Upon returning to the academy, the first-year students were causing an uprising.
[Guarantee the human rights of first-years!]
[Did our ancestors pay our tuition fees!?]
[We have the right to use the snack bar!]
The placards read as such, being waved up and down.
Of course, they were a minority. A small minority that might only garner a fleeting glance as one passes by—there were about five of them, all female students.
The place where they were protesting was the heart of Lumere Academy, the main building known as Lumere Hall.
On the third floor of Lumere Hall lies the Student Council Room. They were staging this protest in front of the main building to get the attention of the student council, who had banned first-years from using the snack bar.
As if proving this to be a not-so-bad strategy, a rather large crowd had gathered around them.
Protests, after all, only truly exist when they capture someone’s attention. Without it, they cease to be called protests. They just become tantrums of the young without substance.
Being banned from the snack bar the day after the entrance ceremony—this was akin to a sudden thunderbolt for the first-years. It was due to Yuren and Judit that they found themselves in this situation. In terms of garnering empathy from other students, their strategy wasn’t bad.
However, they were overlooking something important.
The actual authority behind the student council, who wasn’t officially part of it but nonetheless led it.
Nepia Solaris, the Third Princess.
“Starting the day after the entrance ceremony—the snack bar ban was utter nonsense! Lift the ban immediately, you bastards!”
A girl wearing a mask pulled down to her chin, commonly known as a jaw mask, bellowed out.
Her medium-length red hair, sharp-linear eyes that seemed prickly, glowing tangerine irises like watching a sunset, and her protruding shark-like teeth.
Nepia, the princess, tapped the shoulder of one of the protesting girls standing at the center of the five with a sly smile.
“What are you doing here?”
Was it due to the agitation from being banned from the snack bar?
“Who are you!?”
The girl turned around with a flare of temper, shouting to identify the one who had touched her.
“Hi?”
As soon as she realized who it was, her expression began to crumple.
Her golden hair, which fluttered with the spring breeze, gave a vibrant and sophisticated aura rather than a neat and demure one.
The slight waves at the ends of her braids were perfectly natural, not overdone but just right, giving an impression of aristocratic elegance. It was a hairstyle that clearly expressed Nepia Princess’s high self-esteem.
It’s not something anyone can do—showcasing your presence in front of so many people as if you’re the center of the world.
Beautiful appearance, high status, and an aura that commands the surroundings—these three elements came together to make it possible for Nepia.
Her cyan-colored pupils, resembling a telescope magnifying a clear sky, focused on the red-haired girl, now seated on the ground, her legs weakened by the unexpected revelation.
“What are you doing here?”
“Eh… I’m, I’m sorry…”
“Ah, don’t worry. I can forgive you to some extent as a close senior and junior.”
There’s that repertoire again.
Walking up to strangers and pretending to be close acquaintances.
For someone who knows Nepia’s status, it’s impossible not to feel an immense amount of pressure. Just like that girl.
“……W-what? C-close?”
How baffled must someone be to not be able to form proper sentences?
She almost felt pitiful.
“Yup, we’re close, right? Aren’t we?”
“N-no way…!”
The red-haired girl didn’t seem to be of a timid type either.
At first glance, she looked like the type who would pick out an easy target in the class to torment until they dropped out. She wasn’t fearful, nor did she lack courage or nerve. In fact, staging a protest in front of so many people deserved praise for being incredibly valiant.
But all of that means nothing when faced with overwhelming authority.
“Nice placard~ Who made it? You?”
“N-no, not me! Definitely not me!”
Sky blue hair, sea-green eyes.
A girl of shy demeanor, someone who probably gets scared even by flies.
She strangely resembled the red-haired shark-toothed girl. However, while the shark-toothed girl had the appearance of a fierce predator, this girl had a round and innocent, prey-like appearance.
Her bright, clear eyes resembled those of a newborn baby rabbit, her flawless white skin like jade, and her hair was so disciplined that not a single strand was out of place. Moreover, her hair was long enough to reach her waist.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You look exactly like someone who’d make it.”
“N-no, it’s not me… I really didn’t do it!”
“Ha ha, why are you so scared? I just wanted to compliment you. Unlike me, my crafting skills are abysmal.”
‘What kind of compliment is that?’
I’m one hundred percent sure that Nepia’s words aren’t genuine, with all my being.
“Tell me now, or did all of you make it together?”
Perhaps sensing the danger in the tone of the princess, the dark-haired girl at the edge answered swiftly, trying to shift the blame.
“No.”
What Nepia Princess was looking for was the maker of the placard.
Whoever among the five was named as the culprit would definitely feel the pressure from the Nepia Princess.
For now, they’re holding on to their code of honor, refraining from saying what they want to. But the problem lies in whether their seemingly strong loyalty will last long.
“A gold coin to whoever speaks first.”
Nepia Princess wouldn’t just sit idle and let them ignore her.
Hearing the word “gold coin,” three of the five girls twitched. Only the shark-toothed girl and the timid one showed no reaction.
Money is the ultimate motivator for uncovering the truth.
