Ch.201Chapter 201 – Side Story 2

When you always have time off, it loses its appeal, but after studying or working hard, a vacation becomes essential. That’s how it felt right now.

A semester lasts four months. The typical first semester schedule starts in March and ends in June. After that, you could escape the heat somewhere else during the hot months of July and August.

But life isn’t always sweet.

To welcome summer vacation, you have to take exams. To earn the end of the semester, you must face the final exams.

The exams ask how diligently you’ve lived your Academy life throughout the semester.

They test if you remember what was taught in the lectures you attended. If you missed even one day, you might have missed something important.

They also check if you properly participated in submitting assignments. If you merely rode on others’ hard work, they ask questions that would be difficult to answer. Making a mistake here could reduce your assignment score, causing cold sweat to run down your back.

Scratch. Scratch.

I wrote my answers with a pencil. Multiple choice questions get selected, short answers get written. Simple enough, but whether the results would be simple remained to be seen.

And when the exam for the final lecture ended, along with the first-year class representative’s announcement of the semester’s end, we welcomed summer vacation with light footsteps.

“Well, shall we take a look?”

Tada-dan, tada-dan. Some music comes to mind.

That unique atmosphere of tension before revealing something. I nervously moved the mouse, finally able to see my scores that had remained unknown throughout my time at the Academy.

The Professor sipped the coffee she had made.

“Ourr, did your grades come out well?”

“Ah, not yet… I haven’t checked yet.”

I’m nervous. I’ve logged in and just need to check my grades, but why is it so difficult?

It must be because I worked hard. It’s inevitable to have high expectations for the results when you’ve put in effort.

“Sss!”

“…What are you saying?”

“Ouro wants coffee too… I’m drinking it black.”

“Ah, I see.”

Nothing special.

The Professor leaned slightly against the chair back and craned her neck forward. It seemed like she wanted to see my results with me, which made me even more nervous.

Click.

“Why is this so slow?”

“…Don’t know.”

“Grr, ugh.”

I leaned my head toward the monitor. It wouldn’t make the loading any faster, but it felt strange that an academy that boasts about cutting-edge technology and nurturing talent has a website that moves as slowly as a turtle.

Come to think of it, isn’t the website like the face of the Academy…?

Actually, no one decides to enter the Academy based on its website, but still, this seems too much. With how advanced the internet is these days, do they not have proper servers here?

While grumbling, I carefully examined the grade report that finally loaded.

About 11 subjects, all A+.

At the moment when all my efforts bore fruit, I couldn’t contain the joy rising from within. I clenched my fist tightly and turned my head sharply.

“Professor! I got all A+!”

“Ourr really did well… though I did give one of them.”

The Professor calmly sipped her coffee, as if she had already anticipated this.

It seems professors talk among themselves to some extent. Since she doesn’t always eat with us, she probably meets with other professors during those times.

“Muya.”

Ouro, who had suffered through the bitter coffee, peeked her head out.

She must have come because she was envious of the lively atmosphere between the Professor and me. Seeing her eyes that seemed to ask to be included, I gestured to her. Ouro trotted over.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking at grades. Want me to check yours too?”

“I don’t mind.”

Ouro is the type who doesn’t care much about grades. She seems like she would accept whatever results she gets.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Ouro the one lying down nonchalantly while I was working on assignments? Surely she didn’t fail because she didn’t properly submit assignments, right?

I felt somewhat uneasy, but I went ahead and accessed Ouro’s account.

“…Oh.”

The Professor let out a small sigh.

I grabbed my forehead and tilted my head.

“You said you did well on the exams…”

There was one A in a liberal arts course, but the rest ranged from B+ to C.

Doing well on exams alone doesn’t guarantee good results, but at this level, it’s fair to say she barely participated in assignments.

No, because she didn’t participate in assignments, she couldn’t answer questions related to them…!

“Well… it’s fine.”

Ouro brushed it off casually.

The Professor took a sip of coffee and nodded.

“It’s okay. Ouro just needs to attend healthily. Don’t get hurt.”

The Professor said something that sounded very familiar.

