Chapter 46

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TAP. TAP...

Not a single lantern or candle lit the pitch-black interior. The sound of someone cautiously stepping forward echoed through it. The silence weighed as heavily as the thick darkness, making every footstep seem unusually loud.

Marie looked down the corridors to either side. There was nothing but blackness, as though the place were dead. Never mind someone to show her around—there wasn't a soul in sight.

Yet she could distinctly hear faint breathing somewhere. She walked toward it.

TAP. TAP...

When she reached a door, she heard breathing on the other side. It sounded like several people sleeping, not just one. But was she allowed to open it? Should she knock?

She couldn't bring herself to break that silence, thick as a sheet of ice. All she could do was stand there. She leaned against the wall, set down her luggage, and bowed her head. For the first time, she began to feel that this was a little hard.

How long had passed? Someone opened another door and emerged in nightclothes. A single candle glimmered faintly on a dish in her hand.

Marie jerked her head up.

"Oh! Excuse me..."

This was the first person she'd met since coming to the girls' dormitory. She was about to ask for help, but the girl holding the candle simply looked at her, then went off somewhere. Huh?

Marie blinked in bewilderment. Soon, a trickling sound came from what seemed to be the lavatory, and the girl in nightclothes reappeared.

This time, she didn't so much as glance at Marie. She seemed utterly devoid of any curiosity about a stranger.

CLICK.

The door closed again, and silence settled. Marie felt it unmistakably: she was not welcome here. Helplessness pressed down on her chest.

And so she spent the night in the corridor.

Eventually, dawn came. Marie was crouched against the wall, half asleep, when the door directly in front of her suddenly flew open.

Girls in stained aprons poured out, and others emerged from the other rooms at almost the same moment. Startled, Marie rose to her feet. Her legs ached.

But the girls in aprons only stole glances at her. Not one spoke to her. They hurried about fetching water, gathering laundry, sweeping and scrubbing the floors, and doing other chores. They looked for all the world like maids.

The pump squeaked, laundry splashed, fires were lit and pots set over them to boil water, and footsteps bustled to and fro.

The dormitory filled with the sounds of daily life, until the heavy silence of the night before seemed almost unreal. Yet Marie remained utterly excluded from it all.

She could only stand helplessly in the middle of the corridor, watching the girls hurry about. Even when she spoke to them, they ignored her and walked past as if they truly hadn't heard.

Only later that morning did the bustle subside. Some students finally stirred in their beds and got up.

One girl stretched luxuriously, then came out of her room scratching her stomach, still looking half asleep. Spotting Marie, she said,

"Are you new? There should be a free bed in that room."

Then she yawned widely and shuffled toward the lavatory in shoes with their heels trodden down.

Marie understood instinctively. Only now that this girl had given permission could she enter a room.

It was invisible, but unmistakable: the students were not equals. This place had a class system of its own, different from the world outside.

For now, Marie dragged her weary body into the room the girl had indicated. Four students were still asleep, while the other beds had been neatly made without a single wrinkle.

Beside each bed stood a small chest of drawers for personal belongings. One bed had nothing around it. That seemed to be the empty one.

She unpacked there, folded her clothes into the drawers, and propped her fine sword, Riki, against the wall.

Through the window she could see the academy courtyard, where boys were washing by the well with their shirts off.

Now that there were pipes and a pump, they didn't need to wash outside, but those who didn't want to wait came out here instead.

Marie gingerly sat on the bed and looked around. Around then, the girls who had been bustling about like attendants since morning entered with trays.

On them were raspberries and plums they had picked themselves, along with roasted sweet potatoes, cheese, ham, and other food. They carried these to the sleeping students and quietly called to wake them.

"Leah, Leah. I've brought breakfast."

"Kaylee, I've brought your food."

"Mmm... Thanks."

The girls sat up stiffly, but the one called Kaylee refused to wake. Though a shake might have woken her, the girl beside her never touched her, only speaking softly.

