Zero no Tsukaima:Volume12 Story1

Story 1: New Student from the White Country (Albion)

Chapter 1

After classes in Tristain Magic Academy, it's a daily routine for most female students to hang out in the terrace drinking tea after leaving the dining hall.

Louise, Montmorency, and Kirche, the three of them were occupying a round table, chatting and enjoying the tea.

At that time, Kirche was leading the conversation, while Montmorency was acting the listener's part. Meanwhile, Louise, her eyes bloodshot, was concentrating on writing something. Sometimes she was yawning with a sleepy "Fuaaah."

“Hey Louise, while I'm talking, it's impolite to yawn, isn't it?”

“You're being annoying.”

Kirche was talking about the adventure they had one week before.

“By the way Louise, seriously, that gigantic Golem was super sturdy, wasn't it?”

Kirche's tone of voice indicated that she was enjoying this from the bottom of her heart, but Louise was knitting her eyebrows instead.

Watching the two of them, Montmorentcy continued to stare.

“Hey, what are you talking about? What do you mean by 'golem?' I wonder what kind of adventure you were having in Albion.”

Montmorency, who did not accompany them during the the trip to Albion, obviously didn't know anything. Of course that included the true appearance of Tiffania.

“That I can't tell you in detail... because it is highly classified information.”

Kirche was being more and more superior, Montmorency's face turned a bit sullen.

“It's okay, it doesn't mean I want to know. I don't want to be involved in a government-related concern.”

She was bluffing.

Following, by swinging her long curly hair, her vision shifted to the direction of the wide courtyard past the terrace. The timing just right, she saw the golden-haired Tiffania as she passed.

Tiffania was walking restlessly, as just behind her countless numbers of male students were following in succession. In the middle of those followers, Guiche could be seen, Montmorency's expression grew unpleasant.

“That guy! Even though I hurt him to such an extent! It seems he hasn't learned anything!”

With those words, at once, Louise's expression changed from sleepy to a face with sparkling eyes. When she saw that Saito was not among the Tiffania stalkers, she sat pondering for a bit with her eyes closed.

And then her eyes returned to the notes for the second time.

“Hey Louise, who actually is the girl that your companion brought here? I don't have any interest in politic matters, but I have interest in that girl! Not removing her hat while indoors, I absolutely want to conduct an investigation about her!”

“About why her breasts are so big?”

Kirche was trying to provoke Montmorency with an enticing tone.

“Screw that! It must be a counterfeit! More over, it's vulgar! Using such techniques to get the boys is cowardice!”

Just when Montmorency was giving her opinion, Louise stood up.

“Eh, is something wrong Louise?”

“I'm returning to my room.”

Louise was murmuring with her eyes both blazing and glittering. Inside those eyes she kept a chilled anger of a water tempest with a whirlpool.

Kirche was smiling with narrowed eyes.

“Please take good care of Saito.”

With merely those words, Louise left, shoulder sounds clunking, moving slightly. At the same time, she barely moved her right shoulder as if having a cramp. This slight vibration gradually turned more frequent, until her whole body began to shake.

Awkwardly and clumsily walking away, she was heading to the dormitory tower. She was angry, but she stopped her movement not long after that.

Louise was in the courtyard, from here on out the boys from the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit will be practicing, they were heading here. It's not like she was expecting them, but Saito was among them of course.

Clamorous sound and the talking from the crowd become more apparent, they were drawing closer.

Louise halted. She didn't want to see Saito's face directly. That's why she peeked from the side. If she directly saw him, she would blow him up for sure. That's what she felt.

Apparently Saito also noticed Louise's presence. However, he was averting his gaze, that could be seen clearly on his face. When she realized it from the side glance that she was peeking at Saito's face from, that made her blood boil. She couldn't take anymore than this, she was completely trembling. But... she can't blow him up directly while everyone was watching ahead. That was because her nobles' pride won't permit it.

Louise took a deep breath, gash! She struck her butt. She was running intensely. A while later, when she was able to repress her anger, Louise once again returned to the clumsy walking manner.

Someone—not Saito, but Malicorne—beside him called for her.

“Yo, Louise! We're practicing right now, may we borrow your familiar?”

“P-Pe-PEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPE—”

“Pe?”

Malicorne's face suddenly turned pale.

“Pepepepe, Please use as you wish.”

Louise replied with a shaking tone. Saito too, his clear face still took a glance at Louise.

Watching the two of them staring each other, Malicorne leaned his neck a bit.

“What's happened between you? Having a quarrel again?”

“Quarrel? Hahaha! That can't possibly happen! Now gentlemen, let's hurry up. The time for training is short!”

Saito was walking away, his mysterious gait called for Malicorne. Malicorne and each member of the knight corps followed Saito with crooked necks.

Louise was dumbfounded, her face was seeing off the back of him. Her face instantly turned red and she was trembling all over her body. Louise took a note from her pocket. (Sketch sketch), she was writing something. After that was finished, she put the note back in her pocket and walked away...

That night...

Inside one of the rooms in the female dormitory, Siesta served wine to Saito and Louise with modesty. Siesta poured wine to the two of them and spoke with a cheerful tone,

“The other day I received this wine from Marto. By all means, this wine is one that won the second prize in the Gallia wine fair. Too bad I forgot the name...”

However, both Saito and Louise were silent, their minds sunk to the wine.

Siesta watched the two with a face full of dubiousness.

Ever since returning from Albion, the two of them have had this mood. They're clearly not speaking to each other. Somehow, they were angry, so they kept the silence, even their eyes wouldn't meet.

There is another thing, in the middle of the night, Miss Louise would go somewhere. I wonder what was she doing there? She always had heavy eyebags when she came back, but I didn't manage to ask her about it due to the fierce expression on her face. I once asked Saito about this matter. “Maybe Louise has some things she wants to think about,” he replied with a strange expression without looking back.

I'm troubled, I don't know the meaning of the attitude between the two of them at all.

Because of this atmosphere, Siesta especially, through hard work, obtained this wine... But even this good wine and pleasant mood set up could not bring much merit.

“It's time to sleep soon.”

Siesta prepared the bed and invited the two of them. It seems that today Louise won't take a stroll in the middle of the night. Squirming, Saito and Louise entered the bed. Their backs were facing each other; the two of them rolled up. Siesta was changing to pajamas, and after that, slid next to Saito.

Siesta was about to place her face onto Saito's back, but suddenly...she felt an odd aura. That aura was emitted from the back of Louise.

(Don don)...The aura of Louise's back was wriggling and accumulating, pressuring Siesta.

Siesta withdrew her hand that reached for Saito.

For some reason, she felt she shouldn't do that.

With her cheeks facing Saito's back, she was hesitating for a moment... Her body entrapped in fatigue because of the daily work... Siesta soon fell into slumber.

Noticing Siesta was fast asleep, Louise began to move her body.

She was rolling to Saito.

Saito was awake, glancing from aside, he was watching Louise.

With her voice expressing anger, Louise muttered.

“Why did you ignore me during the day? You have been ignoring me for a while now, what the heck is going on?”

She had many questions she wanted to ask, but she couldn't ask thoroughly. So for now, she charged him about his attitude during the day.

With a calm voice, Saito replied,

“Eh? Wasn't it because you ignored me?”

“Don't distract me from the subject that I'm talking with you about right now!”

A smile surfaced from Saito when Louise said that. Somehow, the smile felt lukewarm.

“Don't put reasoning to satisfy yourself. See, you are acting selfish now, Louise. Tomorrow we must wake early, now go to sleep.”

Saito was closing his eyes with his face facing Siesta's direction. As for Louise, she was mumbling with a declined face, fiercely struggling inside the blanket. Somehow, she was looking very pathetic.

“You are forbidden to face that way.”

She was unconsciously pulling Saito sleeve.

But, without any sympathy, Saito responded,

“Goodnight.”

“You have to face this way!”

However, Saito still pointed at Siesta's direction.

“Okay, if that's what you want... Fine. You are not my familiar anymore!”

Louise covered herself with the blanket. However... Soon she grew anxious. In secret, she examined the situation by showing half of her face from the blanket.

Even so, there was no indication of change from Saito's back.

Louise was half-crying, as if someone in a mortifying state. Uuuu, those were sounds of moaning from her. Nevertheless, whatever she did, Saito did not turn to face her.

Soon, Saito's sleeping breath could be heard. He was fast asleep.

Louise was trembling as if in fear.

What's wrong with you!? This whole week you have been keeping that attitude. Tell me about it!

What about the thing when we rode that ship, weren't you offering the palm of your hand to me?

I can't believe it!

Inside the blanket, Louise was rolling around with anger.

You always said you loved me before. Could it be a lie?

Was it possible that one hour event on that Albion ship was an Illusion?

For some interval of time, Louise, struggling inside the blanket, bit by bit grew more violent... But she knew she can't do that.

Why did he show a cold attitude? Thinking calmly, more or less, I pretty much understand it. Saito always said 'love' to me... But not once have I returned that feeling.

But, but, but... It can't be helped.

I have determined to return his feelings when he's about to return home!

That's why I hastened the action for finding him a way to go home; meanwhile, this idiot is always indecisive. Well, I can pretty much understand the reason, but still...

I'm a Void user who's being targeted by Gallia.

There is another concern with Tabitha's mother which hasn't been settled yet.

Besides, abandoning them to go home, Saito's sense of responsibility won't permit it.

He has been bestowed with Gandálfr's power, the reason he came here. That is a not a fake sense of responsibility. It is Saito's own feelings of responsibility...

But since you had come here, could you act a little gentle? Why did you neglect me all this time?

What's with 'insolent pink-haired girl!?' Wasn't it you who liked the pink-haired one!?

Those words were not even said, yet the next words had been drifting in her mind; being both in anger and in a confusing state, Louise was trembling. Now that it reached this state, it didn't matter anymore if the words had been said or not, it had already been in her head; Louise grew more irritated.

In the middle of her irritation, anxiously, gradually resurfacing in Louise.

The most foolish thing perhaps... is my feeling that says, “When a way to return home has been found, I will return his feelings.” It's okay to decide like this, but what if before that happens, Saito has a change of mind?

If by any chance he falls for another woman, not me... “I'm glad I came here,” what would I do if that's the case?

Each respective woman that she felt was charming was floating in her mind.

It's somehow tolerable for the Princess to be acting strange in past occasions... Currently, Saito and I are not close enough yet. I can't let my guard down, there are many other women like that.

For instance, the figure who was sleeping right there, the daring Siesta.

Another instance, the one who put so much devotion to Saito, Tabitha.

But whatever comes to me, not even once I will let my guard down...

The accident during the day was being recalled in Louise's mind. She's the one who was brought here from Albion, the one who had fascinating golden hair, that person right now was surfacing on the back of Louise eyelids.

The one that was seen with ridiculously big breasts.

Among her group of stalkers, my familiar was not among them, but that doesn't mean there's a guarantee. Saito always said 'love' to me, it's only his personality that acted based on his whim. I'm the most familiar with him, so I knew about that.

Now that I think about it, that fellow, previously he was always captivated with women that have big breasts.

Anxiety was being born within Louise, she was in a helpless situation.

Strange ones. Smaller than me! This is the best! Now feeling like in trance because of what I just said, the important thing is there is no certainty anymore.

What if before a way home has been found, that kind of possibility really happens?

What if before I can tell him my feelings, Saito has changed his?

If that's the case, my name will be engraved in the history of Halkeginia as the most block-headed person.

The more I think about this, it makes my mind closer to breaking.

Eventually, Louise grew tired of thinking... She couldn't defy drowsiness' temptation any longer... Louise's sleeping sounds began to be heard.

When he noticed Louise has fallen asleep, Saito opened his eyes.

To make certain if she was really asleep, cyun cyun, he poked her nose. Kyuuuu, a cute sleeping breath resounded. Seems like she was really asleep.

Saito sung a victory song in his mind.

Because Louise's behavior is close to a cat, if not the same, seems like I was not mistaken with my judgment.

