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After dinner, Vannabelle led us to a nice spot she knew, and we stepped out into the courtyard with drinks in hand.

“Wow! There’s a fountain here!” Alfe, spotting the fountain from a distance, exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, though I hear it’s dry all year round.”

The courtyard, which was relatively small, sat between the noble dormitory and the commoners’ dormitory. Judging by the fact that there was no water in the fountain, it seemed to be considered part of the commoners’ dormitory grounds.

“Phew, just having a breeze makes a huge difference!”
“Yeah~, especially after a big dinner, this feels really nice~.”

Sitting in a circle on the edge of the fountain, letting the night air wash over us, was incredibly relaxing. Since I usually just went straight back to my room after dinner, I realized I’d been missing out on this way of unwinding.

“With this heat, a cold bath sounds perfect!”
“Agreed~!”
“Nyaha! Just gotta be careful not to chill your stomach too much!”

If the temperature kept rising, adjusting the shower’s temperature to make it cooler would probably feel great. Maybe I should design a small magic tool that could generate cold air—it would definitely come in handy during the summer.

As I was thinking about that, Hom leaned in close and whispered to me.

“Master.”
“What is it, Hom?”
“Look over there.”

Following Hom’s pointing finger, I spotted Gutenberg and Jost standing by a window in the noble dormitory hallway.

“Oh, it’s the Gutenberg boy.”

As soon as our eyes met, he pressed an open notebook against the window. If he had something to say, he could’ve just opened the window and spoken normally. Why was he resorting to writing? Puzzled, I read his message.

“…Rizel and Ignis are headed your way. Get back to your dorm immediately.”
“Ignis? Who’s that?”

At my murmur, Vannabelle’s rabbit ears twitched, catching onto my words instantly.

“It’s the vice president of the student council~.”
“Ugh! I remember now—he’s rumored to be one of the nastiest nobles around— mmph!?”

Before Vannabelle could say anything more, Numelin quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Your voice is too loud~.”
“Oh my, at least you realize it.”

But despite her efforts, it was too late. A noble from the dorm had already overheard.

The one who appeared was none other than Rizel from Class 1-A.

Rizel glared at us while running a hand over his spiky blue hair. Beside him stood an upperclassman with somewhat long, spiky red hair. Despite the humid heat, he wore a formal long coat over a shirt adorned with a pleated white chest frill. This was probably the Ignis that Gutenberg had warned us about.

“So, you were too scared to come alone, and brought a senior with you?” Vannabelle stood up, taunting Rizel.

“What did you just say—”
“As a member of the student council, I can’t overlook those who break dormitory rules.”

Ignis cut in, his composed demeanor stopping Rizel before he could take the bait.

“Rules? What rules? It’s not even lights-out yet, and this is a shared space.”

Even after hearing that they were from the student council, Vannabelle wasn’t backing down. I also didn’t think we were making enough noise to be considered a problem, so I nodded in agreement.

“Oh…?”

Hearing Vannabelle’s rebuttal, Ignis raised his already-arched eyebrows even higher.

“A half-breed commoner daring to talk back to a noble… Typical of the ignorant fools in Class F.”
“…So you’re another one of those damn supremacists, huh?”

Vannabelle muttered, her tone dark.

“Supremacy? Don’t be mistaken. This is simply a distinction. You lot were granted your so-called ‘rights’ out of mercy. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that makes you our equal, you half-breeds.”
“Who the hell do you think you are!?”

Vannabelle lost her temper and grabbed Ignis by the collar.

“And what do you think you are doing? Going to hit me? Resorting to violence already? Typical of a beast.”

Times like this, it was my job to step in and put on the brakes.

“…Vannabelle.”
“Yeah, I know.”

The moment I called her name, Vannabelle let go without protest.

“I get it. Taking a swing at him would be stupid. Even I—”
“Vannabelle!”

Before Vannabelle could finish her sentence, Farah suddenly shouted in alarm.

“Uwooooah!!”

Out of nowhere, a student lunged at us from behind, raising a staff to strike.

“…What do you think you’re doing?”

Farah intercepted the attack, stopping the staff in its tracks. She and Vannabelle both turned to glare at the assailant.

