Luna carried various emergency medicines with her.
It was as if she had raided a medical room.
The pile reached up to her chin, indicating just how much she had brought.
A mountain of emergency medicines.
Luna strode over and poured them onto the desk.
“Open up.”
Luna, that’s harassment.
Before I could even finish that thought, Luna forcefully opened my mouth.
Then she stuffed the medicine in.
The whole bottle.
“Chew it.”
Crunch, crunch-.
Luna, don’t you have any water?
Zap-.
Right, my saliva should suffice.
Who needs water anyway? Hahaha.
Swoosh-.
A child behind Yuridia offered a bottle of water.
As Yuridia tried to hand it to me, Luna snatched it and poured it into my mouth.
My shirt getting wet was inevitable.
“Keke, thank you. I owe my life to you, Luna.”
“Shut up.”
Luna didn’t seem too pleased.
It wasn’t because I held hands with a girl.
It’s because I held hands with ‘someone else’ than her.
“Ms. Luna, hello? You know me, right?”
“Don’t know.”
“Oh, really? I’m Yuridia. Let’s get along well, shall we?”
Wow, crazy stalker vs ISTJ with no empathy.
What an epic confrontation.
Slap!
Luna slapped away the hand Yuridia extended.
Her followers immediately went into battle stance.
“Everyone, stay still.”
“But…”
“Didn’t I tell you to stay put?”
Yuridia spoke with a smile.
But everyone could feel it.
The subtle thorn hidden in her words.
“Ms. Luna, what are you trying to do?”
“What about you? Why are you approaching?”
“Well… for interaction. We’re classmates, aren’t we?”
“Bullshit.”
The curse spat right in her face was hard to endure.
Yuridia flinched.
“My, my, such a fierce lady despite the cute looks. Ms. Luna, you might get into real trouble. I can be scarier than you think.”
“Oh yeah? I’m scarier than you.”
“Hmm~ ms. Lunar, you should know when to stop showing off. You’ve been lucky so far.”
“Why don’t we have a showdown?”
Crack-.
Luna cracked her neck again.
“…Is this really necessary? We can solve this through conversation. We’re not animals.”
Yuridia stepped back, signaling she wanted to calm things down.
She conceded her noble pride for Luna’s sake.
But the problem was,
“Stop talking and come at me. The winner takes him. That should be the rule, right?”
Our Luna was almost no different from an animal.
“Ha! You’re really a beast. I’m deeply disappointed, ms. Luna.”
“Beast or not, don’t try to take Zero away. He’s mine.”
“Are you saying you own him? That shows no consideration for…”
“You have many. He’s all I have.”
The classroom fell into a solemn silence.
Just as Luna said.
Only I was sitting behind her.
And behind Yuridia, countless children stood.
It could have invoked sympathy at a glance.
But the children seemed to feel something other than sympathy.
“Oh my, oh my! Did you hear that?”
“‘He’s all I have?’ Kyaa!”
Yuridia’s faction had a high proportion of girls.
Perhaps that’s why they interpreted the situation differently.
“Are those two in that kind of relationship?”
“So fiery.”
“To speak so boldly in front of so many. How! He’s like a cute prince, totally!”
They misunderstood. They thought we were in a romantic relationship.
The problem is, Yuridia is also a fifteen-year-old girl.
Caught in the throes of romance.
‘No way! She’s the leader of a faction. She should be able to make a rational judgment…!’
“Oh my, how romantic.”
…She’s not making any at all?
Yuridia’s expression was fierce.
But now, it had melted into a soft, gooey look.
“What? You’re not going to fight?”
Luna raised her fist.
However, Yuridia only looked at Luna with affection.
“Ahem, I see. I understand.”
No, what do you understand?
“I’ll back off for today. Next time, it won’t be about recruitment but…”
No, don’t go. Just stay here!
“I’ll come to propose an alliance. I can’t break the bond between the two of you.”
No, there’s no bond to break in the first place!
“Ohoho, then I’ll take my leave. Ms. Luna, always be happy.”
“…?”
Swoosh-.
The Yuridia faction vanished like the wind.
As if encouraging us to spend time alone.
The children who had been watching the situation with excitement also left the classroom.
Their faces wore inexplicable smiles.
“What? That was anticlimactic. As always, those with no skills are all talk.”
“Keke, we were lucky. Yuridia is quite strong.”
“Yeah~ I would have won.”
She sighed slightly.
The consecutive assaults by Teron and Yuridia.
It was all too much to take in.
‘Well, other than being marked by Teron, there doesn’t seem to be any problem.’
A minor issue, just a minor one.
Lunch was more important than that.
“Keke, shall we go now? If we don’t hurry, we might have to wait in line.”
Grab-.
Luna grabbed the collar of my shirt.
Then pulled me towards her.
“Where are you going? We need to finish this.”
“Finish what?”
“You seemed to enjoy talking with the others. You were smiling.”
“I always smile…”
Luna tightened her grip on my collar even more.
Too close. Close enough to see her eyelashes.
“Really? Then why did your aching stomach suddenly get better?”
