Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Scent of a New Encounter☆ (1)
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I awoke to a sudden presence.
The first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was a fist flying toward me.
I snatched it before it could connect.
*Thwack—!!*
The attack was stopped in its tracks.
But since it wasn't a proper attack to begin with, my opponent withdrew her fist without a second thought. Then, she brought it to her stomach and began to scratch vigorously.
“…”
“Kuuul… Mmm…”
It was Kara.
She was still sound asleep.
Unaware that her attack had been blocked, she mumbled in her sleep.
And she tossed and turned, wrinkling the red Central Prism Academy tracksuit she wore instead of pajamas.
“Mmm-nya…”
A height of over 180 cm, and the massive revolutionary pouches rising and falling with each breath. It was a testament to her status as the most physically gifted of the game's Peach Sisters. But right now, she was just a walking collision hazard, liable to cause countless traffic accidents.
I sighed softly at the sight.
‘Her sleeping habits are atrocious.’
She was already huge, and her terrible sleeping habits made it unbearable. I thought I’d gotten used to it over the past week, but I was now seriously considering tying her up with a blanket before bed.
I watched her, ready to bind her if she caused another disturbance, but from then on, she just quietly scratched her belly.
“…”
“Drrr-ong—”
*Scratch, scratch.*
“…”
“Sss…”
Beyond the sound of the giant troublemaker scratching her stomach, I could sense two others sleeping.
A deep breath from twitching ears.
And the sound of breathing from a corner, where someone was huddled under a blanket pulled over their head.
“Sss… ss…”
“Mmm.”
As I focused on their breathing, my vision rapidly adjusted to the darkness. In the dim light of the dawn moon, I could see the three girls sleeping in the small room.
“Sss…”
“Kuuul…”
The sight of the girls huddled together in the small room, wrapped in shabby blankets, was somewhat pitiful. To be honest, they looked like refugees from a disaster I’d seen on the news in my past life.
‘Though, in a way, we are refugees.’
This was a small room provided by Grandpa Huato from the tailor shop in the shopping district. The reason we’d been staying here for a week was due to the major renovations at Central Prism Academy.
*『My first wish.』*
*『To renovate the old facilities of Central Prism Academy.』*
It was one of the two wishes I’d asked of Maya. The construction, carried out by members of the Department of Facility Engineering, was in full swing.
About three days after the welcoming ceremony for new students ended.
Members of the Department of Facility Engineering came to give an estimate, sighing as they surveyed the dilapidated buildings.
-Hmm… It’s all quite old… For a full-scale renovation, we’d have to tear everything down.
I was horrified to hear that.
‘Ah, tearing everything down is a bit much…’
Suddenly demolishing all of Central Prism Academy’s buildings would be detrimental to the future story progression. So, I asked them to focus on renovations that could be done quickly without touching the main structures.
-Oh! Is that so? In that case, we can quickly handle the auditorium roof, the dormitory building, and remodeling the classrooms.
The personnel dispatched from the Department of Facility Engineering for external construction seemed pleased with the shorter schedule.
The day after the estimation team left, the practical team from Mimir Industrial High School’s Department of Facility Engineering arrived and began work immediately.
And so the renovations began.
Naturally, since it all started so suddenly, my juniors were all surprised.
-Re-renovations—?! Did our school have that kind of money?!
-Hmph… The Department of Facility Engineering wouldn’t help for free, would they?
-Clara… Did you get scammed or something?
I looked at the three pairs of eyes filled with shock, doubt, and suspicion, respectively, and gave a suitable answer.
-Well, you see—☆
It’s part of the United Student Council’s recent garrison expansion plan. In response to the unsettling movements between the Public Vana Boarding School and Svart Industrial High School, they’re sending support to the eastern schools affiliated with the council.
‘Well, it’s only ‘support’ in name. In reality, they’re treating us like a vassal territory.’
