Discomfort
“…Guaaaaaah!”
Struck by Floria’s slash, a male student was blown back toward the wall along with his sword.
With that, three of the five male students had been neutralized by Floria Florence and Nora Ashwell.
“Now then, the numerical advantage you originally had is gone.”
“Damn it. So the titles of swordsmanship tournament champion and quarterfinalist weren’t just for show…”
“Hey! When you put it like that, it sounds nothing but sarcastic!”
“In any case, we’ll be neutralizing the two of you as well.”
As Floria said that and stepped forward, one of the male students spoke up.
“W-wait! In the first place, there’s no reason for us to be fighting, is there?”
“…Pardon? What are you talking about now…”
Confused by the sudden change in tone, Floria tried to ask, but the male student cut her off with a flustered voice.
“Like I said earlier, yeah, it’s true this ends up causing trouble for you, but this is all to knock Rodwell down! We don’t actually want to be fighting you like this!”
Another male student nodded and chimed in.
“Y-yeah, that’s right. If anything, as fellow ducal house members, we’re proud of capable people like you. So now, as comrades from the same ducal houses, to restore the proper way nobles should be, we need to take Rodwell—”
“Comrades… is that what you call it? You and I?”
Floria viewed Felisiana as an adversary.
That was because she approached the guileless Lux with a false face and dealt with those who would harm Lux in ways Lux himself would never wish for.
However, because they shared at least one thing in common, caring deeply for Lux and valuing him, Floria trusted her on that single point alone.
…With that as the premise, being called a comrade by people who didn’t cherish Lux and were actively trying to knock him down made Floria…
“To call people who would harm Lux-sama my comrades… please don’t disgust me any further.”
She said it coldly, and immediately after,
She flashed her slender sword at a speed the two male students couldn’t even follow with their eyes.
“Wha!?”
“Gah!?”
Their swords were knocked away, and the force sent the two male students themselves flying.
“Hey! Florence! I was irritated too, so I wanted to take one of them down myself!”
“My apologies. I couldn’t restrain myself… that aside.”
Her heart was still burning with anger, but by freezing that anger over, Floria somehow kept it in check. As she approached the male students collapsed on their hands and knees, she spoke the question she needed answered.
“Why did you decide to do something like this?”
“Huh…? The reason is, like I said earlier…”
“That’s not what I mean. Even if you didn’t want Lux-sama to achieve good results, this method is far too forceful, so I’m asking why you suddenly resorted to such extreme measures.”
In the long run, there would’ve been other ways without taking the risk of stealing merchandise.
And yet, this time, they’d taken that risk as if the goal was to obstruct Lux as quickly as possible.
When Floria pressed them on that reason, one of the male students answered.
“I-it’s because Lage-san died, and things are kind of getting heated, or tense…”
“Lage, you mean the one who…”
Beside Ashwell, who murmured that, Floria closed her eyes once and spoke in a calm tone.
“…It seems tomorrow’s commerce practicum is going to be troublesome as well.”
Of course, no matter what happens, I’ll protect Lux-sama without fail.
After that, having successfully stopped the five male students’ scheme, Floria and Ashwell reported what they’d attempted to the appropriate authorities before returning to their respective estates.
…Until the day of the commerce practicum, where everyone’s intentions surrounding Lux would collide, only a few hours remained.