The dueling arena was covered in flames and ice.

Rena and Wendy looked at each other, breathing heavily.

They had both exhausted all their magical energy.

Of course, today also ended without a conclusion.

It had been a week of duels since the top of the school changed.

But no matter what, they couldn’t beat each other.

Basically, there wasn’t much difference in the talent and potential of the two.

When Rena grew, so did Wendy.

When Wendy surpassed a level and got stronger, Rena’s skills increased proportionally.

It was the positive influence of competition.

When one grows, the other is stimulated and grows together.

But there was a practical reason why the two had to determine superiority someday.

Apart from the effects of competition, the stress the two received was beyond imagination.

They focused on training every day to surpass each other and had to worry about falling behind if they rested for a day.

As a result, their skills grew much faster than others, but it was still too much to reach the top of the school.

Since they couldn’t beat Celine, they had to beat each other.

“…Wait a minute.”

In the usual setup with the two standing in the arena, Wendy spoke up.

It was a futile endeavor.

She wanted to stop continuing a fight with no end in sight.

At this rate, even winning wouldn’t feel good.

Wasn’t it about bringing down a close friend to rise up?

“Why do we have to fight? It would have been fine if she wasn’t here. Why do we have to go through this?”

“……”

“Come to think of it, it’s ridiculous. We’re about to graduate, and a transfer student who came just before graduation takes our spot? Shouldn’t there be some ethics?”

Isn’t this just frustration from not being able to win with skill?

Rena was about to speak but soon stopped.

Wendy’s whispers sounded very sweet to her, who was already exhausted.

It was easier to pull down those above than to admit one’s own shortcomings.

It’s not that she was wrong. It’s all Celine’s fault.

Rena and Wendy had tried hard. But they couldn’t overcome her.

While the two were trying, Celine did nothing. But she was stronger than the two.

Effort cannot beat talent. They realized the meaning of those words to the bone.

Just as her classmates couldn’t reach Rena no matter how hard they tried, she couldn’t reach Celine either.

And it felt so unfair.

You’re just born good. You’re just born with a lot of talent.

And now, all of a sudden, she’s here, trying to take the dream they’ve always wanted.

Envy turned to jealousy, which turned to resentment.

They hated Celine.

She wasn’t evil, but it would be more accurate to say that they resented her very existence.

“Listen. We don’t have to fight; we just have to get rid of her and make it look like it was before she came in.”

“……Is that possible?”

“Why not?”

“Just, you know, make her miss school.”

“Easier said than done.”

Wendy let out a mocking laugh.

She had an idea Rena didn’t understand yet.

“Come with me.”

With that, Wendy moved, grabbed a bucket of water, and headed off somewhere.

She headed in the direction of Celine, and–

Boom!

She splashed a significant amount of water from the bucket on Celine.

It was clearly a deliberate action.

Celine’s green hair hung down heavily as the water hit it.

Her white school uniform was soaked, her underwear showed through, and water dripped from her body.

The cold water in the chilly weather was more painful than she expected.

Celine shivered on the spot.

Wendy covered her laughing mouth with one hand and said,

“Sorry, my mistake. Are you okay?”

“……”

Celine’s black eyes turned to Wendy.

It was that kind of cloudy gaze that made it impossible to read what she was thinking.

Rena, who had been watching from the back, backed away, unable to get any closer.

If Celine angrily challenged her to a duel right now, she could be in for a rough ride.

But as expected, Celine’s reaction was calm.

She simply nodded.

She didn’t seem to care about Rena or Wendy. Maybe she wasn’t interested in the world at all.

Celine nodded once, then left the room.

When they were alone, Wendy turned to Rena and said,

“See? She’s not responding anyway.”

“Mmm…”

Celine was a doll.

But how long could she be a doll?

“Let’s put that to the test. You don’t have to feel guilty; she’s the one who’s done all the bad. She’s taken over, and we’re just victims.”

Wendy whispered to Rena. It was too sweet to resist.

Because Rena hated Celine, too.

***

Wendy’s harassment of Celine continued after that.

She started with simple things, like throwing water on her or hitting her on the shoulder, and continued to harass her every chance she got.

She rationalized it all by saying that Celine was bad for coming in late and leaving early.

She put sharp objects on her desk to hurt her hands and ripped up her things.

Since Celine didn’t react to any of it, Wendy naturally escalated the intensity of her bullying.

Rena didn’t stop Wendy.

For both of them, Celine was a recipe for disaster.

Rena looked away. Maybe she was rationalizing with herself.

There was nothing wrong with her. Unlike Wendy, she didn’t directly bully Celine. She was just a little sympathetic.

So it was okay, she thought.

But that day was different—at least for Rena, it was like a dream.

Wendy bullied Celine as always. Wendy had beaten her into a rag and left for school first.

It was a rare moment when Celine and Rena were alone.

Rena glanced over at Celine. She looked terrible.

Her green hair was soaked, her clothes were half torn, her hands were covered in cuts, and none of her belongings were intact.