Isn’t that what mothers usually say?

It sounds peculiarly ambiguous to hear such words after seeing the grade report.

Since Ouro wasn’t particularly interested in grades, she lost interest in us sitting at the computer and returned to the kitchen. Perhaps she wanted to finish the coffee she was drinking earlier.

“Professor, I did well, right?”

“Yes, you did well.”

I knew I had done well, but the sense of satisfaction hadn’t disappeared. I wanted to boast about it again today and tomorrow, and receive praise. I worked hard enough to deserve that kind of reward.

Like a medal of honor in my heart, different from the grade report.

The Professor seemed to understand my feelings, glanced at me, and smiled.

“Since Ourr did well on the exams, shall we go eat something delicious?”

“Oh, yes! Where are we going?”

“There’s a family restaurant nearby. Let’s eat something tasty there.”

“Sounds good! Ouro!”

Ouro, who had just left, quickly returned and poked her head out.

“What! Why are you talking without me?”

“You just left.”

When I spoke with sharp eyes, Ouro approached with big strides and plopped down on the bed, insisting on being included in the conversation. Her gaze was fixed on me sitting at the computer and the Professor standing beside me.

The Professor gave me a quick glance and chuckled.

“Right, Ouro also worked hard studying and taking exams. With five more semesters to go, as encouragement to keep working hard, Professor will treat you to something delicious.”

“Great.”

Come to think of it, I’ve been to many regular restaurants, but never to a family restaurant.

There are many places to eat around the Academy. But usually, the restaurants around here either pursue value for money for students who don’t have much money, or they’re pretty cafes designed to attract female students.

The atmosphere of the streets changes with trends, but basically, since Academy students are the main consumers, it tends to match their vibe.

Perhaps that’s why the family restaurant was located in a more densely commercial area rather than right here. It’s a bit far, but going somewhere different from usual makes it feel like we’re on an outing.

“How is it?”

A spacious area starting with basic four-person tables. Sitting side by side with Ouro on a sofa that could seat two or three people, I nodded.

“It’s nice.”

“It’s crowded. How do people know about places like this?”

Ouro looked around.

Leaving Ouro behind, I opened the menu first. I placed it down so the Professor could see and went through each item, pointing with my finger and reading what each dish was.

“I want to eat this.”

“Good, let’s go with that. A set for three would be perfect.”

“Ouro doesn’t eat much these days, so it should be fine.”

Ouro was humming beside me without showing any complaints, but when her name came up, she opened her eyes wide.

“Come to think of it, sometimes I want to eat a lot, but I can’t. I wonder why that is?”

“Hmm… you’d have to starve a lot first. That might be difficult for Ouro.”

“Ourr.”

“Ah, the soup is here. It’s delicious. The pre-meal bread is good too. Appetizer.”

Worried that Ouro might grab my temples again outside, I quickly took the soup brought by the staff and placed it in front of Ouro.

Though startled for a moment, Ouro seemed to calm down as she nodded and picked up her spoon.

The Professor tore off a piece of bread and put it in her mouth.

“Ouro, are you not going to do assignments well in the future either?”

“…Kek, kuk.”

I didn’t expect Ouro to react like this. I don’t remember clearly because I didn’t check properly, but I wonder if she also didn’t do assignments properly during the Professor’s lectures.

“Even so, it’s a bit disappointing that you don’t do assignments even for the Professor’s lectures…”

“From now on…”

It’s a bit shocking. I thought she would at least do some work for the Professor’s lectures, but I realized that all those relaxed attitudes I had brushed off were actually scenes of laziness.

What was Ouro doing while I was studying hard?

“Ouro, what were you doing while I was studying?”

“…But, those things are boring. The kids they paired me with just said weird things…”

“I think I heard about that, but still… no, never mind. Everyone has their own way of dealing with things.”

I had a lot to say, but I wasn’t sure if it would be good for Ouro, so I decided to save it for later and shook my head.

With the food that followed placed before us, we decided to celebrate the end of the semester just for today. Hoping it would be encouragement that everyone had a good semester and would have another good one ahead.