Chapter 59: Lily: “Hugh probably prefers flat-chested girls.” Rouge: “Wha—!?”
“It has begun. Hugh, could you lend me your arm? I want to use my Skill.”
“Yeah, got it.”
As I moved next to Lily, she grasped my arm with both hands, pressing her body against me. The firm, rich softness enveloped my arm, accompanied by a sweet, peach-like fragrance. It reminded me of that day, the sensation of her lips against mine.
“…”
I involuntarily stiffened, and Rouge shot me a sidelong glance.
“Hugh? What’s wrong? You seem so tense.”
“N-Nothing. It’s nothing, Rouge.”
“Hmm…?”
With Rouge’s suspicious gaze upon me, I supported Lily so she could activate her Skill. During the activation, her vision shifted to a bird’s-eye view, causing her to lose her normal sight. She couldn’t safely activate her Skill unless she was seated or supported like this.
“Can you see…?”
“Just a moment. It’s hard to see since it’s at the edge of the Area, but… I can see it. Both sides are heading straight for the center of the Area.”
“So that means they’ve ignored us?”
If they were targeting us, Prince Slay’s faction would be moving south, while Prince Brute’s faction would be advancing east. According to Lily, there was no sign of that movement.
“They’ve been focused on each other. From the start, we weren’t even on their radar. …Phew. Thank you, Hugh.”
Lily smiled softly and released my arm.
Then, she whispered something to Rouge, who puffed her cheeks in response and exclaimed, “Wha—!?” turning bright red. Hey, that’s not how a princess should react! What on earth did you whisper to her…?
“So, what should we do? Should we charge into the enemy camp?”
“How eager are you to charge in…? But, it’s true that we could probably take them down easily right now. Lily, how many are left in the enemy camp?”
“Zero.”
‘…Huh?’
Everyone except Lily tilted their heads in confusion at the unexpected response. Lily herself looked exasperated, placing a hand on her forehead.
“Both factions have zero defensive forces. Everyone, including the commanders, has charged into the central Area.”
“Not only are they ignoring us, but they also have no intention of winning…!?”
“Both sides might have assumed that we would target them and aimed for the enemy camp instead. …No, even so, normally you’d leave some defensive forces behind… I anticipated a clash between both factions, but both charging in with their entire forces is beyond my expectations.”
Lily shook her head in disbelief, letting out a sigh. The possibility that both factions were secretly colluding to converge in the central Area and attack us together… well, that seemed unlikely.
Even if the animosity between Prince Slay’s faction and Prince Brute’s faction was genuine, this was a bit too reckless…
At fifteen in my previous life, I had no interest in politics, nor did those around me. Moments like this remind me that I’m an outsider from another world.
“…Why do they hate each other so much?”
Lecty murmured softly.
It was Idiot who answered.
“Speaking of Prince Slay’s faction, they must be feeling a sense of urgency. The grave sins committed by Greed Lecherie and Prince Brute’s criticism of the nobility were shocking enough to threaten the existing noble privileges. I don’t know about our fathers’ generation, but we have many opportunities to interact with commoners at the Royal Academy. We can’t help but be sensitive to the changing sentiments of the people towards the nobility. To protect their noble identity, they feel they must act strongly against commoners.”
“From the commoners’ side, they’ve endured the nobility’s tyranny for so long… Greed Lecherie’s misdeeds have crossed the limit of their patience. Their anger is justified.”
“…But if that’s the case, it will only lead to ongoing conflict. We’re classmates now…!”
Lecty clenched her hands in front of her chest. She was right; if this continued, it would escalate until it reached a breaking point.
“Lady Lecty, what do you want to do?”
“Huh…?”
“I want to act according to your wishes.”
Idiot knelt before Lecty, his usual flamboyant demeanor replaced with a serious expression as he looked directly at her.
“…Alright. Let’s decide our course of action based on Lecty’s decision. Is that okay?”
Lily asked, and both Rouge and I nodded in agreement.
“Eh, really!?”
“It’s alright, Lecty. We’re not trying to place the responsibility solely on you. We share your feelings, so we want to hear your thoughts.”
Perhaps it was because it was Lecty speaking, and not me, Rouge, Lily, or Idiot, that her words held weight.
With a tense expression, Lecty nodded and spoke up.
“We shouldn’t be fighting like this. I want to stop the conflict!”
With her courageous declaration, we all nodded in response.
“That settles it.”
“Yeah, we definitely need to stop this. …I feel a bit responsible too.”
“Let’s hurry; the battle must have already begun.”
“Yes…!”
“Don’t worry, Lady Lecty. This Idiot Hautness will ensure the conflict is stopped!”
We promptly left our positions and headed toward the center of the Area.
With Idiot and Lecty leading the way, Rouge and I followed closely behind. I had told Lily not to push herself too hard, but she was desperately trying to keep up with us. Even so, there was quite a gap between us…
The center was about 700 meters away. After running for about two minutes, we finally arrived at the main battlefield. By the time Rouge and I got there, the fighting was already winding down.
“Whoa…”
Rouge exclaimed, her eyes wide. I felt like burying my head in my hands.
The scene before us was one of carnage—not quite a battlefield of corpses, but injured classmates were strewn about.
It seemed the decisive clash between both factions had ended in an incredibly short resolution.