"Kaylee, I've brought your food. Kaylee."

Marie couldn't understand what she was looking at. Even her own nanny used to whip the blankets off to wake her.

With Kaylee showing no sign of waking, the girl trying to rouse her seemed to have quite a task on her hands. Then—

"Kaylee. Kaylee. Kay—"

"Oh, fuck! I heard you!"

Kaylee flung off her blankets irritably and sat up. The other girls flinched.

"Hey, do you think I'm deaf? Enough already! You're not a mosquito, so why do you keep pestering me?!"

"... Sorry..."

Astonishingly, it was the girl acting as an attendant who apologized. She gently set the tray on the bedside table.

"You really need to rein in that temper. What did she do wrong?"

"That fucking bitch wouldn't stop nagging me."

"Oh, honestly... Tsk, tsk."

One of the girls who had risen late shook her head and clicked her tongue. She seemed half resigned, as though this was hardly a new occurrence.

As Marie watched all this, the girls eating in bed looked at her—and at the sword propped against the wall. Their gazes swept her up and down, seemingly in contempt.

Anyone could see she was new, yet none of them spoke to her either.

After eating, they leisurely left their beds and went to wash in the bathroom. The attendant students had already heated water for them. When they returned, they dressed and began grooming themselves before bronze mirrors.

They chattered, mostly about the city and the boys: who liked whom, who had confessed and been rejected, which boy wasn't worth bothering with, and so on.

They ate again around noon and didn't go outside until the afternoon. The maid students ate their leftovers, then cleared everything away.

Marie was tired and hungry, but she couldn't sleep while the sun was still up. So she got up and went outside.

Wandering around the academy, she saw a group of maid students huddled together in the girls' dormitory's backyard.

Curiously, Boribori was at their center, fiddling with something.

"This goes like this. Right. You just tie it like this, see?"

He seemed to be teaching them to make something by weaving plant stems together. Some girls watched with fascination, while others chatted among themselves.

"Bori," Marie called.

All the students turned to her. The girls started as though they'd seen something they shouldn't, then hurried away in a group.

"..."

"Oh, Marie. Sleep well? Settling in all right?"

"Huh? Oh... I'm not sure yet. What are you doing here, Bori?"

"Me? When I'm not with Riki, I mostly hang out with the girls. People call me girly all the time anyway. And I have trouble holding back when I spar. I've broken people's bones a few times."

"I don't think liking flowers and plants necessarily makes you girly. They're just things you like."

"You think? Well, it doesn't bother me anymore."

Boribori simply gave her a sunny smile. Seeing it made Marie feel a little less bleak.

"Where's Riki?"

"Restoring discipline, he said."

"Huh?"

"I don't know. He said the boys needed some discipline. I don't really understand that stuff."

"Oh, right. You said he was ranked first..."

"Being first doesn't mean he has to do that, but I guess he's stepping in because Volka isn't here. And since he's a noble, it's better for Riki to do the hitting. One boy nearly died yesterday. He barely made it."

Marie had heard about Volka on the journey here with Ricard and Boribori, so she understood that much.

But why was it better for Riki to hit them because he was a noble? That part didn't make sense.

"It's better if Riki hits them?"

"Huh? Oh, th-there's a reason."

"You're as bad at lying as I am. All right. I won't ask."

"Thanks. Have you eaten, though?"

"No."

"Then let's go eat."

Boribori got up, brushed himself off, and led her away. He carried a big bunch of flowers, as though someone had given them to him.

"Wait here a minute. I'll be right out."

Leaving Marie outside, he slipped into the inner keep. She cautiously peered inside, hoping she might spot Riki.

But the boys passing through made her turn away. Not a single one failed to look at her.

Then a voice suddenly cut through the fog of her sleepless night.

"Marie?"

Startled, she turned. It was Ricard, passing along the corridor.

"Huh?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was waiting for Bori. We're going to eat together."

