We Are Fine Just Being Us

Special Lecturer Olivia’s magic instruction was proceeding smoothly.

It happened when the class proceeded without delay and entered break time.

“—Odrant couple, do you have a moment?”

“Hm?”

Letitia and I were called out to by a certain pair of students.

Looking, it was a pair of students from Class D, a man and a woman.

The woman was characterized by semi-long black hair and purple lipstick, and the man by a blond bob cut with bangs trimmed evenly.

Judging by the atmosphere, they both looked clearly of noble origin.

The two approached with smirking smiles, and the woman opened her mouth first.

“We thought we hadn’t greeted you yet. I am Class D’s Emmeline Garni, and this is my lover and the class ‘King,’ Bas Casimir. Please remember us from now on.”

“Haa…”

“Hey hey Emmeline, if you call me ‘King,’ you should name yourself ‘Queen’ too, shouldn’t you?”

“Oh stop it Bas, a ‘Queen’ is too much!”

“Ahaha.”

“Ufufu.”

…What exactly are we being shown here?

They just suddenly started flirting right in front of us?

No, well, I can understand the feeling of wanting to flirt with the person you love.

I love flirting with Letitia too.

But don’t come do it right in front of our faces…

I mean, they’re definitely showing off on purpose. Is this sarcasm?

Letitia also let out a sigh, and, “So, what business do you have with us?”

“I told you it was a greeting, didn’t I? Since we heard you two were a married couple, we were very interested.”

“But… meeting you directly like this, I’m convinced after all.”

“Hmm, of what?”

“Isn’t it obvious? That we are—superior as a couple!”

” “…………Haa?” “

Letitia’s voice and mine harmonized inadvertently.

Emmeline and Bas pulled each other close.

“Romance is a competition of how much happier a relationship you can build compared to others!”

“Exactly! It is about showing off what a wonderful partner you found and how much you are loved!”

“That’s right! Look at the figure of my splendid Bas! He comes from the Casimir Marquis house, is handsome, has no equal in sword or magic, and possesses the dignity of a noble! He’s perfect!”

“No~ not that much, Ahaha.”

“…In other words, you came to boast that your lover is superior to Alban?”

“That’s not all, you know? We love each other way more than the likes of you do!”

Ah… in short, they came to mount us.

Truly noble-like, or whatever.

Fiancé, wife, husband—showing off how excellent one’s partner is, is a common sight in noble society.

But you know, sorry, but we are in a splendidly mutual love relationship too.

Besides, if it’s boasting about partners, Letitia is absolutely the number one wife in the world.

She’s a hundred million times better than you.

Here, I should retort a little—

“…Ridiculous.”

Letitia muttered.

Then she turned her back on Emmeline and the other.

“Let’s go, Alban. I can’t keep company with playing house like this.”

“Wha… P-Playing house, you say!?”

“Yes, ridiculous playing house.”

Letitia spat that out clearly, turning bored eyes toward Emmeline and Bas.

“After all, you people can’t even affirm your own partners without comparing them to others, can you?”

“Ugh…!?”

“My and Alban’s ‘love’ is not something to be compared with others. We are fine just being us. To be unable to satisfy your self-esteem without comparing… you are unhappy people.”

Leaving those words with a sidelong glance, she took me along and left the place.

As we left, I felt like they were glaring at us with incredible expressions… but let’s not worry about it.

▲ ▲ ▲

“──Since everyone’s magic skills have improved, we might as well have a magic duel in class!”

It happened suddenly.

As if she had just thought of it, Paula-sensei blurted it out.

I looked at her with skepticism and said, “No, what do you mean ‘might as well’…”

“Because if your skills have improved, you should compete!”

Paula-sensei was beaming as usual.

Beside her, Raymond-sensei clapped his hands, pachi-pachi.

“That is also true. Having Special Guest Lecturer Olivia see the duel should serve as good motivation.”

Oh, you’re on board too?

Well, what they’re saying might not be wrong in itself, but…

Honestly, I’m not really up for it.

I just beat Class E’s Michel-something to a pulp recently, after all.

Just as I was thinking that—

“…Sounds interesting. Let’s do it by all means.”

A voice rose from within Class D.

The owner of the voice was Emmeline from earlier.

—Oh?

That’s unexpected.

For her to volunteer instead of Bas, the “King.”

