Ellie pressured the second-in-command of their group through Dein, successfully getting everyone to join the alliance strike before the next class.
However, starting the strike was difficult, and maintaining it until results appeared was even harder.
The longer the struggle lasted, the more complaints would arise.
That was why eliminating Rachel Vermi had to be done as quickly as possible.
‘It has to end within two weeks.’
But Ellie’s prediction was off—in a good way.
Due to her inferiority complex toward Melrit, Rachel, who was already feeling cornered, exploded in just one day.
***
“…What is going on?”
On Monday, Rachel entered the eerily silent classroom, looking bewildered.
It shouldn’t be quiet.
Because she was late—fifteen minutes past the original start time of 9 AM.
That meant every student was even later than she was.
“Shir, the teaching assistant? What the hell is going on?”
“Uh, um, well…”
The assistant, who had done nothing wrong, turned pale as he stammered.
“T-The students…”
“What about the students?!”
“A-Actually…”
The young man, who was smaller and frailer than the girl before him, trembled as he spoke.
“T-They said… they’re going to b-boycott Professor Vermi’s class…”
“W-What did you say?”
Rachel’s face first turned pale, then flushed red with rage.
She screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Boycott?! I’ll make sure they all get held back a year!!!”
“Eek…!”
Ignoring Shir, who collapsed in fear, Rachel stormed out of the lecture hall, ready to grab any student she saw by the hair and drag them back.
But when she reached the lawn, there was no one in sight.
‘Those bastards must be in the dorms!’
However, the dormitories were just as empty.
Ellie had anticipated Rachel’s actions and dispersed the students in advance.
By this point, the heat of Rachel’s rage had cooled slightly, replaced by a creeping sense of confusion and unease.
‘They’re boycotting my class?’
‘Then what happens now?’
‘Had anything like this ever happened in the academy’s history?’
‘Could she really flunk all of them?’
‘As a professor, she had the authority. But was it truly possible?’
Even to fail a single student, if their parents were high-ranking nobles, she’d have to be careful and seek the dean’s support.
‘But nineteen students at once?’
She would need justification.
‘Could she win a battle of justification against nineteen students all at once?’
‘Then what if she only held back a few…?’
‘Just a few?’
An idea sparked in Rachel’s mind.
‘I’ll divide them.’
She would approach some students separately, persuading them to attend class while abandoning the rest.
If the remaining students saw others breaking ranks and felt they were the only ones suffering, they would eventually crawl back to class.
At the same time, she needed a scapegoat—someone to blame.
Someone they could all point fingers at and say, “We were just following orders! It was all that person’s fault!”
‘That orphan girl will do just fine.’
Rachel was quick-witted when it came to these things.
It was why she had been chosen as a next-generation figure within her faction.
But she didn’t know one thing.
Ellie had already anticipated her every thought.
***
‘What is that?’
As she passed by the administrative building, Rachel noticed academy staff—cooks, maids, servants—gathered around one of the walls.
Approaching out of curiosity, she was horrified.
A large sheet of paper was posted on the wall.
A poster that was a common sight, present all year round at universities in Ellie’s past life.
[A protest manifesto.]
The content was clear:
Rachel had insulted students during class and personally harassed a specific student out of personal resentment.
Until she issued an apology, the students would boycott her lectures.
At the bottom of the paper, all nineteen names were listed.
Ellie had personally convinced each and every one of them.
For those hesitant to sign, she approached them when they were with friends.
For those with strong pride, she subtly played to their egos.
Without resorting to coercion, she had successfully gained their cooperation.
In fact, Ellie considered it lucky that she never even had to pressure anyone.
Some of the students who had a bit of political or strategic insight were impressed by Ellie’s foresight and leadership.
Regardless, this meant that Rachel’s plan to divide them was already impossible.
At the very top of the nineteen names, one stood out:
Ellie.
Traditionally, the name at the very top belongs to the instigator.
Once you put yourself in that position, there’s no covering it up.
In fact, Stella had suggested writing them in a circle since they were going to list all the names anyway—to prevent Ellie from being the only one who took the fall.
