Chapter 31
"Lord Aiden asked for me?"
I glared at Kim Cha-hoon, my smile gone.
What on earth could he have talked about with Aiden for my name to have come up?
"Huh? No."
But that was my misunderstanding.
It wasn't that Kim Cha-hoon had blabbed on his own; Aiden had first taken notice of my unusual hair and eye colors.
I immediately relaxed my expression and apologized to Kim Cha-hoon.
"No need to apologize. Anyway, you're coming with us, right?"
"I'll go if you promise not to use that strange way of speaking."
"That's easy!"
Kim Cha-hoon held out his hand. I took it, stood up, and headed toward Aiden.
The moment Aiden saw me, he asked a blunt question.
"Which side are you from?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean your parents' origins. Your eyes are very beautiful."
"Ah... Th-thank you. I'm half Korean and half American."
"So which part of America? You know, you can distinguish the Midwest and such."
'......What is this all of a sudden.'
It was an impossible question to answer.
I wasn't even half American, nor did I know anything about the different types of Western appearances.
If I gave him some plausible answer, he'd quickly realize I was lying.
I looked him straight in the eye.
"Am I obligated to answer?"
"What?"
"You call them beautiful, but I feel like I'm being interrogated. I'm too scared to open my mouth."
"......I understand. That was rude of me."
After a heavy silence, Aiden waved his hand dismissively.
Kim Cha-hoon and Kim Shin-ro, the head of Asadal, gave me awkward smiles, but I had nowhere to back down either.
That had clearly been a test.
'The eye-color stuff is just an excuse.'
I knew it instinctively.
Those baffling questions he threw out of nowhere.
And was it really a coincidence that he had picked out exactly the information Douglas had omitted when he submitted my name to the World Nobles' Council?
"Oh my, you're back already?"
"Huh...? Lady Iroha?"
When I returned to the table, an unexpected person greeted me.
Japan's unrivaled Shimizu family.
And Iroha Shimizu, its second daughter.
She was the girl I had briefly crossed paths with while making the rounds earlier.
It seemed she and Ribi knew each other; they had been chatting amiably before brightening when they saw me.
"What brings you here, Lady Iroha...?"
"Why, I came to see Raebi, of course. Isn't that right, Lady Iroha?"
Iroha nodded vigorously.
Then she fidgeted with her fingers and asked if she could touch me just once.
Apparently, Japanese families generally adored Douglas Kim.
The explanation was simple.
'Because he was both handsome and pretty.'
The Shimizu family had many women in it, and many of them were helpless before anything cute. When a pretty little girl suddenly appeared, they seemed to lose their minds.
I thought that even though the times had changed, Japanese people's habits remained the same.
"Here."
She took my hand and placed it on top of my head.
As I closed my eyes and leaned my head slightly forward, the corners of Iroha's mouth began to curve upward.
"Kyaa... aaah!!!"
The full-on petting began. They kneaded my lips and cheeks, and eventually even hugged me.
Iroha's scream-like laughter brought other Japanese nobles over to pet me as well, and the attention of everyone nearby began to focus on us.
As Ribi watched with a pleased expression, Iroha made her an offer.
"Classes start three days from now, right? Would you like to come visit our accommodations?"
"Hmm... What do you think? Would that be all right, Raebi?"
Ribi smiled at me with eyes that said, 'Accept.'
I remembered telling her during tea time at the mansion that socializing was a hassle.
But I wasn't so inconsiderate a child as to ruin the socializing in a situation like this.
I nodded and said, 'Of course.' Iroha was delighted and opened her mouth.
"Then how about tomorrow!?"
"Um... If it's all right with you, may I contact you later? I need to coordinate my schedule with Mr. Cha-hoon."
"Understood. Here's my contact information. You Bibi folks are welcome anytime!"
'Bibi?'
Rae'bi', Ri'bi'.
Put together, they became Bibi.
She had already made up a nickname of her own for us.
"As expected, Raebi is a lucky charm!"
After she left, Ribi hugged me and said,
Apparently, the reason was that I had captivated the soul of the world's seventh-ranked family.
Although we'd built up a certain amount of rapport with the Shimizu family, this was apparently the first time they'd reacted so intensely.
