Hatred and Resentment Born from Sausage
The food supply had been cut in half again. The moment that fact sank in, the clearing fell into absolute silence. Shock and terror washed over the students' faces.
"W-what did you say?"
"Half...?"
"From 197 down to half... that means 98 or 99? Wait, no... then what?"
The students buzzed with uneasy murmurs, but unlike with Pinit, there was no immediate outcry of condemnation. Irina Rosengart's position and authority—built long before she ever set foot in Tartaros Academy as the Duke of Rosengart's daughter—had been immense. Her influence still lingered strongly among the students.
Yet in their eyes, fear and resentment were beginning to take root.
I never expected her to fall so easily this time. That wouldn't be any fun anyway.
Kael smiled as he watched Irina glare at him with pure venom. The hatred, fury, and resentment burning in her gaze only made him want to laugh. This was the same Irina who had once looked down on him as if he were beneath her, treating him like a joke. The complete reversal of power here at the academy was something her mind might accept, but her heart never could.
Standing in the middle of the clearing with her limbs bound by bandage magic, Irina waited for the punishment that was about to descend. The realization that she looked like nothing more than a common prisoner made her emerald-green eyes tremble with a mixture of panic, rage, and utter humiliation.
"Irina Rosengart!"
Professor Galen's verdict rang out.
"Your punishment is to roll across the ground for one full lap around this clearing! Begin at once!"
"Professor, this is a misunderstanding! Kyaaaaaah!"
The bandage magic ignored Irina's will and forcibly moved her body. She tumbled across the dirt like a ball.
"Her screams are rather cute," Kael murmured, watching with deep satisfaction.
Irina was rolling across the clearing floor. Her cherry-blossom pink hair was getting filthy with dust, and her pure white uniform was stained everywhere. Her skirt fluttered wildly, completely exposing her underwear. The white fabric was gradually turning gray with grime. Even her porcelain-smooth thighs flashed into view from time to time.
The pure, haughty, elegant, and refined daughter of the Rosengart ducal family—Irina Rosengart—was screaming as she rolled across the ground. More than the physical pain, the humiliation was tearing her apart.
The students watching the spectacle held their breath.
And it wasn't just Irina being punished.
"You lot who tried to interfere with the serious matter of punishing the one who dared injure Student Kael's body will also be punished! Begin immediately!"
"N-no!"
"I don't want thiiiiis!"
Marina and Juliana—Irina's followers—were also fully bound by bandage magic as they sprinted desperately around the clearing. They had only just finished their tenth lap, yet they were being forced to run again. Their crime was the unforgivable offense of defending Irina.
Still, the punishment the female students received was relatively light. The male students who had sided with Irina suffered something far more agonizing.
"This is too much!"
"Just make us run instead!"
The male students' punishment was handstands. Professor Galen had flipped their bodies upside down and forced them into that position, making them circle the clearing at full strength while remaining inverted.
"Aaaagh!"
"Ugh, stop hitting me!"
They kept losing balance and collapsing, of course. But the bandage magic ruthlessly forced them back up. Add to that the sight of Irina still rolling across the ground, and the entire scene laid Kael's power bare for all to see.
It was undeniable proof that even the authority of the Rosengart ducal princess meant nothing inside Tartaros Academy. It also showed that Kael's dominance now completely overshadowed Irina's.
Perhaps that was why a new emotion flickered in the students' eyes whenever they stole glances at Kael.
Fear.
Kael watched the spectacle with relaxed amusement, but the feelings of Serenity, who was nestled in his arms and forced to witness it all, were quite different.
Lady Irina... in such a state...
Seeing Irina's miserable condition only made Serenity realize just how wise her own choice had been. But to Kael, this sight was nothing but victory.
Even Eleonora, the imperial princess watching from the sidelines, had complicated feelings. She had barely managed to complete ten laps within the twenty-five-minute limit and was still drenched in sweat. Yet what truly worried her was something else entirely.
And that worry soon became reality.
One of Eleonora's followers spoke up cautiously.
"Um, Your Highness... what will happen to our sausages today?"
At her follower's question, Eleonora thought, It's finally here.
