Leticiel walked down the hallway during lunchtime. A few days had passed since the day of the lecture. Today, Zeke was helping a teacher, and Hilmes and Mirandalette were both taking the day off of school for other business, so Leticiel was heading to the sorcery research lab.
Since there was still time before afternoon classes started, many students were chatting in the hallway. They retreated to either side of the corridor when she approached, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she wanted them to retreat even further because it made it easier for her to walk through.
After rounding a corner, she caught sight of Lucas talking with someone—a female student with glasses and dark blonde hair in pigtails.
Hmm? Isn’t that…?
It was Veronica, the girl Leticiel had helped in the auditorium. She held what appeared to be a textbook or notebook, but it appeared soaked.
“Tell me if…is…”
“…fine!”
Leticiel was a good distance from them, so she could barely hear what they were talking about. Still, she could tell that Veronica was denying whatever Lucas had said. He had been asking her something, but Veronica shook her head and took a few steps back.
Suddenly, Veronica took off, heading straight for Leticiel’s direction. It seems she had forcibly ended the conversation, as Lucas reached out to try and stop her.
Veronica was unable to hide her surprise when she almost ran into Leticiel right around the corner. Still, she gave a short bow and continued running down the hallway. Leticiel watched her pass, too slow to say anything.
“Huh? Drossell?” Lucas, who’d chased after Veronica, stopped when he saw Leticiel standing at the corner and staring off into the distance.
“Hello, Headmaster. If you’re looking for Miss Veronica, she went that way,” she said, pointing in the direction Veronica had dashed off in.
For some reason, Lucas’s eyes widened in surprise. “You know Veronica?” he asked. Apparently, it was because Leticiel knew the girl’s name.
“I wouldn’t say that I know her well. I simply helped her find her pencil case after the lecture the other day. What were you talking about with her? She was crying, you know.”
When Veronica had passed by earlier, Leticiel had seen tear strains on her cheeks. Hearing this, Lucas frowned as if his suspicions had been confirmed. “So she really is being bullied…”
“Bullied?” Leticiel echoed. What in the world did that mean? “Bullied” was a word that hadn’t existed a thousand years ago.
Lucas nodded, not realizing that her murmur hadn’t been rhetorical or that she was clueless as to what he meant. “She has one of the highest levels of magical power of the students in the academy, but at the same time, she has a severe case of magical power saturation that makes her unable to use it. She’s similar to you.”
“O-Okay…”
“In aristocratic society, where your ability to use magic determines your status, Veronica has been marked as incompetent, though in a different meaning compared to you. Even at the academy, she’s looked down on by students who believe in magical power supremacy.”
Leticiel didn’t recognize the name of the disease he’d mentioned, but she couldn’t interrupt him to ask about it. She made a mental note to herself and pushed it to the back of her mind.
“I’m sure you’re aware that she’s Norman’s daughter,” Lucas continued, “but she’s twice as weak-willed as other kids her age. Norman and I fought together so I try to talk with her and stay up to date on what’s going on, but apparently that has caused the spread of malicious rumors.”
“Malicious rumors?”
“Yes. Like that she’s trying to butter me up.” Lucas bit hard on his lip, frustrated by his own powerlessness. He seemed to struggle to make a difficult decision before asking Leticiel with a conflicted expression, “Hey, Drossell. Would you mind helping Veronica out? It would be best if I could intervene personally, but in this situation, I think that would only make things worse.”
There was a deep wrinkle in his brow, and he was clenching his fists so hard that she was surprised he hadn’t drawn blood yet. He definitely had a point—if their relationship was already that infamous, Lucas intervening would only serve to back Veronica into a corner even further.
Leticiel glanced at the end of the hallway where Veronica had disappeared before turning back to Lucas and nodding. She’d already helped the girl once, so she might as well help her through to the end. “All right,” she replied. “I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ll do my best.”
“Good. Thank you,” Lucas replied, relieved.
Saying goodbye to him, Leticiel walked down the hallway Veronica had run through, hoping to find her. Veronica was nowhere to be seen, but just as Leticiel was thinking of using sorcery to search for her, her ears caught the faintest hints of a piano melody.
It was a gentle and calm song. The sound was extremely faint, as if the piano were far away. Yet, the melody, rising and falling as it passed through the walls, calmed the listener’s mind. Leticiel immediately fell in love with it.
She remembered the academy’s floor plan and recalled that there was a music room nearby. She didn’t know if Veronica was the one playing, but she decided to check it out.
Three young ladies entered the music room just as Leticiel was rounding the last corner before it. The beautiful piano melody came to a halt the instant they stepped inside.
“Oh, Miss Veronica. So this is where you were.”
Leticiel didn’t mind stepping in and interrupting, but to better understand the situation, she peeked through the sliver of the slightly agape door.
“M-Miss Audrey…” Veronica sounded frightened. Apparently, the girl with ringlets who seemed like the leader of the three girls was named Audrey.
“Hey, you’ll listen to my request again today, right? After all, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Audrey hid her grin with one hand. Her nasally, oppressive tone certainly didn’t make it sound like she was speaking to a friend. When Veronica failed to respond, Audrey continued, “I want that golden brooch of yours. Give it to me.”
“Huh? Wh-Why?”
“Oh, are you complaining? Can’t you just ask your darling father to give you a new one? So give me yours.”
Judging by the girls’ attitudes, they didn’t actually want the brooch. They just enjoyed taking Veronica’s treasured items from her. It was the same kind of cruelty that those who killed senselessly and plundered for their own pleasure relished in.
“B-But…it belonged to my mother…”
“What? Don’t tell me you’re going to refuse to hand it over.”
Veronica fell silent once more. Audrey and her lackeys crossed their arms, staring her down while stepping closer. It was as good as a threat, but Veronica still refused to give in. Audrey’s expression twisted into a frown, and she looked like she might click her tongue. Her gaze slid to the piano Veronica had been playing.
“Well… You may not be able to use all that magical power you have, but you’re good at meaningless stuff like music. Are you so focused on this sort of thing that you can’t even listen to your friends’ requests?”
Audrey slowly and deliberately held her hands up and chanted, “Oh magic of the wind that fills my body, become a blade that cuts through everything. Gather in my hand and pierce my enemy! Wind Cutter!”
In response to her chant, wind swirled and gathered in her palms. Looking down her nose at the sheaf of papers, Audrey slowly reached for the sheet music on the piano, her wind magic spell activated.
“St-Stop!” Before Audrey could touch the score, Veronica screamed and snatched it away, holding it against her chest. Astonished by her actions, Audrey grabbed onto the other girl to try and take the sheet music from her.
“Give it to me! It’s too good for the likes of you!”
“No! I won’t!”
“Wha—?” Audrey’s eyes widened. She obviously hadn’t expected Veronica to resist this much. Immediately after dissipating the spell, she began to shout like an enraged dragon. “You! How dare you disobey me?!”
Frustrated that things weren’t going her way, Audrey reared back to slap Veronica with an open palm. Veronica squeezed her eyes shut tightly, bracing for the impact. But the pain never came.