CHAPTER 102
The Defeat Dinner
“Think carefully before sending that letter, Baroness Bylem.”
“But isn’t that even more reason to send it?”
“No matter if she was the former Demon King’s wife and the birth mother of the second prince, how did the Saint—Flora—gain so much power among the demons?
And who would benefit if a civil war started among the demons?”
“What are you saying, Principal?”
“The Emperor is secretly working with Flora.
He already knows what you wrote in the letter. In fact, he might use that letter to test your loyalty.”
“Even so, isn’t it natural for the Emperor to do what’s best for the Empire?
Starting a demon civil war to protect the people, and strengthening Dunaice Academy’s power—isn’t that a good thing?”
Baroness Bylem was shocked to hear that Flora was still alive and now the Dowager Empress of the demons, leading a war for the throne using her son.
But she still showed loyalty to the Empire.
However, her eyes were clearly unsettled.
She remembered her school days with Flora—how she bullied others. Flora becoming the demon queen and causing chaos didn’t sit well with her.
And the Emperor… making deals with demons?
Even if it was to protect the Empire, working with demons felt wrong.
“If the Empire were in real danger, maybe I could understand.
But the Empire is doing fine right now. Isn’t all this just for personal ambition, not peace?”
“You want me to doubt the Emperor who I swore loyalty to? Are you saying he’s working with Flora for his own gain?
Then… are we just supposed to stay quiet about Isolde using Void Magic? Or about Idnia not being ‘fit’ to be the next Saint?”
“…Believe what you want.
Baroness Bylem—no, Alice. I won’t stop you from sending the letter.”
The name “Alice” startled Baroness Bylem.
It was her childhood name—the name she hated and abandoned, as the daughter of a concubine.
But back then, she had been a student at Dunaice Academy.
She remembered how Principal Ludwig had always protected her, even against outside threats.
Back then, the rule was clear: if a student stayed loyal to Dunaice Academy, the Academy would protect them no matter what.
“Gibbles.”
“Yes, Principal?”
“If you’re heading to Dunaice anyway, could you bring back some tea? My usual one.”
“…Sorry?”
Gibbles was shocked by how casually Ludwig spoke.
‘He’s letting her go? He’s really trusting Baroness Bylem with this choice?’
Baroness Bylem let out a long sigh and tossed her letter into the fireplace.
It had been sealed with magic, and now it burned with blue flames.
“You’ve always protected me when I was bullied…
Principal, you’re so cruel.”
“I’m sorry, Alice.”
Ludwig turned to leave.
“Oh, and Gibbles—get the tea anyway, even without the letter. That’s why I came.”
“Yes, understood.”
✧✧✧
At lunchtime, the Wizard Ball team headed to their club room for a group meal.
Idnia joined them with the Eurus dorm students.
“Oh, I’m starving! I think my stomach’s about to eat itself. I can’t wait for this dinner, Lady Idnia!”
Athos laughed and talked excitedly to Idnia.
She smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it too. I read that Afraxas spirits from the East are really good at cooking. And Professor Buremhyde seems talented too, so I think the food will be great.”
“R-right! Hehe. Wow… Lady Idnia actually responded to me!”
Christian and Persifier looked jealous.
“Don’t be rude, Athos! Of course she replied—how could she not?”
Christian tried to act calm, but Persifier quickly jumped in with his own question.
“Um, Lady Idnia, what are you planning to grow in the garden? More turnips?”
“Oh, the turnips were just a trial. Next, I want to grow herbs and spices. The food here isn’t great, so I thought adding flavor might help.
Is it wrong for me to decide that on my own?”
“No, not at all! You should decide everything.
You’re the one who made the garden, grew the turnips… we didn’t do anything. We don’t even know how to farm.”
Persifier, an ex-adventurer with lots of experience, was just happy Idnia talked to him.
To them, Lady Idnia was like a noble lady from a storybook.
Even if people gossiped about how she once kicked Crown Prince Rudolf, those who met her in person saw she was nothing like the rumors.
“Uh, L-Lady Idnia… um…”
Christian wanted to talk too, but couldn’t think of anything to say.
While he was hesitating, Idnia noticed something strange.
