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We weren’t the only ones confused by Estea’s sudden apology.

“Huh? Wait, wait, what are you doing all of a sudden!?” Melua’s eyes went wide with surprise, but Estea remained bowing, unmoving.

“Don’t make light of this, Melua. This is my way of showing sincerity.”
“Sincerity…?”

Not understanding what Estea meant, I repeated her words back like an echo.

“A-Anyway, please raise your head, Miss Estea.” Feeling uncomfortable, Alfe quickly stepped over to Estea, gesturing for her to lift her head. At Alfe’s urging, Estea slowly straightened up and looked directly at me.

“Please convey my apology to Hom as well. Or should I find an opportunity to apologize to her in person?”
“…I don’t understand why you’re apologizing.”

I truly had no idea why Estea felt the need to apologize to us. The only connection I could think of was the duel we had the other day.

But even that duel had been for the sake of the student council’s honor, and Estea had her own reasons for fighting. If she was apologizing for winning, that would be the most humiliating thing for Hom. For the sake of protecting her heart, I wanted to avoid that at all costs.

“In any case, I don’t recall anything that warrants an apology. If apologizing just now has brought you peace of mind, let’s end this conversation here.”
“That’s—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Master! Why are you getting so mad all of a sudden!? And Estea, what are you doing? I don’t get what’s going on at all!” Melua cut Estea off before she could finish her sentence.
“I’m not angry, Melua.”

Truthfully, I found Estea’s actions frustrating, full of contradictions I couldn’t wrap my head around. So, just as I said, regardless of her reasons for apologizing, I wanted this conversation to end here.

“…Um, Leafa.”

Alfe, now settled beside me, hesitantly tugged at my sleeve. Seeing her so reluctant to speak made me realize I might indeed be acting differently than usual, even from Alfe’s perspective. No matter my concerns for Hom, I needed to stay calmer than this.

“What is it, Alfe?”
“I want you to listen to Miss Estea… because I want to understand why we had to duel that day, too.”

Ah, so I wasn’t the only one who found Estea’s actions incomprehensible. I had regretted not choosing to refuse the duel, feeling swept up in the atmosphere and expectations of those around us. But if Alfe was hurting over the same thing— if hearing Estea out could ease that pain, then maybe it was worth listening.

“…All right, Alfe.”

I nodded and gently patted her shoulder. I knew she felt more at ease when I patted her head or ran my fingers through her hair, but I couldn’t reach that high anymore.

“…Student Council President. Are you satisfied now that you’ve apologized?”
“Master, that sounds way too aggressive!” Melua interjected, reacting to the sharp edge in my voice.

Estea shook her head, a sorrowful smile on her face, before quietly closing the atelier door and leaning against it.

“Now I understand perfectly. Just covering up the surface won’t be enough to convince you.”
“Meaning?”
“It means I need to tell you the truth.”

When I urged her to continue, Estea met my gaze head-on, her eyes gleaming with determination. Those clear blue eyes locked onto mine and mine alone.

“I won’t share this with anyone in the noble dormitory. If you trust me, please go on.”
“In other words, depending on the content, you’ll tell Hom or your friends.”

Estea caught the nuance of my words and smiled faintly.

“At the very least, Hom has the right to know.”

It was obvious, just from her tone, that this was something Estea couldn’t afford to let the nobles overhear.

“You’re sharper than I expected. It makes things easier.” She nodded, locked the door, and stepped closer to us. “I don’t trust Ignis Dulan.”

It was almost expected— of course his name would come up.

Ignis, the second son of Marquis Dulan, who served the powerful Lazur Ducal House, held the highest noble rank among the students at Canalford Academy. In a school where status and academic performance were everything, the fact that Ignis was the vice president of the student council wasn’t something I hadn’t thought about.

“His behavior could truly disgrace the student council’s name.”
“Just between us, even though he’s the vice president, the vice-principal did a looot of favors to get him there. And how did his Mecha Soldier aptitude score jump by almost 30 points since last year, hmm?”

It seemed Melua harbored quite a bit of resentment toward Ignis herself— she started rattling off complaints without anyone even asking.

“He provoked the duel and deliberately lost to Hom¹— likely to drag the student council, myself included, into disgrace. That’s why I—”
“I get that part. But the ones caught in the middle can’t just accept it.”