The lie was that Central Prism Academy, in addition to Mimir Industrial High School, was included in this plan.
-Central Prism Academy is part of the union too, you know—☆
Besides, Maya had already fed the dispatched engineering students a plausible excuse, so no one there could verify the truth of my claim.
‘A stratagem worthy of Zhuge Liang.’
Didn’t Zhuge Liang, on his deathbed, repel Sima Yi by frightening him with a life-sized statue of himself? If you lie convincingly enough, it becomes the truth for the moment.
After making that excuse, I offered a flimsy smile and apologized to Alvitt.
-I completely forgot to tell you, Madam President—☆ Sorry, sorry☆
-Eh… Am I really the student council president—?!
-Congratulations.
-Congratulations.
-Congratulations—☆
*Clap, clap, clap.*
You have to slap the armband on before they have a chance to run.
Alvitt’s inauguration as student council president unfolded just like choosing a group leader for a university project.
-You’ve been applauded, so now we’re dismissed—☆ Pack your things and come out☆
-Ah, I need to get more of my books.
-I shall help you with that, comrade!
-Hmph. Thanks.
-I-I’m the student council president…?! It’s decided just like that…?!
With Alvitt’s inauguration ceremony complete, we packed our belongings from the dorms and moved into the room provided by Grandpa Huato at the tailor shop.
And so began our life in a single room.
But we didn’t just idle our time away just because our living situation had changed a little.
We ran errands for the shopkeepers together and patrolled the area, chasing away delinquents. A week of this routine passed. It was nice that much of the awkwardness between us had disappeared during that time.
‘They’re all good kids at heart, so we got along well.’
The Peach Sisters, in particular, grew as close as friends who’d known each other for a year after just one week of living together.
Their attitude toward me, however, was complicated in a good way.
-Clara is… um… how should I put it… right?
-Mmm… To be honest, she doesn’t feel like an older sister at all…
-I can see that she is a thoughtful and kind comrade… but…
-Right… she’s nice… she is, but… strangely, I don’t feel any respect for her…
A sense of pity, compelling them to look after their foolish senior.
A sense of pride for the moments when I acted like a proper senior.
A subtle mix of these two feelings.
And so, I had somehow become something like Central Prism Academy's beloved youngest member.
‘…Did I overdo the Clara act?’
In any case.
We grew close over the week.
We became comfortable with each other.
‘Though now we might be a little too comfortable…’
“…”
“Kuuul…”
I returned to reality and glanced at the large girl talking in her sleep. After a small sigh, I quietly got up, tossed the blanket I was using onto Kara, and went outside.
*Creeak—*
With the sound of the old wooden door.
From the yard of the tailor shop, perched at the highest point of the shopping district, the view of the hill town where Central Prism Academy was located spread out before me.
“…”
I stretched while looking up at the sky, where dawn had not yet broken.
“Huuu…!”
My shoulders and arms extended smoothly, without a single pop from my bones.
“…Aand stretch☆”
I sat on the bare ground of the yard and did the splits. As expected, my leg muscles stretched naturally without any pain or resistance.
Thus began my simple stretching routine. Just a little stretching was enough to relieve the stiffness from sleeping on the hard floor. The pleasant elasticity and warmth slowly rising in my body were endless proof of my physical health.
I felt incredibly grateful for it.
‘Being this healthy is truly a blessing.’
A healthy morning.
A day without the full-body aches that had plagued me during my office worker days was so refreshing.
I looked up at the sky once more and offered my thanks.
Just as I was watching the sky slowly brighten with the dawn.
Grandpa Huato emerged from the open shop building in front of me.
And he ambled leisurely into the yard with a slight waddle.
“Up already? Young sprouts like you are supposed to sleep a lot.”
“I’m already a proper lady, so it’s fine—☆”
Grandpa Huato muttered, “Proper lady, my foot,” then sat on a wooden chair and started smoking.
*Fwooh—*
Smoke drifted from his mechanical mouth.