Still, the constant physical contact made me feel as though I was about to lose my mind.
When I asked what was so good about building rapport, she replied,
"The family head and the older sister will like you! They might cover for you if you run into trouble! We could even ask them to let us get a foot in the door of Japan's most economically valuable Gates. And..."
......Apparently,
They would give a cute thing anything it wanted.
Especially since, if we ended up facing them in next semester's ranking competition, we could ask them to back down a little. That alone was a huge advantage.
"Wow... Can a family really stay afloat acting like that?"
"Do you think they're at the level where they'd have to worry about that? Besides, they're merciless toward everyone else. Be grateful for your pretty looks, Lady Raebi!"
Ribi squished my cheeks together with both hands.
It was the first time I'd ever seen her this excited.
Honestly, it didn't really sink in, but I figured it must be something extremely good.
Apparently, it was rare for a high-ranking family to seek us out first like this.
The banquet ended, and I stood up from my seat.
I was worried Kim Cha-hoon might catch me in the middle of it, but fortunately, he never appeared.
However, a big shot spoke to me along the way.
"You there, Douglas Kim."
"Yes, yes?"
"I was just curious earlier. Don't worry about it, and get plenty of rest."
Aiden muttered, 'There's no way that sly old man simply took it at face value,' and left with his companions.
From Aiden's muttering, I thought I understood why he had suddenly tried to fluster me.
Ribi looked curious about what had happened, but I glossed over it by saying, "He was curious about something personal."
Ribi smiled and said, 'Anyone would think that when they saw Raebi.'
"The materials are all ready."
When we arrived at our lodging, Kim Gaeul handed me a USB drive.
When I plugged it into the multifunction TV in the room, it showed not only past exam questions, but also the answers and explanations.
There were so many that they seemed endless no matter how far I scrolled, but apparently, she had sorted the more important ones to the front.
She added that moving up about five places should be easy if we studied just this much.
"The practical exam is the problem, isn't it?"
"The practical exam?"
"Raising our practical ranking is really difficult. The limits are clear to begin with."
Most of the students entering here were C-rank or B-rank.
Of course, there were limits on the number of people in each rank, but countries with large populations could adjust the distribution of positions as needed.
That put them worlds apart from us, whose lineup was semi-fixed.
On top of that, individual differences were considerable even among people of the same rank, putting us at an even greater disadvantage.
For instance, China only had to send the very best students who barely qualified for each rank.
'......Am I the variable?'
"Don't worry about the practical exam. We have a way to handle it. Let's work it out step by step starting this semester!"
"Understood. I'll pass it on to the other students as well."
"Yep. Thanks for the materials!"
Kim Gaeul left with her arms crossed, and Ribi asked me,
"There's a way?"
"......I get scolded if I say the wrong thing. I'll ask the head of the family."
"Hmm... Now I'm curious."
Ribi didn't press me any further. She merely teased, "Is it fair to make me curious and then not tell me?"
Unlike April, she didn't hold a grudge. Even with similar appearances, their personalities were worlds apart.
While I was chatting with Ribi, Kim Cha-hoon came to visit.
"Uegh...!"
"You're reacting openly like that now. I'm starting to find this rewarding."
"Get out."
"Aah! Raebi, just one thing, seriously."
Kim Cha-hoon shamelessly came in and sat down.
He looked at Han Jihye and tapped the space in front of him.
Han Jihye brought out some tea.
"...Hmm. That's a surprisingly ordinary aroma for a Douglas Kim."
"No...! ......So what did you want to talk about?"
Kim Cha-hoon leaned over the table.
His eyes were filled with curiosity.
"You didn't come in after donating some item or something, did you?"
'......What kind of life has this Douglas fellow lived, anyway.'
I answered with a straight face, 'The truth.'
"I did give him an item."
"Huh?"
"I told you, I gave him one. It was so rare that I was the only person who had it, and the head of the family was delighted."
"Really? As expected...... Whatever it was, it must have been something amazing."
It was, at that.
How common could living, moving wooden dolls be in this world?
Anyway, there was no lie in what I had said.
It was true that I had given him an item(?) that only I possessed, and it was also true that Douglas had been delighted as a result.
Kim Cha-hoon studied my eyes carefully, then nodded with a relaxed expression, apparently convinced that I was telling the truth.
