Translator: flyingsakana
Editor/Proofreader: Jokoril, NewbieTranslatingRaws
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Sorry for the long wait, projects and examinations took up a lot of time and this chapter is also really long. Hope you enjoy! (fitting title since this chapter took years)
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[What a dreamy and wonderful place!]
Was what Christina Greyrat thought when she enrolled into the Asura Royal Academy.
She declared her thoughts out loud like Eris would, right in front of the entrance. Hearing that, the aristocratic students sniggered as they walked past Chris.
However, those reactions did not register in Chris’s mind at all.
She was simply overwhelmed by the stunning scenery in front of her eyes.
Trees swayed in the wind along the brick-paved pathway leading from the entrance to the school building. Flower beds lined the side of the pathway in a beautiful sea of colors. The school building itself, built in elegant ivory white using Asuran architectural techniques, exuded an aura of nobility. Compared to the run-down buildings in the Magic University that reeked of the countryside, this was indeed a polished and classy school building.
Beside the school building stood the dormitory, whose beauty too, couldn’t be matched by the likes of the Magic University. Every single room was much more spacious and even came with a balcony. It was almost like living in a castle, just like in Chris’ dreams.
Furthermore, the students moving from the dorms to the school buildings were refined, as expected. Even though they were all wearing uniforms, unlike in the Magic University, their appearances were neat and polished. Some of them weren’t as polished, but they didn’t enter Chris’s field of vision.
Everyone was good looking. There were good looking people in the Magic University too, but they don’t hold a candle to the people here in the Royal Academy.
That goes without saying. Real princes and princesses attend this school, after all. And from today onwards, Chris is also a student here.
[Ahhn! I am so excited!!]
Overcome with excitement, she started spinning around and bumped into a tree. As a result, a large number of caterpillars fell onto her and made her scream. Male students in the vicinity laughed out loud at this amusing scene.
In any case, Chris finally was able to attend the school of her dreams.
—
Wanting to live a life of royalty, Chris attended the Asura Royal Academy. Yet, the first friend she ever made was neither aristocrat, nor royalty.
Chris’ first friend was a commoner from the Fittoa region’s countryside. She obtained exceedingly good results in the newly built school in the region, and was enrolled in the Asura Royal Academy by recommendation. Not just her parents, but the whole village were proud of her. The village chief also came to celebrate her achievement and even organised a fund-raising campaign to finance her travel expenses.
The village girl was extremely grateful to her village.
[I will do my utmost to learn at the Royal Academy, serve the Fittoa lord and further the development of the village that raised me!] or so she swore.
[For Ma, Pa, and all y’all at the village, I’ll do mah best!]
But the girl was too talented for a mere commoner.
The Asura Royal Academy labels itself as a school that accepts any student that has eligible results- a completely meritocratic system. It is a place where competence and performance are properly rewarded.
Yet, reality proves to be different.
More than half the students were of noble pedigree or from similar backgrounds. As such, differences in social standing naturally formed within the student body.
For students that had experience interacting with the nobles, they acted as if there was an unspoken agreement to acknowledge this difference in social standing. For example, even if a student were more competent in an area than a certain noble, he would allow that noble to get a better score.
The girl was unable to do that.
Consequently, a target board was painted behind her back in the eyes of a certain someone of the high aristocracy.
The bullying then started. “Bullying” may not fully capture the full extent of the malicious deeds done to this common village girl. With their higher social standing, the bully treated this girl like a slave:
Ordering her around for trivial things so that she couldn’t afford any time to study Banning her from entering the classroom for minor things so that she couldn’t attend class Burning her textbooks Recommending that she leave the schoolThe village girl had no one to call her ally as everyone pretended that they saw nothing. The bully just was that high up on the social ladder.
Even though she came to study, she was prevented from doing so. The girl spent her days crying to sleep almost every night. The firm resolve she held when she made that oath to help the village slowly crumbled into despair. The desire to return to her warm and kind village welled up and grew stronger with each day.
Out of nowhere, on a fateful day, someone came to her rescue.
It was Chris.
Chris noticed the bullying that was being done by the high aristocrats.
[Good day everyone, such conduct is not fit for a school as elegant as this.]
[…]
She was completely ignored.
However, that did not stop Chris. Getting worked up, she started arguing with the nobles, but eventually lost. Maybe due to the frustration of losing the argument, she started a fistfight with them. Even though it was one against many, Chris won, perhaps due to the special education from her parents.
Losing an argument and then punching them was something that ran in the Boreas bloodline. Anyway, although it was nowhere close to being elegant, the village girl was saved.
With a swollen face and blood dripping from her mouth, Chris smiled and said,
[I will protect you from now onwards!]
Hearing that, the village girl cried.
For the first time since she attended the academy, she cried tears of joy. From that day on, she was friends with Chris.
The same day, war started in that school for Chris.
—
The conflict between Chris and the higher aristocracy continued. Every single time, they would try to make Chris submit to their demands, and they would always fail. Chris was not a citizen of the Asura Kingdom, and above all, there was the teaching from her parents:
“Never bully the weak.”
Staying true to that teaching, Chris stood against the high aristocrats. The village girl was not the only one she helped. The oppressed in the academy were not a small number. One by one, Chris reached out her helping hand to them.
Frankly speaking, the life Chris led in the academy deviated completely from what she imagined. In her mind, the aristocrats were a group of people who were elegant and wouldn’t do something as foolish as starting fights. In practice, the “elegant” bunch were few and far between, while most of the nobles were blinded by their desires and ambitions.
The pent-up frustration led Chris to shout, “This is not like what I imagined!!!”
Her life went exactly as Rudeus predicted, but Chris did not back down from this arduous journey. Because at that point in time, she had already gathered a large group of allies.
Indeed, she was not alone in her fight against the high aristocracy. Every person helped was another ally gained. And every time Chris tried to help a new victim, her allies would assist. Numerous times, she only got out of trouble because of her allies.
Two of them were especially notable as Chris’ support.
The first one was the village girl she initially helped. Owing a debt of gratitude to Chris for being her saviour, she saved Chris from a pinch countless times with her excellent intellect and abilities.
The other person was a certain male student. Unlike other allies, he did not receive the help of Chris. However, for some reason, every time there was an incident, he moved to help her. Sometimes from the top of a tree, sometimes from outside the window, sometimes from above the stairs. At the most unexpected times, he would appear to save Chris from the quagmire while uttering sarcastic remarks at her.
