Chapter 105: Teasing, Revenge, and the Ultimate Ecological Discovery

Anne’s hand would retreat, only for Yuri’s to take its place. When Yuri’s hand left, Celian’s hand would come up, and once Celian’s hand moved away, Anne’s would return.

Taking turns, they continued poking and rubbing my stomach, claiming it was smooth and soft.

At this point, I started wondering if it had actually become smooth because they had been touching it so much.

I struggled to resist, but all I could do was make sure my skirt didn’t slip down. That was the best I could manage against their relentless hands.

“Ehehe! El is so ticklish! This is so much fun!”

Of course, it all started with Anne.

She was always the one to initiate these kinds of physical pranks.

She would sneak up and poke my side, suddenly hug me and blow raspberries on my stomach, or use my stomach or thighs as a pillow whenever I lay down to read on the weekends.

No matter the situation, whenever she got bored, her first instinct was to cling to me.

And once Anne started, Yuri and Celian would always end up joining in.

I had always thought that only guys messed around physically—roughhousing and wrestling for fun.

But after becoming a girl, I learned firsthand that girls also engaged in plenty of playful physical contact.

If I were still a man, just imagining this scene would have made me recoil in horror.

But strangely enough, girls didn’t seem to mind casual physical affection.

However, since I still had the mind of a man, and I had never interacted closely with girls before attending the academy, I always felt a little flustered whenever they initiated contact.

Of course, since I couldn’t afford to let anyone suspect my true identity, I had to act like this level of skinship was completely normal.

“Anyway, we should probably start working on our ecological research assignment now.”

“Hmm… The professor did say they’d pass most submissions, but we should at least put in some effort.”

Still recovering from my ordeal, I lay trembling on the picnic blanket while they casually discussed the assignment as if nothing had happened.

“Hey, El…”

Unlike the other two, Anne crouched beside me and looked down at me with a serious expression.

At least she seemed to realize that she was responsible for my current state.

Unlike Yuri and Celian, who had abandoned me after their fun, Anne was still by my side, trying to talk to me.

Or so I thought.

“For our research project… how about investigating why El’s belly is so smooth? Don’t you think that’s a subject worth exploring?”

…I take it back.

Out of the three, Anne was the real devil.

She had already physically wrecked me, and now she was trying to finish me off emotionally.

“Are you serious…?”

Fueled by rage, I barely managed to muster the strength to lift myself off the blanket.

“Ack!”

Anne let out a startled yelp and scrambled away.

She bolted behind a nearby tree, peeking out to gauge my reaction.

Then, she went even further—climbing up the tree in seconds and watching me from above.

Was she a monkey or something?

I stood up, still weak but utterly dumbfounded, staring up at her as she awkwardly smiled down at me.

“Ehehe… You’re not mad, right, El?”

If I got angry now, I’d just look like an overreacting weirdo who couldn’t handle a bit of harmless teasing.

“I’m not mad. Just stop talking nonsense and get down. If we keep messing around, we really won’t have anything to turn in.”

To be honest, I really wasn’t mad.

This wasn’t my first time dealing with their antics, after all.

Anne hesitated for a moment before slowly climbing back down and returning to the group.

“Alright, let’s get started on the research!”

Seeing that everyone was finally ready, Celian clapped her hands together with enthusiasm.

But before we moved on…

Poke.

“Eeek!”

I got my revenge, poking Anne in the side.

Caught off guard, she twisted and squirmed, reacting exactly as I had expected.

Perfect.

They say assassins hold grudges, right? Anne should be grateful that I let her off this easily.

“Alright, enough playing around. Let’s at least take a look around and gather some information.”

At Yuri’s suggestion, we packed up the picnic blanket, grabbed the half-eaten lunchboxes, and started walking through the forest.

As we moved, I made sure to carefully observe our surroundings.

Of course, we had already walked through this area earlier, but at the time, we had only been focused on finding a good picnic spot.

Now, it was time to actually research something.

