Surviving in the Forest (1)

After firmly establishing my presence on Mezlen’s first day at the academy…

Now, about a week into the new semester, we had become what could be called reasonably close acquaintances.

…At the very least, in Mezlen’s mind, I’d become someone ‘worth remembering the name of.’

“So, my brother Antonio was lecturing me again today…”

“Is that so.”

“I told him I have no intention of participating in the imperial succession struggle, but he keeps bringing it up… Of course, I can’t blame Antonio-nim for being conscious of the charisma my beautiful appearance commands… And then Seraphine unnie also…”

“You always have it so hard, Princess Mezlen.”

It was a conversation where I half-listened to Mezlen’s ridiculous complaints while just making appropriate interjections. There wasn’t much point in seriously listening to her nonsensical grievances.

After all, what she needed wasn’t someone to seriously listen to her, but just someone to nod along and agree with her. At least that way she could restore her self-esteem.

Of course, this kind of relationship wouldn’t last long in the future, but that didn’t matter. My role was simply to facilitate her meeting someone she could genuinely fall for, and I planned to gracefully bow out once I’d played my part.

It would be fine if she only remembered me as ‘that maid who said nice things’ in the future.

‘Besides, I shouldn’t get too deeply involved with royalty in the first place.’

After graduation, I planned to distance myself not just from Ethan but also from Seraphine. The same went for Lizzy – basically anyone with enough power to potentially restrict my freedom.

Isabelle and Katarina being Blackwood members would naturally drift away once I distanced myself from Ethan, leaving only Agnes and that idiot Gyeotmwa as people I might maintain relationships with after graduation.

Though both would be busy with hero party activities after graduation, so I wouldn’t see them as often as now. In effect, I was destined to be alone after graduation.

“…So I decided to forgive Antonio-nim just this once… Unlike him, I have the generosity to forgive others…”

“That’s truly remarkable, Princess Mezlen. Commoners like us would have lost our temper long ago in such a situation, yet you maintain such benevolent grace.”

“Hmph hmph, good… Praise me more.”

‘…Too easy.’

Since building superficial favor was progressing well, it was time to start considering Mezlen’s ‘match.’

From what I remember, Mezlen’s fiancé wasn’t revealed in 『Luminor Academy』. Not just in the main story, but even in post-ending content.

Given Mezlen’s personality, the most plausible theories were either that she had no set fiancé to begin with… or that her original engagement was nullified due to the fiancé’s death or similar circumstances.

And as I mentioned before, if that were the case, one of the most likely candidates was Ethan – he met both conditions of being from a family prestigious enough to marry royalty and being a character who died in the original story.

Until about half a year ago, Karaham was also on this candidate list, but after he accepted Lilia’s confession as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he was naturally excluded.

If he had been engaged to Mezlen, he probably couldn’t have accepted Lilia’s confession under any circumstances.

“Princess Mezlen, if I may be so bold, could I ask you one question?”

“The very act of a mere baronet’s daughter like Lily-nim questioning a princess like myself is impertinent… But given my benevolent nature, I shall overlook this rudeness just once…”

“Then I shall venture to ask. It’s merely a matter of curiosity, but does Your Highness perhaps have an undisclosed fiancé?”

“Hmm, what…? No…?”

“…Ah, I see. Thank you for answering.”

The way she shook her head so naturally was telling.

Such a natural reaction wouldn’t come unless she truly had no fiancé. Especially considering Mezlen’s terrible lying ability.

I felt slightly disappointed yet somewhat relieved that Mezlen wasn’t Ethan’s fiancée… At least it meant I wouldn’t have to execute a plan to make Mezlen fall for Ethan.

‘I guess this buys me some time then.’

If Mezlen had been Ethan’s secret fiancée, I would have had to start restraining my current relationship with him, but since she wasn’t, I could maintain things as they were for a while longer.

…Well, we’re already using the marriage/engagement dormitory this semester, so we can’t have separate rooms immediately, but at least I don’t have to restrain affectionate displays just because Mezlen might be watching.

‘I still don’t know what relationship Princess Rainy has with Ethan… but that’s something to worry about later.’

There were still so many things I hadn’t tried with Ethan, and at least I wouldn’t have to forcibly stop those activities now.

There’s even a beach field trip (Marine Biology Research) planned for the end of this semester.

Suppressing my rising excitement, I maintained my poker face. If I started grinning foolishly, Mezlen might get the wrong idea and become wary of me.

“Oh, look at the time…”

“It’s almost time for your next class. It was delightful as always, Princess Mezlen.”

“I enjoyed it too… Oh, and tomorrow I have a fifth period class, so would meeting an hour later than today be acceptable…?”

