Chapter 32 - You are useless!

After the event in the canteen, I went to bed and slept. In the morning, I was greeted by Emilia, Vertical Rolls, and the rest. I was puzzled as to why they had gathered in front of my room, so I tilted my head and asked Emilia.

“Is something going on?”

Emilia stepped forward and conjured a mana screen in front of me.

“Just this morning, George-sensei informed me that the Principal and the rest of the faculty have woken up.”

George-sensei, our sword-fighting instructor, was with us when we ate in the sky. Afterward, he decided to descend to the ground and look after the unconscious teachers. I was quite surprised that Emilia had kept in contact with him.

“Is that so? Then what does that have to do with us? Doesn’t he only care about the magic students?”

Emilia sighed and replied with a tired expression.

“Right now, he wants all the students to gather near the fields of our school building. He’s including us, general students.”

“That’s rare… Then, what does that have to do with the seven of you gathering in front of my room?”

“It’s because the students won’t descend into the field unless you lead them.”

“Can we send a proxy?”

“No, Lumina-sama. According to George-sensei, the Principal wants all the primary level general students to gather.”

I reluctantly nodded to Emilia and took a book, which I had been reading since yesterday, from my room. I then walked to the canteen with the seven of them and ate my breakfast. Surprisingly, almost all of the students had already started eating.

“They’re quite early.”

I made an offhand remark as I surveyed the canteen.

Vertical Rolls walked up to my side and said, “Well, last night was really cold. So we all had a hard time sleeping.”

“Really? Well, I was using magic to warm my room, so I didn’t really feel that it was cold.”

“I wish I was as good at controlling magic as you, Lumina-sama. If I were, I would’ve made my room warm too.”

I gave a wry smile and replied, “Well, we’ve been practicing this magic for over a year now. It’s expected that you’re not as skilled yet.”

“Then I’ll train even more so that I can be useful to you, Lumina-sama.”

She smiled broadly as the seven of us, including me, sat at one of the tables in the canteen. Emilia, like last night, went to the kitchen and prepared the food along with six other servants.

I created a small mana screen to project what was happening.

“Hmmm… so they were able to eat, huh.”

Mary, who sat beside Vertical Rolls, who was opposite me, said, “Emilia said that according to George-sensei, the magic students flew to the junior level general students' dormitory and took their food.”

“…”

“Also, the servants with them hijacked their canteen, so the junior level general students still haven’t had breakfast.”

Hunger really brings out the worst in people, huh? Who knew they’d invade a dormitory? Isn’t that dormitory quite far from ours? If I recall, it was directly opposite ours, and you’d have to walk for almost an hour just to reach that place.

Since that topic was quite heavy, I decided to shift to a lighter one. We discussed how to apply normal magic to null element magic and how to strengthen them. We even talked about their weaknesses. Emilia arrived a bit later with the food, and we began eating breakfast while continuing our conversation.

After about 30 minutes, we finished eating and began packing our things.

The reason for this was that we wouldn’t be able to maintain our rooms once we descended to the ground. The maximum range we could control and manipulate null element magic was 60 meters. Beyond that, it would disperse and disappear.

After a while, I walked outside and waited for Emilia and the rest to finish packing their things. When we were all gathered, I started descending toward the field. It felt really embarrassing to lead almost 200 students. However, I didn’t really have a choice in this matter. I was their master, and they were my servants. It was proper for the master to walk in front while being followed by servants.

I did my best to hide my embarrassment and walk confidently at the front.

I decided to land in the middle of a forest behind our school building. Although I had no intention of hiding this magic from the magic students, descending from the sky with 200 students behind me was too much.

“There they are!”

A magic student who spotted us exiting the forest shouted while pointing at us. His schoolmates turned their heads and glared at us with hostility. The general students behind me became pale and started cowering. I acted as if it didn’t bother me and stood in front of them with Emilia and the others beside me. But deep inside, I wanted to run away and return to the sky.

(This is why I wanted to send a proxy!)

A man who looked to be in his early 20s stood in front of us with a frown. He had short blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing expensive clothes and had a very haughty demeanor. Behind him were the faculty of the magic students and George-sensei.

