chapter_0142

After the Magicians brought Elder Lich, time passed uneventfully.

There were no incidents or unexpected events. I successfully concluded the final exams that I had tried to wrap up somehow. It was a very standard final exam from start to finish.

To be honest, from my perspective, it was more like, “Wasn’t it too simple?”

It was practically a foregone conclusion.

Some students who were unhappy with my news naturally disappeared when it was officially announced that the Chairman and all the Magicians, as well as the Sword Saint, had vouched for my abilities.

Instead, I received the “What the hell is that crazy guy doing here?” looks. It was a valid point that couldn’t be refuted, so I quietly endured it.

“I’m sorry, Aria. Because of me…”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad that Leona is back safely. That’s enough for me.”

Of course, there were some incidents. Aria missed the runner-up spot by a hair because she was worried about Leona, who had been drafted to hunt down the undead.

Leona felt so guilty that she hugged Aria, who said it was her own fault for not trying harder.

It was a very standard hug between friends, with none of the strange, odd atmosphere of a yuri couple that I felt when the two of them hugged in the original work.

“I met an undead that looked like the Demon King. She had a Demon Sword, too. It was a fake, though. At first, I thought it was real and trembled, but then I thought of you, Mira, and realized it was a fake.”

After that, Leona called me out and told me about her encounter with the undead who imitated the Demon King. She said that thinking of me gave her the courage to realize it was a fake and defeat it.

I praised her and ruffled her hair, and Leona, with a completely different atmosphere from when she hugged Aria, giggled and then suddenly ran away.

Not long after, she came back and asked Aria, who was wondering what I had done to make Leona’s ears glowing so red, “What did you do to make Leona’s ears glowing so red?”

“A lot of people seem to be disappointed that the sparring with the Sword Saint was canceled.”

“Not at all.”

“Not at all.”

“They haven’t experienced it yet, so they don’t know.”

“I don’t really want to spar with the Sword Saint again…”

“Me neither…”

“It’s because they haven’t experienced it yet. If it weren’t for that, I would have.”

When Karna said that many people were disappointed that the plan to spar with the top 10 students in each grade had been canceled due to the aftermath of the undead invasion, everyone except Rosalia, who had no business fighting the Sword Saint, made disgusted faces.

Due to the aftermath of the undead invasion, the Sword Saint was too busy to spare any time. There were still Death Knights running rampant on the front lines.

Various events that were supposed to be held to commemorate the end of the semester were also canceled. The damage on the front lines was so severe that most students seemed to accept it.

“I asked for a blessing, and it really came true. She never answered me when I asked her directly.”

“Do you want to bury it in the mud once?”

“……Let’s do that later if we really need to.”

Once, Rosalia played the role of a saint. When priests came to the Academy to give blessings, real light descended from the sky.

I was speechless. She had been avoiding my requests for conversation, but she always showed up when it came to things like this.

Moreover, she had already given Leona a hint that she would explain everything later, so it was definitely intentional. I really wanted to bury the Holy Sword in the mud.

“Finally, tomorrow is the last day of school. Time really flies.”

“Mira, you’re done with your semester… Can you say that? Anyway, what are you going to do after the semester ends?”

The last week, which was practically a vacation since all the events were canceled due to the schedule, finally came to an end, and Friday arrived.

The first semester at Bellium Academy was coming to an end.

“……I hereby officially declare that this semester has ended. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for your hard work.”

As the speech ended, a thunderous applause rang out. No matter how elite the students of Bellium Academy were, they still enjoyed their vacations.

I clapped leisurely. There had been ups and downs from the beginning, and at some point, I was moving more outside the Academy than inside, but I had successfully completed a semester nonetheless.

‘I’ve also achieved my goal here.’

Most importantly, it was a great achievement to be free from Beatrice’s overprotection. Even if I returned to my parents’ house, I wouldn’t have to go through all those health checkups like I used to.

I planned to continue attending the Academy, though.

