

Then Arelia suddenly spoke with a sparkle in her eyes. "Then, shall we go eat some parfait after school to celebrate becoming friends today?"

Arelia’s sudden suggestion really baffled Milpia.

-o-

"Have you heard the news?" Flam, sitting next to me and delicately fiddling with the basic alchemy magic kit, asked me in passing.

"What news?” Like him, I was playing with the basic alchemy magic kit.

"You know. The rumour that Her Imperial Highness, the Princess is having her birthday ball at the magic school."

Now that I think about it, I might have heard of it. Usually, the birthday parties of the immediate imperial family were held in the imperial palace, so it was a big deal.

"Really? And so?"

Whether she has a birthday party in the palace or at the magic school, what does it have to do with me? I wasn't interested in a birthday party for someone I had never met.

Flam was frustrated at my indifference.

"Aren’t you being too indifferent? You must be aware that the surrounding area is full of chatter about Her Imperial Highness, the Princess’s birthday."

"Uh... was there a lot of chatter?"

When? I usually wasn't that interested in my surroundings, but I don't think there was a lot of talk regarding this?

"Why, you know, that’s all they talk about every day in the dorms. Oh, you aren’t staying in the dormitory. I guess then you might not know about it." Flam convinced himself and chuckled.

"So what about the birthday ball for the princess? Isn’t this unrelated to us?”

Flam stopped fiddling with the basic alchemy magic kit and looked at me with astonishment. “By chance, have you not seen the official announcement?”

“What? What official announcement?”

When was there an official announcement?

Come to think of it, there was a bustling crowd at the main bulletin board of the training center. It seemed it was related to the official announcement.

“It seems you really haven’t seen it. Then I shall tell you.”

Flam swelled up and proudly told the official announcement he had seen.

"An official announcement posted on the bulletin boards last night stated that Her Imperial Highness's birthday ball will be held at the magic school, and not only are the students of the magic school invited, but also the students at the knight school and the trainees of the civil service training center."

Wow, they are doing all sorts of bothersome things. Isn't a ball of high-status individuals like an imperial princess usually meant for only high-ranking nobles?

I don't know why a good low-level civil servant like me had to attend such a bothersome event.

"What if you don’t attend?”

Flam suddenly stopped chuckling and shook his head gravely.

"I think you'd better be prepared if you go against the official invitation. Rumor has it that we'll be sent to Warrant if we don't attend."

I clicked my tongue on the inside. This was why bureaucracy should not be allowed. It made you waste unnecessary energy on things unrelated to you. Also, what do you mean Warrant. That’s way too close to my hometown!

"But still, it is an opportunity to see, even at a distance, the third princess, who is considered to be the most beautiful in the empire. So everyone is looking forward to it."

Oh, was it Third Princess’s birthday?

Maybe because we ran into each other in the palace before, I didn't want to go even more.

The name must have been Arelia?

The princess was an anti-magician, so I was sure that my magic to disrupt perception would not work on her. Let's avoid her as much as possible, just in case she sees me and recognizes me. Of course, someone like her had no reason to come near an ordinary trainee.

“Considering that Flam seems to be also looking forward to it, it seems the Third Princess must be actually really beautiful?”

When I asked slyly, Flam laughed heartily.

"Hahaha, I don't really know. What I am looking forward to is the food at the ball. There will certainly be lots of delicious food.”

Come to think of it, that was also true. I'm sure a lot of delicious things will come out. As a person’s heart was fickle, I slightly looked forward to it.