Dormitory Assignment
On the first day of enrollment, all classes at Kizen had come to an end.
The entirety of Class A made their way to the dormitory under the guidance of the attendants.
A small problem, however, had arisen.
Having sat through the full three-hour Summoning class to the very end, Class A arrived at the dormitory late — and most of the rooms had already been filled.
Dormitory rooms were either triple occupancy or, in some cases, quadruple. Simon and Dick had planned to room together, but the students who'd arrived earlier had already taken every available pair of spots.
"I-I'm so sorry. There aren't any rooms with two open spots left on the second floor either."
The dormitory attendant bowed her head repeatedly.
"You don't need to apologize, ma'am."
Having someone older than him act so deferentially only made Simon more uncomfortable. Of course, within Kizen, students outranked the attendants. And since most of the student body were children of prominent nobles or wealthy families, it was only natural that the staff kept their heads low.
Dick, seemingly used to this sort of thing, crossed his arms.
"No rooms with two open spots on the third or fourth floors either, I take it?"
"...No. The other floors are in a similar situation."
The attendant showed them the second-floor list. Only the occasional single spot remained here and there, and even those were too far apart from one another.
"What do you want to do, Simon?"
"Let's check the other floors just in case, then decide."
Ainz, who'd been trailing after the same attendant under the pretense of coincidence yet again, couldn't have cared less. All he needed was to find the room with Kazan Edward in it — to fulfill Nephthys's request.
At any rate, while Dick and Simon were still exchanging opinions—
"Out of the way!"
The attendant was knocked down by a luggage cart. The brown-haired student pulling it scowled.
"Hey, what are you doing? I said move!"
"I-I'm so sorry!"
The fallen woman hurriedly bowed her head, while the friend standing beside the brown-haired student snickered. The brown-haired student inspected his luggage, then twisted his face in disgust.
"Ugh, seriously. You dented it. What are you going to do about this?"
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Sorry doesn't cut it. Come with me. Now."
Just as she was rising to her feet with her head hung like a criminal—
"Hey, buddy."
"Gyaaah!"
"We're talking to this lady first. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Ainz had snapped the student's finger, then looked down at him with a chilling smile. The attendant's eyes went wide.
"Th-This bastard's insane— hhk!"
The student's friend stepped forward, only to clamp his mouth shut the moment he recognized Ainz.
Whether he did or not, Ainz began interrogating the interrupter.
"Buddy."
"Ghhh—!"
"If you don't answer, I'll break every other finger and tear off your arms and legs too. Buddy."
"U-Uh... w-why...?"
The student couldn't even look up at Ainz, trembling as he kept his eyes down.
"It was obvious you came over and rammed into her on purpose. Trying to snatch the attendant away from us? Looking for a fight with me?"
"N-N-No!"
"Then what? You're saying you didn't even see us talking to her? Ignoring me?"
"Th-That's not—"
"If it's not this and it's not that, then what is it? Spit it out. Should I rip out that stuttering tongue of yours? Or tear off that useless jaw?"
Sensing Ainz's voice growing colder by the second, the student's face went deathly pale. Between Ainz's reputation and the fact that he looked dead serious, terror was inevitable.
And then Ainz noticed Simon and Dick glancing around nervously, checking whether anyone else was watching. Figuring that was enough, Ainz hauled the crumpled student back to his feet.
"Ahaha, well now."
Ainz dusted off the student's clothes as he spoke.
"Ah, sorry about that, buddy. Looks like I overreacted a bit. I went a little too far, huh?"
"Ah... n-no..."
Ainz reset the finger he'd broken.
"Gah!"
"Well, I'm no Priest, so I can't heal you. But wrap a bandage around it and you'll be fine. Be more careful from now on, buddy."
Ainz said this with a bright smile and a clap on the back, and the student stared at him like he was a lunatic. One moment he'd been dead serious about tearing off limbs and ripping out tongues, and the next he was acting all friendly — what the hell was this guy?
"Hey, hey... l-let's go."
"Y-Yeah..."
The student's friend said this with a thoroughly sickened look, and lacking the courage to pick a fight with a madman, they grabbed their luggage and hurried off.
