Wishing to Get Along (1)

The first day of ‘Communication with Spirits’ class ended in less than an hour.

As with most academy classes, the first day usually just involved explaining the lecture curriculum before wrapping up.

Of course, there were rare exceptions like Harold who would jump straight into practical training from the very first class, but that was precisely because Harold was such an exceptional case.

All the professor in charge of the Communication with Spirits lecture did on the first day was assign seats and give a brief explanation of the upcoming curriculum.

…And, most importantly, select “partner students” who would work together throughout the semester.

“Even if you don’t know anyone here, don’t worry~. I’ve already chosen students who seem compatible as partners for the semester~.”

‘Wait, this development can’t be…’

Just as clichés in such events tend to go, my uneasy premonition turned out to be correct.

By the time I came to my senses, Agnes had somehow naturally become my partner.

With the professor, Half Pulling, casually declaring:

“Students Agnes and Lillith have similar mana capacities~. And their grades are about the same too, so they’ll make great partners~. Ahaha~.”

For a moment, I almost protested the professor’s sudden decision to pair me with Agnes.

But if I objected and asked to change partners based on the professor’s own criteria, the atmosphere would obviously turn awkward.

To be honest, I didn’t know anyone else in the class well enough to request a different partner anyway.

In fact, given the psychological distance, Agnes-someone I was at least familiar with from the game-was probably the better option.

‘If we hadn’t needlessly provoked each other before class, things might not have been so bad…’

Looking back, I wondered if I had unnecessarily escalated things.

But then again, Agnes was the one who started it, wasn’t she? I was just responding in kind.

Honestly, my fault in this was at most 10%. The remaining 90% was all on Agnes.

Though I only found out later through speculation, it seemed my pairing with Agnes had been decided the moment I registered for the class.

There were 30 students in the Communication with Spirits lecture.

Excluding me, who was connected to Sally in a somewhat special way, there were 14 students who had already contracted with lower spirits and 15 who hadn’t-making up the 30 students in the class.

It wasn’t until near the end of the first class that I realized this was structured as a mentorship, where contracted students would guide those who hadn’t formed contracts yet.

‘In my past life, I never had a reason to take this class, so I didn’t know…’

The protagonist’s base charm stat was decent enough that they didn’t need to raise their spirit affinity separately. Today was actually the first time I learned Agnes was taking this class.

Agnes’ faction members probably all experienced this presumed affection event, but since I never once saw Agnes as a romantic interest…

At 145 cm and an A-cup, she was far from my type. In my past life, my taste was firmly in healthy beauties like Natalie.

…Well, whether she was my type or not wasn’t the point anymore.

Now that we were stuck as class partners, like it or not, I’d have to face Agnes at least once a week.

Given how we’d just provoked each other, proper class participation would be impossible unless we patched things up first.

‘For the sake of the future, I definitely need to get along with her somehow. …What a pain.’

…Well, for now, I suppose I’ll just have to approach her based on her hobbies and interests, like I did in my past life.

I never thought I’d be in a position where I’d have to romance a heroine like the protagonist, but wallowing in despair and doing nothing wasn’t my style.

“Since we’re stuck together, let’s try to get along this semester, Ms. Blaze. It’s not like we can keep antagonizing each other the whole time, right?”

“…Hmph, do whatever you want,”

How on earth was I supposed to get along with this brat for an entire semester? Right now, I had no clue.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

A week had passed since the start of the academy’s second semester.

For most students, the beginning of the semester was the most relaxed period, but for me, it was the opposite-my schedule was packed.

To prepare for the midterm hunting festival, the semester’s main event, I had to start moving quickly to get everything in order.

I needed to start gathering party members by networking with other departments and securing necessary items for the hunting festival.

For reference, the academy’s hunting festival had preferred department-based party compositions. The Magic Department had the worst reputation among them.

And for good reason-of the five combat departments, the Magic Department was the only one where “solo hunting” was impossible.

Swordsmanship, Spearmanship, Martial Arts, Archery.

Unlike the Magic Department, these four departments allowed solo hunting in the midterm evaluations. So students with decent skills often participated solo rather than forming parties.

