The Marquess Magician

 
 
 ☆
 
 
 An obvious sign of trouble.
 Honestly, I have no idea why I directed my steps that way.
 
 But once I realised, I had taken the first steps towards that voice.
 
 “Ah, oh, wait!!”
 
 I ignored Johanna’s calls to come back and kept moving forward.
 
 As I rounded the corner, that scene rushed into my view.
 
 
 
 There were five girls gathered by the school building’s wall.
 
 Four of the girls were well-dressed and had their backs to me, surrounding the last girl.
 
 The surrounded, brown-haired girl was cornered against the wall, holding one cheek as she cast her gaze downward.
 
 “I asked, what are you doing here.”
 
 The girl with long dark-brown hair, who seemed to be the leader, demanded an answer.
 
 “To, to take the exam…”
 
 When the girl holding her cheek answered while trembling, the girl on the questioning side grabbed her hair.
 
 “Gh!”
 
 The girl winced.
 
 “Hey. Who said you could take the exam? I told you before, didn’t I? You just need to obediently stay in your filthy pigsty.”
 
 “… I-, I received permission from Master———”
 
 “Huh?”
 
 The bossy girl forcefully twisted her hair.
 
 “Ouch———”
 
 “Didn’t I tell you to stay out of my sight?”
 
 “S-, sorry…”
 
 “… well, whatever. Hold this girl.”
 
 Following her orders, her followers grabbed the brown-haired girl’s arms.
 
 “If we just burn off that face that’s just like her mother’s, she won’t even dream of being able to enter sorcery school.”
 
 Saying so, the bossy kid took a wand^[1] from her bag.
 
 “S-, stop———!”
 
 Seeing this, the girl’s face contorted in fear.
 
 Slowly, the wand was raised.
 
 
 
 ———No!!
 
 
 
 “Palt Defensia《Partial Defense》!!”
 
 
 A defensive film of magic power extended from my hand at high speed, and with a snap, it snatched up the wand.
 
 “Wha-?!”
 
 The girls followed the wand with their eyes.
 
 When the girls’ gazes turned to me—
 
 “That’s a bit too much for a joke, isn’t it?”
 
 —Johanna, walking quickly from behind, quickly snatched the cane from mid-air.
 
 
 
 “Hey, what are you doing!”
 
 While looking at the wand, Johanna spoke to the girl who yelled at her.
 
 “This Family crest is… A young lady of the Astrid Marquise. A House that has produced high-ranking magicians for generations.”
 
 The followers all grimaced.
 
 However, the young lady Astrid in question narrowed her eyes as if looking down on us.
 
 “If you know that, then hand back my wand immediately and go away somewhere.”
 
 Saying so, she held out her hand with a look of superiority.
 
 “…”
 
 But Johanna didn’t move.
 
 “Come now, return it quickly.”
 
 Miss Astrid held out her hand impatiently.
 Johanna promptly put away the wand.
 
 The young lady’s eyes went wide with rage.
 
 “What the 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 do you think you’re doing? You’re a commoner, yet you dare defy me. Do you want your life to end?”
 
 An intense intimidation.
 Yet Johanna remained undaunted, laughing sarcastically.
 
 “You’ve got no manners for your seniors, huh. ——— I’ll leave this with the school, and when you’re done applying for the exam you can fetch it from the office. Also, we’ll be taking care of that kid, so take your hands off of her.”
 
 “Huh? You, do you know who you’re talking to?”
 
 “That’s my line. No matter who you are or where you come from, on this island where the school’s autonomy is in effect, harming others is completely forbidden. And Runefelt has been accepting students regardless of origin, nationality, or even race for five hundred years since its founding. If we were to report what we just saw to the school, who do you think would be denied admission?”
 
 Miss Astrid and her followers flinched for a moment at Johanna’s words.
 
 However, her expression soon twisted into a smile.
 
 “Hah! Who do you think the school will believe, a simple commoner, or me, a direct descendant of House Astrid?”
 
 “I certainly am just a commoner.——— in this country.”
 
 “Huh?”^[2]
 
 “On the other hand, I’d like to ask you, between a naive noblewoman who has not even come of age, or me, a graduate of Runefelt and an official member of the diplomatic mission of Heielland. Who’s claims would the school believe? Some of my classmates have teaching jobs at this school, you know?”
 
 Saying this, Johanna took out a plate with the crest of Heielland engraved on it and showed it to her.
 
 “Gh!!!!”
 
 Miss Astrid’s eyes widened, and she was left speechless.
 
 “Also, don’t forget that if anything were to happen to myself or those associated with me, it would become a serious diplomatic issue. If that were to happen, I wonder what your Father would make of it.”
 
 “…!”
 
 Trembling with her fists held tight, the young lady glared at us with a tremendous expression.
 
 “Freya-sama, let’s go.”
 
 One of her followers, who had already taken their hands off of the girl, called out to Miss Astrid in a low voice.
 
 Eventually the young lady, trembling with rage, let out a huge puff.
 
 “Well, whatever. If you think about it, far from learning sorcery, this kid who couldn’t even learn magic control properly would never be able to pass Runefelt’s exam. ——— Let’s just go finish the registration.”
 
 “Yes, that’s right.”
 
 “Let’s go, let’s go.”
 
 Saying this, the noblewomen walked away, no longer looking our way.
 
 Once I had confirmed that those girls had left my field of vision———
 
 “Are you alright?!”
 
 ——— I rushed over to the girl sitting limply there.
 
 
 
 “Let me see it for a bit.”
 
 I gently shifted the hand of the trembling girl holding her cheek, and could tell from a glance that her cheek was red and swollen.
 
 “How awful.——— 『O pure water. Overflow from my hand, and wet my handkerchief. Fact Arkia《Water Generation》』”
 
 I wet my handkerchief with magic and applied it to her cheek, then clasped her still-trembling hands.
 
 “It’s fine now. Don’t worry. We’ll protect you.”
 
 I held her hands like that while speaking to her… and gradually, her trembling lessened.
 
 Then, after some time———
 
 “Um, thank you very much…”
 
 ——— the girl raised her gaze, and I saw her face for the first time.