episode_0054

“Wow.. I feel like I’m back home. It hasn’t been that long.”

As we passed through the main gate of the academy, Ayla muttered. I also agreed. The competition began a little after the second semester began, and now it’s the beginning of winter… so it’s been about half a year. It’s been a long time if you say it’s long, and a short time if you say it’s short.

Well, if you think about it, half a year is an incredibly long time… If they couldn’t return to the dorms for half a year and lived there, wouldn’t there have been students in the lower ranks who couldn’t afford living expenses and ended up sleeping rough?

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but those seniors are running around again… What on earth are they so busy with?”

Cosette muttered as she watched her seniors running around, sweating profusely even in the chilly weather. They were people she had never spoken to before, but she felt a certain level of intimacy with since she saw their faces every day.

“..I heard that those seniors were preparing for graduation last year, and I was surprised that 5th graders are so busy that they don’t even have time to breathe. But I didn’t think it would be like that this year either..”

“No, you were in 5th grade last year? Then what are you now?”

Ayla was surprised by Agnes’s words. I also listened to Agnes’ words. I just thought they were incredibly busy people, but I had no idea that they had been preparing for graduation since last year?

“This is… I heard it over and over, so it could be wrong…”

“By the way, do you have any friends besides us? Did you just pick it up by chance?”

“Be quiet! Anyway… There wasn’t really any problem with graduating, but I guess he couldn’t find a proper job. So he ended up working at the academy.”

“What, it’s not as bad as I thought.”

“What did you expect? Anyway, that’s why you’re doing all the professors’ chores. I guess you’re suffering like this, getting a small amount of money, because you’re tempted by the idea that if you gain some experience and prove your abilities, you can be hired as a professor. ”

“If you had the ability to do that, you wouldn’t be doing that in the first place.”

Ayla looked at their backs with somewhat pitiful eyes. They looked the same as before, but somehow they looked miserable.

We were walking slowly, and naturally we stopped. It was a fork in the road. Mathias and Ayla stepped aside, and Ayla grabbed Cosette, who was hiding, by the nape of her neck and dragged her.

“We’ll stop by the training grounds. We need to get Cosette ready so she can properly tease the princess starting tomorrow.”

“Aila, if someone saw me, they would think I was really bullying Cosette. I’m just helping Cosette become stronger.”

Ayla and Mathias, who was smiling and nodding in greeting, dragged Cosette away. Cosette looked at them with pitiful eyes, but had no intention of helping.

“I’m going to laugh at that farce,” said Agnes.

“I have to go this way too, so I’ll go first. I’m saying this on Cosette’s behalf because she was dragged away like that… Cosette was really excited that she definitely beat the princess this time, right? I think that’s right, but for some reason I don’t think it’s right?”

Agnes crossed his arms and glared at me, but I just shrugged and made a gesture of ignorance.

“Well.. To be honest, I’d like to win, but I didn’t expect it from the beginning. Anyway, I just need to get good grades.”

“That’s the right mindset. It’s stupid to challenge a vain goal like Cosette.”

I naturally went behind Agnes and hugged her with one hand, while gently stroking her head with my other right hand. Perhaps because this was something that happened so often, Agnes gave up and just let out a small sigh and obediently accepted my touch.

“Anyway.. I’ll go first. Even though it’s for my grades, I’ve been diligently studying for months and my arms are so sore I feel like I’m going to die.. I made a lot of money though..”

As soon as I let go of Agnes, I shook my head and walked towards the common dormitory. I thought I was now alone… but of course, Yugram was right next to me.

I walked slowly to the dormitory. It was a place I had only used for a little over a year, but for some reason I missed it as if it were my real home. I had to hurry up and get some sleep.

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“No, no… Does this make sense? This can’t be happening! This is a scam!”

Cosette screamed at the bulletin board. Beside her, Agnes just quietly closed his eyes as if he had expected something like that.

The bulletin board had a list of the teams’ performances in order. It wasn’t a particularly noticeable situation, since many students besides Cosette were screaming with joy and anger.

“1. Leah Baker, Ayla, Mathias

2. Agnes Berche, Cosette ..

Since we didn’t really decide on a team name, I just listed the names of the students who made the team. As expected, my name was at the top, and Cosette was in second place. Honestly, I think it’s pretty impressive that I got second place with my skills.

“No.. Annies and I have been working tirelessly on the highest-paying commission in the guild for months.. How can we get a better evaluation than that?”

