When I arrived at the scene, the first thing I noticed was the figure of the Queen standing in the doorway observing the scene with a surprised yet curious and worried expression.
I had been meaning to meet her for reasons, but right now I didn't have the time nor patience to bother.
"Pardon me, Your Highness."
With that said, I ignored her presence for the time being as she was still 'disguised' and instead looked inside the room to gauge the situation.
The first thing I noticed was the figure of Olivia lying on the floor, her face flushed with pain and tears. Behind her, Angelica was fervently cleaning what seemed to be tea or coffee stains from Olivia's back while also placating her fellow blonde.
Other than them, there were the two helper boys just standing on the sidelines, looking guilty and afraid.
They were clearly suspicious, but I knew enough to not jump to the wrong conclusions. On my way here, I had heard from Eris who was monitoring this place using one of her hidden drones that the perpetrator of this incident was someone else. She had recorded the whole incident as well, just in case I needed it as proof. What a helpful companion.
Finally, there was the last group present on the scene, seemingly enjoying the scene in their haughtiness, chuckling and giggling at Olivia's unfortunate state like this was some sort of joke to them. One of them, a girl wearing a purple blazer was also trying to pick a fight with Angelica from the looks of it.
Their pompous and belittling attitude was already enough to annoy me if I wasn't already annoyed. But unfortunately for them, I was already annoyed and this further funneled fuel to the raging flames.
Then came the knowledge that one of these fucking shits, specifically, the arrogant-looking blond elf boy was the one who caused one of the helper boys to stumble and spill the tea on Olivia, all at the command of the aforementioned purple-blazer girl.
A memory related to the game sparked inside my head and I remembered this particular girl's existence. She was supposed to be one of the minor Antagonists who appeared during the event where the academy was having a festival celebration. So, this was an event after all. Not that something like this was in the game. The event in the game was completely different and happened on a different day.
Shaking that thought off, I decided to let my presence known when she started berating the café.
"You really should have gone to the Prince's café, then. You and your merry little band coming here and causing this mess isn't endearing you to anyone here. Quite the opposite, in fact."
My voice was calm but I was anything but. My fleeting sense of control was barely holding my anger back against these idiotic brats. But it only stopped me from immediately kicking their sorry asses out of this room and preferably this whole building.
It wouldn't do if I lost control and turned this place into a crime scene if the hold on my power slipped a little.
I walked in, closing the distance with Olivia, but my eyes were still focused on the annoying group. From the said group, the purple-blazer girl got her bearings back the quickest and spat back.
"What? How dare you tell me what to do?! Don't act so frivolously in front of me, you upstart. Know your place!"
Oh… ho. Hohoho.
This girl, she's got a mouth I would like to stuff… with my fist.
Feeling a spike in my own anger, I barely held back from backhanding the shit out of the haughty bitch. I had a few justifications for my actions if I did that though. She reminded me a lot of an old hag whom I'd left behind. She was the main perpetrator of the incident. She had a really slappable face. She insulted my café which I(made others) set up. So many good reasons, really.
Taking and exhaling a deep breath, my face remained more or less neutral, bar the slightly annoyed frown that I couldn't help but have. It had leaked out despite me trying to keep my emotions in check.
I ignored the girl and instead turned to Olivia. Yes, she was the first priority here. The rest will come after that. I couldn't just leave her in pain while dealing with the annoying shits.
Kneeling down, I patted her head, caressing her soft blonde locks. She looked up at me for a moment and her flushed face was one of shame and pain.
"I-Ian… I…"
"Shh. Don't worry. Let me fix that up first."
Ignoring the eyes of everyone in the room on me, I cast two spells in quick succession.
'
I ignored the small gasps and murmurs I heard, instead checking to see if that did the trick.
Whatever liquid was remaining on her clothes and skin evaporated with a light gust of cool, refreshing wind, and any damage caused to her by the offending liquid was healed by the following spell. I used
I cupped her tear-smidgen face, causing her to look up briefly and face me.
"How do you feel? Does it still hurt?"
She shook her head but her eyes were cast down again, indicating she was not completely okay.
"It wasn't your fault, Olivia. You know that, right?"
"But I… I couldn't even serve the customers properly. I made a mess."
"No, you didn't. It was them who made a mess here."
I said, pointing to the group of girls and male servants watching the scene adjourned with annoyed frowns now.
"Hah? How dare you blame this on—"
One of the girls tried to haughtily defend but couldn't finish when the entire room was drowned in a suffocating presence, raising a foreboding and primal emotion in everyone present.
One of fear, one of great suffering and death.
It was all directed towards the group that was the cause of this incident.