"Really? I was just about to eat, too. Come in. Let's eat together."

"... Am I allowed in?"

"Why not? Classes are held here, too. Come on in."

Ricard said it casually, but just as boys couldn't enter the girls' dormitory as they pleased, girls weren't supposed to enter the inner keep outside class hours. It was an unwritten rule.

Of course, nothing was forbidden when Ricard was escorting you.

But eyes were watching Marie from the girls' dormitory windows. Unfortunately, they couldn't see Ricard inside the keep.

Just then, Boribori returned with an armful of food, and the three went inside together.

As Marie entered, she heard the boys' vigorous shouts from the unarmed combat classroom.

"Pankration! Pankration!"

"Kill him!"

"Rip his head off!"

"Nice one!"

Marie's eyes widened, wondering what on earth was going on. But Ricard and Boribori calmly went upstairs to an empty classroom.

They settled by a window and ate. Below the cliff on which the academy stood, the open fields stretched out in full view. Perhaps because the building had once served as a fortress, the view was extraordinarily broad.

A cool breeze came through the window. It wasn't particularly harsh.

"Settling in all right?" Ricard asked Marie.

"Hmm? Oh, well, I'll get used to it little by little."

In truth, she'd felt something strange and uncomfortable in the girls' dormitory, but she didn't go into the details. It would have felt like tattling.

Besides, she definitely felt at ease with Ricard and Boribori. They were strange and mature, unsettling at times, yet innocent too.

More than anything, she liked that they seemed free of prejudice. They occasionally put their feet in their mouths, but never out of malice.

"Looks like we'll need a few more new students before classes start. Want to go to the city tomorrow? There's a friend I'd like you to meet. His name's Molty. He used to be a student here, but now he's a blacksmith's assistant. He's married, too."

"Oh, really? Sure, let's go."

Marriage at seventeen or eighteen wasn't particularly uncommon, so Marie wasn't especially surprised.

She chatted idly about this and that with the two boys, not leaving the keep to return to her dormitory until late afternoon.

But when she returned to her room, she found girls rummaging through her drawers without permission. They had even drawn her sword to examine it as they pleased. These were the same girls who had slept late that morning.

It was so outrageously absurd that she couldn't even feel angry.

"Excuse me..."

"Oh, you're back? You've got lots of nice clothes, don't you?"

"This sword looks pretty good, too. Did you sell your body for it?"

Marie frowned at the blatant insult. Rather than rise to it, however, she spoke firmly.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'd like you not to touch my things without permission."

The girls snorted.

"Showing off because you've made a little money whoring? We only looked because the clothes were pretty."

"Will touching them wear them out? Will it? Are you saying we're dirty or something?"

"Going to seduce Bori because he's a bit of an idiot?"

"We have our pride, you know. This is an academy, not a brothel. Understand?"

Their tongues sent words flying into Marie like sharp daggers. None of it was remotely true. She was so bewildered she didn't know where to begin denying it.

Her heart pounded at this utterly unfamiliar experience. Even so, she tried to remain calm as she spoke, though she couldn't keep her breathing from trembling a little.

"That's not what I mean. I'm asking you not to touch my belongings. Especially my sword. It's dangerous."

"Fine, keep your filthy things."

The girls carelessly flung her clothes onto the floor. Her drawers stood open, their contents in disarray. They even threw the sword down roughly.

CLANG!

Then they bumped her shoulder as they returned to their own places. Sitting or lying together on one bed, they chattered away.

Marie stood with her head bowed, looking at her belongings strewn across the floor. Suddenly, she remembered Riki's words. ["You need to establish principles of your own."]

Yes, she would set herself some principles. She would give them a chance. Everyone could make mistakes.

Turning to the girls who were still bad-mouthing her behind her back, she said, "Apologize."

"What?"

"Has she lost her mind?"

Then Kaylee, the most ill-tempered of them, said with a hard expression, "Hey."

She rose and approached Marie. The other girls snickered.

