And standing in front of her, with a huge smile, was a large male student.
It was the Red Class’s Gordan Grolyle…the same delinquent student who had caused trouble with Shino and Rix during the entrance ceremony.
He must have challenged Shino to a match, even though she was still powerless with her Sphere unopened.
“Hey, c’mon! What’s wrong, scholarship student?!” Gordon taunted.
“A-aaaaaaaaahhhhhh?!”
He summoned bright lightning around his arm and mercilessly swung it at Shino.
The lightning flew in an arc and hit Shino, enveloping her whole body in its ferocious electric current. Shino screamed in pain.
“A-ah…guh…”
Shino slumped toward the ground where she stood. She looked like she was about to lose consciousness.
“Oh, not so fast!” said Gordon.
With another swing of his arm, Shino stopped on a dime before she could collapse. And then, as if held up by some invisible force, Shino’s body was limply brought back to standing and unnaturally held upright.
It was likely some kind of telekinetic spell.
Gordon must have used magic to keep her conscious, because she came to again and moaned in agony.
“…Agh…ugh…”
“C’mon! It’s too early to go night night… Hyah!”
Whump!
Gordon threw a strong punch into Shino’s stomach while she remained suspended in midair.
“Guh?! Augh?!”
Unable to stop him, Shino trembled, and her eyes opened wide.
The fight was already over. It was clear as day who had won.
Shino wasn’t able to use magic. This wasn’t even a fair fight to begin with.
Yet Gordon wasn’t done. He showed no signs of ceasing his relentless pummeling.
But the most incomprehensible part of the whole situation…
“…”
…was that the instructor in charge, Darwin, wasn’t doing anything to halt this absurd match.
He just stared from afar with his cold gaze, saying nothing to Gordon.
“U-um…Gordon?”
“Uh… Don’t you think this is a bit much…?”
And yet even Gordon’s cronies were taken aback and starting to voice their concerns.
“Huh? What are you guys saying? She still hasn’t collapsed, right?” said Gordon.
With a look of delight, he went up to Shino’s suspended body and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“That was what Professor Darwin said, yeah? ‘Fight until one of you collapses’? I’m merely following his instructions as best I can. Of course, it is starting to pain me to see her like this…but she just won’t seem to quit. Little Miss Shino doesn’t seem to want to give up the fight yet! I’m only doing this because I have to. I’m a hardworking model student, y’know?”
“Y-yeah, I guess so… Ah-ha-ha…”
“You are pretty hardworking, Gordon…”
His cronies couldn’t deny him.
Gordon was apparently the reigning tyrant in his grade. The Red Class students tried to avoid getting involved with him as much as possible and turned a blind eye to his actions.
Gordon went up to the lifeless, limp Shino, grabbed her jaw, and lifted it with a jerk. He licked his lips like a predator with its prey captured before it.
“Well then, Shino,” he said. “You and I are fighting on even terms here…but I think it’s about time we settled the match. So like I’ve been saying, if you just say those words for me, I’ll end the battle right here and now. Well?”
“Urk! I t-told you already…! Do whatever…you want…!”
Shino coughed up blood and managed to spit out a response.
“If you want me so badly…! Just do…whatever you want…! Make me your woman…or your slave… Whatever… Urgh! I don’t care…! I don’t have…any reason…to live— Urgh?!”
Gordon buried his powerful fist in Shino’s stomach before she could finish.
“No. That isn’t what I want to hear. You’re only stating the obvious,” he told her. “What I want to hear you say is… ‘I will withdraw from the academy.’”
“…!”
Shino’s gaze wavered slightly.
“’Cause y’know, you’re causing trouble for me, too… If Gordan Grolyle’s woman is just some incompetent failure of a student who can’t open her Sphere, then how does that make me look? It’s bad for my reputation. It’d make the whole Grolyle family look bad. So if you withdraw from the academy, you won’t be a student anymore, and it won’t be a problem, right? Then you’ll just be some woman I’m keeping around for fun. Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
Gordon’s wildly self-centered logic was enough to make those watching sick to their stomachs.
“Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha! You should be honored! This shows how much I like you, doesn’t it? If nothing else, you’ve got good looks! Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“Ugh… Ah…”
“Besides, what’s the big deal? Who cares if you quit the academy? You’re useless if you can’t open your Sphere anyway! There’s no point in staying for no good reason! Your life’ll be much more meaningful if you just throw this all away and devote your heart and body to me! Right?!”
“I—I…”
Trembling, Shino began to speak.
“…”
But then she stayed silent and dropped her gaze.
“Oh? Not giving up yet? You’re still going to face me, Shino?” Gordon asked. “You’ve got grit, I’ll give you that! In that case, I’ll have to fight with all I’ve got, too!”
Gordon summoned another lightning bolt and pushed his arm against Shino.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!”
Immediately, Shino’s screams, like the sound of tearing fabric, and the crash of the lightning rang out in harmony.
“That bastard…!”
“I can’t watch this anymore!”
Randy and Serephina were losing their tempers.
“Professor! Professor Darwin!”
Sobbing, Annie ran up to their instructor, who was standing nonchalantly at a slight distance, and clung to him.
“Please stop him! This is too much!” she begged.
But Darwin simply shoved her away in irritation.
“From what I can tell…those two still haven’t settled the battle,” he said coldly.
“Settled?! But it’s been clear for ages now…!”
“I said to battle until one collapses. I said what I said, and that’s the required condition for the battle to end. A rule is a rule, no exceptions. And Shino Whytenight still has not collapsed.”
“B-but…! Gordon is holding Shino up with some kind of spell…!” Annie stammered. “It’s not fair! It’s horrible! Don’t you feel sorry for her?!”
“As I said. You all are ignorant fools. You still fail to understand the dark and terrifying side of magic.”