As if to tell her to do it, I stuck out my cheek, and the woman in front of me raised her hand and slapped my cheek with it.

 

As expected of someone who was going to enter Soul Academy, the woman had trained herself well and had quite a heavy hand.

 

A sharp pain spread through my cheek.

 

However, the smile did not leave my lips.

 

Hey.

 

You attacked me first with this?

 

There were more than a few witnesses around, so I couldn’t fabricate it.

 

So, from now on, whatever I do is self-defence.

 

Don’t cry because you got hit?

 

I clenched my fist and punched the woman in the face.

 

I had intended to blow her away, but the woman stood upright despite the blow.

 

Tears welled up on her face as if she was in pain, but that was it.

 

“You!”

 

“You shouldn’t have done something like that to deserve it. Okay?”

 

The woman clenched her teeth and ran toward me, as if she had completely fallen for my provocation.

 

Judging from the way she was used to moving her body, I think she had received combat training from her family.

 

However, there was no problem.

 

Do you think I only learned how to use a mace while training under Possell?

 

He taught me how to fight enemies with my bare body, saying that I should be prepared even when I lose my weapon.

 

Compared to the punches Possell used to throw, your punches are so slow that it makes me yawn.

 

I take a step forward while avoiding the woman’s punches.

 

First, I strike her abdomen to shock her.

 

I’m aiming for the area inside her abdomen where her internal organs are.

 

Crap.

 

The woman’s movements momentarily freeze as if her internal organs have been damaged.

 

I didn’t miss that gap and struck her chin from below.

 

Perhaps her brain was shaken, but the Young Lady, who was standing in front of me, fell to the floor like a doll whose strings had snapped.

 

She’s so weak.

 

Since she’s only this good, she wasn’t important at Soul Academy.

 

I leave Meryl lying on the floor and turn my gaze to the people behind her.

 

The two of them stumbled backwards as if they were scared after seeing the fight.

 

Are they just watching their friend get hurt right now?

 

You’re pathetic little brats.

 

You’re not worth fighting.

 

‘Karl and Maid let’s go.’

 

“You rascals, let’s go.”

 

As I left the ladies behind, I heard the voices of people murmuring behind me.

 

It wasn’t my intention, but I completely caught their attention.

 

Well, it doesn’t matter.

 

I didn’t do anything wrong anyway.

 

Those ladies were the ones who started the fight with their ridiculous insults and slapped me in the face first.

 

I just responded to them.

 

With how many people saw this whole process, there wouldn’t be any strange rumours, right?

 

Joy Partran, the daughter of the Duke’s Family Partran, the head of the noble faction of the kingdom, was walking down the street leading her attendants.

 

She had visited Soul Academy to take the entrance exam, but the exam didn’t really occupy much of her mind.

 

For her, who had spent her entire life being educated to become someone fit for the duke’s family, the Soul Academy exam was something she had to pass.

 

She had been assured by several teachers of the Duke’s Family that she would be able to pass, so she wasn’t worried about the exam at all.

 

The only thing that filled her heart was the restaurant ‘Tierra Mars’ in Soul Academy.

 

Tierra Mars, a restaurant that was once run by a chef who had been in charge of the meals served at various events in the kingdom and passed the position on to his successor, was famous as one of the best restaurants on the continent.

 

Despite the fact that the prices were several times higher than other similar restaurants, Tierra Mars was always full because there were so many customers who wanted to visit.

 

So even the most powerful nobles couldn’t visit the restaurant unless they made a reservation months in advance.

 

Joy, who had heard from her sibling how delicious the food at Tierra Mars was, put everything else aside and reserved a table at Tierra Mars as soon as her schedule for entering Soul Academy was set.

 

There were many who thought the same way so the competition was fierce, but Joy, like the motto of the Partran family, did not give up and eventually won the fight.

 

She succeeded in securing a table!

 

From the day she successfully made the reservation, Joy had been looking forward to going to Tierra Mars, and today was the day that her dream came true.

 

How delicious it must be.

 

According to her brother, it was a taste that you would never forget once you tasted it.

 

If her brother, who had grown accustomed to eating the food prepared by the family chef, could say such a thing, then it must be incredibly delicious.

 

Joy pouts, thinking of her brother’s face smiling softly.

 

Her brother, who had been scheduled to visit Tierra Mars with her today to introduce the food, suddenly came up with something.

 

He said something urgent at the academy or something.

 

What can we do?

 

Sometimes, there are things more important than their own little sister.

 

It’s fun.

 

She’ll tease him later by telling him about the things she ate at Tierra Mars.

 

Joy, who was walking while grumbling with her Tierra Mars ticket in hand, saw a crowd of people gathered in front of her, making a fuss.