I turned and slowly made eye contact with the girl in question and she immediately collapsed on the ground, her pupils dilated in fear. Her mouth was opened up to shriek, but no words came out. In fact, the entire room had turned deathly silent.
"You will remain quiet if you know what's good for you. I'll deal with you pathetic lot later. Stay still until then. Don't make any unnecessary sounds. Or else…"
I left my warning hanging, letting my killing intent do the job of specifying the consequences. Not that I'd go that far with them. But a bit of intimidation wouldn't go amiss, I thought in my still annoyed and agitated state, ignoring the fact that the Queen was observing my actions right this moment. With those words, the pressure was soon released, making many gasp or breathe out in relief.
I turned back to Olivia.
"It wasn't your fault, Livia. Don't beat yourself up for something you had no control over, okay? Now, come on. Get up."
With my palms, I cleared the few new droplets of tears she had pooling in her eyes after the
Angelica, who had been with her stood back up as well, absentmindedly keeping the wet cloth she had been using to wipe Olivia's back in the bowl.
I turned to her and then forcing my annoyance back, smiled.
"Thank you for taking care of her, Angelica. You're a good friend."
"T-Thanks, Angie. You and Leon really helped me there."
Olivia also followed my lead, looking at her fellow blonde and me in gratitude. Her smile was still a bit watery and her face a little flushed, but she seemed to be doing better now.
Angelica, who seemed to have been in a bit of a daze broke out of her trance and after a short pause, replied.
"Ah, it's alright, Livia. I'm glad you're not hurt anymore. I'm sorry I couldn't help much. When I saw you on the floor, I panicked and couldn't think straight."
"No, no! You helped a lot too! It was hurting a lot before but the cold water helped relieve some of that pain and cleaned my soiled clothes a bit. Without you, I would still be hurting until Ian came and made the pain disappear and even cleaned my dress."
Both looked at her dress which was now cleaned once more; one couldn't tell that it had been stained with a beverage just a few moments ago.
"Indeed. That's quite an amazing magic. I've never heard of such magic, however. And there was no magical circle invoked either."
She turned to look at me, curiosity and awe clear on her face. Though she didn't say more than a simple praise.
"You really are quite something, Leon."
She then shook her head and turned to face the ones responsible, her face morphing into one of anger and annoyance, not unlike my own as I matched her actions.
"And you! How dare you hurt Livia?! You have some nerve coming here and doing something so despicable!"
She spoke, pointing her fingers at the purple-blazer girl who had been standing still until then, her teeth clenched in a mixture of frustration and a clear hint of fear.
The girl in question briefly stared at me, gauging my expression. When she saw that I wasn't speaking, she seemed to have gained some courage, enough to spit out a condescending reply.
"How rude. Don't point fingers without any proof. It's uncouth."
"You—!"
"Wow, you really are something to act so high and mighty in your circumstances."
I cut Angelica who seemed ready to blow her fuse. She seemed to have taken my words about the identity of the perpetrators as fact despite knowing I had entered the scene after her. Maybe she had guessed as much by herself.
"What do you—"
"Shush, you. Here's your proof."
I shut her down before she could even begin to spit out more annoying nonsense and following my cue, a hologram suddenly appeared in the room visible to all of us, including the Queen who was still standing in the doorway observing the scene. She seemed to have gained her bearings and was simply observing the scene, and her attention was focused on me. My display of power just now hadn't gone unnoticed by her either and her expression had turned quite flustered and worried momentarily. However, she was ready to intervene after she had gotten hold of herself. I was impressed that she could withstand my killing intent—unlike the others who had all gone stiff under pressure—even if it wasn't directed towards her. But she heaved a sigh of relief when I stopped exuding my aura and decided to observe my actions instead of intervening. But I knew she was prepared to do so if things turned dicey.
The hologram showed the scene from the time when the purple-blazer girl's group made their haughty entrance to the café room.
Everyone watched as the footage showed what precisely happened, me included as I had only been told the gist of things by Eris.
"Welcome to Mr. Beans! Please have a seat."
Olivia seemed to be greeting the group of girls and their servants though it was clear she was flustered and a little panicky. Poor thing. Both Angelica and I had left her to man (girl?) the café by her lonesome. I admit it was not a very well-thought-out action on my part. However, in my defense, I hadn't expected it to take so long. My conversation with Ava had been dragged out a little bit. Remembering the contents of it didn't my my already spoiled mood any good either.
"What kind of awful name is that? And where is that upstart adventurer?"
"Um…"
The scene went on and Olivia could be seen leaving to get their order, meanwhile, the purple-blazer girl's group began their not-so-pleasant chitter chatter.
