There was a girl at the academy that nobody recognized.
The students whispered about her as she passed, because they had never seen her before, and because they were immediately struck by how beautiful and how elegant she was.
Uncomfortable at hearing herself discussed, the girl left quickly and did not stop until she reached a quiet corner of the grounds. A teacher found her there and asked why she was wandering around instead of returning to her dormitory. The teacher also warned her that suspicious people had been spotted near the academy recently. Then, assuming from the fact that nobody knew her face that she must be a transfer student, the teacher asked who she was.
The girl agreed quietly with whatever had been said, and the teacher went away.
Meanwhile the kingdom was still struggling with a great many problems, and above all with the threat of Ragnarok. Lux remembered Balzeride saying that he intended to fight on behalf of the new kingdom, and Sharis remarked that they might eventually need to speak with him about the situation. Before Lux could think any further about it, Sharis changed the subject and asked whether he would help with school patrol duties.
Lux said he would be glad to.
At that moment Noct and Tillfur appeared and dragged him away.
The girls put Lux into women's clothing as part of a disguise for the patrol. Sitting there awkwardly in the outfit, Lux reflected that he had always known somebody would eventually have to go undercover, and that he had never once imagined it would involve him dressing as a girl.
While he worked, he found himself thinking about the academy's so-called strongest student.
Searching the grounds, he noticed a girl half-hidden among the bushes, speaking very gently to a cat. Before Lux could make sense of the situation the cat ran off.
He was still wondering who the girl was when a masked man appeared behind him and attacked with a knife.
Lux shouted on instinct, and the girl nearby heard him. The attacker got the knife against his neck, and Lux understood that this had to be one of the suspicious intruders the teachers had been warning about.
Then the girl came out of the bushes with her sword already drawn and declared that she would protect the students of this academy.
The attacker threw a smoke bomb, filling the whole area with smoke, and struck at Lux again in the confusion.
Lux felt the attack coming and moved to block it. He avoided any serious injury, though his hand took a small cut, and the attacker used the moment to escape.
Concerned about the wound, the girl insisted they go to the medical room. Once they were there she asked him to remove his jacket so she could treat the injury, and since Lux was still dressed as a girl, he asked her nervously whether she might apply the medicine from behind him instead.
While she worked, Lux asked why she had been talking to a cat earlier.
The girl was instantly embarrassed and told him to forget what he had seen. Then she explained that it was not because she lacked friends, or had nobody else to talk to. It was simply that she believed it was her duty to protect the younger girls at this academy.
Lux told her he was only glad she had not been hurt during the attack.
Hearing that, the girl remarked that he was surprisingly useful.
Later, eating alone, Lux thought back over the encounter. Before leaving, the girl had introduced herself as Celistia Ralgris, and had told him he could call her Celis. She had also said she would like to meet him again, because she found him somewhat interesting.
Then it caught up with him. Celis was the academy's strongest student. She was also the one everyone said hated men.
Back at the dormitory, Lisha noticed how exhausted he looked. Krulcifer appeared as well and offered to help him study that night, or possibly to take him around the city for a break instead.
Watching Krulcifer stand that close to him, Lisha told her at once to stop flirting, because the fake dating act was already over.
The two girls settled into arguing over him.
Elsewhere, a mysterious man came to visit Balzeride.
Desperate and furious after his defeat, Balzeride begged the man to help him escape, because he refused to lose again. He promised to use everything he had to support the man's plans.
The visitor coldly told him to be quiet. Then he touched him.
Something strange began to emerge from inside Balzeride's body, and Balzeride, horrified, demanded to know why the man had planted a seed inside him.
In the headmaster's office, Tillfur brought Lux in.
Lisha was arguing that there was no valid reason at all for Lux to be removed from the academy. Soon afterward Celis arrived, and the tension between her and Lisha rose immediately. Lux introduced himself politely, and Celis pretended that the two of them were meeting for the first time.
Celis admitted that she appreciated Lux protecting the school while she had been away. But now that she had returned, she believed boys were no longer needed here.
Lisha strongly disagreed, and demanded to know how they were supposed to fight the Abyss and the rebel armies without Lux's help.
Celis stated confidently that she could handle the dangerous missions herself, and that they did not need assistance from any man.
Then Lux asked her for one favor. He asked her to help him defeat Ragnarok.
Celis acknowledged that Ragnarok was a threat to the new kingdom. But she insisted that she intended to fight it alone, once it revived.
Lux said he understood perfectly well how strong she was. He simply could not allow her to face an enemy that dangerous entirely by herself.
The headmaster, thoroughly amused by the argument, suggested settling the issue through a competition.
In three days, she said, a training camp for the Knight Squadron would be held on Ree Island. There everyone would see Lux's abilities for themselves before deciding whether he deserved to remain at the academy.
Lisha teased Celis confidently and told her that Lux would definitely win.
Celis accepted the challenge calmly and left, with Sonia walking out beside her.
Later, Celis was sitting alone with a book when Sonia came and thanked her for trying to have Lux removed from the academy. According to Sonia, getting rid of him would restore the academy's proper spirit.
Celis said quietly that she only wanted Lux to stay away from dangerous battles.
After Sonia had gone, Celis sat with the question privately, wondering whether fighting Lux was truly the correct choice.