The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist: Volume 1 (eBook)

Ito Iino (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023
250 Seiten
J-Novel Heart (Verlag)
978-1-7183-7536-9 (ISBN)

Infos

After an untimely death, a Shinto exorcist finds herself reincarnated into another world as Miss Nicola von Weber. And that's just the start of her troubles.

On Nicola's first day at a new school, she's reunited with her childhood friend Sieghart. He's now a handsome marquess who acts like a spoiled child around her, and wherever he goes, strange incidents follow. You see, Sieghart's beauty attracts both people and...otherworldly admirers. Nicola thus has to put her homework aside and use her skills as an exorcist to save him-all while trying to avoid his inevitable proposal, for Sieghart once swore he'd never marry anyone but her. And so Nicola's hectic, haunted life continues with a splash of romance, which she almost finds more annoying than the ghosts. All Nicola wants is normalcy, and this is the story of how she'll (try to) get it.

Textauszug

Chapter 1: Two Visages in One Mirror

1

A few weeks earlier, around the middle of August, Sieghart von Edelstein first experienced a feeling of unease.

Sieghart ended his summer vacation early to fulfill his duties as a member of the student council and prepared to welcome a new cohort to the academy. He found himself with quite a lot of work to do in the two weeks or so left before the new term started. However, the strange events began at the end of the summer.

For personal reasons, the young man had very much looked forward to September this year. Finally, it was just around the corner. It was for that reason he was able to overlook said unease in the beginning, and only the slightest of things ever unsettled him.

When teachers or other student council members happened to spot him in the hallway, they assumed confused looks and tilted their heads to one side or looked in the direction they had come from. But Sieghart, who was aware of his somewhat distinct appearance, had long since grown used to receiving this kind of attention.

This was understandable when I was still a new student, but I’m about to enter my third year. Is there really still anyone at the academy who finds the sight of me remarkable? Sieghart had this thought, among other such misguided ideas. Well, I suppose they haven’t seen me all summer. Perhaps this is to be expected, was another such thought that came to him.

Even if he did not want to admit it, he realized there was something wrong when these suspicious reactions kept happening constantly over the last two weeks of summer vacation. As the new term approached, and the general student body returned to their dormitories in droves, the nature of this bizarre feeling of unease changed steadily.

A certain male student said, “Thanks for showing me your summer vacation homework. Your notes were easy to understand, just as expected of the top student in our class. You really saved my skin!”

“Huh? Ah, right, you’re welcome. But when winter break comes around, do your own homework.”

“Aw, really? My parents are merchants, so when I head home for vacation, I’ll be busy helping out with the family business.”

“Even the sons of noble houses often have a lot to do, serving as apprentices in the management of their fathers’ territories. So, our conditions are the same.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The classmate shrugged his shoulders and gave Sieghart a listless response, despite having been scolded within the bounds of casual banter. In all honesty, Sieghart had no memory of lending his notes to this friend who had come to thank him for that very favor. As he had in fact lent them to another student, he thought that his classmates had probably passed them around. He soon forgot about it, but that same day brought with it yet another disquieting event.

“Ah, President! Thank you once again for helping me bind those documents yesterday evening. Preparing enough for all the new students really is backbreaking, is it not?” exclaimed Sieghart’s junior in the student council.

“Huh? Ah, yes, well done... Although, are you sure that was me?”

She snickered before saying, “There you go again! How can I cope with a nonchalant glance from someone as charming as our president?”

Sieghart had no memory of assisting her either, so he finally leaned his head forward in confusion. He had actually gone into town the previous evening to buy a new inkwell, as his last one had run dry.

On that fateful day, Sieghart made a beeline for his dormitory. Once he confirmed that the inkwell and fountain pen he was sure he had bought were still in the drawer of his writing desk, he was left even more baffled.

As days went by, people told him about more “sightings of Sieghart” of which he had no memory. Two, then three, then four followed, one after the other. Each time someone mentioned such encounters, an enigmatic feeling of anxiety and a faint chill crept over him.

By the time the new school term had begun, Sieghart was certain that something bearing his likeness stalked the halls of the academy.

“Oh? Didn’t I just see you on the third floor?”

“A vase? Yeah, you yourself brought it to the student council room the day before yesterday, did you not, President? This is most unlike you. Are you tired, perhaps?”

“Thanks for coming, even though you already seem so busy with your student council work. We were short on people, so you were really a great help.”