Although I had forgotten what he looked like and his name in the game, judging by his demeanor and the teachers behind him, I could instantly tell he was the Principal.

“Do you know why I let you stand before me? Even though all of you are just a bunch of useless people?”

The Principal started talking to us without even introducing himself. Though I felt that Emilia knew who he was, it wouldn’t have hurt him to introduce himself.

“No.”

I replied with a deep frown.

“All of you really are useless! Let me enlighten you. All of you are charged with suspicion for instigating conflict and destroying the school.”

My expression turned shocked for a moment before it shifted to one of anger.

“Tell me why.”

The Principal snorted before answering, “You still have to ask? There are eyewitness reports that Eclara had been in contact with the familiar of Michael. According to them, Eclara was your servant and was only acting on your orders. From there, it’s easy to say that you ordered Eclara to tempt Michael’s familiar to fight with Carlos-sama to sow the seeds of conflict among those dissatisfied with the rule of the four families.”

I narrowed my eyes as I listened. My fear of the gazes from the magic students faded as I tried my best to keep from bursting out in anger.

“Those are false charges! Lumina-sama only ordered Eclara to observe him! She never said anything about sowing the seeds of conflict!”

Vertical Rolls stepped forward and objected to the Principal’s reasoning.

“You’re denying the reports of the witnesses? Do you have evidence to prove your claim?”

“We do! Eclara could testify for Lumina-sama!”

“That’s useless. She may have been ordered to lie just to protect herself.”

A commotion spread among the general students as Vertical Rolls did her best to deny the Principal’s accusations. It seemed that blood had risen to her head, as she didn’t realize that the Principal was hell-bent on pressing charges against me.

“Eclara didn’t tempt me nor did she ever do anything to cause conflict at the school!”

A loud voice suddenly rang out from the magic students’ side. The magic students parted like the Red Sea and revealed Shin, Eclara, and Michael.

The Principal’s frown deepened as he looked at Shin.

“It was all Carlos’ fault! He wanted to make Eclara his servant, but since Eclara already had a new master, she refused his offer. Because of that, Carlos became hostile towards Eclara and attacked her!”

“Stop lying!”

Carlos, who had appeared from nowhere, refuted Shin. He walked toward the Principal with Vertical Rolls’ twin sisters in tow.

“Gabriel-sama, that person is lying. Sure, I attacked her, but there was a reason for that! She provoked me and insulted my family! My reasons for attacking her are justified!”

(So the Principal’s name is Gabriel? Well, once I leave this place, I’m pretty sure I’ll forget it. So knowing his name isn’t that important.)

“You’re the one who’s lying, you bastard!”

Shin glared at Carlos with hostility. Carlos ignored Shin and continued to speak.

“You already know what happened after that, Gabriel-sama.”

The Principal nodded to Carlos and pondered for a moment. He looked at us, then at Carlos before a large smile surfaced on his face.

“Then, let’s host a magical battle between Eclara’s master and Carlos-sama.”

Carlos’ eyes widened for a moment before a ferocious grin spread across his face.

“The one who wins this battle will be declared innocent, while the one who loses shall face punishment.”

“We’re just general students, Gabriel-sama! We can’t even use magic! How do you expect us to win!?”

I was surprised when Emilia suddenly shouted beside me. I stared at her for a moment, and the instant I met her gaze, I realized she was planning something. I nodded to Emilia and also acted like her.

“She’s right!”

The Principal thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“No. A magical battle must occur to prove who’s innocent. I’ll allow you to choose five people from your side to fight against Carlos-sama and his followers.”

“No way…”

“How can this be!”

“Lumina-sama, please let me stand in for you!”

While Emilia and I acted, it seemed Mary had noticed us and decided to join our little charade.

As for Eclara, Shin, and Michael, the three of them stared at

us with doubt in their eyes. It seemed they had realized we were only acting, so they silently watched and observed what was happening.

In Carlos-sama’s case, a confident smile appeared on his face as he watched us despair (LOL) while the Principal had the students back away.