Chapter Ninety-Four: Throughout History, Golden Fur Often Heralds Defeat

These past few days, Mayona had been restless. The mermaid girl had moved away several days ago, and someone, feeling guilty, would often leave her alone to seek out Aqua for a chat. Well, that was just one reason for her agitation—there was also the matter of someone targeting her.

Splash.

As Mayona was passing through a certain corridor, a sphere of water suspended from the ceiling dissolved into a cascade. An ordinary person would have been caught off guard and drenched, but Mayona, the Mage, was not just anyone. She couldn’t even be bothered to lift a finger; instead, she controlled the falling water with her own magic, keeping it suspended midair. If a certain scientist from Earth, renowned for his surname Ox, had seen this, he would have cried out, “No!” and pounded furiously on his coffin lid.

This was why Mayona felt she was being watched. The perpetrator soon emerged from a corner, accompanied by two women dressed in maid uniforms. The leader was a beautiful young woman with golden hair and blue eyes. Her soft golden locks cascaded down her back, and, deeming such a style too plain, she had curled a portion into spirals that rested upon her chest. Her opulent attire made it clear she was no ordinary girl. To Mayona, she was precisely the sort who would cup her hand to her lips and let out an “Ohohoho!” laugh.

“It’s you again.”

A sense of being targeted by a fool welled up in Mayona. She simply couldn’t comprehend why this girl had suddenly made her an adversary. As Mayona moved, the water above her head floated along, drawing the attention of passing students who gathered to watch. None could decide whether this was unscientific or unmagical.

“Hmph, as expected of my nemesis. I knew such a petty attack wouldn’t harm you.”

The spiral-haired girl snapped open a folding fan, hiding her lips as she emitted a series of peculiar laughs. The fan itself was dazzling, inlaid with shards of crystal that could blind onlookers, but the most striking feature was the golden magic crystal affixed to its tip, about the size of a fist. Mayona couldn’t help but wonder if this girl had trained her arm just to wield such a fan.

“So, Miss Drill, have I ever offended you?” Mayona irritably ran her fingers through her snow-white hair. She’d already mentioned this to Ruby, asking why she kept attracting odd people. Ruby explained the concept of a “protagonist’s halo”—the bizarre phenomenon where idiots were drawn to the main character just to be humiliated. Yet Mayona adamantly denied possessing such a useless trait.

“Ginevra—Ginevra Vesta! Not Miss Drill.”

Ginevra was visibly displeased by Mayona’s lack of manners, frowning as she repeated her family name.

“And your reason?”

Mayona had no intention of wasting brain space remembering the girl’s name. She was tempted to mimic the gesture of a novel’s protagonist by picking her ear in disdain, but that hardly seemed ladylike—and besides, wasn’t that what Ruby was for?

“The reason is simple: you’re too arrogant. In this academy, I am the sole queen. My father is Jess Vesta, the Lord of Trelima City. Even the headmaster must show him respect. How can I tolerate anyone outshining me? The entrance exam was supposed to be my moment, but you stole all the glory.”

“So, that’s your real reason.”

Only now did Mayona recall that among the girls ahead of her during the entrance exam, there had been a golden-haired one. But how could she be expected to remember such details? To target her for this reason—clearly, this girl was out of her mind.

“And let’s not forget, you’re the headmaster’s personally chosen protégée, and you always sleep in class, driving the dean to distraction with your misconduct.” Ginevra lowered her head in thought, then listed a series of Mayona’s supposed crimes, as though she were ridding the world of evil.

“That hardly concerns you.”

Mayona felt a twinge of guilt at the mention of the dean. She hadn’t meant to target the old teacher; his lectures were simply soporific—she fell asleep without even realizing it.

“Commoner, don’t interrupt when a noble is speaking! Listen well and be grateful for the honor!”

Ginevra’s annoyance was evident in her raised voice, which quavered with indignation.

“A mere commoner like you should feel blessed that I’m willing to grace you with my presence. If you beg for mercy now, there’s still time. Do you understand?”

“Regrettably, I do not.”

Mayona shook her head, feigning sorrow. Did this troublemaker really expect her to swallow her pride? As she drew closer, Ginevra’s two maids moved to protect their mistress, but they quickly discovered they were paralyzed and could only watch helplessly as Mayona backed Ginevra into a corner.

“W-what do you want?” Ginevra hadn’t expected her maids—her supposed bodyguards—to be neutralized so effortlessly. She hadn’t even seen Mayona cast a spell. The mage girl’s prowess made Ginevra’s gaze flicker with a strange intensity, though her voice trembled with anxiety.

“Why, to put it in your mouth, of course.”

At last, Mayona seized the water that had been hovering above her head—a concoction Ginevra herself had tampered with. But whether it was innocence or something else, Ginevra had only thought to add a bit of dirt to the water, the classic ‘mud-slinging’ tactic.

“If you dare, I swear I’ll lock you in a Painful Fire Cage with binding magic!”

Terror flashed in Ginevra’s eyes as she stared at Mayona, blinking rapidly. But the mage girl only pinched her cheeks, forcing her mouth open.

“Oh?” Mayona was surprised to hear of the Painful Fire Cage—she hadn’t expected this “drill head” to know such obscure magic. Still, that didn’t stop her from pouring every drop of the dirty, soil-laced water into Ginevra’s mouth before dusting off her hands and walking away. How much Ginevra swallowed was no longer her concern.

“Ugh—cough, cough!”

The moment Mayona left, Ginevra rushed to the window and retched. Her two freed maids hurried to her side to help.

“Are you all right, miss?”

“Useless fools! The humiliation she’s given me—I’ll make her pay for it one day!” Ginevra shoved her maids away in irritation, uttering the kind of threat every villain eventually makes.

“But, miss, she’s no ordinary person,” one maid cautioned. Both women were secretly skilled, assigned to protect Ginevra, but Mayona’s effortless paralysis was alarming even to them. They wished their mistress would stop provoking her.

“Silence! Didn’t Father say I could do whatever I wished at the academy?”

“Yes, miss…”