Chapter 36: The Freshman Doesn't Hide His Slave (6)
Chapter 36: The Freshman Doesn't Hide His Slave (6)
“Urgh! I won't forget this...!”
Leaving behind a line straight out of a third-rate villain’s script, Elisha scurried away.
Well, at this point, it was impossible for her not to realize I was messing with her on purpose. Elisha wasn't an idiot, after all.
“I’m sorry, Master… I just lost my temper for a moment….”
“It’s fine. If you hadn't stepped in, Carla, I would have done it myself.”
As I spoke, gently tickling her under the chin, Carla looked embarrassed but slightly lifted her head to make it easier for me.
The crowd around us began to buzz again at the sight, but… most of the whispers were about how they didn't realize Elisha would go that far, rather than insults directed at me.
It seemed the image of Elisha being the instigator was firmly taking root.
“…Won’t this be a problem later?”
“Oh, please. We can crush all of this under the name of the Sylvan Magic Tower. Well… the real problem is what you said, Master—when Elisha’s backing disappears in three months.”
“Don’t worry about that part.”
I planned to snatch her up myself before anyone else could touch her.
Actually, maybe it would be better to start staking my claim now.
“Hey, Carla. Do you know anything Elisha might like?”
“…First place, perhaps?”
“She’d hate it if I threw the match in tomorrow’s Ranking Battle, right?”
“Yes. She’d feel like first place was just handed to her. …Wait. Master, are you actually aiming to be the Class Representative?”
“It’ll be tough, but the higher the goal, the better, right?”
When I shrugged and said that, Carla nodded with a satisfied expression, looking at me as if I were a remarkably clever child.
Ever since Carla started seeing me as someone similar to her ancestor, she’d been giving me these proud, fond looks more often.
“True. The higher the goal, the better. Come to think of it, Master, you’ve never been in a full-scale magic battle, have you? That’s why you used those cheap tricks during the entrance exam.”
“Cheap tricks? Could you call it an ‘efficient combat style’ instead?”
Hearing it called a cheap trick hurts my feelings.
However, Carla wasn't wrong about anything.
I had used magic until I was sick of it behind a monitor, but this was my first time actually moving my body to cast spells.
The pros and cons of each spell, counter-methods, hidden combinations, and so on—I was quite confident in the theoretical aspects, but whether I could apply them in actual combat was a different story.
Noticing my concern, Carla gently tugged on my sleeve.
“If you wish, Master, I will teach you everything I know. It’ll be a bit of a cram session… but it should be quite useful.”
“That sounds good. Even a rushed lesson is better than knowing nothing at all. Should we head to a training room before the dormitory? I thought I heard freshmen couldn't use them yet….”
According to Iona’s explanation, some registration process wasn't finished, so it would take a few more days.
In the game, the interaction was simply blocked with a line like, ‘It seems too early. Let’s come back later.’
At my words, Carla grinned and puffed out her soft chest.
“Don’t worry, Master! The dormitories assigned to Class A students have their own private training rooms!”
“Ah. Right. I forgot about that.”
Thanks to my Excellent Memory trait, I can vividly remember things I’ve seen or heard even back on Earth… but how quickly I can recall them is a separate matter.
“Alright. Let’s head straight to the dormitory then. You know the way, right?”
“Uh… actually, I don’t know this time.”
“…….”
After telling me to trust her and ignore the guidebook, she didn't even know where the most important place—the dormitory—was?
As I stared at her in silence, Carla stomped her feet, looking like she was about to cry.
“I-I couldn't help it! I might know the girls' dormitory, but how would I know where the boys' dormitory is?!”
“Ah.”
Well, that was fair.
For the sake of Carla, a (former) maiden who claimed she’d never even held a man’s hand, I asked a nearby servant for directions instead.
*
“Whoa… it’s my first time in a boys' dormitory….”
Carla looked around curiously.
“Well, don't be so nervous. Even if it’s a boys' dormitory, there are attendants and servants who manage the place, so it’s not like it’s strictly men only.”
“In the girls' dormitory, it really was only women, though?”
“…Really?”
I suppose that made sense. While it was common for male students to bring female servants, it was rare for female students to bring male servants.
Perhaps it was because being seen clinging to a man at an Academy far from home would spark scandals, even if it was different within their own estates.
For the record, whether it was a resource issue or something else, the girls' dormitory in H&A was a place that was systematically impossible to enter.
At most, you could go to the front gate and ask someone to call a student out.
