After they had fixed the hole in the floor, they all were collapsed on the floor.
『...Haah…. I'm just glad that Nova's flame ended up patching up the floor...』[Leo]
Nova was sprawled out on the floor, sweating and panting.
『I… haah… overextended my mana during that fight… Daaaamn.』[Nova]
Andrew cackled and dematerialized his greatswords that he left on the floor.
『You gotta work on your stamina, Nova! Look at everyone else!』[Andrew]
He looked up, finding that everyone was still doing okay, just on the floor from the passing of adrenaline.
Though he knew the seal on his torso restricted his mana, he felt like using his Seed abilities and regular spells were burning his mana up just like when he had just awakened his Seed.
『...Yeah. For sure.』[Nova]
He felt his mana regenerating at the same rate as a couple months ago, like when he first unlocked control of his mana.
Suddenly, he felt someone pick him off the ground and place him on his feet.
『....Let's go celebrate.』[Jack]
He held the coin in his hand, showing it off to them, before putting it in his spatial ring.
『...This one will be in my care, but leave it to me to make each of you a personal artifact, anytime you guys want.』[Jack]
Rai's eyes lit up, following Jack outside with everyone else.
『I've been meaning to look into a pair of gauntlets! You think I can get it before the class tournament?』[Rai]
『...No.』[Jack]
『...Damn.』[Rai]
...
The group had gone out to celebrate at a nearby fast food restaurant, not coming back until the sun had long past set.
As they were entering the school, another group of students were exiting.
『...Guys, I forgot that I bought dinner…』[Nova]
Rai stared at Nova for a moment before sighing.
『...Just typical Nova…』[Rai]
The group of boys laughed, loitering around the gate of the school.
『...I'll just feed Sir Fluffles and save the rest for next time…』[Nova]
He began laughing to himself and leaned back, before he stumbled on a slightly protruding brick.
『Ah s-』[Nova]
He began to fall but felt his back get caught by something soft.
He stared at his friend's faces, which all had a strange look on them, full of varying ranges.
However… specifically Leo had an extremely terrified face.
Nova was suddenly pushed back onto his feet, allowing him to turn around and look at who caught him.
Standing before him was a person with vibrant greenish-teal hair that was braided just past their shoulders, along with a small crowd of people.
『...Excuse me, are you alright?』
Their voice was neither masculine nor feminine, causing Nova to wonder if they were a male or a female.
『Uh… I'm fine, thanks to you. Who… are you?』[Nova]
A girl with platinum blonde hair stood in front of the person with the braided hair, blocking Nova from them.
『How dare you address the heir, young Lord Sorabeth Circylia as "you"?!』
She pushed Nova back, causing him to stumble onto the floor without a fight.
「She's… so strong?!」[Nova]
He felt a surprising amount of pain from falling down.
「No… I've gotten a lot weaker…!」[Nova]
Nova looked forward to find that all of his friends were standing in front of him.
『Hey, Nova?! Are you alright?』[Leo]
He helped Nova up, brushing off the dust from his uniform.
『...Hey, bastard. What the hell do you think you're doing?』[Rai]
The girl looked shocked to be called that.
『Bastard…?! Shut your insol-』
Andrew glared daggers into the girl, causing her to change her expression almost instantly.
『...Hey, what are you doing, Michaelis?』[Andrew]
She started shaking the moment he mentioned her name.
『...L..L…Lord Strife…』
He suddenly snapped, shouting at her.
『TARIEL!』[Andrew]
She winced in fear.
『Just what are you trying to start?!』[Andrew]
The girl named Tariel turned to Nova and started shouting, surprisingly.
『Nobody is allowed to touch Lord Sorabeth! What if you taint him with your filthy lower House hands?!』[Tariel]
She materialized a sword, pointing it at Nova, causing tensions to rise even further.
『What House do you belong to, scum?! I'll offer them a choice- exile you, or face House Michaelis!』[Tariel]
『...Houseless.』[Nova]
The entire group of people facing them seemed to suddenly change in attitude once Nova spoke.
『...Hrm… I see.』[Sorabeth]
Sorabeth nudged Tariel out of the way, pushing her sword down.