Today's lunch had once again been nothing but coarse black bread. The reality of enduring such brutal training only to eat that disgusting bread for lunch was depressing enough to think about. The only thing that had given them any hope or comfort was the thought of the sausages that would be served in the evening.
But now they had been told that the amount of sausage provided would be cut in half once again. The chance to eat two full frankfurter sausage sticks each had vanished.
Then one of her followers, Shurina Luiseira, asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Your Highness... wouldn't it be fair if we took the portions that would have gone to Lady Irina and her followers this time?"
The moment Shurina opened the floodgates, the rest of the followers nodded vigorously in agreement.
"That's right, Your Highness! Lady Irina committed an atrocity against Duke Aberwin, so the sausage amount was cut in half!"
"Why should we suffer because of Lady Irina's mistake?"
"Since it's Lady Irina's responsibility, if she's a noble who understands honor, she and her followers should practice self-restraint!"
"Exactly! We can't give up our two sausages!"
It wasn't just her direct followers who agreed with Shurina. There were also students from count families who weren't part of her faction, as well as young ladies like Semira from the Marquis Temira family.
"She's right. Lady Irina must take responsibility for her own actions," Semira declared strongly.
Under normal circumstances, even a marquis's daughter wouldn't have dared publicly condemn a ducal princess like Irina. But now the anger toward Irina had erupted first from within Eleonora's own camp.
"We can't yield our share just because of Lady Irina!"
"We absolutely refuse to give up even one of our two sausages to her or her followers!"
Not a single person was willing to sacrifice eating one frankfurter sausage stick at dinner.
However, unlike Pinit, Irina's side fought back fiercely.
"Shut up! Shut your mouths!"
"Who do you think you are to criticize Her Ladyship?!"
Irina's followers weren't about to stay silent. Even while panting from her full-speed sprint, Marina shouted,
"Huff... huff... haa... Who the hell are you to even suggest excluding Her Ladyship... haa... Do you really think you'll get away with this?!"
Running beside her, Juliana grit her teeth and yelled as well.
"Huff... huff... You say Her Ladyship did something wrong? Huff... haa... Think about it! This was all Duke Aberwin's... acting!"
Eleonora's followers and the neutral students immediately pushed back.
"Unfair? Look at those clear bruises!"
"Exactly! And I saw the engagement-breaking scene last year myself! You people led the charge in humiliating Duke Aberwin!"
"Because of Lady Irina, our portions were cut in half! We have no intention of settling for half! We won't yield!"
"If you had any conscience or honor, you'd be ashamed of yourselves!"
The clearing instantly turned into a battlefield of shouting and accusations flying back and forth. Irina's followers, now freed after their extra lap, caught their breath and continued the heated argument.
"Not even one sausage for Irina and her followers!"
"That's ridiculous! Her Ladyship did nothing wrong!"
"You have no conscience at all!"
In the midst of this chaotic fight, Irina was still rolling across the clearing floor.
Eleonora watched the fierce dispute in silence. But her mind was in turmoil.
This is a disaster.
Eleonora felt the situation had spiraled completely out of her control. If she suggested that everyone, including Irina's side, should share the sausages equally, her own followers would openly defy her with fierce resistance. Even if they reluctantly obeyed, the resentment would run deep. Her control was weakening.
"Your Highness! Please say something!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Her followers finally demanded that Eleonora step in.
In the end, she had no choice.
"This argument has grown far too heated," Eleonora said in a quiet voice. All eyes turned to her at once.
"Lady Irina, I truly regret what happened today."
"Ugh...!"
Irina, who was still tumbling across the ground, couldn't even respond properly. She had rolled so much that her head was spinning and she could barely think straight.
"There's no denying that today's incident is clearly Lady Irina's responsibility. Regrettably, we cannot yield any sausage to Lady Irina or her followers for the rest of today."
At Eleonora's declaration, cheers erupted from her followers and the neutral students.
"Wait! I'm not even one of Lady Irina's followers!"
"But you still defended her!"
Even so, the conflict between the students showed no signs of dying down. The growing resentment and hatred directed at one another...
Kael, the one who had created this entire situation, smiled with deep satisfaction.
Once the swordsmanship department hears about this, it'll be complete chaos.