When I draw closer, the manner Louise would behave... that will most likely be the attitude similar to an insolent angle, and staring at me with eyes full of passion, “No, being as cute as you is a sin.” I am pleased to say I'm fine with that (sarcasm).

But see... what about if we treat her a bit cold, what will happen?

First, she will respond by distancing herself while watching the situation. That's the time when she took a night stroll.

Even so, don't follow her... It will become impatient while still observing us, thereafter, it will draw closer eventually. Yes, this is exactly like that.

Wonderful, I'm really a genius...

Now I understand perfectly, composure is important after all. Saito was motivating his inner self. Because of my composure, Louise became the same as the fallen women who think of me as if I'm the core of the world.

Nevertheless, watching her sleeping face like this, Louise is looking really cute.

His nose grew longer... And his long eyelash bent up, the shape of his eyes were closing... His lips faintly switched to the kissing pose.

Unintentionally, his lips drew closer... But when it was close enough, Saito shook his head.

It's not yet time.

It's not the time yet, Saito.

Just a little longer, and Louise will completely fall to you. If you offer your hand right now, Louise will be victorious with a smile floating on her face.

'No, mole! After all, you want to touch me! I wonder what I should do? Aaaah! I know, if you want to touch me, go praise me until the quantity is enough to make one volume of a book. Just kidding! I won't give you anything. Ever.'

Looking all important, she would declare that.

Do you think I will lose? Saito strongly gripped his right wrist.

Bear with it, Saito. The sweetness of victory just lies ahead. If you were tempted here, you'll lose. What I did until now... For instance, I did my best to come home from Albion. All will be just like bubbles in water.

However, looking here and there, Louise was cute. Reach for her lips, retreat, reach for her lips, retreat, it's a repetitive event, until a voice could be heard from behind.

“What are you doing?”

It was Siesta's voice.

When he turned, she was grinning with a smile.

“Did I awaken you?”

“Because of a certain rustling sound, I awoke.”

Siesta tried to hold her laugh.

“So-Sorry...”

When Saito replied, Siesta shook her head.

“Why have you made no attempt to find a way to return?”

That sudden question startled Saito.

“...Eh?”

“Miss Valliere always says, 'That idiot, when will he take action to find a way home?' ”

There was a crunching sound in Saito's head.

“About that, I want to go home, of course.”

“Then why?”

Giuut, Siesta's body drew closer.

“The people that I was in the care of still have unsettled problems. If I move too rashly, it will only leave a bad aftertaste.”

When Saito answered with a serious tone, Siesta smiled.

“I was right about you after all, I have decided it will be you.”

“Eh?”

He responded by his whole face reddening.

“But surely someday you will go home...when that time comes, will we part?”

A solemn air instantly surrounded the two.

“About that....”

“I...don't want it, that kind of thing.”

Saito kept silent.

True, If someday I find a way home... Honestly speaking, it will be my parting with the people from here.

Can I bear to be parted with Louise?

Even if I think about how to find a way home, not much progress will occur. I want to return, but at the same time, I don't want to part with Louise.

Being torn between two wishes, Saito was being swayed.

When he was thinking that, Siesta showed a delicate smile.

“Please don't seriously think about it, when that times comes, we will think about it.”

Siesta was speaking like a breeze of wind... But because of it, a vortex that seemed to have been dwelling in his chest since he returned from Albion now vanished.

“Siesta, it's good to have a wise trait.”

That's really what I thought.

Don't even start thinking about it..

I'm sure I can give the proper answer when that time comes. For now, just think only of what lies ahead.

“For now, if I'm not happy, it will be a loss. That's why I will enjoy the present to the fullest. If there's a moment when such help is needed, no matter what lies ahead, no matter how many times, I will help.”

(Hug) Saito almost fainted when Siesta hugged him with mere strength equal to the situation, with her soft breasts pressed against him.

Siesta was staring Saito straight in the eyes with burning passion, without hesitation, she pressed her lips.

“Wa-Wait...”

“Shhh...Miss Valliere will awaken!”

She was surfacing a teasing smile. She had kissed Saito lightly and fixed her hot eyes on Saito. When she was finished, she said,

“It's okay to enjoy this, but don't do this with other women.”

“O...kay.”

“Well, with Miss Valliere, it can't be helped. For example, the girl you just brought here from Albion.”

“Tifa? It won't happen! We're just friends.”

“You might be thinking like that, but what if her feelings aren't the same?”

When Siesta said it, Saito made a pondering expression.

“Wha-What do you mean?”

However, Siesta did not answer. Covering herself in the blanket, she said goodnight and closed her eyes.

“Siesta, please wait for a moment, just now... What is it, damn!”

Received a shock to his head. Looking nervously, Saito inquired.

“Uuah...”

Still sleeping, Louise was opening both of her arms. Apparently, she was half asleep. She was unconsciously attacking Saito's head.

A hand in a spear shape struck Saito lips. The moment following that, he received continuous attacks from Louise on the head. The moment following that, with her voice sounding in an odd tune, Louise returned to the bed.

Placing both her arms on the back of his head above the pillow, Saito closed his eyes.

Siesta's words still resounded in his mind.

Now that I think about it, suddenly brought from Albion to a foreign place, she must be troubled.

Based on her circumstances during the day, will it be okay if I don't concern myself?

Apparently, she has become a pretty popular person....

Even he wanted to have a talk with her, but there was always a crowd around her. Even though he could find her in her room during the night, but she would also like some time alone, wouldn't she?

Anyway, it could not be denied that Tiffania holds too much secrets on her hands. Some of the secrets cannot be known to the public, and that's why he's restraining himself from contacting her too much. Saito, who had risen in ranks from a commoner to a noble, is still quite the famous person here. If he were to be too close to her, it would prompt people around them to raise the question, "what's this girl's background".

Nevertheless, I should visit her soon, that's what Saito thought. From Westwood Village suddenly living in a foreign country which Tiffania knew nothing about it. No doubt, this kind of situation would make her stressed. No matter how much her wish goes along with the promise from the person in question “I will show you the world past this boundary,” it doesn't correlate at all with stress.

Tomorrow I'll talk to her.

With the same thought, Saito embarked on a voyage to the dream world.

Chapter 2

In the morning, female students were seen traveling from dormitories in a separate section of the Academy of Magic to the main section where the dining hall was. Since the male dormitories were located in the main section, the guys gazed out at the arriving girls from the second floor balcony, while chattering about the breakfast menu.

Saito had his elbows propped up against the balcony. He, along with Guiche and Malicorne, were lazily gazing out at the girls as well. Saito spotted Tiffania amongst the girls and waved out at her. Noticing his wave, she waved back.

Guiche asked Saito,

“Even with those magical weapons there, you certainly are good at keeping a straight face.”

“You’re the strange ones. Boobs, boobs, boobs… you’re turning into boob fiends.”

“Well, one look at those things would certainly turn anyone into one as well.”

Guiche looked at Saito with a worried face.

“What now?”

“You… Don’t tell me that Louise’s magic is having an effect on you? Perhaps, you can’t see anyone but Louise because you are her familiar. Is something like that the case?

Malicorne also gave off a look of concern.

“Yeah. I don’t know about Louise’s magic, but it’s strange. This time, Saito, you didn’t join us. And it was a really good chance to check whether they were real or not…”

Guiche and Malicorne looked at each other, nodding in agreement at the thought.

“Don’t say stupid things. Look, I’ll teach you guys one thing.”

Saito crossed his arms with a look of pride.

“Please do.”

“Umm, for instance, pretend that we were dogs.”

“I don’t want to be a dog.”

“I agree.”

“This is only an example. Look, if we were dogs, we would have a bone in our mouth. That bone in your mouth took a lot of effort to get. But then, you see a brand new bone. What would you do?”

Guiche immediately answered.

“I’d pick it up.”

“Idiot. What would you do with the bone you had been using up to this point? Throw it away?”

Guiche’s face lit up in realization.

“Basically, you want to say this? The bone I have used up until now is Montmorency. The new bone laying around is that strangely large-chested Tiffania, Her Majesty the Queen, and Marianne from the first year Seger class, and another from that class with flowing locks of dazzling, marigold…”

“I don’t know how you have time to keep tabs on such things. Anyways, that’s what I mean. It’s impossible to keep both of the bones.”

Saito nodded his head in confirmation.

“Basically, you already have a bone in your mouth, is the idea?”

“Yep. The bone that I have now will get mad. That kind of attitude is what’s important now.”

“In other words, you…”

Guiche had a grin on his face as he poke Saito in the side.

“So you have properly caught that Louise in your mouth? You should tell us all the details of it.”

Saito shook his head “no,” but somehow he was still full of confidence.

“Not yet. But soon…it should only be a matter of time.”

“You’re really trying to tame that shrew of a girl, huh!”

“I’m seeing if acting a little cold at her will do anything…”

Saito stretched a hand up and looked up at the sky. He carried on,

“I-I, I’ve been unwillingly wagging my tail. Damn it, even now I keep going at it… Look… I’m going to return all the humiliation I’ve tasted until now and then some…”

Saito looked up at the sky trembling with resolution as he clenched his fist.

There’s the reliable Saito that Guiche is used to.

“That’s the assistant commander for you. That’s right, we can’t let the girls make fools of us. It offends my pride.”

“Pride aside, I think that this level of punishment is not enough. I probably need to reexamine her attitude.”

“Hey, you.”

Guiche narrowed his eyes as he turned to Saito.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been wondering about this for a while…”

“About what?”

Amidst all of this mindless chatter, a strangely serious tone appeared.

“What if you stayed here for the rest of your life?”

“Eh?”

Guiche hung his head down, looking a little embarrassed.

“How should I put it… I really don’t know much about this country. There’re some cute girls here, but I don’t know if I can get used to being a noble. If Louise were to throw me aside, I’d get some land for myself. With only one person, I should be able to fend for myself.”

Being asked that all of a sudden, Saito became a little timid. Because of this, Saito turned his head away.

“What kind of atmosphere is this, asking me such a thing?”

“Sh-Shut up! It’s fine, right!”

Guiche also turned away.

Saito looked up at the sky.

Living his life in this world, huh…

Maybe due to Louise’s magic, the ‘I want to do what I can for this world’ spell holding him had lifted and a pang of homesickness was felt.

After all, it’s still hard to cut ties with his family.

But hearing Guiche’s remark just now, what was this feeling budding in his heart?

It was a different feeling than just a longing for Louise.

He wasn’t just feeling timid about it. The feeling was strange, but somewhat good.

Looking at Saito, Malicorne softly mumbled,

“Hey, Assistant Commander.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Returning to normal, Saito looked towards Malicorne.

“What about the ones that don’t have a bone? What do they do?”

Malicorne calmly asked. Saito and Guiche exchanged looks. Then, the both of them gave off comforting smiles.

“Wh-What should be done indeed.”

“Tell me please.”

Malicorne asked with a smile that beamed with grace, like that of a clergyman. Guiche pretending to know, dodged his plea,

“Well, gentlemen! It’s about time for the ladies to take their seats, as breakfast should be brought out shortly! Let’s head back to the dining hall!”

“Indeed!”

Saito also dodged his plea.

“Oh Sun, tell me please.”

Ignoring the two that left for the dining hall, Malicorne had turned towards the sun and cried out.

After breakfast at the Academy of Magic, there was a thirty minute break before classes began.

During that break, among the first year Suen class, a golden haired fairy was leaning on her elbows, giving off a listless sigh.

It was Tiffania.

While she thought it would be good to see the outside world, it was somewhat exhausting.

Those words were silently muttered.

Today was not the only day that she was this worn out.

With Saito's and everyone else’s guidance, she had arrived in Tristain. The various things that needed to be done started off small, but quickly grew to take days. Since the first day of this, Tiffania had been deadly tired.

Arriving in Tristain, she was greeted by Cardinal Mazarin and former queen Marianne, but she was unable to meet her cousin, Her Majesty Queen Henrietta. Henrietta’s absence was due to a goodwill visit to Romalia.

