Someone's being targeted...

"Aqua Ball."

"...shhh…! Not so loud…!"

Inside a toilet in the main building of the Brylant Academy, a brown-haired girl chanted a spell, creating a levitating sphere of clear water while her blond-haired friend shushed her in a hushed voice.

"...pffft…"

Unable to hold herself back, the first girl let out a muted snort, shaking from laughter while guiding the ball of water above the only occupied stall.

*SPLASH*

"Kh-yaagh?!"

Once the spell reached the perfect position, the brown-haired girl released it, dumping the water onto the unsuspecting person inside who let out a shocked high-pitched cry.

"PFFFHAHAHAHA~!"

"Clear your head and get away from lord Graniteis!"

While the water splashed against their shoes, the brown-haired girl laughed out loud while the blond girl scoffed towards the stall.

"Know your place!"

"Commoner slut!"

The girls called out while running out of the toilet with their wet shoes leaving obvious tracks on the floor.

"...what in the…?"

The person in the stall didn't made another sound, but even so another person entered the scene.

A girl with quite the oversized blue ribbon tying her long dark-brown hair.

She looked young, as if she barely reached adulthood, and seemed as if she was more fitting to be a first year student instead of the third year one as the diamonds on her uniform's badge indicated.

"...what in the…? Seriously? Flooding the toilet and running away like a bunch of kids. What were they…? EH?! Is someone in there?! Hello?! Are you okay?!"

The petite third year girl shook her head before leaning down to check the source of the flooded floor only to flinch and call out urgently once noticing the occupied stall.

*click*

"H-hello…?"

There was no verbal response, but the stall's door unlocked, making the confused girl gulp down her saliva before hesitantly reaching out and pushed them open.

"...!?"

The person inside was a completely drenched white-haired girl with a flooded lunchbox on her lap. She was in uniform and her badge suggested that she was a second year student, but it was actually the first time the two girls met face to face.

"Oh. Lady Tarkuazi, Hello."

The white-haired girl with an indifferent expression looked up away from her soaked sandwich and acknowledged the other student with a nod.

"Wh-wha…? Y-you're that girl who enrolled straight into the second year, right? Umm… Miss Clara, wasn't it? Did something like that happened before?! Wait! I'll catch the two who did that!"

"Oh, don't bother with that. Thanks for caring, though. Ah! But if that's not too much to ask, could you tell young Lord Graniteis? I'll wait for him over here."

Tarkuazi called out, turning towards the door with a strict frown but Clara stopped her in an indifferent voice and asked without changing her tone.

"...pardon…?

Tarkuazi slowly turned back towards the white-haired girl and asked in confusion.

"If it's not too much of a bother, please tell young Lord Graniteis that I refuse to leave the stall unless he will be the one to pick me up."

Clara leaned back, speaking to the third year girl while trying to pick up the sandwich form her lunchbox.

Her action failed as the soaked bread gave up and fell apart back into the container.

"What in the…? Aright. Now you have my attention. What is going on here?"

Tarkuazi leaned back, squinting her eyes and letting out an annoyed voice.

"Well… I'd say that all evidence points to bullying."

Clara shrugged her shoulders without even trying to make eye contact with the other girl.

"Usually I have lunch with young Lord Graniteis, but this time he was called over by the teacher. I couldn't stand the hostile atmosphere in the classroom so I decided to hide in the stall to have my meal in peace but I was found and bullied."

The white-haired girl explained in a flat voice as if nothing of what she said bothered her in the slightest.

"..."

Tarkuazi straightened her back and stared at her in silence.

"...is something the matter…?"

It turned out that Clara wasn't as composed as her indifferent expression would suggest because she ended up shifting in unease and even speaking first while under the scrutinizing gaze.

"Your sandwich was literally a piece of lettuce between two pieces of bread. I can see that. You said you hid here to eat in peace but you didn't take even a single bite out of it even though the lunch break is about to end. Also, your story sounds exactly like a plot point from one of Roma N'cea's novels! What are you trying to pull off here exactly?!"

Tarkuazi scoffed, and exclaimed while pointing at Clara's lunchbox.

"...tsk…"

"Did you just click your tongue at me!?"

While turning her head the other way and covering her lunchbox's contents with one hand, the white-haired girl did exactly the thing that the brown-haired girl accused her in disbelief.

"...it's not my fault that the bullies took so long to find me. if I announced loudly which toilet I was going to, it would be way too suspicious…"

"!!!"

Clara lowered her head and grumbled, causing Tarkuazi's jaw to drop.

"...I am not trying to trick Victor, okay? I am being targeted. I just… don't do anything against the bullies so that Victor will pay attention to me…"

"...!"

The white-haired girl continued to grumble under her breath while the speechless Tarkuazi could only watch and listen to flabbergasted to act.

"It's all lord Adonis's fault! He must have told Victor something weird at the start of the semester because since then Victor started distancing himself from me!"

"..."

Clara pouted so much she looked like a grumpy hamster, and Trakuazi ended up leaning back with a slightly judgemental expression.

"You're lord Adonis's friend, aren't you? The least you could do is take some responsibility and call Victor over here! If I stay here too long, my clothes will start to dry, and the scene will lose impact!"

"...there is something wrong with that head of yours… Have a good day."

Clara straightened her back and declared with her expression changing into a stern one, but Tarkuazi had heard enough and just left, shaking her head in disbelief.

"H-hey! Will you call Victor for me at least?!"

That made Clara flinch and lean out of her stall to call after her, but the third year girl was already out of there.