"Want to say that again?"

"I said, apologize. For touching my belongings without permission, and for what you said about my friend."

SMACK!

The words had barely left her mouth when Kaylee slapped her. Marie's head snapped to the side.

But she neither cried nor looked startled as she slowly turned back. Her left cheek was growing red.

Her eyes, however, held none of their usual naivety. They were as fierce as a hawk's or an eagle's.

She spoke almost in a whisper.

"Apologize."

Kaylee smiled cruelly and slapped her again. Or tried to. Before she could, a flash burst before her eyes and she fell face-first to the floor.

SMACK!

THUD.

Marie had slapped her first. Her hand moved like lightning, and the blow was packed with mana. Kaylee lay writhing on the floor, unable to get up.

The snickering stopped dead, and the room fell deathly silent. Students watching from outside covered their mouths in horror.

Marie approached the remaining girls.

"W-wait."

"I think I've given you enough chances."

Drawing her hand all the way back, she delivered a full-swing slap. The impact nearly tore the flesh from the girl's cheek.

CRACK!

She couldn't even scream. At the sudden violence, the remaining girls trembled in fear. But Marie spared none of them, striking each across the face. Every one went down with a single blow.

Yet she wasn't finished. Slowly raising a foot clad in a tall boot, she stomped hard on a chest of drawers.

CRUNCH!

The mana-laden kick shattered it at once, crumpling and scattering the clothes and belongings inside.

TAP. TAP. TAP...

Marie walked slowly, imperiously, and smashed all the other chests of drawers too.

BANG! CRACK! CRASH!

The watching students flinched at every crash. Once she'd destroyed all the chests, Marie turned and spoke in a voice as cold as frost.

"I'm going out for a little while. Put my things back in order yourselves before I return. Otherwise, I'll rip out your tongues and cut off your hands. This is your last chance."

It was good that she'd established her own principles, but wasn't this a bit excessive? Still, sometimes one person's principles became everyone's rules—if that person had the power to enforce them.

Marie strode out without looking back, and the onlookers hurried aside to make way.

From the day before until earlier today, no one had so much as glanced at her. Now the opposite was true. Every girl looked at Marie, while she looked at none of them.

She exuded the genuine grace, charisma, and authority of a noble, not a mere imitation. The students found themselves captivated despite themselves.

When she returned after cooling her head outside, her belongings had been neatly restored to their original places.

Without any further orders from her, the students of the so-called Lady class who had occupied that room were all but banished to another as power changed hands.

A storm had swept through, but Marie was calm. She went to sleep without caring in the slightest about the mood in the dormitory.

The next morning, someone called to her from outside.

"Marie! Marieee!"

It was only just time for the maid students to rise, and the voice belonged to a boy.

Boys almost never shouted so openly toward the girls' dormitory, especially to call for someone. It took courage, and could easily make them look ridiculous.

But when the girls looked out the windows, they were astonished. It was Ricard, who had never shown the slightest interest in girls.

The academy's undisputed number one, the boy prodigy with a sword, leader of Beringen Academy's legendary nine—he was an object of awe and admiration. And there he was, hands cupped around his mouth, shouting.

"Don't eat breakfast! Come out! Let's eat in the city!"

Marie smiled happily, leaned out the window, and called back, "All right! Wait a minute! I'll be right out!"

She washed and tidied her hair as quickly as possible, put on a simple outfit, and left the dormitory. The girls' astonished gazes followed her every step.

Ricard was waiting outside with Boribori. When she emerged, his eyes widened at her reddened left cheek.

"Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing much."

"Why? What happened?"

"Hmm... Restoring discipline? Like you, Riki?"

"... Huh?"

Ricard had only a vague idea of how life worked among the girls, so he simply took her word for it.

Early that morning, the three descended the cliffside stairs and set off for the city. The sun rose as they walked, bathing the fields in brightness. It was spring.

Chapter 9 – Restoring Discipline. End.