The frequency with which Sieghart heard people claim they had seen him had been limited to once every two or three days, but it gradually increased in number. He had gotten used to hearing such testimonies many times a day, until he finally felt cornered.

Just who is this “me who is not me”? Why did he appear, and what does he want? With all of this still shrouded in mystery, Sieghart’s restlessness only continued to grow. An unfamiliar, eerie feeling crept up on him inch by inch. He felt as if strands of silk floss were wrapped around his throat, while a damp, uncomfortable film of sweat enveloped his body.

If he did not do something, he would not be able to relax. As such, Sieghart devoted himself even more diligently to his miscellaneous duties in the student council.

2

The day of the welcoming ceremony for new students at the academy had finally come. When the ceremony was over, Sieghart heard someone behind him call out his name. It was a young girl’s voice, sounding like a small bell ringing behind him—though her voice was not loud in volume, it resounded clearly through the air.

Sieghart’s feet came to a sudden stop in the stone-paved corridor as the rays of the setting sun dyed it a deep orange. Today was a day off for students in the second year and above, so no one had passed him in the hallways.

“Thank you very much for showing me around earlier. This school is very big, I couldn’t help but get lost...”

Not again, Sieghart thought to himself as he stood frozen in place. This girl was most likely a new student if she had gotten lost within school grounds. She had said that they had met “earlier,” but Sieghart had been busy tidying up the lecture hall directly after the welcoming ceremony. He certainly had no time to give new students directions. Without a doubt, this is once again the work of “someone other than me.”

Of course, there was no way he could tell this new student his suspicions. Explaining himself would not foster understanding. Instead, it would only leave her perplexed.

“You’re wel—” Seeing no alternative, Sieghart plastered a smile on his face and turned to face the girl. But before he had even finished turning around, he realized that something about that voice had been nagging at him.

“Kidding, just a joke,” Sieghart overheard the girl mutter to herself.

The moment he heard this, he immediately cast off any sense of shame or concern for his own reputation. After closing the distance between them in a single leap, he embraced the girl, whose body was one or two sizes smaller than his. Though, it would have been more accurate to say that he clung to her.

“Nicola! It’s really you! How I’ve missed you!” Sieghart took a whiff, and the smell of a brand-new uniform, combined with the girl’s own sweet fragrance, filled his nostrils. The lush black hair that tickled the tip of his nose belonged to Nicola von Weber. Despite her being younger than Sieghart, they were childhood friends, and she was the woman he loved most in the world.

Under normal circumstances, Sieghart would have never committed such a pitiful blunder as failing to recognize Nicola’s voice. He was once again aware of the fact that he had suffered substantial emotional distress.

“You haven’t changed a bit, have you? I take my eyes off of you for a short while, and you drag me into a malevolent matter that would make anyone recoil. Good job spooking me, but really, give me a break.” Nicola’s tone of voice showed her displeasure and let Sieghart know she was tired and cared little about his problems. Yet he could not help but feel relieved.

This was precisely Nicola’s usual manner. The feeling of being treated as someone deeply familiar allowed Sieghart to breathe a sigh of relief, causing his fears to dissipate in the blink of an eye. The “childhood friend” effect was incredibly powerful.

“Ah, seriously, why weren’t we born in the same year so we could have enrolled here together? Do you know how long I’ve awaited your arrival?!” Sieghart pursed his lips.

A two-year academic gap that would never close existed between the childhood friends. One had to reach the minimum age of sixteen to enroll at the Royal Academy, so Sieghart had been forced to wait two whole years for Nicola to join him there.

“I do not know. Try asking my parents, who conceived me fifteen years ago.”

“Oof... I really don’t think I can say that to the people who will one day become my parents-in-law.”

“That will never happen, not for all eternity, so no problem there. Please go ahead, face them head-on and ask them directly. More to the point, you still haven’t given up?”

“Of course not!” Still clinging to Nicola, Sieghart suddenly and forcefully raised his face. The two found...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 4.8.2023
• Reihe/Serie: The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist
• Reihe/Serie: The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist
• Illustrationen: Kinokohime
• Übersetzer: Joshua Douglass-Molloy
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: awkward couple romcom • childhood friend • Light Novel • Reincarnation • school academy setting • snarky female protagonist • supernatural and the occult
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-7536-0 / 1718375360
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-7536-9 / 9781718375369