episode_0043

A clear sky with not a single cloud in sight.

The carriage ride is so smooth that I don’t feel any jostling at all. Thanks to that, I’m comfortably on my way to the academy.

“Hmm…”

Lily, who is sleeping in my arms, snuggles in deeper. As I stroke her, I gaze out at the surroundings.

The buildings around me, the people passing by, no matter how many times I see them, they never seem familiar.

Oh, an adventurer.

A person in leather armor, carrying a bow, walks by while eating skewers.

Turning my head, I see a girl dressed exactly like Lily running ahead.

She must be a student at the academy too. Now, students in academy uniforms start to appear sporadically.

Seems like almost everyone is heading to the academy.

Having taken in the sights outside, I close the open window.

Stroking Lily’s head, I wake her up.

“Lily? Lily? We’re almost at the academy.”

Lily, who lifts her head from my lap, suddenly climbs onto my knees, buries her head in my chest, and falls back asleep.

Looks like she has no intention of waking up until we arrive at the academy. I re-tie Lily’s messy hair while she sleeps.

As I pat Lily’s back, I hear a knock from the front.

– We have arrived, milady.

Upon hearing that, Lily gets up, and we prepare to leave. After re-adjusting the maid’s attire and tidying up Lily’s academy uniform, just as we are about to get off, Lily grabs my hand and stops me.

“Lily?”

“Amelia, wear this.”

I’m not sure when she had it, but Lily hands me a black veil.

“What’s this?”

Since Lily is giving it to me, it must be a special veil.

“It’s a veil with a concealment spell. It makes it difficult for others to see Amelia clearly.”

“Oh… Thank you, Lily.”

Lily’s obsession is indeed strong. To go this far. But with this, wouldn’t it be more convenient?

I put on the veil that Lily handed me.

It feels very comfortable, not just with the concealment magic. It’s not uncomfortable like a mask, so I could wear it all day.

Nodding in approval, Lily hands me a hand mirror.

Where does she pull all these things from? Does she have an inventory or something? With Lily’s talent, she probably has such magic.

Looking into the hand mirror, I see my reflection. A black veil covering everything below my eyes. It looks more like a gauze than a hood.

After finishing putting on the veil, we get off the carriage.

“Wow…”

As soon as I get off the carriage, I can’t help but admire. I thought the family mansion was impressive, and the village looked very city-like, but the scenery of the academy exudes the grandeur of an empire from a fantasy movie.

“How do you like it, Amelia? Isn’t it beautiful?”

“…Yes, it’s incredibly beautiful.”

Trees lining the streets blooming with beautiful flowers, massive buildings that seem straight out of a movie, all harmoniously standing together.

And this place looks like a huge square. It seems to be the carriage parking area, as several carriages keep coming in, and students in academy uniforms are getting off the parked carriages.

Each student overflowing with their own uniqueness. Carrying equipment, something on their heads, or tails.

‘Now it really feels like a fantasy world…’

I didn’t realize there were different races in this world since there are none around the family, but it seems like there are many different races in this world.

Come to think of it, they all seem to be wearing black uniforms, how do they distinguish the grades?

I guess I’ll find out as I attend.

“Amelia, shall we go now?”

Lily reaches out her hand to me.

‘Is she asking me to hold it…?’

Nobles and their maids or servants could be seen following academy students like Lily and me, but no one held hands with us.

“It… It should be fine, right? Since there’s perception interference.”

I took Lily’s hand extended towards me and walked together.

The Academy.

While the [Villainess Maker] mentioned the Academy briefly, it didn’t go into detail. So, I studied what the Academy was like in this world whenever I had the chance.

In this world, it’s said that if you can go to the Academy, you should definitely go. Of course, if you already have a high-ranking position like Lily or an exceptional mentor, going to the Academy may not be that important. But one of the good reasons to attend the Academy is still networking.

It’s a place where you can meet various people, good teachers, and of course, bad teachers. With people from various countries and different races, I think it can be a good environment.

