Psychopath
To be honest, Lucia did not like Iria.
It was not simply because she held the top rank. That played a part, of course, but what truly grated on her was Iria’s arrogant manner.
Lucia had spent some time investigating her. She tailed her, watched her, and even leveraged her family’s influence for quiet background checks without a second thought. Weak as she might appear, Iria was the overall top of the first years. Even if her mana reserves were meager, there had to be something that had overturned that disadvantage.
Yet no matter how she turned it over in her mind, Iria’s recent behavior made no sense.
“A sparring request…”
“I refuse.”
Iria turned down every single challenge, never bothered polishing her martial skill, and kept her movements tightly restricted. Outside of class she was almost always buried in the library.
“Hey, that first-year top student? She’s fucking annoying, right? Honestly, the way she won’t even accept a spar, it’s gotta be pure luck.”
“Exactly. They hype her up as top rank and she starts acting like she’s somebody.”
Naturally the rumors about her were far from flattering. Lucia agreed with them. Unlike those who had caught a glimpse of her during the entrance exam, Lucia had seen nothing at all. At first she had been wary simply because she knew so little. The more she watched, however, the more certain she became that Iria was not someone worth guarding against.
Had it really just been luck?
The way she rejected every spar yet still strode about as if she were something special—Lucia found it intolerable. Frankly, with that pitiful mana capacity, it looked like nothing more than a lucky top rank she was now using as an excuse to dodge every challenge.
So Lucia decided to test her.
How would she react when sudden misfortune struck? Would she flee even under heavy insult, or would she lose her temper and accept a duel? Either outcome suited Lucia fine. A paper tiger like Iria could never be her match.
“……?”
“What are you staring at? I already said I was sorry. It wasn’t on purpose—you’re being awfully sensitive.”
“…….”
“It was a mistake, but since I failed to manage my servants properly, I’ll apologize in their place. I’m sorry, Miss Iria. There. Satisfied?”
Lucia spoke with a sneer. Iria, looking for all the world like a drowned rat, was simply too amusing. The laughter did not last. Their eyes met of their own accord.
That was all it took.
“Ugh?!”
In an instant everything around her seemed to press in. Breathing grew labored; her heart hammered. When Iria took a single step closer the pressure intensified. A wrenching agony twisted through every organ. Another step and her breath caught completely, as though invisible hands had closed around her throat. It hurt. It was unbearable.
“You did it on purpose.”
“W-what are you talking about…?”
It had been planned, of course, but she meant to deny it. How could anyone prove a lie when she herself insisted otherwise? She had intended to mock Iria for overreacting. Things did not go as planned. When Iria closed the distance another step, Lucia could not move so much as a finger, let alone open her mouth.
Iria’s eyes raked over her, fierce and cold. In the unlit gloom of the changing room those crimson irises burned. Something was wrong. Lucia frowned and forced her gaze aside—humiliating as it was—to call for help. Her loyal servants Mei and Rei already lay unconscious on the floor. Only the two of them remained.
A chill filled the room. Iria still stared. Lucia fought the unknown force and managed to force words out.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding…”
“You dump water on someone’s head out of nowhere and call it a misunderstanding?”
“Th-that was—an accident…!”
She tried to insist it was a mistake, but she had overlooked one fact: Iria could read the memories of anyone whose eyes she met. A brief glance into Lucia’s mind was enough to expose the lie. Even knowing that, however, Iria could never prove it to others. If a scene erupted now, she would be the one at a disadvantage.
So she simply released Lucia. A better idea had already come to her.
“Gah—! Hah… hah…!”
Freed from the restraint, Lucia gasped for air, hands braced against the floor, unable to rise for a long moment. She spat the saliva that had pooled in her mouth and gulped the breaths she had been denied. A silver-haired girl looked down at her from above.
Iria sighed and rummaged through Lucia’s pockets. With practiced ease she took only the wallet, then turned and gripped the door handle.
“There won’t be a second time, Lucia. I’ll take this as laundry money.”
“You…! You think you can do this and walk away unscathed?!”
“What exactly did I do?”
Iria tilted her head as though genuinely puzzled. Lucia’s brow furrowed; she bit her lip hard. For the moment the unknown terror was drowned by boiling rage. She shouted.
“You humiliated the second daughter of House Aster, and you laid hands on my servants!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Did you have a bad dream?”
“Ha. So that’s how you’re going to play it?”
Lucia laughed in disbelief. It was almost the same tactic she herself had planned—an obviously deliberate act denied to the end. But there was one crucial difference between them.
“There’s one victim and two witnesses. And you think no one outside saw you walk in here?”
“…….”
“You’re finished. I’ll make sure your academy life becomes a living hell.”
Lucia had powerful backers; Iria did not. As a recommended student, Lucia commanded no small following within the academy. Turning her into an enemy had already been a grave mistake—or so Lucia believed. She smirked, already savoring what would come next. Iria merely blinked, looking blank.
And then:
“I never set foot in this changing room today.”
“……What?”
With those final words Iria vanished. She did not open the door and leave. She simply disappeared like a passing breeze—as if she had never been there at all. Not a single trace of her remained inside the room.
“W-what? Where did she go?”
It felt like a dream.
It was spring.
Lucia’s servants Mei and Rei remembered nothing of what had happened in the changing room.
“Pardon? I poured water on someone?”
“Yes! Iria clearly came in, I gave the signal, and—”
“I… don’t recall anything like that…”
Frustrated, Lucia summoned the other servant who had been present.
“Rei! You remember, don’t you? Back in the changing room I definitely—”
“…….”
Rei only stood there blinking, as though hearing the story for the first time. Lucia grew frantic. Had it truly been a dream? No—impossible. It had been far too vivid. And the wallet Iria had taken was gone, proof enough.
She questioned the students lingering near the changing rooms as well. Mei and Rei had lost consciousness midway, fine—but if Iria had entered and left through the door, someone must have seen her. Like it or not, the current top of the year carried a presence that was hard to miss.
“Iria. Did any of you see Iria? She went into the changing room earlier.”
“If you mean the top student, she was over there receiving private instruction from the professor. The changing room… I’m not sure.”
“Seriously! This is driving me insane!”
She felt her mind slipping. No one except herself remembered the incident. She tried telling everyone that Iria had assaulted her, attacked her servants, and stolen her wallet, but no one believed a word.
Head pounding, Lucia finally sought Iria out herself. Private lessons with the professor had ended; Iria was alone, quietly putting away her sword.
“You… what did you do to me?”
Lucia demanded. What had she done? Why did no one else remember? What was she?
Iria answered.
“Who are you?”
It was not really an answer. She wore a vacant expression and kept her mouth firmly shut, the picture of complete ignorance.
“Do you know her, Iria?”
A golden-haired woman standing beside her cut in.
“I don’t know her.”
Iria shook her head.
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Here is Miss Iria, all tied up.
Her defining feature: she is cute.