"Ugh, we came to see him and he's not even here! How annoying!"
I simply frowned and watched as the audience slowly realized their group's unpleasant intentions as the scene continued. Until that scene came.
"When that commoner comes with our order, do this…"
What followed was an insidious plan, a clear attempt to embarrass and harass Olivia and, in turn, us, all planned by the purple-blazer girl.
My eyes and the eyes of a few others drifted to the girl in question who was looking at the hologram in clear agitation and irritation and slowly but steadily building panic, realizing her actions seemed to have some unexpected consequences. She certainly didn't expect there to be a proof her it.
"Finally! What took you so long?! The tea better not be cold!"
One of the girls yelled, causing Olivia to clench on the tray, trying her best to not give in to their angry complaints. She walked past the two tall boys who didn't hide their dismissive attitude and was about to place the tray when it happened.
I felt my anger rise substantially, seeing the smug and derisive look on the elf boy's face as he casually made the dull-blonde-haired boy stumble and drop the tray he was carrying, pouring the hot beverage on Olivia.
"Kyaaa!!"
It grated on me, hearing Olivia's shrill cry of pain. I clenched my fist, finding myself getting more and more pissed at the cause of Olivia's misfortune.
I turned to the blond elf who was ordered to do the act and did so happily and before the others could react, I was in front of him. My hands moved in a blur and caught his neck and then I bodily shoved him to his knees, causing him to choke and gargle in vain. The hologram disappeared, having served its purpose for the time being.
"Kyaaa!!"
"W-What are you doing, you brute?!"
"I-Ian!"
"Leon! Wait, stop!"
I heard multiple voices of surprise, rebuke, and reason but I ignored them and focused my attention on the elf boy.
This bastard. He hurt Olivia with such a smug face. This fucking son of a bitch.
"Look at you, looking so smug and proud while doing something so pathetic. Didn't even hesitate for a second to follow along with that fucking order from your bitch of a mistress, did you?"
I asked rhetorically and got only struggles and gargles in reply as the elf boy thrashed and tried to get out of my hold on his neck. He was taller than me but was lanky like many other elven boys seemed to be. And his pathetic level couldn't even compare to mine. So, no matter what he did, he wouldn't get out of it unless I let him go. I wasn't choking him to the point where his neck would snap or he would lose air completely and die, but it was strong enough of a grip to cause him great discomfort. And he was still having great trouble breathing properly.
His eyes were wide in sheer panic and anger, but all his efforts of trying to free himself were in vain.
I had no sympathy for his situation or his reasons. This bastard had caused harm to Olivia while I wasn't there to protect her. The girl who had done him absolutely no wrong and was possibly one of the nicest girls in this whole Academy. His complete disregard for what harm his actions may have caused to her was making my blood boil in anger.
"Stop this! Unhand my servant this instant!"
The purple-blazer girl shrieked but I ignored her, instead focused on how to make him suffer for his crimes.
"You damn bastard, let him go!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself!"
The other two servants, both with animal features marking them as demihumans, who were with the girls then tried to turn the tables on me but they didn't know how big of a mistake that was.
Well, they realized their folly quickly.
"Ugh!"
"Gah!"
The grey-haired wolf-kin boy with his bare chest and claw marks on his face got a kick to his face, sending him flying straight to the wall on the right of the door to this room. He didn't move from the spot where his body fell after he dropped after bouncing from the wall. The other, some kind of bovine demihuman—I wasn't sure, simply received a backhand from my free hand and was soon splattered on the floor, a deep red mark on his cheek, and lay there unconscious.
"Hmph, nice try. Try that again in maybe a 100 years, you pathetic assholes."
I turned my focus from the now unconscious duo to the purple blazer girl and then back to the elf bastard.
"Listen here, you little shits—"
"Leon, stop this!"
An older voice cut me off and I and many others turned to look at the figure of the 'disguised' Queen, Mylene Rapha Holfort.
"Enough, Leon. Please calm down. There's no need for such violence. Everyone, let this matter be handled by the authorities. I assure you, they'll be fair and just."
The Queen placated me and then tried to reason.
She had a point, but I would be lying if I said I didn't quite see it immediately and so my hold on the elf remained.
But then, I decided to end this farce. I realized that while I was angry at the bastard for hurting Olivia, I was also trying to take my anger and annoyance from the events prior to this on him.
I took a deep breath and my grasp on his neck loosened, enough for him to suck in deep breaths. His face was flushed deep red by this point from the lack of proper amounts of oxygen.
Of course, that didn't mean I would just let him go without any warning.
