Book 7: Chapter 9: Non-Flag Love Triangle: Returns ~The Beauty of Love Triangle Form~ (1/2)

The people from ”Minerva” and ”The Academy” who came to visit Serendia Academy were consisting of three male students and a teacher, four people each.

The Temple's students had their hair cut short, giving out the image of serious students which was embodied the strict culture of the school. The teacher leading them was a man with black hair cropped short and sharp eyes in his mid-forties.

On the other hand, Minerva's students, including their captain, Barney Jones, were all boys with a scholarly air about them. Which was led by a young male teacher with a somewhat unreliable appearance.

Apart from Barney, Monica had never met any of the other students or the teacher who was leading them. Perhaps the teacher had been assigned to the school after Monica had graduated.

So, that leaves only one person here who knew about Monica Everett of the Silent Witch. And that was…

”Hi, I'm Barney Jones. Nice to meet you.”

”…I'm Monica Norton.”

The representative from each school exchanged their greeting with each other.

Monica had been paying attention to Barney's movements, but his attitude had not changed in any particular way. He probably hasn't noticed that Monica was here. It was thanks to Lana's makeup.

…Also, I need to maintain my posture and facial expressions. Posture and facial expressions.

It was difficult for her to smile as naturally as the others, but she kept her lips tight and straightened her back so as not to appear nervous.

Thanks to the corset, she felt much taller than usual, with a straighter spine.

Claiming that she had become a different person than usual would be an exaggeration to say, but the makeup that Lana applied helped to give Monica a little more courage.

It's alright, it'll be fine. He hasn't noticed me.

As Monica was desperately convincing herself, Dan Redding, the teacher from Temple, observed the people from Serendia Academy then opened his mouth.

”…I suppose this year's representatives was different from last year's.”

Despite his stern face, his tone was polite, and Boyd, the teacher with a mercenary-like face from the Serendia Academy side, nodded heavily.

”We change our representative every year.”

”I've been looking forward to competing with the last year's students Serendia Academy since they were very strong. Don't you think so too, Sir Pittman?”

A teacher from Minerva called Pitman seemed to be in a bit of a daze.

After being called out repeatedly by Redding, he suddenly gave a smile and responded.

”Ah, yes, that's right. Yeah.”

From the looks of it, Redding from Temple seemed to be a rigid person, while Pittman from Minerva was to be a rather airhead person.

As the two teachers gave compliments to last year's students from Serendia Academy, Boyd, the representative of Serendia Academy, made a short declaration in a low voice that seemed to echo from the depths of the earth.

”Our student this year is strong.”

Boyd may not be a teacher of many words, but his short words always carried weight.

Redding's face tensed up just a little. Pittman, though, was still airhead as ever.

”…Yeah, I'm looking forward again to this year's tournament.”

”Oh, please be easy on me.”

The match hadn't started yet, but the teachers were already igniting the sparks way before the students could.

While the chess tournament may be called an exchange event between the three schools, it was also an opportunity for the three most prestigious schools to compete with each other for the top spot.

In the past, the ”Temple” side had set a record for consecutive victories, but after Serendia Academy's overwhelming victory last year, they seemed to be particularly on edge.

Redding glanced at Monica and narrowed his eyes slightly.

”So Serendia Academy got a female student as a representative again this year? Well, Miss Ashley was a very strong player last year. And, Miss Norton, was it? I hope your skills were up to our expectations.”

The sudden attention made Monica's shoulders jolt.

By far, there were fewer women chess players than men. Even more so when it comes to representing their school. The sole fact that Monica was a female student was enough to attract the attention of the people around her.

Monica went stiff, cupping both her hands tightly in front of her body when Boyd tapped her shoulder with his large hand.

”She's a promising newcomer.”

”I'm looking forward to it. Very much.”

She thought she saw sparks fly between Boyd and Redding. Maintaining her posture and expression, Monica began to calculate Pi in her head.

”You sure are getting a lot of attention, Miss Norton.”

Elliot made a light-hearted remark to Monica, perhaps trying to lighten the mood.

But Monica was far from listening to Elliot's snide remarks.

”Hey, Miss Norton? Hey!”

Elliot waved his hand fluttering in front of Monica, but of course, she didn't hear him.

”2847564823378678316527120190914564856692…”

”…Oh, crap. This is just like with the accounting.”

As Elliot shook while placed his hand on his forehead, Monica continuously recited Pi with her back straight tensely.

Just as the people around her began to look at Monica strangely, Benjamin Moulding, Middle Player from Serendia Academy, raised his voice.

”Have no worry! The trio grazioso (grace) performed by our Serendia Academy will surely capture all of your hearts! If the superb piano is Miss Norton, and the light violin is Elliot, then I am a cellist with the ability to change and shake the hearts of those who listen! Oh, I can hear it, I can hear it… the emotional clamor of the audience whose souls have been shaken by our musical chess!”

With Monica trapped in the world of numbers, and Benjamin trapped in the world of music.

Elliot, who sandwiched between the two of them, wore a face full of fatigue even before the match had started, then looked up at Boyd.

”…Now I finally understand why you chose me as the captain, Prof. Boyd.”

In other words, it was an unlucky role in taking care of them.

＊ ＊ ＊

While Monica continued to recite Pi, the captains of each school drew lots to determine the match-ups.

The first match will be held in the morning, ”Serendia Academy” vs ”Temple”.

The second match will be held after lunch, ”Minerva” vs ”Serendia Academy”.

The third match will be held after a short break, ”Temple” vs. ”Minerva”.

The match against Minerva where Barney was, would be held after lunch.

Now Barney was the captain of Minerva, he would not be able to match up against Monica, the front player.

Following the opening speech, the first match will begin after a short break.

Before the match started, Monica left the waiting room and went to the makeup room where the mirror was set up. She was slightly worried whether her hair, which Lana had tied up for her, was still in good form.

Serendia Academy has a large number of young ladies from noble families, so they had many makeup rooms for use.

Monica jogged to the nearest makeup room. After making sure her hair and makeup were intact, she stared straight at the reflection in the mirror.

She saw a seventeen-year-old girl with a healthy complexion.

She has a mirror in the cabin where she used to live. It was brought in by Louis Miller, who could not stand the sight of Monica's appearance, and pestered, ”You should be a little more mindful about your appearance.”

However, she rarely used that mirror. Because she had no interest in getting dressed and thought she could just wear a hood when she went out in public.

…But now, I think I understand why Louis told me to be mindful of my appearance.

In the world of society, appearance was one of its weapons. This has been proved in the case of Felix and Bridget.