Intermission: Boys’ Night!

Serephione was fast asleep in her dorm room at midnight. Lou, who had been snoozing away on her chest, woke up to the sound of footsteps outside and looked out the window.

“They’re having another meeting? They never learn...” he muttered. Then he cast illusion magic on himself, leapt out of the window without a sound, and followed the boys as they ran into the lecture hall.

The boys chattered excitedly.

“Silence, everyone...! Now, let us begin the twenty-third ‘Grateful to Be Alive at the Same Time as Serephione and Alma Club’ meeting!”

Applause sounded, followed by a couple blows of a whistle.

“I, Everest from Year 2, Class 1, will be your moderator today. Let me take attendance quickly... I see all 198 of you are here. Oh, Dan, weren’t you absent from class today with a sudden fever? Are you okay to be out of bed?”

“I couldn’t just stay in bed knowing there’s a Sere-Alma club meeting...” said Dan through coughs and wheezes.

“Admirable resolve. This group was founded thanks to our female classmates Serephione and Alma using their unparalleled strength to knock sense into those of us who had held prejudice against them. Having been KO’d by their flawless beauty, we now wish to pay tribute to them in sunshine, in shadow, and for our whole lifetimes. Amazingly, our club has gained more and more supporters, and we now have members from every year! Oh, we don’t have much time, so let’s move on to the discussion. Our first topic was proposed by a fourth-year: ‘Shouldn’t students in any year be allowed to participate in the second-year’s long-distance swimming event?’ Representative, please take the stage.”

“Thank you. The second year class has a long-standing tradition of swimming from the beach behind the school to Lunlun Island. Those of us who have experienced it personally know that swimming ten kilometers both ways is extremely difficult. We cannot let anything happen to our treasures, Serephione and Alma! I wish to swim alongside them as support.”

“You’re right, it is very hard. It’s dangerous after sunset too. The third years agree unanimously!”

“Hey, you guys have ulterior motives! You just want to see Sere-Alma in swimsuits!”

“No, it doubles as an escape drill, so they’ll be swimming in their clothes, not in swimsuits.”

“If their uniforms get wet...they’ll be see-through...”

“Hey! A first year just passed out with a nosebleed! Get the relief squad!”

“Over here too!”

“If the first years are going to cause issues, they should just leave!”

“B-But, this is the only reason I enrolled...! Waaah!”

“...”

“A-Anyway, we should protect Sere-Alma with our lives as their classmates! We don’t need any help from other years.”

“You haven’t even swam before! What can you do?!”

“Say that again!”

“Ugh, you’re making such a racket.”

“Mr. Kodak!”

“The long-distance swim will be second-years only, as usual,” asserted Kodak.

“H-How could you just crush our dreams like that...?”

“There will be one modification, however,” Kodak explained. “Erza Trundle, head of the notorious Women in Knight School Committee, has proposed that boys swim with blindfolds on for their own progress. Her proposal has been accepted as a school rule.”

“Wh-What?!” exclaimed a chorus of boys.

“Lunlun Island, with a blindfold...”

“Aren’t there sharks around here...?”

“Y-Yes, sir! This proposal shall be withdrawn effective immediately!”

“O-Okay... This proposal has been rejected. On to the next topic. This is a proposal from a first year: ‘I would like to escort Sere-Alma to the first-years’ folk dance event at the school festival!’ Representative, take the stage!”

“I...! They...! I...!”

“...Let’s move on to the free discussion section then. Raise your hand if you have anything to say! Yes, Kent from Year 2, Class 2?”

“I saw Nick leaving on a horse with Serephione the other day. Where did you two go? Could it be that you’re dating?”

“What?! What are you doing sneaking out, Nick?! And I thought you were on Team Alma!”

“Silence! Nick, your statement? And tell the whole truth.”

“A horse? I guess that was probably for Serephi’s qualification test. I went to watch ’cause I figured I could learn from her. That’s it.”

“Did Serephione...advance a rank?”

“Yep, she’s a gold ranker. She used a forbidden technique to win against an S-ranker...”

“An A-ranker at Trundle...”

“She’s becoming an unreachable goddess...”

“Nick! Why didn’t you report this vital information to us?!”

“I mean, she hates that kind of thing. Showing off her status, or strength, or good deeds and stuff.”

“I see...”

“That’s the Twilight Goddess for you...”

“She must be the fairy of the demon lord...”

Another boy raised his hand. “I have information about someone the complete opposite of that, an arrogant guy who’s been bullying Alma!”

“What?!”

“Not our calm and powerful Alma!”

“Silence! Go on, Light from Year 2, Class 1.”

“An acquaintance of mine used to be a maid at Cecil’s house, and when I asked her about it, she told me that the whole family neglected Alma. They didn’t give her any education or dresses or weapons despite being a noble family. She only got Cecil’s hand-me-downs. She was always crying in her bed, but the servants had to ignore it because they would be fired if they tried to comfort her.”