Meanwhile, Simon helped the fallen attendant to her feet.
"Are you all right?"
"Th-Thank you for helping me..."
"Well... strictly speaking, I wasn't the one who helped..."
Simon smiled awkwardly and glanced toward Ainz. The attendant, for her part, was too frightened of Ainz to actually speak to him — gratitude or no.
"W-Well, thank you either way. My name is Lena. If you're checking the upper floors, I can show you around. I might be of some help."
"Ah, that would be great."
Simon and Dick followed Lena upstairs, and Ainz tagged along at a casual distance, still intent on finding Kazan Edward's room. Lena moved quickly, gathering information from the other attendants, and headed straight for the fourth floor.
"There's exactly one room left on the fourth floor with plenty of open spots!"
Lena called out as she ran, Simon and Dick sticking close behind her.
"There's an empty room?"
"Yes, you're in luck! Room 409 is a quadruple, and it's spacious, has a great view, and sits right by the central staircase — prime real estate! I never expected only that room would still be open, though."
The three of them arrived at the door to Room 409, Ainz trailing along at a leisurely pace. Lena checked the nameplate on the door—
"Ah..."
Her face darkened in an instant.
"What's wrong?"
Lena turned back to face Simon and Dick, offering an awkward smile.
"W-Why don't we just look somewhere else? Rooms 412 and 413 only have one spot each, but they're next to each other, so..."
"Is there something wrong with this room?"
At Simon's question, Lena gave a stiff little nod and pointed to the nameplate on the door.
"...Kazan Edward. He was a student here last year too."
Dick's eyes went wide at that.
"That can't be right! This is the first-year dormitory. Second-years have their own dorms based on their majors."
"Kazan is a repeater. He caused some major incident, got held back, and is starting over from first year this time around."
This was news to both Simon and Dick. Kizen had no qualms about expelling students — so the existence of a repeater was puzzling.
Ainz smiled to himself in quiet triumph. Found him at last.
"Why was he held back?"
"I'm just a dormitory staff member, so I don't know the full details. All I know is he was held back for assaulting a classmate... and that his roommates frequently begged to be reassigned."
Looking a little spooked, Dick shot Simon a sidelong glance.
"Simon. Let's just take a different room..."
"I'll just go say hello real quick. That much should be fine, right?"
With that, Simon knocked on the door and stepped inside. Dick followed in a panic, and Ainz sauntered in after them with feigned indifference.
Just as Lena had said, the room was quite spacious, and the window offered a prime view of Kizen's buildings, mountains, and valleys below. And against one wall, someone had already unpacked and was lying on the top bunk of a bunk bed, blanket pulled all the way over his head.
"Hold on, Simon!"
Dick hissed in a lowered voice.
"You heard what Lena said! This guy's clearly got a temper!"
"Let's just see what kind of person he is first. We can decide after."
Simon took a breath and spoke.
"Hello, senior. Sorry to bother you while you're sleeping."
There was no reply. Simon tried again.
"We'd like to share this room as well, if that's all right with you?"
Still no answer. Lena, who'd followed them in, clutched Simon's sleeve, trembling.
"L-Let's just go back, Simon. This person is still..."
That was when it happened.
Through a gap in the blanket, a bloodshot eye was glaring at them. Dick swallowed hard. Lena took a frightened step back.
"...Freshmen."
At last the blanket was thrown aside, and a man sat up with a rustling sound.
"Today was the entrance ceremony... so it's already that time."
The man was lean, but his body was ideally muscled, and his eyes were sharp. A vivid scar cut clean across his bloodshot right eye, and smaller scars covered his bare torso.
Everyone's first impression was the same: this was a dangerous man. When he glared, Dick and Lena each grabbed one of Simon's arms. Ainz watched with a cynical look.
"...Drop the 'senior.' I'm a first-year too."
"Then, Kazan—"
"Just call me Kazan."
Kazan swept his bangs back, and a menacing gaze came into full view. They were the eyes of someone who looked ready to carve a person up with a knife at any moment — eyes that could never belong to a teenage boy.
"I don't know how long you'll last here, but remember two things. One: stay out of my business. Two: don't make noise before I fall asleep. Once I'm out, dance, sing — do whatever you want."