“By the way, may I nominate my opponent?”

“Yes, if you have a wish!”

“Then… my opponent will be Letitia Barrow of Class F.”

With a voice filled with palpable disgust and irritation, Emmeline spoke Letitia’s name.

—The students buzzed, zawa.

I immediately interjected.

“No.”

I clearly refused the nomination from the opponent.

“If Letitia has to do it, I’ll do it instead.”

“Does that mean you are refusing the duel? In that case, points will be deducted from Class F!”

“I don’t care about tha—”

“Alban, I’ll be fine.”

Letitia stepped forward, admonishing me.

She remained calm.

“Wait, Letitia…!”

“You know I’ve been practicing since that incident, don’t you?”

“B-But still…”

“Thank you for worrying. But I can’t just be protected all the time. So… please watch me.”

Saying that with a smile, Letitia faced Emmeline.

With teachers and students watching,

“…How dare you make a fool of me earlier. I won’t let you get away with it.”

“My, weren’t you the one who tried to mount us first? Isn’t holding a grudge over that even more unsightly?”

“Tch! Shut up!”

Enraged, Emmeline thrust her arm upwards.

Then, concentrating mana in her palm,

“──<Icicle Rain>!”

She activated the magic.

A large number of ice spears were generated overhead.

“Eat this!”

Emmeline fired the barrage of ice spears all at once, aiming at Letitia.

<Icicle Rain> is an A-Rank ice attribute spell.

If a flesh-and-blood human takes that, they won’t stand a chance.

My body moved reflexively.

I tried to jump in to save her immediately.

I don’t care if they call it a foul or what happens to the points.

Because I thought Letitia would be killed if I didn’t.

However, “My, so you can use ice magic. But—”

Letitia raised her hand and concentrated her mana.

And then, “──<Freezing Field>”

She activated her magic.

In an instant—”frost” began to dance around her.

The frost became a barrier of absolute zero, further freezing and solidifying the flying ice spears, stopping their movement.

It was as if she had frozen the time of the ice spears themselves.

The massive barrage of ice spears all stopped in mid-air.

Finally, when Letitia snapped her fingers, pachin, the barrage of ice spears shattered all at once.

—<Freezing Field>.

A defense-specialized magic that Letitia mastered for self-defense after the kidnapping incident.

And it is an S-Rank ice attribute spell.

Seeing the barrage of ice spears shattered into powder and flowing away in the wind, Emmeline was dumbfounded.

“Hu…h…?”

“Too bad. You aren’t the only one who is good at ice magic.”

▲ ▲ ▲

<Letitia Barrow Odrant Perspective Side>

—I cannot remain powerless.

After that kidnapping incident, I became acutely aware of it.

That I lack even the power to protect myself.

True, at that time I managed to escape the cage well with Shanoa.

But after escaping, what if Alban hadn’t come to save us?

Would we have really escaped safely?

…I don’t know.

Honestly speaking, I have no confidence.

In the end, I am being protected by Alban.

If Alban isn’t there, I can’t even defend myself satisfactorily.

—I must not rely only on my husband.

I had learned minimal magic and self-defense, but that was far too insufficient.

Since realizing that, I started training to be able to use more powerful magic.

While having Alban, who has already mastered various magics, teach me various things, I mastered several high-ranking spells.

Since I originally had a large amount of mana, learning B-Rank and A-Rank magic wasn’t that difficult.

Though, strictly speaking, I’ve only learned two S-Rank spells so far.

Of course, with just this, I still can’t even reach Alban’s feet.

I will need to continue training more and more.

But for now—

“N-No way…! How can the likes of Letitia Barrow use such high-ranking magic…!?”

“I have been through quite a few ordeals, you see. Probably far more than you.”

“You…! Don’t mock me! ──<Flame Breath>”

Perhaps realizing she was at a disadvantage with ice attribute magic, Emmeline next activated fire attribute magic.

Flames sprayed vigorously attacked me.

—Ice attribute and fire attribute have bad compatibility.

With the same amount of mana, ice attribute magic would lose in power.

But… my apologies.

“──<Blizzard Sanctuary>”

I slowly raised my right hand and concentrated my mana.

And I activated the best S-Rank magic I can use right now.

—In an instant, the aspect of the surroundings changed completely.