“Huh?! That’s terrible!”

“Cecil! Explain this!”

“Well, Alma was a girl, and we were her older brothers, so—”

“Are you dumb? We know you’re boys and she’s a girl. Why does being a girl have to mean she gets looked down on? Didn’t you ever think to help your little sister who was being bullied?”

“I mean, my family believed girls are weak—”

“If they’re weak, then they deserve protection even more!”

“I bet they didn’t even let her go to the queen’s tea party for all the ten-year-old noble ladies! So mean!”

“Girls are weak? You can’t say that while being weaker than Alma!”

“So that’s why Alma seems a bit gloomy...”

“I even heard that the marquis slapped Alma across the face once because Cecil lied!”

Shock ran through the room.

“Cecil! Step forward!”

“I didn’t know that would happen when I said it! I regret it now too! She got so cute as soon as she entered school, and it made me think about what I’d done in the past... If it made Alma feel better, I would prostrate myself to her and let her step on me and kick me... Serephione too...”

Everyone fell silent.

“U-Um, Alma is...getting prettier and prettier, isn’t she? I feel like crying whenever I see how she’s softened up a bit and started smiling more recently!”

“That’s thanks to Serephione. Their matching outfits on days off are agonizingly cute!”

“When I saw all four girls come to get breakfast in their pajamas at the end of last year, I praised God for the first time in my life!”

“Hey... Let me ask one thing.”

“Yes, go ahead, Mr. Kodak.”

“What’s the second rule of knight school?”

“Knights shall cherish, respect, and protect those weaker than themselves!” the boys said in chorus.

“Exactly. Do you understand, Cecil?”

“Yes, sir...”

“Thank you, Mr. Kodak. Next speaker, please.”

“Okay!”

“You’re a first-year, right? I don’t know everybody’s names yet, so please give your name and your statement.”

“I-I’m Silk from Year 1, Class 2. So, I have this older sister—not blood-related, though—and she asked me to write to her about school in detail, so I told her about this club, and she said she wants to come to the next meeting... Can I invite her?”

The room broke out into a commotion.

“S-Silk, you know this club is a secret from everyone outside our school! Why did you let an outsider know?!”

“I-I’m sorry! She’s just done so much for me, so I couldn’t refuse her! And I thought she might be involved with Sere-Alma someday, so that would make it okay... Waaaah!”

“D-Don’t cry! The first-years this year are a bunch of crybabies... I thought you were supposed to be a bunch of experts, since there were three times as many applicants as usual. This is a problem, though...”

“Oh, give it a break, you kids.”

“Mr. Kodak!”

“Okay, so who’s this older sister of yours?”

“Second Lieutenant Sasara with the National Intelligence Department,” Silk sniffled.

A shock ran through the room.

“It’s Sasara!”

“You’re Sasara’s little brother?!”

“I was raised in the same orphanage as her. We all love her as our big sister. Both when she went to school and now, she always visits the orphanage when she has time, sends presents, and plays with the little ones.”

“How noble...”

“What a beautiful family... I wish I could be a part of it...”

“Silence, everyone! What exactly does Sasara want to know about, Silk?”

“Well, she’s really worried about Serephione since she seemed down when she saw her the other day...”

“She did?! Nick! Tell us the whole truth if you have any idea what’s wrong!”

“Oh, she took a guild request recently, but they stiffed her on the payment...so she’s probably down about that.”

“They betrayed our Serephione!”

“It can’t be!”

“Nick, tell us who’s responsible for this!”

“Well, it’s not really a secret. It was the princess of Marsche.”

“Marsche... My dad is a businessman, so I’ll tell him to stop doing business with them.”

“My father is a viscount who owns a shipping company, so I’ll advise him to change the usual routes.”

“We have to help Serephione’s emotional wound more than anything! Let’s all fold paper cranes for her!”

“Paper cranes?! She’s not sick! We should fold her some paper samurai!”

“Samurai...?”

“Silence, everybody! Of course Sasara isn’t an outsider to us, Silk. It would be a dream come true if she attended a meeting...an unexpected blessing! Please let me know what day works for her and we will make every effort to welcome her. Any objections?”

“No objection!” everybody replied.

“Um, can I speak?”

“Oh, Murdock from Year 2, Class 2! How unusual. Go ahead!”

“S-So, I’m a member of the art club, and we made a picture book called ‘The Four Knight Sisters.’ The oldest is the strong Elise, the second is the cheerful Sasara, the third is the calm Alma, and the fourth is the wild Serephione. They resolve difficult cases. The pictures are by a fourth-year who’s a promising painter, Nelson. Please let me know if you’re interested.”

“Hey... I have one question.”

“Yes, Mr. Kodak?”

“...How much does it cost?”

“Five hundred gold.”

“Sold!”

“No fair, Mr. Kodak! I want one too!”

“I’ll take two! One to read and one for my collection!”

The boys chattered excitedly.

“Too peaceful...” Lou knit his eyebrows.