The toughest thing to cope with was parting with the orphans that she had taken care of. A Tristanian monastery had decided to take them in, but both Tiffania and the children had cried when it came time to part. Thinking back to when Tiffania asked if they should return to the village, the children shook their head ‘no.’

“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about us.”

Said Jim, the oldest of them, as he rubbed his eyes and smiled.

However, there was little time to feel sad at the parting, since Tiffania had to arrive in Tristain within that day. With Agnes, the Commander of the Musketeer Corps, escorting her, Tiffania had to go to the Academy of Magic.

The situation was explained to Old Osman, who arranged a room for Tiffania. After a day of rest, Tiffania was introduced to her classmates.

About ten days had passed since then.

Since everything Tiffania saw and heard were new to her, each day was like a year’s worth of experiences. The environment of Tristain’s Academy of Magic was vastly different than that of Westwood Village. Instead of only children and little forest creatures in Westwood Village, there were hundreds of nobles around her age here. This was enough to make Tiffania’s eyes spin.

Her troubles didn’t stop there.

Due to her passive nature, she was hoping for a peaceful school life. However, her appearance wouldn’t allow for such a thing wherever she went.

But the worst part was that she was not aware of the cause of her mental exhaustion, which was actually due to the effect that her appearance had on others. This unintentionally caused a lot of jealousy and grudges.

That listless, sighing Tiffania was approached by three guys.

It was the same guys that had hovered around her since her admittance. Of the three, a tall, freckled guy bowed in front of Tiffania.

“Miss Westwood.”

Tiffania had temporarily used the name of the village where she grew up as her surname.

Tiffania Westwood.

While it was a peculiar name, she had to use a name uncommon to nobility in order to not unearth the disgrace surrounding her existence. By using such an uncommon surname, her true identity of being from a distinguished family would be hidden.

Well then, the freckled boy began to pull Tiffania out of her daze.

“Lady from the White Country. Your skin is as white as the name of that country, while your eyes dazzle like a burning sun! Well then, would my lady care for a drink? If you need anything, this Charlot will be at your service.”

Immediately, the boy named Charlot was pushed away by someone.

“Nonono! Please allow me this duty!”

Although the duty was simply fetching a drink, something of little importance, these Tristain nobles fought over it like it was a big deal. The troubled Tiffania gave an awkward laugh while waving a hand. Since arriving at the Academy of Magic, this gesture was used most of the time to deal with these situations.

“Thank you, but I’m not thirsty.”

With pleading grins, the three momentarily shook their heads. Charlot and the rest knit their eyebrows and continued trying to get her to open up.

“Well, would you like to accompany me to horse-riding this afternoon?”

As one of them said this, another group of five appeared.

“If it’s a ride, I shall invite you too.”

“I as well.”

“No no. I was here first…”

“My horses come from Albion!”

“Please pick which kind of horse you like. If you like speed, there is the Mecklenburger breed. Albionian horses have high stamina. I, of course, own horses of both breeds.”

These eight guys worshipping Tiffania were clamorously arguing. The topic was of course who Tiffania should go with.

The troubled Tiffania covered her face with the brim of her hat.

“Umm. I can’t be in the sun much… So I can’t really go on a ride.”

Using the excuse that hid her secret, Tiffania refused the offers. But she ended up digging herself into a bigger hole.

As if waiting for that reply, Charlot smiled widely.

“I thought so, but I have prepared just the hat for that problem. This white, feathered hat has a wide brim and is very fashionable in Tristania.”

He pulled out a large, white hat, composed of superb material. The brim was twice as wide as the brim on Tiffania’s hat.

“Please, try it on.”

Charlot reached for Tiffania’s hat. Tiffania quickly held onto her hat, shaking her head.

“It’s alright. Thank you.”

Holding onto her hat, she dashed towards the classroom. Charlot, being left behind, stood there dazed.

“Does she dislike my hat that much?”

The other guys began poking fun at Charlot.

“Hey Charlot! Because of you, the mood with our “Golden Fairy” has been wrecked!”

Among the girls nearby that overheard this clamor, one clicked her tongue in disgust.

She had long, golden hair in twin tails. While she was short, she wore an air of arrogance that bore down on those around her. Her strong-willed, blue eyes lit up with anger.

The girl turned towards the corridor where Tiffania had disappeared into and spat out venomously.

“That girl does not know how to attend to gentlemen. Well, since she seems to be from the countryside, it can’t be helped I guess.”

The girls around the golden haired, twin-tailed girl nodded in agreement.

“I agree! And on top of that, that girl still has not greeted her Highness Beatrice! That will not do even if she is a country bumpkin!”

The girl called Beatrice smiled with pride. It seemed that the surrounding girls were her followers.

Beatrice had noble, cute features that drew others’ attention. Before Tiffania’s arrival, she was the most popular girl of the first years. However, Tiffania had easily ended her reign. The guys who were previously worshiping Beatrice like she was their goddess were now crowding around Tiffania.

“While she may be raised in the country, calling her a ‘bumpkin’ seems rather rude.”

Beatrice said this with a belittling sneer.

“I apologize, your Highness!”

A brown-haired girl bowed repeatedly.

“It’s just that being born from the house of Duke of Guldenhorf, I am strongly connected to the present queen of Tristania, Henrietta."

“That is so, your Highness! The royal blood originated from the aunt of King Phillip the third that ruled 2 generations ago, who married the brother of the previous head of the Guldenhorf family.”

“Blood of the Tristania royal family!”

One of the girls shouted, which prompted the rest to join in.

“Blood of the Tristania royal family!”

“On top of that, while the lands of the Guldenhorf family are small, they are respected as an independent country!”

In regard to Beatrice’s homeland at the time of this decision, the king announced the Guldenhorf lands as an independent country. Well, it was a so-called independent country, but in actuality, it still followed the military and foreign affairs of Tristania, just like every other region.

However, if you got past this fact, it was like any other independent country. Beatrice included, it was proper etiquette to use “your Highness” to refer to a member of her family.

“Basically, making light of me is the same as making light of the Tristania royal family. That girl was brought up in Albion, so it is understandable that she knows nothing of Halkeginia, but not showing proper manners is inexcusable.”

“It’s as you say, your Highness!”

“Well, we just have to teach that ‘islander’ proper manners.”

Beatrice smiled deviously.

Coming out of the classroom, Tiffania held her hat tightly with both hands as she scurried down the hallway. Leaving the main hall, she arrived at the courtyard.

Finding a remote area of Vestri Square, Tiffania let out a deep sigh and sat down on the edge of a fountain near the Flame Hall.

The outside world that she had wanted to see was a lot more noisy, rowdy, and fast-paced than she had ever imagined.

She looked up at the sky.

Only the blue sky was the same here as in Westwood village, thought Tiffania. While the village may have been a bit boring, the days were fun and peaceful…

Thinking back to those days suddenly brought tears to her eyes. Tiffania hid her face under the brim of her hat.

Were the children doing well? Were they feeling anxious and uneasy like her? Worrying about her uncertain future, tears spilled from Tiffania’s eyes.

Crying with her head down for a while, suddenly a voice called out to her.

“Miss Westwood?”

Tiffania lifted her head up. Five girls from her class stood there looking down at her. Tiffania stood up in a panic.

“He-Hello.”

The brown-haired girl stretched out a hand to the golden, twin-tailed girl as if introducing her. She questioned Tiffania,

“Are you aware of who this person is?”

Uh, who was this?

She knew that this person was in the same class, but no name could be thought of.

“I-I’m sorry. I do not believe that I’ve learned your name.”

Reacting to Tiffania’s timid answer, the brown-haired girl opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“How can you possibly have not learned of the name of this person? Naturally, you should have already made your greetings upon arriving at the Academy."

“I’m really sorry, but I’m still not used to being here…”

In any case, the girl looked quite angry. Tiffania fumbled with her words.

“It’s fine.”

The twin-tailed girl ran her hand through the right lock. Her gesture gave off an air of satisfaction at cornering her prey.

The brown-haired girl continued the introduction.

“This esteemed person, is the great Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf."

The brown-haired girl replied arrogantly as if inquiring her if she knew of Beatrice’s prestige. She gave off an air as if she herself was also the daughter of a Duke.

Having spent all her life in the forest, Tiffania was ignorant to worldly affairs. The name of the Guldenhorf family that carried across the nation wouldn’t be known to her.

Even so, she didn't want to upset her. While maintaining her smile, she said,

“Oh, is that so. Nice to meet you, Guldenhorf-san.”

There was a short pause.

Beatrice’s temple twitched. The brown-haired girl frantically shouted.

“Miss Westwood! You don’t know of the Guldenhorfs? The esteemed person standing here is none other than the daughter of Duke of Guldenhorf, her Highness Beatrice!”

“O-Ok…”

Tiffania had an embarrassed look. Tiffania’s understanding of the world’s rules was near non-existant. In other words, the concept of royalty and the class system was foreign to her, similar to the outlook that Saito had upon arriving here.

Well, she understood the words “Duke” and “your Highness” and about how these positions related to the world. She also was aware that special treatment were given to them.

However, this understanding was skin deep since she had no actual experience. Basically, Tiffania had little understanding of the language that needed to be used in these situations.

Your Highness?

Suddenly presented with these high societal terms, Tiffania was confused.

Uh, this was a place where everyone equally sits in the same desks, was it not?

Why was there a need to use such titles?

Even though she had questions of her own,she had just arrived here. For now, Tiffania obediently bowed her head in order to not further anger the girl.

“I’m really sorry. I grew up in the forests of Albion, so I am ignorant of the happenings of Halkeginia. I appear to have disrespected you, so I apologize, uh, your Highness.”

“Is that how you offer your apologies to your Highness? Ugh, you really grew up without proper manners!”

“I can’t believe they allowed such a girl into a prestigious Tristanian academy! What would others think!”

“…I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Tiffania bowed her head many times. However, the girls in her class would not settle for such a country bumpkin robbing all the hearts of the guys.

“Miss Westwood. How can I take your apology seriously when you leave your hat on?”

The brown-haired girl exclaimed with a chuckle.

“That’s right! It’s as Lisette says!”

Tiffania held onto her hat.

She couldn’t let them take it away because it would show her long ears. That would reveal the elven blood that Tiffania had, which would cause a lot of trouble.

She would probably be chased out of this place.

No, it would not stop there. Tiffania was fully aware of how much the people of Halkeginia hated elves.

Tiffania’s face paled.

If her ears were seen… Would her Void spell “Oblivion” be enough to erase their memory?

Was five people at once too many?

While the task was not impossible, this place wasn’t isolated like in the forest. It was at the Academy in broad daylight.

Anyone could possibly see the spell. If a classmate were to see such a suspicious spell, she would definitely be chased out. Tiffania was in quite a pinch.

Her elven blood needed to be kept a secret.

Yet, her Void magic could not be used.

If that was the case, there was no way she would take off the hat.

“That hat, take it off.”

Tiffania shook her head.

“I’m sorry. I can’t take off this hat because…”

“Because you’ll get sunburnt, right?”

“Y-Yes. That’s right, so…”

Tiffania nodded a few times.

“We are not talking about being outside for the day. It’s just for a few seconds.”

Still, Tiffania continued to hold onto her hat, not moving an inch. Growing angry, Lisette, followed by Beatrice’s companions, reached out for Tiffania’s hat.

“Hey! Take it off now.”

“Pl-Please… Let me go.”

Grabbing ahold of the brim of the hat, they got into a scuffle.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

A guy’s voice called out, which caused the girls to turn around. A black-haired guy with a shocked expression was standing there.

“Saito!”

Tiffania ran up to Saito as if he were Buddha rescuing her from Hell. Latching onto his arm, her face hung down in embarrassment.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Were you being bullied?”

Tiffania didn’t reply.

Saito looked at the five girls that had surrounded Tiffania moments ago. Crossing their arms, they returned stern looks.