When I first enrolled, I had every intention of dropping out as soon as my parents and Beatrice acknowledged that I was fine, but now, there were too many relationships to just drop out.

“From today until the beginning of the next semester, you are free to act as you wish. However, if you plan to stay at the Academy, don’t forget to submit the necessary paperwork. That way, you can receive meals. Of course, if you want to buy your own meals with your own money, I won’t stop you.”

The Chairman finished her speech and stepped down from the stage. Then, she flashed a sly smile at me and disappeared behind the curtains. I shuddered at the memory of what happened a while ago.

The students who had gathered in the grand hall began to disperse. Some returned through the dimensional door alone, some were escorted by servants and got into carriages, and others headed to the dormitories.

We gathered in the club room without anyone needing to say a word. The four reincarnators, the two protagonists of the original work, and Beatrice and Nika, who didn’t appear in the original work.

Karna left with a greeting, saying she had to help the Sword Saint. Ibrante still didn’t show her face. I wondered if she had quit after earning enough money.

“What are you going to do during the vacation? Do you have any plans?”

Beatrice asked as she sipped the tea she had made. Laura replied with a weary tone.

“I have to prepare for the succession. This is my last semester, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Are you really the Crown Prince?”

“Why are you reacting like that, Brynhild?”

“No. It’s just… It feels different from before, now that I get to see you guys often. The atmosphere, the way you look at me… It’s just something.”

It was different from before. If the Laura of the past was the Crown Prince who won the bloody succession war, the Laura of the present was just a reincarnator who had lived a long time in a romance novel.

Now that she no longer acted like the Crown Princess of the original, she naturally showed a more gentle side than the past Laura.

“You guys played a big role.”

“Uh… Us?”

“I’ve been living alone for a long time, and now that I’ve been interacting with you guys as humans, I’ve had a change of heart.”

Puff, Rosalia failed to stifle her laughter. Laura glared at her for a moment. Rosalia said she had to be at the church and quickly averted her gaze.

“I’m going back to my hometown. I’ll have to stay there for a while. My sister has disappeared as punishment, so now I have to continue the family.”

Priscilla spoke in a depressed tone, as she would be apart from us for a while. Gloria had completed her transformation into a succubus. She had been held captive by succubi for so long that her head had been half-cooked in pleasure, but there was no problem with her role.

Priscilla smiled brightly when she heard the explanation, saying it would be a happy ending.

“I’ll stay at the Academy. There’s nowhere else to go if I leave here. I thought about staying at your mansion, but the other guys wouldn’t let me.”

Elysier, or Ciel, chose to stay at the Academy. It was hard to go back to the Demon World, and she had no home, property, or family.

At first, I had intended to let her stay at my house, but it was vetoed by Priscilla, Rosalia, and Laura. They said it was unfair.

“If you had come to the Imperial Palace, I could have offered you a room. What a shame.”

“I don’t need it.”

The silence fell in the club room. Leona and Aria were the last ones to leave. All eyes were on them. Leona opened her mouth awkwardly.

“We’re going to our hometown. It’s been a while since we left, so we should show our faces.”

“We need to see our parents and greet our uncles and aunts. We’ll probably only stay for about two weeks. To be honest, there’s not much to do there anymore.”

“We’re not going for any particular reason, just to see our parents. It’s embarrassing to say this to my parents, but I’ll be bored if I stay there too long…”

The two of them smiled awkwardly. Their relationship in the original work had changed, so their attitude towards their hometown had changed as well.

“Right. So, Mira. If you don’t mind, would you like to come with us?”

Leona, who had been awkward, brightened up.

“Come with you to your hometown?”

“Yeah. I want to introduce you to my mom and dad!”

For a moment, silence filled the club room. Priscilla, Rosalia, Laura, and Elysier stared at Leo, and Aria blinked rapidly, her eyes wide.

“……Uh, no. Not in that sense… It’s really not in that sense…”

Leona realized how her words had sounded and tried to explain, but it was too late.