That made Rena wonder.

Why hasn’t she dropped out of school? Why hasn’t she said anything?

She could have overpowered Wendy and Rena with force if she wanted to. But she didn’t.

Rena wondered why, so she waited.

Celine seemed to want Rena to leave, but Rena didn’t.

As if mesmerized by something. There was a heavy silence.

“Aren’t you going too…”

It was Celine who broke the silence.

Her voice was cold and thin. It was the first time she had spoken or shown interest in anything.

It was all new to Rena.

As they remained in the empty classroom, time passed.

The sun was setting. Yellow light streamed in through the windows, giving the room a dreamy quality.

Rena’s answer was short.

“Not yet.”

In truth, she didn’t even know if Celine could speak.

She kept her mouth shut, so Rena assumed she couldn’t.

Celine asked,

“Are you going to stay here then?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

“Just.”

At first, it was just curiosity.

She had an air of mystery about her, and Rena wondered if she was really a human being like her.

And what about now?

Celine was a normal, conversational human being. Not a doll.

Rena harbored feelings for her that even she didn’t quite understand. Something she couldn’t quite put into words. It was something like that.

They’d had a brief conversation in the hours before sunset and darkness.

It wasn’t a long conversation, either, as neither of them was talkative. In fact, it was unclear how the conversation even took place.

This time, Rena asked the question she wanted to ask Celine the most.

“Why don’t you say anything?”

“Should I?”

The questions came in, and Celine responded with questions. She didn’t seem to care about Rena’s actions.

Rena’s expression became complicated. Instead of clearing up her doubts, they seemed to grow.

“Because you’re being bullied by Wendy… and I…”

“……”

“Don’t you hate me?”

“Not really.”

“And Wendy?”

“Not much.”

“…?”

“I’m happy with this life.”

As the conversation went on, it became increasingly incomprehensible. It was as if Celine lived in a different world.

To Rena, who remained stunned, Celine spoke slowly.

It was about her past, which no one knew about until now.

“Shouldn’t one be happy to have a home where you can eat, where you can wear clothes, where you can close your eyes? I lived in a place where that wasn’t possible.”

“——.”

For Celine, her definition of happiness was a little different from most.

What was natural to others was not natural to her.

That’s why she wasn’t unhappy with her life. Wendy’s bullying didn’t even bother her.

Rena couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

She had always thought that Celine was a blessed person born with everything.

But that wasn’t the case. Perhaps the most unfortunate person might be Celine.

Looking at Rena, who didn’t say a word, Celine turned away.

It seemed that Rena had no intention of leaving the spot, so Celine went out first.

“I wish we could talk longer.”

That was the last thing Rena heard from Celine that day.

***

A day passed.

Rena didn’t bother telling Wendy about what happened the previous day.

It wasn’t like there was anyone to listen.

Her feelings were complicated. Since their conversation that day, Rena could no longer participate in the harassment that troubled her.

“Hey? Aren’t you going to do it today?”

“……”

“Fine. I’ll do it alone then.”

But she couldn’t stop her.

She didn’t want to distance herself from Wendy either.

She could only watch from afar. Time passed, and the three of them were approaching graduation.

As expected, Celine didn’t drop out of school despite Wendy’s bullying. However, their plans were falling apart.

Now, it had come down to the final stretch before graduation.

She didn’t know who would be admitted between Wendy and herself, but she decided to accept the result if she lost.

It was a matter of skill, so there was no room for excuses.

She was about to give up.

“Rena. Listen to me for a moment.”

Wendy came to find her.

What could it be? Perhaps it was a challenge for their last match.

But the words that came out of her mouth differed slightly from what she had expected.

“Have you heard of the Back Alley Monster?”

“…What is that?”

“It’s a rumor that’s been circulating lately. Remember the disaster from a few months ago? The place that was destroyed like ruins after a monster attacked the Empire.”

Anyone from the Empire would know. The story of a single monster annihilating a knight brigade was famous.

And in the place where that monster rampaged and caused destruction, magical energy was boiling, and people stopped going there.

People called that area the Back Alley. It was said to be a place with very poor security. There were also rumors that criminal organizations had taken it as their base.

“What about it?”

“These days, there’s a ghost story that the monster which destroyed the Empire is still lurking in the Back Alley, attacking people who pass through there.”

“But didn’t they say that the monster that attacked the Empire was eradicated?”

“That’s what the public statement says. But what if it’s something intentionally hidden by those above?”

The event of that day was a disaster that caused part of the Empire’s territory to collapse.

Yet, no one clearly remembered that day. Strangely so.

Now, it was just a place that remained a vague memory of the past.

What if someone had deliberately hidden it?

What if some force was used to prevent confidential information from leaking?

Wendy explained it this way.

“Doesn’t it sound a bit creepy when you think about it? They say there might still be monsters in the Back Alley.”

“Well… It does sound creepy, but why are you telling me this now?”

“Let’s send Celine there today. I’m curious.”

That was the last act of rebellion for the two before graduation.