Plus, I’m slightly looking forward to it myself. A fantasy Academy, what kind of place is it really!

Studying, learning combat, learning each other’s characteristics, alchemy, research, equipment production, and various other fields, all fields are present at the Academy!

And I hope Lily can make some friends there too.

If she can have a friend who will take care of her heart after I’m gone, that would be a sufficient success in my opinion.

Lily must have studied about the Academy in advance because she was walking towards the Academy without even looking at the map.

Walking with Lily, admiring the scenery of the Academy, it felt like a little date stroll.

But there was a problem.

This was just perception interference, not making me invisible.

It seemed like a huge aggro for a maid to walk hand in hand with the nobles of the Academy.

I could feel the eyes of the people around us every time we walked. Lily didn’t react to anyone and focused only on me, but I was very nervous.

What if rumors spread that Lily is a strange student? No, she won’t be bullied, right?

I tried to pull my hand away, but my body, not even awakened to mana, couldn’t escape Lily’s grip.

As soon as Lily noticed that I was trying to pull away, she suddenly let go of my hand.

“Phew, that’s a relief… Oops…!?”

With a sigh of relief, the distance between Lily and me became much closer. The reason was that Lily had linked arms with me.

-Gurgle, gurgle.

“Oh no…!”

When we were just holding hands, it ended with just glances, but now the surroundings were so noisy that it felt noticeable.

“Isn’t Lily losing her dignity…?”

In the end, there are things like losing dignity in fantasy novels if you get too close to a maid, being called foolish, and so on.

Despite the reactions of the people around her, Lily walked confidently with me, arm in arm.

Thanks to Lily, we were able to reach the auditorium without getting lost.

“It’s really huge.”

Perhaps because it’s an Academy where students gather from various countries, the auditorium was very grand.

There wasn’t much time left until the entrance ceremony, and many people were already inside the auditorium.

“Are there seats?”

Chairs set up for the Academy students to sit during the entrance ceremony. Many students were already seated there.

I nudged Lily’s back. Lily didn’t want to be separated from me, so her lips were pouting.

But since there was no seat for maids, Lily had to go alone.

I comforted Lily and moved to the back of the auditorium where many maids and servants were gathered.

After some time, the entrance ceremony began.

Whether in reality or in this world, the principal’s speech was very boring and made me sleepy. In summary, it was almost an hour of talking about studying hard at the Academy to find your own path.

For the first 30 minutes, I spent my time looking around at the various races and people around me.

Some people were initially excited about the academy, but their excitement waned as the principal’s lullaby played, and their tails slowly stopped wagging until they eventually drooped.

After about an hour, even standing up, their eyes began to droop. Fortunately, the principal’s speech ended before they fell asleep.

Rubbing their eyes to stay awake, Lily suddenly stood in front of them.

“Amelia, let’s go.”

Lily linked their arms again.

Now they had to go to a building designed for students’ skill assessments.

When applying to the academy, students first applied to the field they wanted. Then their skills were checked accordingly, and they were divided into classes based on their abilities.

It felt like choosing a major in college and being placed in a class based on your skills.

Amelia was sure Lily had applied for magical research. Lily had always been talented in magic, even dragons acknowledged them.

Moreover, towards the end of the game, Lily had expressed interest in studying magic.

Many students gathered in the auditorium and moved to their respective areas.

Having studied the academy diligently, Amelia remembered the way. They were supposed to go right from here.

However, Lily started leading them straight ahead.

“Huh? The magical research area is not in this direction, right?”

“Lily?”

“Hm? Amelia, what’s wrong?”

It seemed like Lily was confused as it was their first time at the academy. Amelia pointed to the right path.

“The magical research area is in that direction, right?”

As soon as Amelia finished speaking, Lily tilted their head, opened their mouth, and their words were shocking.

“I applied for combat.”

“What!?”

What on earth!

==

Amelia, who has become less energetic…ㅜㅠ