This is none of your business, right? Go away.

Feeling this kind of aura, Saito trembled.

Scary.

Saito was reminded of a particular group of high school girls that he saw back in Japan. The group was known for ganging up on other people and bullying them.

Tiffania was truly a very beautiful person, which infuriated other girls. Honestly, such trifling matters are the same even in Halkeginia.

He had once thought that, there shouldn't be that happening in this fantasy world, but as it seems, bullying among girls has no connection to what world you're in.

Saito was troubled, but for now, he couldn’t overlook this.

Furthermore, the one being bullied was Tiffania, who they had brought here. It was their responsibility. If he did not do something now, eventually they would have to deal with it anyways.

“What are you girls doing to Tiffania? Don’t you think that what you are doing is dirty? As people… Ah, or rather as nobles?

Saito was trying his best to maintain his dignity in front of the first year girls. Flipping her blue cloak back, the brown haired girl gave Saito a cold glare.

“You girls! You girls, you say! Did you all hear that?”

“We heard that! Using such crude words as ‘you girls!’”

The group of first year bullies looked at each other and shouted loudly. Saito’s head began to hurt.

“In any case, no bullying, ok?”

Lisette completely ignored Saito’s plea as she approached him.

“You! Do you know of this person?”

Lisette’s hand pointed towards the shortest girl in the group, a girl with blond twin tails and a look of arrogance.

“Nope. Not at all.”

Seeing Saito’s blank look, the girls immediately raised their voices in a chorus,

“Well! What a country bumpkin! She is her Highness, Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf. She is upper nobility!”

Saito scratched his head with a troubled look.

“Well, even if she is upper nobility…”

The golden, twin-tailed girl called Beatrice examined Saito up and down. Then, she talked with a sneer,

“I’m not familiar with people around here, but are you a Halkeginian?”

Nope. He was an Earthling, but that couldn’t be said. Saito mumbled a response.

“No, I-I’m from Rub’ al Khali…”

In order to hide that Saito was from another world, he had been saying that he was born in Rub’ al Khali.

Beatrice narrowed her gaze at Saito. Then, she nodded in understanding.

“You are…Hirigaru Saiton of the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit, right?”

The first year girls looked back and forth at each other.

The fact that Saito’s name as a distinguished knight who had stopped an army of 70,000 was certainly known. Furthermore, he was the assistant commander of the Imperial Guards. The girls began looking at each other nervously.

It appeared that this group of girls who waved around authority were weak against higher authority. Saito threw out his chest, as he exclaimed boastfully,

“Yeah, I’m the assistant commander of the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit, Chevalier Hiraga. Her Majesty’s Imperial Guards. Upper nobility, upper nobility in-deed.”

His act was like something out of a Japanese drama.

However, Beatrice was not intimidated.

“So, what of it? Imperial Guard or what not, I do not bow down to a mere knight.”

Saito’s face paled. This brat… Isn’t scared of the Imperial Guards. Don’t tell me that she is someone important? Uh oh?

At that moment, a savior appeared.

“Oi, Saito! What the hell are you doing? Did you finish preparing the straw dummies for practice after classes?”

Nearby stood Guiche and Montmorency. Yes, the tide has turned! Without looking back, Saito yelled loudly to them.

“Hey Commander, good timing! I was scolding these first years a little. They are being a little cheeky here and there.”

“What is that! Outrageous!”

Enthusiastically, Guiche walked over.

Deep down, Saito shouted in triumph.

It’s too late even if you get scared and cry, Beatrice!

After all, Guiche’s father of the prestigious Gramont family was general of the army.

Furthermore, Montmorency apparently came from a time-honored lineage.

Well Miss Noble Girl, Duke or whatever, I’d like to see you bluff your way in front of nobles with ancient lineages. Saito proudly puffed his chest.

But… Beatrice’s face did not change when she saw Guiche and Montmorency approaching. Instead, Guiche’s face paled upon seeing Beatrice.

Beatrice casually lifted her chin up.

“It’s been a while. Guiche-dono.”

Dono?

“A-Ah… Well, well, your Highness Guldenhorf…”

Your Highness?

“How is your father?”

“W-Well. Thanks to you…”

Honorifics?

The situation was strange. Cold sweat dripped down Saito’s forehead. Guiche’s spirit had taken a trip somewhere, replaced by a strangely submissive attitude. Montmorency was also fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Well, well, Miss Montmorency is also here? I have started attending this academy this year. Please take care of me.”

With an attitude unimaginable of underclassmen, Beatrice addressed Guiche and Montmorency while they bowed their heads at her.

“Please take care of me as well. If you have any troubles, please let me know.”

“By the way, Guiche-dono.”

“Y-Yes!”

“I would like to congratulate you on your promotion to the commander of the Imperial Guards. However, could you please tend to the proper instruction of your subordinates? This discourteous knight is no different than a mercenary or thief.”

Beatrice inaudibly beckoned her followers to leave with her.

“Miss Westwood.”

As she was leaving, Beatrice addressed Tiffania, who had been ignored up to this point.

“Y-Yes!”

“Do you understand? At least when you are around me, you will take off that unsightly hat. Wearing that hat in my presence will be a serious insult to the Guldenhorf family. Oho-oho-ohoho!”

Laughing loudly, Beatrice left along with her followers.

As Guiche and Montmorency weakly waved goodbye, Saito bit his lip,

“Hey, Commander! Montmorency! What’s with that! Being looked down upon by underclassmen!”

“No, that girl is bad news.”

“Bad indeed.”

“Your families come from an ancient lineage of nobility, right!?”

“It’s just as you say, but the Gramont family has served the royal family for generations. Because of this connection, it is only natural that I set aside my dignity and be humble to the Duke’s family.”

“That is also the case with the Montmorency family.”

“Then why were you bowing so much?”

“Actually, the reason goes back to a long time ago.”

“Huh?”

“The Gramont family has been honored as military leaders of the nobility, but has been poor at managing territory.”

Saito had a bad feeling.

“Don’t tell me that your family borrowed money?”

Bingo. Guiche gazed out distantly.

Montmorency’s face also got red in embarrassment.

“Our family is also in a similar situation.”

Guiche smacked his chin to collect himself.

“Duke of Guldenhorf’s family has enough money to manage an entire country. You should also be on good terms with them.”

“Don’t be stupid! Like I can be on good terms with a girl like that!”

“Hey! Forget about that fuss with her! She has her own bodyguards that accompany her! If you get her angry, they will whisk you away!”

Her own bodyguards?

“What the hell is with that?”

“What, you didn’t know? Don’t be so indifferent to these things…”

Guiche drew Saito, Tiffania, and Montmorency’s attention to the main gate.

“Look over there.”

Saito scanned the area.

In front of the main gate of the Academy of Magic, a vast field of grass stretched out. Before anyone realized it, quite a few tents had been set up there!

On top of the tents were flags bearing the crest of a yellow dragon. Several armored wind dragons were hanging around the tents.

Guiche explained to Saito, whose jaw had dropped,

“Those are the bodyguards of the Guldenhorf family, the aerial armored brigade ‘Luftpanzer Ritter’.”

Saito vaguely recalled that name. Ah, hadn’t Kathy and the others gossiped about the same brigade at breakfast the other day?

They talked about how indecent they were, and how some of them came to flirt with them. But Saito didn't notice them at that time. So they were already present during that time, eh?

“During the last Albion war, Duke of Guldenhorf didn’t allow them to join the alliance, because it was their prized brigade. With the destruction of the Albion dragon knights, they are now said to be the strongest dragon knights in Halkeginia."

Right now, 24 dragons could be seen. At Tarbes, Saito, having fought in Albion, was fairly familiar with the abilities of dragon knights. Just a small troupe of them would be equivalent to thousands of ground units in battle ability.

“Ugh, why did she have to bring dragon knights to school?”

Saito’s statement dwelled on that point.

“The rich nobility probably like to show off.”

Guiche criticized, forgetting about his own nature.

Saito looked towards Tiffania.

Tiffania looked at Saito worriedly.

“Tiffa, don’t worry. Military brigade or whatever, I said that I would help you. Don’t let the hat ordeal shake you up.”

Tiffania bit her lip as she nodded.

“It’s alright. It would not be good to trouble you all… I appreciate the feeling, but I should take care of it myself.”

“Saito, it may be just as Miss Tiffania says. If we say anything about it, we may end up in a bad position, too.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey! These are the last words I would’ve expected to hear from heroes of the Gallia expedition. Compared to that time, the Duke’s daughter should be a cakewalk.”

“No, it’s not that simple.”

Guiche wrinkled up his forehead.

“During Tabatha’s rescue, we were under disguise when we entered Gallia, right? Actually at this academy, there is no one besides us that knows about that incident. Furthermore, Gallia did not give an official complaint, so her Majesty overlooked the incident.”

“At this academy, angering royalty of another country will certainly not be overlooked by her Majesty. You are part of her Imperial Guards, right? Angering the Duke’s daughter is unspeakable.”

Hearing this from the two of them, Saito was troubled.

At Saito’s present state, Tiffania gave a reassuring smile.

“Thank you, Saito. I’m happy for the thought.”

“…Tiffa.”

“It’s really alright. Wearing a hat during class is my fault. After all, it’s bad to lie about it.”

Drawing upon some determination, Tiffania nodded.

“I’m really sorry for worrying you.”

Tiffania pitter-pattered away. Saito continued to stare at her golden hair as it trailed in the wind.

After classes and practice, arriving at Louise’s room, Saito consulted Louise about today’s events.

“It seems that Tiffania is somehow being bullied by her classmates.”

Louise sat on her bed listening to Saito.

“Leave it alone.”

She nodded.

“How cold! You can’t be saying that. She’s being bullied. That timid Tiffania is going to get bullied to death. Hey Louise, your family also has the Duke title, right? Say something to that spoiled brat, please.”

However, Louise did not budge on the issue.

“It’s not our problem to be dealt with. It’s her class’s problem. If third years stick their head into this problem, it would unnecessarily put Tiffania in a worse position.”

Louise calmly replied, but Saito couldn’t accept it. He pressed on,

“While what you say may be correct… But Tiffania doesn’t really have anyone to rely on here. At least, we should be there to help her…”

“That’s why I’m saying that it’s unnecessary.”

“How dare you say that it's unnecessary! This is what we're supposed to do! Weren't us the ones who brought her here!”

Blood rushed to Saito’s head, as he raised his voice.

“You know, from now on that girl is a noble. And as a noble, she can’t live without being alone at times. Because of that, she needs to be independent. Becoming helpless at just a little bit of teasing, she won’t survive living in Halkeginia. She needs to pick up the pieces of herself afterwards. That’s what it means to be a noble.”

Louise said in a strict tone.

Looking at that face, Saito was reminded of what happened a year ago.

Louise was being made fun of by her class.

Saying things like ‘zero’ and ‘idiot,’ Louise didn’t have a single friend.

Holding onto her pride as a noble, Louise faced up to the golem…

Comparing with Louise, Tiffania was now in a similar position. This was definitely not something to not take seriously.

“Also…that girl like me is also a bearer of the “Void.” She has to shoulder the destiny of a special noble. Really, if she needs to rely on someone for such a little thing, someday she’ll be crushed by her own problems.”

Saito was completely speechless.

It was just as Louise said.

But, but…

Looking at Louise now, she had at some point, little by little, paddled across her river of problems.

“Hey you, when someone is trying to have a serious talk, don’t fall asleep.”

“…Who’s fault do you think it is that I’m losing sleep?”

“Huh?”

Louise leaned her head back and appeared to have fallen asleep. Having been completely ignored, Saito scratched his head in confusion.

In bed, Louise’s face blushed.

She felt embarrassed about her earlier behavior.

No matter what kind of bully, isn’t it better to say something? If it was said that the La Valliere family were Tiffania’s guardian, that would be a good warning.

Her earlier statement was certainly correct.

