"Hey, you!" (A boy)
A group of four girls were walking down the street when they were approached by three boys who appeared to be nobles, and one of them called out to them. Judging from their clothing, hairstyles, and demeanor, the girls were clearly the daughters of nobles. The son of a nobleman called out to those daughters of other nobles he met in town. There was nothing strange about it, it was just normal. ……But…….
"Target of alert approaching! Alert status A! I repeat, alert status A!!"
Tension ran high between the girls.
Currently, Mileisha — the girl studying abroad — was walking down the street with three other daughters of noble families who were not members of Society. Behind them, the guards from each household were standing at a slight distance, in case any suspicious commoners approached the girls in an unnatural way, or if any suspicious people tried to get involved. Therefore, if a neatly dressed noble boy were to approach, they would close the distance a little and prepare themselves to jump in if anything happened, but they wouldn't do anything right away.
...But the girls were not like that. The girls who were with Mileisha positioned themselves perfectly protectively, with their backs to her to protect her from the three approaching noble boys.
"……huh?" (Mileisha)
"Huh?" (Boys x3)
Mileisha and the three boys are surprised. The other girls didn't seem surprised. However, they seemed to have a clear understanding of what the needed to accomplish.
The guards didn't seem to be moving. There was no way that any son of a noble would try to harm the noble girls, who would naturally have guards in the middle of a city where people could see them, and there were no unrefined guards who would get in the way of a young boy trying to talk to a girl.
...However, although the girls' slightly strange reactions were a bit concerning, they were all noble girls, and moreover, the daughters of high-ranking noble families. Was it a love guess, or a quarrel caused by the young ladies' cute jealousy? There was no way that any of the guards would get in the way of those people, even though the girl they were guarding wasn't in any danger. Naturally, no one would want to take advantage of a hot topic.
Only Mileisha's guards looked as if they could no longer contain themselves and were about to run out, but they were calmed down by the guards from the other families, who they had become friendly with, and they stopped in their tracks, becoming restless.
"Stop! If you come any closer, we will assume you have malicious intent and will use force!" (A girl)
"……huh?" (Keidith)
Shocked by what the girls said, Keidith and his entourage stopped dead in their tracks, eyes wide. It was far too extreme a thing to be spoken by a lady towards nobles like them.
The guards in the rear were also staring blankly at the unexpected turn of events, but the boys didn't take any particular action. Therefore, they decided that it was not yet time for them to intervene and could only silently observe the situation.
"I don't recall being called 'you' by a rude, unknown men. Is this outrageous behavior knowing that I am Tifana from the Marquis Cortrez family?"
"Similarly, Ceritina of the Marquis Favell family!"
"Tatrine, of the Count Enlace!"
"Step back, you insolent people!" (Girls, x3)
"Eeek..." (Boys, x3)
"Ah, they ran away..."
"Well, that’s not impossible. The other side is the third son of a Count who isn't doing so well. If he were to antagonize our three families, he would be disowned, removed from the nobility, and thrown out of the mansion as a commoner by the head of the family... Now, as long as we are with her, they will not attempt to contact Mileisha-sama again, right?"
"Indeed. It seems those guys didn’t even know what we looked like. After all, they’re just lowlifes who weren’t even given the chance to meet us face to face. The other teams also include members of marquises and powerful count families, so when you go out, please be sure to call out to the waiting team, Mileisha-sama."
"...Y-Yes, thank you..." (Mileisha)
The kindness and perfect protection from all the noble children, including the higher-ranking nobles, was something that was completely unthinkable given the situation just a few days ago. It was no wonder that Mileisha was flustered and acting nervously.
This was the result of the young ladies deeply regretting how they had unknowingly been led astray by false rumors and had belittled international students from other countries, and so in order to protect Mileisha, they bowed down to the daughters of the higher-ranking nobles and asked for their cooperation. The daughters of high-ranking nobles would never carelessly say or do anything that would belittle others. Therefore, they were not involved in the spreading of the rumor, but the lower-ranking nobles they had connections with begged to help, bowed in tears. Moreover, since there was a possibility that it could become an international issue if things went wrong, they decided to fully cooperate.
As expected, the daughter of Dukes did not make a move, but most of the Marquis and Count families offered their cooperation. If Mileisha had been a noble lady from her own country, this would not have caused such a stir, but the fact that Mileisha was an exchange student from another country spurred an increase in the number of people who supported her—And of course, behind the scenes, the members of Society were secretly working.
The members of the immensely popular Society, who were themselves daughters of high-ranking noble families, asked their friends... And then, they approached the young ladies, with whom they had little prior interaction, and asked if they would like to join in on the good deed.
...It was like a feeding frenzy. Not a single person on the list of people to be recruited refused to cooperate.
Sometimes, the members of Society were included in Mileisha's guard team, and sometimes they were not among those who directly accompany Mileisha. In the latter case, some members would stick to the group at a distance.
In that case, the young lady's guards would know that the amateur young lady guards—normally the ones being guarded—were tailing them, but no one said anything and just watched with a wry smile. They thought to themselves that if anything were to happen, they would have to protect them too... However, in that case, there was a high possibility that the parents of the daughter of the other family they helped would give a considerable amount of reward, so it was inevitable that they would secretly think, "I hope something happens."
And of course, behind the young lady who were secret escorts of Society, there was another guard to protect her—So many guards, it was like inflation.
If there was ever a time when the members pretending to be secret guards were needed, it would only be when they needed to drive away unruly people, using their house's nobility title and their membership in Society as a shield, so they would not need the help of the guards.
It was also almost impossible to get involved with completely unrelated thugs. This was because such people always check their surroundings carefully before committing a crime. No one would be stupid enough to think of laying a hand on a group of high-ranking noble ladies with their hidden guards by their side. Even if one noble family were to target them, he would be cornered and driven to ruin. It was rare to find a brave fool who would try to make several noble families his enemies at once.
Furthermore, if push came to shove, they could shout asking for help claiming they were members of Society and under attack by thugs. The commoners, who would normally turn a blind eye and not take any risk to help a noble, would surely all rush at the enemy and come to their aid.
In a world where the existence of gods was believed in, few would miss an opportunity to auspiciously honor the goddess. Everyone would surely take advantage of this opportunity to perform well and do their best to impress the Goddess. Yes. Whenever the members of Society ask for help, a lot of people always rush to help. Its very existence was a living security device...
Author's Note
The 20th volume of the "Noukin" book and the 2nd volume (final) of the Potion spin-off comic "Hanano and Lotte's Journey Together" were both released last week!
Please enjoy this book along with the 10th volume of the "Roukin" book, which was published two weeks ago! (^^)/
Extra Credit
Thanks to TV.Station for the comprehensive edit suggestions.