Chapter 78
“Sparks Between Lyrisia and Lutia”
After school that day,
the academy courtyard was bathed in the setting sun, glowing red.
Kai was sitting on a bench, surrounded by students from the Cross Group and the bodyguard squad.
It was supposed to be a debriefing about the recent incident…
“…So, the street stall owners in town say, ‘The Cross Group are all cheapskates.’”
Kai sighed, and the bodyguard squad immediately shouted, “No way!” and slumped their shoulders.
“Is this really the time to be saying ‘No way’?”
Just as Kai slammed his hand on the bench—
“Really! What were you thinking, causing trouble for the Master?!”
A sharp voice cut in.
Turning around, Lutia stood there with her arms crossed, like a statue.
Her expression was rigidly cold, and her sharp eyes glimmered with intensity.
“Lyrisia!”
Lutia pointed straight at her.
“You were the one leading all the commotion, weren’t you?”
“W-wait a second.”
Lyrisia blinked and frowned.
“I was trying to stop it! But the bodyguards acted on their own…”
“Bodyguards? All of them are your bodyguards?”
“Uh, n-no…”
“Well, that’s fine, but in the end, they’re all part of you!”
“P-part of me!? Don’t say it like that!”
The bodyguard squad muttered softly, “Yeah…,”
completely feeling left out.
“Do you even realize how hard the Master is working?”
Lutia stepped close to Kai, wrapping an arm around him.
“This man is respected more than anyone else at the academy. I absolutely won’t forgive anyone who drags him down!”
“…!”
A fire lit up in Lyrisia’s eyes.
“I’m not dragging him down!”
“Yeah, the princess is just pretty!”
For some reason, Gorum said proudly.
“Hmph. With nearly twenty bodyguards, it must be lively.”
“Don’t call it ‘lively’!”
Invisible sparks flew between the two of them.
“H-hey… calm down, both of you.”
Kai spread his hands in a panic.
“I’m troubled, sure, but it’s within the range of a funny story—”
“It’s not a funny story!”
“Not funny at all!”
Both shouted at the same time, and sparks flew again.
Watching this from the side, Gorum muttered softly,
“…Is this the part for a ‘What the heck?!’?”
“This is not the part for that!!!”
Kai’s retort echoed through the courtyard, making the surrounding students burst into laughter.
And so, the rivalry between Lutia and Lyrisia finally ignited on the public stage.
The other students watched with bated breath, and before long, a strange rumor began to spread:
“The two great heroines of the Cross Group face off!”