If you were to deal with every case of bullying, there would be no end. Being the bearer of the “Void” regardless of whether she wanted to or not, Tiffania had to be ready for any danger. Hostility, be it mean classmates or strong enemies, could be around any corner.

But… That was not her real intention.

She was actually a bit envious.

Lately, although she had been cold to Saito, she thought of him being stuck on Tiffania. That kind of thing made her furious.

But, of course she wouldn’t say a word about it.

She couldn’t forgive herself for being envious, thought Louise as she bit her lip under the covers.

Being envious, not reaching out to Saito when she should, ‘I’m… the worst,’ Louise thought.

Because she was like that, did Saito become cold to her?

As those thoughts began coming up endlessly… Sleep took over. Hidden under the covers, tears spilled down her face.

Chapter 3

The first class of the next day, the Suen class of first year students began lessons about the earth element.

The teacher of this class was Mrs. Chevreuse.

Known also as ‘Chevreuse the Red Clay,’ she unfolded a list of names to take attendance.

“Miss Westwood.”

Tiffania’s name was called.

Yet, there was no reply.

“Miss Westwood?”

The name was repeated, but the result was the same. Looking around the classroom, Tiffania’s trademark hat could not be seen anywhere.

“Miss Westwood seems to be absent…does anyone know the reason for this?”

No one in the classroom answered.

Sitting in the back row were Beatrice and her followers with spiteful grins plastered on their face as they watched Mrs. Chevreuse look around the room.

“Your Highness. It seems that that girl isn’t around today.”

“Instead of a hat, perhaps she is busy preparing a mask for herself?”

Giggles spread across Beatrice’s group at her wisecrack.

“Doesn’t anyone here know the reason for Miss Westwood’s absence?”

Going back to the original question, it still remained unanswered.

Mrs. Chevreuse shrugged her shoulders with a troubled look. Just arriving from Albion, was the missing student suffering from anxiety? It would appear that she had yet to make friends whom she could turn to. Because of a lack of exposure to society, her character must have made it hard for her to make friends. Mrs. Chevreuse decided to pay her a visit after class, but for now, the lesson would have to continue.

“Well everyone, let’s start where we left off last week on the topic of ‘alchemy’. Last week, we looked at synthesizing brass…”

At that moment, the door opened with a creak. The gaze of the entire room fell upon the girl standing there. It was Tiffania.

“What’s with that appearance?”

One of Beatrice’s followers remarked.

Tiffania’s appearance was certainly strange.

Instead of her normal academy uniform, Tiffania was enveloped with a tan-colored robe with long flowing sleeves. This particular design was rarely seen in Halkeginia. With her face shrouded by a hood, Tiffania hesitantly creeped into the classroom.

“Miss Westwood. You are late.”

Tiffania clasped her fist over her chest in order to gain some courage.

“What happened to your uniform? Take off that ridiculous robe. Now is not the time for a costume party.”

“Replacing that hat of yours with a strange robe? You look like a some kind of fool!”

Lisette chimed in. The girls that held ill feelings for Tiffania all laughed.

Amidst the laughter, Tiffania’s face peeked out from underneath the hood.

“Th-This is not the robe of some fool! This was my mother’s robe!”

The class was taken aback by Tiffania’s outburst.

Mrs. Chevreuse edged closer as she inspected Tiffania’s robe.

“It is a strange design indeed…the sewing method looks like that of the desert inhabitants and…hm? Hmm? Ah! Th-This is!”

Mrs. Chevreuse trembled slightly.

“This can’t be? Your mother was a…, if I’m correct, an e-e-el…”

Understanding Mrs. Chevreuse’s next words, Tiffania removed the hold covering her head.

Seeing her long ears appear from underneath the hood, the class got into an uproar.

“Elf!”

The students fell into a panic. Meanwhile, the students closer to the front moved away from Tiffania. Mrs. Chevreuse’s legs gave out as she dropped to the floor. Waddling away towards the wall, her large body weighed her down such that she hardly got anywhere.

Tiffania approached Mrs. Chevreuse as she was frantically crawling away on all fours.

“Ah! H-Help!”

“I-I won’t do anything to you! Please calm down!”

Tiffania told her with an assertive face. The sunlight beaming from the window illuminated Tiffania’s dazzling face. Her golden hair sparkled making her appearance shine with beauty like that of a fairy. Like a religious painting from ancient times, her divine appearance had struck the hearts of the students for a moment. But then, her long ears invoked fear as the scared faces returned.

“Everyone, please don’t be scared and listen to me. As you can see, I have the blood of an elf running through me. But I don’t have the slightest intention of causing harm to anyone! Rather, I left the forests of Albion so that I could learn here with everyone!”

“Don’t take us as fools!”

Lisette shouted. Many students nodded in agreement.

The boys in the class at this point were caught between worshipping and fearing Tiffania. These mixed feelings confused them such that they didn’t know what to do. Mrs. Chevreuse was still trembling.

Beatrice abruptly stood up.

Her face was trembling with anger.

“Everyone! Don’t let her fool you! Halkeginia has had a long history of dispute with elves! No matter what situation, her kind has been our sworn enemy!”

Drawing a deep breath, Tiffania shouted with a shaky voice.

“It’s true that Halkeginians have opposed the elves! My body flows with the blood of my mother who was an elf and my father who was a human, both of whom I loved!”

“What, you’re a half-elf? The daughter of a human who sold their soul to an elf? That kind of person is worse than any elf!”

Tiffania’s face paled, and then she started trembling. Never in her life had she held such strong anger before.

“Don’t insult my father!”

At that point, something happened.

Breaking through the classroom windows, around ten knights flew in from outside. The class was once again enveloped with screams. Faced with so many happenings, Mrs. Chevreuse finally passed out.

The knights were equipped with bulky, shining blue armor. Even in the military it was rare to see mages wearing armor. There was only one exception to this rule…

Seeing the shining breastplate and the crest of the yellow dragon, one boy in the class shouted.

“The aerial armored brigade ‘Luftpanzer Ritter’!”

Seeing that Halkeginia’s strongest brigade was here, the students gave a cheer.

One knight, assumed to be the commander, got in between Tiffania and Beatrice, as if to protect the latter. Pulling out a short, military-type wand from his side, he pointed it towards the surprised half-elf.

“Do not come any closer to her Highness.”

The rest of the brigade, with the appearance of being trained from head to toe, shuffled quickly to surround Tiffania.

Tiffania was hugging both of her arms to her chest, trembling slightly.

“It is better for you not to move. I wouldn’t want to have to cut those cursed ears off your head. I know that you elves can use ‘ancient’ magic. Even without a wand, they are able to cast that evil magic!”

“I-I don’t know how to use ‘ancient’ magic. I’m telling the truth. Also, ‘ancient’ magic is not evil. My mother told me so. Every magic is the same. Depending on the person’s intentions, magic can be used for good or evil.”

“Shut up! No one is going to be believe your delusions.”

“But, I…want to get along with everyone! It may be hard to believe me, but…”

“Ha. If you say that you ‘want to get along with everyone’ and prove that you aren’t a vile desert dweller, then you should believe in the same god as us, right?

Like that would really happen. Beatrice questioned with a very smug look on her face.

“When I was in Albion, there was an altar that I offered my blessings to every week. My mother did so as well. I don’t know whether she strongly believed in that religion though. For the sake of getting along with everyone, I am willing to convert.”

“Well then, you are going to need to provide some proof.”

“Proof?”

Beatrice’s face flashed as if saying, ‘this was her chance.’

“Like, like—Ah! Let’s have a heresy inquiry! I will represent the ancestor of Founder Brimir. For the day of the baptism, I will bear the role as a bishop from the Guldenhorf religious sect. The validity of the ceremony will be enough with that.

‘Heresy inquiry.’

At those words, a clamor started in the classroom.

At around the same time…

Saito was in the third-year class with his elbows on the desk thinking about what to do next. Louise was not around him. Because she said that she felt a little unwell, Louise was absent from class.

Saito was, however, not concerned about Louise’s condition, but rather that of Tiffania’s.

He was only worried about whether she was being bullied right now. He thought about some gossip he heard from a girl a while back.

It was about a skill called ‘wringing out your tea napkin.’

What that really meant was for a pretty girl to lift up her skirt tail, so that she can entice her prey.

Th-The image was not good…if Tiffania were to do that to me, I would…, Saito thought. Saito held his nose. This image naturally made blood trickle out his nose.

Crash! From a classroom on a lower level, the sound of glass breaking could be heard at that moment. The classroom got noisy.

‘What was going on?’ thought many of the students as they approached the window. Many wind dragons, equipped with breastplates and helmets, were hovering outside.

“That is Miss Guidenholf’s dragon knight squad isn’t it?”

One of the students said. Apparently, it was the dragons that were stationed in the field outside of the academy that Saito saw the other day. They had the same flags as seen on the tents, and the crests on their shining armor was the same.

Looking down, many knights were seen riding the dragons out of the window. Seeing that one of the knights was holding Tiffania, Saito’s eyes got wide.

“Tiffa!”

The dragons flapped their wings towards the direction of the tents. Saito chased after them. Growing tired of the dull class, the students also joined in the chase. They all seemed to value a good show over that of any food or drink.

Tiffania was thrown down harshly in front of the tents outside of the academy. The knights formed a circle around her, pointing their wands.

“…What do you plan to do with me?”

With a scared face, Tiffania looked around her. The scary looking knights clad in blue armor were all around her. Around the knights were even scarier looking wind dragons that were roaring threateningly. The situation was enough to make any normal person faint.

There was nothing that could be done in this situation.

Even casting her ‘Oblivion’ spell would not work, due to being restrained by the knights. If she were to risk casting a spell, she would most likely be on the receiving end of a volley of magic.

Tiffania cursed her own carelessness.

She should not have revealed her true identity after all. She'd thought that they would accept her. Meeting Saito and his friends and they not becoming scared at the elfin blood in her, she had carelessly expected that other people of Tristania would be the same.

However, that was a misconception. Tiffania realized that elves were feared and hated by the people of Halkeginia.

The image of her mother’s death, just for being an elf, floated in the back of her mind.

Wanting to see the outside world, how foolish of a thought was that!

The image of these knights surrounding her now overlapped with memories of that day in the mansion at Saxe-Gotha, where her mother was killed by mages.

Was she also going to be killed like her mother simply for being an elf?

Tiffania trembled. The trembling got worse and wouldn’t stop.

Breaking through the circle of knights, Beatrice appeared. While playing with her locks of hair, Beatrice questioned Tiffania with an amused tone,

“Do you know what a heresy inquiry is?”

Tiffania nodded shakily through her trembling.

“You said that you would ‘believe in Founder Brimir.’ You, with the blood of an elf, say that you would believe, believe in the god of the people of Halkeginia. That’s why we will need proof. To prove that you are not a ‘heretic’, you will have to show that in front of the ancestors and agents of the church. That is what the ‘heretic inquiry’ is.”

Tiffania noticed the look in Beatrice’s eyes.

Even if she were an elf, there was no reason to torment her this much.

It was because she didn’t like her that she was tormenting her.

After all, those eyes did not hold any hatred. Those knights that killed her mother because ‘she was an elf’ had an unforgettable fire of hatred in their eyes.

However, the glow in Beatrice’s eyes was that of amusement.

Having found a reason to torment Tiffania, Beatrice was having fun.

Instead of being afraid, Tiffania was now enveloped with anger. With a firm look, Tiffania glared up at Beatrice.

“…What an unfortunate person.”

“What did you say?”

“If everything doesn’t go your way, you aren’t satisfied. You act like a child.”

Beatrice’s face flushed red.

A dry sound rang through the air.

Beatrice had slapped Tiffania’s cheek.

“Well then, let’s begin. You are going to have to get in a pot of hot water. If you are truly a servant of Founder Brimir, the water will feel just right to you. However, if you are a detestable non-believer, your body may end up roasted.”

