When Ard and the others were outside the auditorium, Minerva suddenly approached them. She looked completely exhausted.
"Hey... are you all finished talking?" Minerva asked.
"Um... what's wrong, ma'am?" Geoffrey asked.
"Look inside," Minerva replied listlessly, pointing inside with her thumb.
Ard, Irwin, Geoffrey, and Ainsley looked inside. "Clang... clink... clang," it turned out Eva was fighting against Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, and Rosalind, while Patricia was just huddled on the floor, covering her head with both hands and crying from fear. Ard's, Irwin's, Geoffrey's, and Ainsley's eyes immediately widened.
"Wow... are they serious?" Geoffrey asked.
"Looks like it," Irwin answered.
"Hey... Ainsley, you're close with Patricia, quickly save her, or she'll be traumatized," Ard shouted.
"Oh... okay... oh man... but how?" Ainsley asked, confused, while adjusting her glasses.
"At the very least, one of you try to stop them. I'm not worried they'll get hurt, but look around them," Minerva said casually.
Ard, Irwin, Geoffrey, and Ainsley looked around the auditorium. It turned out many walls were shattered, columns were cracked, there were scorch marks on the floor from magic attacks, and so on.
"Okay... let's stop them," Ard suggested.
"Okay," Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin replied.
Ard ran inside. A wind magic attack called a Wind Blade flew toward him. He immediately caught it and turned the Wind Blade into a Dark Typhoon, one of his counter magic techniques against wind elements. Then he threw it into the middle of the fighting girls.
"Whoaaaaaaa," the girls, including Eva, were instantly thrown back, having been hit by the black tornado spinning in the center of the auditorium. When he saw Patricia being carried away too, Ard grabbed her hand and intended to toss Patricia toward Ainsley.
But it turned out only Ard had rushed in alone. Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin were still far behind, frozen at the entrance.
"Hey... you bastards," Ard yelled.
Finally, he scooped up Patricia and ran toward his three friends who were stunned at the auditorium door. Ard immediately handed Patricia over to Ainsley, then he glared at his three friends.
"Why didn't any of you come forward? I went in alone," Ard said, annoyed.
"S-sorry, bro, I was confused about how to separate them... I was afraid I'd just make things worse," Geoffrey replied.
"Um... me too, sorry, Patricia," Ainsley said, looking down while adjusting her glasses.
"Y-yeah, it's okay, sorry, Ard," Patricia said.
"And you? Why are you just standing there? Your Princess is being ganged up on?" Ard asked.
"Um... I still want to live. Besides, I trusted you, my friend," Irwin answered, patting Ard's shoulder and giving a thumbs-up.
"That's enough, the important thing is their fight has stopped. Now let's help them," Minerva said, walking inside.
"Grr... fine," Ard replied, annoyed.
Finally, they all went inside and helped Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, and Rosalind, who had been thrown in all directions by the Dark Typhoon. They weren't injured but were thrown quite far from the center of the auditorium. Ard helped Eva stand up.
"Thank you, Ard. So, what's your answer?" Eva asked.
"Huh... what answer?" Ard asked, confused.
"Grrr... I declared my feelings, so what is your answer... don't make me repeat myself," Eva said.
"Hey... don't push it, Princess. Ard is mine," Alicia yelled.
"Please don't argue anymore, and Ard doesn't belong to anyone but me," Milia said.
"Huh... please don't speak carelessly. Right, Ard? We'll ride dragons together again, won't we?" Beatrice asked.
"Please don't interrupt, Princess Beatrice, but I want to know your answer, Ard, because I also feel the same as the others," Rosalind added.
"Huh... you traitor," Beatrice replied.
"Um... can I also hear the answer... I-I want to know too," Patricia said, slowly raising her hand.
"Shut up," Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, and Rosalind snapped back.
"I-I'm sorry," Patricia replied, lowering her hand again.
"Clap," suddenly, a clap echoed in the auditorium. "Groaaaar," a massive, yellow three-headed dragon, enveloped in lightning, appeared behind Minerva. Everyone's faces immediately turned to stare at Minerva, who was smiling, but the veins showing on her face indicated she was absolutely furious and fed up.
"All you girls, please be quiet now... let's get out of the auditorium and take all your familiars. Class is over," Minerva said with a voice that tried to remain calm and cold.
"Y-yes, ma'am," Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and even Patricia replied. They were trembling slightly, seeing Minerva angry.
"And you boys, please clean up everything here. This is all because you ran away just now," Minerva said, her voice still attempting to be calm and cold.
"Y-yes, ma'am," Ard replied, as did Geoffrey, Irwin, and Ainsley, who glared at Ard as if to say, "This is all your fault."
"Good. Come on, girls, your punishment is waiting on the field," Minerva said, still smiling.
"Y-yes, ma'am," Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and even Patricia replied, resigned to their fate.
After Minerva led Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia away, Ard breathed a sigh of relief. Then he turned to see Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin who looked angry at him.
"W-what?" Ard asked.
"Why are you flirting with all the girls in our class?" Ainsley asked, adjusting her glasses and looking angry.
"Yeah, bro, save some for us, seriously, you're too much," Geoffrey added.
"Hmm... hmm... agreed. Even Patricia, the quietest girl in class, asked him to marry her," Irwin added, nodding.
"Grrr... I myself don't know what's going on... I've been acting normal. I haven't flirted with them once. You guys know, I've spent all week in the library," Ard replied.
Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin thought for a moment, then they studied Ard's face. After that, they exhaled.
"Whatever... it's already happened, what can we do," Ainsley said.
"But it's better that we only have to clean the auditorium. Seeing Madam Minerva that angry, with her familiar out and ready to pounce on us... I'm relieved I'm not getting punished," Geoffrey said.
"Same here. At least we're safe here. Let's get to work," Irwin suggested.
"But what do you think their punishment is?" Ainsley asked, glancing at the door.
"Who cares. Let's start working, or it'll be evening soon," Geoffrey replied.
"Hey Ard, don't just stand there," Irwin said.
"Oh... okay," Ard replied. "Wait a minute, this is strange... if it's Eva who said I'm part of her past or whatever, and Alicia who is actually my fiancée... I can still understand. But Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, and even Patricia, who barely speaks to me... I don't understand at all. Milia and Beatrice did appear in my past lives, but that shouldn't have happened yet, right? And Rosalind and Patricia? They weren't in my past lives... aaah... why am I so confused? What exactly is going on?" Ard asked in my head.
"Hey bro, move it, or we'll never finish this," Geoffrey warned.
"Oh... okay... sorry," Ard replied, finally starting to work.