The school festival had ended, and the following week began after a short holiday.
Though that confrontation battle left a deep impression on many students and spectators, it didn't stop the flow of time.
The festival's remaining schedule concluded smoothly, carrying the lingering aftereffects of that shock, and the school returned to its usual daily rhythm.
Ermes's frantic days of late—the culmination of all that turmoil—had also come to a temporary, successful conclusion.
It was a good thing that, as if reclaiming that busyness, a calm daily life had returned...
"..."
Should it be called a problem that simply couldn't be solved with that alone, or the aftermath? Either way, several such matters remained.
The most prominent girl among them was currently sitting right beside Ermes, her cheeks puffed out in a slight pout.
"Um, Lady Katia."
"...What is it?"
"...Shall I pour you some more tea?"
"...Please do."
It was currently lunchtime on the first day of the school week following the festival. They were seated around a table for their midday meal in the inner courtyard.
It had taken quite some time, but after that incident where Clyde had cornered them, they finally had a chance to eat together again. However, there was one problem.
(...She's hard to move around.)
The reason Ermes muttered this internally was Katia, his master, who was seated beside him.
First, she was close. The chairs were positioned almost touching, close enough to exchange body heat.
Yet, their skin did not touch. However, she firmly gripped the hem of Ermes's clothing with one hand. It was as if she were wordlessly sending the message, 'Don't leave.'
Even so, while her expression was slightly flushed with embarrassment, her brow was lightly furrowed, and her cheeks didn't sink inward—there was no sign of her sulking.
Ever since the school festival ended, she'd been like this the whole time.
True to her declaration of "I'm going to get lots of attention from you," she remained glued to his side at all times — if anything, she'd been finding even more ways to close the physical distance between them than usual.
Setting that aside, the fact that she also maintained that vaguely disgruntled air without ever once letting it slip — yet absolutely refused to leave his side — well… it left even Ermes at a loss for how to handle it.
At the very least, since she wouldn't let go of his sleeve, holding the teapot proved to be quite the challenge.
So during the break after classes at the start of the week, Ermes tentatively brought the matter up with Nina—
"…Ah, I don't think she's actually mad, really. How should I put it… She desperately wants your attention, but after making such a huge scene about being angry at the festival, if she immediately perked up the moment you paid attention to her, it'd feel like… I dunno, like she'd come across as way too easy?"
"…Right, yes."
"Yeah, it really came through that you tried your hardest to understand but just couldn't."
It was probably a pretty spot-on assessment, because one glance at Ermes's reaction seemed to confirm it, and Nina nodded with a wry smile.
"Basically, to put it bluntly, the whole angry act is just that — an act. Deep down, she's actually happy. The proof is that she hasn't been making any unreasonable demands or impossible requests, has she?"
"That's… true, yes."
"Then you're totally fine. If you give her the attention you promised, she'll snap right back in no time. Just think of it as dealing with a temperamental little kitten… Actually, you know what—"
After Ermes fumbled through a string of increasingly dubious analogies the moment Katia asked him what that was supposed to mean, Nina narrowed her eyes just like a cat and made her proposal.
"That grumpy, clingy version of Lady Katia has gotta be adorable. I really want to see it, so can I join you for lunch today too?"
And true to her word, here they were now.
"My, my, aren't you two getting along splendidly~"
"…Yes."
Nina, and Sarah — who Nina had almost certainly invited — were sitting around the same table.
Between Katia's behavior and the two of them looking over — one clearly amused, the other fondly sentimental — Ermes found himself in an impossibly awkward position.
…Still, he supposed he had no one to blame but himself.
The events in Class B were certainly intense, but even so, he knew it was true—he had neglected her more than he should have, just as everyone had pointed out.
Ermes was a student here now, but he was still her attendant, after all.
If this was meant to be his punishment, then it was a rather light one. He would accept it gladly.
He had even promised to accompany her on her shopping trip this weekend. Ermes was fully prepared to carry her bags or do whatever else was needed.
Moreover, as Nina had said, it wasn't as if Katia was truly in a bad mood.
Allowing Nina and Sarah to join them today proved that. …He had worried there might be some lingering friction after their fierce confrontation in the rival match, but she seemed completely fine with it, which put his mind at ease.
Just as he was thinking this, Nina spoke up.
"It looks like things have settled down, so let me say it properly first. Great job with the rival match! That was a good game."
"Yes, it was!"
"Indeed."
At her words, Sarah nodded with a bit more enthusiasm, and Katia also offered a straightforward agreement.
"It was fun. We won against Class B, and I got to swing my sword properly for the first time in ages. …And besides..."
She paused for a moment, then cast a slightly mischievous glance toward Katia.
"...I got to see a side of Lady Katia that I didn't know before, too."
"...Let's drop that subject."
Katia averted her gaze, looking a bit awkward.
"Come on, Lady Katia, you were surprisingly possessive! I have to say, that gave me a real thrill. Seriously, you never showed anything like that in the first term. If I'd known you were this adorable, I would've said something sooner!"
"I said drop it..."
"N-Nina-san, Lady Katia isn't used to being teased like this...!"
"Sarah-chan, I don't think that helps as a defense."
Blushing even more than before, Katia pressed on the attack.
She herself must have realized just how out of sorts she'd been back then — after all, even in this foul mood, she was the first to apologize to Ermes about the matter.
