Chapter 26: Fatal Bullet

16 Years Old Arc: The Shameless Harlot

Fatal Bullet

On the day of the school festival, which was open not only to students of the Bellandenburg Academy of Magic but also to the general public, the area, including Verval Square in front of the academy, was bustling with visitors.

I spent the morning in a classroom at the academy, ready to attend to the injured.

"Yes, that's all right. Be careful not to fall next time."

"What exactly caused this injury? Did you fall and scrape yourself? Oh, I see."

I attended to the occasional injured people who came in.

However, there were some men who seemed to have deliberately injured themselves to get treated by me.

They all stared at my face, crotch, large breasts, and erect nipples with such blatant lust that it seemed they were trying to bore holes through me.

Well, I'm used to men staring at me with lustful eyes, so it's fine.

As my shift was about to end, Albert came to visit me.

"Hey, Celica! Want to go around the stalls together?"

"Sure, I'd like to. Just don't rape me on the way, okay?"

With Albert holding my arm, we walked down the crowded school corridor.

Every man we passed turned around to look at me.

"Want to eat this?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Let's eat together."

We bought a roast beef sandwich and apple juice and headed to the courtyard.

We sat in a corner of the courtyard and had a late lunch.

"We ate chocolate together in the park when we were kids, remember that?"

"Those were really good times. Because I could be with Celica all the time."

We gazed at the sky and reminisced about our childhood memories.

★

Afterward, they went to the assembly hall to watch a play.

"Matthias! It would be better for you if I weren't here!"

"That's not true! I want to be with Zara forever!"

A female student, playing a beast-girl with animal ears and a tail, lamented.

A male student, playing a nobleman, denied her sorrow.

"Think again, Matthias. Are you going to give up your noble status for her?"

"As a beast-girl, you're not worthy of Matthias-sama! Never go near him again!"

The two swore their love to each other, but those around them wouldn't allow it.

Eventually, the beast-girl, heartbroken by the opposition, gave herself to another man.

"I never thought you were that kind of person! ..... Never speak to me again. I don't want to see your face."

.....

.....

"Matthias... Goodbye...."

The last time the two met was when Zara, the beastkin girl, was gravely ill and confined to her sickbed.

Matthias, the nobleman, lamented his own foolishness and his lack of love for her.

"Zara! I was foolish! If only I had held you more tightly...!"

At the end of that scene, the curtain descended from the ceiling of the stage.

Then, the curtain rose again, and the student actors held hands and bowed.

"Ugh... hiks..."

I'm not crying.

Suddenly, I felt a gaze from the side and looked to see Albert staring at me with a cold look.

★

"It's just like in that play! You have no right to be happy with Maximilian Bernstein!"

"Stop it, Albert."

After that, Albert grabbed my arm and dragged me to his room in the magic dormitory, where he raped me.

He pinned me down on the bed and berated me, imprinting on my soul how lowly I was.

"You're a slut now! You don't even have the right to walk in the sunlight! Have you ever thought about how men look at you?!"

"No... I can't take it anymore... I don't want to hear it."

.....

Finally, when he finished, he left me on the bed.

"I hear you're going to a ball. Go ahead and dance while flirting and entertain the men's eyes, you shameless harlot, Celica Ahrenheim."

"Ugh..."

After holding back my tears for a while, I felt Albert's cum flowing down my thighs, straightened my clothes, and headed towards my meeting place with Winkel.

The magic dormitory was empty. It seemed the Aerial Mages had been ordered to patrol the skies above the ball.

★

"It really suits you. You're the star of the ball tonight."

"Really? Thank you, Winkel-sama. I'm happy you complimented me."

"Even your teary eyes are alluring. Now I can brag about you to everyone."

After changing into my dress in the dressing room, I walked towards Alphonse Winkel, who was waiting for me in Verval Square, the ballroom.

There were many members of the press around the venue, and when the person who seemed to be in charge saw me, he instructed the photographers to film me.

