To be honest, Lucia didn’t like Iria.
It wasn’t just because she was the Top Student.
Of course, that had some weight, but it was mainly Iria’s arrogant behavior that rubbed her the wrong way.
Lucia had investigated Iria for a while. Sometimes tailing her, watching her, and occasionally even using her power for some sneaky research.
She might look weak, but she was the top student in the first year. Even if her Mana amount was low, there had to be something that could flip the tables.
However, no matter how much she thought about it, Iria’s recent actions didn’t make any sense.
“Requesting a Duel…”
“No thanks.”
Iria rejected all duel requests and didn’t practice martial arts, plus her range of activities was very limited.
When not in class, she was mostly holed up in the Library.
“Hey, that Top Student in the first year is such a pain, right? Honestly, not accepting duels just shows she’s lucky or something.”
“Totally. Just because she’s the Top Student, she thinks she’s something special.”
So, the rumors about her couldn’t possibly be good. Lucia also agreed with those rumors.
Unlike the few she had seen during the entrance exam, Lucia had not seen Iria in action at all.
At first, she was cautious because she didn’t know much about her, but the more she saw Iria, the more she decided she wasn’t someone to be cautious about.
Was it really just luck?
Iria confidently strutted around like she was something special, despite rejecting all duels.
To be honest, it just looked like she was avoiding all duels by luck, despite having low Mana.
So, Lucia decided to put Iria to the test.
How would she react when an unexpected accident hit her?
Would she run away after taking a severe insult? Or would she lose her temper and accept the duel?
Either way worked for her.
This bubble of a Top Student wouldn’t be any match for her anyway.
“……?”
“What are you looking at? I said I was sorry. It wasn’t on purpose; you’re just too sensitive.”
“……”
“Though it was a mistake, it’s because I couldn’t manage my attendant properly. I’ll apologize on their behalf. Sorry, Iria. All good now?”
Lucia sneered as she spoke.
Iria, looking like a wet mouse, was pretty amusing to her.
But that laughter didn’t last long. Lucia’s eyes naturally met hers.
It was nothing special at all.
“Ugh?!”
In an instant, it felt like everything around her was closing in on her.
Breathing became tough, and her heart raced.
As Iria took a step closer, the pressure intensified.
Pain surged through her body as if her organs were twisting. When Iria moved a little closer, she suddenly found it hard to breathe.
It felt like an invisible hand was choking her neck. It was agonizing and painful.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Wha-What do you mean…?”
Even though it was planned, she thought about denying it.
If she said it wasn’t true, how could she prove that it was a lie?
Instead, she wanted to laugh at Iria’s overinflated self-importance. But it didn’t go as planned.
When Iria stepped even closer, she couldn’t even move a finger, let alone her mouth.
With fierce eyes, Iria scanned Lucia. In the dark Changing room where no light shone, Iria’s red gaze felt like a burning glare.
Something felt off. Lucia frowned and turned her gaze away. It was humiliating, but she wanted to ask for help from someone around.
But her loyal attendants, May and Ray, were already unconscious, lying on the floor.
So now, only the two of them remained.
The chilly air filled the room. Iria continued to glare at Lucia.
Resisting the unknown force, Lucia struggled to speak.
“It seems there’s a misunderstanding…”
“Throwing water on someone’s head and calling it a misunderstanding? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Th-That was! A mistake…!”
She tried desperately to pass it off as a mistake, but there was one fact she overlooked.
Iria could read the memories of anyone she looked into the eyes of. Just a brief glance at Lucia’s memories was enough to see the truth.
But even knowing that, she couldn’t prove it to others. If chaos erupted as it was, Iria would be at a disadvantage.
So Iria simply let Lucia go. She thought of something better than tormenting her at that moment.
“Ugh! Cough! Haah… Hah…”
Freed from her grip, Lucia gasped for breath. She couldn’t stand up for a while, leaning her hands against the ground.
Spitting out the saliva that had pooled in her mouth, she tried to catch her breath.
There was a woman looking down at her from above.
Iria sighed and rummaged through Lucia’s pocket.
Skillfully, she took only the wallet and then turned to grab the doorknob.
“There won’t be a second time, Lucia. I’ll take this for the laundry fee.”
“You…! Do you think you’ll get away with this?!”
“What did I even do?”
Iria tilted her head as if she genuinely didn’t know. With her brows tightly furrowed, Lucia bit her lips.
For the moment, her anger boiled over far more than her fear of the unknown.
So, she shouted.
“You’ve humiliated the second daughter of Aster and even laid hands on my attendants!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did you have a bad dream or something?”
“What, you’re going to keep denying it?”
Lucia laughed in disbelief.
At first glance, it seemed similar to what she had planned for her.
It was clearly intentional, yet insisting it wasn’t made it particularly infuriating.
But there was one crucial difference between Iria and Lucia.
“There’s one victim, and there are two witnesses. You really think nobody saw you come in here?”
“……”
“You’re done for. I’ll make sure your Academy life is a pain in the ass.”
Lucia had people backing her up, while Iria didn’t have that luxury.
The factions that followed Iria, the recommended student, were not few even within the Academy.
Thus, from the moment she turned herself into an enemy, Iria made a colossal mistake.
At least, that was what Lucia believed.
She laughed as if looking forward to what would happen next, and Iria blinked, baffled.
And then.
“I never entered the Changing room today, though.”
“……What?”
With those final words, Iria disappeared.
She hadn’t just opened the door and walked out; she had vanished with a whoosh, like a breeze blowing by.
As if she had never been there from the start, there was no trace of Iria to be found inside the Changing room.
“What the hell? Where did she go?”
It felt like a dream.
It was spring.
*
May and Ray, Lucia’s attendants, couldn’t remember what had happened in the Changing room.
“Huh? I splashed water?”
“Yeah! Iria definitely came in here, and I gave the signal…”
“I don’t remember anything…”
Lucia felt frustrated and called over another attendant who was there at the time.
“Ray! You remember, right? I clearly…”
“……”
Ray stood there blinking, as if he had never heard such a thing before.
Lucia grew anxious. Could it really have been a dream?
No, that couldn’t be true.
It had felt too vivid to just be a dream. Besides, her wallet that Iria had stolen wasn’t missing, was it?
She asked the students lingering near the Changing room.
Since May and Ray had lost consciousness halfway through, that was understandable, but if Iria had entered and exited through the door, others must have seen it too.
Though it pained her to admit, at this point, Iria, who was holding the position of Top Student, had a significant presence.
“Iria. Did you see her? She came into the Changing room a while ago.”
“The Top Student you’re talking about was over there getting personal guidance from the professor. I’m not sure about the Changing room…”
“Seriously! This is driving me crazy!”
She felt like she was losing her mind.
Nobody remembered what had happened except for her.
Trying to explain that Iria had assaulted her, harmed her attendants, and stolen her wallet was useless. No one believed her.
Feeling a severe headache, Lucia finally headed towards Iria.
After finishing her personal training with the professor, she found Iria organizing her sword alone.
“You… What have you done?”
Lucia asked.
What had she done to her? Why didn’t anyone else remember what had happened?
What was her true identity?
And Iria answered.
“Who are you?”
It wasn’t really an answer.
Iria wore a blank expression. Keeping her mouth shut, she held a silence.
It meant she didn’t know anything at all.
“Do you know her, Iria?”
Then a golden-haired woman beside her chimed in and asked.
“I don’t know her.”
Iria shook her head.
