The sun was slowly setting behind the school towers, and Adrien walked beside Lyra, still shaken by the violent scene he had witnessed hours earlier. In his mind, a question kept looping: Why would anyone attack a young girl like that? What motive could justify such cruelty?
"Lyra…" he finally murmured, hesitating, "do you think… they'll come back? And why would they do this?"
Lyra shook her head slightly, a mix of fatigue and amusement on her face at Adrien's concern.
"They're not really looking for reasons," she said, smiling timidly. "It's… usual, I suppose. They often target the weak or newcomers."
Adrien frowned. His scientific and moral instincts refused to accept that logic. He wanted to understand, analyze, and prevent.
"But… shouldn't we tell the teachers? They need to be held accountable for their actions."
Lyra stopped abruptly, blushing slightly, and looked at him with a hint of embarrassment:
"No… no, don't. Really. It's fine. They… they do this all the time. It's not the first time I've been attacked. The teachers know, but they let it slide. It's not a big deal."
Adrien, surprised, stopped as well. He studied Lyra more closely: her attitude was strange, somewhere between resignation and slight embarrassment. She averted her gaze and nervously fiddled with the edge of her sleeve, as if afraid her answer might shock him.
"I… I see," he murmured, slightly troubled by her almost nonchalant acceptance. "I thought… even here, an act of violence should have consequences."
Lyra took a deep breath, trying to smile to ease the tension.
"You take things too seriously," she said softly, almost amused. "But… maybe that's why I trust you. You don't just let things slide."
Adrien then felt a curious mix of perplexity and motivation. Lyra's reaction — or Ira's — unsettled him slightly, but also awakened a stronger protective instinct within him. He knew he had to not only understand these aggressors, but also protect those who couldn't always defend themselves.
In the silence that followed, Adrien made a quiet promise to himself: he would not let this violence happen again, even if Lyra said it was routine. He needed to find a way to act, but strategically, without unnecessarily alerting the school authorities for now.
And so, as twilight fell over the school of magic, Adrien felt that his role in this world would not be limited to learning magic or healing injuries: he had to understand the darkness lurking behind human behavior and act with discernment.