The Princess's Defiant Declaration
The new student representative’s speech! To confirm that everyone had gathered, the principal clapped her hands sharply, drawing every eye in the hall.
Priscilla Diab, the thirty-something headmistress wearing a monocle, slipped off one glove after the applause and cast an amplification spell on her voice. “May I have your attention for a moment? I extend a warm welcome to all the new students who have arrived at the Imperial Magic Academy. My name is Priscilla Diab. I am the mage currently entrusted with overall responsibility for this academy.”
Applause erupted at once. The young noblewomen who had been holding glasses promptly set them on the trays offered by servants who had hurried over, then fixed their gazes on the headmistress. In most academy stories the headmaster was portrayed as the strongest mage in the world or an untouchable figure, but Priscilla didn’t seem to fit that archetype at all. The position of principal was granted more on the basis of sufficient social status not to embarrass the academy, the practical convenience of having no personal territory to manage, and a research-focused career that kept her on campus, rather than raw power.
In the original work she had presided over the tribunal deciding Elena’s expulsion, yet she was constantly swayed by the faculty jury and even by me in my role as prosecutor. She was honestly a stress-inducing character. I think early readers left comments like “Can’t we just kill the principal hag?” …Looking back, in a way that wish had come true, hadn’t it?
“Today’s gathering has been arranged so that the noble witches—those indispensable beings who protect the empire and maintain world order, who perform the essential role that allows humanity to continue living on this land—may deepen their friendships and prepare for the academic life ahead.”
Yes, and just like every other academy story, the empire’s one and only magic school was never a purely educational institution. Humanity had unified around the Waldmark imperial family. Beyond the lands where people lived lay the dungeons. If left alone, greater dungeons would spawn lesser ones; once those dungeons grew and accumulated enough mana, they would spew forth monsters that threatened human settlements. In the world of The Villainess of Lily Academy Who Doesn't Want to Sue!, dungeons functioned like living colonial cities, much like ant nests. Because their entrances were narrow and military maneuvers difficult, they were nearly impossible to destroy with the average medieval-level army. That made the management of witches—small elite forces capable of destroying and eliminating dungeons—absolutely vital.
This school trained mages for dungeon exploration and sometimes sent them into real combat under the pretext of practical exercises. It was a combat institution. That was exactly why my father, Percival von Letiaponk, had looked so grim on the way to the academy, like a parent sending his child off to the military.
“…And since it would be rude for someone like me—who merely handles the academy’s administration and supervision—to speak at length in front of all of you, who understand your noble duties so well, I will now yield the floor to the new student representative. Please welcome Her Highness the Imperial Princess of the Empire, Erika Waldmark, with applause.”
Priscilla glanced sideways at Erika. I whispered to her, “They’re calling you.”
“I know.”
While Priscilla put her glove back on, Erika moved to the center of the hall. Like the headmistress, she removed one glove and amplified her own voice. Once the applause prompted by the principal’s request had faded, the imperial princess began her brief address.
Erika’s opening line was rebellious and daring—exactly like her. “The imperial family basically runs the school board. How shameless,” Sophie whispered. I poked her in the ribs. “Shh. Let’s just listen.”
Erika waited for the shock of her first statement to settle, then continued. “Yet there are circumstances in which we have no choice but to oppose one madness with an equal madness. Nevertheless, I promise you this. This year is special. An old proverb says that if, in an age that has flowed along like any other, several extraordinary heroes rise at once, it signals either the beginning of a chaotic era… or its end. I believe the age we live in has already been two hundred years of chaos.”
Two hundred years. So that was how long the empire in this world had been fighting the dungeons.
“I have confirmed with my own eyes, through objective data, that this year’s new students surpass any mages from previous generations. You all already know that many exceptional witches who would have been the protagonist of any other year are gathered here. Therefore, with absolute conviction, I make this vow. In our era, it ends. The Great Mother Dungeon—the origin of every dungeon—will be subjugated and ultimately eradicated by those of us standing here today.”
Erika seemed ready to conclude her speech there. She lifted a fresh glass from a nearby tray.
Every young lady in the hall raised her glass in unison. Only Elena, who still seemed unaccustomed to etiquette, lifted hers a moment late with Lillia’s quiet assistance.