"...Ah! So you're giving us permission?"
"Permission or not, there are no empty rooms left. Someone was going to end up in here either way."
Kazan lay back down and pulled the blanket over himself. A moment later, even breathing filled the room — he was already asleep.
Simon and Dick exchanged glances and stepped outside, Ainz following. Lena came out last and carefully closed the door.
"We'll take this room."
Simon, Dick, and Ainz all settled on Room 409. Lena asked with a worried look.
"Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"Yes, we'll be fine. He doesn't seem like such a bad person."
Lena nodded, checked them off on her list, and slid a nameplate bearing all three of their names into the case on the door.
"Then Room 409 it is! If anything happens later — if he does anything to you — please let me know. I'll report it to the dorm supervisor immediately and get it handled."
"Thank you for looking out for us."
After parting ways with Lena, the three of them each claimed a spot and began unpacking. Dick took the bed closest to the door, Simon took one relatively near Kazan, and Ainz claimed the spot closest to Kazan of all.
The sounds of three people unpacking filled the room, but Kazan didn't stir. Only the soft sound of his breathing could be heard.
"Is this guy seriously not waking up?"
Finding a sudden burst of courage from somewhere, Dick dropped a textbook on the floor. The sound echoed, but Kazan slept on, dead to the world.
"...He really meant it when he said we could dance or sing once he was asleep."
"Doesn't seem like a bad guy."
The three of them finished unpacking.
"Simon! Let's go take a shower! I saw a bathhouse on the second floor on the way up."
"A bathhouse?"
"Yeah! Ainz, you coming too?"
"Sure, why not. Wonder if they've got a sauna."
The communal bathhouse — a facility large enough to hold well over a hundred people at once — had gleaming floors and walls, and hot spring water flowed into the pools.
Simon stood under a stream of water that poured from the ceiling at the press of a button, looking around everywhere with wonder, while Dick soaked in the hot spring and let the fatigue melt away. Ainz sat in the sauna, pondering just how far civilization could advance in a feudal medieval society once magic entered the picture.
A little later, Simon and Dick were chatting.
"Heh. Simon, you need to tone it down a little. Even so, going 'whoa, whoa' every time you hit the shower button is a bit much, don't you think? Word travels fast around here."
"Was I really that bad?"
"You have no idea."
The three of them returned to their dorm room.
Kazan was still asleep in exactly the same position, as if time itself had stopped for him. Outside the window, pitch-black darkness had settled over everything.
Softened by the shower, Simon flopped onto his plush bed.
"Aahh... coming to Kizen was the right call after all."
Dick snickered at that.
"Everyone wants to come to Kizen. Whether we get to stay, though — that depends on our grades."
"I heard there are only three hundred second-years right now."
"That's right. Right now it's the student protection period, so the professors are going easy on us. But before long — fail your grades, get expelled. Show no promise, get expelled. Break the rules, get expelled... Life at Kizen is survival."
Dick laced his fingers behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.
"Just surviving first year is enough to land you a decent living almost anywhere. And if you can claw your way through the insane competition and become an official graduate... well, then you're part of the mainstream that moves the continent. Practically everything becomes possible short of raising your social rank itself. Hmm, wait. Actually — as a Kizen graduate, wouldn't a decent noble house offer you a daughter? Or maybe a mid-sized kingdom would throw in a princess?"
"You want to become a noble or something?"
Simon asked, and Dick shrugged.
"Not really. Sure, being a noble means you don't get looked down on and life gets easier, but that's not my ultimate goal."
Dick formed a coin shape with his fingers.
"This is."
"..."
For someone claiming money was the goal, Dick's expression looked rather complicated. Having only met today, there was no reason to dig deeper. Ainz lay down and started drifting off to sleep.
And Simon channeled jet-black mana into the subspace ring Lorraine had bought for him.
The ring turned black. When Simon pulled on the handle, a subspace opened from the floor and an Island Ratman skeleton set tumbled out — class materials he'd bought on Campbell Road.
"Whoa! What was that? What the hell was that just now?"
"Subspace."
Simon gave a simple answer to Dick's excited questions, then plopped down in front of the skeleton set and began studying.