Conspiracy

As the sun began to set, everyone returned from a pleasant day of studying and shopping. Reaching the dorm, they were greeted by someone they didn't expect to see.

"Ema? Why are you here? And wait! What happened to your arms!?" Shoko cried.

"Oh this? Thanks to you and Aino failing. Ah, but they'll reattach. It's the ones that'll be bringing my arms that I thought I'd tell you about, Yurika Nihei."

Yurika cocked her head in confusion. "Why me?"

Shoko and Aino both stared oddly at Yurika. "Uh, she's from the Shikazen family," Shoko frowned.

"And?"

"'AND'!? The Shikazen family's the one that founded the priestess order!"

"... Wait, really?"

Collective groans and facepalms rang out.

"And you call yourself a prodigy. It's common knowledge the Shikazen family founded the Priestess Order, and fairly recently at that," Calli grumbled.

"What? I'm a prodigy at magic, not politics," Yurika shrugged.

"And you dared to declare war against all nobility. Though just this once, I'll sympathize. As a priestess candidate yourself, I'm sure you're aware of the true nature of the order, considering you went and killed 12 priestesses before you arrived at TIUMP," Ema scowled.

"The true nature is stripping talented individuals of free will and making them part of a soulless hivemind. Worse, the great magic they honed is distributed amongst all the other priestesses, making the order grow more powerful with each new member."

"Correct. The truth is known in quite a many noble circles, but if it becomes public knowledge, it could trigger outrage and revolts. Of course, exposing the truth isn't as simple as a peasant spewing it during their speech at the induction ceremony."

"Thanks for reminding me. Why are you so eager to help now, if you came out so hard against me then?"

"Are you stupid? Appearances! I had to be outraged, even though I've long been opposed to my mother's nefarious nature."

Shoko's gaze narrowed.

"Tonight, my mother and a priestess escort will be arriving under the guise of returning my arms to me. Their true purpose is to kidnap Yurika Nihei," Ema continued.

"And just how do they plan to do that?" Yurika scowled.

"With the priestess she's bringing. Knowing her, it's likely to be your old teacher, Ranze Sadohara."

Yurika's heart began to thump. "So... she's still "alive"?"

"Yes. However, she's special amongst the priestesses, and the key to bringing them down."

"How so?"

"I said it's common knowledge amongst many the nobility to know of the Priestess Order's true goal of culling female commoners with high mana levels, but what is a state secret, is that any female nobles deemed to have stepped out of line will be assimilated into the ranks. Though she was disowned, Ranze Sadohara was born a noble, and not just any noble, a noble with low mana levels. And she's not the only noble. Other noblewomen with more respectable mana levels, but have been deemed "treasonous" to the Orderate, the highest noble governing body in the nation, are secretly sentenced to assimilation. THAT fact coming to light would cause mass outrage against the nobility as it'd be viewed as a breach of trust."

"So what exactly do I need to do?"

"Kill Ranze. Kill Ranze, and expose the truth."

"And how- No, could it be?"

Ema began to grin maliciously. "Yes, Ranze left a little "gift", which mother was unable to fix. Though externally, the priestesses all look similar, internally, they're unable to be modified to be perfectly uniform with each other. And it just so happens that in my room, I have Ranze's medical records."

"How did you-"

"I'm an elite. But the question of the matter is are you in or out? If this fails..."

"I'm in."

Everyone seemed surprised.

"Even though you'd have to kill your old teacher?" Ema gasped.

"That was her final wish. The last thing she'd want is to be moving around as an agent of the thing she hated the most."

"Then act oblivious and don't make any suspicious movements, I know not who allies themself with mother," Ema nodded as she took her leave.

Once she was out of sight, Shoko clamped her hand down on Yurika's shoulder. "You really going to take everything she said at face value?"

"Of course not, but she's got some credence to her claims. Did you not see the gravity voids encircling the severed points of her arms? That proves her claim and gives her a viable motive for going against her mother."

"That's not what I'm saying. I think she's being 100% truthful about her mother's plot, and that your former teacher will be arriving here tonight."

"Then what-"

"It's her motive. Yurika, politics aren't your strong suit, are they? Ema's clearly angling to use this to overthrow her mother and assume command of the Shikazen family."

"And?"

Shoko let out a sigh. "Forget it, you don't care about this stuff. Though we'd best prepare ourselves. Akumama Shikazen is no easy foe to deal with."

"Akumama? Pft, what kind of-"

"That's her real name, and she earns it. Trust me, I've seen how devilish that woman is first hand."

"So what magic does she wield?"

"Multiple elements, namely plasma and dark, the latter being her true specialty."

"Have you fought her before?"

Shoko froze in shock before frowning. "So you can pick up on things like that. Let's head back to the dorm. There, I'll tell you everything."

...

Yabei looked up as everyone else entered the dorm. "Ah, w- Welcome back," she stuttered as she attempted to flee to her room.

"Well you sure have some manners, but I guess you're the snobbiest of the-"

Slam!

"-Snobs," Yurika trailed off as her jab failed to keep Yabei present.

"Tch, we'll need her to stand a chance. Yabei! I'm going to discuss something important related to affairs of the nobility!" Shoko called out.

Yabei was back in a flash.

"How-"

"Politics are a noble's oxygen. Of course she'd want to hear what juicy and scandalous information I'm about to reveal about the Shikazen family. Now Yurika, do you recognize this?" Shoko asked as she pulled an envelope out from her cleavage.

Yurika's eyes widened. "No, are you saying-"

"Yes, this is a decree from the Priestess Order, ordering me to join their ranks. But just like you, I resisted..."