Just Like Meaningless Small Talk

After confirming that the three top-ranking S-Class students had been rendered unable to fight, I let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed the enchantments applied to the uniforms were properly ensuring everyone’s safety too.

That meant I could attack mercilessly with peace of mind.

(I think that one was a pretty good, stylish villainess moment, wasn’t it?)

As I indulged myself by imagining how I must have looked from the outside, Kate said in a stunned voice beside me,

“No way, we really beat them…”

Her voice trembled as if she could not believe it.

“Everything happened exactly the way Mythia Onee-sama said it would…”

Beside her, Claris’s eyes were trembling too.

(To be honest, I didn’t think it would go this well either.)

Still, this was my chance, so I decided to act as cool as possible here and earn a lot of villainess points.

“Everything is proceeding exactly according to calculation. The world has already fallen into my hands.”

“That’s so cool, Mythia Onee-sama!”

I struck a pose in front of the admiring Claris.

“At this rate, let’s keep defeating the other teams.”

It was a pitfall strategy using Kate’s earth magic.

We used the brightly glowing Claris as bait, then guided the enemy into the pitfall by using a thin wall of water created with household magic and the refraction of light to manipulate what they perceived.

“W-what is this?”

“Using pitfalls is cheating!”

An A-Class team protested in shrill voices.

“Too bad! Victory makes all things right!”

We concentrated our magic and took them down.

After that as well, we defeated team after team.

Thanks to taking position in the center, the shrinking barrier and narrowing range of movement did not affect us much, and because teams confident in their abilities kept approaching us, our results naturally kept improving.

Having defeated ten teams, including two S-Class teams, three A-Class teams, and three B-Class teams, we advanced through the Block A preliminaries in first place.

Kate, who had landed the greatest number of finishing blows, ranked first individually with seventeen knockouts.

“M-me, in first place…?”

Kate, looking so surprised, was cute.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t take down even one person.”

I placed a hand on Claris’s shoulder as she spoke apologetically and said,

“No, the reason the enemies couldn’t notice the pitfalls was because your magic obstructed their vision. More importantly, you’re the protagonist, so you have hidden power. It’s fine as long as you do your best when you awaken.”

“Mythia Onee-sama…!”

Claris said that with trembling eyes.

“Thank you for believing in me! I’ll do my best!”

After that, Claris started secretly doing extra practice on her own.

She was glowing brightly, so she was not actually all that hidden, and there was no sign whatsoever that she might be able to use offensive magic.

But I did not want to crush her motivation, so I decided not to say anything.

She would awaken sooner or later. She was the protagonist, after all.

“To think your team would come in first.”

“This is an extraordinary feat.”

My cheeks softened at the teachers’ praise.

More than anything, what made me happiest was how delighted Kate was.

“Me, dead last in S-Class, getting first place in the preliminaries? Even though I’m bad at offensive magic. I can’t believe it.”

Her buoyant voice filled me with happiness.

Kate tended to stand out a little awkwardly in the classroom, but I hoped this would change the way the people around her saw her.

In the Block B preliminaries, the team led by the glasses girl I had refused—Camila—took first place.

It seemed she had not been exaggerating when she called her team the strongest contender of the tournament, and she herself recorded the highest number of knockouts in the preliminaries.

“I’m absolutely going to crush you.”

She whispered that to me as we passed by each other, so

“I hope you can.”

I provoked her like that.

Our gazes crossed.

As I watched Camila’s back as she snorted and walked away saying, “You’d better be ready,” my cheeks relaxed at how stylishly villainous that exchange had felt.

(It’s nice being around her, because she naturally brings out that villainess feeling in me.)

My favorability toward her had risen in my mind.

Next, the Block C preliminaries were held as well.

Prince Felix’s team came in first just as everyone had predicted.

They crushed every team they encountered and recorded seventeen team eliminations, exceeding even us.

Felix also ranked first overall in number of opponents defeated, with twenty.

For the record, second place was his close aide Roy-kun, with nineteen.

The teachers praised the first-place prince, but that carefully measured one-person difference caught my attention.

(There’s a chance he held back so the prince could take first place.)

I decided to mark him as the opponent I needed to be most wary of.

While thinking of countermeasures against the teams we might face in the finals, I headed to the academy library.

I borrowed a thick plant encyclopedia and read it in front of our usual rooftop access.

“Why are you reading a plant encyclopedia?”

As I sat on a spare desk and read with my legs swinging, Kate sat down beside me and peered over.

“I want to learn about the vegetation of poisonous plants that grow in the labyrinth.”

The labyrinth was home to plants that grew by absorbing magical essence.

Depending on the season, there were even poisonous plants that released pollen causing status effects like poison, paralysis, and sleep, so basic knowledge and emergency countermeasures were essential skills for labyrinth explorers.

“But I don’t think we need to be on guard against poisonous plants this season.”

“That’s exactly why it’s worth studying. Poisonous plants feel extremely villainess-like, so they score highly with me.”

“The finals are tomorrow, and you can still sit there reading a book that has nothing to do with it. Everyone else is desperately reviewing knowledge and making checks.”

“It’s important to stand from a different point of view than others if you want to become a good villainess.”

“Isn’t the concept of a good villainess a contradiction in itself?”

“It isn’t. A good villainess is strong, noble, and cool.”

“Hm. I see.”

Kate did not seem interested, and opened the grimoire she had brought with her and began reading.

Since she was reading the section on earth magic, she was probably reviewing her knowledge for tomorrow’s finals.

Below the stairs, Claris was practicing magic while glowing brightly.

“When I was little, people used to call me a child prodigy.”

Kate suddenly said it as if the words had slipped out.

“But when I entered this school, there were so many people who were even more amazing. And on top of that, my father messed up, so I got isolated by everyone. I acted like I was fine because I thought I couldn’t afford to lose, but honestly it was really hard. I was thinking about quitting school.”

Kate continued without taking her eyes off the book.

I also kept pretending to read my own book, but none of the contents were entering my head at all.

I felt like I had to listen properly.

And not openly—rather, pretending I was not really listening, just like it was nothing more than meaningless small talk.

“That’s why when you first started talking to me, I wanted you to stop. I thought if you became friends with me, you might get left out too, and besides, I was going to transfer away anyway.”

Kate said,

“But now, school is kind of fun. When I’m with you, I forget the unpleasant things. Maybe it’s because, unlike the others, you don’t have two sides to you. Everyone else’s gaze scared me, but your gaze doesn’t.”

The evening sunlight cast a square pattern of light at our feet, like a box made of sunlight.

“If I can do well tomorrow the way I did today… if I can feel like maybe I can make it in this school after all, then I’m going to tell my mother that I don’t want to transfer. The paperwork is already moving forward, so it might cause trouble for people. But still, I think I want to try to be brave.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

I did not know what else I should say, and I felt like no matter what words I used, they would not come across properly.

Words would not be enough.

So I would show it through actions and results.

I would make it so Kate could stay at this school with her head held high.

“Let’s win.”

I said that.

Kate raised her face and looked at me for a moment, then

“Yeah.”

she said quietly, and nodded.