“Please! Help my friend!”
The knocking was frantic, the anxiety of the girl outside seeping through the door.
Liyakade hurriedly opened the dormitory door, and saw a blue-haired girl standing outside, her face filled with worry and anxiety.
Seeing Liyakade at the door, she repeated her plea.
“Please help my friend…”
The blue-haired girl looked at Liyakade with teary eyes.
“Don’t panic, what’s wrong with your friend? What happened?”
Liyakade quickly supported the blue-haired girl, motioning for her to calm down and explain slowly.
“It’s just… it’s just…”
Choking back tears, the blue-haired girl recounted what had happened.
It turned out that both she and her friend were small Nobles from remote regions. Though more privileged than commoners, within this school, they were still at the very bottom.
She didn’t know if it was because of their introverted personalities, or if they had offended someone after enrolling, but the blue-haired girl and her friend always felt the atmosphere around them was off, as if someone was leading others to isolate them.
At first, they thought it was just their imagination, but over time, the malice became unmistakably real. They were indeed being targeted.
It began with verbal ridicule and insults. They endured it in silence, but those people didn’t stop—instead, the bullying intensified, escalating from words to physical violence.
During Practical Combat Class, they were deliberately struck with excessive force.
Buckets of water were balanced above the classroom doors so that they’d be drenched upon entering.
Vulgar slurs were scrawled across their desks.
And today, it seemed those people had come up with another game, preparing to experiment on them again. Her friend, realizing this, told the blue-haired girl to run first, but wasn’t as lucky herself.
After hearing this, Liyakade felt cold sweat bead on her forehead.
This… sounds so familiar. Isn’t this the kind of thing the original owner used to do to Alice?
Besides, the original owner’s reputation as a bully was widely known. The orange-haired girl earlier had even said her infamy was legendary. So why would this blue-haired girl come to her for help?
Fighting magic with magic, is that it?
“Something like this still happens in the Academy?”
Field frowned after hearing the blue-haired girl’s story, unconsciously glancing at Liyakade.
Alright, incidents like this did happen in the Academy—Liyakade herself had been one of them.
“Why didn’t you ask a Teacher for help?”
Field asked.
“We… tried many times.”
The blue-haired girl shook her head, tears blurring her vision.
“The Teachers always say they’ll discipline those people, but it’s just empty words—nothing ever changes…”
“Is that so?”
Field was shocked, not expecting the Teachers to be so negligent.
“Sigh, you just don’t get it.”
Liyakade patted Field’s shoulder.
“If they dare to bully others like that, they’re probably from a Big Family. And since these girls are just small Nobles, how could the Teachers dare interfere? You were born the most Noble Princess, so you probably can’t feel these differences in status.”
“Is… that so?”
Field was a little confused. Growing up, no one her age had ever dared bully her—her only conflicts had been with her own sister.
Even though this was another world, it was still the human world. The darkness of human nature wouldn’t change just because the world had.
Liyakade couldn’t help but recall her past life.
Bullying incidents were common there, too—sometimes without any clear reason.
Maybe it was for being overweight, unattractive, short, shy, or just not good at speaking. You could be ostracized for any number of strange reasons.
No reason at all, except that you were different from everyone else.
Just like Liyakade—feared and isolated for her unusual white hair. But because the original owner’s personality was cruel and her magic talent strong, she became the one who bullied others instead.
Those without enough strength or status, like the blue-haired girl and Alice, could only be victims.
In the original story, it was Field who saved Alice from the original owner. In this world, it could be said Field and Alice together saved her.
“Please, save my friend. I’ll do anything!”
The blue-haired girl pleaded again.
She had heard of Liyakade’s misdeeds, but she had no other options. She’d also seen Liyakade’s little flyers before and believed that, as long as she offered enough, Liyakade would help.
“No need for that.”
Liyakade comforted her.
“Since it’s a client’s request, of course I’ll accept. Take me to your friend.”
“I’ll come too.”
Field stood up, following behind Liyakade. She couldn’t stand this kind of behavior either, just as she couldn’t stand Liyakade’s actions back then.
“Then, Field, wait outside for now. Let me teach them a lesson first.”
“Alright.”
***
“Tch.”
In a corner of the Academy, a few people dragged a brown-haired girl over.
This was the friend of the one who requested help.
The leader was a blond-haired boy. One of his followers yanked the brown-haired girl’s hair, throwing her roughly to the muddy ground.
“Just a small-town Noble, how dare you act so arrogant?”
The lackey sneered down at the brown-haired girl. Her hair was a mess, her uniform and hair streaked with mud.
She trembled, raising her head to look up at the towering figures with fearful eyes.
“I… didn’t…”
She tried to defend herself, but a harsh kick landed on her stomach.
“Kh…”
“Still talking back?”
The girls among the group were even more vicious, targeting the weaker parts of the girl’s body.
“Lord Eric was so kind—since you were new to the Academy, he tried to help you, and you dare not appreciate it?”
Lord Eric, mentioned by the group, seemed to be the blond boy leading them.
Listening to the girls’ words around her, the brown-haired girl recalled that something like this had indeed happened at first.
When she and her friend first entered the Academy, an upperclassman named Eric offered to show her around.
But the brown-haired girl was shy and felt uneasy accepting his offer.
Besides, she had a bad feeling about Eric’s intentions, so she refused.
Besides, the Teachers would introduce the facilities anyway. She could just explore on her own—there was no need for a guide.
Eric didn’t give up, often showing up near the brown-haired girl and inviting her to hang out.
She refused him every time.
Perhaps, this was the trigger for all the trouble that befell her and her friend.