“Oh, my apologies. When I thought the vice president was about to get hit, my staff moved on its own.”
“…I know you did that on purpose. My eyes can’t be fooled.”
“Tch, a demi-human and a Magic Eye user…”

The one who clicked his tongue and muttered was Ignis.

“Exactly.”

Farah nodded in agreement, then quickly scanned the surroundings and spread her arms wide.

“…By the way, I’ve been noticing something for a while now. In those bushes, behind those trees—you’ve got plenty of friends hiding, haven’t you? What exactly do you plan to do by surrounding us?”
“Is this harassment? Just because an F-Class student got a perfect score in Mecha Soldier aptitude—”
“We’re just nipping a problem in the bud. All of you—get them!”

At Ignis’ signal, his lackeys, who had been hiding in the courtyard, rushed to attack. With clear hostility directed at them, Farah and Vannabelle took the lead in knocking down the first wave of attackers.

“…Hey, Leafa. Are we in the wrong here?”
“I can’t exactly tell you to just sit back and take it.”

Vannabelle smirked as she asked, and I nodded in agreement. It was obvious we’d fallen into a trap. But there weren’t many other options.

“…I know! I know!” Suddenly, Alfe, who had been quiet until now, raised her voice loudly.

“Alfe?”

She clenched her fists tightly, her legs trembling, but she stepped forward to face Ignis.

“Hey, Mr. Vice President. At this academy, disputes are supposed to be settled with duels, right?”
“That’s what the rules state. But what of it? Your side was the first to resort to violence.”

Arguing about who started it would only work against us. From the moment Vannabelle took the bait and grabbed Ignis by the collar, we had already walked straight into their trap.

“Vannabelle was wrong to grab you first, but just now—you clearly gave the order to attack. And I recorded it!” Alfe declared, then conjured a water mirror into the air. The floating mirror, enhanced with projection magic, replayed Ignis’ words and actions from just moments ago.

“What!? In just that brief moment…?”

Ignis’ eyes widened in shock, his lips twisting in frustration. His lackeys, caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, started backing away in confusion. This was Alfe’s moment of bravery, and I needed to make sure it wasn’t wasted¹. It was my role to take control of the situation.

“Now then, having this revealed puts you in quite the difficult position, doesn’t it? In that case, why not settle this as a proper dispute between students—with a duel, just as Alfe suggested?”

Ignis grit his teeth at my proposal, while Rizel shifted uneasily, swaying from side to side.

“…The only human in F-Class is proving to be quite the nuisance.”

After a brief pause, Ignis finally spoke as if he had resigned himself to the situation.

“Fine. I’ll accept. But it’ll be one-on-one.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Vannabelle, you can’t.”

As she stepped forward, pounding her fists together, eager to fight, I instinctively stopped her.

“You’re really set on stopping me in my tracks huh…?”

Vannabelle scratched the back of her head roughly, clearly frustrated.

“Belle, you’re too worked up right now~. Nume’s against it too~.”
“How the hell am I supposed to stay calm after being insulted like that²?”

Even so, she seemed to accept mine and Numelin’s reasoning, as she didn’t argue further.

“Nya-ha, yeah, fair enough. Even I can’t keep my cool.”
“…I shall go.”

It was surprising to hear Farah admit she wasn’t calm. If that was the case, then the one among us who was the most composed and had the best chance of winning was Hom.

“Sorry to put this on you, Hom, but I’m counting on you.”
“As you command, Master.”

And so, what had begun as an arbitrary provocation from the noble dormitory had escalated into a formal duel—between Hom and Ignis³.

Ignis Dulan

1. Robinxen: Yeah, I am genuinely impressed.
2. Robinxen: You’re really not helping the case of being ravenous beasts by being so quick tempered though… you should hold back at this point just to prove a point!
3. Robinxen: Is that allowed? I feel like Hom is cheating? They keep saying that they’re treated like tools but then they can enrol in school, and they’re qualified to fight nobles. So are they tools? If they’re not tools WHY THE HELL ARE CHILDREN ALLOWED TO MAKE THEM?!

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