Initially, Chris had the impression that he was just an annoying bastard. Their first meeting was when Chris was screaming from the caterpillars falling onto her, where he laughed uncontrollably as he saw the scene unfold. Several times after that, he was always there to laugh at her when she did weird stuff, making sure to add in a line or two of sarcastic comments.
With that said, every time he appeared to help, a faint glimpse of his kindness and manliness could be seen through his playful and immature façade. Slowly, Chris became attracted to this weird guy – and unsurprisingly so, because this guy was a stud. Furthermore, it was revealed later that he was a prince from the Kingdom. That weird guy who kept making stupid remarks while helping was actually a real life prince!
For Chris, who had fairy-tale delusions about princes and princesses, learning about this fact would inevitably lead to the development of romantic feelings. But, leaving the romance aside for now…
With her best friend and the prince by her side, along with the support from all her comrades, Chris marched on into a turbulent school life.
Her enemies consisted of the high aristocrats that were bullying her friend. For these young nobles that tried to create their own factions in school, Chris was not a welcome existence. After all, the people they were using as slaves were being taken away by Chris. She was the ultimate eyesore to the nobles who wanted to use their factions to gain power in the future. Hence, they started recognising her as an enemy for real.
It wasn’t just all enemies though. There were nobles that found Chris’ actions interesting and took her side. Especially the ones who were elegant, carefree and would not resort to fighting, just like how Chris imagined nobles to be.
Anyways, these nobles that helped Chris were not interested in joining the power struggle between factions in the first place. Most of them were students from foreign countries that already had the fate of being politically married off somewhere else. For them, things like joining the power struggle had no benefits to speak of.
Instead of arguing about which faction of these greedy nobles to join, it was simply easier and more convenient to follow Chris. It was too troublesome to take part in the power struggle even though they had no interest in it.
Before they knew it, Chris’ supporters grew and grew into a huge group of students. The formation of the ostracized faction was finally complete.
—
Most of the enemies didn’t do anything in particular to Chris and her faction. This was due to the fact that most of its members had low social status. Thus, even though they were gathered as a group, a mob of mere numbers without ability or authority could never really pose a threat.
However, one person was different. She especially hated Chris as an enemy and would attack her with any chance she got.
That person was Elizabeth Topcoat.
A daughter of the Topcoat house, belonging to the high aristocracy of the Asura Kingdom. Excellent grades, extraordinary beauty, and top of the class for both magic and swordsmanship. An all-rounded genius who appears only once every hundred years.
The Topcoat house stood in the lower-middle tier, in terms of the high aristocracy’s peerage. But this difference in status was made up by Elizabeth’s sheer talent and ability, so much so that it went without saying that she would become the top student.
There is a reason for her hostility towards Chris… – well, it isn’t that big of a deal in hindsight. When Chris first enrolled, Elizabeth was the one who got pummeled in that first fistfight.
While she was exceptionally gifted, Elizabeth was also exceptionally conceited. Even though she appeared cordial in public, she really viewed her peers as either trash or toys for her amusement.
The gifted village girl was, out of all her toys, an especially rare and amusing one. That special toy was robbed away, all because a country bumpkin suddenly appeared.
It all started from there. Meeting a mere foreign country bumpkin who didn’t respect her, losing a fistfight against her, and getting a bleeding nose after losing that fistfight in front of others.
It was utter humiliation.
Unforgivable…
Thus, Elizabeth swore to god…
That before she graduated, she would completely crush the existence known as Christina Greyrat.
And so started her journey of attacking on Chris at every turn. Yet, perhaps due to bad luck, every single one of her plans stopped a step short of destroying Chris.
It would always go smoothly up till the most critical moment, and help would arrive for Chris, or she’d find an item randomly laying around that would bail her out just as she needed it.
Whenever that happened, Elizabeth could only bite her handkerchief and grind her teeth in frustration.
The drawn out war against Chris continued for a year after her enrolment.
To be exact, about eleven months.
It continued till around the end of the first academic year.
This battle of attrition culminated just as they were entering the second year.
The stage was set in a small country to the north of the Asura Kingdom, in the Topcoat’s territory. It was Elizabeth’s hometown. While it is a relatively small piece of land, it has a highway connecting to the north, enabling trade with the Magic Triumvirate. This indispensable role of being the link between the Asura Kingdom and the Magic Triumvirate fell on the Topcoat house.
One of the programmes in the Asura Royal Academy involves bringing students to every single territory of the Asura Kingdom. There, the students observe and learn about the various industries each area specialises in. In other words, it was a sort of field trip to gain insights into how society works. Experiencing first hand how influential nobles governed their territory had proven to be an extremely effective way to learn about management of people and land.
That field trip destination had just so happened to be Elizabeth’s hometown. With home ground advantage, there was no way she wouldn’t plan an attack on Chris.
This will be where that wretched bitch Chris dies… not to that extent, but a plan would be put in place to humiliate Chris and brand her as a laughingstock.
Unfortunately, this scheme backfired. As they say, “when one curse is placed, two graves are dug”. Elizabeth dug her own grave with this plan.
It all went as planned initially. Chris fell into the trap laid by Elizabeth. Leaving out the details, Chris was trapped in an old, dried up well near the Topcoat main house.
What she did not realise was that this well held a sinister secret… that the Topcoat house was illegally producing narcotics without knowledge of the Kingdom. It turned out that this well hid a secret passageway to the holding area for these drugs. With the help of the sarcastic prince and the village girl, this nasty secret operation was brought to light.
Currently, the Asura Kingdom officially allows production of certain narcotics and aphrodisiacs. Only after permission is sought and granted will the production of such goods be allowed. It goes without saying that producing it in secret is a serious crime. The massive scandal that ensued was akin to poking a beehive with a stick.
After the dust settled, the Topcoat house had its territory confiscated and was declassed to the ranks of the middle-aristocracy. Elizabeth’s place in the school hierarchy plummeted to the ground, and she was ousted from being the leader of her faction to becoming just another underling.
Any attempts to destroy Chris stopped after this. And thus, the long battle in the Asura Royal Academy came to an end for Chris…
― or so it was supposed to…
Indeed, this was merely the beginning. By defeating Elizabeth, Chris became the leader of the largest faction in the Academy, both in name and reality. This meant that she would be thrown right into the center of the power struggle between the academy’s factions.
■ ■ ■
That is why Chris, who spent every day of her life fighting for the past three years did not appear flustered at all in the face of Viola’s accusations. She was so calm, taking her time to chew on the food in her mouth. She then proceeded to drink a glass of water, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief given by a friend nearby, brushed off the food crumbs that landed on her chest and then finally cleared her throat.
