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The Dragon Trees planted on campus were lush with fresh, vibrant leaves.

“It’s beautiful, Leafa.” Alfe gazed at the softly swaying leaves in the warm May breeze and smiled, seeking my agreement.

“Yeah, it is. It feels like a hint that summer’s coming as things start heating up.”

It had already been a month since we’d started school. Now, there was less than a month until the interclass mock battles.

Today was the monthly announcement for the overall results that would determine the mock battle matchups, and we were heading to the school building a bit later than usual. Most students left the dorms early to check their rankings, but Alfe thought it was better to avoid the crowd. Besides, with my height stuck where it was, it would have been difficult to see the board over the huddle of students anyway.

“…You know,” Alfe said, pressing her hair down as it danced in the capricious wind, and met my gaze. “I really love this color of the Dragon Tree. It’s my favorite.”

Looking straight into my eyes, Alfe smiled softly.

“Because it’s the same color as your eyes, Leafa.”
“…Thank you, Alfe.”

Alfe usually showed her affection through her actions and gestures, but today, she’d expressed it clearly in words. It felt a bit unusual, yet having her share this with me beneath the Dragon Tree—my namesake—felt perfectly like her.

“Whoa! Class F took the top spot!”

The quiet morning I’d been sharing with Alfe was suddenly interrupted by Vannabelle’s booming voice.

“First…place?” Alfe blinked in surprise, grasping my hand. “Leafa, we’re in first place!”
“It seems that way.”

With our class representative Vannabelle announcing the ranking for all to hear, it wasn’t just Class F taking notice—students from other classes were turning to see what the fuss was about.

I wasn’t expecting any cheers for us, but this probably meant a direct match between Class A and Class F.

“Shall we go, too?”
“Yeah. Hom and Farah are probably waiting for us.”

Since Farah had decided to check the rankings ahead of us, with Hom accompanying her, I’d taken Alfe’s suggestion to linger here a bit longer. But with homeroom about to start, the crowd might have thinned by now.

“Wonder how big the score difference was.”

Alfe was carefully keeping the topic on the overall score. My personal rank was obviously at the bottom, but she was kindly skirting that point.

“Well, Class A’s always been strong, so it’s probably a close call.”
“Still, all our hard work paid off, didn’t it?”
“It’s thanks to your training, Alfe.”

Because my build doesn’t lend itself to earning points in Mr. Tanutanu’s military drills, Hom and I had been doing extra magic training sessions with Alfe. And it seemed like those efforts had finally started to show over the past two weeks. I’d managed to work my way into the top ranks in our magic studies, so hopefully, we’d be able to make up some ground here.

“What was that, you little punk!?”

Just as we stepped into the entrance hall, Vannabelle’s shrill, furious voice rang out, echoing through the space.

“She sounds really mad… I wonder what’s going on…”

Among the crowd of students whispering to one another, a few sneers could be heard. Vannabelle’s anger seemed far from ordinary.

“Why do Rizel and Lyle get bonus points¹!? The results are already set, aren’t they?!”
“T-the vice-principal directed it, you see…”

The office worker stammered, clearly intimidated by Vannabelle’s intensity.

“I’m asking why they’re getting extra points now! Twenty points could mean the difference in overtaking Class F! This has to be intentional!”

Just then, a slow, mocking clap punctuated Vannabelle’s rant.

“What’s the deal, Rizel!?” Vannabelle shouted, glaring at him. “Why are you ranked higher than Lili-Lulu now?!”
“The scores reflect our performance,” Rizel replied smoothly. “Clearly, we were the superior choice.”
“What?! You were barely even with me until just now!”

Frustration seething, Vannabelle stomped her foot in front of Rizel. Then, unexpectedly, the crowd parted, and a short, stout man with a thick mustache stepped forward.

“It’s Mr. Karlman…”

The name escaped from a few students in the crowd.

Saxos Karlman, this particular teacher, was rumored to be a distant relative of the academy’s director, Felix, who had secured Karlman’s position as vice-principal just last year. Known for his prejudice, he openly looked down on students of non-noble birth, and he was largely credited with creating Class F, a group made up almost exclusively of demi-humans.

“Ha-ha-ha. It appears we missed some points in the original tally,” Mr. Karlman chuckled, completely ignoring Vannabelle as he offered a smug apology to Rizel and the Gutenberg boy, who had drawn near to observe the commotion.

“Thank you, Vice Principal, for noticing,” Rizel replied with a respectful bow. “This will preserve the honor of our family name.” Gutenberg followed Rizel’s lead, bowing uncertainly.

“Now then,” Karlman continued, his gaze sweeping over the students, “I understand there’s a complaint. Is someone here questioning the fairness of this academy’s evaluation system?”
“It doesn’t make sense! I mean—” Vannabelle started.
“Oh? And you,” Karlman interrupted sharply, fixing Vannabelle with a condescending stare, “is that any way to speak to a vice principal? A reduction in points would hardly be unwarranted for such disrespect.”
“……”

At the mention of a potential point deduction, Vannabelle’s long rabbit ears twitched in agitation, but the threat was enough to make her fall silent.

1. Robinxen: Oh, so they’re not even subtle about the rigging process… fair enough.

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