Sylvia was lying on her bed with her eyes closed.

Despite being exhausted from training, she couldn’t easily fall asleep and kept tossing and turning.

Whenever she closed her eyes, the words she heard at school today kept popping into her head.

“Because I like Sylvia…”

“Ugh…”

Sylvia blushed deeply and hugged her pillow.

Then, with a slight pout, she murmured softly.

“I’m so happy…”

These were the happiest words she had ever heard.

She never realized that hearing such unpretentious words filled with affection from someone could make her this happy.

It was even more meaningful because it was Scarlett who said them.

For Scarlett, Astra was like an enemy.

So, when her request to become friends was rejected, she honestly felt worried.

What if she, as Astra’s successor, became someone Scarlett resented?

What if they could never be friends again?

But those worries turned out to be unnecessary.

She thought it would take a long time for Scarlett to open her heart to her again, but her pleasantly optimistic expectations were completely off.

Sylvia, softly stroking the friendship ring she always wore, glanced at the remaining ring placed next to her pillow.

She wasn’t worried about it anymore.

It seemed like the day when the ring would find its place was not far off.

“Hehe…”

While rolling on her bed, hugging her pillow and chuckling to herself, Sylvia buried her face into the pillow and murmured in a small voice as if afraid someone might hear her.

“I also… like Scarlett…”

Right after that, with her face still buried in the pillow, she let out a squeak and flailed about, but the exhaustion from training soon caught up with her, and she collapsed.

Today’s classes had been tough, so she and Scarlett decided to rest early, but perhaps she could suggest having a pillow talk tomorrow.

A pajama party would also sound great.

It would be nice to talk all night and drift off to sleep in the same bed.

That’s why she specifically had a big bed placed in her room.

Sighing happily as she imagined it, Sylvia’s face slowly hardened.

As she thought about sleeping in the same bed, she suddenly remembered Scarlett handing a macaroon to Yoon Si-woo.

From that, it seemed clear she had feelings for him.

But Yoon Si-woo was a bad guy.

She thought he liked Scarlett, but who would have imagined he was the kind of irresponsible man who could do such things with her while acting like nothing happened?

She had even supported their relationship for Scarlett’s happiness…

At this rate, Scarlett might end up becoming a tragic heroine who gives her body and heart to him and ultimately gets abandoned, just like those unfortunate female leads from the books that a classmate had secretly brought back during middle school.

But if she outright told Scarlett to stay away from Yoon Si-woo, it was obvious she would refuse.

And if she revealed the truth, saying, “That guy only wants your body!” it might hurt Scarlett, who liked him.

What should she do…

After pondering for a while, Sylvia finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep.

—

“Scarlett, good morning.”

“Good morning, Scarlett! I feel like I’m dying from muscle pain!”

As usual, Mei and Jessie greeted her as they arrived at school with Sylvia.

Jessie had a bizarre expression, half-smiling and half-grimacing, probably due to the muscle aches from yesterday’s training.

Sorry, that’s probably my fault.

During one-on-one training, as I was being pushed to my limit, Eve thought it would be a good idea to raise the intensity of classes a bit to gauge everyone else’s limits.

I heard that when I returned the enchanted gem with illusion magic to Miss Eve before going home yesterday, as it was no longer needed after she attached a prosthetic limb for me.

Silently apologizing to Jessie, I took my seat and politely greeted Yoon Si-woo, who had waved at me first.

At that moment, just as Sylvia was about to sit down, she paused and suddenly called out to me.

“…Excuse me, Scarlett. Is it okay if I talk to you for a moment before the teacher comes in?”

I nodded and quietly followed her out.

Standing face-to-face in a quiet hallway just before the morning assembly began, I felt strangely nervous. Swallowing hard, Sylvia leaned in closer and whispered.

“Um, Scarlett. What do you think of Yoon Si-woo?”

Hearing that question, I had a strange sense of déjà vu.

A moment later, I realized and was shocked.

Could it be one of those scenes often seen in novels where the character says, “Stay away from him, you rascal!”?

I found it odd that Sylvia didn’t seem to like Yoon Si-woo, contrary to the original story, but that didn’t seem to be the case after all.

Now that I thought about it, she had looked upset when I handed a macaroon to Yoon Si-woo yesterday.

Suddenly becoming the target of Sylvia’s jealousy made me chuckle.

“Are you perhaps upset because you like Yoon Si-woo?”

I was the type to think that the heroine and the protagonist should end up together.

So, I had been rooting for Sylvia while reading the original.

Although I couldn’t support the other heroines.

I was going to tell Sylvia not to worry because I had no such intentions.

But Sylvia’s reaction was different from what I expected.

“…No, if I had to say, I actually don’t like him. What I really want to know is what Scarlett thinks of him.”

I looked at Sylvia’s face, thinking she might still be too shy to admit her feelings, but she seemed genuinely sincere.

But why?

For someone who wanted to see them together, this situation was quite bewildering.

It might sting a little, but still, I wanted to see them acting all lovey-dovey…

If things continued like this, I figured I wouldn’t be able to see that, so I desperately called out to Sylvia.

“Um, Sylvia, Yoon Si-woo has a lot of great qualities!”

As I said that, Sylvia’s expression was a bit ambiguous, so I quickly blurted out whatever came to mind.

“Yoon Si-woo is… well, he’s capable.”

He was a little overpowered brat with tons of money and absurd combat abilities.

“He’s also kind, has a good personality, and a strong sense of responsibility.”