That’s why I stepped forward first.
“Two gold coins to all of you, if you stick together.”
As I pushed through the circle of people watching the spectacle, I brushed off the dirt from my clothes during the process.
Princess Nepia turned around to find me and smiled.
「What’s your problem?」 she said, glaring at me.
And a multitude of voices from anonymous people reached me, repeating the most common description of who I might be.
‘She’s the saint’s attendant.’
Compared to the previous episodes, she’s somewhat angelic.
Keeping a certain distance from Princess Nepia, I bowed and greeted her.
“Huh? What did you just say? Two gold coins for all five of them?”
After counting to three and raising my head, I saw Princess Nepia smirking.
“Maybe you’re bad at multiplication? You can’t possibly not know that 5 times 2 equals 10… unless it’s C Class, right?”
A statement belittling all C Class students from first to fourth-year. Yet, no one dares to respond courageously.
「C Class students are a group of imbeciles incapable of even multiplication」
It’s the implication of such when spoken by Nepia Solaris, the Third Princess.
“Do you actually have ten gold coins? Not just throwing empty boasts around, right?”
The pouch pulled out from her bosom contained a bunch of gold coins. It had a certain weight, and when shaken, it made a jingling sound.
As I lightly pulled the ribbon-shaped strings and opened the bag, many chunks of gold coins were revealed inside.
Glittering even more under the sunlight, Nepia Princess looked at them with interest.
“Hmm~.”
In this harsh world, uniting five individuals is no simple feat.
That’s why I wanted to protect the unity and loyalty of these five people.
Before any one of them, overwhelmed by the greed for money, betrayed their friendship.
– I believe my revolution will surely succeed as long as Mate isn’t around. Did you catch the meaning behind those words?
– Shiya Stella, did she say that? You’ve always trusted what she says, haven’t you?
– If you abandon me, I’ll reveal all the secrets of the Daylight Church.
It might have been my imagination, but I just wanted to do it.
*
About three minutes after Mate left the office,
the usual, unbearable cold silence had begun pricking the skins of the four people in the room.
Shirai still sat slumped by the door, and Judit looked at her with a sympathetic gaze.
Siyah had a peculiar smile on her face as if she was feeling good, but she wouldn’t move to help Shirai who was slumped on the floor, only watching carefully.
“Alright,” Muse got up from the sofa, clapped her hands, and tried to lighten the somewhat heavy atmosphere.
“I think we should adjourn at this point. I’m not as free as I used to be, you know.”
Muse alternated glances between Siyah and Judit. She judged that one of the three should attend to Shirai.
Muse isn’t the type to console others or force empathy. In fact, she’s quite the opposite.
Siyah is similar; mostly silent in most situations, she’s far from the type to console someone. She barely has any experience of consoling others either. So, it’s unlikely that she would be able to comfort Shirai properly, considering they weren’t even close.
Of course, if the one who needed comforting was Mate, she’d probably rush to him without hesitation.
Looking back, whenever someone in the group was offended or had a minor argument, Mate would always be the first one to come forward and solve it.
He valued others over himself. And because of that, he knew how to judge the points of conflict and find appropriate ways to mend the situation.
Considering this, it wasn’t surprising that Shirai was sitting motionless after being cruelly rejected.
One person’s absence felt incredibly lonely, even more so in this particular situation.
Judit let out a deep sigh and stood up, kneeling next to Shirai at the door.
“Are you okay?”
At the same moment, Judit felt an odd sense of discomfort.
After all, she was in the situation of comforting the woman who had stolen the man she liked.
Even though she could pretend not to notice and leave, the bond of friendship between them made that impossible.
So, she chose a different way rather than comforting her.
“I have something to apologize for to you.”
After deciding to candidly confess the guilt that had been accumulating in her heart.
“I actually, with Yuren…”
“That person!”
That was her intention.
Until Shirai interrupted with a vociferous bark.
“It’s fine now.”
Judit had only seen Shirai get angry a handful of times in the fifteen or so years they knew each other.
This was the reason why her hand, which was about to pat Shirai’s shoulder, tensed slightly. Shirai, the blind saint who was kind and gentle to everyone, expressing anger.
Her body instinctively shrank.
“If you really feel sorry, tell me just one thing.”
Shirai slowly rose, zombie-like, grabbing both of Judit’s shoulders and asked.
Her gaze, filled with envy, respect, and jealousy, was messy yet clear.
“How can I get Mate to love me?”
Time seemed to pause momentarily. For a split second, all thoughts in her mind stopped, and the flow of time ceased to exist.
‘How can I get him to love me?’
All Judit ever did was live her life as herself.
Never paying special attention to him, nor did she ever mold her appearance or character to match his ideal type.
Just as one truth cannot turn into another, it was self-evident that Mate Dayligh would like Judit Mundersturm. That was what she had believed until Shirai asked her.
“…I don’t know either. I’ve never thought about it.”
It wasn’t a quick or clear answer, but it was an undeniable truth.
Shirai started to snicker as if she’d gone into a trance.
