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“Did you just call them trash?” Liz-san asks, brow furrowed.
“Yes, that’s right,” I say, my smile bright and unfaltering.
As her eyes stare directly into mine, I notice that her pupils are dilated; proof that her sympathetic nervous system is currently in overdrive.
“Don’t tell me…. Are you actually trying to defend those girls now? Even after all they said about you?” I goad. Then I smile and add, “And by the way, I didn’t say they were trash. I said that they were worse than trash.”
“What they did might have been bad, but that doesn’t make them trash!” Liz-san exclaims while glaring at me for all she’s worth.
“Oh my, what truly touching words.”
“Are you mocking me?”
“Of course not. I’m appalled that you would think so. On the contrary, I’m praising you. Defending the rascals that were badmouthing you moments earlier isn’t something just anyone can do. I certainly wouldn’t be able to do it.”
“It’s not like I’ve forgiven them…. I just feel angry that you would compare them with garbage,” Liz-san explains, keeping her voice under control this time.
……She’s not wrong. Even I feel like I might have taken things a bit too far by calling them that. Though, even if you tortured me, I’d certainly never admit that out loud. At this point, I have no choice but to stick with the trash motif.
Sucking in a small breath, I refocus myself on the conversation at hand.
“Well…. It’s just not needed, wouldn’t you say?”
“What is?”
“Those girls,” I clarify, allowing my gaze to drift over to the still hollow-eyed group.
A troubled expression crosses Liz-san’s face, though that’s only to be expected. Even a saintess can’t easily say that women like them are a vital part of society.
“They’re on the same level as trash…. They’ve brought it upon themselves, really. After what they did, treating them as such is not exactly uncalled for,” I whisper. My voice is cold, unfeeling, and my gaze devoid of sympathy as it skims over the girls.
And the girls, for their part, no longer react to my words at all. There are no traces of anger, sadness, or hurt on their faces. Their expressions remain blank, like lifeless dolls, their eyes unfocused.
For the last few minutes, the only spark of recognition that I saw from them was when Liz-san was defending them. It wasn’t exactly hope. More like gratitude. A teary appreciation.
…..Which is honestly the best development for me. If the number of Liz-san devotees increases again, I can only be happy about it. Though, it is a bit bothersome that they converted thanks to the power Liz-san’s ignorant niceties brainwashing them.
“It’s true that what they did might be awful…”
“Might? It was awful.”
“But…. That doesn’t make them trash. They aren’t trash.”
“Hmm, you think so? But if I were you, I would have wanted to throw them away immediately.”
“Why do you always say things like that?”
Suddenly Liz-san is looking straight at me, her eyes bursting with compassion.
Huh? What could have prompted her to look at me in such a way?
“They’re already reflecting on their actions. There’s absolutely no reason to blame them any more than this,” Liz-san tells me composedly.
From the general atmosphere of the classroom, I can tell everyone else also seems to share her opinion.
“Liz-san, don’t you think you are focusing a bit too much on everyone’s good side?”
“What’s wrong with that? A charming person is the type who finds the good in others!”
“What nonsense is that? Are you an idiot~? A charming person finds the good in others? Ha! If you’re blind to others’ faults and weaknesses, you’ll never win a war, ya know? Instead of wasting time here, why don’t you just go join a convent and be a nun instead~?” Mel cries provocatively, her manic laughter filling up the entire classroom.
“Mel, that’s being rude towards the nuns,” Gilles chastises her, his face remaining perfectly impassive.
“Ehh~? Then, how ’bout…. becoming an angel?”
“Much better. And if she’s an angel, wouldn’t that make Alicia a devil?”
“But ya know~ that analogy really makes ya think… Who’s actually the devil and who’s actually the angel~?”
“True. You’re right about that.”
“You two are sure getting along well,” Henry-Oniisama remarks after watching their exchange.
If you’re going to bother interrupting them, I wish you’d say something that might have a chance to curtail their conversation a bit more.
Though, now that he mentions it, Gilles really does seem to have opened his heart up to Mel by a decent amount. I somehow get the feeling that those two are operating on the same wavelength.
And thanks to their brilliant little interlude, all that delicious tension that had built up in the room is all but gone now.
I had been trying to build the conversation up to make Liz-san learn that the world isn’t just made up of good people, but I got distracted by them and ended up getting sidetracked.
Well, those girls are rotten to the core. I’m sure I’ll get another chance to bring it up when they start scheming again.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking my leave,” I say as I fling a bright smile over at Liz-san.
“So you’re running away now?” Eric-Sama scoffs, his thick voice filled with animosity as it echoes through the classroom.
“What did you just say? I’m running away? How ludicrous. What could I possibly be running away from?”
“Since Liz is always putting in the effort to see the good in people, everyone loves her. But you never see the good in anyone, so you’re running away. You probably feel jealous seeing someone with such a pure and beautiful heart, unlike your dead, black one,” Eric-Sama jeers, his eyes cutting into mine with a glare.
I swear, one of these days his eyes are going to freeze like that, cause he’s given me that look every time we’ve seen each other for the past couple of years…. Does he like Liz-san that much?
Eric-Sama slowly, threateningly closes the distance between us, his chest puffed up and a sneer ripping across his lips.
Ugh, just what is he trying to start now? It feels like I’m getting caught up in these troublesome events every. Single. Day.
Sighing heavily, I turn towards him, ready to take him head on.
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T/N: I don’t know how I didn’t realize this til now…. But Alicia must be an introvert! She wants to put on a big show, but after a certain point she just gets tired of being around people. Not that it doesn’t make sense though haha. Being surrounded by people who hate you and who you consider to be idiots really would be tiring XD
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