Volume 1 Chapter 10 Mean Villainess, Be Loved
It was a few months after school life began.
During breakfast, my mother, who was smiling at me across the table, suddenly spoke up.
"Elena, what do your classmates call you?"
It was a very abrupt question.
Usually, the questions from my mother are mostly about that otome game, so I talk about it openly.
"Um..."
I could not help but hesitate at this question.
Because...
The origin of the matter goes back a little while.
I had been taking first place in the regularly posted class grades.
The regular classes consist of language, arithmetic, and history, but to put it simply, language and arithmetic are just Japanese and math, so whether or not I have memories from my past life, they are not particularly difficult.
The problem is history, which everyone would be encountering for the first time when they started attending school.
It is not an exaggeration to say that unless you have particularly studious parents, history is rarely discussed at home, and for commoners, even picking up a history book is difficult.
Moreover, history is basically a subject that requires memorization, so strengths and weaknesses become very apparent.
Well, since it has only been a short time since I started learning, the most I could remember was the names of the first king and the current king, along with the great deeds the kings had accomplished, but not much more than that.
For that reason, history was what dragged down the grades of many students who did poorly this time.
As for me, I have never been particularly good at memorization, and I thought it was a hassle to remember the list of historical figures.
However.
Next to me was a history enthusiast named Rudger.
He was there.
I had been gradually dragged into the depths of history by the strange tale of the 6th king that Rudger spoke of.
Rudger's storytelling was truly fearsome.
The historical tales that Rudger spun, which were more like mere fantasy stories, were so enjoyable that I even delved into myths from before the first king, making memorizing the names of kings a piece of cake for me.
Thus, I scored full marks on the history test and ranked first in regular studies.
By the way, Rudger, who had dragged me into the historical depths, also scored full marks but ended up in second place due to a surprising mistake in language.
With such amazing storytelling skills, how could he mess up in language...
And in third place was Leve.
"Wonderful, Lady Elena!"
Ms. Parsley, who was acting as my supporter next to me, was not among the top names.
Ms. Percella was the same.
However, neither seemed particularly concerned about it.
After all, what is important in this academy life is not regular studies, but magic classes.
Magic power and the grades in magic classes are the ultimate status indicators, above regular studies.
In short, it is a kind of magic supremacy.
As I was thanking Ms. Parsley for the compliment with a "thank you," a nearby female student muttered quietly.
"Academic performance doesn't matter much..."
She said.
Noticing that voice and looking toward its owner, I saw the female student who had challenged me when I first entered the academy, telling me not to monopolize Leve.
She is pouting and has a somewhat dissatisfied look on her face.
I heard that Ms. Parsley and the others once cornered her, but even so, her spirit of not giving up and continuing to show hostility is something I should learn from.
As a mean villainess, I must not give up easily, and I firmly engrave this into my mental notebook.
I silently express my gratitude in my heart for still being a teaching material.
Ms. Parsley, who clearly looked irritated, was about to complain to her, but I restrained that with a small raised hand.
If I tighten the grip too much, she might finally stop being a teaching material this time.
That would be troublesome.
"Well, in this world, most things are fine and there is no trouble."
Hearing my words, she puffed her cheeks out while still pouting.
She looks like a pufferfish.
If I report this exchange to Rolus, I am sure I will get a high score for being mean, and I left the scene in a good mood.
Leaving behind the teaching material, little Pufferfish.
I thought that the reason she was picking a fight this time was likely unrelated to the Leve incident based on her grades.
Perhaps she was also aiming for the top.
I think being in the top ten is already quite good, but the fact that I was above her somehow bothered her.
And the words she said, "Academic performance doesn't matter much," are something that many girls often hear.
Especially for noble daughters, it seems like studying hard is pointless when their duty is to marry and bear heirs.
An effective phrase for those bothersome people is what I just said earlier: "Most things in the world are fine and don't cause any trouble."
I hinted that if she says something bothersome again, she should try repeating what she said, but I wonder if she noticed.
I thought it would be nice if this phrase could serve as a useful lesson.
And that it carries the sentiment of hoping for our continued good relations.
Ah, however, there is a point to be cautious about with the previous line.
In my past life, I once used this line on my power-harassing boss at my part-time job, but I added an unnecessary comment: "Most things in the world are fine and don't cause any trouble. After all, I can look down on you and laugh through my nose," and as a result, I was fired.
Using a trump card is difficult, isn't it?!
That aside, the next day.
Finally, the practical training for Healing Magic began.
Since it was my first practical session, I was excited about what we would do, but the teacher started separating us into groups on their own.
It seems that the practical sessions would be conducted in groups.
I wondered why they would go through the trouble until a large doll was brought into the classroom.
I understood when I saw that it was about the same size as an average person, just slightly larger than us students.
They had divided us into groups because they couldn't prepare one doll for each person.
Well, as long as we can practice magic, it doesn't matter if we are in a group or alone.
I just want to try it out quickly.
But then, there is that educational doll, Little Pufferfish, in the same group... but well, it doesn't matter.
No, it does matter.
Little Pufferfish seems to care.
She looks like she doesn't want to....
Still, We are arranged with 4 people in each group, gathered around the dolls that were distributed.