Along the edge of the venue, there were tables covered with white tablecloths and laden with champagne and wine.

Further around, police officers and soldiers with rifles were on guard.

Albert and the other Aerial Mages were patrolling the sky.

As the sun set and night fell, the ball began.

"Look at that beast-woman. I've never seen such a beautiful woman."

"That's her, isn't it? The Great Harlot who sells her body to the men of the magic dorm."

"Looks like we can see a lot even from here. A fitting outfit for a prostitute."

"Why is Ahrenheim here? This isn't a place to pick up men."

People were whispering something to each other as they looked at me.

I felt myself shrinking inside, but I surrendered myself to Winkel-sama's escort.

Then the music began.

It was my first time dancing. I had no idea what to do, as all I could do was sway my hips.

But Winkel-sama skillfully guided me, and I managed to make the dance presentable

When the music ended, applause erupted from the general public surrounding the ball.

"Thank you for guiding me. Thanks to you, Winkel-sama, I was able to dance well."

"I'm glad I could be of help... I'm sorry, but I have something to do now, so please ask one of the other men to accompany you for the next one."

Saying that, Winkel disappeared into the crowd.

As if in his place, many men surrounded me, trying to ask me to dance.

"Would you dance with me next, Beautiful Beast Lady?"

"No, she's going to dance with me!"

"Um..."

As I stood there looking confused, a man came running up with a bucket and doused me with water.

The man immediately ran off.

"Eh? Kyaaa!"

My dress is melting!

The dress that was covering me vanished before my eyes, revealing my bare skin.

"That beast-woman is getting naked! What a spectacle!"

"After being a prostitute, is she planning to become a stripper?"

Many eyes pierced me.

The television cameras were also filming me.

"Ugh.... hiks...."

I twisted my body, trying to at least cover my breasts with both hands, but my beast-woman pants were completely visible.

I heard footsteps approaching me.

The men surrounding me parted to the left and right.

Emerging from the gap in the crowd was Maximilian Bernstein.

Maximilian grabbed my arm, forcibly pulled me to my feet, and wrapped the tablecloth he was holding around me, making an impromptu dress.

"Celica Ahrenheim. Dance with me. You have no right to refuse."

"...Yes, Maximilian von Bernstein-sama."

The next song begins.

Maximilian-sama's treatment of me was completely different from Winkel-sama's.

He swung me around forcefully.

"I will no longer respect your will."

"I don't trust you."

"Leave your everything to me. You don't need think about anything."

I felt as if he was saying that to me through the dance.

Eventually, the dance ended.

A thunderous round of applause erupted again.

"With this, the ball will now take a short break. We will now hear a speech from Chancellor Rath von Odenauer, head of state of the Mittelland Federal Republic."

An announcement by the student council president of the academy was made.

Then, an elderly gentleman with deeply wrinkled skin ascended the platform set up in Verval Square.

He was surrounded by security guards.

After bowing once, the elderly man began to speak in a smooth tone.

"Students of the glorious Bellandenburg Academy of Magic, I am proud to share this day with you. This momentous day marks the 1000th Anniversary of this prestigious Academy."

In a gentle voice that sounded as if he were speaking into your ear, Chancellor Odenauer offered his congratulations on this special day.

Everyone present listened intently to his speech.

".....Now, I will conclude my speech. Thank you all for your attention."

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

Everyone present was applauding him when...

BANG! BANG!

Two gunshots rang out from above, and simultaneously, blood gushed from Chancellor Odenauer's torso.

Chancellor Odenauer fell backward.

In that instant, the venue was engulfed in frenzy.

They looked up to see where the bullets had come from.

Hanging in mid-air was Alphonse Winkel, with two black prosthetic wings protruding from his shoulder blades.

He was slowly descending to the ground, a submachine gun in his right hand and a saber in his left.

The security detail, along with the police officers and soldiers on guard duty, aimed their guns at him, but were met with gunfire from the side.