One knight gave a signal and a large pot, that appeared to be used for cooking food, was brought over from a nearby tent and placed onto the fire. Using strong flame magic, the water inside the pot was quickly brought to a boil.

Of course, there was no way anyone could survive being in that boiling water regardless of being a believer or non-believer. This ‘heresy inquiry’ was simply another way for the church to carry out their executions.

At that time, the students who had followed after the earlier commotion had arrived. Not fearing the dragon knights, the students formed a large circle around Beatrice and them, glaring at them.

Having gathered an audience, Beatrice shouted with pride.

“In the name of the Guldenhorf family, the heresy inquiry will now commence! To all the devout followers of Founder Brimir, please witness this trial!”

‘Heresy inquiry!?’ many students murmured.

Breaking through the circle of students, a boy trembling with anger flew in.

It was Saito.

“What the heck are you doing, you guys!”

For a moment, Tiffania’s face brightened, but it soon returned to gloominess.

“Heresy inquiry.”

“I don’t know about heresy or what not, but let Tiffa go! Do you understand what you are doing?”

Saito stepped towards Tiffania, but was soon restrained from behind.

Looking around, the one holding Saito back was Malicorne. Behind him was Guiche, Reynal and the rest of the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

“Stop it, Saito.”

“Stop what!”

“Doing this will put you in a really bad spot.”

Saito looked over to Guiche for support.

“What? You… just because your family borrowed money, you’re going to overlook this?”

“No…that’s not true.”

Guiche said with a serious face.

“Then, you’re afraid of those dragon knights? How despicable!”

“Do you really understand? It’s a heresy inquiry!”

Malicorne had suddenly shouted seriously.

“What about it?! Those guys are all picking on Tiffa! How can I not save her?!”

“If we protect her, we will also be treated as heretics! You can’t even joke about something like that! Not only us, but our entire family will get sucked into it!”

Saito’s face paled at those words.

“Seriously?”

“It’s the truth.”

Guiche said in a low voice.

“…Damn it.”

Saito dropped to his knees and pounded the ground with a fist.

Glancing at Saito’s reaction, Beatrice smiled widely. She once again turned towards Tiffania.

“Miss Westwood. I envy you. You have even won over those Undine knights. I’m going to be merciful and offer you one chance. Leave right now, and go back to the countryside you belong. If you do that, I’ll forget about all of your rudeness.”

A moment of silence passed.

Everyone, from the gathered students to the Undine knights, had their attention on Tiffania. It was unmistakable what everyone was thinking.

Accept the chance.

However, Tiffania did not agree to this.

Tiffania lifted her head with confidence, saying to Beatrice.

“No. I will not leave.”

“…Wha!”

“Seeing the outside world has always been my wish. Due to Saito and his friends, that dream has been granted. That’s why I won’t return. If I were to go back because of a cowardly person like you, I would never be able to face them again.”

At Tiffania’s words, the surrounding students erupted in cheers.

They had been really surprised at her long ears, but somehow they couldn’t see Tiffania being a vile desert elf that should be feared.

And as for what she'd said just now, how truthful that was!

On top of that, besides the boastful first-years who were hiding behind authority, there really were not many that had hostility towards Tiffania.

“Let her go!”

“That’s right! Let’s properly hear the situation from Old Osman!”

Being showered with these statements, Beatrice’s face twitched.

“Luftpanzer Ritter…! As you wished, I will start the inquiry!”

As the aerial brigade approached Tiffania, a hand stretched out.

At that moment, Saito had shaken free from Malicorne’s grasp and dove towards Tiffania. The aerial brigade quickly got in front of Beatrice, pointing their wands at Saito.

Again, cheers erupted from the students.

“Saito-sama! Beat up those lowly, dragon knights! After all, Saito-sama is the hero who stopped an army of 70,000!”

Saito was truly the man who stopped the advancing army of 70,000 during his side’s withdrawal at Albion.

Not only that.

Through rumors, he was also known to have many other accomplishments. Everyone had remembered when he, as a commoner, defeated Guiche in a duel. Saito would certainly be able to defeat this feared squadron by himself!

Everyone was expecting this outcome from Saito, who exploded with demonic rage.

However…Saito’s next action was completely different.

With both palms on the ground, he was bowing down all the way.

“Umm. Your Highness Guldenhorf. I beg you. I was the one who brought Tiffa. It is my responsibility, so please forgive her.”

“So you plan to oppose me?”

“Ha! I have no intention of opposing you! I’m just pleading to the devil. Just like this!”

With a pleasant smile, Saito bowed down deeply again.

“Even if I request like this, is it no good?”

“No.”

“Even with my head down?”

“You’re pestering me.”

Saito let out a quick, deep sigh. He should’ve been violent in the first place, he regretted. Saito reached for Derflinger on his back.

“Partner…too slow…”

‘That was completely reckless of me,’ Saito thought.

The wand welding knights reflexively let out a burst of magic. Saito had both arms pinned to the ground with ice arrows.

“Grr…”

“Hey, hey! What do you plan on doing with that sword? You fool!”

The surrounding students, all let out a sigh of disappointment. Hearing those sighs, Saito was at that moment quite occupied.

I couldn’t help it… If I got rough, then I would become a heretic, right?

If that happened, Guiche and the rest of the knights would be in trouble. Saito’s master, Louise, would be in the most trouble. That’s why he bowed down to them for now.

But, his arms hurt. First, he would need to stand up and somehow grip onto Derf. He would think about what to do after he dragged Tiffa away. While he was thinking about what his success rate would be, he drew some strength to his arm and…

Clank! Splash! The sound of the large pot flipping on its side could be heard.

As for the reason of the noise, a bronze valkyrie-shaped golem had overturned that large pot. The boiling water had washed over the fire, putting it out with a loud hiss.

A bronze valkyrie?

Struck dumb with astonishment, everyone turned their eyes toward Guiche. There stood a very nervous Guiche, trembling all over while still gripping his rose wand tightly.

“Guiche!”

All the students yelled at once.

“Mister Gramont, what is the meaning of this? Are you planning to oppose the Guldenhorf family?”

“No, well…”

“Well?”

“This hand just…moved on its own. Ha ha.”

Guiche smacked his hand loudly a few times.

“Don’t take me as a fool.”

“No, well…”

“Tell me clearly, already!”

Guiche let out a huge breath from the bottom of his heart. Then, he started mumbling incoherently.

“I’m at a loss… Even though it’s a heresy inquiry…ahhh, I’m at a loss. Even though my opponent is the Guldenhorf family…ahhh, ahhh, I’m at a loss. Not only that, but I would have liked to stay away from that aerial armored division…I’m done for… With such a large audience, I’m really done for. I couldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t do something cool. I’m an idiot. A big idiot.”

“Mister Gramont?”

Hearing his name being called, Guiche was gradually preparing for the worst.

When he was ready, his next actions went by quickly.

Guiche straightened his collar and stood up straight.

Bringing up a face bursting with energy, it was as if he just woke up now.

No matter what happened, Guiche was a noble of this world. He was a descendant of a military family who were trained with a mentality for giving and taking lives as an everyday incident.

“It shames me to ignore a lady and a friend. This heresy inquiry is a disgrace to my family’s honor. Because of this, it is clear that I have to settle this with my wand.”

There was no hesitation in his voice, as he pointed his imitation rose at the dragon knights, who were said to be the ‘strongest squad in Halkeginia.’

“Guiche, fourth son of the Gramont family, I respectfully accompany you.”

Seeing Guiche in such a manner, Malicorne shouted next to him.

“Gooooooo! Knights of the Water Spirit! Follow the Commander!”

All at once, the Undine knights had pulled out their wands. Truly, all of them were filled with confidence. Looking ready to fight, none of them carried fear on their faces.

Beatrice was shaking fiercely, her anger and frustration at its peak. With a loud cry, she gave her orders.

“Go, Luftpanzer Ritter!”

Clank! Loud sounds rang as the dragon knights stepped forward a step.

The largest knight then advanced forward first, pointing his wand at Guiche and the Undine knights. It seemed that this dragon knight was the leader. In the opening of the face mask, a Kaiser-style mustache stretched across his stern face. The dragon knight opened his mouth, making his mustache shake.

“Students playing knights. You’re only going to get hurt.”

A smirk floated on Guiche’s face. It was not his usual smirk. It was an atrociously heartless smirk, like the time when he unforgivably tormented Saito when he first got here.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Well then, tell me where you would like to be pierced by my valkyries.”

Under the face mask, the knight’s face turned red in anger.

Chanting a spell, several ice arrows were sent towards Guiche, but the bronze valkyrie crossed its short spears, blocking the ice arrows from hitting Guiche.

Clang! The spear made a noise, as it bounced the arrows back.

Quickly, Malicorne chanted and let out a wind spell. Lost in anger, the leader of the aerial brigade was hit squarely with Malicorne’s ‘air hammer,’ which promptly made him taste the ground as he was blown away. Under the weight of the armor impacting the ground, it was wrung with dents.

The leader gave out a cry.

The rest of the aerial brigade roared as they began to cast one spell after another, creating a chorus of incantations.

The Knight Corps of the Water Spirit also unyieldingly unleashed their magic.

Amongst the chaos of enemies, allies, and onlookers, a splendid battle of magic had started.

If the Luftpanzer Ritter had been any normal brigade, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit would have overwhelmed them already. That goes to show that there was quite an ability gap between the two sides, the Luftpanzer Ritter supporting their claim as Halkeginia’s strongest dragon knight squadron. In contrast to these veterans, as the dragon knight leader said, the Undine knights may as well be students ‘playing knights’ as they haven’t been around long enough to ‘grow hair on their chins.’

However, if the dragon knights had actually ridden their dragons, their true abilities would be shown. By riding their dragons, they could make full use of the defensive ability of their heavy armor, while on land their armor only became boulders chaining them down and hindering their movement. Yet, to use dragons against school children was demeaning to the pride of the Luftpanzer Ritter, so this land battle made for a large disadvantage for them. Overall, the dragon knights weren’t even able to pull out half of their normal strength.

Looking at the other side, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit was full of fighting spirit. Having used the field of this current battle as their normal training ground also worked as a bonus for them, as being the ‘home team’ was a great advantage.

However, the best aid to them was something else…

“Guiche-sama! Keep going!”

“Malicorne-sama! Right! To the Right!”

It was the cheering from the on-looking students. Being in a situation where one’s girlfriend or girl that he secretly liked, cheered him on, a man’s ability could become several times greater.

Combining all of these factors from both sides, the battle became fairly well matched.

Malicorne, who had blood trailing down his head, still kept a smile as he was blindly shooting blades of wind. Some of those blades managed to slip in between the crevices of the armor, slashing the legs of the dragon knights.

The usually calm Reynal was giving a beastly cry as he brandished his flame magic. The knights that were being roasted couldn’t bear it as they tossed and turned on the ground.

Guiche’s bronze valkyries were nimbly dancing around like the movements of Gandálfr as they speared into the slow-moving knights one after another.

Of course, the Undine knights were not without injury. Eventually, everyone on both sides began shouldering injuries as wounds and blood covered them.

One by one, members of each side fell down to the ground, unable to move. Quickly, the surrounding audience got into action, casting water spells to heal members of both sides.

As if possessed by the god of war, both sides continued the fierce battle with no end in sight. Whichever side’s troops fell, water magic would heal them, only for them to carelessly dive right back into battle.

It couldn’t be helped as both sides would not give in even an inch of their pride.

The audience comprised of nearly all students that accompanied them, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit.

The protectors of their lord Beatrice, the Luftpanzer Ritter.

Saito, who had a very dark look on his face, lazily watched the seemingly endless battle between the two. Since both of his arms were injured, he couldn’t draw his sword, so he couldn’t join in the fight. Completely forgetting about Saito, no one cast any water magic on him. Even if his arms were somehow alright, he would still hesitate to dive into this dreadful battle because the area seemed to be engulfed in madness.

Not wanting to keep his eyes open, various magic spells whizzed above his head, hitting some unlucky noble who cried in pain. That cry was soon replaced by the sound of a roar from another person.

