We left the classroom and headed toward the dormitory to grab some lunch.
"Is the afternoon session off? It was last week," I asked, checking with Frank.
"Check your schedule. It’s Herbology. The teacher was away on a business trip last week, so we didn't have it."
Herbology...
The subject Toko said she liked.
"I hate Herbology. It doesn't make any sense," Yuika said, shaking her head.
"You hate everything that isn't practical training," Ilmera interjected.
"What about you, Tsukasa? Herbology is pretty specialized, so a lot of people skip it," Cedric asked.
"Hmm, I'm curious to see what it's like. I think I'll give it a try. Maybe I'll actually have a knack for it."
"I seriously doubt it, but I suppose there's no harm in trying."
"It's a lost cause for you."
Well, it did sound boring just from the name.
We chatted as we climbed the hill where the dorms were located. As we reached the top, we saw a group of students blocking the path ahead. It looked like several of them were facing off against a single girl.
"Ah, it's Toko... and..."
Ilmera trailed off and stopped in her tracks, so the rest of us stopped too.
"What's going on?"
"The usual, probably. I'm going to head over there."
Ilmera started walking toward the group.
"What should we do?" Cedric asked.
To be honest, I didn't want to go anywhere near them. Standing there, staring Toko down, was Shar. It was a classic standoff: Toko on one side, Shar and her entourage on the other. And now that the hot-headed Ilmera was throwing herself into the mix, I had a very bad feeling about this.
"I'd rather stay out of it, but if they start a brawl right there, we won't be able to get home."
"True... Good grief, they really do look for any excuse to clash..."
Cedric sighed and started walking, so we followed along.
"What do you want, you Henselt brat?"
A boy standing diagonally behind Shar asked, his face twisted in a sneer as he looked down at Ilmera.
"Brat? We're the same age. Are you so dim you can't even tell that?" Ilmera shot back, her tone even more mocking than his.
"Tch! Get lost. Our business is with this La Forge girl."
So they were after Toko. I figured as much.
"Toko, do you have business with these people?"
"None," Toko replied instantly, her eyes never leaving Shar’s.
Shar was glaring right back at her. It was the first time I'd ever seen her make a face like that.
"You guys are in the way," Yuika spoke up. "This is a walkway. If you want to fight, go to the training grounds."
The group turned their gaze toward her. In that moment, Shar’s eyes met mine, but she immediately looked away.
"Oh, look, another moron has arrived."
The boy’s sneer returned.
"A moron?" Yuika looked at me, looking strangely pleased for some reason.
"Wait, me?"
"Probably."
I really didn't think so.
"I'm talking to you, Akabane, you idiot. You don't belong at this academy, so why don't you just quit already?"
"It was me..."
"Obviously. He was looking right at you."
"And who are you? I haven't seen your face before..."
The boy I didn't know shifted his attention to me.
"I just enrolled last week. Nice to meet you."
"Ah... which means you're more of that inferior Class D trash."
Wait, was Class D considered inferior?
"Is it?" I asked Ilmera, while patting the head of the supposedly inferior Yuika, who was just as bad at magic as I was.
"That's just what these jerks claim... though, admittedly, we're at a disadvantage here." Ilmera looked at me and Yuika with a bitter expression.
"We have no allies..."
"We're just a bunch of idiots anyway..."
Tch.
"Hmph. Get lost, you losers."
"Our 'honor student' over here seems to have a hearing problem. I told you that you're in the way, so move," Yuika said, glaring at the boy.
"Huh? You're from some tiny island nation in the Far East and you think you can talk back to me?"
"Mathias, aren't you from an island nation too?"
Huh, really?
"What? I'm French!"
Wait, what?
"Wait, wait... is France an island nation...?"
I'm pretty sure that's Britain. I'd looked into Cedric's background, so I was fairly certain about that.
"Yuika, I think it's better if we just keep our mouths shut. Let's move to the side."
"Okay..."
I pulled the dejected Yuika over to the edge of the path.
"Hmph. Truly nothing but inferiors. Class D is nothing but low-born bloodlines."
"The La Forge family and the Yver family are on roughly equal footing... right, Student Council President? You’re letting him run his mouth."
Toko finally spoke up, using polite but icy language.
"As if your house could ever be equal to the Yvers!"
"Is that so?"
"Mathias, I suggest you stop this talk about family status. Or have you forgotten that I am standing right here?"
In a rare move, Cedric interjected.
"Guh... Seager..."
The guy named Mathias looked like he'd swallowed a lemon.
"Is Cedric's family really that big a deal?" I whispered to Yuika.
"No idea."
You don't know either?
"The Seager family is one of the five most powerful houses in the world," Noelle whispered back, having appeared beside us at some point.
"Seriously? Isn't he the next head of the house?"
"Yes. He is a very important individual."
I couldn't see it at all.
"Appearances can be deceiving," Yuika murmured.
"So he wasn't just a pretentious fop."
"He is a true gentleman..."
A gentleman, huh? I’d heard the term "British gentleman" before.
"President, what should we do?" Mathias asked Shar.
Come to think of it, Shar hadn't said a single word this whole time.
"Too many people have gathered. Let's go."
With those words, Shar brushed past Toko and began walking down the hill.
"P-President! ... Tch, remember this!"
Mathias spat the threat toward us before scurrying after Shar, followed by the rest of the entourage.
"Toko, what was that all about?" Ilmera asked.
"Who knows? It has nothing to do with me."
Toko said nothing else as she continued up the hill toward the girls' dormitory.
"Is it always like that?" I asked Noelle.
"More or less... I'm sorry. Back in our country, things are split right down the middle between the Yver faction and the La Forge faction."
"You don't have to apologize."
I was actually right in the middle of it all myself.
"Yeah, exactly... Ow."
Yuika said something she shouldn't have, so I gave her a light chop on the head.
"Is something wrong?" Noelle asked, tilting her head at our interaction.
"No, nothing... By the way, Noelle, which side are you on?"
"I... well, the Antoine family belongs to the Yver faction."
That certainly made things complicated. I finally understood why Noelle always had that strained smile whenever this topic came up.
"I told you, there's no need to apologize. We're just students here, right? Don't worry about it."
After all, even as a member of the La Forge family, I was secretly a supporter of the Yver faction.