Room Assignment

“Oh my, thank you for coming all this way, students of the Academy.”

Bridget Village, where we arrived after another two-hour journey from the plains where we’d spent the night.

As soon as our carriage-carrying Ethan, me, and the Hero’s party-arrived, the white-haired village chief, who had come out as the village representative, greeted us by shaking the Hero’s hand.

“It wasn’t that far. It was just a night’s journey away.”

“We’ll be in your care for the next three days, Chief.”

“Oh, no, no. We’ve prepared rooms in the village hall for you all to stay in. Please, come inside.”

The Hero and the Princess naturally took on the role of our representatives, conversing with the chief as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

By the way, for this event, all of us-including those two-were registered as ‘commoner students.’

Since the Humanities Exploration class was meant to aid regions suffering from bandit attacks, flaunting noble or royal authority would go against its purpose. That was the class’s guiding principle.

It was to prevent situations where, if things didn’t go their way or they got upset, someone might suddenly snap, “How dare these commoners!” and cause unnecessary trouble.

‘Though in reality, this place is packed with ticking time bombs that could explode the entire village if you push them the wrong way.’

A Hero, a Princess, a Saintess, and multiple noble heirs.

Of course, in my case, it was just a fabricated identity I’d created to enroll in the Academy’s Magic Department, but Ethan and Agnes were still a noble prince and noble lady, respectively.

With Ethan and me joining the Hero’s party, we’d somehow ended up with a bizarre gathering of the rarest people in the world-a party that could explode with a 50% chance if handled wrong. A minefield party, you could say.

“The village hall isn’t very spacious, so we could only prepare three rooms… I hope they won’t be too cramped for you students.”

“It’s no problem, Chief.”

“Just having a roof over our heads is more than enough.”

“Thank you for saying that. Each room has two beds, so I think two people can sleep comfortably in each. Please divide yourselves accordingly.

Ah, and this is a letter from someone called a professor at the Academy, meant for all of you. I can’t read, so I’m just delivering it as is…”

“Ah, right.”

With those words, the chief of Bridget Village handed over a written list to Gyeotmwa Josyegigot.

Having seen this exact piece of paper countless times in the original game, I could roughly guess its contents even from a distance.

「Repair the broken village hall warehouse (10 points)

Repair the broken village fence (5 points)

Play with the children at the orphanage (5 points)

…

…

…」

A list of ‘tasks to complete in Bridget Village’ prepared by the professor of the Humanities Exploration class.

Having visited the village a few days ahead of us, they had meticulously listed everything we needed to do to earn service points. It looked like we’d be keeping busy for the next three days.

‘Though honestly, you could ignore all the other tasks and still get a B just by completing the last one.’

「Uncover the villager colluding with the bandits and subjugate the bandit group (50 points)」

Well, that was something Gyeotmwa would have to handle on his own from now on.

This deduction event would be a good opportunity to test just how sharp that guy’s mind really was.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After being shown our lodging for the next three days by the chief, not long after…

The Hero’s party-which now included Ethan and me-was embroiled in a rather chaotic debate over the issue of ‘room assignments.’

“First, since Miss Lilith and Prince Ethan are outsiders to our party, we should give them a separate room. That leaves the eight of us to divide the remaining rooms.”

“Wait, that’s not necessarily the only way.”

“In that case, we’ll have no choice but to have men and women share rooms today. I suppose I’ll have to share a room with Hero Gyeotmwa Josyegigot. Truly, there’s no other choice.”

“…Is that really ‘no choice’? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re just acting on pure self-interest.”

“What are you talking about, Silena? There are six women and two men, so at least two women will have to share a room with the men. I’m just volunteering to be one of those two. Is there a problem with that?”

“That’s not volunteering. You scheming bitch. You’re planning to crawl into Volt’s bed alone, aren’t you? I won’t allow that.”

“W-wait a minute! I-I think it’s a bit… improper for me to share a room with the ladies! Especially someone as noble as Princess Seraphine-that would be problematic in many ways!”