"Oh, right. Lady Iroha invited us to her lodging tomorrow... We don't have anything specially scheduled, do we?"
"The Shimizu family invited you? Why?"
"Hehe, why do you think?"
At Ribi's words, Kim Cha-hoon's gaze turned toward me.
"......As expected, beautiful flowers are for everyone..."
"Get out."
Kim Cha-hoon confirmed that we had no schedule and was kicked out.
But when I went out for a short walk, I saw that he was in another room.
When I asked why he wasn't going downstairs, he made an 'Ugh' face.
'He's nothing if not consistent.'
It was wrong of me, but I couldn't help liking him a little.
It certainly wasn't romantic or anything like that; people who were honest about their feelings were simply easier to be around.
After the short walk, Ribi returned to her own room as well.
Only then did the attendants begin pouring out their torrent of impressions.
"Wow... There are so many photo spots, and everything was seriously so delicious and so amazing!! Eight City is the best, really!! Right, Oppa Cheol! Oppa Daeseok! Sis Hana!"
"Y-yeah."
"Dayoung, calm down and speak slowly so Lady Raebi can understand you."
I'd assigned Pyeon Dayoung to explore Eight City.
Han Jihye had done some preliminary research, but whether it was the sights or the food, there was no knowing what they were like without experiencing them yourself.
I'd asked Kang Hana, Han Cheol, and Kim Daeseok to do something similar.
They had said they would stay at their posts, but I allowed them to go out in shifts.
Anna Ri looked enviously at Pyeon Dayoung, and I chuckled softly before speaking.
"We don't have anything scheduled from morning until lunch. Shall we all go explore?"
Anna Ri's face brightened at that. When our eyes met, she looked embarrassed for a moment, but soon nodded and said, "I really want to go!"
We left our lodging the next morning.
I gave Han Cheol and Kim Daeseok, who had said they would prepare breakfast, a day's leave.
We were going to eat out all day anyway.
However, Han Cheol seemed particularly uneasy, in stark contrast to Kim Daeseok, who took it in stride.
I looked at him with a smug little 'Hmph.'
"Mr. Cheol."
"Yes, Lady Raebi."
"......Let me guess. You were chosen as an attendant, but you have no chance to cook, and you're worried because there are three people in the same position, right?"
"Huh? How did you know...?"
I rested my chin on my hand and spoke to him as he stammered, clearly hit right on the mark.
"Don't worry about it. This is also a form of studying. If you try lots of different foods, won't the quality of the dishes you make for me improve too?"
"Ah...!"
Only then did some of the tension leave Han Cheol. He began studying the menu intently with a serious look in his eyes.
But he soon stopped short, tilted his head, and turned his gaze toward me.
He looked as though he didn't understand something, but in the end, he didn't open his mouth.
After that, we spent about two hours visiting the sights Pyeon Dayoung introduced.
We had originally planned to eat lunch outside as well, but Han Cheol looked utterly drained, so I felt sorry for him and returned to our lodging.
"Thank you! Thank you! I'll make it delicious!"
Han Cheol began cooking with a more relaxed expression than usual.
I considered inviting Ribi as well, but she had a prior appointment with an American family.
"Little miss?"
"Please..."
After lunch, Kim Cha-hoon caught me and forced me to have tea with him.
Toward evening, Ribi came and set me free, and we headed to Iroha's lodging together.
I also prepared a small gift for Iroha. I'd heard that it was good to show sincerity when being invited somewhere for the first time.
I suggested that Ribi and I say we'd prepared it together, but she said it would probably be better not to.
She had prepared something in advance as well.
'Iroha Shimizu. The Shimizu family's S-rank mage.'
Spot-
[Piranian Circulation Ring]
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Can reduce mana consumption.
Up to 15% reduction when using the same skill.
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Shop purchase price: 300,000 G
Shop selling price: 60,000 G
......Only 60,000 in material costs. Slightly more expensive than Ribi's.
Based on Han Jihye's information, I had it designed specifically for Iroha Shimizu.
It was a sudden invitation, so she probably wasn't expecting a gift, but unexpected gifts were often the most touching.
"Ms. Jihye, you wrapped it beautifully, right?"
"Of course."