…Then again, if you traced it back far enough, I was partly to blame too. I resolved to be more careful.
After that, we enjoyed our meal while chatting about the class battle and various other things.
"…Lady Katia, you really have become an amazing mage… Facing you in person really drove that home…"
"Thank you. Though it's all thanks to El."
"I'm honored. …But honestly, even I was caught off guard. I never imagined you'd be that much of a pain to deal with when you're on the other side."
"Right? Summoning an infinite number of soldiers that are tough enough to use as walls or shields and can also go on the offensive — that's basically a one-woman fortress."
Well put.
I don't want to dismiss the valiant efforts of the other B-class students — but in the end, it wasn't really B-class versus A-class anymore. It was B-class versus Katia. And even then, they barely scraped by with a narrow win. The gap was absurd.
"In fact, that's pretty much how everyone around us sees it, too."
Nina glanced around at the students watching from a distance and made that observation.
Even before, this spot had attracted attention simply because it was a lunch gathering of beautiful young women… but now, on top of that, the gazes directed their way seemed to carry an even greater mixture of respect and apprehension.
The one who drew the most of those stares was, as expected, Katia.
Though the A-class ultimately lost, that final bout — the way she fought like hell in a situation that was practically eight against one, nearly pulling off a victory — there was almost no one left who would dare belittle her.
…On the other hand, the other A-class members, who had no noteworthy moments to speak of and ended up losing to the so-called "dead-end" B-class, were apparently being evaluated rather miserably — but honestly, that was none of my concern.
The next person to draw those stares was — Sarah.
The individual efforts of the B-class students had been nothing short of spectacular, but naturally, the audience's attention gravitated toward those who had shone the brightest.
In that regard, she had kept healing the wounded B-class students on the front lines of the battlefield, successfully shielding the crystal from the fierce assaults periodically launched by the A-class students — and combined with her striking appearance and the buzz around her "dual aptitude," she had earned a tremendous amount of praise.
The title of "Saintess" was sure to spread even further thanks to all of this.
And conversely... in such an intense battle, these two were the only ones openly praised. Which meant...
"...I'm feeling a bit uneasy... and, a little... unsatisfied."
"What a coincidence, Sara. I'm extremely unsatisfied."
Sara timidly voiced that unease, and Katia piled onto it, letting her emotions build—only to immediately explode.
"Why isn't Er—why aren't Er and Niina getting any recognition at all?!"
"Lady Katia, even if it was just barely, thanks for not forgetting about me too. ...Well, it can't be helped."
"Indeed."
Of course, Niina's precisely-timed support that kept all of B-class from collapsing, and Ermes' efforts in holding Katia back, had both been enormously significant. As someone involved, he could be confident about that.
But—this country was a magic nation. Non-magic skills inevitably tended to go unrecognized.
"Besides, aside from the beginning, I didn't really end up defeating anyone. And Ermes—from people with no discernment, it probably just looked like he was getting beaten to a pulp by Lady Katia."
"That's right. And the problem is... there are just far too many people with no discernment..."
Katia's words were proven by the very gazes directed at Ermes.
The students around them, who looked at the girls with eyes full of respect and admiration—turned hostile, hostile gazes upon Ermes instead. ...Well, there were probably other reasons for the hostility mixed in too.
But he thought it didn't matter.
It was slightly different from simply ignoring those who directed such looks at him. They, too, naturally had their own "reasons worthy of hostility."
Whether those reasons were trivial or something deeper, he couldn't say—but at least until he understood them, he wouldn't particularly accept or discard them.
This indifference, with a slightly different vector from what he'd had until now—at this point, it was one of the things he had gained.
...And beyond that, simply put, everything up to this point had been too tumultuous.
Even he wanted, just a little, to enjoy this peaceful time. That was what he had thought.
(...Well, that wasn't how things would go, was it?)
Coincidentally, just like before, it came in the form of someone appearing during their lunch gathering.
And once again…
Something amusing
—was about to happen. Ermes could sense the prelude of it.
The silver lining, unlike with Clyde last time, was that the person who appeared bore no hostility. If anything, they were a rather friendly student.
"…Apologies for interrupting your meal. Would that be all right?"
"…Albert? What brings you here?"
The male student who had called out to them, maintaining proper etiquette at a non-intrusive distance—Albert.
Sarah noticed his approach and greeted him. He bowed slightly as he drew closer, then delivered his message.
"I have business with… or rather, I've been *asked* to deliver a message to Ermes."
"To me? What is it?"
Ermes tilted his head in puzzlement. Albert fell silent for a moment, looking somewhat reluctant to speak, but eventually steeled himself and opened his mouth.
"…A little while ago, one of the instructors stopped me.
Ermes. You are to—
Report immediately
to the instructors' office
Bring him there
—that's what they said."
"…"
A summons—from an instructor—at this academy.
Fixing Ermes with a steely gaze, Albert nodded in understanding and spoke.
"Talking about you. I'd imagine you've more or less figured it out—but first, it's probably not for anything good. ...Be careful."
Showing his gratitude for his friend's straightforward advice.
The next problem Ermes must confront had its curtain raised.
Thank you for waiting. The next target has been decided, and the second chapter's second half begins now!
I intend to make it even more exciting than the first half, so I hope you enjoy it!