Sounding like she was still distracted, she shouted in reply to Viola.
[Just what might you be saying, Viola-sama!? That is a most cruel accusation!]
On top of that, she made sure that everyone in the venue could hear it. Her tone sounded like she was offended, behaving like she was brought to court.
[It is unthinkable that I would do such a thing!]
If you didn’t do something, you had to declare it clearly and with dignity. This skill is necessary for surviving in the Asura Kingdom. This may go without saying, but actually doing it is not easy. That is because there are cases like Viola’s accusations, where some truths are mixed into the lies.
For example, the accusation that Chris was keeping a dog in school premises. As it wasn’t a complete lie, people might hesitate when trying to deny them and appear to be shaken. If they mumble or stammer in their speech, they would play right into the enemy’s hands.
Exploiting this opportunity, they would pressure the speaker for answers and instantly gain the favor of the crowd. If the support of the crowd is lost, then the case would also be lost.
In the Asura Kingdom, the facts are often twisted to fit the circumstances of the speaker. Therefore, even if what was said was completely true, some doubt would still remain. To remove that small amount of doubt, a liar would have to put in many times more time and effort.
When defending against someone who’s lying, playing more and more cards to drag out the battle would tip the scales in your favour.
That’s the reason for denying the accusations.
Deny all of them without hesitation.
In cases where the accusation is spot on, backed with evidence, an apology should be given.
This time, Chris has chosen to deny the accusations.
[Viola-sama, today is the graduation ceremony, a joyous occasion… Her Majesty, the higher aristocracy, your father and my father are all here to celebrate… Why would you tell such lies?]
On top of denying accusations, Chris made sure to impress on the audience that Viola was lying. This shifts the blame away from Chris to Viola. With that, she can go on the offensive and try to level the playing field with Viola.
However, since Viola was the top student, their playing fields were far from being level. Some people would believe Viola simply because she was the top student. Chris’ disadvantaged situation remained the same. At least now, she isn’t one-sidedly being attacked.
[Why?]
Towards Chris’ reply, Viola adopted a confident pose as if it was natural. If she were so easily stopped just by being asked “why”, she wouldn’t have set up this attack on Chris. Action was taken to completely crush Chris because all of the preparations had been completed.
[Do you even have to ask? It is because I can no longer bear seeing an incompetent and evil student like you naming yourself a graduate of the Asura Royal Academy!]
Though this declaration was loud, it wasn’t in a shrill scream. Her voice emanated from the bottom of her diaphragm, with a pleasant echo that resonated in everyone’s ears. As if it was scripted, her demeanor allowed her words to carry a majestic weight to it.
From the look of it, most of the audience agreed with Viola’s words. If Chris were really an incompetent, unscrupulous villain that only caused trouble, then she should immediately be expelled from the academy.
Such was the atmosphere of the audience hall.
[That can’t be… Even if it was not on the level of Viola-sama, I tried my best to study and make friends in my own way…]
Chris cast down her eyes in sadness.
Without getting too emotional, she again denied Viola’s accusations.
Seeing that, people – especially those from Chris’ faction, would come to believe her words.
Chris was definitely not the embodiment of a model student in the academy. But during these three years, it was undeniable that she had put in effort towards her studies and in socialising. It was a common sight to see Chris wearing a white hachimaki1, furiously studying in the library before tests.
For someone who stole the exam papers to cheat, as everyone knew, her results were weirdly mediocre. As such, there were students that began suspecting Viola instead of Chris.
[Won’t you stop this, Viola!?]
The first student that stepped out was a young man.
He had a well defined nose, with slightly drooping eyes and unique platinum blonde hair that one can never get tired of looking at. An unquestionably handsome guy from every angle, his name was Edward Anemoi Asura. Prince of the Asura Kingdom, he was someone who helped Chris on countless occasions.
Standing in front of Chris as if he was protecting her, he spoke in a strong tone.
[Take back what you said immediately and apologise to Christina!]
[Your Highness Edward… You would take sides not with me – your fiancée, but with Christina?]
Fiancée.
Even though the romance between Edward and Chris was slowly blooming, Edward was actually engaged to Viola.
Well, in the end, it was decided on by their parents. A political move to allow the Yellowsnake house to obtain closer ties to the Asura royal family. Edward did not harbor anything like romantic feelings towards Viola.
While that was the case for Edward, Viola’s feelings were another story. Ever since the day they were engaged, Viola was interested in Edward.
Unlike a certain magician wearing a rat-colored robe somewhere, Edward was not a dense person. He had already noticed Viola’s feelings towards him. Frankly, he thought it was fine to leave it till after graduation to reciprocate her feelings.
To fulfill his duty as royalty…
Yet he came to a sudden realisation today, that leaving it till after graduation would be too late. Because what gave rise to this situation was definitely her jealousy towards Chris.
All of this was a result of his indecisiveness. That was why he decided to take responsibility and protect Chris.
[If what you said was true, I would not have done something like covering for Christina. But what you said just now, aren’t they all false accusations!?]
He spelt it out clearly that it was all false accusations. In the presence of Ariel, his words as a prince hold a lot of weight. This backing is definitely something Chris needs at the moment.
That Edward would cover for Chris was all within Viola’s calculations. She knew that he was always close to Chris, even without him mentioning anything about dating her.
[False accusations you say? Which part of it was false, may I ask?]
[You may have mentioned a long list of evil deeds, but do you have solid evidence that it was Chris that did those?]
“Evidence”
The moment she heard that word, Viola’s face twisted into a demonic smile.
Though it was just for that moment, the slightest fraction of a second.
That expression lasted so short that most people never noticed.
Unless you were Rudeus, who got used to peeking at Orsted’s expressions on a daily basis, you would have missed it.
Someone of that level, there was no other person around Viola except one.
[Please wait!]
It was Chris.
Before Viola opened her mouth, she stopped her with that loud statement.
She then joined her hands in front of her chest, like she was making a prayer.
[Hey Viola, please stop this…
Right now, you can still turn back. Can’t we leave this as a joke?
“Chris is my best friend, I just wanted to play a little prank during my Top Student’s Address!”
…Can’t you say that?]
In an earnest appeal, Chris said that.
As if she knew what Viola was about to do.
As if she were trying to stop Viola from doing something foolish that would backfire.
In a way that hinted, “you’re already the top student, isn’t that enough?”
To the audience, that appeared to be the case.