『...Your company of people have besmirched our name. I challenge you and your people on behalf of the "Noblesse" Raidagem to a fight during the upcoming tournament.』[Sorabeth]
『Besmirched..?! And how in the hell did we do that?!』[Rai]
Sorabeth responded with a fake smile.
『...I have no inclination to answer a party of people housing Houseless.』[Sorabeth]
『...You…』[Andrew]
Sorabeth glared at Andrew next.
『...To find the heir of the Strife house intermingling with commoners… How appalling.』[Sorabeth]
Andrew was the angriest the group of friends had ever seen him.
『Don't… call them commoners! They are more than worthy to interact with me than your pathetic group of misfits!』[Andrew]
This singular line pushed the situation to the edge.
A boy with short hair and glasses pushed his way forward, shouting.
『Your words are merely in jest, surely?! You would compare me, Elzian Singh, to a Houseless?! This is too far, Lord Strife!』[Elzian]
『I mean it.』[Andrew]
Another boy… a significantly shorter one, pushed his way forward as well.
『Oh..? So you mean that they are incomparable to me…? I would like to see that…!』
Leo added his rare two cents as well.
『...Have you all thought how you will be seen after this?! Challenging us for the reason of "honor"?! What will happen when it gets around that we haven't even done anything?!』[Leo]
『...Silence yourself, you pseudo-Tsukikaze. Your input wasn't warranted.』[Tariel]
Sorabeth began to walk off, the group following along.
The short boy walked up to Nova and patted him on the shoulder.
『...No hard feelings, man. Name's Tran, by the way. Looking forward to beating you guys to a pulp!』[Tran]
He quickly trailed after his group.
『...What the hell was that…?』[Rai]
Andrew clenched his fist, staring at something in the direction of the other group.
『...Noblesse. A Raidagem formed with the intention of declaring themselves as the "ones" who must shoulder the burdens of the commoners.』[Leo]
『...Sure didn't seem like that.』[Nova]
Andrew sighed, unclenching his fist.
『...That was the original intent. Years of service to an ungrateful population of citizens have left the nobility feeling bitter and unappreciated. The sentiment has been warped.』[Andrew]
He placed his hands on Rai and Nova's shoulders.
『You two are serving the citizens too, but they don't look at that. They see non-nobility as burdens to society.』[Andrew]
『But… there are commoners serving in the military as well! What the hell?!』[Rai]
『They… they don't care at all, do they?!』[Leo]
Jack seemed to stare away at the group walking into the city.
『...Thean was a part of that group. He was hiding at the back, behind the guy with white hair.』[Jack]
『...The person with white hair…』[Andrew]
.『...Do any of you guys have any of these people in your class? I haven't seen them.』[Jack]
『...These people are kept separate from the… "lower" Houses. There are special classes for the lower and higher ranking Houses at Genesis, but you can only get into them by request. Our classes are for the "middle", people who don't care about the worth of their name.』[Andrew]
His face was filled with bitterness.
『There are good people wherever we go, as people. Whether you're poor, rich, or neither…』[Andrew]
Nova put his hand on Andrew's shoulder.
『...Aside from that, they attacked our honor quite a bit, didn't they?』[Nova]
『...Nova?』[Andrew]
『I don't give a damn if I'm Houseless, but… "psuedo-Tsukikaze"? Intermingling with commoners?』[Nova]
Nova seemed to burn with a cold rage.
『...I'm not strong on my own, but… will you guys lend me your strength… to put those damn bastards into the ground?!』[Nova]
Jack threw his hands in the air without even hesitating.
『Ah! Screw it! Let's do it! I'm sick of feeling inferior!』[Jack]
『...I… I've gotten over my adoption into the Tsukikaze family, but…but… I can't forgive them for what they did to Nova!』[Leo]
Rai smirked.
『It's their mistake for underestimating us. Let's kick their asses into next fucking year!』[Rai]
Andrew stared at them, but couldn't muster up his usual smile.
『...I… I'm…』[Andrew]
He started to walk off.
『...Sorry. I… don't think I can join this time around.』[Andrew]
They stared with shock, expecting him to be one of the most into it.
『...Andrew..?』[Nova]
He started running off.
『I… forgive me!』[Andrew]
The group was left speechless.