Even with just a little explanation, it was clear that Ignis carried heavy suspicion and unresolved tensions. His behavior, blatant discrimination against demi-humans, and complete lack of the dignity expected from a noble made it all too obvious.

“…But that’s exactly why you apologized, right, Miss Estea? I doubt that’s going to help Hom feel better, though.”

Alfe was upset, in her own quiet way. Considering how much she cared for Hom like family, there was no way she hadn’t noticed Hom’s heartbreak. She’d probably been watching over her, trying not to interfere with Hom’s efforts to act strong and avoid burdening anyone else.

“I can’t accept it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand. It’s just… even after hearing the reason and receiving an apology, I’m not ready to forgive. If that makes me small-minded, then I’m sorry for that.”
“That’s my master for you! Pretending to be mad but actually suuuper level-headed! You’re large-minded…Like Lake Venea level large!”

The ‘small-minded’ comment was meant as sarcasm, but for some reason, Melua looked up to me with sparkling admiration instead.

“…I don’t intend to force the student council’s circumstances onto you. I just want this academy to be a place where nobles and commoners can learn freely and enjoyably, without division. Unfortunately, for that to happen, the students themselves need to take the lead in eradicating demi-human discrimination.”
“Because you can’t go against the vice-principal?”
“And because Ignis throws his weight around like he owns the place, which suuucks,” Melua bluntly added what Estea struggled to say.

As my self-proclaimed disciple, Melua didn’t feel the need to hold anything back from me— a testament to how much she trusted me, and something I was truly grateful for.

“If we adhere to Canalford Academy’s founding principles, the proper way to honor students’ dedication is to provide a suitable environment for talented individuals to thrive. We must break the current situation where Class 1-F, despite achieving excellent results in the inter-class competition, remains oppressed at all costs.”

Thanks to Melua’s candid explanations, Estea’s points were gradually becoming clearer.

“The registration for Zersteller—Canalford Cup has been accepted. Given your Mecha Soldier aptitude scores, there’s no chance of being eliminated in the preliminary selection.”
“So, you’re saying that if we produce results, people’s perceptions of us —and our treatment— will change?”

I skipped the mind games and asked directly, even dropping the polite speech to gauge Estea’s reaction.

“Yes. As long as there are no issues with your overall combat ability, all that remains is to raise your Mecha Soldier evaluation score in the secondary selection.”
“And those scores are, what, 100 points for fifth-generation Mecha Soldiers like the Legion and 200 points for sixth-generation ones like the Löwe? Since the kids in Class F are stuck using the fifth-gen models the school provides, that means they start with a 100-point handicap.”

I nodded at Melua’s breakdown.

“Honestly, I’m not too worried about that. We were planning to customize our own units from the start.”
“Oh, right! Master, you’re the type to build your own Magic Soldiers and stuff!”
“Well… not exactly, but close enough.”

Besides, Farah had mentioned her father’s beloved unit, and Vannabelle and Numelin would probably procure something from Numelin’s family home.

“…To think you’ve accounted for everything. I’m honestly surprised.”
“Who do you think you’re talking to, Estea?”

Melua puffed out her chest, beaming with pride as Estea let out a breath of admiration.

“By the way, Melua, what’s with this ‘Master’ you keep saying?”
“Hehe! Believe it or not, starting today, I officially became Master’s disciple! In exchange, I agreed to become Alfe’s magic tutor!”
“W-Wait, what…? Huh?”

Even Estea couldn’t keep up with the sudden turn in conversation. She blinked in confusion, glancing back and forth between the three of us.

“Um… I-I asked Miss Melua to teach me magic because I want to get stronger for Zersteller.”
“And I fell head over heels for Great M-, I mean, Master Leafa’s alchemy skills, so I begged to be her first disciple!”

Alfe and Melua quickly filled Estea in on how things had come to be.

“Ah, I see… So that’s what happened.” Estea finally nodded, a gentle smile spreading across her face. “Now I’m even more excited to face you all in Zersteller.”

1. Robinxen: So this is just a given fact now? I feel like this power disparity makes very little sense even considering the advantages that modern magic techniques seem to have given the nobles. Honestly this is a rather frustrating part to the worldbuilding for me at the moment that it’s a given for them to lose constantly.

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