Chapter 34
The day after… doing that again, we returned to the academy.
“We had a good time, didn’t we?”
“…Yeah. We did.”
It really had been nice.
The hot springs were great, the food was delicious, and… well, I tried that sort of thing for the first time.
Ahem. Anyway.
“Did you enjoy the Manarian Hot Springs? I imagine you’re stronger than me now.”
“You flatter me.”
Our homeroom teacher, Cain, was there to greet us when we returned to the academy.
…Ian was probably stronger than you even before we went to the hot springs.
“Ah! El! You’re back!”
“Arin! How have you been?”
“Am I invisible?”
“I don’t need the likes of Ian!”
“Hey?!”
Arin’s familiar red hair tickled my nose.
She’s cute…
“Have you been well? Nothing happen while we were gone?”
“Do you think I’m a little kid? I’ve been fine!”
The way she puffed out her chest and declared that made her seem like a kid, though.
“Oh, come to think of it, there is one problem.”
“What is it?”
Was she hurt somewhere? Or had she not gotten the dwarf-made equipment she was supposed to receive?
“Midterms start next week.”
“…Huh?”
…That was a problem I hadn’t even considered.
“Hey. They really start next week?”
“Yes!”
“…Seriously?”
“I said they do!”
I haven’t studied at all…
Ian must’ve been in the same boat, because he kept asking Arin about it.
What should we do?
“…Arin, do you have any notes from class?”
“…You don’t, do you?”
…So she doesn’t study.
“…Do you at least know what’s on the test?”
“I know that much! But the practical exams are the main thing anyway, so why bother with the written ones…?”
“Good. Then we’ll finish studying everything between now and next week.”
“What?!”
I’ll show you how a student from a prestigious university crams.
…
That afternoon, after classes had ended.
First, we went to the library and borrowed every book we needed at once.
Normally, you weren’t allowed to borrow that many books at a time, but…
“Student. Like I said, you can’t borrow all these books at once…”
“Here.”
“…The academy’s top student badge?”
Luckily, we had Ian, the top student.
Just like in other academy novels, the top student had all kinds of privileges.
No limit on how many books he could borrow, access to a private study room, and so on.
Apparently, there was also a special dorm shared with the runner-up, along with special meals, but Ian had turned those down.
Maybe he didn’t want to live with the former runner-up, that berserk mage?
Anyway, we took advantage of the top student’s privileges to borrow a mountain of books, then headed to his private study room.
And when we arrived, the study room was…
“Somehow, this looks even nicer than my dorm.”
“It really does… Wait, isn’t it bigger, too?”
“…I had no idea it was this nice. We should’ve come here sooner.”
How could a mere study room be bigger than a regular dorm?
Of course, the regular dorm wasn’t bad. It had a bed, a desk, everything you needed.
But this place…
Yeah. Let’s just say there was no comparison.
“…Well, no point complaining when we’ve got it good. Let’s study.”
“Aww…”
Ignoring Arin’s feeble protest, I started studying.
Ian opened his textbook too, and Arin… she looked like she hated it.
At a glance, she seemed to have scraped by on the written portion of the entrance exam and made it into Class A through the practical portion alone.
Impressive.
“El, do you know how to solve this?”
“Oh, this one…”
Ian was asking about a simple math problem.
It was simple to me, someone from Korea in my previous life, anyway. By the standards of people in this world, it was probably quite difficult.
“…Ian, do you know this one?”
“Oh, yeah. You do it like this…”
There were times when I asked Ian for help, too.
Mostly with history or magic.
History was hard to get used to because of the differences from my past life, and magic… just wasn’t my thing.
In some novels, they said magic was physics or geometry or something.
There was nothing like that in this world.
The formulas were completely different.
“Zzz…”
For the record, Arin fell asleep five minutes after opening her book.
That’s a talent in its own way.
…
“Phew… Shall we call it here for today?”
“Let’s.”
When I looked outside, the sun had already set and the moon was up.
We’d started in the afternoon after class, so I guess we’d studied for about six hours.
Six hours of actual studying. I never would’ve imagined that in my past life.
Even since being reincarnated, this was the first time I’d studied this much.
“Nice work, El.”
“You too, Ian.”
“Zzz…”
“…She’s really out.”
“She sure is.”
Arin hadn’t woken up once that whole time.
Still, she hadn’t snored too loudly… and she was cute to watch, too.
“Arin, wake up. We need to go.”
“Mmm… Huh, El?”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Ugh… Is it already dark out?”
“Yeah. You slept really well.”
