"Student Vallhall… I'm sorry that you had to go through such an unpleasant experience."
Then the headmaster turned to Rotsard and said to him, barely stopping himself from gritting his teeth. Even he, not only the headmaaster of the Royal Academy, an honored memebr of the great Lazalarius family, as well as one of the most acomplished and strongest mages of the Nordenthele kindom could openly stand up against somone from the member of the Vallhall family.
Because the strenght ranking which placed him near the top, did not include even a single member of the Vallhall family for one simple reason.
If it did, no one besides Vallhalls would be listed within the top one hundred.
"...!"
…the headmaster throwing in the towel caused Student Drooml to tense up and clench his fists in anger…
"That said. I personally would advise for a different approach once faced with disrespect. I might be old-fashioned, but an official, Academy-approved duel, can better showcase the difference between two parties."
The man added, doing a great job keeping his emotions in check while still delivering a subtle jab to the party he disliked.
After all, Rotsard was known to be a weak slacker who couldn't use his family's magic system. There was no doubt what the result of him dueling ANYNOE would be... at least in the headmaster's opinion...
"Headmaster, I don't understand… Did I break any rules?"
But instead on biting on the bait cast by the man behind the desk, Rotsard leaned back in his seat, shaking his head and putting one hand to his chin in a theatrical display of confusion.
"Of course not. It's just that it's a tradition for the nobility to solve disputes and offences by dueling. Since the conception of the Royal Academy, no one considered a child of a noble family to risk their honor by savagely attacking another on the spot. It was assumed that the future generations would have more common sense… and honor… than that.
"What you want to say is that there is no rule aginst the behavior like mine that's in place. Is that correct, headmaster?"
This time, the man showed a bit of his discontent, but Rotsard merely smiled and inquired instead of even attempting to act remorseful.
"Yet. There's no such rule... yet."
"Understood. With that in mind, I will adjust my behavior from now on, on off-chance that such rule will be created during my time here."
The headmaster minced his words for a moment before speaking up, causing Rotsard to stand up and lightly bow to him.
"If that's out of the way… Classmate Drooml. Save your apology for when we return to the classroom."
"...!"
The bleached-blond-haired boy looked at the brown-haired boy and smiled, causing him to flinch and tense up before looking up to the headmaster to say something about it.
"...that would be the proper thing to do…"
"!!!"
And the headmaster did speak up on the matter, only not taking the side Drooml hoped for.
—--
A few minutes later, the two boys were returning to the classroom.
One look at their expressions and body language was more than enough for any onlookers to understand who ended up better off, which created quite the ruckus amongst the students from the lower-rank noble families.
"...you… without your family, you are just a shameless piece of trash without an ounce of honor…!"
"...?"
The brown-haired boy hissed spitefully, not intending to be heard, but failing at keeping his voice low enough.
"And? In the end, I am with my family, and, in the firsr place, the way you act brings shame to your own family. If you weren't stuck in a peasant mindset, I would even consider comparing the two of us."
"!!!"
Rotsard raised his brows and snickered, causing his classmate to freeze up.
A member of the new Drooml family, he didn't even suspect that Rotsard was especially harsh towards him because of a personal reason, but, oh well...
On the way back, Rotsard had better things to be bothered about than someone who wasn't even mentioned by name through the entire Anthology.
Instead, he was making plans of how to behave so that as many new rules restricting and regulating students would be created to get her into a world of trouble.
"Good morning, teacher. I hope the reason for us coming in late was explained?"
"...student Vallhall, student Drooml… Indeed. If you resolve your differences, please take your seats."
That had to wait a bit more, though, as Rotsard re-entered the classroom with a spirited cheer, making the teacher breathe out before nodding.
"Thank you… Oh. That's right. Classmate Drooml. Don't you have something to say in front of everyone?"
The bleached-blond-haired youngster nodded at the teacher, turning towards the front row seat closest to the door, before stopping mid-step and asking the brown-haired boy.
"...!"
"?"
While Drooml flinched because of Rotsard's reminder, their classmates were divided into two groups. Those who realized what was about to happen and those who appeared confused why the victim was being encouraged by the offender.
"...Student Vallhall… no.. Young Lord Vallhall… I… I'm so sorry for my earlier behavior originating from a place of ignorance. Please accept my sincere apology."
"Of course. I accept. Knowing one's shortcomings is the first step in overcoming them~"
"!!!"
And when the brown-haired boy bowed his head to Rotsard and apologized, making Rotsard chuckle and nod his head benevolently, the entire classroom froze up.
"...!"
"Enough of that. Both of you take your seats already.
Justin in particular seemed especially offended and filled with righteous fury, but as he was standing up, the teacher clasped his hands together and declared.
The spot by the door has been cleaned up nicely, and Rotsard spent the rest of day's worth of lecture in peace while the atmosphere in the classroom turned just the worst.
It appeared that the relationship between Justin and Amelia reached the point in which she didn't hesitate to openly stop him from approaching Rotsard each time he attempted just that.
Making him get up only to sit back down repeatedly like some constipated dog each time Amelia moved her hand was somehow both greatly amusing... and a little bit bitter for the bleached-blond-haired boy.
…it really looked like making thighs difficult for his cousin in the future wasn't the only benefit this time around~