The Price of Friendship and the Burden of Poverty
After lunch, a few more tedious theory classes followed. In other words, it was time to admire Sylvia’s face. The four hours of soul-nourishing time passed in the blink of an eye, and soon, it was time for the end-of-day homeroom.
“Everyone, you worked hard today! Many of you were likely startled by the monster attack this morning, so go home, rest well, and be even more alert starting tomorrow! You never know when I might spring a surprise test like today’s again.”
At Eve’s declaration, the students began to murmur. It was true; for those experiencing such a thing for the first time, the reality of not knowing when or where a monster might pop out—even if it was just an illusion—wasn't easy to accept. But that was Aegis Academy’s educational philosophy: to train them from the start to maintain composure in any situation. From the moment they entered this school, even as students, they were heroes, and the places heroes had to go were battlefields where lives were on the line.
“Ah, one more announcement. I need someone to take on the role of class representative temporarily. Anyone interested?”
This was already decided, obviously. I didn't think anyone else was as pedantic and filled with a sense of duty to take on such a bothersome position. I expected to see the class rep jump up any second, shouting, "I'll do it!"
However, the classroom, which had been buzzing just a moment ago, went deathly silent, as if that noise had never existed. ...Huh? Is this a bug?
Wondering what was going on, I looked toward the class rep, only to see her sitting still in her seat with her head bowed for some reason. I thought she had looked at me for a second, but was that just my imagination?
With no one stepping forward, Eve wore a troubled expression.
“If no one wants to do it, I’ll have to appoint someone arbitrarily. Are you sure that’s okay?”
Even at Eve’s words, the classroom remained quiet. She tapped her fingers on the desk and eventually pointed to someone.
“Then, the class rep will be Mei.”
Was it the world’s corrective force at work, or just a simple coincidence? Ironically, the person Eve pointed to was the class rep.
“Yes?! B-but I......”
The class rep panicked and glanced at the others. Perhaps thinking, "As long as it's not me," one could feel an implicit consensus in everyone’s gaze toward her. She seemed to have looked at me a bit longer, but it must have been my imagination again.
The class rep eventually closed her eyes tightly, opened them, and said as if she had no choice.
“...Understood. Since there doesn't seem to be anyone else to take it, I will do it.”
What a relief. I almost had a class rep who wasn't the class rep. Anyway, class was over, so should I head home?
“Evande, I have something to discuss with you, so follow me to the faculty office.”
And as soon as I stood up, I was caught by Eve. As I quietly followed her out of the classroom, the gazes of students wondering what kind of trouble I had caused on the first day followed me. I’m curious too!
But contrary to my worries, it wasn't anything special.
“Well, it’s nothing else, just about your school uniform. Since the one you were wearing burned up, you need to buy a new one, right? The price of the uniform is quite high, so it might be a burden to buy a new one, so I’m going to let you have the one you’re wearing now for cheap. Hmm, alright. Evande, just pay 200,000 gold. I’ll cover the rest!”
It was about purchasing the uniform. 200,000... Even in my original world, school uniforms were on the expensive side. They could go up to 400,000 won, so wasn't Eve covering about half of it with 200,000? Regardless, it was something to be grateful for, so I thanked Eve, paid the 200,000 gold, and returned home.
And when I got home and searched for it, the price of the uniform was beyond what I had imagined. To think the price of a uniform would exceed three digits... Just how much did Eve contribute? I’ll have to thank her again tomorrow.
By the way, was Aegis Academy a school only for the bourgeoisie? Then, perhaps me too? I thought and checked my account, but no way; the balance was 100,000 G. I wasn't a bourgeois; I was a parasite.
I was briefly anxious that I might become the academy’s homeless person, but fortunately, there was a monthly subsidy. If I subtracted the rent from that, I had about 300,000 gold left each month. If things had stayed that way, it would have been fine, but with the expenditure for the uniform, I had to live on about 3,000 gold a day for the next month.
Huh? 3,000 gold? Seeing that subtle amount, my mind snapped to attention. I almost forgot there was a cost I hadn't calculated yet.
The "friendship fee" I had to pay to Sylvia was 3,000 gold per day. If so, my remaining living expenses were a mere 10,000 gold. Is the cost I can spend per day about 300 gold? I can't even afford a single bowl of ramen.
At that moment, a balance game started in my head.
Starving morning and night, friends with a beautiful girl VS Living as a loner, but eating three meals a day... Isn't the former the obvious choice without even needing to think? A person can survive for three weeks without food, but it’s certain I wouldn't survive three weeks without being friends with Sylvia!
In the first place, since I became a girl, I thought it might be okay to eat only one meal a day. There doesn't seem to be any fat to lose, but anyway, I’ll think of it as dieting.
Anyway, more important than living expenses right now was controlling my ability. I realized how to use a flame that could burn something, not just one for viewing, but it was troublesome if I couldn't figure out how to ignite it where I wanted. How could I ignite it only where I wanted? It’s not like I could just get angry at a specific body part. Unfortunately, the only body part I could get angry with disappeared when I became a girl.
As an experiment, I tried to get angry, ignite my body, and put strength into my arm, but the flame didn't budge at all.
...I’m exhausted. I need to find a way to solve both the money and the ability. It’ll work out somehow. Thinking that, I buried my face in my pillow.
The world was cold and indifferent,
A place where I didn't belong.
> Ding-ding-ding~ Good mor-
I reached out and turned off the alarm. The morning of a day where I skipped dinner and now had to skip breakfast too. It would be normal to have no strength in my body if I skipped a meal, but for some reason, my body felt lighter than usual. Is this the effect of that intermittent fasting or something? I’m not intermittent, I’m just fasting.
Anyway, since I was late yesterday, I decided to go to school early. I arrived 30 minutes earlier than the morning homeroom time, but there was someone who arrived before me.
From early in the morning, the class rep was naturally cleaning the classroom as if it were her own job. What a kind child... While I was moved by that sight, I made eye contact with the class rep who was cleaning, and she was startled and bowed her head.
Ah, is she the type to be embarrassed if she gets caught doing a good deed? I considered her and turned my steps toward the faculty office.
In the faculty office, Eve was leaning back in her chair, humming.
“Teacher.”
“Hmm? Ah, Evande. What brings you here? At such an early hour.”
Eve peeked out from behind the chair to look at me and straightened her posture.
“I checked the price of the uniform when I went home yesterday, and I think I’ve been a burden to you more than I thought.......”
“Is that why you came, worrying about that? Hehehe, you’re a good child, Evande. If it’s because of the price, don't worry about it. I’m incredibly rich. I wanted to just buy the uniform for you, but I made you pay for it to give you a sense of caution so you wouldn't burn it up again.”
“Anyway, thank you.”
“Yes, yes. You have a cuter side than I thought, Evande?”
I escaped to the classroom, avoiding Eve, who was smiling slyly. By the way, is Eve that rich? Well, if she’s the world’s greatest illusionist, there must be many places that need her. Even thinking about it a little, it was an ability that could easily earn money. If I could use illusion magic instead of fire, I wouldn't have had to suffer because of money. This useless ability...
I should just pray that there’s no class using abilities today.