Phneldi quickly realized after hearing Perbek’s answer.
“‘He doesn’t have any particular purpose.’”
Malice without purpose. Hatred for the sake of hatred.
Phneldi felt even more reluctant to deal with Perbek, but outwardly showed little reaction and headed toward the dormitory of the Miscellaneous Studies class.
The students of the Miscellaneous Studies class were wary of the sudden visit from the Magic Class representative.
“Jermiel? Hmm, I haven’t seen him.”
“I think I saw him in the dining hall about two hours ago. But what’s going on?”
“Why are you looking for Jermiel?”
No matter how much she searched inside the dorm, Phneldi couldn’t find Jermiel.
Meanwhile, some of the Miscellaneous Studies students began picking a quarrel, saying, “Hey, this is a place magic users can’t wander into!” and half-forced her to leave.
The students who had driven Phneldi out felt a bit smug.
“How dare you trespass?”
“If you come again, don’t say you weren’t warned.”
A sense of belonging started to deepen among the students. This was exactly as the muscular principal intended.
Not wanting to fight with other students, Phneldi sighed and continued walking.
“Where on earth is Jermiel at a time like this? This is related to Seira.”
“So? Why are you looking for me?”
“Wha—! Where did you appear from?”
“I didn’t show up just because it had something to do with Seira.”
It was truly strange.
Jermiel, who had been invisible no matter how much she searched, suddenly appeared the moment she muttered, “It’s about something related to Seira.”
The timing couldn’t have been more peculiar.
Jermiel looked at Phneldi with a gentle smile and asked again,
“Is it really something related to Seira?”
“Yes. There’s someone trying to slander Seira.”
“Oh?”
At that moment, Jermiel smiled brightly.
It was as if a radiant lily had bloomed all around him.
“What kind of person is it?”
Phneldi’s heart thumped at that smile.
“So beautiful…”
Yet, strangely, goosebumps ran all over her body.
The Magic Class students were slightly excited.
“Mango jam with buttered bread?”
According to the Swordsmanship Class students who had tasted it first, it was so delicious that if one of them died while eating, no one would notice.
Today was the long-awaited day.
But a small problem had arisen.
“Ugh, what is this!”
“Th-there’s bugs!”
Inside the jar of jam Seira had brought, bugs were wriggling.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“How can something like this be sold?”
“And you even took an IOU in your family’s name!”
“This is an insult to our family.”
The Magic Class students’ anger at the ruined expectation of delicious mango jam and bread soared through the roof.
This was an unforgivable crime.
“Isn’t this an insult to the entire Magic Class?”
“No matter how much someone dislikes us, how can they be so clueless about right and wrong?”
Just as the critical voices against Seira rose, Phneldi, the Magic Class representative, stepped forward.
“Everyone, calm down.”
“Calm down? Are we in the mood to calm down?”
“This must be addressed officially!”
Phneldi pulled out a video recording device from her bosom.
“I think there’s someone with malice toward our Magic Class.”
“What?”
“I’ll show you the recorded video first.”
When the video played, it showed a boy wearing a blue badge.
The boy was opening the mango jam lid and putting bugs inside, laughing quietly.
Phneldi said,
—Perhaps he intends to ruin the relationship between the Swordsmanship Class and us…
Seeing little reaction, she rephrased.
“He seems unwilling to serve us mango jam on bread.”
“What a terrible scoundrel!”
“Who is that guy anyway?”
The students’ anger nearly exploded at losing their mango jam.
“I know him!”
“Me too! He’s Perbek from the Swordsmanship Class!”
“Perbek? How dare he tamper with sacred mango jam?”
They were ready to swarm and punish Perbek.
The Magic Class students eventually marched toward the Swordsmanship Class dormitory, looking ready for a brawl.
“Bring that Perbek here immediately!”
“Hand over the guy named Perbek!”
At the Swordsmanship Class dorm entrance, the students there frowned.
“Who do you think you are, demanding our class member?”
Though none were particularly close to Perbek, students in each class had begun feeling a strong sense of belonging.
How dare outsiders threaten them to hand over one of their own?
“Everyone, come out.”
“The magic users are invading!”
“Grab the wooden swords!”
Upon hearing that the Magic Class students had arrived, Swordsmanship Class students ran out, holding wooden swords.
“Finally, war!”
“We’ve been waiting for this, you magic users.”
Amidst the chaos, Magic Class representative Phneldi stepped up to sort things out.
She played the video again and demanded that Perbek be brought out.
The once-confident Swordsmanship Class students faltered.
“He… did that to mango jam?”
“Even for our class, defending this is too much…”
“That crossed the line.”
Eventually, a pale-faced Perbek descended to the first-floor entrance.
The Magic Class students demanded fiercely,
“Why commit such a disgraceful act!”
Even so, some Swordsmanship Class students defended Perbek.
“Calling it a disgrace is too much…”
“Yeah, it was a bad act, but not quite a disgrace, right?”
But their defense fell on deaf ears.
“What else would putting bugs in mango jam be, if not a disgrace!”
Perbek bit his lip.
“Seira! Such cowardly behavior…!”
When had they even installed the video recorder?
It was an act of distrust toward friends.
Instead, Perbek lashed out at Seira.
“Look at this! This is why I can’t trust Seira! How could she install a video recorder secretly? How petty and cowardly!”
Normally, installing a recorder required prior announcement. Secretly installing it was shameful and rude, especially for nobility.
“Your action seems even worse…”
“I admit I was wrong. I just wanted to prank the magic users. They’ve been belittling us as barbaric sword fighters. And think about it—our Magic Class students alone can barely finish the mango jam and buttered bread. Should we really give it to those sword fools? Are you all saints or something?”
Perbek’s words began to sway the Swordsmanship Class students.
Indeed, giving (or selling) the jam and bread to other classes did feel a bit wasteful.
But then, another group arrived.
“Huh? Look! The gray badge guys!”
“The underlings are invading.”
The Miscellaneous Studies students had come, carrying club-like weapons.
They looked even more intimidating than the Magic Class students.
“Hand over that trash Perbek!”
“We’ll split him in half!”
The reason for the Miscellaneous Studies students’ rage was clear.
“Next was supposed to be our turn!”
After the Magic Class, it was the Miscellaneous Studies Class’s turn. But due to the jam incident, the schedule was delayed.
The fact that their chance to get mango jam and buttered bread was pushed back infuriated the students.
No wonder even Jermiel, the Miscellaneous Studies representative, came along.
Jermiel smiled and approached.
“For the record, I installed the video recorder.”
Perbek’s face went pale.
“…What? Why you?”
“Don’t you see the kids making a fuss? It was our turn next. Our students were really looking forward to it. I just put in the minimum safety measure in case anything went wrong. I didn’t expect it to trigger like this.”
“Still, you should have announced it.”
The Miscellaneous Studies students shouted together.
“Who cares?”
“Who cares?”
While this might have worked on the Swordsmanship Class, it had no effect on the Miscellaneous Studies students.
Overwhelmed, Perbek finally shouted in frustration.
“I couldn’t bear to see a daughter of the Dvernon magic family wielding a sword and causing trouble! I’ve done nothing wrong! It’s Seira’s fault for overstepping as class representative while weaker than me!”
Then a voice sounded.
“Oh, really?”
With it, the Swordsmanship Class students stepped aside, like the sea parting.
Through that space, Seira walked forward.
“What should I do? I’ve never thought I was wrong.”
Facing Perbek, Seira held a wooden sword in her right hand.
Perbek instinctively took a step or two back.