The earth froze, a fierce blizzard raged, and white snow and hail flew through the air.

As if we had been wrapped in a world of ice.

Despite the bad compatibility, the absolute zero blizzard extinguished Emmeline’s <Flame Breath>.

Proof that my mana completely surpassed hers.

Furthermore, Emmeline’s limbs, caught in the blizzard’s sanctuary, froze, sealing even her movement.

“N-No way…!? This is a lie… Impossible…!”

“──That’s match, isn’t it?”

Walking up to her as she couldn’t move her hands or feet, I pointed my index finger at her forehead.

“Match over! This duel is Letitia Odrant-san’s victory!”

Paula-sensei declared.

She continued, looking toward Olivia Onee-sama and Raymond-sensei.

“You two are also fine with Letitia-san being the winner, right!”

“Yes, of course. No matter how you look at it, it is her victory.”

“…I also have no objections.”

Onee-sama smiled very happily, while Raymond-sensei didn’t change his expression but looked somewhat frustrated.

Phew, that was good.

I wonder if I showed a little bit of my good side to Onee-sama and Alban.

“Then, since we have the agreement of the two──Class D gets a 10-point deduction, and Class F gets a 10-point addition!”

▲ ▲ ▲

After finishing all the lessons of the first day, it was dinner time.

We students were separated by class and were having a barbecue near the pension.

—However,

“…Hey, Alban.”

“Hmm~? What is it, Letitia?”

“It’s a little hard to eat…”

I had been hugging Letitia from behind for a while now.

Wrapping both arms around her stomach area in a back hug, clinging to her tightly.

I don’t want to be apart for even a moment.

“Man, Letitia really did her best. You really, truly did great. I want to praise you with all my might. You’re amazing, Letitia.”

“Th-Thank you for that…”

“Also, I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. I was worried sick…”

“Geez… I told you I’d be fine, didn’t I?”

She smiled wryly and fed me some grilled meat.

Yup, delicious.

This is a time of supreme bliss.

“Th-The two of you really are close, aren’t you…”

“Yes, truly exasperatingly lovey-dovey… It makes me embarrassed just watching.”

Shanoa grilled meat and vegetables while looking slightly embarrassed at seeing us as a couple, and Ester threw grilled meat into her mouth with tremendous momentum, paku-paku.

What’s with that~, it’s not a show or anything.

I just want to flirt with Letitia.

Next, Laki puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction,

“Hey~, it’s unfair that only Letitia-chan gets it~! Here Al-kun, a~hn☆”

“Don’t want it. Eat it yourself.”

I rejected Laki as usual as she held out meat on a fork.

Sorry, but I’m not even one millimeter happy about being fed a~hn by anyone other than Letitia.

Ivan and the guys watched us, the couple and the girls’ group, from a slight distance.

“…By the way, you two. About the duel earlier—did you feel anything strange?”

While eating meat, hamu, Ivan asked such a thing.

“Strange?”

“The magic Emmeline-san used… no matter how you look at it, it didn’t match her mana capacity.”

Being told that, I recalled, “Ah.”

Indeed, I felt that too.

Letitia also nodded, “I noticed it too. I wonder what that was about.”

“Who knows. But perhaps… Raymond-sensei might be involved.”

“? Raymond-sensei?”

“Hey hey, surely he’s involved. He is in charge of Class D, after all.”

I said it as if to say ‘don’t state the obvious’—but Ivan shook his head.

“No, it’s not that simple. You two might not know but… there is a bit of a rumor about him.”

—Hearing that remark, Letitia’s expression stiffened.

“…Rumor?”

“The Scottish Duke house has deep ties to magic, so we have opportunities to hear various stories related to magic. And I heard before… that he has a past of dabbling in ‘Taboo’ experiments.”

“‘Taboo’ experiments? What’s that?”

“I don’t know the details. It’s just a rumor, after all. But I heard he was chased out of the Ministry of Magic because of it.”

“…”

Letitia listened silently.

Ivan adjusted his glasses, and,

“I heard he reformed after becoming a teacher at the Royal Academy and completely withdrew from magic experiments… but it might be best to be careful.”

“Hmm. Well, as long as there’s no harm to Letitia, I don’t care.”

I hugged Letitia tight once again.

“But… if he lays a hand on Letitia, student or teacher, I will simply trample him.”