“…While I’m deeply honored by Princess Mezlen’s expectations, unfortunately starting tomorrow I must be away from the academy for a week for ‘Natural Science Exploration’ lectures.”

The ‘Exploration Subjects’ taken from third year onward were week-long courses. The limited interaction between lower and upperclassmen was partly due to these exploration subject barriers.

“Ah, I see… Come to think of it, Lily-nim is a third year, aren’t you…?”

“That is correct, Princess Mezlen.”

“…Hmm, I suppose there’s no helping it then… Not that I’m particularly disappointed or anything… I have plenty of other friends besides Lily-nim…”

“I’m sincerely grateful that you would sacrifice time with other esteemed individuals to converse with a lowly baronet’s daughter like myself.”

“Y-yes… I knew Lily-nim would understand…”

Her claim of having many other friends – a lie that wouldn’t fool anyone who knew Mezlen from the original story – but I pretended to believe it.

Regardless of learning Mezlen wasn’t Ethan’s fiancée, I still needed to maintain good relations with her.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Starting from third year when 『Luminor Academy』 Part 3 begins, the format differs somewhat from Part 2’s academy setting.

While Part 2 events primarily involved academy life events, Part 3 focuses almost entirely on external activities.

From third year, the schedule consists almost entirely of field trips on all days except the first day of each week. Or sometimes classes are canceled.

For example, the ‘Natural Science Exploration’ course Ethan and I enrolled in. This course runs for six days total, from the second day of the second week until the weekend.

During those six days, we travel to the course location – ‘Hobgoblin Forest’ – where we learn to hunt monsters, camp in the wilderness, and survive through self-sufficiency.

Some might argue this is too harsh for students, but this is a medieval fantasy world after all. More importantly, academy graduates must be capable of at least this much to proudly claim their ‘academy graduate’ status in society.

Except perhaps for technology or pharmacy department students, combat department students especially needed basic survival skills against monsters.

“Each student will be given one meal’s worth of dry rations and one bottle of water. Your task is to procure everything else from the forest – either surviving for five days or completing assigned tasks before your supplies run out to pass this ‘Natural Science Exploration’ course.”

“What?”

“F-five days? We have to last four nights and five days in this forest?”

“No. The passing requirement is 120 hours of survival, meaning five nights and six days.”

“Wait, how are we supposed to…”

Students who only now realized what the ‘Natural Science Exploration’ course entailed began grumbling one by one. Those not protesting had likely learned about the course format from seniors or other sources beforehand.

While some exploration courses change their curriculum yearly, ‘Natural Science Exploration’ maintains nearly the same standards annually. Since its main purpose is developing individual survival skills, there’s little need to alter the curriculum.

Ethan and I already knew what to expect, so we weren’t particularly flustered. We were just deciding where in the forest to set up camp and how to spend the next five days.

“One meal’s rations means we’re supposed to figure out the other fourteen meals how?!”

“Procure them yourselves. The forest contains berries, mushrooms, fish, and wild game – ‘figure out’ how to gather or hunt for your meals. Didn’t I tell you to bring personal weapons?”

“W-what if we accidentally eat poisonous mushrooms or something?!”

“Then that’s unfortunate. You shouldn’t touch what you can’t identify in the first place.”

“……What?”

“…T-then where do we get water?”

“There’s a river somewhere in the forest’s interior – get it there. Or find a lake and filter the water, dig for groundwater, or replenish with juice from succulent plants – there are many methods.”

“W-what if we collapse from dehydration…”

“That would be unfortunate. If you’re worried, locate a water source before your ration runs out.”

“What about sleeping…”

“Haven’t I said enough for you to figure that out by now? Handle it yourselves.”

“……”

The green-haired professor’s blunt responses to every student question immediately dampened the mood.

About a third of students had prior knowledge and were already forming teams to plan survival strategies. Another third, while displeased, hastily tried recruiting teammates knowing they had to participate regardless. The final third just sighed in resignation with hollow expressions.

However, this course had one variable even prepared students didn’t anticipate – everyone’s starting point would be forcibly scattered throughout the forest.

“Before entering the forest, everyone look this way. Make eye contact with me…”

“I’ll set up near the river. Hope we can meet up in the forest.”

“I’ll find my way to you. See you later, Young Master Ethan.”

“…Alright. Be careful, Lilith.”

-Snap!

“Waaah?! Wh-what was that?!”

“Kyaaah! T-teleportation magic…!!”

As the ‘Natural Science Exploration’ professor snapped his fingers, a ‘random teleportation’ spell activated for all hundred-plus students.

A flash of white light passed over my eyes, and when I opened them again, I found myself somewhere deep in the forest.