Besides the chanting of runes, there were cries of ‘There!’ ‘No, here!’ ‘Now you’ve really done it!’ ‘Idiot, that was an ally!’ ‘Firing from behind is cheating!’ ‘Shut up, you just popped in from the side!’ could be heard all around. Frankly speaking, the battle was a mess.

On top of that, fist fights began to occur here and there. With a demonic expression, Malicorne bit one knight on the head. At this, Saito got really sad.

One knight had finally noticed the inactively observing Saito and jumped over to him to fight without using magic. He had for some reason stopped his chanting.

Saito took a deep breath and vigorously made a fist with his injured arm. Although he was feeling quite tired, his fist flew out as he too joined the battlefield controlled by madness.

The battle continued for quite some time. While the commotion had already caused the teachers to gather around, none of them could do anything amongst the chaos. The teachers had informed Old Osman about the incident, but he only replied coldly to ‘leave them be…’

Chapter 4

At that same time…

Siesta, who was currently cleaning Louise’s room, heard violent sounds coming from outside.

“Hmm…I wonder what that could be?”

Siesta walked over to the window, taking a peek outside. However, the tower and the surrounding walls blocked the view of where the sounds came from.

The violent sounds continued for a while. Somehow, the sounds seemed to be explosions of magic. The sound of raging flames, the sound of ice spears smashing, the sound of lumps of earth collapsing, along with various other sounds reached her ears. In addition, cries and roars could be heard.

“I don’t like this. Did another war start again?”

At that time, the covers on the bed slowly shifted. Underneath was Louise clad in a negligee. She slowly got up, her eyes clearly red from crying. Her hair was all crumpled, and lines of tears had dried over her cheeks. Overall, she was a mess.

“Oh, Miss Vallière. Have you woken up?”

Without giving a reply, she turned towards the window, staring at the sounds of violence outside. With an irritated tone, she mumbled,

“It’s so loud… Even though someone is trying to wallow in sorrow here…”

“Hey, it sounds pretty serious out there. I wonder if a war has started…I don’t like it. Hm? Miss Vallière?”

Louise had wandered out of the room, still wearing her negligee. In her hand, she firmly grasped her wand.

Siesta was just about to chase after her, but a dark aura emitting from Louise’s back made her retreat back in fear.

“Hauu. Somehow, Miss Vallière right now is scarier than any dragon.”

Saito’s breathing was getting pretty ragged. His fists which had been used repeatedly were swollen red, warping their shape. Next to him was Guiche with his blond hair dyed with blood, who was still holding onto his rose wand. Waving his wand, he weakly muttered out,

“Va-valkyrie.”

However, the petals on the rose wand had finally all fallen off, leaving a bare stem.

“Finish them.”

Guiche said amongst his panting. The blown away foe revealed Malicorne behind him, who then came forward to breathlessly inform the commander and assistant commander,

“Our remaining troops are only the six of us.”

Beside Reynal, whose glasses were broken, stood only two people. The rest of the squad had fallen and were lying stretched out on the ground. There was no more water magic to heal them nor did they have the strength for powerful magic.

On the other side, the Luftpanzer Ritter squad still had ten people standing. They were the ones that had cast off their bulky armor. The remaining ten were looking pretty beat up as well. Some of them had blood running down their faces or a broken arm dangling to the side.

Around them, the students all watched holding their breath. Not just to the eyes of the supporting audience, but the Undine knights truly had done considerably well against the much more experienced dragon knights.

“The other side looks like they are also on their last leg.”

Guiche said.

“Ah. This will most likely end with the next attack…”

Malicorne replied. Perhaps…the remaining Undine knights would not be able to withstand the next attack. Since the battle had been long, it was a matter of experience and ability. This fact had become clear to the remaining few.

Saito looked feverishly at his worn down friends. Although his body screamed here and there with pain, he was still feeling bright.

In fact, he couldn’t help having fun.

“Ha…ha…, I can’t believe I’m saying this at a time like now.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t help but find this fun.”

Hearing this, Guiche laughed loudly. Malicorne also laughed. So did Reynal and the rest of the remaining boys.

“They’re coming.”

The commander ordering the dragon knights to line-up, they all charged forward.

Guiche waved his wand and commanded in a loud voice.

“Gentlemen! Advance forward!”

Using all of their last strength, the Undine knights dashed forward.

At that moment…

Between the two squadrons, a small ball of light formed.

“Wha?”

As soon as they all noticed it, the light swelled up into a large ball…and exploded.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Higiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

The flash of light blew away both sides as it gradually brought an end to the battle.

The ground on that spot was smoldering. Plowing her way through the audience of students, a pink-haired girl suddenly appeared. Although it was only a little girl, the aura wrapped around her spoke differently.

The veteran dragon knights and the courageous, high-spirited Undine knights were both sprawled on the ground in a daze as they stared at the girl slowly walking to them. To both of the squads, it was as if a dragon had blown away their fighting spirit.

It had been due to this one girl, that the battle had abruptly ended.

One of the dragon knights staggeringly got up.

“What the hell are you!?”

He shouted.

He only shot himself in the foot for that. The pink-haired girl waved her wand, and an explosion popped right in front of his eyes, blowing him away.

“…You’re noisy.”

Including Saito, the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit shouted.

“Louise!”

“You guys are really noisy, you understand? I’m losing sleep here. When I finally think I’ve fallen asleep, all I hear is boom, boom, boom, boom…”

With Louise’s own words, she was gradually getting more and more irritated.

“If it’s bb-booming you want… Do your ff-fireworks ss-somewhere else…cc-cause it’s keeping me up.”

Louise was clearly biting down on her lips and starting to fiercely tremble with anger. The anger was building up to the point where her body was spasming. An aura of anger floated all around her. The students got really scared. The dragon knights also got really scared. The wind dragons around them also got scared. Louise was really pissed.

“I can’t sleep at all!”

After Louise screamed out, she then began chanting another spell. The Undine knights and dragon knights both tried to escape in the meantime, but they were not able to make it in time.

Bringing down the wand like before, another bright ball of light formed…and with that the sound of another ear-deafening explosion rang in the ears of all the on-lookers.

After the dust from the explosion settled, the on-looking students that had witnessed Louise’s “Explosion” spell saw that all of the members of both squads had been cleared from the field and had lost consciousness.

The students that had been in the middle of the explosion looked dazedly at Louise who was still standing there half-asleep.

“Louise’s explosion has gotten pretty strong…”

“It has totally become a weapon.”

As to the students who didn’t know “Void” existed, they simultaneously let out their impressions. In no way did they suspect that a legend was unveiling so close at hand.

Beatrice, who had been watching outside of the explosion radius, trembled as she approached the negligee clad Louise standing around. Even still, she tried her best to maintain her pride as she called out.

“Y-You! What is the meaning of this?!”

“Huh? Who are you?”

Louise scratched her shoulder with her wand as she asked in a lazy voice. Beatrice answered with a tone implying that ‘you better listen.’

“I am Beatrice Yvonne von Guldenhorf! The Guldenhorf family that is connected to the Tristanian royal family and owner of a respectable, independent country! I will definitely report this rudeness to her Majesty Queen Henrietta!”

“Guldenhorf? That Germanian born, money grubbing clan is what you are muttering about in your sleep? You say you are going to report what to her Majesty? Don’t make me laugh. I’m telling you that I am in a really foul mood right now. If you keep griping, I’m going to crush that crappy family of yours.”

At Louise’s words, Beatrice’s face got completely red.

“Wha, wha, money-grubbers, you sayyyyy!”

“You bring up your family’s name so readily, which makes you one, right?”

“I haven’t heard your name yet! Tell me now!”

“Louise de La Vallière.”

Beatrice’s eyes opened wide.

“La Vallière? As in the Duke of La Vallière?”

“Is there any other Vallière out there?”

Shaken, Beatrice was biting her lip. The words she was told as she left her home popped up. Her father had told her that there were three opponents that they could not go against in Tristain.

One was the Tristain royal family.

Another was Cardinal Mazarin.

And the last one was the family prided with the greatest social status in the history of Tristain, the La Vallières. Other than those three, it was OK to pick a fight with anyone else, her father said.

But the blood had rushed up Beatrice’s head. Who the hell are the La Vallières? Her family also had duke status. History and social status aside, her family had more property and land hands down.

Furthermore, she was also holding a trump card.

Beatrice crossed her arms, continuing to call on her bluff.

“La Vallière-sempai. Do you realize what I am doing now? A heresy inquiry, got that? I was just now in the middle of that inquiry. Because you ruined the ceremony, shall I also consider you in cahoots with that group of heretics? The duke having a heretic for a daughter! What kind of scandal would that be!

But Louise was not affected at all.

“Heresy inquiry? Do you have permission from a bishop?”

Beatrice paled. She didn’t have such a thing. The qualification that her family supposedly had when she had told Tiffania was actually a blatant lie. She had thought that Tristainian nobles would not question the matter, but Louise was sharp.

“Uhhh, it’s at my family’s place!”

Louise’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re lying about having one.”

“Eh? It’s not a lie! I don’t know what you are saying…”

“To perform a heresy inquiry, not only do you need permission from a bishop, but you also need an approval form from the church of Romalia. Why is it that you don’t know of this?”

At Louise’s words, the surrounding students looked at the situation differently. With the cries of ‘heresy inquiry,’ many of them had blanked out, but what Louise said was definitely true. Most of Beatrice’s statements were far too suspicious.

“Oi! Beatrice! Using the Founder’s name to torment a girl you don’t like, is that how nobles do things!?”

“For impersonating a bishop of Tristain, you will get burnt at the stake, you know!”

The students sidled up to Beatrice. They were by nature highly-prided nobles of Tristania. Having her prided dragon knights blown away, the now defenseless Beatrice was being cornered.

Beatrice was trembling as she dropped to her knees. Her trusted Luftpanzer Ritter couldn’t be reached. It was a dire situation for her.

It was such an atmosphere that even if she were to be hung right there and then, it wouldn't be strange, but a golden-haired fairy scurried her way to Beatrice.

It was Tiffania.

One of the students called out to Tiffania.

“Miss Westwood. You have the right to judge this girl. Deal with her as you see fit.”

Tiffania walked right up to Beatrice. With a moan, Beatrice turned away while still on the ground. Behind her, the students formed a wall, blocking her retreat.

Biting her lip, Tiffania looked down at Beatrice. Then, as if she knew what to do, she looked up.

The blood drained from Beatrice’s face. Preparing for the worst, Beatrice shut her eyes.

Everyone present was waiting for Tiffania’s judgement. That would be the price Beatrice would have to pay. Normally for this kind of situation, Beatrice would not complain even if she were killed…

However, Tiffania’s next words were out of everyone’s expectations.

Tiffania had taken the hand of the kneeled down Beatrice.

“L-Let’s be friends.”

She said.

All the students there were speechless. Such an unexpected event was anti-climatic.

“Miss Westwood? You have the right to judge this girl, you know?”

One very shocked student said to Tiffania. They thought that there was something strange about her head. But, Tiffania shook her head.

“This is an academy, right? It’s strange to judge someone at a place of learning.”

“But…but still! No matter how you think of it, this is...!”

“Also, I…came here to make friends, not to make enemies.”

Tiffania said with a determined look.

With those words, no one could say anything further. What broke the silence was the sound of Beatrice crying,

“Hi…hick. Hick.”

With the string of fear and anxiety cut, the moment Beatrice knew she was safe, tears spilled from her eyes. As if she were a child saved by a hair from falling off the edge of a cliff, Beatrice cried,

“Uu, uuu, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunn.”

Only the sound of her defenseless crying rang across the now empty field. Turning towards her crying voice, the students scratched their heads. It was only the selfishness of a child after all, so they lost the will to further denounce her.

“Is it over?”

Squeezing through the wall of students, the headmaster, Old Osman, appeared. Old Osman rubbed his beard as he grinned.