"You're lucky she's here. But let me tell you this. If I see your smug face and your 2 homies within 100 feet of me, Olivia, Angelica, or this place, you won't get away so easily next time. I promise you that it'll hurt a lot more than this."
With that warning, I threw him to the side, not caring that he crashed into the leg of one of the sofa chairs and hit his head.
"And you."
Ignoring the writhing and struggling blond elf, I turned to the actual cause of this mess, the purple blazer girl.
"Get the fuck out of this place. I don't want to see your face again. Don't think you will get away so easily if you try something like this next time, however."
I really wanted to bitch slap her but the inclusion of Queen had saved her, if barely. If she still decided to act up too much and cause trouble, she'd get it regardless of the Queen's presence, I decided.
"Y-You… Don't think you'll get away easily acting like this, you upstart."
She barked but she had little bite in her tone.
"Yeah, yeah. Do your worst. Now, fuck off. And take your trash with you. This isn't your personal garbage bin."
I shooed her away with the same derisive tone she and her gal group had used on Olivia.
The girl bit her lips in anger but bit back her response, instead motioning the other girls to wake up or carry the down-and-out servants.
It was not my problem, so I didn't bother offering any help, even if I would have liked them to leave sooner as seeing their faces was an annoyance in and of itself.
"Ahem."
Mylene, who had not been able to speak further then turned to the purple-blazer girl, and with a stern look, she spoke.
"What you did to the poor girl was very uncouth and unlawful, young lady. This is no way how a Noble behaves. It was incredibly disgraceful to witness this event. I hope you'll take heed and learn how to behave properly from now on. Learn that your actions have consequences and you won't be able to get away simply by throwing your family's name everywhere."
The Queen's likely well-meaning, if chastising lecture caused the girl to snarl, and since it wasn't me, she didn't hold back her 'well-thought-out' reply.
"Shut it, you old hag! How dare you talk to me like that? Do you even know who I am? It doesn't matter how I behave! I can do whatever—"
She halted for a moment and looked at me who was staring at her action, looking quite unimpressed with my arms folded and my feet tapping on the carpet. I frowned, letting my annoyance show clearly and it caused her to take a step back in fear, my little threat from just a while back hopefully reigniting in her clearly forgetful and lacking mind.
This girl was clearly rabid, not realizing how much she was fucking up right now by not only messing with someone who can annihilate her entire household if he wanted with a single command but also the Queen of the kingdom herself.
Even if the said Queen was 'disguised', it should have been obvious still. Seriously, what kind of shitty nobles don't know what their own kingdom's Queen looks like? She clearly was in the dark, judging by her rude reply to the Matriarch of this country. Because I highly doubted she would be so gung-ho if she knew the truth.
"O-Old?! … Ahem. I-I am going to pretend I didn't hear that."
The Queen faux coughed, trying to hide her blushing face. That unexpected rude comment seemed to cause her a fair bit of emotional damage though. She probably didn't think anyone would be insane enough to say such crass things to her. Well, she was clearly mistaken. This place was filled with insane, pompous, and self-entitled brats who wouldn't put anyone above them and would try to stomp them under their boots.
"You ignorant fool! Who do you think you're talking to?! That is none other than her Majesty, the Queen Mylene!"
Angelica jumped in, admonishing and in the process enlightening the ignorant girl. The girl in question snapped from her crazed state to one of utter shock.
"… What?"
"… You don't learn, do you?"
I finally spoke, seeing her take a step back in panic though still trying to look like she had it under control.
"You're like a rabid dog. You keep yapping and honestly, it's grating on my nerves now. How ignorant and self-entitled are you that you don't even remember what your own Queen looks like? Tsk. Just shut up and leave already. You're an eyesore and an annoyance."
Not giving her a chance to reply, I turned to the two helper boys.
"Hey, you two. Help those idiots pick up the trash and throw them somewhere out of sight."
I ordered, not feeling sorry that I was bossing around the poor lads who could be said to be secondary victims in all of this. Though so far they had simply stayed quiet on the sidelines.
I did so because the girls the purple-blazer girl had asked to get the servants up were quite useless at the moment, just standing around and gawking at the scene like a bunch of idiots.
The two boys jolted and without any protest did as told and in a matter of few minutes the place was cleaned of trash. There was no further fanfare as the girl simply skedaddled, not wanting to deal with the repercussions of her actions just now. Though, I'll make sure she does. She won't be getting away scot-free, that's for sure.
Soon, the only ones that were left in the room were me, Olivia, Angelica, and the Queen, the helper boys having to move away the trash outside the building as instructed.
***