The doll I saw up close looked like a soft stuffed toy made of fabric.
It had no face, wasn't wearing any clothes, and had no hair, resembling a pictogram.
I wonder what kind of practical training we're going to do with this.
If Ms. Parsley or Ms. Percella were nearby, I could bring up such a topic, but the only ones beside me now are Ms. Natalia, the educational pufferfish, and her friend, along with one quiet-looking commoner girl who wouldn't start a light-hearted conversation.
"Now, I'll project the wounds."
As I blankly stared at the doll, the teacher said this and raised their hand.
Then the teacher's hands lit up, and red lights began to glow in various places on the doll's body in front of us.
It seems these are the wounds.
"When you cast Healing Magic on the doll's red lights, they will react to the magic and disappear."
A small cheer erupted from the students upon hearing the teacher's words.
I, of course, joined in.
This is completely like a game.
It looks so fun, and I really want to start right away, but we have to stick to the order.
The teacher will project 40 wounds, and apparently, the content of this practical training is to cooperate with our group to heal them quickly.
It's likely that the faster we are, the better grades we'll get, so it will probably turn into a competition.
"Ms. Elena is quite talented, so maybe it's fine for her to go last?"
This pufferfish is quite prickly.
Is it perhaps a porcupine fish?
...Actually, since Ms. Natalia said that, I somehow became the anchor.
The first batter is the commoner girl.
Surrounded by me, and my noble friends, Ms. Natalia shrinks back, awkwardly extinguishing the red light known as wounds with clumsy hands.
Just as she extinguished about 5, Ms. Natalia opened her mouth.
"Since we are cooperating as team members, I can always take over for you."
That's what she said.
It seems that the commoner girl, probably feeling overwhelmed, immediately requested a handover.
Furthermore, both Ms. Natalia and her friend also passed the doll to me after extinguishing 5 lights each.
I see, this must be their plan to laugh at me for being the last one left with many lights.
I noted this down in my mental notepad.
I could not have come up with such a sneaky form of harassment on my own.
Even if Rolus had helped me, I might not have thought of it.
Thank you, teaching material.
"Alright!"
I stood beside the doll, placing my hand over the red light.
It seemed to disappear with the basic magic that was featured in the early pages of Healing Magic.
This red light is probably a scrape.
Thinking that, I rhythmically tapped away using both hands.
For someone like me who enjoyed rhythm games, tapping the lights was a piece of cake.
After extinguishing the last one, I thought, if this were a rhythm game, I would have achieved a full combo, and when I looked up, the commoner girl was applauding me.
While I smiled and responded with "Thank you" to her, Ms. Natalia, who had been silent for a while, murmured, "Huh...?"
"...With both hands!?"
Now that I think about it, the illustrations in the textbook mostly showed using the dominant hand for Healing Magic.
"...Well, um, just now"
My game brain just automatically recognized it as a rhythm game.
As Ms. Natalia and the others were left speechless, the story of how I cast Healing Magic at an astonishing speed spread throughout the classroom.
"By the way, Lady Elena, you had a lot of magical power too, right?"
I was approached by one of Ms. Natalia's friends.
"It's probably more than average. But since I'm borrowing a book to increase my magical power and practicing, I would be happy if it has increased a bit more."
When I answered like that, I was once again applauded by the commoner kids.
"You are really putting in the effort, Lady Elena..."
Hearing those words from the commoner kid, Ms. Natalia looked at my face.
"...Isn't it a bit desperate to even borrow books to increase your magical power?"
"My attendant is really pale because his magical power is too low. It's not everything, but if it's too low, it might cause problems in the future, right?"
"B-but..."
"I won't always be by his side... I don't want Rolus to struggle in places I don't know about."
It was almost like a monologue.
But when Ms. Natalia heard that, she eventually looked down and became quiet.
Could it be that she intends not to provoke me anymore?
As I felt anxious about this, Ms. Natalia lifted her face.
"There is no flaw! I cannot find a place where I can win!"
"Huh?"
What's wrong, Pufferfish?
Are you out of your mind?
"So, Lady Elena──"
This is madness.
When Ms. Natalia, who had previously shown with her attitude that she would not call me "Lady Elena" when she first started the fight, called me "Lady Elena."
This is madness.
"Please make me your disciple."
Did the pufferfish burst!?
"Wait, wait a second."
What do you mean by disciple!?
As I was confused, Ms. Natalia's friend was also looking at me with sparkling eyes.
"Me too, I want you to teach me, Lady Elena!"
This has turned into quite a situation...?
* * *
Since that incident, "Lady Elena" had become my nickname in class.
I briefly hesitated about whether I should tell my mother about this.
But well, it might be better to tell her the truth.
She might drop hints like in an otome game.
"Um, I am being called Lady Elena."
My mother's expression when I said that was incredibly cheerful.
Seeing that, I was convinced that this seemed to be the right answer.
"Well, that means you are respected in class."
She said it so happily, and she was right.
"Lady Elena" is indeed correct.
Lady Elena.
What on earth is an otome game rival character....
"Rolus... I do not understand myself."
"...? I do not understand Lady either."
Now of all times?
Stop making that face right this moment, Rolus!
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