The moment Erika finished speaking, the orchestra that had remained silent until then began to play, lending the gathering an even more refined atmosphere. Erika emptied her glass in one gulp, set it back on the tray, and returned to my side.
“There are so many people you need to meet. Why are you coming over here?”
“Ah, precisely because there are too many, Maria.”
“Your Highness, this is a social assembly. You really should mingle with everyone,” Sophie cut in.
Erika glanced at Sophie, gave a small shrug, then turned back to me. “How was my speech? Did it carry the dignity of the empire?”
“Are you serious, Erika? Talking about destroying the Great Mother Dungeon in your own era?”
In the original novel The Villainess of Lily Academy Who Doesn't Want to Sue!, the Demon King, his subordinates, and the Black Knight Order were never defeated, and no attempt was even made to conquer the Great Mother Dungeon. The story had always centered on the conflict between Maria and Elena; the academy’s purpose remained mere background and never became the core plot. But with the dungeon crisis now staring us in the face, I could no longer think that way.
“Maria, for two hundred years countless members of the imperial family and nobility have declared they would eradicate it during their reign. Not one of them kept that promise.”
“The fact that the dungeons are still here makes that obvious.”
“At this point it’s a bad loan. Adding one more empty check won’t even be noticeable.”
And Erika really had always possessed this personality. She enjoyed pomp and ceremony but was secretly sick of it, wanted to solve everything yet quickly convinced herself she couldn’t—a frustrating sort of frailty. Of course, the way Elena polished those rough edges had been another major appeal of the original story, so it wasn’t surprising… but from what I could see now, Elena Kerru herself seemed to be the type of girl who triggered every protective instinct.
Was I really going to have to watch two wounded dogs licking each other’s wounds? I didn’t like it one bit.
“If the imperial family goes bankrupt, what are the people riding in that ship supposed to do?”
“House Letiaponk will be fine, won’t it? We’re a self-sufficient domain.”
“Exactly. We can survive without the empire,” Sophie added.
Every time Sophie inserted herself into our conversation, Erika’s expression grew a little more petulant, as though she were mildly annoyed.
“Maria, I think I’m drunk.”
Erika leaned against me at an angle no one else could see and murmured the words. It felt far too clumsy to be a deliberate ploy from an imperial princess.
“The champagne doesn’t smell of alcohol at all. With this many witches gathered, even a flea’s liver would be decomposed on the spot if anyone made a mistake.”
Just to be sure, I brought the glass close to my face and sniffed. Sure enough, it contained almost no alcohol—probably to prevent any embarrassing mishaps on first meetings in a hall full of witches.
“Really? Then is it because of this?”
Erika caught one of the rolled strands of my hair and inhaled it gently. Sophie said, “Oh my, I was the one who chose that shampoo.”
“You don’t understand at all, Sophie.” Erika smiled as if she had finally found the perfect chance to counter her. “I have been smelling Maria’s hair far longer than you have. I already know exactly which part is her natural scent and which part is your handiwork.”
“Don’t call it my natural scent. It sounds creepy.”
“But you can’t get drunk on shampoo, Maria. Only alcohol or another person’s scent can intoxicate someone. Alcohol can be anything, but a person cannot be just anyone.”
…This woman was being strangely clingy. Now that I thought about it, the original novel had only shown Maria and Erika together after their relationship soured during the trial. Their earlier dynamic was barely depicted, making it hard to guess what they had been like. Could they have been this close from the very beginning?
“I see. People are starting to dance, so it’s a shame, Erika. You’ll have to be satisfied with brightening the occasion through your speech today. If you’re drunk—or if you took something—you won’t be able to dance with anyone. Since I’m perfectly sober, I’ll step away for a moment. Sophie, shall we go?”
The instant I reached out to take Sophie’s hand, Erika snatched mine as if hooking a fish. Sophie’s jaw dropped at the sight of my hand being stolen right before her eyes.
“Ah, actually, I’m perfectly fine.”
But because she had grabbed my hand so hastily, Erika was actually staggering. Still… when I looked into those determined golden eyes, it didn’t seem easy to call her out on it.