A part of the nobles took it the wrong way and were like “Ah, so as expected, she really did do something…”
Even if Viola passed it off as a joke, they would suspect that Chris was the party responsible somewhere deep in their heart.
[If you could do that, I would let this be water under the bridge. I beg of you, please?]
To the words that sounded a little condescending, a wicked smile creeped up on Viola’s face.
A smile that a hunter would have if his prey got caught in his trap and couldn’t escape.
A smile full of sadism, to sneer at this loser that would embarrass herself at the most appropriate stage.
Without a second’s delay, her facial expression became calm again. Maintaining that emotionless face, she turned her head to the side as if telling Chris that it was all too late.
[Elizabeth!]
Viola called out to a familiar name.
A name that one would definitely know if they are present in this audience hall.
Elizabeth Topcoat.
The unquestioned favourite for the position of top student when she enrolled, who then fell and vanished from the frontlines of the faction wars in less than a year.
From the edge of the audience hall, a figure moved.
The audience parted as that person moved towards Viola slowly, forming a road for her.
Looking at her, she was close in age to both Chris and Viola. Gleaming, long golden hair with drills at the side. Unlike her gaudy appearance, she walked with steady and confident steps.
As for her clothes, it was a dress that looked considerably cheap and much less flashy when compared to Viola.
When she arrived next to Viola, she lifted the ends of her dress slightly and performed an elegant bow towards the nobles with an unfazed look on her face.
[My name is Elizabeth Topcoat.]
[Ah… from that Topcoat house…]
As soon as that name was heard, chattering broke out within the audience. Topcoat was a name that was fairly well-known in the Asura Kingdom.
Well, needless to say.
It was only two years ago that the Topcoats fell from grace and had their territory confiscated. It would be too soon to forget about such a big scandal.
With the edges of her mouth just slightly raised up, she asked Elizabeth.
[Elizabeth, please enlighten us as to exactly what was done to you.]
[Two years ago, I was scorned for being from a disgraced house and treated as a slave. Furthermore, I was under the threat that my house would fall further if I tried to resist.]
Elizabeth said that in monotone. However, her facial expression was far from that. Her lips were pursed tightly together,like she was grinding her teeth. One could see unspeakable regret and frustration in her eyes. For someone born into high aristocracy, it must have been extremely difficult to bear with such humiliation.
That look on her face was testament to the truthfulness of her words.
[Elizabeth is not the only one!]
As Viola said that, students could be seen coming out from the audience. Although most of them were girls, there were also a few boys within that group. A total of ten students came forth.
They arranged themselves to the side of Elizabeth and started to introduce themselves one by one. Most of them had low social status. The highest of them were middle-class aristocrats, with the rest being either low aristocrats or commoners.
[Everyone here as well, enlighten us to your plight! It is your last chance!]
Hearing those words, with resolute faces, the ten students told of their plight one after the other.
Amongst them were people who:
Had needles in their dance shoes on the day of a ball Had her textbooks torn to shreds Were forced to steal test answers from the faculty room Had his feelings made use of, to be ordered around and thrown aside when he was no longer deemed useful Had her precious pet killed as a jokeAll of them, like Elizabeth, spoke in a tone like they were trying their hardest to remain calm. Yet the feelings overflowing from their hearts could not be completely held back.
The frustration, despair and regret.
And finally, the feeling of relief for being able to let it all out.
Reacting to the accounts made by the group, the aristocrats became enraged, some of them yelling “unforgivable!!”.
Though almost all of them used to do the exact same thing, calling someone else out on their evil deeds when the opportunity arises is exactly what an Asura Aristocrat does.
Of course, the ones that led a noble life were angry for real.
[Everyone, I thank you for your bravery to step up and talk about your painful experiences.]
While confirming the audience’s response, Viola said that with a meek face. She then glared at Edward.
[This is the proof, Your Highness Edward. With this many witnesses, do you have anything more to say?]
[That’s…]
Edward’s face twisted into a painful expression. He did not expect Viola to set up such a grandiose scheme.
She was the top student. Just using that position to incite the high aristocracy would have been enough to get Chris expelled.
Yet, she even had evidence prepared. Everything was set up down to the last detail, to utterly annihilate Chris.
Normally, Edward would have something up his sleeve to counteract Viola’s plans.
For example, some evidence that proved Chris was innocent.
But he let his guard down this time.
It is the graduation ceremony today, and Viola is the top student.
In other words, Viola was already the winner.
The idea that the winner would still pull such a trick was too absurd to him.
Even if he tried to do something, it wouldn’t prove Chris’ innocence. He was stuck thinking about what he could do in this situation.
Thus, Edward could do nothing but stay silent.
[No, even so, I cannot bring myself to believe that Chris would do something like that.]
He squeezed those words out. Even though the evidence was shoved to his face, he spent three years with Chris, laughing together and crying together. He helped out with her studies, and ate ate terribly made lunch boxes with her. Because he knew Chris so well, he simply could not believe the accusations. Even with proof that Chris was secretly behind all these atrocities.
[I see… What a foolish person…]
Viola replied in irritation. Frowning, she took her eyes off Edward and stared at Chris.
Taking a step forward, she declared.
[Look! This is the evidence, Christina! Do you have anything to say in your defense!?]
Since it had come to this, no one here would not look at Chris without contempt. She had committed unforgivable atrocities, so she should stop making excuses and apologise. Such an atmosphere was floating about in the audience hall.
Even the ever-doting parent Rudeus was making a difficult face, gripping his fist tightly. He had matured enough to refrain from shouting something like “Our child would never do something like that!” on impulse. Standing beside him were Sylphy, Eris and Roxy. They each either held his hand or gripped his clothes to prevent him from dashing out and making a scene.
In the face of this situation, where it seemed that everyone had unanimously concluded that she was the culprit, Chris moved. As if she had gave up on trying to salvage something, she looked at Viola in resignation.
[Viola… I did tell you to stop…]
Standing alone, she muttered so. Then, she raised her head to look straight at Viola. There was no sign of panic or fear in her eyes, some could say she looked extremely calm.
Others who saw her face could also put it like this.
– That it was a cruel and cold-hearted look.
She did not glare at Viola, nor did she raise her voice. Not towards Viola, but the students beside her, she simply said in an indifferent tone.
[Hey, everyone… The horrible things that happened to you… who was it that did them?2]
The “witnesses” all pointed their finger towards Viola in unison.
—
Some translator notes:1. A headband that anime characters often wear when studying.
2. She said it in a way like a child in horror movies would ask a question. Something like this? I don’t know how to encapsulate its full meaning in English.