“Oh? I was thinking that since it’ll be me, the Hero, and Thomas in one room, the remaining spot should go to Natalie.”

“……Huh?”

“Natalie is Thomas’s childhood friend, after all. I don’t think there’d be any issue with her sharing a bed with him. Was that out of line?”

“…W-well, if that’s the case… I-I suppose it might be fine… If Natalie agrees…”

“Me? I don’t care who I share a room with! Thomas, you’re fine too!”

“…Good. That’s a relief.”

“Wait, why did you stop talking? I won’t let you sneak into Volt’s bed alone, Seraphine. If you’re sharing with Volt, then I’m sharing too.”

“I think it’s unhealthy for young men and women to share a bed… Unless, like Prince Ethan and Lady Lilith, you’re a couple with a promised future… But for the Princess, Silena, Natalie-it’s just too… improper…”

“…I just want to get this over with and rest. As long as there are no men in the same room, I don’t care.”

“I also don’t mind which room I stay in, Princess Seraphine.”

The debate seemed endless, with everyone stubbornly clinging to their non-negotiable conditions.

Honestly, if Ethan and I hadn’t been here, this would’ve been resolved much sooner. With three rooms, one could’ve been designated for the men, and the other two could’ve accommodated three women each-a clean solution.

This Humanities Exploration class was already an unpopular subject among regular students since most only took it for the experience points. Normally, you wouldn’t even have to share lodging with anyone outside the Hero’s party.

‘But because I convinced Ethan to come along this time, things got tangled up…’

In this situation, if Ethan and I took up a whole room ourselves, it would just add to the confusion. The only option was for us to blend into the Hero’s party’s original tent-sharing arrangement.

“Young Master Ethan should share a room with the two other gentlemen, and I’ll share with the ladies. That seems like the best solution.”

“…Yeah, I guess we have no choice. That does seem like the cleanest way.”

“Originally, I planned to use Healing Aura tonight to treat Young Master Ethan’s arm… But it seems that won’t be possible now.”

“…If you pulled another all-nighter like last night, I’d probably collapse from exhaustion tomorrow, Lilith.”

I ignored Ethan’s baseless claim.

Then, Ethan and I stepped into the center of the Hero’s party, where the sleeping arrangements were still being debated.

With his words, the room assignments for our three-day stay finally began to take shape.

“I’ll share a room with the men in your party. Lilith can mix in with the women. That way, we can split into groups of three, three, and four. No issues with room assignments then.”

“Prince Ethan…?”

“What, weren’t you two lovebirds planning to stick together?”

“It’d be rude for just the two of us to take up a room that could fit four. Besides, wouldn’t it be better for all of you to divide cleanly by gender instead of getting flustered over this on the first day?”

“Y-yes… I think Prince Blackwood is absolutely right… No matter how much you love someone, men and women sharing a bed is… improper…”

“…Understood. Since Prince Ethan and Lilith are being so considerate, we’ll gladly accept your kindness.”

Though Seraphine made no effort to hide her disappointment, even I had to admit this was the most reasonable solution.

If we’d left things as they were, Gyeotmwa would’ve been stuck awkwardly sandwiched between the three heroines for three days, and Agnes-who had somehow ended up sharing a room with Thomas-would’ve undoubtedly made her displeasure known.

I’m not that oblivious. I wasn’t so shameless as to cling to Ethan in this situation and ruin the rest of the party’s comfort.

“The three gentlemen can share one room, so now we just need to divide ourselves.”

“That’s right, Lilith.”

“Which room should I join, everyone? Is there anyone who’d like to share with me?”

-Whoosh.

“…Me.”

Agnes raised her hand without a moment’s hesitation when I asked who wanted to share with me.

This much was within my expectations, and the next response didn’t stray far from what I’d predicted either.

“I’ll share the room with Lilith and Lady Agnes.”

“In that case, I’ll naturally accompany Princess Seraphine in that room.”

…Well, that figures.

Aside from Luke, they were all people I got along with reasonably well. At least I wouldn’t be bored during our stay here.