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.

And being well dressed was like being well-armed.

With that in mind, the corset she wore started to feel like armor. At first, she hated it because it was so tight, but now it made her felt reassured.

Facing the mirror, Monica whispered to herself,

"…Y-You can do it!"

Though she felt a little embarrassed to say her resolution out loud, it gave her a sense of courage nevertheless.

After feeling convinced with herself, she left the makeup room. There were still a few minutes left before the first game started, but it would be better to return early.

As she hurriedly walked down the hallway, she caught sight of a figure turning the corner of the hallway ahead of her.

The moment she saw that figure, Monica's legs cowered.

"Pardon me, Miss Monica Norton."

Blond hair with a slight quirk, nostalgic glasses, and the neatly dressed Minerva uniform. The person who stopped Monica was her former best friend, Barney Jones.

Monica gulped.

What kind of response would be the most appropriate here? If she spoke carelessly, she felt like her secrets will be exposed.

The best thing to do would be to say, "I'm in a hurry," and walk by.

And yet, when Barney spoke to her for the first time in a long time, the nostalgia and the sadness were filling up inside her heart, causing her tracks to stop.

Even after being shunned so harshly, Monica was still happy to hear Barney talking to her.

"Can I have a moment?"

Monica kept her mouth shut and gave a small nod.

It will be fine, I'm sure he hasn't found out yet… she tried to convince herself so.

"I was surprised when I saw you. You looked like an old acquaintance I used to know. Coincidentally, you even shared the same name."

An old acquaintance—I knew you wouldn't call me your friend anymore, Monica thought, secretly disappointed and surprised at how discouraged she was.

She realized how much she still wanted to be friends with Barney. Even though he hated her so much.

"By the way, Miss Norton. Have you been attending Serendia Academy last year?"

"…………"

If she nodded here, sooner or later, her lie would be exposed. But if she shook her head, she might just solidify Barney's suspicions.

Whether she should answer or not, this situation made Monica hesitate.

And that hesitation had caused a fatal mistake.

"Is there some circumstances you can't give me an answer?"

Before she knew it, Barney had closed the distance between himself and Monica.

When he stood closer, she realized how much taller Barney had become. In the past, she only needed to raise her eyes a little to make eye contact. Now she has to tilt her head upward to see his face.

The sharp eyes behind the glasses were coldly cornering Monica, who took a step back, then rapidly closing the distance, to not let her get away.

What should I do, what should I do, what should I do…?

Monica clasped her hands together in front of her chest as she trembled. Her frightened demeanor made Barney's eyes grow colder and colder.

He's angry, for sure. I have to apologize, I have to ask him to forgive me…

Just as Monica was about to utter an apology with her trembling lisp, someone pulled her tightly back against him.

"Hey, don't you dare touch my girl."

Hugging Monica's waist was a dark-haired young man in a gorgeous formal dress.

N-Neroooooooooo!?

Why is he wearing a formal dress, and why did he have to reenact the thing from this morning at this point in time?

As Monica was lost in thought, another slumping weight fell on her other shoulder.

Slightly moving her eyes, she saw a beautiful blonde-haired man wearing a formal dress as glamorous as Nero's—Lynn—holding Monica's shoulder.

"Don't you dare touch my woman, boy."

His dialogue overlaps with Nero's!!!

Monica's eyes widened to their limit as her mouth gaped.

However, Barney was probably more surprised than her. After all, out of nowhere, two flamboyantly dressed men appeared and interrupted them.

"W-Who are you two…"

I wonder who are they, really, Monica thought. Of course, she didn't have the guts to say it out loud.

Nevertheless, the fact that both Nero and Lynn seemed to be enjoying themselves with such vivacity was also a real headache.

Nero, for example, has a twinkle in his eye. He wasn't rushing in here because he was worried about Monica, but to enjoy this situation.

To top it all off, Lynn declared to Barney with a very serious face.

"I might find a love triangle form is beautiful, but a love square is a bit too much for me personally…so I'm afraid I must ask you to leave it."

Talk about a wild argument.

However, whether pressured by the strange momentum or feeling ridiculous, Barney retreated snidely and lifted his misplaced glasses with his fingertips.

"… sorry for bothering you before the match."

With that, Barney turned his back on Monica and walked away.

After confirming Barney was no longer in sight, Monica slumped to the spot.

"Well, did you see my great performance? You can fall in love with me, Monica."

"I feel like I've accomplished my entire mission for the day with this one performance."

Looking up at the satisfied Nero and Lynn, Monica asked in a deadpan voice.

"…Um, you two, what are you wearing…?"

The clothes that Nero and Lynn were wearing were gorgeous enough to indicate that they were going to an evening party. It was no longer the level of being out of place.

To Monica's remark, Lynn replied with great seriousness.

"Yesterday, you pointed out that it was too unnatural for us to wear uniforms with our appearance, so we decided to have some improvements."

"…improvements."

When Monica muttered in a hollow voice, Lynn nodded curtly.

"The idea was to create ‘a couple of excited cheerful boys who  wore formal wear even though the school festival hadn't started yet.'"

"It was such a perfect disguise, right?!"

Both Lynn and Nero acted as if nothing was wrong.

Sandwiched between the two glittering handsome men, Monica couldn't help but cover her face with her hands.

"…You know, both of you… I'm grateful you've come to help me… but please… please, I'm really, really, really begging you… please stay in your cat and bird forms…"

Monica was regretting her decision to not press the two of them this morning, as much as she was dying to do so.