Then, in front of just about all the students, he placed a hand on Tiffania’s shoulder and informed everyone.

“Ah. Just now this girl said that she would stake her life to learn here. There is a lot to learn from these words. Do you understand, everyone? Originally, the will to learn is not a matter of life or death. Sometimes though, sticking to one’s own beliefs will turn the world into your enemy…don’t forget that.”

The students had a look on their faces wondering just why Old Osman chose this time to come out, but they just nodded for now. Content with the nods, Old Osman continued,

“However, taking matters to the extreme every time is stifling. While a fight here or there is expected, when someone dies, it’s too late. Furthermore, it becomes very bothersome, so I would like for this bickering to end now. This girl is under my guardianship, understand? In addition to that, Miss Tiffania is a guest entrusted to me by her Majesty the Queen. From now on, if there are students that wish to insult this girl’s lineage, be prepared to make enemies with the monarchy, understand?”

Entrusted to him by her Majesty the Queen?

The students all became nervous at once. This transfer student who had elf blood was a person connected to her Majesty the Queen.

From these words, they came to the realization that even though it was rather peculiar, instead of being something feared, they felt that her elf blood could even be something most admirable.

On top of that, the students, for the most part, had never seen a descendant of an elf. Because of Old Osman’s statement, they became more curious than afraid. Soon, they were favoring her dazzling appearance, disregarding the ill-feelings for man’s supposed mortal enemy.

The students approached Tiffania, requesting to shake her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you. This is the first time I’ve met an elf, but you are quite pretty.”

“I had imagined that elves were something along the line of orcs.”

“You had such an earnest composition that thought only of how to look ahead. It makes you seem nobler than us human nobles.”

With a moved expression on her face, Tiffania shook hands with each person one by one. Looking at such a scene with satisfaction, Old Osman looked around and said.

“Well, now that you have made up, please transport the injured to the infirmary and clean up this area. It looks like a storm blew through here.”

The students face-faulted, and then proceeded to transport the all but forgotten Undine knights and dragon knights.

Old Osman nodded at this scene and turned towards Tiffania beside him,

“I apologize for helping you so late. If I had helped you normally, it would have been hard for you to make true friends. Especially since it’s you, a person descent from an elf.”

The shy Tiffania hung her head with an expression that implied, ‘not at all…’

Old Osman coughed as if clearing his throat, and then put on a serious face.

“Well then…one last thing. There is something that I want to ask you.”

“Yes?”

With an uncertain look, Tiffania tilted her head.

“It is a question of utmost importance. Understanding this is a matter of life and death… This is a question that I ask with all of my being, so properly answer me.”

“Ok.”

With a serious look, Tiffania nodded.

Old Osman pointed nobly.

Right at, for the lack of better description, Tiffania’s huge chest…

There wasn’t even a speck of hesitation. Even giving off a dignified, calm aura, Old Osman gave his question.

“Are those real?”

Tiffania’s face was completely dyed red. Since it had seemed to be such a serious question, Tiffania couldn’t help but answer it, yet weakly.

“…Yes. They are.”

Old Osman put his hand to his ear and got closer to her face.

“More clearly, please. Say it such that this old man can hear you. Being this old… well, my hearing is going.”

Tiffania’s face got even redder. Drooping her head, she bit her lip.

“Th-They are real!”

“O-Once more.”

Old Osman mumbled with a slightly flushed cheek. Mrs. Chevreuse, who approached them, gave Old Osman’s stomach a taste of her fist.

‘Guh!’ went Old Osman as he rolled his eyes back. With a teacher each lifting the unconscious, old headmaster by an arm, they dragged him away.

For the moment, Tiffania was still looking down with her face deep red. As the wind blew around the field, as if beckoning her, she lifted her head up.

The wide field stretched on endlessly. Looking back, many fine towers were seen, giving the location of the Academy of Magic. This was the place she would study for the next three years.

Tiffania touched her ears. They were the proof that her mother’s blood ran through her body. These long ears…

Somehow feeling really bright, a smile floated on Tiffania’s face.

The infirmary of the Academy of Magic was built on floors 3 through 6 of the Water Tower. On the fourth floor were the Luftpanzer Ritter members laying in bed side by side, while the Knight Corps of the Water Spirit were on the third floor beds.

Saito woke up from the voices of some girls.

“Guiche-sama! Will you allow me to change your bandages?”

“Nooooo! I’m in charge of taking care of Reynal-sama! Please let me take your glasses.”

‘Huh?’ Saito thought as he shifted the curtain to look. In the adjacent beds, Guiche, Reynal, and the rest of the Undine knights were being doted on by the ladies.

The reddish-brown haired Katie appeared and called out to the rest of the girls.

“You girls, the assistant commander over there is in need of care!”

Saito’s heart skipped, but the next statement made him depressed.

“Ehhhh, but Saito-sama was kind of pathetic. I was completely disillusioned.”

“That’s right. When he suddenly begged, I was really disappointed. The thing about him stopping an army of 70,000 must have been some kind of misunderstanding.”

“Yeah. Looking closely, he seemed rather weak…”

In any case, because he begged in front of Beatrice, it seems that Saito’s popularity had hit rock bottom. On the other hand, Guiche and the others that fought bravely went up in popularity. ‘Honestly, what a simple bunch of people,’ Saito thought.

Turning his eyes in the other direction, a completely wrapped up Malicorne was there with his index finger pointed right at Saito.

“Friend.”

Malicorne muttered happily. Apparently, the only presence around Malicorne was that of a cuckoo-ing clock. It was kind of sad that both of them were like this, but there was a slight warmth in his chest.

There was not really any deep meaning to it, but Malicorne’s simple utterance of ‘friend’ strangely made him happy.

Also, they had helped him by standing against the feared Luftpanzer Ritter squad. Although there was the simple reason that ‘everyone was watching,’ it wasn’t just that.

Ahh, at that time…, when Guiche asked him ‘what he would do if he stayed in this world?’ he noticed that the strange pang in his heart was the same as it was now.

Basically…they had become his friends.

Friends that he laughed with together, talked with about dumb things, and stuck his neck out for…that kind of touching feeling. Abruptly, the curtain was drawn back, and the golden-haired fairy poked her face in.

“Saito.”

“Tiffa.”

“I’m glad…it didn’t become too serious.”

Saying that with a relieved face, Tiffania sat on the bed.

“Thank you.”

Being thanked by such a beautiful girl like Tiffania made Saito blush awkwardly.

“No, I’m not the one you should be thanking. You should say that to Guiche or Malicorne over there. If they hadn’t got rough…”

“No, of course I am very grateful for that, so I plan to thank them properly later. But first, I wanted to thank Saito.”

“Why?”

“Because, Saito, you begged for my sake, didn’t you? Even though Saito had done nothing wrong… That was something very difficult. You know, that made me very happy.”

“Th-That’s a given! It’s because we’re friends.”

Tiffania was smiling widely, a smile that was gentle and warm like basking in the rays of the summer sun.

“But Tiffa, you surprised me.”

“I did?”

“Yeah. I mean, you suddenly gave away your secret.”

Then, Tiffania said shyly,

“Saito, you told me, right?”

“I did?”

“Yes. Saito, didn’t you tell me at Westwood Village? ‘To have more confidence.’ I remember those words. And when I do, I think about how embarrassing it was to hide the truth about the blood running through my body…”

‘I see,’ Saito mouthed. Recalling that, he had casually said those words. But Tiffania had treated his casual statement as something dear to her.

“But I still do not have enough confidence.”

Tiffania muttered, looking a little lonely.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Saito said surprised as Tiffania lowered her voice. Her cheeks were flushed as she timidly stared.

“There are still many things that seem strange.”

“Like what?”

Tiffania bit her lip as she pointed to her own chest. The material of her academy uniform top was stretched to its limit. Two humongous melons were pressing against the top button, which looked like it would pop off any moment. Ahh, Tiffania’s chest was truly frightening. Instinctively, Saito clamped a hand on his nose so that he would not lose any more blood, thereby endangering his life.

Certainly if one had a chest like that, it would be easy to monopolize the popularity of her class… As he wondered what she was thinking, Tiffania started talking in a sad tone.

“Just now, Old Osman had asked me, ‘Are those real?’ I must be strange after all. I mean, there is no one else in the academy with breasts like these.”

Saito panicked.

“Th-That’s…”

“Do these things seem that unreal?”

As Tiffania asked with worry on her face, Saito shook his head fiercely.

“N-No. I think they’re real…I mean, they look real. Yep, real.”

“Saito is a friend, so you’re just saying that.”

“No, not at all.”

Tiffania was still worrying for the moment, but then she looked like she decided on something. She grabbed Saito’s hand tightly.

“I think that there is certainly some reason as to why they don’t seem real. So can you check them a little for me?”

Saito didn’t really understand, as he replied with a ‘Huh?’

“I can only rely on a friend about this. So please, Saito.”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

In a faint voice, Tiffania muttered,

“…ch them and check.”

“Wha?”

Taking a deep breath, Tiffania said seriously,

“Touch them and check.”

Although Saito fully understood what she said, there was a pause. At the moment he understood, feelings of joy, confusion, and fear attacked him all at once, leaving him on the verge of tears. No, he was indeed in tears. As the tears flowed, he was left not knowing what to do next.

“Miss Tiffania?”

“You know? Because I was thinking that there was a reason that they didn’t seem real, I thought about asking you in this way. Since I don’t understand it myself, I was hoping you could check and tell me.”

“I-I can touch them?”

Tiffania nodded quickly looking embarrassed.

The Tiffania that would allow this simply because they were friends was dazzling. From the bottom of his heart, Saito was glad that he was alive. After all his patience and hard work, God had finally awarded him in this manner. If there was a god that threw him into a pit, another god was there to lift him out of it.

Saito’s whole body was trembling…trembling with excitement.

“W-Well, rather than anyone else, it’s better for me to check. Or rather, if it wasn’t me that was here…”

“I-I think so too.”

As if Tiffania had readied herself, she stuck out her chest. Having never seen any this big before, the superbly humongous melons were right in front of him. Saito raised his hands up, slowly reaching forward. His fingers touched her shirt. Then, he was not able to go any further… If he continued, he thought he would die. Tiffania moved a bit.

Gunyo…

The palms of his hands squished the melons.

They were soft, but firm. Due to the nervousness and joy he felt, the palms of his hands got numb, so Saito couldn’t fully enjoy the feeling. But this was enough. If he were to enjoy this feeling fully, Saito would most likely drop dead from shock.

“…H-How is it? Is there something strange?”

“I don’t know. In any case, I’m about to die.”

Saito’s prediction had hit the mark.

As he replied straightforwardly, the curtain was pulled back.

Turning his eyes in that direction, Saito saw Louise and Siesta standing there. Louise had changed into her academy uniform. Siesta was in her usual maid outfit.

Seeing Saito groping Tiffania’s melons with both of his hands, the two of them continued to stare with a blank expression. Louise then called out to the infirmary nurse.

“I would like permission to move the patient on this bed.”

Siesta then said to Louise in a slightly shaken voice.

“He needs treatment. What do you say, Miss Vallière?”

Louise replied with a tone that oozed with malice from her very core,

“There’s too much to deal with...I can’t begin to count them. For now, we’ll start with his…”

“Life.”

Both of their faces were stiff as the same word left their mouths.

Saito’s body ached in pain as he used the last of his energy to forcefully spring out of bed. As he jumped through the window next to the pillow, shattering the glass, he suddenly realized that he was on the third floor.

Due to the sound of glass breaking, the screams of the people in the infirmary resounded.

Although it was the third floor and he was heavily injured, Saito decided that it was much safer than staying in that room.

He thought this as he watched the ground quickly getting closer.

If he only broke a bone…

If he were to miraculously be able to greet tomorrow…

‘Tiffania, we just need to find a way to hide your ‘miracle’ (her chest), like finding a loose enough shirt for you to wear.’ This was what Saito thought about telling her.

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