CH 48

The witnesses had been changed.

Adelaide => Giselle’s group, and Kelturi => Lou’s group.

Weekend…

The game day had come for Lou and Fran’s team versus Giselle Carpantier and Nadia Charlois. 

What!

In the past few days, the whole school, teachers and students alike, had heard about the competition.

Lou and Giselle, however, never mentioned anything about the game.

So, someone other than the three of them must have intentionally spread the word.

Giselle soon found out who it was.

She had heard it from a student of the Magic Martial Arts Club.

Presently, Giselle and Nadia were riding in a carriage headed for the Hunting Forest.

The carriage that Giselle and Nadia were riding in was…

It was not a regular public carriage, but a private carriage specially arranged by the Carpantier family.

“Hey, Nadia, what did you think you’re doing?”

Giselle was shocked to learn that Nadia had spread the event.

She couldn’t understand Nadia’s intentions as to why she bothered to make it public.

Giselle questioned Nadia, the person responsible for this.

But Nadia was having none of it.

“Giggle, what do you mean, Giselle? Of course I’m doing this so that the whole school can see what a glorious victory you and I will have.”

“I-I didn’t mean it to be so flashy…”

“Non-non-non. No, Giselle! We’re here to show them what we’re made of.”

“What we’re made of?”

“Un! After all, our opponent is the Acting Principal and our witness is the Chairman, right? By defeating that mother and daughter, the Student Council can assert dominance in the school! It’s not every day you get a chance like this.”

“Assert dominance in the school―――?”

Nadia’s eloquence was superb.

Her sweet whispers unknowingly drew Giselle in.

Take control of the school by pinning the Chairman and the Acting Principal down ―――

How tempting that sounded.

If the mother and daughter’s power was weakened…

They should comply with the various demands of the Student Council more easily due to external pressures, including the two houses.

By then, she would be the most outstanding Student Council President of all time.

“Wonderful, as expected of Nadia. Thank you for… for doing this for me!”

Giselle smiled mischievously at Nadia when she thought about it.

Nadia smiled at Giselle, giving her an even more sinister smile.

“Hahaha, glory be to you!”

There were more plans behind Nadia’s words…

Giselle had no way of knowing them now.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ 

When Giselle and Nadia arrived at the Hunting Forest… 

Lou, Fran, and the witnesses, Adelaide and Kelturi, were already waiting at the site.

Furthermore!

Nadia’s publicity paid off as there was a large gallery of teachers and students waiting for the game to begin.

“Looks like we kept you waiting!”

Giselle’s excited voice rang out, and she stepped out of the carriage nimbly.

Nadia, too, appeared with her rather petite frame outside the carriage and disembarked with Giselle’s help.

The moment she realized that Lou and Fran were there, Nadia’s steeply slanted eyes narrowed and a smile appeared on her face.

This was the first time Lou and Nadia had met.

“Are you Nadia? Boasting can sometimes get you killed.”

When Lou said this, Nadia replied defiantly.

“Hello, are you the Headmistress’s servant and the new teacher?”

“That’s right. I’m Lou.”

“Lou you say? I’m Nadia Charlois, Giselle’s tag partner. You’re my teacher, so I’ll pay you some respect. However, I will return what you just said…Also!”

Nadia then turned her angry eyes to Lou.

“Not only did you address Giselle ‘you’, you called me the same way, too! If I win, I’m going to make sure you stop being so rude.”

“No problem, if you win, that is.”

“You did it again! If you lose, you’ll have to lick my boots, so be prepared!”

When Adelaide heard that Nadia had spread the word about this game, she thought there was something to it, but…

She completely foresaw her intentions with what she just said.

At first glance, it seemed natural for Nadia, a noblewoman, to be angry at the rude Lou.

However, the reason she casually demanded and got Lou to admit to something humiliating was to show off her power, not Giselle’s.

Fran, on the other hand, tried to get him to immediately withdraw his promise.

If he loses, he’ll lick Nadia’s shoes!

She couldn’t let her teacher, Lu, do such a humiliating thing.

Nadia, however, snickered at Fran’s panic.

“Huh! Adults are so quick to renege on their promises, aren’t they?”

Now that she put it that way…

Fran couldn’t go back on her word either.

Lou merely nodded calmly toward Fran’s concern.

Then, as usual, he told her.

“Alright, leave this to me.”

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ 

9:00 a.m…

Ibert stepped forward to explain the rules again to the two teams and the witnesses.

The competition would last until 3:00 p.m. after lunch.

It was a point system, so the team with the highest number of points would win, which was the sum of the two members’ points.

If a team were to run out of magical power or was injured and couldn’t continue to participate in the competition, it would be regarded as withdrawal on the spot.

The decision to withdraw must be made by a witness.

Also, to ensure fairness, Kelturi would be Lou and Fran’s witness, and Adelaide would be for Giselle and Nadia.

Witnesses, in particular, would be there to protect the safety of participants and also serve as monitors to prevent fraud.

The order of their departure was determined with the flip of a coin…

In the end, Giselle’ group decided to go first.

“Hmm! Then we’ll go ahead of you without reservation.”

Giselle shrugged while Nadia wagged her finger from side to side with a sarcastic smile.

Afterwards…

Adelaide, who smiled wryly and tilted her head slightly, waved her hand in Lou and Fran’s direction as she walked away.

The three of them disappeared through the open main gate into the forest.

A short while later…

Lou, Fran, and Kelturi departed.

When the main gate was completely closed, Kelturi smiled mischievously and poked Lou in the side.

A shadow of displeasure crossed Fran’s face when she saw Kelturi’s familiar attitude.

Lou, who was poked in the side, also chuckled and said.

“Hey, what’s up, Kelly?”

“Nothing, I just thought this game was a real farce.”

“Farce?”

This time, Fran asked curiously.

“Idiot! Don’t you get it? Anyway, let’s get down to business, shall we? Do you mind if I call you Francesca? And you can call me Kelly.”

Kelturi turned to Fran and gave her a curt look.

“Then you can call me Fran, too.”

“All right.”

When Fran brought up the idea of calling her by her nickname, Kelturi nodded in agreement.

At this point, Fran no longer hesitated to talk to her.

“But, Kelly, that dour look you always put on at school is so different in front of Lou.”

Fran was still puzzled by Kelturi’s complete change of attitude.

But when she suddenly asked her about it, she gave her an unbelievable answer.

Fran herself hadn’t realized how her positivity lately was poles apart from how she used to be.　

“I’m giving that right back to you. Do you even remember what your nickname is?”

“My nickname? What’s my nickname?”

“Iron Mask!”

Fran was stumped speechless by Kelturi’s merciless remark…

As expected, Lou turned his head away.