Translator: flyingsakana
Editor/Proofreader: Jokoril, NewbieTranslatingRaws
—
Sorry for the long wait, projects and examinations took up a lot of time and this chapter is also really long. Hope you enjoy! (fitting title since this chapter took years)
—
[What a dreamy and wonderful place!]
Was what Christina Greyrat thought when she enrolled into the Asura Royal Academy.
She declared her thoughts out loud like Eris would, right in front of the entrance. Hearing that, the aristocratic students sniggered as they walked past Chris.
However, those reactions did not register in Chris’s mind at all.
She was simply overwhelmed by the stunning scenery in front of her eyes.
Trees swayed in the wind along the brick-paved pathway leading from the entrance to the school building. Flower beds lined the side of the pathway in a beautiful sea of colors. The school building itself, built in elegant ivory white using Asuran architectural techniques, exuded an aura of nobility. Compared to the run-down buildings in the Magic University that reeked of the countryside, this was indeed a polished and classy school building.
Beside the school building stood the dormitory, whose beauty too, couldn’t be matched by the likes of the Magic University. Every single room was much more spacious and even came with a balcony. It was almost like living in a castle, just like in Chris’ dreams.
Furthermore, the students moving from the dorms to the school buildings were refined, as expected. Even though they were all wearing uniforms, unlike in the Magic University, their appearances were neat and polished. Some of them weren’t as polished, but they didn’t enter Chris’s field of vision.
Everyone was good looking. There were good looking people in the Magic University too, but they don’t hold a candle to the people here in the Royal Academy.
That goes without saying. Real princes and princesses attend this school, after all. And from today onwards, Chris is also a student here.
[Ahhn! I am so excited!!]
Overcome with excitement, she started spinning around and bumped into a tree. As a result, a large number of caterpillars fell onto her and made her scream. Male students in the vicinity laughed out loud at this amusing scene.
In any case, Chris finally was able to attend the school of her dreams.
—
Wanting to live a life of royalty, Chris attended the Asura Royal Academy. Yet, the first friend she ever made was neither aristocrat, nor royalty.
Chris’ first friend was a commoner from the Fittoa region’s countryside. She obtained exceedingly good results in the newly built school in the region, and was enrolled in the Asura Royal Academy by recommendation. Not just her parents, but the whole village were proud of her. The village chief also came to celebrate her achievement and even organised a fund-raising campaign to finance her travel expenses.
The village girl was extremely grateful to her village.
[I will do my utmost to learn at the Royal Academy, serve the Fittoa lord and further the development of the village that raised me!] or so she swore.
[For Ma, Pa, and all y’all at the village, I’ll do mah best!]
But the girl was too talented for a mere commoner.
The Asura Royal Academy labels itself as a school that accepts any student that has eligible results- a completely meritocratic system. It is a place where competence and performance are properly rewarded.
Yet, reality proves to be different.
More than half the students were of noble pedigree or from similar backgrounds. As such, differences in social standing naturally formed within the student body.
For students that had experience interacting with the nobles, they acted as if there was an unspoken agreement to acknowledge this difference in social standing. For example, even if a student were more competent in an area than a certain noble, he would allow that noble to get a better score.
The girl was unable to do that.
Consequently, a target board was painted behind her back in the eyes of a certain someone of the high aristocracy.
The bullying then started. “Bullying” may not fully capture the full extent of the malicious deeds done to this common village girl. With their higher social standing, the bully treated this girl like a slave:
Ordering her around for trivial things so that she couldn’t afford any time to study Banning her from entering the classroom for minor things so that she couldn’t attend class Burning her textbooks Recommending that she leave the schoolThe village girl had no one to call her ally as everyone pretended that they saw nothing. The bully just was that high up on the social ladder.
Even though she came to study, she was prevented from doing so. The girl spent her days crying to sleep almost every night. The firm resolve she held when she made that oath to help the village slowly crumbled into despair. The desire to return to her warm and kind village welled up and grew stronger with each day.
Out of nowhere, on a fateful day, someone came to her rescue.
It was Chris.
Chris noticed the bullying that was being done by the high aristocrats.
[Good day everyone, such conduct is not fit for a school as elegant as this.]
[…]
She was completely ignored.
However, that did not stop Chris. Getting worked up, she started arguing with the nobles, but eventually lost. Maybe due to the frustration of losing the argument, she started a fistfight with them. Even though it was one against many, Chris won, perhaps due to the special education from her parents.
Losing an argument and then punching them was something that ran in the Boreas bloodline. Anyway, although it was nowhere close to being elegant, the village girl was saved.
With a swollen face and blood dripping from her mouth, Chris smiled and said,
[I will protect you from now onwards!]
Hearing that, the village girl cried.
For the first time since she attended the academy, she cried tears of joy. From that day on, she was friends with Chris.
The same day, war started in that school for Chris.
—
The conflict between Chris and the higher aristocracy continued. Every single time, they would try to make Chris submit to their demands, and they would always fail. Chris was not a citizen of the Asura Kingdom, and above all, there was the teaching from her parents:
“Never bully the weak.”
Staying true to that teaching, Chris stood against the high aristocrats. The village girl was not the only one she helped. The oppressed in the academy were not a small number. One by one, Chris reached out her helping hand to them.
Frankly speaking, the life Chris led in the academy deviated completely from what she imagined. In her mind, the aristocrats were a group of people who were elegant and wouldn’t do something as foolish as starting fights. In practice, the “elegant” bunch were few and far between, while most of the nobles were blinded by their desires and ambitions.
The pent-up frustration led Chris to shout, “This is not like what I imagined!!!”
Her life went exactly as Rudeus predicted, but Chris did not back down from this arduous journey. Because at that point in time, she had already gathered a large group of allies.
Indeed, she was not alone in her fight against the high aristocracy. Every person helped was another ally gained. And every time Chris tried to help a new victim, her allies would assist. Numerous times, she only got out of trouble because of her allies.
Two of them were especially notable as Chris’ support.
The first one was the village girl she initially helped. Owing a debt of gratitude to Chris for being her saviour, she saved Chris from a pinch countless times with her excellent intellect and abilities.
The other person was a certain male student. Unlike other allies, he did not receive the help of Chris. However, for some reason, every time there was an incident, he moved to help her. Sometimes from the top of a tree, sometimes from outside the window, sometimes from above the stairs. At the most unexpected times, he would appear to save Chris from the quagmire while uttering sarcastic remarks at her.
