"There's no way I'm going to work for anyone! No way!" The Sophmore shouted angrily, "Especially not for you!"
"Yeah, yeah. Just because I 'outdid' a lot of people at the competition so you decided to try and pull the covers from under my feet." Lotus complained and sighed, "Seriously, so childish. Are you really considered my senpai? How weak!"
"So you know. Hmph!" The sophmore scowled and yanked himself free, "I was so close to becoming the prodigy of the group and even more so the next club leader, but you just had to do something so stupid as use our tradition as a playground for your experiments! In just one day, a nobody from a non existent and rundown dorm comes out and steals everything from me! There's no way I will allow such an immature kid take away what rightfully belongs to me!"
"And that's exactly why you lost your so called everything." Lotus huffed.
"What do you mean?"
Lotus shook her head and frowned, "Back then, were you not also a part of the competition? Christophe Rossignol. Second year of Pomefiore dorm and a runner up for first place last year's competition of young prodigies of alchemy and science."
"H-How did you…" Christophe's eyes widen in bewilderment.
"Did you forget?" Lotus frowned, "Your name was called out during the introduction of the competition. You went first before I had. During that time, you recounted your experience from the competition during your speech. More importantly, you were the first to call quits."
"You… How could you remember all of that?!"
"Cause I remember?" Lotus stated bluntly as she continued, "Your experiment on the mutations of the poisonous plants of the mountains turned a lot of eyes, however, you retracted your position as soon as I finished mine. Had you not retracted yours, you would've still been in the competition."
"And it's all because of you-!"
"Now that's where you started disillusioning yourself to an unhealthy path." Lotus huffed in disdain.
"Huh?"
"You're an ambitious person, after all. You're ambition was clear throughout all of your activities. Not failing to appear during each meeting or speaking up. You bring a lot of good experiment ideas onto the table. You utilize your experience to help you and your group in experiments and pour your efforts out onto research papers all so you can reach greater heights. The only down side to all of this was that the subjects you chose are one of more popular trends. No one would stop you if the subjects were popular experiments even they were interested in and already has some details existing of it. Aside from that, everything was meticulously done and planned out. Your every action and decisions were no different from actual researchers who are experts in their fields from their own practices. But there's only one difference between them and you." Lotus folded her arms and scowled, "And that difference was that you are a coward."
"A… coward?!" Christophe exploded, "What gave you the right to say that?!"
"Hmph!" Lotus sneered, "You can start with what do you have to defend yourself against this? You are already an accomplished student, but, when push came to shove, you backed out of a competition when you felt that the chances were slim. Rather than placing more faith in your own work, you resorted to underhanded tactics to try to take this position from me. Did you think I was not aware of your suspicious behavior around the time the incident began?"
"That's impossible!" Christophe shook his head wildly in disbelief. This was all a bluff! It has to be!
"From the beginning to the end, I would never forget those who came in, what they do, what reaction they have and when they left. You are simply one of many I have set my eyes on in the club. Perhaps to others, I require proof, but, if this is between my own club members, why should I need proof? Or do you want to actually be arrested for leaking out private information through the microphone behind your collar and the smartphone that has been recording everything from start to end from your pocket?"
Hearing this, the student collapsed to the ground shuddering her fear as Lotus listed out everything and he knew she was right! For the past few weeks, that was exactly what he had been doing! Recording everything and the talks and leaking it all out to the outside. He knew that it was illegal, but he was too frustrated to accept such a loss to begin with! He simply must pull her down no matter the cost!
"Still, if you wanted proof…" Lotus sighed, "I can always ask Ortho to pull out everything that has been recorded. Or did you forget where your smartphone had gone to?"
The more words she spouted, the more hopeless the man felt. Ortho, though a new student, was known for his electronic knowledge alongside his older brother. An innocent boy, but with a powerful counter bite. Since the incident a few weeks ago, no one dares to poke fun at him anymore. If she managed to befriend him, then…
He paused, "B-but you said that you wouldn't use proof against your own club members!"
"Exactly." Lotus smiled, "I said my own club members. But, really, did you think I was the one who damaged the tent equipment earlier?"
"It… It wasn't you?" He stammered.
"Hahahaha… No." she stated bluntly with a glare that nearly wet his pants as the dark aura grew around him, "In case you forgot, I am held liable for whatever I do to the other students here. If the students were to go into the tents and it collapses, they would not only get injured but may even suffer piercing injuries into them. You personally assisted with the theft of my tent parts, who could you not have noticed it? The part I retrieved back, was not only bent, but beaten to the point where there was metal jagged ends! Not to mention, all tent parts are labeled so there would not be theft due to limited supplies. So… how could it be that the parts labeled literature fell into the hands of the Arts club? Care to explain? Or do you want me to explain it for you?"
Having pieces everything together, the student trembled in fear as he heard this. It can't be! Could it be that those from the literature club damaged and replaced her equipment with theirs as a scheme but the art club and he were the ones who took those parts?! Lotus sighed as she continued, "Perhaps not, since you are so smart, there's no need for me to explain. Nor should I explain why I am talking to you like this right now. However, I'll say this right now… Christophe… Had those tent not collapsed during the end of the challenge when they did… There would be more than just a couple of gashes and bruises and all of that would stem from the very one who instigated this event… Was it me? Of course not. If I was guilty of participating in the competition, then so would all the other who did as well. Even if we did not get involved with the incident, anger needs to be released somewhere as part of human nature and, naturally, those eyes would turn to both the science club and you. Christophe, I didn't tell Trey and Rook anything because I thought you were smart enough to realize your own err to come to terms with it on your own. However, you proved me wrong by creating such a grave mistake. There's nothing wrong about a one sided grudge in this school. Drawing on other's desk or throwing papers on that one person are the only few extreme things one can do to another including injuring them, but, once you involve others into your scheme, that's no longer just between the two of us anymore nor is it a childish prank once blood be discoloration on skin is made all to be fixed by one expel application paper. Once you fall, others will fall with you and they look at you with contempt. Then, they will try to settle the score with you in the way that they think would hurt you the most. Even dangerously so."
She sighed, "Now Coach Vargas also has the evidence as well… Being one of the staffs of the school, he has seen his own share of misconduct. Did you think this trick with get past his eyes? At worst case, if they end up uncovering the whole truth, expel is also on the list of options available for you and the others. He even notified me that he has noticed these parts of your petty tricks. Just one little examination and everything will be undone at the seams with you at the end of it all."
"Wh-what do I do?" Christophe shuddered in fear at the prospect of the word 'expel'.
Hearing this, Lotus sneered, "You have two options right now. Keep the truth hidden and be burdened with the eyes of those from the club from this year, or… You can listen to what I tell you to do instead and redeem yourself slowly. I'll even put in a good word for you. However, if that fails, you still won't be able to blame me. After all, people's hate and anger don't just disappear in a flash even when you have made things right. Since you're so smart, I'll let you decide."
"I…" The student hesitated greatly and reluctantly , "I'll listen to you…"
After giving him the instructions, Lotus left the culprit to work by the lake before calling over to a nearby fairy and sending them to watch over that student with a small handful of fairy dust given to them.