Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“Hmph! If there are those who would dare target Lady Clara, then the eight million members of our ‘Official Clara Royal Fanclub’ and ‘Lady Clara Secret Guard’ scattered across the continent would immediately rise to action! There’s no way I wasted these thirty years idly. We’ve already conquered two-thirds of the continent!”

Apparently, Coppelia had been pouring a grand yet utterly pointless effort into something while outside my sight. But probing into it seemed like it would just stir up more trouble, so I decided to let it pass without comment.

“I see. You saved us a lot of trouble.”
“Fufufun♪ This much is nothing at all.”

“Hold it right there! Don’t forget—it was thanks to my trading company tracing the flow of goods that we were able to pinpoint this place as suspicious in the first place!”
The small-bodied, big-foreheaded girl flared up, puffing herself up to make her presence felt.

“Of course, I understand. Thanks to Estelle, we identified the unnatural flow of goods—the transport of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate, clearly ingredients for gunpowder. I’m grateful.”

“Hmph, as long as you get it. And another thing—don’t think you can get carried away just because you’re being doted on as some so-called Shrine Maiden Princess. Sure, your makeup has improved all of a sudden, and you’ve gotten a little prettier, but you’d better remember this: just because you’ve got a nice face doesn’t mean everyone will blindly do whatever you say.”

“Hmph!” she declared sharply.
In a way, since I became the Shrine Maiden Princess and had my disguise lifted, revealing my true face, everyone’s attitude toward me had shifted dramatically, even at the academy. So having someone whose attitude remained exactly the same—it was almost refreshing.

While I felt oddly moved by the contrast, Coppelia showed no patience at all.

“What is this insolent creature?” she snapped, glaring openly at Estelle.

“What?! How dare you talk to me like that! Watch your tongue. I’m a proper noble registered in the Empire, and the only daughter of the Berenz Trading Company. I am not someone a maid should address casually! Who’s the rude one here, hm? Honestly, a master like that makes a maid like that!”
“…Setting myself aside, to insult Lady Clara is worthy of death. Nobles, huh? Hah. The quality of nobility has fallen to an all-time low. A worthless bug with zero spiritual power, zero magic, and zero spirit power passes as a ‘noble’—astonishing. I could brew tea in my belly from the shock.”
“What—!!??”

Coppelia and Estelle—Coppelia on one side and Estelle Liese Berenz, Luke’s childhood friend and daughter of the continent’s shipping magnate Count Berenz, on the other—glanced at each other for the first time and revealed themselves, as expected, to be like oil and water.

Estelle was the heiress of a nouveau-riche house and compensated for that complex with wealth; she fancied Luke and therefore eyed me with hostility. Coppelia, on the other hand, idolized me (or rather, Shrine Maiden Princess Clara) and judged people by personal ability and magic parameters. From the ground those two stood on, they were fundamentally opposed—no obvious point of compromise.

I wondered why Estelle was even here—oh right, because Luke is here—and decided it would be pointless to let Coppelia and Estelle bicker further, so I forced the conversation to move on.

“Anyhow. I think we’ve probably identified most of the main members of the Demihuman Liberation Front’s cell. We’re going to storm the hideout now.”
“Storm? Lady Clara, you mean you will go in and drop a Heaven Fall on them without giving them a chance to speak, right?”
“I might if we’re in the mountains, but there’s no way I’ll do it in the capital with so many people around!”

Coppelia suggested in her usual extreme way, and I shot down her proposal.

“So you might do it if we’re in the mountains…” Cestlavie muttered, suddenly pale and shivering at the thought.

“And no fire-type spells, either. There’s evidence they’ve brought in enough gunpowder ingredients for three or four barrels—charcoal, sulfur, potassium nitrate—so if a fire starts, it’ll be a massive explosion,” I warned.

The raid must be secretive and lightning-fast.

When I emphasized that, everyone except Coppelia, Chaton, and Estelle nodded gravely.

“How annoying~. If they’ve got gunpowder, just set it off from outside and let them blow themselves up.”
“Yeah, that’d save trouble, nya.”

“If they all go away neatly in a single blast, redevelopment might finally happen around here,” Bruno added.

“Absolutely not. Our goal isn’t to annihilate the Demihuman Liberation Front—it’s to ascertain the situation. I won’t attack them simply because I assume they’re evil without hearing them out.:

Call it idealism if you like, but I didn’t want to shut the door on dialogue. Luke smiled broadly in agreement. “That’s right,” he said.

Cestlavie and Ashimi smirked with ironic approval.

“Yeah, figured.”
“Well, let’s see what we can do.”

They said, offering reluctant consent.

“Then—”
Let’s go! …or so before I could say it—

Suddenly, red sparks burst up from the underground chamber of the hideout, followed by a deafening blast that blew apart the basement, the surrounding tunnels, and even the buildings above!!

““““““““……Eh—!?!””””””””

We were stunned for only an instant before I hastily raised a magic barrier to block the explosion and flying debris. Everyone’s eyes then turned toward Coppelia, who was standing there absentmindedly as ever.

“…It wasn’t me, you know?”

Well, of course it wasn’t.
Even so, half in disbelief, we kept glancing back and forth between the still-exploding hideout and Coppelia.

Author’s note:

Estelle is a character that has appeared since the second volume of the published version.

Like Arai from Kemono Lens, it feels like she’s finally catching up.