Chapter 11
Although I said it casually earlier,
The biggest feature of this house is that it has a hot spring.
Moreover, it's a hot spring that operates cleanly without maintenance, as if magic was used.
So I used it often while staying at home...
"You want to bathe together?"
I didn't expect such a proposal.
I quickly regained my senses that had momentarily fled and got up from the bed.
Hwa-ryeon, who opened the door and leaned back with her arms, looking at me.
Her clothes were not the usual black kimono, but only a white towel.
"Wait, why are you dressed like that again?"
"To take a bath, one must undress. I'm wearing this out of consideration, my lord."
With those words, Hwa-ryeon approached me.
The length of the towel was quite long, but…
That was compared to average, not nearly long enough to cover her entire body.
It mostly covered her chest, so that was fine, but
The towel pulled up high on her thighs was enough to make my head spin.
"Wait, stop right there."
Is this what a gumiho is?
Is this the gumiho that's said to enchant humans and suck out their vitality from ancient times?
Just looking at her was draining my energy.
The only fortunate thing was,
As my familiar spirit, she definitely listens to my orders.
"You know I'm going to refuse that bath proposal, right?"
"What? What do you mean? Are you going to refuse bath time with this concubine?"
"I'm not doing it."
My head is already aching enough as it is.
A bath? That's truly insane.
Well, honestly, it would be a clear lie to say that male desires don't arise, but
There's a reason why I can't give in.
I might be enchanted at some point if I just keep giving in because she's a familiar spirit.
"If you don't come, I'll untie this towel."
"Go ahead and try."
"Should I really do it?"
"I'll just dismiss the summoning if you do."
I'm the one in charge anyway.
Although I was flustered, I answered calmly because I had the upper hand.
Hwa-ryeon frowned and said,
"I'll tell Rin everything, my lord."
"Wouldn't that be good for me? By the way, when did you two become so close?"
"Don't women have their own time? We agreed to bathe together too."
"...Rin too?"
Wait.
So if I had followed her, Rin would have been there too.
That's a real landmine if I've ever seen one.
I could only admire my judgment for not being enchanted by the gumiho.
"If that's what you want, my lord, this concubine has no choice. Let's do it together next time when we have the chance."
Seeming to have given up, Hwa-ryeon closed the door and left with those final words.
The room became quiet again.
"Hah..."
My head hurts.
If it was going to be like this, I shouldn't have summoned her...
Bang-!
"Oh, right, my lord!"
"What now?"
"I'm not wearing underwear."
Click-
Silence fell once again.
In that silent room, I sat on the bed without doing anything for a while.
***
Four days passed quickly.
There wasn't much to do during that time anyway.
Time flew by in an instant as I just continued training in the house.
If there were any events during that time, it would be Rin staying one more day than planned,
Or Hwa-ryeon invading my room again in strange attire.
Anyway, after those four days passed,
I was now here.
"First, I'd like to congratulate this year's new students..."
At the academy where the entrance ceremony was being held.
Currently, the academy's main auditorium was in the middle of the entrance ceremony.
And just like any other school, the entrance ceremony was equally boring.
'It might be different if the principal came out.'
What's currently going on is the vice principal's instructional speech.
Originally, the principal would give the instructional speech at the entrance ceremony, but unfortunately, the academy's principal was busy.
She'll probably make a brief appearance later when it's time for the principal's speech.
It would be interesting if even that principal came out, but
The current vice principal was giving a typical sleep-inducing speech, so it couldn't help but be boring.
"Ugh... so boring."
And it seemed Rin, who was on my right, felt the same way.
"..."
Karen, who was on my left, didn't seem to feel that way, but
"...My back."
Or maybe she did.
"The content is long-winded and good, but it's not interesting."
"It proves that even good content becomes difficult when it goes on for an hour."
"It would be nice if the principal came quickly, or if you guys gave your speeches."
The reason we were sitting here like this was because of the speeches.
To be more precise,
Karen's representative speech as the top student,
And me as the runner-up to assist her from behind.
That's why we were here.
Rin was also in the upper ranks, so she was just sitting next to us.
Next to Rin was Yoon Kang-woo, who was at least pretending to listen to this boring speech.
"By the way, Shin-woo, the uniform suits you well."
"Really? It feels a bit tight to me."
What I'm wearing now is the academy uniform that arrived recently.
It feels good to wear the uniform I've only seen in illustrations, like cosplay,
But it feels a bit tight.
In response to my doubt, Hwa-ryeon, who was nearby in her spirit state, said,
"It's probably because there's a slight difference in your musculoskeletal structure compared to when you took the entrance exam."
"Just from four days of exercise?"
"A body with shamanic power isn't ordinary. Even excluding that, it's fast... but isn't it good that it's good?"
