Vol. 12 Ch. 12: The Happiness of Things That Never Change

"You kids. You keep saying magic combat, magic combat, but do you have any idea how much work it takes to prepare, maintain, and manage a magic-combat barrier? And with participants possessing this much magical power, it would be downright dangerous without a sturdy barrier, wouldn't it? Huh, you want to be able to watch the match, too? Hey, hey, do you have any idea how much extra work that would be? ...I'll call in some help, but it'll take three days. Stop working an old lady so hard, will you?"

Thanks to Instructor McLaggan's words, the magic-combat duel over Monica Norton was scheduled for after school three days after the challenge was declared.

For those three days, Monica felt as though she were living in a nightmare.

The commotion in the student council room had been witnessed by passersby, and rumors had spread throughout the academy in the blink of an eye that very day.

The relationship between Monica and Hubard was what drew the most attention.

'Monica Norton was Hubard Dee's former mistress, and Hubard Dee is obsessed with Monica.'

That was the prevailing rumor.

Monica wanted to insist that it wasn't true and was all a misunderstanding, but if someone asked what their relationship actually was, she had no answer.

If she honestly told them that she had been his junior at Minerva, they would discover that Monica had attended Minerva.

Unable to offer any explanation, Monica was branded Hubard's former mistress and subjected to malicious rumors and hostile stares wherever she went...