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“It’s true that we’re desperate enough to use even the hands of a puny commoner… but I can’t think of any use for him other than as a meat shield.” Coppelia continued, completely unconcerned, with her usual bluntness.

“Please, could you refrain from saying things that might cause problems here?” I pleaded, and Coppelia blinked at me as if my request was utterly baffling.

“Of course. Time is limited, so there’s no point in wasting it on trivial conversations. We don’t have time to dally over weaklings.”
“That’s exactly what we call a waste of words!”

Eren smacked Coppelia on the head to silence her.

“Oww… Why does a mere human punch hurt so much…?”

Clutching her head and looking teary-eyed, Coppelia voiced her bewilderment, to which Eren boldly replied: “Obviously! I’m Lady Jill’s personal maid, after all. That makes me your senior. Now that you’re also Lady Jill’s maid, you should understand the proper hierarchy!”

Wait… when did Coppelia become my maid?

With a hand to her head, Coppelia nodded in agreement. “…I see.”

Oh no, she’s actually accepting that.

“I look forward to your guidance, Senior.”
“Yes, leave it to me!”

Something… unsettling seems to be progressing without my input… A cold sweat started to trickle down my back. I glanced around at the others for some sort of rescue, only to receive lukewarm looks that seemed to say, “She’s all yours” (though Cestlavie was glaring at Coppelia like a mortal enemy).

“Then, if I may continue… my master.”

Coppelia, now apparently my maid by default, gave me a respectful bow and continued with her explanation.

“Um…”
“To break this deadlock, it’s essential that you, Lady Clara, and I work together and trust each other’s strengths.”
“…”

Just as I was about to gently correct her about the maid situation, Coppelia seized the moment to speak of “trust” and “working together.”

“Specifically, I’d like you to use your Sky magic to direct the collapsing force currently in equilibrium, so we can strike at the weak points in Igor’s magic all at once.”
“Isn’t that a bit much, even for Jill, to attempt with such an unknown spell?”

Luke addressed Coppelia in a tone that sounded more accusatory than inquisitive.

I nodded in agreement. “Indeed. I don’t think I’d be able to control it after just one look. If I had two or three more chances to observe it, though, I’d have a better feel for replicating it…”

While it might not be identical, since it seems like an enhanced version of Moonfall, I think I could eventually develop a similar spell through trial and error. If that happens, even against an opponent of No-Life King caliber, I wouldn’t fall behind so easily next time.

“For now, how about naming it Heavenfall once I’m able to replicate it?”

Eren threw up both hands in enthusiastic support of my suggestion, but for some reason, the others (Coppelia included) looked at me as if they were staring at a monster. Why?

“…Well, we’ll save that for next time. For now, it appears even Lady Clara finds this challenging, so I’ll handle the mana measurement in her place. Fortunately, we still have some data left, so I should be able to manage. If Lady Clara can then infuse her Sky mana into the points I specify, I believe it’ll work.”

Coppelia drew a small circle on the ground next to the outermost double circle, pulling an arrow from it toward the center. She doubled the lines on this arrow as it collided with the one coming from the inner circle, illustrating the impact.

We all nodded, murmuring, “I see.”

“From what I’m hearing, it seems likely to work,” said Lieselotte, looking at Coppelia with a newfound respect.

“Yes. At this point, debating the unknown won’t get us anywhere… but if there’s a concern, it’s—”

“The considerable strain it’ll place on Jill,” Viola noted, prompting Luke to focus on the small circle on the ground.

“…” Cestlavie, who was also looking at that circle, raked a hand through his hair in frustration.

♦♢♦♢

“Alright, let’s get moving. Hold on tightly to my shoulders, Lady Clara. And… you too, commoner.”

Standing in front of the conga line, Coppelia had me place both hands on her shoulders, while Cestlavie did the same, resting his hands on mine.

“—!”

I nearly let out a strange sound, startled by the unexpected roughness and strength of his grip.

“You’re a lot thinner and more fragile than I expected. Feels like you’d break if I squeezed too hard,” he remarked bluntly.

“Obviously. Ladies are delicate beings. Squeezing her shoulders like that is entirely out of the question, so do be mindful.”

Behind me, I sensed Cestlavie making a sour expression at Viola’s warning. Meanwhile, Luke and Eren watched our formation with visible displeasure.

“Why him and not me…”
“If only I could use magic, I’d be right by Lady Jill’s side…”

They murmured in frustration, but there was no helping it.

Since we’d be operating at the edge—technically even moving slightly into—the Red Light Zone, we needed to maintain a protective barrier. However, as it would be too taxing for me to sustain two spells simultaneously, Cestlavie was enlisted to accompany us at the last moment.

“…Are you really alright with this? It seems incredibly dangerous,” I asked, turning to glance back at him.

