“Aaaaah.”
As soon as class ended, Isil and I left the main building and sat on a bench beside the path, looking up at the sky as we grumbled.
“…I’m exhausted.”
“No, that class was brutal. Way more brutal than I expected.”
Contrary to my assumption that, at most, we’d be taking classes on the level of high school or middle school, reality was far crueler.
The level of Professor Lagrit’s explanation was similar to a university major lecture, or perhaps even higher than that.
“No, if you explain things like that to first-year students with no prior knowledge whatsoever, there’s no way any of it will get into their heads… Why teach like that?”
“…Sleepy.”
“Only the Spellcraft Department’s classes are like this, just like the scribble said, right? I hope the other departments are easier than this.”
“…I want to sleep.”
Sliiide.
It was a bright, clear afternoon with clean sunlight pouring down.
Like a piece of dried fish, Isil entrusted her body to gravity and slowly leaned toward me.
Thump.
I naturally placed my palm on Isil’s forehead as she rested her head on my lap and closed her eyes, then said to her,
“You were embarrassed when I ran while carrying you princess-style this morning, but you’re not embarrassed by a lap pillow?”
“…I’m too tired to care.”
“You mean you’re too physically exhausted to care about people staring?”
“Jin, you’re smart.”
“One class and the kid’s already gone off the deep end. Did your battery run out or something?”
“…”
When I looked down at her with an incredulous expression, she paid no mind to my gaze and shifted her head into a comfortable position.
“…I’m going to sleep.”
“If you sleep here, your mouth will go crooked, Princess.”
“…”
“You can’t even be bothered to answer, huh.”
Wondering if perhaps the wind-up key on Isil’s back had come loose, I looked down at her back, but of course, there was no such key there; it was smooth.
I watched her actually fall asleep, then soon sighed and muttered while looking up at the sky.
“Good grief. If you’re already in this state after just one class, how are you going to survive life at Academia? It’ll only get worse as we move up in years.”
“Hmm, it seems Isil’s stamina is weak. Even the students of the Combat Faculty were about to die after one class. Humans are far too frail.”
“No, well, we’re only fifteen, so physically, we can’t help but be weak. Won’t we get better as we advance in year?”
“Hm, is that so? Unlike the beastfolk, it seems humans take a long time to grow.”
“Humans do tend to grow quite slowly compared to other living creatures—”
Swish.
“…Why did you stop speaking?”
When I turned my head to the right, my gaze met the golden eyes of Hwaryeong, who had red hair.
Her golden irises, slit vertically in the manner unique to beastfolk, looked at me with a questioning gaze.
“…When did you get here?”
“Just now. The Combat Faculty’s class ended a short while ago as well, so I came to meet you.”
Hwaryeong ran a hand through her red hair and shook it slightly.
Her face held an expression that seemed to say, I personally came all this way to see you, so be grateful.
“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“What is this nonsense all of a sudden?”
“No, I just felt like I had to say it that way for some reason.”
“?”
I waved a hand at Hwaryeong, who looked puzzled at my joke, as if to say it was nothing, and moved on.
“It’s nothing. But I guess the Combat Faculty finishes around the same time as us.”
“From what I overheard, most faculties finish at similar times. Especially first-years, since they take turns attending classes from all the departments in each faculty.”
“Ah, I see.”
I was curious as to how one could overhear something in such detail, but even if I asked, I doubted she’d tell me the trick, so I simply moved on to the next topic.
“Looks like the Combat Faculty has several departments too.”
“Mm, naturally.”
Hwaryeong nodded in agreement at my question and explained the Reconnaissance Department class she had just attended.
“The Reconnaissance Department I just came from was apparently created to train scouts who explore the various uncharted regions in the remote parts of the Empire. It had many points in common with the survival techniques I learned from my clan, so I personally found it quite enjoyable.”
Pat, pat.
Even as she spoke, Hwaryeong was brushing the dirt and dust off various parts of her clothes. Seeing that, it seemed like the class had been physically very demanding, unlike her personal impression that it had been fun.
“Well, the others had such weak stamina that they collapsed partway through. I fail to see what is so difficult about hunching down and running around on all fours for an hour.”