Originally, it takes a lot of time to build muscle and change body shape through exercise.
But to become this tight in just four days.
It was hard to realize, but I decided to just accept it.
In a fantasy world, this much is a trivial matter.
"Shin-woo."
At that moment, Karen, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, tapped me and opened her mouth.
"Necktie."
As I turned my head,
She moved her hand to my neck at the same time.
Swish-
Along with that, the feeling of tightness around my neck loosened a bit.
What's this? The appearance doesn't seem to have changed much.
"Magic. To make it not uncomfortable."
"...Is it okay to use magic for something like this?"
"It's fine. It doesn't use much magical power anyway."
Well, that's natural for Karen, but…
It feels a bit sudden.
"Thanks."
Still, gratitude is gratitude, so I thanked her.
Karen smiled faintly and turned her head back.
And with that,
The long, long instructional speech by the vice principal finally ended.
Then what's next?
It was probably the part everyone attending this entrance ceremony was most looking forward to.
None other than,
"Now then! We will have a brief speech from the principal!"
The principal of Luen Academy.
It was Euphoria's turn to speak.
Clack-
Along with the host's introduction, someone stepped onto the platform.
Her hair was pure white without a hint of dullness.
Her clothes were also a uniform made of white.
Only her black eyes stood out as a unique color in her appearance.
"It's nice to meet you all. I am Euphoria Jeroen, serving as the principal of the academy."
Her name was Euphoria Jeroen.
The person in charge of the principal position of this Luen Academy, and
'One of the Seven Stars.'
One of the Seven Stars called the strongest.
She is one of the world's strongest, bearing the title of White Night Star.
To briefly explain about her,
'She doesn't have a big role in the original work.'
She's just an occasional helper for the protagonist.
That's about the extent of her position.
But while her role was small, her presence itself was enormous.
Because of her existence, the followers of the outer gods couldn't attack the academy.
Because she was there, they were able to fend off the apostles of the outer gods pouring in during the latter half.
Although she dies in the end,
If she hadn't been there...
The academy would have been devastated by the forces of the outer gods about a month later, and the world would have ended.
Anyway, she's a character of such importance.
"Since the vice principal has just spoken at length, I don't intend to speak for long."
Euphoria, despite being the principal, is extremely busy.
She probably just came back from a mission.
And she'll likely head somewhere else after this entrance ceremony ends.
What she does at the entrance ceremony is this very short speech she's giving now, and
"Would the two representatives of the new students please come to the front of the platform."
Listening to the representative speech of the top new student.
That's all.
After her brief speech that lasted less than 10 minutes ended,
Euphoria called Karen and me, the new student representatives, without delay.
'It might just be her watching, but…'
She is one of the Seven Stars.
The Seven Stars are beings almost like gods, unreachable to the people of this world.
In fact, some of the Seven Stars even have religious followings.
Having someone like Euphoria watch is a tremendous motivation for the top student, and by extension, all students.
"..."
As we stepped onto the platform, I made eye contact with Euphoria who was standing behind.
In contrast to her white appearance, her eyes were dark like black pearls.
Her gaze was fixed on Karen and me.
Or more precisely...
"She's looking at you quite intently, my lord."
A bit more towards me than Karen.
Why? Karen should be the student representative.
"Could it be that she's interested in you, my lord?"
-I'm not sure, I haven't done anything particularly noteworthy. Besides, Euphoria would know about your existence, so be careful.
For some reason.
Nothing particularly came to mind.
I've only been in this world for a little over a week, so there's no way I could have done anything to catch Euphoria's eye.
Those thoughts were brief.
Karen and I, now positioned on the platform, began our representative speeches.
"Top new student, Karen Astana."
"Second-ranked new student, Kang Shin-woo."
Karen's speech was very orthodox.
It was very much like her, if I had to say.
She didn't add any unnecessary details or long-winded explanations, but gave a straightforward speech with just what was needed.
The academy's rules, basic regulations.
These formed the main part of her speech.
"And I've heard that the budget for the magic research department is low. I hope it can be increased."
Well, this too.
It's something only Karen could say.
'I definitely couldn't do that.'
One thing for sure is that I could never give such a speech.
"This concludes the student representative speech."
Anyway, although there were some concerning points here and there, the speech couldn't be long since she only included what was necessary.
So, as if quickly getting it over with, she finished her speech in 5 minutes and turned around after bowing.
"That was new student representative Karen Astana."
With that, Karen left the platform.
I also followed her to leave the platform.
"You there."
Or at least, I tried to.
If only Euphoria hadn't called from behind.
"How about you give a short speech too?"
"...Pardon?"
What's this now?
It's a deeply concerning situation.