Cestlavie, with his usual scowl, shrugged. “There’s no one else suited for the job, is there? Besides, if word got out that I abandoned you and the other high ranking princesses here to run away… well, they’d have my head rolling.”

He shot a quick glance at Lieselotte and Viola, who were staying behind, and let out a resigned sigh.

Ideally, I wanted the princesses (and, to be honest, everyone else besides us) to retreat from here as much as possible.

“As the Third Princess, my position is easily replaceable… but as your one and only friend, I take pride in being irreplaceable. So, I cannot simply run away,” declared Princess Lieselotte.

“As for me, I’m the eccentric one they can’t handle back at court. No one will miss me if I disappear. So, following my own way, I choose to stay here and pray for the safety of our lovely princesses,” added Viola.

Neither of them would budge on their decision.

As for Luke and Eren, their loyalty was a given.

“Very well. —Vier, if anything happens, I’m counting on you,” I said, making my request. Though she seemed frustrated she couldn’t come along, Vier reluctantly nodded. “It’ll be fine; we’re just going there and back.”

I said in a lighthearted tone, hoping to ease the worried looks on Luke and Eren’s faces before turning back to face forward.

“Alright, we’re off! Let’s go!”

Once she confirmed we were all following along, Coppelia took a steady step forward, leading us onward at a relaxed pace.

“This is kind of an embarrassing ordeal.”

Playing a locomotive game at my age is rather humiliating, and my cheeks grew red with embarrassment.

Behind me, I thought I heard Cestlavie mumble something quietly, something like, “just ascertaining… what lies beyond this world… is you…”

“What was that?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

His curt reply and the way he shook his head told me that pressing him further wouldn’t get me anywhere, so I turned forward again.

Then, as we reached the edge of the red-glowing territory, Coppelia, in the lead, announced our entry in a loud voice and unleashed her weapon.

“OPPAI BEAAAAAM!!”

A brilliant flash tore through the red-glowing area, clearing a single path for us.

The power was impressive. But still…

…isn’t there any way to make it just a little less… absurd?

Author’s note:

The title’s “The Three Working As One” also kind of hinting to Luke, Lieselotte, and Viola restraining Cestlavie together.

Also, Coppelia’s sub-body is larger in some areas than the previous one due to the built-in weaponry.

Comparing the girls here,

Jill >= Coppelia >> Viola > Lieselotte > Eren

The order is like this.

Translator’s note:

Those are bust sizes.

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The space, cloaked in crimson light, is a maelstrom of fierce lightning raging wildly.

Perhaps it’s an effect of this energy. The sky, lit up like a fiery sunset, churns with thick clouds twisting like coiled serpents in a frenzied storm. Fortunately, this place is calm, like the eye of a typhoon, though it’s uncertain how long that safety will last.

As we silently observed this scene, like the onset of some catastrophic phenomenon, impatience eventually overcame us.

“When is this going to end?”
“When is this ending?”
“Why isn’t this over yet?”
“When will this finally end?”
“Lovely lady, when might this come to an end?”
“When is this going to wrap up, huh?”

I, followed by Eren, Luke, Lieselotte, Viola, and Cestlavie each took turns voicing the same question.

Under the barrage of our questioning stares, Coppelia tilted her head, saying, “Oh?”

An ominous feeling filled me instantly—like glimpsing a lurking devil just beyond the fogged glass window.

“It may be a failure after all. The spell is completely out of control, and at this rate, the entire continent might just vanish.”

It wasn’t just a glimpse; the devil had shattered the window and burst right in.

“Originally, the plan was to contain the designated area, then steadily compress and contract the space. Like… wringing the neck of a chicken.”

Coppelia even mimed wringing a rag as she explained.

“Why… are all your descriptions so gruesome?” I asked, cold sweat trickling down.

In response, Coppelia tilted her head nearly horizontally, as if trying to clarify.

“Then… like squeezing someone’s neck, tightly.”

She made an unsettlingly realistic choking gesture with her hands, her fingers twitching.

“That only made it sound worse! And hold on, have you actually strangled someone before?”

At my outburst, Coppelia looked back at me with an expression like a child suddenly reminded they hadn’t done last summer’s homework. She tilted her head completely horizontally.

As she noticed everyone subtly inching away from her, Coppelia cleared her throat and said, “Uh… that was a joke. Just a joke. HAHAHA… It’s a classic bit where I’m from, but it seems you all didn’t quite enjoy it.”

She spread her hands, shrugged, and sighed as if to say, oh well.

Naturally, no one here actually believed her.

“Oh, by the way… once you decide to kill someone, you’d be surprised at how calm you can stay when you finally go through with it.”

( ( ( ( (This maid is terrifying) ) ) ) )

Maybe it would’ve been better for humanity if she’d just disappeared under that red light.

Now that I think about it, I feel like a complete fool for briefly feeling sentimental about our reunion.

