“U-Um, what is…this?”
“You can’t fight in combat when you’re hungry.”
“Huh? Combat? What’re you talking about?” Hilmes asked.
The next day, Veronica found herself surrounded by Leticiel and the others at their lunch table. Since Leticiel was in a different class and didn’t follow the academy’s time schedule, there was a chance that she would miss the right timing, so she had asked Hilmes, who was in Veronica’s class, to step in as reinforcement.
Despite being classmates, Veronica wasn’t very familiar with Hilmes. But one of his strengths was how he wore his heart on his sleeve, so it was easy for people meeting with him for the first time to lower their guard. Though Veronica had been a little suspicious, she still showed up with him at the cafeteria.
“Miss Veronica, Miss Audrey has already declared war on you. The more allies you have on your side to diffuse situations, the better.”
“W-War…?”
“Yes. That’s why it’s important to show Miss Audrey and the others that you have allies.”
Audrey likely obsessively followed Veronica around because she thought the girl didn’t have any allies to come to her rescue. In real war, countries and regions that were judged to be isolated or unsupported were the first to be targeted. An effective way of making the enemy think you had more allies was to light many bonfires or set up more lights than necessary.
Naturally, this was a peaceful world, so Leticiel’s memories of war couldn’t be applied directly. But there was a strong possibility that knowing someone they believed to be isolated had an ally would make enemies hesitate before attacking.
“I see…? I don’t really get it, but that sounds amazing!” Hilmes replied energetically. Since she needed everyone’s cooperation to win against the bullying, Leticiel had asked for the others’ help in advance.
A perplexed Mirandalette whispered into Zeke’s ear, who was sitting across from her. “Um, is it just me, or does this sound extremely dangerous?”
“I’m not sure…but I believe Miss Drossell has a reason for all of this.”
He seemed somewhat astonished, but Leticiel’s expression showed that she was dead serious. In this world with no war, instead of slaughtering enemies with militaristic force and violence, they cut their spirits down with their words and pressure. War as a concept had merely changed its shape.
“Um, why are you…helping me?”
“Isn’t it only natural to help your friends?”
“Huh? F-Friends…?” Veronica echoed, taken aback by Leticiel’s question. Clasping her hands in front of her chest, she ruminated over the words.
“Miss Veronica, would you like to eat lunch with us from here on out?”
“I—I can…continue to eat with you?”
“Yes, of course. Besides, food tastes better when you eat with others.” Leticiel could see Audrey glaring daggers from behind Veronica, but she was unable to come closer due to the fact that Veronica wasn’t alone and there was a large number of students in the cafeteria.
Now, it’s time to settle this.
After that, Leticiel’s quest to overthrow the bully began. Since she couldn’t be with Veronica 24/7, she rallied her own friends to cooperate.
Audrey and her clique members were all in different classes from Veronica. She had Hilmes, who was in Veronica’s class, keep an eye on her during lessons, and Mirandalette accompany her during breaks up to the third period.
They had to be careful Hilmes didn’t approach Veronica before Mirandalette did. Since Mirandalette and Hilmes were engaged, people might think Hilmes was cheating if he approached a woman who wasn’t his fiancée.
But if Mirandalette were to talk to her first, it would show the others that she and Veronica were friends. If Hilmes were to get involved after that, no one would raise an eyebrow.
By reducing the amount of time that Veronica was alone, they managed to limit Audrey’s potential attack times to the morning and after school. But aristocrats nowadays had their evenings jam-packed with plans after school, such as evening parties.
Leticiel assumed that Audrey came from a very high-ranking family if she was able to openly declare war on a duke’s daughter, even if said daughter was treated coldly by her own family. As such, there was no way she had time after school. In the end, Audrey and the others could only launch their attacks in the morning.
“Miss Drossell, you continue to surprise me. I can’t believe you’re trying to resolve bullying with such logical methods.”