Of course, forming a party allowed hunting stronger prey, so those ambitious about their grades did form parties-but usually, these were just casual friend groups rather than elite teams.

Even if I had performed well in the first semester, there was still a real chance I wouldn’t get invited to any parties.

That said, I had Ethan as a reliable fallback, so I wasn’t too worried.

‘If I can pair up with Ethan, even a duo party would be fine, but ideally, I’d like something a bit more solid.’

I had to consider the possibility that Ethan, being carefree, might not recruit additional members for our duo party.

The hunting festival had the biggest impact on semester grades, so I couldn’t afford to take it lightly. The more insurance, the better.

Of course, as Ethan’s exclusive maid, it was hard for me to brazenly socialize with students from other departments in front of him. So I couldn’t intervene much in member recruitment.

Whenever I chatted with male students from other departments, I could feel Ethan’s sharp gaze on me-probably displeased that I wasn’t focusing on my maid duties.

I wasn’t oblivious, so I had no intention of provoking my young master’s displeasure just to prepare for the hunting festival.

But doing nothing at all wasn’t in my nature either.

Instead of focusing on party recruitment, I poured my efforts into two areas: “self-improvement” and “potion acquisition.”

Of the two, the latter-potion acquisition-was especially critical.

‘Potions are practically a matter of life and death.’

Unlike the first semester’s evaluations, where death prevention magic ensured safety, the second semester’s hunting festival offered no such guarantees.

It was impossible to maintain death prevention magic over the vast Black Forest-not to mention that the spell wasn’t limited to humans.

Unless the academy’s Theology Department wanted live monsters delivered to their doorstep, they wouldn’t dare cast death prevention magic in a monster-infested forest.

Potions were the only way to ensure survival in such a dangerous place.

To heal fatal injuries on the spot and preserve lives, I needed to start negotiating potion suppliers now.

At this point, I only had one acquaintance in the Pharmacy Department who could serve as a supplier.

‘Lizzie Lynn August.’

The daughter of the Margrave August family. Vice-president of the Pharmacy Department.

How she rose to that position, I honestly didn’t know.

Maybe she was naturally talented, or maybe-true to her merchant family background-she used underhanded methods.

Given that she maintained her position even after a semester, the former seemed more likely. But even if she had cheated her way up, it didn’t matter to me.

All I needed was healing potions for the midterm hunting festival, not a morally upright friend.

The problem was how to reconnect with Lizzie after our awkward parting in the first semester.

After rejecting her secretary offer, our weekly tea times naturally faded away. And since the August and Blackwood territories were far apart, we never ran into each other during summer break.

At this point, if I went to the Pharmacy Department to see her, she might just coldly dismiss me, having lost interest.

If I approached the department head, ‘Witch Lara,’ instead, I’d undoubtedly get saddled with an impossible quest. So repairing my relationship with Lizzie was now a necessity.

‘I at least know how to handle Agnes, but how am I supposed to approach Lizzie…?’

She wasn’t even a heroine in “Luminor Academy”-she didn’t appear in the main story at all.

And judging by her personality from the masquerade, she was quite the fiery margrave’s daughter-not the kind of girl a loner like me from my past life could easily befriend.

Especially after having rejected her goodwill once already.

But going into the midterm hunting festival without potions would be dangerous-the “First Hunting Festival Event” could easily put me in peril. Recruiting a Theology Department student for the party would be even harder.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I suddenly felt like I was forgetting something important.

‘…Come to think of it, I feel like I’m overlooking something crucial.’

As I walked toward the Pharmacy Department to meet Lizzie, a nagging suspicion gnawed at me.

I realized it wasn’t just my imagination moments later.

“Oh my, it’s been a while, Miss Lillith.”

“…Princess Seraphine?”

“There’s something I’d like to discuss with you… Would you mind sparing some time?”

The moment I saw Princess Seraphine’s face-and her exclusive maid Luke standing behind her-I finally remembered what I had forgotten.

‘Ah.’

Right. The Luke dagger.