“As for the cause of the malfunction…” Coppelia continued, tilting her head back to a normal position and sounding somewhat more serious.

“It’s likely a combination of factors. For one, there was the disturbance in gravity and magnetic fields caused by Lady Clara’s Moonfall.”
“Ugh…”

I’d anticipated this, but hearing it called out so directly made me feel a bit guilty.

“And then, there was the surprisingly intense last burst of energy from that idiot Igor. I guess you could call it his fight-or-flight response? I didn’t expect he’d be able to match the Dragon Gem’s power surge, a crystallization of dragon magic. But I suppose anyone stubborn enough to cling to life and become the No-Life King has some unusual grit.”

With a casual tone, Coppelia continued her explanation, as if to say, “This was unexpected. Not my fault. The cause lies elsewhere. It was not an accident but an unforeseen event.”

( ( ( ( (Did she use a cheap Dragon Gem, maybe…?) ) ) ) )

It was hard not to look at her with a bit of skepticism.

“Well, if I had to pinpoint another cause, it’d be that my master was too easily satisfied and erased his memory at the last moment. Entrusting control to me at that crucial moment—well, that’s where the luck ran out.”
“ “ “ “ “ “So it was you who caused this!!” ” ” ” ” ”

The group’s collective outrage, brimming with murderous intent, focused squarely on Coppelia.

“Now, now, there’s no use lamenting what’s already happened. Let’s have a productive discussion here.”

Coppelia held both palms down, gesturing for calm as if we were the ones getting unreasonably worked up. Her attitude only increased the group’s irritation; in the art of provoking others, this useless maid was unmatched.

“Productive discussion? Can you even control a spell that’s already been triggered?”

Cestlavie, who knows magic as well as I do, raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“True, magic that’s been cast is like gunpowder—you can’t rein it in once it’s ignited. However, thanks to Igor’s power clashing with the Dimension-Shattering Bomb, the spell has temporarily paused. The balance will soon break, but if we steer the direction in which it unravels, we should be able to control the outcome. Don’t worry! The calculations show it’ll work out just fine. You only need to trust me.”

“…………”

An awkward silence fell over the group.

“Well, even if we fail, we’ll just try again. Redemption, restoration of honor—after all, failure is the mother of success!”

Coppelia rolled up her sleeves with an exaggerated air of enthusiasm.

We could see her determination, but she was already speaking as if failure were an option (and misusing proverbs, at that). It hardly inspired confidence.

♦♢♦♢

We gathered in a circle on the ground to hold a strategy meeting.

“The method is quite simple. To disrupt the balance of magic that’s currently in a stalemate, we just need to apply a bit of external force to interfere. A single, brilliant solution.”

Coppelia drew a double circle on the ground with a random stick, labeling the inner circle as ‘Idiot Igor,’ and then used arrows to show the force pushing outward from within. She also drew arrows pointing inward from the outer circle, labeling them as ‘Dimension-Shattering Bomb’s collapsing force.’

“In an ideal scenario, we’d weaken the power of Igor, who’s holed up inside, using Lady Clara’s purification. Simultaneously, we’d add some magic to the collapsing force on the outer layer and crush it all at once. A perfect, last-minute turnaround.”

Coppelia declared this with confidence, puffing out her chest. But I tend to be naturally skeptical of things like ‘brilliant solutions,’ ‘one-shot turnarounds,’ or the too-good-to-be-true promises of ‘dieting by just eating,’ ‘dieting by just sleeping,’ or ‘dieting by just breathing.’ It all reeks of something shady—like only the convenient parts are presented. I mean, if you just eat, sleep, and breathe, of course you’d gain weight! I’d love to shout from the rooftops that it’s absolutely a lie!

But discussing such nonsense wasn’t going to help us here, so I pointed out my main concern.

“You talk about interfering, but I barely have any magic left, and you no longer have the Ultimate Arcane Armament installed in this body, right?”

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, my Moonfall spell was interrupted, so I have a sliver of power left. But even so, breaking through that chaotic ‘field’ to strike Igoronak with the Purification spell is absolutely impossible.

“Then… does that mean I’ll be the one to handle the magic part?”

Cestlavie asked, scratching his unkempt hair with an annoyed look. It’s true; among us, he’s the only one capable of combat magic (though Luke, Lieselotte, and Viola can all manage household magic, as is typical for nobles).

Coppelia shot him a quick glance, her eyes flashing briefly.

“Total magic capacity: 3,230. Attributes: Thunder, Earth, Will (basic). Nutritional status: poor. Charm: E rank. Years Being Single = Age… I see. Pathetic.”
“…”
“ “ “Whoa, whoa, hold on!” ” ”

Luke, Lieselotte, and Viola immediately held Cestlavie back as he lunged at Coppelia.