But Ellie shook her head.
She appreciated her friend’s concern, but she knew that if she didn’t do this, she wouldn’t be able to make them follow her.
“El…”
Rachel’s voice burst out like blood from her lips.
“…lie!!!”
The servants had long since fled from the enraged mage.
Rachel tried to burn the notice with magic, but the protective spell cast by the headmistress on the administrative building’s walls was still active.
“Ellie…!!”
That damned brat.
‘I’ll kill her.’
But before she could do that, she needed to get her expelled from the academy first.
Rachel tore the notice down and stormed toward the entrance of the administrative building, then threw open the headmistress’s office door.
“headmistress! What the hell is—”
Rachel’s face hardened.
She had locked eyes with Ellie, who was sitting inside, calmly eating her tea snacks.
“Oh?”
The girl twirled her fork nonchalantly and greeted her.
“Professor Vermi, have you come to apologize—”
“…Ha.”
A sharp, derisive breath escaped Rachel’s lips, but there was no laughter in her eyes.
She glanced between Skaha and Ellie before speaking.
“So it was all planned from the beginning, huh? Just to get rid of me.”
Rachel sneered and glared at Skaha.
“Actually, from the start, it never made sense for Rensanti to have been expelled that way. It was all part of the plan, wasn’t it? Even bringing in some random orphan girl out of nowhere.”
She pointed a trembling finger at Skaha.
“This was all your scheme. You sly old bitch of a snake.”
“…Professor Rachel Vermi. A student is present, so mind your language.”
“Pfft! A student?”
Rachel laughed with a cold, humorless expression and then pointed at Ellie this time.
“She’s just your planted informant, isn’t she? It makes no sense. How could some orphan have that kind of power? How can she wield such enormous mana? Pfft…”
She shook her head in disbelief.
“Go ahead and play your fucked-up little academy games among yourselves. I’ll leave on my own.”
“…I’ll take that as your resignation. You are to vacate the academy grounds immediately, former Professor Rachel Vermi.”
“Go to hell, you bitch. Tch!”
Rachel spat on the floor of the headmistress’s office and stormed out.
***
As the room fell silent, Skaha flicked her hand, making the filth Rachel had left behind vanish instantly.
“Ellie, I’d like you to leave for today as well.”
Ellie cast a glance at the spot where Rachel had just been standing, then rose from her seat.
“headmistress.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you remember when I said I respected you?”
“Hmm… I don’t know. I’m getting old, my memory is fading.”
“Then I’ll say it again. I respect you. And right now, I respect you even more.”
“That’s kind of you, but it’s an overstatement. Now, go on.”
“Yes.”
“And Ellie?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t do anything reckless.”
“…Sorry.”
Ellie turned and strode out of the office.
***
Left alone, Skaha leaned back in her chair, slowly sinking downward.
“…Haah.”
There were moments when she missed the battlefield, where blood was washed away with more blood.
This was one of those moments.
The sensation of every thought vanishing except for the singular drive to eliminate her enemies—it carried a distinct, almost intoxicating thrill.
That was why some people became addicted to it, dependent on it like a drug.
And, just like any other addiction, those who succumbed to it eventually lost their humanity.
‘…No.’
Skaha forced herself to exhale, regaining her composure.
She could already predict what Ellie was thinking as she left the office and what she intended to do.
‘There’s no need to help her, is there?’
Skaha was the only person in the academy—no, in the entire world—who knew just how vast Ellie’s mana control was, nearly comparable to that of His Majesty himself.
So, she wasn’t worried.
Even if Ellie got hurt, it would only be within a range that could easily be healed.
‘Go ahead and wreak havoc to your heart’s content.’
Skaha, still slumped in her chair, stared up at the ceiling.
For a fleeting moment, doubt crept into her mind.
‘Had she been walking the right path all this time? Had the direction she had taken in founding and leading this academy for the past thirty years truly been the right one?’
—”I respect you.”
Like a bandage preventing a wound from bleeding, Ellie’s words wrapped around Skaha’s heart.