“That, well, it just got better somehow?”
“Oh my, were you faking it?”
“Ah! Now that I think about it, the medicine you brought must have worked.”
“That was a cold medicine.”
“What?”
“I gave you cold medicine. By mistake.”
Ah, a mistake.
I see? Was it an interrogation trap?
Our Luna has grown so much. Setting traps like this.
“Let’s cut it.”
“What?”
“Cut it. It’s dirty, isn’t it?”
Luna was looking at my hand.
The hand that Yuridia had held.
So, when she said ‘let’s cut it’…
“If something dirty touches mine, it’s only natural to cut it off, isn’t it?”
“Couldn’t we just clean it?”
“It’s okay, it won’t hurt. Not at all. It’s just like cutting nails.”
Why would there be separate words for hand and nail then?
But it was no use. Luna’s eyes were filled with madness.
Okay, I’ve decided. From next time.
‘I just won’t talk to other kids.’
As Luna approached with her mouth open, I extended my hand.
Crunch!
“Oh my, look at that. She’s biting his hand!”
Outside the classroom, a group of girls had gathered.
Most were part of Yuridia’s faction.
“What does it mean?”
“It’s a way of expressing affection. Leaving marks here and there to say ‘you’re mine’.”
“Yuridia is so knowledgeable!”
Yuridia was among them.
Watching someone else’s romance through the window.
What could be more entertaining than this?
“Oh my, now she’s biting his head.”
“Biting the head means trust.”
“The trust between lovers… It’s beautiful.”
Zero’s screams went unheard by these girls.
They saw only a pink atmosphere.
“But I’m worried. Couples that start early in the semester often break up.”
“That’s right. Long-term couples are not easy to find.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?”
“I don’t know much, but it seems Luna has trouble communicating with others.”
Luna’s fierce personality.
Although Zero usually took it well, there were times when it seemed hard.
‘It’s not easy.’
Yuridia, who had faced Luna, felt this painfully.
So, I wanted to help even more.
Luna’s love for Zero seemed genuine.
A fiery love that didn’t hesitate to fight dozens of children!
“Let’s support them from behind.”
“Good idea!”
“Everyone, join hands!”
“Oh!”
And so, unbeknownst to Zero and Luna,
A secret fan club was formed.
While Yuridia was busy forming the fan club,
A storm was brewing in the Teron faction.
“Teron, are you going to let that guy keep up his antics?”
“Who’s causing trouble? He turned out to be nicer than I thought.”
“No! He subtly disrespected you!”
Sigh.
Teron let out a sigh.
Was it because he mentioned the position of second in command?
He had unintentionally fueled the children’s zeal.
“Fine, let’s say he disrespected me. But do we need to provoke him? He didn’t seem interested in Yuridia’s faction either.”
To Teron, Zero was merely an observer.
An observer who didn’t interfere, even when Yuridia was in trouble.
Such a person didn’t need to be provoked.
That was Teron’s thought.
“Your faction’s authority will be undermined. Let me, Zepa, handle it! Getting rid of a fly like that is nothing!”
“No, let me, Godner, handle it! I’ll definitely avenge our honor!”
They were really exasperating.
How do these skill-less ones plan to defeat Zero?
They thought Zero was just bluffing.
Because all they had seen of Zero was his duel with Godner.
“Didn’t you hear what Teacher Caron said?”
He found a hidden passage and collapsed a wall to stop dozens of ants.
Collapsing a solid wall requires more than ordinary skill.
He must have used a technique equivalent to magic.
“It was just a hole he found while running away.”
“The wall collapsing must have been a sneaky trick.”
Godner and Zepa.
These two, who usually just fought, were now pressuring him together, giving him a headache.
‘Could it be that my eyes are deceiving me?’
To his eyes, Zero clearly seemed strong, but others saw him as weak.
Teron felt cognitive dissonance.
Yap yap!
Meow meow!
Eventually, Teron decided to heed their requests.
‘Pity. I really liked him.’
But if he doesn’t follow me, he’s no different from a pebble on the road.
He had to take care of those who trusted and followed him.
“Leaders, gather around. We’ll start the meeting.”
The meeting was long.
This time, Teron planned to demonstrate the power of his faction properly.
For that, a meticulous strategy was essential.
“First, target Luna. We’ll observe Zero’s reaction afterward.”
If he feels the power of the Teron faction, he might join on his own.
That’s why Luna was chosen as the sacrifice.
“The bait?”
“There’s a good candidate. A noble from the south, not affiliated with any group. He has no friends, so backlash shouldn’t be a worry.”
“A perfect example to set.”
The academy, a microcosm of the political world.
But not all noble children were involved in the political struggles.
Some, claiming it wasn’t their affair and insisting on maintaining noble decorum, formed their own small groups.
“Setting an example will make them realize.”
They’ll feel fear and join on their own.
Those who rebel will join Yuridia’s side, but such fools were not desired here.
They were idiots who couldn’t even compare strengths.
“I’ll entrust this task to Godner.”
“Thank you!”
The curtain was rising on the first-year power struggle.
–TL Notes–
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