CH 100

Surprised by the storm and the light, Connie and I rushed out and came to the back of the school building away from the dormitory.

The light had already begun to converge and the wind had stopped…The effect of the ‘group membership card’ had been activated, which meant that one of our members was in some kind of danger.

I sharpened my senses and noticed a gap in the building where I could hear people’s voices. I ran straight to it….And what a sight it was.

The first thing that caught my eye was two boys. I’m not sure if they were blown away by the strong wind or not, but their bodies were against the wall and they were writhing around in pain.

For all intents and purposes, they were Gabriella’s aide knights. They were boys from the same grade, Nicholas and Kirche.

Nicholas was a useless beauty with black hair and black eyes, and Kirche was a lazy, weak-looking boy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was the first of the idiots who had been messing with the beast-children lately.

Nicholas

Kirche

In Nicholas’ hand was a torn up group membership card…the amulet.

There were also three others boys, who looked like low-ranking cronies, who were watching the two of them in awe.

And on the other side of the wall opposite of those guys was a boy who looked dirty and bruised…It was Faneer of the golden wolf tribe.

There were also Volya-kun and Lucia, who seemed dazzled by the effects of their group membership cards nearby.

“……What is this situation?”

In an instant, I forced my simmering anger to calm down and asked that question.

Then, everyone in the area who noticed my and Connie’s presence turned to me at once.

The moment they saw me, the three low-ranking people fled in a flash…The root of the problem didn’t seem to be those guys, so I didn’t dare to say anything, only inputting my face.

I glanced at Faneer’s condition with my eyes, but he didn’t seem to be seriously injured. He looked relieved for a moment when he saw my face, but then he quickly looked down the moment he saw Connie’s face…I guess he was at a complicated age.

While calmly judging the situation, I glared at the surprised-looking Nicholas and Kirche with a guileless stare.

“What in the world were you doing?…Can you explain exactly what happened from the very beginning so that I can understand?”

I spoke slowly and deliberately, snapping inwardly, and Nicholas stuck out his tongue.

“Here comes the Queen of Dogs. Hah, that’s quite overprotective of you.”

“…What did you just say?”

When I asked him that while reaching my limits, Nicholas wasted no time in contorting his beautiful face and laughing.

“No, no, I only called you a queen with respect, Alice-sama…By the way, it’s uncalled for to be outside the dormitory without one of your knights following you at such a late hour.”

“…Can you not divert the conversation? In the first place, I asked you what you were doing, didn’t I?”

I could see my own eyes take on a viciousness that was uncharacteristic of a little girl. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to mess with this little bastard, but my anger was getting harder and harder to control.

“You can see what it is, right? We’re just catching a fraud.”

“A fraud?”

When I asked him back sharply, Nicholas spoke up with a huff and a relaxed look on his face.

“I can understand how a beastman, an inferior species, would want to cheat, though. He was probably trying to bring a magical tool to the test, so I only took it away out of the goodness of my heart before making a mistake. He resisted, so I had to be a little rough with him.”

“It’s a lie, Alice-sama! He took his membership card and summoned Faneer here saying that ‘If you want it back, come here at night, unarmed and alone…!’”

Lucia quickly barked that…I see, that’s just what Gabriella’s group would do.

“Hey…that’s pretty sweet, but from the looks of it, he is strangely dirty and injured. Above all, did you have the need to cut up that amulet?”

When I said that, Nicholas proclaimed, “I told you I was rough with him because he resisted, don’t make me say it twice, ‘Queen.’”

Hearing this, Faneer-kun let out a roar, ‘Grrraaah’

“Don’t be foolish…don’t be foolish! You were just jealous!”

“……what?”

Nicholas, who had been fluttering his head in my direction, suddenly turned his head straight and slowly turned to Faneer-kun.

“You were messing around! And the minute I told you that the amulet was handmade by Alice-sama and that it was filled with love for us at…your eyes changed color! You, about Alice-sama—”

“Hey, shut that filthy mouth, you dirty dog…!”

Suddenly interrupting Faneer-kun’s words, Nicholas, who shouted out loud, started running and pulled his Athame out with a shuffling motion.

“Faneer-kun!”

“That—!”

Oh no, Faneer is unarmed. Damn it, I can’t reach him!!!

Suddenly my eyes widened and I ran and reached for him, but he was too far away.

……In that moment, something briefly slipped past me.

“Connie!?”

That something was Connie.

In no time at all, Connie leapt in front of Nicholas with an adult’s reach and held Faneer in her arms.

“What?!”

……At that moment, everything felt like it was in slow motion.

Nicholas’ eyes widened in astonishment as he swung out with Athame with his backhand.

Kirche, who had a smirk on his feeble face, also widened his eyes.

Volya and Lucia couldn’t move, so they stiffened and opened their mouths with extended hands.

The moment I saw Connie…who had red blood flying from her neck from where Athame had touched her, squeezing her eyes shut and hitting the wall…

That ‘red’ burned into my eyes.

———I had never felt anything like it before. I felt my body being dominated by an intense force, making me feel distant and fall unconscious.

[Original Author’s Note] I’ve been itching to write something like this for a while now…Finally, a big shift! Haha! The next chapter will include the second thing I’ve wanted to do for a while, so please look forward to it.

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T/N: Author-san! How dare they touch my precious Connie!

Finally at ch. 100 only to be hit with this cliffy. Thank you very much for everyone’s continued support!