He was the kind of guy who sacrificed himself for the people around him in the original story.

“…And he’s handsome too.”

While trying to praise someone else, I was suddenly hit with self-doubt and embarrassment, causing my face to flush bright red.

…What the heck am I doing?

Thank you, you rascal Yoon Si-woo…

I’m going to such lengths for your love life…

“Uh… Anyway, I hope you two don’t dislike each other and get along well…”

As I said this, Sylvia looked at me with a sort of pitying expression and nodded.

After wrapping up our conversation, I returned to take my seat only to find Yoon Si-woo with his head buried in his desk.

He had seemed fine just a while ago, but even he must have been exhausted from training.

I sat quietly, gazing at the protagonist and heroine sitting together before me, thinking.

I hope a world where they can live happily arrives soon.

—

“Since yesterday was tough, we’ll wrap up today’s lesson quickly!”

At Mrs. Eve’s words that it would end quickly, the children from classes A and B gathered in the gym erupted into cheers.

Seeing them, Eve laughed broadly and shouted.

“Ahaha, you kids really enjoy this, don’t you? Anyway, today we’re going to divide you into four teams by drawing lots, regardless of whether you’re in class A or B, and compete! The goal is to take down 100 monsters in a skirmish! The first team to finish can go eat, so give it your all!”

Everyone’s eyes lit up with seriousness.

Historically, students have been known to go to extreme lengths just to eat a little faster, even jumping from the second or third floor.

With such competitive kids, adding food as a reward was more than enough reason to fuel their determination.

But oddly enough, the world can be cruel, and sometimes things just don’t go as planned, even if you give it your all.

“…I don’t feel confident about this.”

Mei murmured beside me.

“Yeah, I feel the same way. I’m afraid we’ll lose…”

I mumbled alongside Mei who was next to me.

Ironically, Mei and I ended up in the same group as Yoon Si-woo and Sylvia.

It was a crazy bus whose speed I couldn’t even fathom.

As long as we’re strapped into the seat belts, we’ll probably win.

“That’s cheating!”

“This isn’t right, teacher!”

I heard Daniel and Jessie shouting from somewhere, but I ignored them.

“It’s just luck of the draw today, so it can’t be helped! Things in this world don’t go exactly as we want!”

Eve’s cheerful shout left the kids feeling defeated.

Sorry, but I couldn’t help but agree.

Things in this world don’t always go as we’d wish.

—

Thanks to the bus driver, we ended up eating first.

I hadn’t been lazy about it, even knowing we’d win.

“Scarlett! You were amazing!”

“Was it the flamethrower from your prosthetic? The power was incredible!”

On the way to the cafeteria, Sylvia and Mei shared their impressions of my new technique, the flamethrower, that I had demonstrated.

Jessie had insisted strongly, “Let’s call it the Scarlet Buster!” but I thought it would be embarrassing to shout out a technique name, so I just referred to it as flamethrower for now.

Anyway, I felt pretty good about having burned more than ten monsters at once with the flamethrower.

I’ll owe all of this to Jessie, who had crafted the prosthesis.

Jessie, who was tearfully longing to eat last, would surely be pleased.

Trying a move similar to a finishing move in a real battle somehow made my heart pound with excitement.

If I could stage it a bit more like a finishing move, it wouldn’t look awesome.

For instance, throwing away a glove before firing it.

Ideally, a leather glove.

I felt a spark of nostalgia from the time when a black flame dragon resided in my left arm.

Hehe, at this rate, I might shoot a Black Flame Death Dragon instead of just a flamethrower…

As I entertained such frivolous thoughts, we arrived at the cafeteria.

In truth, if the food weren’t good, I wouldn’t feel rushed to eat.

In that sense, the academy’s meals were amazing.

With food this good, there would absolutely be no shortage of diners, unlike in the military.

I heard that the chef currently in charge had been tending to meals for over 20 years.

Thanking the chef who always prepared delicious dishes, I thought about how much calmer time was passing compared to the original.

If only it could stay this peaceful…

As I continued eating with those thoughts, Mei, who sat by the window, murmured while looking outside.

“Oh, by the way, they said it would rain today.”

Looking outside confirmed that it was actually raining.

My previously cheerful mood plummeted instantly.

Perhaps due to that, her murmuring voice grew louder.

[Burn them.]

Shut up.

I didn’t like that thing residing in me.

If possible, I wanted it to be replaced by the black flame dragon.

While grumbling and trying to collect myself, a loud bang echoed.

One student sitting at another table had collapsed onto their table.

“What happened? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. They just collapsed all of a sudden!”

Simmering whispers filled the room.

Among the commotion, I heard a cough nearby.

Mei, covering her mouth with her hand, coughed.

As she slowly removed her hand, drops of a red liquid fell.

I saw panic in Mei’s eyes.

And with another thud, she collapsed onto the table.

“…What… is this…”

Thud.

Another noise resounded.

Looking over in that direction, I saw another student had collapsed as well.

With a pained expression, Sylvia emanated light from her hands and placed it on her body before shouting.

“It’s magical poisoning!!! Everyone, stop eating!!!”

Things in this world don’t always go as we wish.

In fact, it was more often the opposite.

Thud.

Another student collapsed with the sound.

I heard the rain tapping against the window.

And the voice in my head continuously whispered to burn.

And then bang, bang, the sounds echoed again, one after another.

In this way, the sound of peace shattering resounded throughout the cafeteria.