As both players had completed their characters, the judges began to discuss the results. At first, Vitia was confident in her victory mainly because of the difference in experience, but she had to admit that even she was momentarily stunned by Annaleigh's performance. However, her expulsion was on the line so she was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that she won.
A couple minutes later, the judges decided on their scores and passed them on to the supervising teacher. Everyone held their breaths in anticipation, but the players were oddly calm. For reasons that the other was unaware of, they were confident that victory would be theirs. Naturally, this meant that one of them would be disappointed.
"What?!"
Annaleigh accepted her win with a small smile, but Vitia was devastated. This wasn't odd since her loss meant that she had to leave the academy, but it was more than that.
"Impossible! How could I lose, all of the judges should have given me higher scores?"
"Oh, and why are you so certain that they would do that?" Annaleigh asked in innocent curiosity.
"Because I....!"
Vitia was about to accidentally make a confession, but she held her tongue at the last moment and looked at the three judges. She thought that she would at least get nervous looks in response, but all three judges gave her straightforward gazes as if they were free of guilt. As she was wondering how they could be so shameless, one of them got up, went to the supervisor, and told him something. Vitia's expression turned darker in response and as if mirroring her, Annaleigh's smile became brighter.
"Very shocking information has just been revealed to me by the judges. Before I announce what it was, Vitia, would you like to say anything?"
Vitia knew this was probably her only chance at lessening the shame she was about to experience, but she couldn't find the resolve to cut her losses.
"Since you seem to have nothing to say, I will announce what I heard. Player Vitia has violated the rules and the sanctity of arcane calligraphy by attempting to bribe the judges. As punishment, in addition to being expelled, none of the next three generations of her direct descendants may join the academy."
"What! Wait, let's calm down. Even for a member of staff do you really have the authority to make that sort of decision?"
"No need to worry, a case like this will naturally be presented to the academy board. You can attempt to plead your case there."
"No, no no no! You can't do this to me!"
While Vitia grew hysterical, Annaleigh was on her way to the Asteria Dance Club for practice. She wasn't sure if Vitia would try to win through dirty means, but she knew that as long as her "passion" was properly conveyed, the judges wouldn't be able to bear being unfair to her.
Annaleigh had hoped that she would be able to change without being spotted since she was late, but when she opened the door she found a sizeable number of members around the table having a discussion. She was simply surprised at first, but once all the members locked their gazes on her, she flinched.
"I, I, I'm sorry for being late."
"No, it's fine. You were having a duel weren't you," Heina responded.
"Yes, did Liella tell you?"
"No, she only told us that you had to handle something and would be late, but we watched your duel with this."
Heina then raised the standard card wallet that was issued by the school and showed Annaleigh what should be her school ID. However, instead of a card surface with her basic information, a familiar image of two girls was shown to Annaleigh. She had heard that official duels could be viewed from anywhere on academy grounds through issued ID cards, but this was her first time seeing it. Annaleigh stared at it in awe and wonder, but a single line from Heina made her blush and avert her eyes.
"We were really excited when you started dancing. It's been only one day and we could already tell that you've improved. It's my second time seeing such a prodigy."
As she knew that the first prodigy Heina was talking about was Liella, Annaleigh couldn't get rid of her smile.
"No, it wasn't that great."
"That's right. You still have a long way to go. Hurry up and change and come down."
Suddenly, Liella entered the meeting room, left these lines and then returned to the dance floor. Everyone was surprised by her entrance and timing, but while Annaleigh was glad that Liella called her, her clubmates latched onto to a different detail.
"It's my turn, correct."
"Unfortunately, yes."
As one of the older girls came forward with a bright smile, Annaleigh had a bad feeling, but she couldn't escape as the girl had grabbed her faster than she could react.
"Now my dear Annaleigh, I'll make sure to be very thorough when instructing you on how to change into our practice outfit."
"Huh? Not again..."
Later on, Annaleigh was doing stretches under Liella's supervision. The stretches weren't different from what she learnt the previous day, but Liella added more conditions to make it more difficult. For instance, Annaleigh had to balance on one foot while slowly turning around.
After today's club session, Annaleigh planned on staying late with Liella, but Heina told her that Liella would focus better by herself. Annaleigh was saddened, but she didn't want to bother Liella so she agreed with Heina and left with the other members.
The next day, Annaleigh was still in a good mood, but she predicted that there would be trouble, and her guess was verified once she entered her class. The atmosphere was tense the moment she walked in and everyone knew why. Even Liella felt the need to warn her after they greeted each other.
"Be careful during combat class today."
"Yes! I'll make sure not to get hurt so I can attend club practice with you."
"...Do your best."
Annaleigh was surprised and overjoyed to hear Liella be concerned for her, but that didn't mean she wasn't confident in her response. Even if every one of her classmates other than Liella decided to focus on her, she was confident she could make it through combat class with little injuries.
In case of unexpected incidents, combat class was the last class for the day, so students who were sent to the infirmary would at least be safe from missing any other classes that day. Days when combat class were held always felt different, but even those from other classes could tell that year 3 class A was especially strained. Killing wasn't allowed in any sort of official duel or spar at Star Stream Academy, but there was a murderous air among many members of the class. However, the target of this hostility felt no fear even when combat class started.
While everyone else was in custom combat uniforms, she wore the default gym gear handed out by the school. Even though she would have to overcome many difficulties, Annaleigh was confident that everything would up fine.