“Strategy is what’s most important in battles. I simply thought that this was the best way to approach the issue.”
Leticiel and Zeke each prepared their own formulas in the Class 3 classroom, which was empty save for themselves and Veronica.
There was a reason they hadn’t shown themselves to Audrey and the others yet. Unlike Mirandalette and Hilmes, who came to the academy and attended classes like normal students, Leticiel and Zeke were like ghost students who almost never appeared in classes. If they were to suddenly start showing up to lessons, Audrey and the other students would become suspicious.
That was why Leticiel had chosen to use sorcery to defend Veronica from the shadows. She had been limiting the range of Audrey’s actions in order to improve the accuracy of her defense.
“Now you should be fine in the mornings, as well.”
“O-Okay! I’ll do my best!”
The spell that Leticiel cast made it so that any textbooks or pencil cases that fell into someone else’s hands were automatically returned to their owner. Veronica’s items were often hidden from her or thrown away, so this prevented that from happening.
On the other hand, she was having Zeke use his unbalanced magical power to convert a recording spell, based on a sorcery spell technique, into a magic formula and cast it on the classroom. It was a variant of a water mirror, which could be attached to a ceiling or wall to record the scene below or in front of it. When the recording time was up, the water mirror would fold into a square, storing the recorded information in the form of an ice cube.
Recording sorcery wasn’t anything new as it had been used frequently a thousand years ago, although it had mostly been used for espionage by spies. It was an excellent technique that could even record audio if you tweaked the formula; the only disadvantage was that it could only record for a short period of time. That was why Leticiel had restricted the time Audrey could act.
A few days later after class, Leticiel and Mirandalette were heading to the gathering spot for their Magic Lovers’ Club.
“Miss Audrey has been quiet lately, huh?”
“Yes. But we cannot let our guards down.”
The battle between Leticiel and Audrey’s forces had been going on for about a week, with Zeke’s magic secretly securing evidence of the bullying. In the meantime, whether because of Mirandalette and Hilmes’s defense or Leticiel and Zeke’s spells, Audrey hadn’t made any overt moves to interfere.
Still, despite the decrease in harassment, her gaze when Leticiel saw her in the cafeteria was growing sharper by the day. It wasn’t hard to guess that she hadn’t given up.
“Honestly, Miss Veronica, you’re the worst. You can’t do anything on your own, so you buttered up to not only the headmaster, but to Miss Drossell too. Well, I suppose you suit each other, seeing as how you’re both outcasts.”
Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Audrey’s voice could be heard from further down the hallway. It seemed like she had finally caught Veronica. Leticiel had assumed that she would be too busy after classes to bother Veronica, but perhaps she had made the time to track her down.
“Good afternoon, Miss Audrey. Was that my name I heard? Can I help you with something?”
“Oh! Miss Drossell…” Audrey and her clique’s eyes widened at Leticiel’s sudden appearance before their gazes twisted into that of resentment which seemed to say, “Not you again.”
“This doesn’t concern you, so could you please skedaddle? This issue lies between myself and Miss Veronica.”
“Let me say this, then. I am Miss Veronica’s friend, so I’d say this does concern me.”
“Oh? Her friend, huh?” Audrey said after a pause. “In that case, I’m Miss Veronica’s friend too. Right, Miss Veronica?” Audrey crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Veronica, a slight smile on her face. She seemed to have absolutely no doubt that Veronica would agree with her.
“Th-That’s…” Clutching her skirt, Veronica dropped her gaze. Leticiel said nothing, simply waiting for her to answer.
The old Veronica might have gotten swept up in Audrey’s arguments, not having had the courage to go against her. But now, she looked up with a determined gaze and said in a trembling voice, “N-No! Miss Audrey, you are not my friend!”
“Wha…?!” Audrey’s eyes bulged in astonishment at Veronica’s rebuttal. Behind Leticiel, Mirandalette quietly clenched her fist in a victory pose.