Initially, Chris had the impression that he was just an annoying bastard. Their first meeting was when Chris was screaming from the caterpillars falling onto her, where he laughed uncontrollably as he saw the scene unfold. Several times after that, he was always there to laugh at her when she did weird stuff, making sure to add in a line or two of sarcastic comments.
With that said, every time he appeared to help, a faint glimpse of his kindness and manliness could be seen through his playful and immature façade. Slowly, Chris became attracted to this weird guy – and unsurprisingly so, because this guy was a stud. Furthermore, it was revealed later that he was a prince from the Kingdom. That weird guy who kept making stupid remarks while helping was actually a real life prince!
For Chris, who had fairy-tale delusions about princes and princesses, learning about this fact would inevitably lead to the development of romantic feelings. But, leaving the romance aside for now…
With her best friend and the prince by her side, along with the support from all her comrades, Chris marched on into a turbulent school life.
Her enemies consisted of the high aristocrats that were bullying her friend. For these young nobles that tried to create their own factions in school, Chris was not a welcome existence. After all, the people they were using as slaves were being taken away by Chris. She was the ultimate eyesore to the nobles who wanted to use their factions to gain power in the future. Hence, they started recognising her as an enemy for real.
It wasn’t just all enemies though. There were nobles that found Chris’ actions interesting and took her side. Especially the ones who were elegant, carefree and would not resort to fighting, just like how Chris imagined nobles to be.
Anyways, these nobles that helped Chris were not interested in joining the power struggle between factions in the first place. Most of them were students from foreign countries that already had the fate of being politically married off somewhere else. For them, things like joining the power struggle had no benefits to speak of.
Instead of arguing about which faction of these greedy nobles to join, it was simply easier and more convenient to follow Chris. It was too troublesome to take part in the power struggle even though they had no interest in it.
Before they knew it, Chris’ supporters grew and grew into a huge group of students. The formation of the ostracized faction was finally complete.
—
Most of the enemies didn’t do anything in particular to Chris and her faction. This was due to the fact that most of its members had low social status. Thus, even though they were gathered as a group, a mob of mere numbers without ability or authority could never really pose a threat.
However, one person was different. She especially hated Chris as an enemy and would attack her with any chance she got.
That person was Elizabeth Topcoat.
A daughter of the Topcoat house, belonging to the high aristocracy of the Asura Kingdom. Excellent grades, extraordinary beauty, and top of the class for both magic and swordsmanship. An all-rounded genius who appears only once every hundred years.
The Topcoat house stood in the lower-middle tier, in terms of the high aristocracy’s peerage. But this difference in status was made up by Elizabeth’s sheer talent and ability, so much so that it went without saying that she would become the top student.
There is a reason for her hostility towards Chris… – well, it isn’t that big of a deal in hindsight. When Chris first enrolled, Elizabeth was the one who got pummeled in that first fistfight.
While she was exceptionally gifted, Elizabeth was also exceptionally conceited. Even though she appeared cordial in public, she really viewed her peers as either trash or toys for her amusement.
The gifted village girl was, out of all her toys, an especially rare and amusing one. That special toy was robbed away, all because a country bumpkin suddenly appeared.
It all started from there. Meeting a mere foreign country bumpkin who didn’t respect her, losing a fistfight against her, and getting a bleeding nose after losing that fistfight in front of others.
It was utter humiliation.
Unforgivable…
Thus, Elizabeth swore to god…
That before she graduated, she would completely crush the existence known as Christina Greyrat.
And so started her journey of attacking on Chris at every turn. Yet, perhaps due to bad luck, every single one of her plans stopped a step short of destroying Chris.
It would always go smoothly up till the most critical moment, and help would arrive for Chris, or she’d find an item randomly laying around that would bail her out just as she needed it.
Whenever that happened, Elizabeth could only bite her handkerchief and grind her teeth in frustration.
The drawn out war against Chris continued for a year after her enrolment.
To be exact, about eleven months.
It continued till around the end of the first academic year.
This battle of attrition culminated just as they were entering the second year.
The stage was set in a small country to the north of the Asura Kingdom, in the Topcoat’s territory. It was Elizabeth’s hometown. While it is a relatively small piece of land, it has a highway connecting to the north, enabling trade with the Magic Triumvirate. This indispensable role of being the link between the Asura Kingdom and the Magic Triumvirate fell on the Topcoat house.
One of the programmes in the Asura Royal Academy involves bringing students to every single territory of the Asura Kingdom. There, the students observe and learn about the various industries each area specialises in. In other words, it was a sort of field trip to gain insights into how society works. Experiencing first hand how influential nobles governed their territory had proven to be an extremely effective way to learn about management of people and land.
That field trip destination had just so happened to be Elizabeth’s hometown. With home ground advantage, there was no way she wouldn’t plan an attack on Chris.
This will be where that wretched bitch Chris dies… not to that extent, but a plan would be put in place to humiliate Chris and brand her as a laughingstock.
Unfortunately, this scheme backfired. As they say, “when one curse is placed, two graves are dug”. Elizabeth dug her own grave with this plan.
It all went as planned initially. Chris fell into the trap laid by Elizabeth. Leaving out the details, Chris was trapped in an old, dried up well near the Topcoat main house.
What she did not realise was that this well held a sinister secret… that the Topcoat house was illegally producing narcotics without knowledge of the Kingdom. It turned out that this well hid a secret passageway to the holding area for these drugs. With the help of the sarcastic prince and the village girl, this nasty secret operation was brought to light.
Currently, the Asura Kingdom officially allows production of certain narcotics and aphrodisiacs. Only after permission is sought and granted will the production of such goods be allowed. It goes without saying that producing it in secret is a serious crime. The massive scandal that ensued was akin to poking a beehive with a stick.
After the dust settled, the Topcoat house had its territory confiscated and was declassed to the ranks of the middle-aristocracy. Elizabeth’s place in the school hierarchy plummeted to the ground, and she was ousted from being the leader of her faction to becoming just another underling.
Any attempts to destroy Chris stopped after this. And thus, the long battle in the Asura Royal Academy came to an end for Chris…
― or so it was supposed to…
Indeed, this was merely the beginning. By defeating Elizabeth, Chris became the leader of the largest faction in the Academy, both in name and reality. This meant that she would be thrown right into the center of the power struggle between the academy’s factions.
■ ■ ■
That is why Chris, who spent every day of her life fighting for the past three years did not appear flustered at all in the face of Viola’s accusations. She was so calm, taking her time to chew on the food in her mouth. She then proceeded to drink a glass of water, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief given by a friend nearby, brushed off the food crumbs that landed on her chest and then finally cleared her throat.
