episode_0146

The first day of the ‘Communication with Spirits’ class ended in less than an hour.

Like most classes in almost every academy, the usual routine on the first day was to briefly explain the lecture curriculum and call it a day.

Of course, there were rare individuals like Harold who would jump straight into practical training from the first day, but that was just Harold being the exception.

The professor in charge of the Communication with Spirits class did nothing more than introduce the seating arrangement and briefly explain the course content for the semester.

“…And, I have already selected students who I believe will make good partners for each other for the duration of this semester, so don’t worry even if you don’t know anyone.”

‘Wait, is this development for real…’

As with most clichés that occur in events like this, my anxious premonition turned out to be correct.

When I came to my senses, my partner was none other than Agnes, who seemed to be there as a matter of course.

The professor, Half Pulling, made this statement along with a cheerful smile.

“Agnes and Reilis have similar total magical power and grades, so they should make good partners. Ahaha.”

For a moment, I almost raised an objection to the professor when he suddenly paired me with Agnes, but I knew that challenging the professor’s pre-selected partners would only sour the atmosphere.

Honestly, there was no one I knew in the class to switch partners with, so sticking with Agnes, who I was somewhat familiar with from games, seemed like the better option in the end.

‘I should have just ignored each other before class started, it might have been better…’

Looking back now, I wondered if I had unnecessarily raised the tension.

But wasn’t it Agnes who started the argument in the first place? I just retaliated.

To be honest, even if I had made a mistake, it was only about 10%. The remaining 90% was all Agnes’ fault.

Later, I learned through speculation that being paired with Agnes was probably decided from the moment we enrolled in the class.

There were a total of 30 students taking the Communication with Spirits class.

Excluding myself, who was connected to Sally in a somewhat unique way, there were 14 students who had contracted with lower spirits and 15 students who had not, making up the 30-student class.

It wasn’t until the end of the first day that I realized it was a class where students who had already contracted spirits would guide those who had not.

‘I never had to take this class in my past life, so I didn’t know…’

The main character had a decent base charm stat, so there was no need to separately increase their affinity with spirits. The fact that Agnes was taking this class was news to me today.

If those Agnes guys had experienced a class like this, which was presumed to be an affinity event, then I had never once liked Agnes in a romantic way.

145cm tall with an A cup was definitely not my type. In my past life, my preference was for a healthy beauty like Natalie.

…Well, whether she was my type or not, that wasn’t important now.

Now that we had become class partners, I had to face Agnes once a week, whether I liked it or not.

With the tension between us from our previous conversation, it was clear that proper class progress would be impossible, so we needed to repair our relationship first.

Thinking about the future, it was certain that we needed to become friends somehow. …It was going to be a hassle.

Well, for now, I have no choice but to focus on Agnes’s hobbies and interests as I did in my past life.

I never expected to find myself in a situation where I had to pursue the heroine in a similar position to the protagonist, but that didn’t mean I would despair and do nothing. It’s just not in my nature.

“Well, let’s make the best of this situation for one semester, Mr. Blaze. We can’t be at odds with each other the whole time, right?”

“Hmph, do as you wish.”

I had no idea how to get along with that brusque guy for a whole semester, but for now, I couldn’t figure it out.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The second semester at the academy began, and a week passed quickly.

Normally, the early days of the semester would be the most relaxed time for regular students, but for me, it was going to be quite a busy period.

In preparation for the main event of the second semester, the Final Hunt, I needed to start working on various tasks now to be ready.

It was time to start interacting with other departments to gather members for the hunt and secure the necessary items for the event.

Just to clarify, in the academy’s Final Hunt, party members from preferred departments are predetermined. Among them, the Magic Department boasted the worst preference rate.

This was because the Magic Department was the only department among the five combat departments where ‘solo hunting’ was impossible.

Swordsmanship, Spear Fighting, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Archery.

These four departments, unlike the Magic Department, allowed for solo hunting in the Final Evaluation Hunt. Therefore, students with a certain level of skill often participated in the hunt solo instead of forming a party.

Of course, some students formed parties to hunt stronger prey and improve their grades, but most of these parties were not made up of the strongest individuals but rather casual acquaintances.