Sometimes, a portion of the security force, wearing white scarves around their arms, had defected.

Among them were armed citizen militia members who appeared to have been mingling with the civilians until now.

Among the people wearing white scarves, I can see Baden and Kentaro, who have animal ears.

Dododododododo!

Winkel's submachine gunfire sent all the guards to the ground.

"Quiet down!"

A voice overflowing with dignity and nobility resounded.

It was a voice that made everyone present want to prostrate themselves.

Having descended to the ground, Alphonse Winkel turned to the television cameras and began his speech.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, the most outstanding Albanians of this Naraka world! I am Reinhold von Gaidrich VI! A descendant of Walhelm I, the rightful ruler of this country!"

While Winkel, or rather Reinhold von Gaidrich VI, was giving his speech, I rushed to the side of Chancellor Odenauer, who had collapsed behind the podium. I removed the tablecloth I was wearing and wrapped it tightly around Chancellor Odenauer's chest.

Then, without regard for the fact that I was naked except for my panties, I gathered mana with my entire body and concentrated it all into my hands, which were placed on Chancellor Odenauer's gunshot wound.

Green phosphorescence appeared and disappeared around my hands and body.

"I declare the restoration of the Empire! As of this moment, the usurpation regime of the Mittelland Federal Republic comes to an end, and the Great Alba Empire is revived!"

Suddenly, the sound of enormous flapping wings echoed in the sky, and a colossal figure, over 30 meters tall, landed on two legs beside Gaidrich VI.

.... It was a dragon.

Its head design was undeniably mechanical. Sharp claws adorned both its hands.

And, above all, its prosthetic wings were even larger than those of the 'Fallen Angel'.

It exuded an ominous aura.

Surely, this dragon was created at the cost of many lives.

Gaidrich VI, after confirming the dragon had landed, continued speaking.

"The artificial dragon Bahamut! Once this is mass-produced, the Great Alba Empire will be able to control not only Europa, but the whole world! Now, let me show you a glimpse of its power!"

As soon as Gaidrich VI finished speaking, Bahamut dropped the mechanical claws on the front and back of its legs onto the cobblestones, fixing its massive body in place.

The jagged mana-absorbing organs on its wings scattered phosphorescence.

Then, it unleashed a massive bolt of lightning from its mouth, directed towards the Bedovish Great Buddhist Church.

GOOOOOOOOO!

The Bedovish Grand Buddhist Church and dozens of other buildings along its extension were reduced to ashes in an instant.

The impact blew away the podium that had been blocking my view, the Chancellor's view, and King Gaidrich VI's view.

Bahamut remained rigid for a moment, then let out an exceptionally loud mechanical roar, as if to demonstrate its power.

"This is the new power! The power of a higher being that rules the world!"

As if intoxicated by the destruction, King Gaidrich VI shouted.

"Loading lightning projectiles! ...Ready to fire! Simultaneous barrage!"

The Aerial Mages above fired lightning projectiles at Bahamut.

However, although the lightning charged the area around Bahamut, it did not damage the dragon itself.

"You fools! We've already overcome its weaknesses! ....Now then. It's time to eliminate the obstacles. First Guard, do it!"

"Yes, sir!"

As King Gaidrich VI gave the order, a soldier with a white scarf around his arm pointed his gun at Baden and Kentaro and fired.

Baden and Kentaro fell.

"Why... You said you'd create our country in Modagascar..."

"That's nothing but an empty promise. An inferior race can't possibly have a country."

King Gaidrich VI said coldly, then turned to me and slowly walked towards me.

"Get out of the way, Celica Ahrenheim. We must put an end to this false Federal Republic. ...I don't want to kill you, with whom I shared love with."

I shielded Chancellor Odenauer behind me, pulling him even closer.

Seeing this, King Gaidrich VI's face lit up with sadness.

Then, he raised the saber in his left hand high.

"It's a pity. ...Goodbye, my Beloved Beast Fräulein."

"!!"

The saber swung down.