Dormitory Showdown: Sophia’s Challenge and Busius’s Predicament

The commotion at the boys’ dormitory entrance was significant. Not only boys, but many girls from their dormitory also came, drawn by the news, to watch the spectacle.

“Just arrived, what’s happening?”

“Isn’t that our Elder Sister?”

“Yes, it’s Elder Sister. What is she doing?”

“It seems she’s blocking the entrance to the boys’ dorm.”

“Don’t you know? She’s claiming the Little Prince conspired with the Governor of the East District, harming her friend.”

“Lillian was here first; she heard everything clearly. She’s here to demand an explanation.”

“Oh, that’s terrifying.”

“I never imagined the Little Prince would be such a person.”

“But can Elder Sister truly stand alone against so many aggressive boys?”

No sooner had someone uttered the question than they witnessed the boys who had charged into the sword formation being flung against the wall by surges of sword energy.

Augustus had a considerable retinue. When a few of his boys fell, the remaining ones gathered inside the doorway and shouted at Sophia: “Sophia, once the guards arrive, I advise you to act properly and cease this at once.”

“That’s right, recognize the situation quickly and apologize to us!”

Then, before their very eyes, several guards bravely charged into the sword formation, only to have their armor shredded by the sword energy. They crawled out, their uniforms tattered and torn.

Augustus’s remaining companions fell silent.

****

Upstairs, in Augustus’s dormitory, a few boys were attempting to console him.

“Don’t worry, Little Prince,” one began. “She’s just a girl. How much trouble can she really cause?”

“It’s normal for the guards to lose. The academy’s security isn’t exactly top-notch anyway. Look at the library; even a small-time punk can be a guard there.”

“Guards? They’re just decorative!”

Augustus, his face grim, remained utterly silent.

He knew well enough that the issue wasn’t with the guards. It was because the beautiful young woman downstairs was, damn it, over level fifty!

Look, a teacher is coming!

“It’s our Year Head!”

Teacher Greg, the Year Head for the first-year students, was a formidable presence—tall, muscular, and a master of close combat. Rumor had it he was also the honorary curator of Saroyan’s largest boxing club.

The moment he stood there, the students watching the spectacle hushed.

Teacher Greg donned enormous gauntlets and boxing gloves, his entire frame resembling a small mountain. His footsteps resonated with a rumbling sound.

“Student Sophia,” he declared, recognizing the disruptive girl instantly. “Your audacity is truly outrageous; you have gravely disappointed your teachers!”

Sophia did not even deign to lift her gaze, ignoring him completely.

Greg stepped into the sword formation. At its periphery, the sword energy was sparsely distributed, with only two or three strands assailing him. He raised his massive gauntlets, blocking them with relative ease.

“Sophia, I must tell you, the teachers initially held you in high regard,” he asserted, his voice brimming with indignation as he approached Sophia at the center of the formation. “But your actions today have deeply disappointed all of us!”

As he advanced from the outer perimeter into the inner circle, the density of the sword energy abruptly multiplied severalfold. Over a dozen streaks of sword energy crisscrossed simultaneously, striking his gauntlets and sparking brightly.

Greg hesitated, his tone softening slightly. “However, considering your youth and the impulsiveness of adolescence, your actions are somewhat understandable. Furthermore, to err is human, to forgive divine. If you cease this now, you will still be a model student, a good child in the eyes of your teachers, and a future pillar of the Empire!”

Sophia remained unmoved.

Greg took another step forward, and the sword energy shimmering in the air intensified manifold, forming a vibrant arc of blades.

“Student Sophia, if there’s something important, you can speak calmly,” he called out, his voice now conciliatory. “Your teacher will ensure justice is served!”

Still, no response.

Greg steeled himself and took one more step forward. Instantly, a torrent of sword energy flared before him, seeming to tear the very air apart.

As the Year Head for the first-year students, Greg made a swift decision. After a few hurried steps, he leapt backward, away from the sword formation, and flung his battered gauntlets to the ground.

With righteous indignation, he declared: “Student Augustus has colluded with local officials, oppressing the populace and disregarding human lives? This is preposterous! Where is Student Augustus? Come out and explain yourself!”

Augustus’s roommates stared, dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong with the Year Head?”

“That’s Teacher Greg! He’s usually the most impartial person. How could he…”

Augustus, furious, snapped: “You all, get out first!”

“Little Prince, we…”

“Out!”

****

While the Little Prince upstairs was utterly exposed, the boys watching from the balconies below were incredibly excited.

“So cool, Junior Sophia!”

“Truly worthy of being the campus belle that everyone in our dorm secretly admires.”

“Oh, right, where’s Augustus? Make him come out and explain!”

“Junior Sophia is the best! We’ll always stand by you!”

“Let that Obsidian fellow come out and explain! Debts must be paid, and lives taken must be avenged!”

“Don’t do the deed and then refuse to admit it, oh~”

With one boy being handsome yet arrogant, and the other a beautiful yet formidable campus belle, it was no surprise that the boys would side with the latter. No explanation was needed.

The girls watching below, however, were relatively more “neutral.”

“Is Little Prince Augustus truly problematic?”

“Could it be false? The Year Head himself said so, so it must be true.”

“But could it be that Teacher Greg couldn’t defeat her, and so conceded under duress?”

While the onlookers debated endlessly, Augustus grew increasingly agitated. He glanced out the window, only to see everyone below watching him with expectant, gleeful eyes.

He recalled the freshman ranking match, when he had been instantly defeated by a single sword strike from the girl downstairs. The students had looked at him the same way then.

Momentarily blinded by rage, Augustus snatched up his communication crystal and dialed.

“Busius! Look what you’ve done!”

“I don’t care what you’re doing right now; get to the academy immediately!”

“You’re not asleep? I haven’t even had a good rest yet, and now the entire school is laughing at me, do you understand?!”

“You can choose not to come, but then don’t blame me for what happens next!”

“Damn it!” Busius swore, unable to help himself.

These past few days, adhering to Saroyan’s customs, he had kept all illicit activities confined to the night. He slept by day and emerged at dusk, leading his men across all of Saroyan throughout the night.

Though there had been no direct combat, the effort alone was enough to exhaust him completely.

They disbanded before dawn, and he had just returned to his mansion, about to fall asleep, when he received Augustus’s call. There was nothing for it but to curse a few times, then force himself to rise and head out, fighting his exhaustion.

It was the cusp of deep night and dawn, with a faint grey hue spreading across the horizon. It mirrored the heavy eyelids he could barely keep open from sheer fatigue.

“Some things can only be carefully hidden within the darkness,” a cold, loli-like voice suddenly echoed. “Once they cross the line, they will be utterly consumed by the sunlight.”

A small figure stood at the crossroads, their front shrouded in night, their back bathed in the burgeoning dawn. They seemed a sharp signpost, cleaving the twilight from the morning light.

“Busius, you have crossed the line.”