Unlike before, this time, I focused on actual ecological research—looking for signs of territorial markings left by wild animals, identifying herbs from our textbooks, and keeping an eye out for dangerous insects.

“Still, it would be nice to turn in something a bit impressive.”

“There aren’t even any grades for this assignment. Won’t the professor just pass everyone as long as we submit something? Do we really need to go that far?”

Yuri, overhearing my comment, responded with skepticism.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say this myself, but… Celian is the top student in the academy, and you and I both have excellent academic scores. If we just turn in something ordinary, it feels like a waste. Instead of doing the bare minimum, why not make an impression and stand out?”

Of course, there was no actual grading for this task—only pass or fail.

But leaving a good impression on the professor now might help us earn better grades in other subjects later.

A slightly sneaky strategy, but practical nonetheless.

“Hey! El, you totally left my name out just now! That’s so unfair!”

Before Celian or Yuri could respond, Anne suddenly interjected with a loud complaint.

Come to think of it, I had unintentionally left her name out.

But…

“Well, that’s because you rank near the bottom in our class for written exams.”

Anne’s academic ranking wasn’t just low within our class—it was low in the entire academy.

“Ugh… But I have top-tier practical skills! My overall grades are still above average!”

To be fair, Anne made up for her poor written test scores with her exceptional combat abilities, which kept her overall ranking slightly above average.

However, those skills weren’t particularly useful in a subject like ecological research.

I must have unconsciously skipped over her name for that reason.

“…Alright, then. What’s the name of this mushroom?”

Instead of apologizing, I picked up a mushroom growing beside us and held it out to Anne.

“……”

Anne said nothing.

Instead, she averted her gaze, pretending not to hear me.

A long, awkward silence followed.

Eventually, Anne gave in, pouting as she muttered in a sulky voice.

“Ugh… Fine! I’m a dummy! But El, you’re a dummy too! You idiot!”

Anne’s grumbling only made her look cuter.

Did she even realize that getting mad just made her seem more adorable?

Abandoning the mushroom entirely, I walked over and hugged her tightly.

If it were Celian or Yuri, I would have hesitated, but Anne’s youthful appearance and playful nature made hugging her feel completely natural.

Once again, she fit perfectly in my arms, like a small, cozy cushion.

“Ufufu… Anne, you’re too cute for your own good. Who says Anne is dumb? If there’s a cuter dummy out there, let them come forward! I’ll scold them myself!”

Of course, intelligence and appearance were unrelated, and Anne wasn’t actually dumb—she just didn’t like studying.

Luckily, she stopped struggling the moment I called her cute.

With Anne’s monstrous strength, she could have easily pushed me away if she really wanted to, but the fact that she didn’t meant she wasn’t truly angry.

As I held her, I made eye contact with Celian, who was standing a little further away.

Hmm… Was I overdoing it?

Even if we were both girls, maybe hugging her for this long was a bit excessive.

I glanced at my friends and slowly loosened my arms.

Anne, at least, didn’t seem to mind.

Next, I turned to Celian, who had been watching us.

…?

In her hands was the mushroom I had thrown away earlier.

“Ah! What was the name of this mushroom again? I just can’t seem to remember!”

…?

“Oh dear, I must be such a fool. Yes! A complete fool!”

Celian, speaking in an overly stiff, theatrical tone, was clearly faking her forgetfulness.

She then looked at me expectantly.

…?

!

I see!

As expected of Celian, a true Hero—she was pretending to be clueless to comfort Anne!

I never would have thought of such a considerate gesture.

Truly admirable.

Not wanting Anne to notice the act, I gave Celian a secret thumbs-up.

Yuri, who had also caught on, patted Celian’s shoulder and whispered something to her—probably words of praise.

Celian, however, looked a little flustered, as if embarrassed that we had figured it out.

It’s okay, Celian! Anne doesn’t suspect a thing!

…By the way, for our ecological research submission, we ended up turning in the mushroom Celian picked up.