Sounding like she was still distracted, she shouted in reply to Viola.
[Just what might you be saying, Viola-sama!? That is a most cruel accusation!]
On top of that, she made sure that everyone in the venue could hear it. Her tone sounded like she was offended, behaving like she was brought to court.
[It is unthinkable that I would do such a thing!]
If you didn’t do something, you had to declare it clearly and with dignity. This skill is necessary for surviving in the Asura Kingdom. This may go without saying, but actually doing it is not easy. That is because there are cases like Viola’s accusations, where some truths are mixed into the lies.
For example, the accusation that Chris was keeping a dog in school premises. As it wasn’t a complete lie, people might hesitate when trying to deny them and appear to be shaken. If they mumble or stammer in their speech, they would play right into the enemy’s hands.
Exploiting this opportunity, they would pressure the speaker for answers and instantly gain the favor of the crowd. If the support of the crowd is lost, then the case would also be lost.
In the Asura Kingdom, the facts are often twisted to fit the circumstances of the speaker. Therefore, even if what was said was completely true, some doubt would still remain. To remove that small amount of doubt, a liar would have to put in many times more time and effort.
When defending against someone who’s lying, playing more and more cards to drag out the battle would tip the scales in your favour.
That’s the reason for denying the accusations.
Deny all of them without hesitation.
In cases where the accusation is spot on, backed with evidence, an apology should be given.
This time, Chris has chosen to deny the accusations.
[Viola-sama, today is the graduation ceremony, a joyous occasion… Her Majesty, the higher aristocracy, your father and my father are all here to celebrate… Why would you tell such lies?]
On top of denying accusations, Chris made sure to impress on the audience that Viola was lying. This shifts the blame away from Chris to Viola. With that, she can go on the offensive and try to level the playing field with Viola.
However, since Viola was the top student, their playing fields were far from being level. Some people would believe Viola simply because she was the top student. Chris’ disadvantaged situation remained the same. At least now, she isn’t one-sidedly being attacked.
[Why?]
Towards Chris’ reply, Viola adopted a confident pose as if it was natural. If she were so easily stopped just by being asked “why”, she wouldn’t have set up this attack on Chris. Action was taken to completely crush Chris because all of the preparations had been completed.
[Do you even have to ask? It is because I can no longer bear seeing an incompetent and evil student like you naming yourself a graduate of the Asura Royal Academy!]
Though this declaration was loud, it wasn’t in a shrill scream. Her voice emanated from the bottom of her diaphragm, with a pleasant echo that resonated in everyone’s ears. As if it was scripted, her demeanor allowed her words to carry a majestic weight to it.
From the look of it, most of the audience agreed with Viola’s words. If Chris were really an incompetent, unscrupulous villain that only caused trouble, then she should immediately be expelled from the academy.
Such was the atmosphere of the audience hall.
[That can’t be… Even if it was not on the level of Viola-sama, I tried my best to study and make friends in my own way…]
Chris cast down her eyes in sadness.
Without getting too emotional, she again denied Viola’s accusations.
Seeing that, people – especially those from Chris’ faction, would come to believe her words.
Chris was definitely not the embodiment of a model student in the academy. But during these three years, it was undeniable that she had put in effort towards her studies and in socialising. It was a common sight to see Chris wearing a white hachimaki1, furiously studying in the library before tests.
For someone who stole the exam papers to cheat, as everyone knew, her results were weirdly mediocre. As such, there were students that began suspecting Viola instead of Chris.
[Won’t you stop this, Viola!?]
The first student that stepped out was a young man.
He had a well defined nose, with slightly drooping eyes and unique platinum blonde hair that one can never get tired of looking at. An unquestionably handsome guy from every angle, his name was Edward Anemoi Asura. Prince of the Asura Kingdom, he was someone who helped Chris on countless occasions.
Standing in front of Chris as if he was protecting her, he spoke in a strong tone.
[Take back what you said immediately and apologise to Christina!]
[Your Highness Edward… You would take sides not with me – your fiancée, but with Christina?]
Fiancée.
Even though the romance between Edward and Chris was slowly blooming, Edward was actually engaged to Viola.
Well, in the end, it was decided on by their parents. A political move to allow the Yellowsnake house to obtain closer ties to the Asura royal family. Edward did not harbor anything like romantic feelings towards Viola.
While that was the case for Edward, Viola’s feelings were another story. Ever since the day they were engaged, Viola was interested in Edward.
Unlike a certain magician wearing a rat-colored robe somewhere, Edward was not a dense person. He had already noticed Viola’s feelings towards him. Frankly, he thought it was fine to leave it till after graduation to reciprocate her feelings.
To fulfill his duty as royalty…
Yet he came to a sudden realisation today, that leaving it till after graduation would be too late. Because what gave rise to this situation was definitely her jealousy towards Chris.
All of this was a result of his indecisiveness. That was why he decided to take responsibility and protect Chris.
[If what you said was true, I would not have done something like covering for Christina. But what you said just now, aren’t they all false accusations!?]
He spelt it out clearly that it was all false accusations. In the presence of Ariel, his words as a prince hold a lot of weight. This backing is definitely something Chris needs at the moment.
That Edward would cover for Chris was all within Viola’s calculations. She knew that he was always close to Chris, even without him mentioning anything about dating her.
[False accusations you say? Which part of it was false, may I ask?]
[You may have mentioned a long list of evil deeds, but do you have solid evidence that it was Chris that did those?]
“Evidence”
The moment she heard that word, Viola’s face twisted into a demonic smile.
Though it was just for that moment, the slightest fraction of a second.
That expression lasted so short that most people never noticed.
Unless you were Rudeus, who got used to peeking at Orsted’s expressions on a daily basis, you would have missed it.
Someone of that level, there was no other person around Viola except one.
[Please wait!]
It was Chris.
Before Viola opened her mouth, she stopped her with that loud statement.
She then joined her hands in front of her chest, like she was making a prayer.
[Hey Viola, please stop this…
Right now, you can still turn back. Can’t we leave this as a joke?
“Chris is my best friend, I just wanted to play a little prank during my Top Student’s Address!”
…Can’t you say that?]
In an earnest appeal, Chris said that.
As if she knew what Viola was about to do.
As if she were trying to stop Viola from doing something foolish that would backfire.
In a way that hinted, “you’re already the top student, isn’t that enough?”
To the audience, that appeared to be the case.