Grandpa Huato opened his smoke-scented mouth and spoke to me.
“…Come to think of it, isn’t the construction supposed to finish today?”
“Yes—☆ We’re planning to go check it out once it’s done this morning—☆ Thank you for letting us stay here until now☆”
“Don’t thank me. Think of all the things you’ve helped me with.”
“…Still, I never expected you’d let all four of us sleep here—☆”
“Don’t worry about it.”
*Ssssp—*
*Pooof…*
He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
Grandpa Huato often used cigarettes to fill the emptiness and loneliness of the morning sleep that old age had taken from him. I think he found a lot of comfort in me, who came to him every early morning to run trivial errands.
He tossed out the words in a nonchalant tone.
“…Reminded me of my daughters who moved away to get married. It wasn’t bad.”
“…”
“I’ve packed a few bottles of juice for you. Drink them on your way.”
Those indifferent words held more emotion and history than the text of a game NPC.
And so, we greeted the dawn of the shopping district in silence for a while.
＊
“Well, we’ll be on our way now!”
“Thank you for your hard work—☆”
“Thank you so much!”
“Thank you! Please have a safe trip back!”
“Thanks for the help!”
At the same spot where we’d seen off the vehicle that gave us a ride back from the welcoming ceremony, we once again saw off the students from the Department of Facility Engineering who had come for the construction.
*Vrooom—*
The back of the large vehicle quickly disappeared down the road.
We watched it go, then turned to head back toward the hill town where our school was.
Alvitt recalled the school’s new look, courtesy of the Department of Facility Engineering, and muttered in a voice thick with emotion.
“I can’t believe the facilities at this dump of a school could become so livable…”
“It’s still shabby, but it’s a lot better than before.”
“Still, it’s something.”
We chattered away as we walked up the hill, juice bottles in hand.
At that moment.
I sensed something was wrong.
“…!”
Someone had broken into the school.
I activated my unique Ether trait, cognitive ability, to its fullest extent, focusing all my senses on the Central Prism Academy building about a hundred meters ahead.
-*Heave…!*
I felt someone climbing through a window in the direction of the newly repaired student council room. The intruder then tidied up some of the materials scattered around the room before pulling out a chair.
*Screech—*
*Drag…*
The intruder plopped down on the chair.
They sat there, crossing their legs and striking a meaningful pose.
-Hmm… If I sit like this, the angle is wrong. It doesn’t look cool.
Then they repositioned the chair to face the main entrance.
They wedged some leftover construction materials under the chair, trying to achieve the most imperious line of sight possible.
The intruder muttered to themselves in that pose.
-*Hmph*~? So you’re the ones from Central… Hmm. That sounds like I’m acknowledging them too quickly. *Huuuh*? What a shabby school, isn’t it? Hmm… shabby? No…
The intruder suddenly gasped and said.
-Hmph. What a filthy school. How long do you plan to keep me waiting? This one’s better. Heh heh… They’ll be so surprised when they walk in soon, won’t they?
At this point.
I had a pretty good idea who it was.
‘The United Student Council’s resident try-hard…’
She was the type of character who loved making a dramatic entrance and seeing others get intimidated.
‘Why is she at our school…?’
The council’s try-hard wasn’t supposed to show up until much later in the story. For some reason, she’d already snuck into our school and was committing to her obnoxious persona.
‘I don’t want to ruin my juniors’ good mood on such a nice day…’
Just as I was thinking that.
Alvitt grabbed my arm and said.
“…So, about that, senior!”
“Yes, yes? What is it—☆”
“Since we’re already out, let’s go look around the city for a bit!”
“Oh! I agree—☆”
And so, we left her there until six in the evening.
When we returned, she was waiting in the dark student council room, looking completely dejected.
“…What took you so long?”
“…Who are you?”
“…*Sigh*.”
Vel, the obnoxious try-hard secretary of the United Student Council, hung her head low.