“Students, you are Tristain's... Argh!”
Osman, spreading out his arms and legs, had jumped from the railing of the 2nd floor, preparing to land on a desk downstairs. In mid-air, he waved his staff to use “Levitation” to land safely, but failed. He'd grown old; the time he took to invoke spells had lengthened too much and he fell straight onto the desk. The hall was filled with an uproar as teachers jumped down to help him up. Osman had pulled something badly and someone had to heal him with Water magic. He continued, with no hint of embarrassment,
“Everyone, Become the aristocrats who will support Halkeginia in the future!”
Such brave words. Everyone started clapping, feeling pity for Osman who was trying so hard to maintain his composure.
In the crowd... There was a beautiful girl who stood out even amongst the nobles. This was Kirche, who held the title of “Ardent”. Giving a big yawn as she looked at the clumsy principal, she wondered if she'd made a mistake applying here.
For Kirche, however, who'd left Vindobona Magical Academy in Germania's capital... There were no further alternatives, other than going abroad to study. Her parents staying in Zerbst had planned to marry Kirche, who'd been loafing around home after leaving school, off to some old Marquis. Kirche, who had no present desire for marriage, literally flew out of the country to Tristain seeking asylum.
Her impulses moved her to act.
From a young age, once she took a liking to something she did all she could to get it. If someone protested, she'd shut him up with her specialty, “Fire”. The reason for her dropping out, the “Incident” that had occurred in Germania, was a result of this aspect of her personality..
The personality you grow up with is a hard thing to change. Even in Tristain, her arrogant ways were in full play.
Getting back to the present, sitting next to Kirche was a petite, blue-haired girl. Compared to the beautiful goddess Kirche, possessor of a devil's body, this girl's body hadn't even hit puberty. She really was a child, after all. The jade eyes behind the glasses still carried a hint of childishness. Even though she was at an Entrance Ceremony, those eyes were still wide open, engrossed in reading her book.
For no apparent reason, Kirche started to get irritated with her attitude. To Kirche, good kids who liked to study were good targets for bullying. She asked in a low voice, “What are you reading?” and snatched away the book. The other girl looked at her with emotionless eyes.
The words in the book were too hard for Kirche, she couldn't understand a thing.
“The hell is this... 'Wind's Power's Influence on Atmospherics and Consequences'? Dunno what it's saying. Can you even use this kinda high level magic?”
The girl did not reply, only stretching out her hand.
“Hey, when you're asking a favor from someone, you should give your name, didn't your parents ever teach you?”
To be honest, it wasn't really asking a favor, just trying to get back something that had been taken away... The girl took a moment to consider, and said her name - “Tabitha”.
“Whats that? Does everyone in Tristain use such weird names?”
Kirche was close to rolling on the floor in laughter. The teacher in charge of assigning classes shot her a glare, but Kirche, ignoring him, continued to laugh.
Tabitha looked at Kirche with cold eyes. The chain that held her parents' destinies... to hers had been mocked by someone. At that moment, Kirche totally didn't see the change in Tabitha eyes.
A girl with strawberry-blond hair, unable to take it any longer, stood right up.
“That girl over there! Something important is being announced now! Why don't you shut up!”
She'd probably been enduring Kirche's arrogance from before.
“Who are you? I am Louise Françoise Le Blanc de la Vallière. To think there are people like you attending, shocking!”
“La Vallière?”
Kirche looked happily at Louise's face.
“Please look after me. I'm Kirche von Zerbst, your neighbour. To think we'd meet here! What a privilege!”
On hearing this Louise's entire body began to tremble.
“W-W-What did you say?”
“Oh, please look after me.”
Kirche gave a charming laugh. A teacher who saw them shivering in rage roared at the three,
“All of you quiet down!”
“Okay.” Saying this, Kirche returned to her seat. Tabitha snatched her book back from Kirche's hand and glared at her from the corner of her eyes, her lips pressed tight.
Every year was divided into three classes, named for the 3 legendary saints, Suen, Iyer and Seger. Kirche and Tabitha were in Suen, Louise in Iyer, while Guiche and Montmorency had been assigned to Seger.
After leaving a big impression at the entrance ceremony, Kirche was being ignored by the girls of her class. That special wild attractiveness of Germanian girls, as well as that generous bust, the hormones in the air just couldn't be shut out. In a second, she had all the boys in class to herself. This made the Tristain girls, already famous for being jealous, burn in envy.
Her personality was one of the reasons she was disliked. Even in Germania, the land of Fire, Kirche had been ostracized for her arrogance. Her personality just rubbed the Tristainians, who worshipped caution as a virtue, the wrong way. Within a short time of starting school, she'd already seduced three boys. There were two reasons. Firstly, those three boys were the better looking ones in class. Secondly, and more importantly... she was just so bored.
Number one, a seductive glance thrown in the hallway. Number two, sticking her bust out as she pretended to trip. Number three, crossing her legs in front of him.
Just like that, the three had already asked Kirche to go out with them. Kirche received their requests as though she were getting court summons. She went out with all three at the same time without hiding anything, and so the three were soon locked in combat.
At the end of the pitched battle, the third boy emerged victorious. Just as he was congratulating himself over finally getting Kirche to himself, she found a fourth one.
Several girls interested in these boys formed an alliance to negotiate with Kirche. Kirche, who'd just found five and six, and was once again three-timing, snorted with contempt at the forsaken girls.
“Don't you know when to stop? How many boys do you want before you're happy?”
“Who knows, I don't.”
Said Kirche as she sat at her desk polishing her nails.
“Quit acting dumb!”
“I didn't do anything. They just found me by themselves, saying 'Kirche, wanna come to my room and drink,' or 'I've written a poem, wanna hear it,' stuff like that.”
Kirche said, imitating the boys.
“It's always like this, I'm pretty irritated too, so I have to accept, in your language 'Oui'. Did I pronounce it right?”
Her attitude made the girls' envy rocket to new heights instantly.
“Listen here. This is Tristain, where we prize prudence and tradition, unlike your barbarian country. Even in love there are proper ways. An ignorant country-girl who doesn't even know that should just go back home!”
“If you're really so concerned about your lover, why not lock him up in your room?”
“What did you say?”
“I'm just so confused. If you've got the time to be jealous, why not try to persuade him to stay?” If you like him you should compliment him a bit. All y'all only know how to put on an angry face, you don't even know how to say things that make a man happy, do you?
“That's what guys should do!”
“Well I'm not like that, if I want someone, I'll praise him as much as possible, otherwise, I'm gonna be very sad.”
“Don't treat us like idiots!”