A part of the nobles took it the wrong way and were like “Ah, so as expected, she really did do something…”
Even if Viola passed it off as a joke, they would suspect that Chris was the party responsible somewhere deep in their heart.
[If you could do that, I would let this be water under the bridge. I beg of you, please?]
To the words that sounded a little condescending, a wicked smile creeped up on Viola’s face.
A smile that a hunter would have if his prey got caught in his trap and couldn’t escape.
A smile full of sadism, to sneer at this loser that would embarrass herself at the most appropriate stage.
Without a second’s delay, her facial expression became calm again. Maintaining that emotionless face, she turned her head to the side as if telling Chris that it was all too late.
[Elizabeth!]
Viola called out to a familiar name.
A name that one would definitely know if they are present in this audience hall.
Elizabeth Topcoat.
The unquestioned favourite for the position of top student when she enrolled, who then fell and vanished from the frontlines of the faction wars in less than a year.
From the edge of the audience hall, a figure moved.
The audience parted as that person moved towards Viola slowly, forming a road for her.
Looking at her, she was close in age to both Chris and Viola. Gleaming, long golden hair with drills at the side. Unlike her gaudy appearance, she walked with steady and confident steps.
As for her clothes, it was a dress that looked considerably cheap and much less flashy when compared to Viola.
When she arrived next to Viola, she lifted the ends of her dress slightly and performed an elegant bow towards the nobles with an unfazed look on her face.
[My name is Elizabeth Topcoat.]
[Ah… from that Topcoat house…]
As soon as that name was heard, chattering broke out within the audience. Topcoat was a name that was fairly well-known in the Asura Kingdom.
Well, needless to say.
It was only two years ago that the Topcoats fell from grace and had their territory confiscated. It would be too soon to forget about such a big scandal.
With the edges of her mouth just slightly raised up, she asked Elizabeth.
[Elizabeth, please enlighten us as to exactly what was done to you.]
[Two years ago, I was scorned for being from a disgraced house and treated as a slave. Furthermore, I was under the threat that my house would fall further if I tried to resist.]
Elizabeth said that in monotone. However, her facial expression was far from that. Her lips were pursed tightly together,like she was grinding her teeth. One could see unspeakable regret and frustration in her eyes. For someone born into high aristocracy, it must have been extremely difficult to bear with such humiliation.
That look on her face was testament to the truthfulness of her words.
[Elizabeth is not the only one!]
As Viola said that, students could be seen coming out from the audience. Although most of them were girls, there were also a few boys within that group. A total of ten students came forth.
They arranged themselves to the side of Elizabeth and started to introduce themselves one by one. Most of them had low social status. The highest of them were middle-class aristocrats, with the rest being either low aristocrats or commoners.
[Everyone here as well, enlighten us to your plight! It is your last chance!]
Hearing those words, with resolute faces, the ten students told of their plight one after the other.
Amongst them were people who:
Had needles in their dance shoes on the day of a ball Had her textbooks torn to shreds Were forced to steal test answers from the faculty room Had his feelings made use of, to be ordered around and thrown aside when he was no longer deemed useful Had her precious pet killed as a jokeAll of them, like Elizabeth, spoke in a tone like they were trying their hardest to remain calm. Yet the feelings overflowing from their hearts could not be completely held back.
The frustration, despair and regret.
And finally, the feeling of relief for being able to let it all out.
Reacting to the accounts made by the group, the aristocrats became enraged, some of them yelling “unforgivable!!”.
Though almost all of them used to do the exact same thing, calling someone else out on their evil deeds when the opportunity arises is exactly what an Asura Aristocrat does.
Of course, the ones that led a noble life were angry for real.
[Everyone, I thank you for your bravery to step up and talk about your painful experiences.]
While confirming the audience’s response, Viola said that with a meek face. She then glared at Edward.
[This is the proof, Your Highness Edward. With this many witnesses, do you have anything more to say?]
[That’s…]
Edward’s face twisted into a painful expression. He did not expect Viola to set up such a grandiose scheme.
She was the top student. Just using that position to incite the high aristocracy would have been enough to get Chris expelled.
Yet, she even had evidence prepared. Everything was set up down to the last detail, to utterly annihilate Chris.
Normally, Edward would have something up his sleeve to counteract Viola’s plans.
For example, some evidence that proved Chris was innocent.
But he let his guard down this time.
It is the graduation ceremony today, and Viola is the top student.
In other words, Viola was already the winner.
The idea that the winner would still pull such a trick was too absurd to him.
Even if he tried to do something, it wouldn’t prove Chris’ innocence. He was stuck thinking about what he could do in this situation.
Thus, Edward could do nothing but stay silent.
[No, even so, I cannot bring myself to believe that Chris would do something like that.]
He squeezed those words out. Even though the evidence was shoved to his face, he spent three years with Chris, laughing together and crying together. He helped out with her studies, and ate ate terribly made lunch boxes with her. Because he knew Chris so well, he simply could not believe the accusations. Even with proof that Chris was secretly behind all these atrocities.
[I see… What a foolish person…]
Viola replied in irritation. Frowning, she took her eyes off Edward and stared at Chris.
Taking a step forward, she declared.
[Look! This is the evidence, Christina! Do you have anything to say in your defense!?]
Since it had come to this, no one here would not look at Chris without contempt. She had committed unforgivable atrocities, so she should stop making excuses and apologise. Such an atmosphere was floating about in the audience hall.
Even the ever-doting parent Rudeus was making a difficult face, gripping his fist tightly. He had matured enough to refrain from shouting something like “Our child would never do something like that!” on impulse. Standing beside him were Sylphy, Eris and Roxy. They each either held his hand or gripped his clothes to prevent him from dashing out and making a scene.
In the face of this situation, where it seemed that everyone had unanimously concluded that she was the culprit, Chris moved. As if she had gave up on trying to salvage something, she looked at Viola in resignation.
[Viola… I did tell you to stop…]
Standing alone, she muttered so. Then, she raised her head to look straight at Viola. There was no sign of panic or fear in her eyes, some could say she looked extremely calm.
Others who saw her face could also put it like this.
– That it was a cruel and cold-hearted look.
She did not glare at Viola, nor did she raise her voice. Not towards Viola, but the students beside her, she simply said in an indifferent tone.
[Hey, everyone… The horrible things that happened to you… who was it that did them?2]
The “witnesses” all pointed their finger towards Viola in unison.
—
Some translator notes:1. A headband that anime characters often wear when studying.
2. She said it in a way like a child in horror movies would ask a question. Something like this? I don’t know how to encapsulate its full meaning in English.