 

Is something happening?

 

Looking closely, I saw a young lady lying on the ground in the middle of the crowd, and another young lady and servants tending to her.

 

The one who fell over there.

 

Is that Meryl of the Earl of Baines?

 

Why is there a bruise on her cheek?

 

Did she get attacked by a stranger?

 

“El?”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

“Can you find out what happened?”

 

“I’ll be right back.”

 

The story her servant told mine, who had left through the crowd and returned shortly after, was shocking.

 

Meryl and Lucy were arguing, and Meryl slapped Lucy on the cheek!

 

And Lucy, who was attacked first, couldn’t stand the insult and swung her fist and won against Meryl?

 

What the heck?

 

“I asked several people and they all gave the same answer.”

 

When Joy expressed her doubt, her servant added.

 

So that really happened.

 

It wasn’t strange for Meryl to pick a fight with Lucy.

 

The two had been at odds with each other in many social settings.

 

Joy remembered that Lucy had poured her drink on Meryl’s face at their meeting at the end of last year and said,

 

“You look good together. Be grateful to me, you have an excuse to wash off the filth which is you.”

 

Meryl must have remembered that anger and picked a fight with her as soon as she met her.

 

What surprised Joy was not that the two had fought, but that Lucy had beaten Meryl.

 

The Baines family, where Meryl Baynes was born and raised, was renowned for its military family.

 

It was no match for the Earl of Allen, led by Iron Count Benedict, but it was no less prestigious.

 

Born into such a family and raised as a knight, Meryl was a woman who boasted martial arts skills superior to those of most men.

 

On the other hand, what about Lucy?

 

When I saw her at the previous social gathering, she was a frail woman who would pant while climbing the stairs.

 

Lucy had beaten Meryl.

 

If Joy hadn’t seen Meryl lying down, it would have been hard to believe.

 

“Is that really the daughter of the Iron-Blooded One?”

 

If only she had taken after Benedict’s hearty personality.

 

Joy didn’t like Lucy that much.

 

In fact, there were few nobles in the kingdom who liked Lucy.

 

Who would like her? She would hurt anyone who approached her like a hedgehog with spikes raised.

 

Now that I think about it, is it okay to call Lucy a hedgehog?

 

She looks cute and has thorns.

 

But unlike hedgehogs that are fine as long as you don’t touch them, Lucy can hurt you even if you don’t touch her?

 

Strictly speaking, she’s a hedgehog that shoots thorns.

 

Lucy, who caused many accidents because of her unique personality, has even taken up arms.

 

It’s scary.

 

Even if she caused trouble in the past because of her weak body, the scale was not that big, but from now on, the scale will be different.

 

I’ll try my best to avoid getting involved with Lucy.

 

Anyway, Lucy is bad at studying, so even if she takes the academy exam, she won’t be admitted.

 

So, if I just don’t meet Lucy until the exam, I won’t get involved.

 

“Miss.”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“The young lady with crossed arms in front of us at that restaurant. Isn’t that the Young Lady Lucy we know?”

 

…

 

Huh?

 

Why?

 

Why is that person over there?

 

What should I do?

 

Should I say hello?

 

Should I pretend not to notice and just pass by?

 

No.

 

I can’t ignore her.

 

If I pretend not to notice and pass by, she’ll definitely think I ignored her.

 

Then, when we meet again during the Academy exam, she’ll sting me.

 

Okay.

 

Let’s just say hello.

 

I’ll say hello briefly and go inside without giving her time to respond.

 

Then, there won’t be any problems.

 

With that decision in mind, Joy approached Lucy cautiously.

 

<You came to the restaurant so confidently that you didn’t know it was a reservation-only place. Girl. Do you really have a memory problem?>

 

‘Grandpa, shut up.’

 

One thing I had forgotten was that the restaurant ‘Tierra Mars’ was a reservation-only place.

 

Come to think of it, when I was eating with the heroine in the game, the heroine happened to get a ticket to Tierra Mars and came here.

 

I had completely forgotten because it was a restaurant that you couldn’t visit except during an event.

 

Thanks to that, I failed to cross the threshold of Tierra Mars.

 

Ugh.

 

I feel all drained.

 

I was looking forward to eating the delicious food here all the way here, but I can’t go in.

 

“Young Lady Allen.”

 

What the heck.

 

Is someone else trying to pick a fight with me?

 

I don’t know who it is, but you’re the one who got it wrong.

 

I’m really pissed right now.

 

I’m like a bomb that will explode at the push of a button.

 

Why don’t you insult me once?

 

I’ll vent my anger and frustration right now.

 

As I turned my head with those thoughts, what I saw was a very familiar face.

 

Joy Partran.

 

One of the characters I loved in Soul Academy.