“…”
“Apart from physical strength, the students of the Combat Faculty are far too weak-minded. Especially when the male student whose body looked fairly usable was the first to drop out—I was somewhat disappointed despite myself.”
Crack, crack.
Hwaryeong cracked her neck and sat lightly on the end of the bench Isil was lying on, wearing the disappointed expression of an old man clicking his tongue and saying, Tsk, kids these days have no grit.
Then, as if something had occurred to her, she fell silent for a moment before turning her head toward me and asking,
“…Let us leave the boring talk of reconnaissance class at that. By the way, do you happen to know where we eat lunch, Jin?”
“Where we eat lunch? No, I don’t know. You’re in the Combat Faculty, aren’t you? Wouldn’t it be wherever the other Combat Faculty students are gathered?”
“The other Combat Faculty students are likely lying on the training ground floor right now, doing nothing but breathing. I am hungry, but I do not know where the cafeteria is.”
Growl.
Hwaryeong gently rubbed her noisy stomach, wearing a hungry expression.
“…If the other Combat Faculty students saw you right now, they’d be jealous.”
“Mm? Why would you think that?”
“They finished class feeling like they were going to die, and you’re calmly looking for food.”
“Is that so?”
Hwaryeong asked back with an expression that showed little interest in my answer.
If we hadn’t been on good terms, her expression was so insincere that instead of Is that so? the words So what? might have come out.
“If their stamina is weak, they should think about building it up. Being jealous of someone better than oneself is an utterly useless act.”
“Hwaryeong, have you ever been jealous of someone else?”
“No.”
Hwaryeong immediately answered my question and shook her head.
“In the clan I was born into, I was the legitimate eldest heir, and I have lived my life doing my utmost for my clan and for myself. I have not lived so soft a life as to be jealous of others.”
“Oh. If you can say that right away, then I guess you really haven’t.”
“Rather, that is a question I wish to ask you. Have you ever been jealous of someone else?”
Had I ever been jealous of someone else?
Hmm.
“Not now.”
“Hmph, I thought as much.”
If it had been Earth in my previous life, maybe.
But now that I had been reborn into this world, I really had never been jealous of anyone.
No matter how outstanding a person I met, all I felt was the impression of looking at a well-made statue.
Was that because it still didn’t feel real to me that I had actually been born into this world?
“…Noisy.”
“Oh, you’re awake, Isil.”
“…Hwaryeong?”
Isil, who had been lying with her head on my lap, opened her eyes narrowly and met the gaze of Hwaryeong, who was looking at her.
“…When did you get here?”
“It seems to have been about ten minutes.”
“…So not that much time has passed yet.”
Rustle.
At Hwaryeong’s answer, Isil raised herself up and sat properly on the bench.
Then she stretched both arms out wide.
“Ugh, since Hwaryeong is here too, shall we go eat?”
“What, were you waiting for Hwaryeong?”
“…I was waiting for her too, while I was at it. Neither Hwaryeong nor Jin would know where the dining district is.”
Dining district?
Seeing Hwaryeong and me look puzzled at her words, Isil nodded as if she had expected as much, then stood up from the bench and beckoned.
“Follow me. I’ll guide you to the dining district.”
“…For some reason, I feel as though I keep receiving guidance from you, Isil. I am ashamed.”
“It’s fine. I’m doing it because I want to.”
With her body turned away, Isil took the hand of Hwaryeong, who said she was ashamed, as if it didn’t matter, and whispered softly,
“…And because we’re friends.”
At Isil’s attitude, shyly speaking her true feelings while holding her hand, Hwaryeong looked at her without saying anything for a moment, then soon let out a small laugh and said,
“…Friends, is it? What a terribly embarrassing word.”
Even so, Hwaryeong obediently rose from the bench at Isil’s tug, then looked at me and said,
“Do Isil and I look like friends?”
“Well, you didn’t deny it when you heard the word friend, so doesn’t that mean you are?”
I also rose from the bench and answered Hwaryeong casually.
It wasn’t as if being friends was something grand.
If you both called each other friends, then you were friends.