Cosette muttered absentmindedly. Strictly speaking, it was true. It would have been difficult to do the transcription properly with just a little education, so Agnes and Cosette, who had good grades in the transcription, would have been the best request they could have made, and they would have worked hard.

However, it is unknown what the Knights reported to the lord and the guild, but it is clear that they gained a huge number of points because of the expedition. Or they may have just pressured them to get to number one.

“We received an urgent request directly from the lord. I can’t tell you the details, but…”

“.. Seriously, this is ridiculous.”

“Wake up. I told you that you wouldn’t win because of that.”

“Sigh..”

While watching Agnes shake Cosette, who had not yet come to her senses, from side to side, I slowly looked at the ranking list.

I could see that most of the people I had noticed and remembered names for during class were in the upper ranks. Like Cosette or Agnes, they could make strategic choices and get a much higher ranking than their direct power, but for most, it seemed to be based on their abilities.

This one’s also in the upper class, this one’s also in the upper class.. Katrina is also in the upper class.. The rest are names I don’t know.. Ki-run? Who was this?

Judging by the fact that my eyes stopped for a moment, I thought it was a name I had heard or seen somewhere, but I couldn’t remember who it was. I figured it wasn’t an important name anyway, so I just passed it over. It was a low-ranking name anyway.

I checked my grades and I think I should go eat with Cosette for the first time in a while.

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“Giren, hello. This is Senior Wolfer, the host of the meeting.”

“Oh, hello.”

When Girne hesitated and greeted him, Wolfer smiled cheerfully and patted Girne on the shoulder.

“Haha. If you’re Johnny’s friend, I should treat you well. No need to be so stiff. Hurry up and sit down.”

Girne pulled up a chair at the table and sat down. There was lighting in the room, but it was quite dark. That was because this was a basement.

Ki-Run followed Johnny into the warehouse at the corner of the shopping district and was quite surprised as he came down through the secret door in the floor. Was this a place that had to be kept so secret?

“Hehe.. Judging from your face, you seem quite surprised by this secret base. There’s nothing strange about that. I was quite surprised when I first found this place. I thought it was just an empty warehouse, but I didn’t know there was a place like this..”

“Ah, I guess the seniors prepared this separately?”

“Hahaha! How can we possibly sell such a large underground space with money and initiative? We just happened to find it by luck and are renting it until the owner shows up. If we just get together and talk, there won’t be any problems even if the owner shows up.”

When Wolper spoke with a hearty laugh, Girne nodded in agreement.

“The other friends didn’t come today because they were busy, but they said that if you come here whenever you have time, you’ll be able to get to know each other’s faces.”

“Uh.. So.. What should I call you?”

“Colleague, comrade, friend… whatever you want to call them is fine. I use the term “colleague” because I like it better. Anyway, there are quite a few comrades, but unfortunately, there are more who are not comrades. Considering how the “lower class” like us are treated in the academy, we should all cooperate…”

The lower class, a slang term for a lower-ranking noble within the Academy branch. Kirin nodded vigorously.

“As the senior said.. Even though there are far fewer people with nothing or high rankings than us, our force seems too small. If we unite, those damned guys won’t be able to see us easily.”

“As expected of Johnny’s friend, he has such a good idea. Since we have such a good relationship, I can’t help but give my new colleague a gift.”

Wolfer rummaged through his pockets and took something out. It was some kind of ornament with all four sides made of triangles, each side engraved with a different, strange pattern. Girne accepted it as if he was entranced.

“..It’s pretty heavy for its size.”

It was a small size that could be easily hidden by clenching a fist, but it felt like it had considerable weight, even with the strength of a person who had trained with a sword. Ulfer nodded.

“I don’t know exactly, but it’s said to be an amulet with some kind of magical effect. It’s better to always carry it with you.”

“Thank you for giving me such a precious thing, senior.”

“This is nothing special between colleagues.. I hope you repay the favor by increasing your number of colleagues.”

“Yes!”

Kirin smiled and put the amulet in his pocket as he answered. He felt that Wolper trusted and expected him, and he wanted to repay him. It was a favor that Kirin had never received before, having been treated as a problem child by his family and sent to this academy as if he were being exiled.

‘How can I increase my colleagues?’

While Girne was thinking of the lower-class nobles he could bring in, Johnny, who was standing quietly beside him, just smiled without saying anything.