I was a bit curious, though. The girls' dormitory.
Thinking that to myself, I walked in the direction the cafeteria servant had pointed out, and before long, large buildings appeared.
They had a reasonably luxurious exterior, but with windows packed closely together in a way that didn't quite match the aesthetic.
Those buildings lined up must be the dormitories for Class B and Class C.
Watching this, Carla began to smile with a slight air of superiority.
“Hehe… did you know, Master? The facilities for the Class B and Class C dormitories are almost identical. The only difference is that Class C students live three or four to a room, while Class B has private rooms.”
I knew that well, having played as a newbie or during restricted runs where I couldn't get into Class A.
As I nodded along, Carla wagged her finger and continued with a strange emphasis.
“HOW. EVER! Class A has an entirely different building! They really put a lot of effort into it, since it’s where the Academy’s undisputed top talents live. …Just like this!”
Carla extended her wagging finger to point behind the Class B and C dormitories.
There stood a magnificent building that could rival the palace of a small kingdom.
“Whoa….”
It was one thing to see it in graphics, but seeing it in person, the impact was on another level.
Just as Carla said, the quality of the Class A dormitory facilities was vastly different.
Part of the reason was how difficult it was to get into Class A, but it was also meant to motivate the other students.
“Wait, why have you been so excited since a while ago? I’m the one who got into Class A, not you, Carla.”
“Hmph! But I’ll be sharing your bed, won't I, Master? Besides, your pride is my pride!”
She wasn't wrong… but that sounded more like something a primary wife would say rather than a slave.
When I stared at her in disbelief, Carla rapidly shrank back.
She glanced at me tentatively before scratching the back of her head and letting out a sheepish laugh.
“Actually… I’m just a little happy to be back at the Academy.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s still hard to meet people I know or people who recognize me… but this was still the place where I was happiest in my life.”
“…….”
I looked at Carla for a moment. More specifically, at the Thorn Pattern slave imprint etched onto her neck.
Come to think of it, Carla had been kicked out of the Academy right before graduation.
I chuckled and ruffled her platinum blonde hair.
“I saw earlier that attendants are allowed to attend classes too.”
“Yes. Though we can only listen.”
“Then if you attend every lecture with me until I graduate, wouldn't that be the same as you attending the Academy too, Carla?”
“……Ah.”
Carla stared up at me blankly, as if she’d just realized something.
Right. She wouldn't get a diploma, but if she sat through every class for four years, it meant she’d learned everything the Academy had to teach.
It was essentially the same as graduating.
“M-Master!”
Carla’s ruby eyes welled up with tears as she lunged toward me.
However, she didn't have the courage to hug me in a crowded place, so she simply grabbed my hand.
She rubbed her face against the back of my hand and my palm, and eventually, she even started kissing each of my fingers.
Students passing by the dormitory weren't just glancing; they were staring openly at us, but….
Ah, whatever.
Elisha will probably take the blame for it anyway!
Even if she didn't, I didn't want to give up this feeling just because I was worried about what others thought.
Leading the fawning Carla, I slowly headed toward the Class A dormitory.
.
.
.
.
.
“My name is Yandel. I’m a freshman.”
“Oh. Yes. Please wait a moment.”
The dorm manager, who kept rubbing his eyes as if he couldn't believe he was seeing Carla clinging to me, pulled two keys—one large and one small—from a drawer.
“It’s the room on the left on the third floor. If you lock it with just the large key, the maids will tidy up the room during the morning while you’re in class. If you don't want anyone entering, use this small key as well to lock the door completely.”
I gave a slight nod and took the keys from the manager, who was doing his job properly despite constantly stealing glances at Carla.
The layout was split into two rooms on either side of a central staircase, so finding my room wasn't difficult.
Click.
I was using half of an entire floor in this massive building all by myself.
Rather than a dormitory room, the size and layout were closer to a small house.
One of those closed doors must be the private training room.
After looking around for a bit, I pinched the cheeks of Carla, who still hadn't let go of me.
Squish, pull.
“Hyaaa?!”
Carla let out a cute yelp and pulled away from her fawning.
I gave her a smirk and spoke.
“Let’s finish that cram session first.”
“…And after that?”
“I need to check how good the soundproofing is in here.”
“Gasp!”
She caught her breath, but her eyes curved into a smile as if she didn't exactly hate the idea.
After that, we crammed like crazy.
…Oh, and as it turned out, the soundproofing was nothing to worry about.