“Hehe.”
That wasn’t a compliment, though.
“Then let’s head back…”
-Grrrgle.
Just then, a stomach growled.
“…”
“…El?”
“…It wasn’t me.”
“You’re hungry, huh? Can’t blame you~ You’ve been studying all this time without even having dinner. Your stomach’s bound to growl~”
“I said it wasn’t!”
Why?! Why did it have to growl all of a sudden?!
My face burning red, I denied it with all my might, but Arin didn’t believe me at all.
Well, Arin was skilled enough to make it into Class A through the practical exam alone. Pinpointing the source of a sound was probably easy for her.
…Looking closely, Ian’s face was red, too, and he was barely holding back a laugh.
H-How embarrassing…
“Should we go get something to eat?”
“That sounds great, Ian. There’s someone here whose stomach is growling, so we’d better hurry.”
“Please stop…”
“Huh? I didn’t say who it was.”
“…”
You little brat…
…
We went to the Rua shopping district near the academy to get something to eat.
The academy cafeteria—and even the snack shop—had already closed.
I could understand the cafeteria being closed, but I didn’t expect the snack shop to close, too.
“Being top student sure is convenient. They even let you go out at night.”
“That’s what makes it a privilege.”
That spot was supposed to be mine.
-Glare.
“Ugh…”
“Ian? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“I just got a chill…”
I shot Ian a sidelong glare, and he shivered as if he’d sensed something.
Just you wait. I’ll take that spot from you for sure.
“Ah! That restaurant over there is still open!”
“You’re right. Let’s hurry.”
The restaurant Arin had spotted served ordinary home-style meals.
If I had to compare it to something from my past life, I’d call it a Korean diner.
“Three set meals, please!”
“Oh my, you students work so hard, staying out this late. Just wait a moment.”
Maybe because we were wearing academy uniforms, the owner recognized us right away and quickly brought out our food.
A simple stew with plenty of ingredients, some bread, and one sausage.
It really felt like home cooking.
Of course, I’d never had this kind of home cooking before.
“Let’s dig in.”
The stew was better than I’d expected.
It wasn’t fancy, but… it reminded me of the kimchi stew my mother used to make in my past life.
The bread was good in an ordinary way, and the sausage seemed homemade—slightly rough around the edges, but it was all delicious.
Maybe we’d stumbled on a hidden gem.
“This place is good.”
“It really is! It tastes a lot like what my mother used to make!”
“Heh…”
The other two seemed to like it, too. They were eating happily.
“If you want more, just say so. I’ll bring you some.”
“Really?”
“Of course. You’re my last customers, so I’ll give you all the leftovers!”
As she spoke, the owner brought over the entire pot. Wow, she sure was generous.
“Then I’ll have another bowl!”
“Sure! Eat up~”
“Let’s dig in!”
Arin accepted bowl after bowl without hesitation.
As I watched her childlike enthusiasm, my own plate was soon piled high with stew, too.
“You eat plenty, too, miss. That way you’ll have energy for tomorrow.”
“I… No, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
“There, there…”
I’d meant to refuse at first, but something about the owner’s gaze made it impossible.
I’m not sure why.
‘…It’s warm.’
The stew I spooned into my mouth seemed to warm me from the inside.
…I miss my family. Both the family from my past life and the one in this life.
…
It had already been several months since Plia ran away from home.
“Sigh… I wonder if our daughter’s eating properly.”
“Don’t worry so much, dear. Plia’s a Swordmaster, isn’t she? And she’s a clever girl, so she won’t get swindled.”
“Even so…”
The head of House Whitewolf, Plien Jegen Whitewolf, was trying to comfort his wife, Loren Jegen Whitewolf.
Their daughter, Plia, had apparently run away from home because she didn’t want to get married.
If she’d gotten a job somewhere like a knightly order, at least that would’ve been reassuring, but for some reason she’d simply run away.
‘There’s no way I, your father, would approve of a marriage you don’t want!’
But Plia, as if she couldn’t care less about his feelings, had left without so much as a letter—and hadn’t sent one since.
“Sigh… If only we knew where she was, I wouldn’t have to worry like this.”
“That… is true.”
He had quietly sent agents out to look for her, but her skill at erasing her tracks was anything but ordinary.
All they’d managed to learn so far was that she might have been headed toward the capital.
Even that wasn’t certain, so they couldn’t make any rash moves.
-I will always consider how my actions might affect House Whitewolf and act without bringing shame upon it.
‘Have you forgotten the vow you made…?’
A father’s wrinkles deepened once again today.