[Madeline’s Melancholy]
Tayte and I came to the student council room with a devastatingly shocked Madeline.
–Guess I should ask her what made her depressed now. She seemed like she really wanted me to ask, what with her repeatedly glancing at me, as if to say “Come on, ask me!”
“Oh, yeah. Madeline, how did the Divine Gift Ceremony—”
“Listen to this, Barrett!”
Madeline hurriedly bit before I even finished my question.
She must have been dying to talk about it.
And the reason for her grievance was…
“I was hoping for a sword like your Holy Sword or Raul’s Demon Sword!!”
She didn’t receive the item she wanted.
Instead, she got a shield. But it seemed the shield was quite something, as according to Jarvis who came later, it had already become a hot topic in the teachers’ room.
The shield’s name was ‘Sacred Flower Shield’, and it boasted overwhelming defensive power.
To be honest, I thought it was a perfect item for Madeline with her habit of rushing headlong into danger, but she didn’t seem to be convinced.
“Uu… even though I always fight in the frontmost line…”
“Isn’t that why that item is perfect for you?”
“Huh? What do you mean, Barrett?”
“You are re—brave. You face enemies without hesitation, but sometimes that bravery leads to fatal mistakes.”
“Uuu…”
I almost blurted out “Reckless,” there, but I managed to stop myself in time. Or rather, was Madeline herself aware of that? “But you’re right. I do tend to get tunnel vision when I’m too excited.”
“It was the same during the martial arts tournament, you thought victory was in your grasp and ended up letting your guard down and as a result, you let Raul make a comeback with a critical counterattack and you lost.”
“…To think Andrei can make logical points…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
Anyone could point that out, though—wait, so I’d best refrain from saying it out loud, that was rude.
After that, the remaining members such as Kleine, in charge of accounting, and Patrick, in charge of public relations, arrived, and the first joint student council-Knights of the Academy meeting was held.
The topic was the students’ safety.
The riot that Tayte had been caught up in last time led to a review of the crime prevention system at the academy, and the security had been reinforced. Even so, there was no denying the possibility of students getting involved in some incidents when they went out of the academy, so the responsibility to deal with that fell into our hands.
Then again, the word of our exploit during the rescue operation had been making its way around the kingdom, so bad guys should already be aware of our power and wouldn’t dare to mess with us recklessly. Even if they did, we’d just crush them by force.
The members of the student council and the Knights of the Academy who participated in the meeting were among the most powerful people in the academy. Without a certain level of skills, any villain that stood against us would only get steamrolled.
Incidentally, many students were requesting permission to leave the academy because a certain event was going to be held during the upcoming holiday.
“Since His Majesty the King’s birthday will be held on this holiday, many students are requesting permission to go out to the royal capital. The knights will be there as security details, but I think we should patrol as well as a precaution.”
His Majesty the King’s birthday celebration.
It happened last year as well, but Tayte and I didn’t participate.
What kind of festival was it… I was a bit curious.
