At long last, only one enemy remained. The final delinquent and Sadie faced each other down, glaring at one another with unconcealed animosity.
“You don’t have what it takes to be the president, Sadie,” said the delinquent. “Hell, you don’t even have what it takes to be on the council! You were already lucky to be the vice president, and now you think you can just step on up and take the president’s seat? What a joke!”
Her barbed words flowed freely. I could tell her grudge against Sadie had by no means started today.
“That’s why we’ll never bow down to you and your cronies! We’re gonna do whatever we want to! We played nice while the last president was in office, but she’s gone, and we’re done!”
“I can’t disagree. The fact that people like you have begun to crop up proves my unworthiness for my position in and of itself. Hence the first step I must take in rising to my station is defeating you,” said Sadie.
Her words were calm, but her eyes were glazed over with fury. It was written all over her face: No matter what happened, her opponent would pay for what she’d done. There are moments in everyone’s lives when they’re faced with something or someone they must overcome to move onward, and this was one of Sadie’s. This was her trial, and hers alone.
“As the president of the student council, I will set an example for you—and everyone like you—to follow, demonstrating it to you one by one if I have to. Now it’s time for me to open your eyes to the truth!”
“The hell you will! I’ll burn you to ashes!”
The final delinquent spewed a full-powered gout of flames in Sadie’s direction. It was quite a display—a crimson blaze one could easily have described as an inferno. It was by no means an attack one could dismiss out of hand, and it proved that in spite of her wrongdoing, she had been through her fair share of battles and hardship to obtain genuine strength. That knowledge made it all the more tragic to know she had lost her way, and I knew Sadie, a student in the same level as her, was the best possible candidate to set her back on the right path.
Sadie opened her mouth wide…
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…and breathed out not a burst of flame—but a beam of light!
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The ruby-red flash of searing hot light engulfed the delinquent’s fire breath, swallowing it—and the delinquent herself—up in an instant!
“Aaaaaaaaargh! This is way too hot, even for a red dragoooooon!” the delinquent screamed, but even the sound of her voice was blotted out by the roar of Sadie’s breath! My eardrums shook so violently, I almost thought a full-sized dragon had just barged its way directly past me.
Eventually, the light of Sadie’s breath faded. The delinquent was left standing stock-still, steam gently wafting from her body, until she finally collapsed on the spot. She’d fallen victim to a technique only Sadie was capable of using: A beam of red-hot light that was the result of her quest to perfect her fire breath. It was powerful enough to have earned her the name “Rubiaflash Sadie”!
“Your battle was exceptional. I’m truly impressed,” I said, speaking on behalf of the council’s other members.
“I’ve done nothing worthy of such praise. As I said before, this battle would never have occurred were it not for me. And so,” Sadie said, clenching her fists, “I will continue to fight until every one of the fools who look down on us are defeated and the academy is cleansed of their influence!”
“Understood! I will help in any way I can!” I said. “Though then again, considering this incident was the student council’s responsibility to solve from the start, I suppose it’s a given I’d assist you.”
If the academy’s standards for behavior had grown slack on account of the students’ disdain for the current student council, then I bore some responsibility for the way things had turned out.
“I’m in full agreement with everything my superior just said. We will wipe them out together,” Ricuen said, stepping up beside me.
Tokinen smiled and joined us as well. “We’d better be getting back and telling everyone who didn’t come along ’bout how this turned out,” she said.
Etigra, it seemed, was already prepared to leave. She’d turned to face the academy, ready to set off at any moment.
As I gazed at my fellow members of the council, a thought struck me: Even if the order my sister had brought about collapsed, all we had to do was bring peace to the academy once again. All I had to do was devote myself more wholeheartedly than ever to constant self-improvement!
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I would build a new student council with my own two hands!
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My newfound resolve, however…
“By the way, Miss Laika, I’d think it’s time you were given some sort of title.”
…would soon be dashed by Etigra’s words.
“Huh…? What brought this on…?” I asked. I hadn’t at all anticipated I would become the subject of this conversation.
“Now that you mention it, it’s weird for only one of us not to have one. Seems like a good chance to think one up, eh?” said Tokinen. She was just as enthusiastic as Etigra, at a glance, though knowing her, there was every chance she was only saying that and really didn’t think it was a good idea at all. It was quite hard to tell what she truly thought about anything.
“But I don’t have any special abilities in particular that would earn me that sort of name,” I protested.
“It seems to me you always pick the simple, straightforward way of doing things. Why don’t we call you ‘Simple Laika’?” said Ricuen. It was perhaps the single worst possible suggestion I could have received.
“Absolutely not! That makes it sound like I’m incapable of doing anything other than the most simple and straightforward option!”
“I believe that reflects your personality quite nicely, actually.”
“Not in a positive light, it doesn’t!”
I wonder if there’s any chance I could convince everyone to do away with these horrible titles altogether…?
The End