Even though I had achieved good grades in the previous semester, there was still a possibility of not being favored in a party.

However, I had faith in Ethan, so I was somewhat reassured, but it would be better to form a more convincing party if possible.

If Ethan decided not to recruit additional members for our duo party, I needed to consider the possibility from my side.

I couldn’t afford to overlook the Final Hunt, which had the most impact on the final grades of the semester. The more insurance, the better.

As Ethan’s exclusive maid, I couldn’t be so bold as to build friendships with students from other departments in front of Ethan, so I had no room to intervene in securing members for the party.

Sometimes, when I talked to male students from other departments, I felt a strangely cold gaze from Ethan, probably because he didn’t like me not focusing on my duties as his exclusive maid.

I was a perceptive person, so I had no intention of preparing for the hunt in a way that would displease the young master I served.

But that didn’t mean I would do nothing at all.

I gave up on recruiting party members and instead focused on ‘self-improvement’ and ‘potion acquisition.’

In particular, the second part, potion acquisition, was crucial.

“Potions are essentially a matter of life and death.”

Unlike the evaluation battle in the first semester, where I could rely on a death prevention spell and engage in combat, the Final Hunt in the second semester did not guarantee my safety.

It was impossible to secure enough immense magical power to cast a death prevention spell over the entire vast dark forest, and death prevention spells were not exclusive to humans in the first place.

If you don’t want to see monsters being delivered to the Academy Theology Department building, you probably won’t do the crazy thing of putting a death prevention spell in the forest where monsters appear.

In such a dangerous forest, the potion that allows you to preserve your life in case of emergency was essential.

In order to secure the potion and treat any immediate life-threatening injuries, I needed to start discussing with the potion supplier.

The only acquaintance I had who could play the role of the potion supplier was one person: “Lizie Lin August.”

August, the beloved daughter of the August noble family. Vice-chair of the Pharmacy Department.

I honestly didn’t know how she managed to become the vice-chair of the Pharmacy Department. Whether she was originally talented in that field or if she used somewhat cowardly methods befitting a lady of the August family who oversees the top.

Regardless, seeing her maintain the vice-chair position even after a semester had passed, it was more likely that she had talent in pharmacy. But even if Lizie August had obtained the vice-chair position in the Pharmacy Department through cowardly means, it didn’t matter to me.

After all, what I needed was a recovery potion to use in the final hunting test, not a friend overflowing with loyalty and morality.

The problem was how to reconcile with Lizie after the awkward parting in the first semester.

After rejecting her offer to be her secretary, our weekly tea times naturally disappeared, and Blackwood and August were so far apart that it was difficult for them to even run into each other during the summer vacation.

As a result, I couldn’t help but think that if I went to the Pharmacy Department to look for Lizie, she might not be interested in me anymore and I would end up being turned away.

But if I went to the Chief Witch, “Lara,” I would undoubtedly receive a quest that would be difficult to complete, so somehow restoring my relationship with Lizie had become one of my essential tasks.

“Agnes, even if you know the strategy, how do you approach Lizie?”

She’s a character who doesn’t even appear in the main story, let alone being the heroine in “Luminor Academy.”

Moreover, judging by her personality at the masquerade ball, she was a quite strong-willed August noble, so she wasn’t the kind of woman I, who was a virgin in my past life, could easily befriend.

Especially since I had once rejected her favor.

But going into the final hunting test without a potion could be dangerous due to the “First Hunting Test Event.” And trying to recruit a Theology Department student into the party was even more difficult.

In the midst of this difficult situation, as I pondered, a thought suddenly came to mind, as if I were remembering something important that I had forgotten.

“…Come to think of it, there seems to be something I shouldn’t forget.”

As I walked towards the Pharmacy Department building to meet Lizie, a question that had been bothering me suddenly popped into my head.

It was right after that moment that I realized that the question that had come to mind was not just a passing feeling.

“Oh my, it’s been a while, Miss Relise.”

“…Princess Seraphine?”

“I have something I’d like to discuss with you, Miss Relise… If you don’t mind, could you spare some time?”

As I faced Princess Seraphine and her personal maid Luke, I could vaguely remember what I had forgotten.

“Oh, right, Luke’s dagger.”