Students from Notos dorm were planting something in the garden?
“What are you planting, Lorenzo?”
“Oh, Lady Idnia.”
Lorenzo turned around. His teammates—Fiona, Alyssa, Esther, and Rex—were working with him.
“We’re planting herbs. Basil and garlic.
Since the food is always bad, we thought we should grow our own flavorings.
We can’t grow wheat for bread, but we can try to make seasonings.”
“I see. I was thinking the same. Looks like we’re on the same page.”
Idnia looked at how they were planting.
They had thrown seeds into pots and used fast-growth potions. They had baked the soil to sterilize it, but if the seeds still had bacteria or bugs, the potion would only help those grow faster too.
‘Hmm… that’s not ideal. The potion will go to waste, and pests could spread.’
Idnia thought about warning them, but since each dorm had their own garden, she didn’t want to interfere.
Other dorms started arriving.
Among Zephyros dorm students, Isolde appeared—but she still looked lost and tired.
She had dark circles under her eyes. Something was clearly wrong.
‘She still looks out of it. What’s going on with her?’
Idnia called out,
“Miss Isolde? Are you okay? You don’t look well.”
Isolde jumped, then answered coldly.
“I’m fine, Lady Idnia. I appreciate your concern, but this isn’t your business.”
“Huh…?”
Idnia was surprised by her sharp tone.
That’s when Professor Buremhyde arrived.
“Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, dear losers. I mean, of course, losing in Wizard Ball is just part of the game. No one wins every time.
Still… we should’ve crushed those public school kids from League 4. Now they’ll be bragging forever.
They’ll say Dunaice Academy was all talk and no real talent…”
“Professor.”
Idnia gently stopped him. They were supposed to be cheering up—this wasn’t helping.
Buremhyde snapped out of it.
“You’re right. Talking more will only ruin things. Let’s eat. The meals have been pretty bad lately, right?”
His speech was short—and that was a relief.
Everyone was stunned by the amazing food laid out.
There was roasted pork ribs with sauce, oven-roasted beef, rainbow trout, and even grilled mackerel wrapped in kelp.
There were fresh breads, pastries, cinnamon rolls—and even donuts!
“Wow… this is amazing. It’s as good as the palace banquet yesterday.”
Even Crown Prince Rudolf praised it.
“The royal chef may be human, but I’m a dragon. I’ve spent more time in the kitchen than the royal chef has had lifetimes. Maybe two.”
Buremhyde was clearly proud of his cooking.
And honestly… it was worth being proud of.
✧✧✧
Even though they had just suffered a big loss and were scolded by Buremhyde, the students cheered up with good food and some new training ideas.
They had been so hungry that they just kept eating and eating.
“Man, I lost so much weight after enrolling here.”
“Same here.”
Athos, Persifier, and Christian were happily stuffing their faces.
Then Idnia came over.
Since she had already spoken to Athos, who seemed talkative, she decided to ask him something.
“Athos, did Miss Isolde get hurt during yesterday’s match?”
“Huh? No, she didn’t get injured. But she did have a hard time… mostly because we weren’t very good.”
“What exactly happened?”
“Well, Alyssa and Esther from Notos were our pitcher and catcher at first. They had Wizard Ball experience.
But the other team… they just kept hitting everything, even those tricky balls used in girls’ Wizard Ball leagues.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Alyssa and Esther weren’t bad. But the other team—‘Public Exam Students’—were no joke.
Turns out they’re a strong team in the local 4th league. Sometimes they even move up to the 3rd.
So Coach Buremhyde called timeout and swapped in Rex from Notos as the pitcher.
He threw pretty good fastballs—using telekinesis to make the ball speed up and rise slightly before reaching the batter.
Problem was, Alyssa couldn’t catch them. The ball was too fast and tricky. She kept missing, and we got penalized.”
“I see…”
“When Persifier took over as catcher, he could catch the ball—but Rex had already lost confidence and kept throwing bad pitches.
So then Miss Isolde stepped up and became the pitcher herself.
She surprised us by throwing both Flash Balls and Shade Balls—exactly the kinds the other team’s pitcher had been using.”
