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After school, once classes had resumed, I was cleaning the classroom as usual while chatting with Vannabelle and the others when the chime signaling a campus-wide announcement rang out from the magic speakers.

“What’s this? It’s already after school.”

Vannabelle’s rabbit ears perked straight up, showing her curiosity.

“First-year Class F, Leafa Naga Rjuna, report to the front gate immediately~!”

The voice echoing through the device was Marie’s high-pitched one. Now then… we were supposed to meet in the music room, so what was this about?

As I exchanged glances with Alfe and Hom, Vannabelle turned toward us with a wry smile.

“That was definitely Senior Marie, right? What did you mess up this time?”

She said it teasingly, but there was a hint of concern behind it.

“Nothing, really. Though I guess she does have some business with me.”
“What kind of business?”

Vannabelle pressed for more, clearly not satisfied. Good grief… it’d take a while to explain—where should I even start?

“We’re helping Estea with the next student council election.”

While I was thinking, Alfe answered in my place. Still, that alone wasn’t enough for Vannabelle to fully understand.

“And what does that have to do with Senior Marie?”
“Nyahaha, yeah, that’s a fair reaction. We ended up forming a band—kind of by chance. I’m part of it too.”

Farah added further explanation, but it only seemed to confuse Vannabelle even more.

“Huh? A band?”
“I don’t really get it, but it sounds fun~”

Numelin, who had been listening nearby, responded in the same carefree tone. Still, judging from our expressions, she must have realized it wasn’t anything bad, as she smiled brightly.

“…So that’s the situation. Can I leave the rest to you, Vannabelle?”
“Well, if it’s something that urgent, you can’t exactly take our time cleaning. Other classes already have cleaning duty anyway.”

Since she had been listening to the broadcast out of interest, she seemed to have fully understood that it was an urgent matter. Vannabelle agreed without hesitation and took the broom I had been holding.

“Thanks, Vannabelle.”

We left the cleaning to Vannabelle and Numelin, and the rest of us—Alfe, Hom, Farah, and I—headed together toward the main gate where we had been called. In any case, we would be working together, so it wasn’t likely that I alone had been summoned there.

“Leafa!”

After we had left the classroom and started walking for a short while, Vannabelle’s voice rang out from behind us.

“What is it?”
“If there’s anything I can help with, you can count on me too.”

Vannabelle leaned out from the classroom and waved us off vigorously. I felt warmed by her thoughtfulness, so I smiled and waved back.

＊＊＊

At the designated main gate, a large steam-powered vehicle was parked—similar to the one that had come to the training grounds during the joint class with Class A.

Beside the vehicle stood Joslan, the sunglasses-wearing butler in black who had brought the mermaidia to Impero the day before.

“So you’ve finally arrived. We’ve been waiting quite a while.”
“Geez, Master, you’re late!”

Marie and Melua voiced their complaints in unison. I had hurried, but it seemed we had still kept them waiting. Seeing Estea there as well suggested that they had all gathered in the music room first.

“Sorry. It’s cleaning duty day for—”
“Cleaning duty?”

Cutting off Alfe’s apology was Estea’s puzzled voice.

“For Class F, cleaning only happens occasionally, but since it’s our own classroom, we take care of it ourselves.”

Hom, having guessed the reason behind Estea’s confusion, explained the situation of Class F to the rest of us. Estea, Melua, and Marie exchanged glances, then all frowned.

“…That’s rather underhanded. If I step in, I’ll have this corrected immediately!”
“Your feelings are more than enough. I’d prefer to handle things as peacefully as possible.”

Marie, who seemed to dislike inequality, voiced her indignation openly. I responded in a calming tone while shifting my gaze to Estea.

“Sorry for the trouble of—”
“We are not troubled.”

Sensing what Estea was about to say, Hom cut her off and denied it. I wasn’t the only one taken aback by Hom’s assertiveness—Estea also looked at her, slightly stunned.

“We believe you, Estea, will be the one to change this school. That’s why we’re simply keeping quiet a little longer.”

While seeking my silent agreement with a glance, Hom spoke to Estea in a gentle, confirming tone. Estea listened with a sincere expression, then straightened up and met Hom’s eyes.

“…Yes, I’ll definitely change it. So please, lend me your strength.”
“We already promised that.”

Hom smiled, a little shy in the face of Estea’s earnestness.

“We’ll keep our promises.”
“Right. Thank you, everyone.”

At my words, Alfe and Farah also nodded, and Estea’s eyes grew slightly moist. The idea that Estea would one day ask us for help like this—if the me from the time we first met were told that, I would surely have been surprised.

“This battle is one we absolutely cannot afford to lose! I’m totally fired up!”

Seeing that the conversation had reached a pause, Marie raised her high-pitched voice and gave Joslan directions with exaggerated gestures. Joslan nodded in silence, unfastened the cargo bed’s latch, and began to open the doors.

“Wah…”
“What do you think you’re doing there!?”

But just as the contents of the cargo bed were about to be revealed, a sharp, angry voice was hurled at us from behind.

Turning toward the source of the voice, we saw Ignis, accompanied by about ten of his followers, standing there and watching us as if surrounding us.