The Desk Neighbor Strikes First!

“So what weapon does our beloved class representative wield into battle?”

The words came from behind like a well-placed dagger or an arrow from on high. The voice was… the pink-haired girl who sat next to her in class–the girl who Rel had fought in the informal duel on the previous night. Miieie didn’t think much about her statement as she turned to face her desk neighbor.

“Oh heya!” She giggled, “I picked the combat bracers! Why do you ask?”

“Oh.” Her lips curled into a smile, “I just wanted to know how embarrassing it would be for you.”

“Huh?”

Iris sighed from her position next to them, leaning against a wall, her head buried in a book. “She wants to fight you. To reclaim her honor. Probably.”

As the two of them glanced over to Iris, the prospect hadn’t even occurred to Miieie. The battle at the dueling circle had been one she initiated, but she hadn’t even touched her desk-neighbor in the battle. It had been Rel who had defeated her, so she didn’t understand why she would be upset with her.

“It is not about honor. It is about principle.”

“Principle?”

“Yes. Had you not poked your nose into affairs you had no business interfering with, I would not have been involved in such an unfair disadvantage. You have sullied my reputation among my peers.”

Miieie looked back to her, “But I didn’t even fight you!”

“But you did incite the incident.”

Miieie’s brows narrowed as she took a step back.

“If you guys hadn’t been acting like jerks, there wouldn’t have been any fight to begin with!”

“Ah, there it is. A commoner blaming the nobility for encroaching on things they didn’t belong to in the first place. Typical.” The girl glared back at her, “The fact you commissioned aid from Samrelda Tetellisford before you arrived to avoid the consequences of your actions is quite telling.”

Miieie didn’t know if she should be more confused or angry at the girl’s assertion. She flavored it with fancy words and presumptions, but it was infuriatingly stupid all the same. How could she have asked Rel for help when they had never met before, especially considering she was busy hanging out with Iris at the time they were having their silly tour? And she was blaming her for wanting to check out the dueling circle?

“What are you even talking about?”

“Quiet. I am not finished explaining my position.”

Miieie’s mouth dropped open.

“Then you have the audacity to be selected as class representative. A duty belonging to a member of the nobility who tested at the top of her class.”

How did she have any hand in that? She didn’t ask to be picked for class rep, a role she still had no clue what it even was!

“I didn’t ask our instructor to pick me!”

“But you didn’t object to her picking you.”

Was she supposed to? Would that have mattered? It didn’t seem like at the time Instructor Lamia was going to change her mind about anything. She didn’t seem like the type.

“So?”

“It would be your duty to do so.” She took a step closer into Miieie’s face, “That’s strike two.”

Miieie rolled her eyes, “Well, what’s strike three?”

“Well, i–”

“Attie, is your pride wounded that easily?”

The girl’s head swerved to her left, as did Miieie’s as Rel decided it was time to intervene. The redhead moved closer, her teeth grinding against a piece of chewing gum as she held a greatsword against her shoulder. For a minute, Miieie forgot she was in an argument, her eyes sticking to Rel’s weapon like a fly on a lamppost.

The pink-haired girl, Attie, scoffed. “I told you to not call me that anymore.”

“Well, I don’t care, Attie.”

“You…”

“Look, can you stop being a moron and get out of my roommate’s face?” Her brows pursed, “Unless you’d rather challenge me to a duel. We know how that went last time.”

“This isn’t…”

Miieie blinked, “Attie? Do you guys know each other?”

“That’s none of your business!”

“But–”

“And you will refer to me as Lady Lamatla Maybendel and not a world less. You got that, commoner?”

“My name is Miieie.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not ‘commoner’. It’s Miieie. Miieie Presson.”

The girl seemed to settle down a little as she straightened her posture.

“Whatever. We’ll conclude this at another time.” Her pale eyes almost seemed to sparkle, “And you won’t have Samrelda to bail you out this time. We’ll see how you fare in a real fight.”

In an instant, Lamatla stormed off, glaring at Rel as she left to join up with another pair of students.

It was a little disappointing. Miieie was hoping to at least hear “I challenge you to a duel.” but the pink-haired noble couldn’t even give her that. All she ended up doing was saying a whole lot of dumb things and thinking she wasn’t going to be good in a fight. It almost amped her up that someone wanted to duel her, though it wasn’t in circumstances she exactly wanted. She supposed she was just going to have to wait until Lamatla made her move.

“Sorry about that.”

Miieie looked to Rel, “Eh, it’s whatever. I’m just glad the other girls aren’t in our class.”

“I don’t think I could handle three duels at once.”

How did duels work anyway?

Miieie shrugged off the thought. She was going to find out sooner rather than later…