Do You Even Sleep?
Isca and Carson had business elsewhere and left.
Ethan returned to the annex with Sera.
"What a mess."
Looking at the state of the main building, he couldn't help wondering whether he really had to go back and live there.
"You're still gonna have to, though?"
Sera answered Ethan's unspoken doubt.
"If you dig in your heels and refuse to move your stuff into the main building, you'll get disciplined, Ethan."
"Why?"
"Obviously!"
Sera from Topaz Dorm crossed her arms as she spoke.
"Even if you're the top student, you still have to do roll call and get your room inspected for hidden food! Being allowed to stay in this annex this long was already a massive privilege!"
He hadn't realized it while living in the annex, but it seemed the other dorm residents—Ruby included—lived under a fair amount of control.
Well, with a study atmosphere like that, if you just let the cadets run free, something's bound to go wrong a hundred percent of the time.
On top of that, Ruby Dorm was the only one completely off the professors' usual routes, so it had been especially freewheeling.
Thieves really aren't the trustworthy sort, are they.
Ethan gestured at Sera, who was clearly envious of him.
"Sera Barakin. Do I look like someone who doesn't want to go to the main building?"
"Well, yeah—you're living it up completely free! The annex is total freedom…!"
"I'll show you what annex living actually looks like. Follow me."
The two of them went out the annex's back door and headed into the forest.
After a short walk, a stream of vivid blue water appeared.
"Why'd you bring me here?"
Ethan scooped water from the stream as he spoke.
"It's not that I don't want to go to the dorm."
"Why the water all of a sudden…? Ah—cold!"
He flicked water from his fingers at her, and Sera flinched back in alarm.
"That's freezing!"
Sera had no idea the stream near the annex was this cold. Even as a dark elf who'd done plenty of camping, she'd never experienced cold like this.
"This is nothing. There was a time I scooped water and it froze solid right then and there."
"How is that even possible!?"
This area was a forest ruled by Undine water spirits. Just approaching the stream meant supercooled water well below freezing was waiting to greet Ethan.
"Wait—so you've been living with this ice-cold water this whole time…?"
When Ethan nodded, Sera's mouth fell open.
Honestly, Ethan had broken ice and gone swimming during cold-weather training before, so he'd figured cold water couldn't be that bad.
"Look. Frostbite."
"Your fingertips are frozen solid!"
But cold was cold—and this was way too cold.
The annex is nice and all, but…
Even Ethan had started wondering how long he was supposed to keep showering without warm water. That was why, no matter what shape the Ruby Dorm Main Building was in, he was going to have to move there eventually. The annex also lacked any proper place for a fireplace or a fire, which didn't help.
"Ethan—!"
Right on cue, Muria came trotting up from the bottom of the hill, carrying a pot.
"Warm water!"
"…You really don't have to bring this every time, senior."
"B-but still! You wash your face with cold water every single day, so…! At least take a warm shower in the morning!"
"…Aren't I the one who's supposed to be asking for favors here?"
"I-I don't know! I'm going!"
Pat-pat-pat.
Muria vanished between the trees.
Sera puffed out both cheeks and glared in the direction Muria had disappeared.
"Ugh… How long have they even known each other for her to act all buddy-buddy every time… Swishing that tail around…"
Maybe it was because that upperclasswoman was a fox beastkin. Sera was even more on guard.
"You don't like beastkin, right, Ethan? Chris smells too. So don't get all friendly with that Muria senior…"
"That's species discrimination. Discrimination against demi-humans is a serious offense banned by imperial law, Sera Barakin. Watch what you say."
"…"
Coming from Ethan, who casually discriminated against thieves on a daily basis, the remark left Sera sulking.
"Says the guy who discriminates against thieves every day…"
Ethan pretended not to hear and went back into his room.
"Have a good weekend, Sera Barakin."
"Hmph, whatever! Tomorrow I'm only bringing you vegetables—no meat."
"Salmon poke, please."
"What even is that? I don't know what that is!"
Sera huffed off with a snort.
Ethan sat in a chair in the middle of the now-quiet room.
"Hmm."
He tapped his chin with a fingertip.
"Looks like I need to find the club building fast."
What Ethan needed right now was a place.
"Going back to the main building isn't the problem—that's happening either way."
He just didn't have a proper place to focus on training. Having lived only in the annex all this time, this lawless zone with no dorm regulations had drawn far too many visitors.
Roughly speaking, things like this happened constantly.
First: nighttime visitors.
"Hey, there's nothing in my room worth stealing."
"Eek—Ethan…! I heard you were in Emerald Wing—how did you—!"
"So you're from Emerald? Enjoy solitary."
"I'm a senior! Just look the other way this once…!"
Second: squatters.
"How many times do I have to tell you to sleep in the temporary dorms. First-year."
"B-but the cockroaches were so scary, Ethan…!"
"You're banned from the annex from now on."
"Aaagh! I'm sorry…!"
Third: Kaion.
"What."
"You! I've been waiting for you at the training grounds every single day—why are you lounging around here?! Our life-or-death duel isn't over yet…"
"Annoying. Do it next week."
"Grr—Ethan Cass!!"
With incidents like these happening so often—
"I can't train."
The Ruby Annex had become a hot spot among the cadets. It could no longer be called personal space.
"Constant interruptions are tanking my training efficiency too."
At this rate, never mind graduating—becoming a Thief Master and infiltrating the imperial palace was looking increasingly remote.
What Ethan needed most right now was…
"A private training room."
A space where he could train alone without anyone interrupting him. He had to submit Thief-Master-level blade marks in Hand Techniques class next week, after all. The only place that met every condition was the Club Building.
The abandoned Club Building's location wasn't even known, so as long as the cadets didn't find out, it would make a perfect private training ground.
But how do I find it, is the question.
Ethan rolled a dagger in his hand as he paced a circle around the room.
"Oh, right. I got a map from those first-year dorm kids."
He rummaged through a drawer and spread out the map.
"I used paper maps to navigate through mountain forests during training. Finding one hidden building should be a piece of cake."
It was not a piece of cake.
"I have no idea."
Ethan scratched his head.
Apparently, maps and Land Navigation in this world were quite different from those of the twenty-first century he'd come from.
"Especially these paths engraved in intaglio on the map."
What were these even for?
Carson, lying on Ethan's bed polishing a dagger, offered a comment.
"Can't you just ask the seniors about that?"
"Go to your own room, Carson."
"My room's on the forest side. It's freezing."
Carson pointed at Ethan with a wooden dagger and continued.
"You know that rat beastkin senior you rolled around with during the entrance exam? I heard he's from a blacksmith family."
"Is that true?"
"He should be at the forge right now. Go ask him."
No rest this weekend, then.
Ethan headed straight for the monorail station in one go.
This was the indoor forge inside Topaz Dormitory.
"Hmm."
Chris stared at the map, then tilted his head.
"Looks like it needs something like qi infused into it."
"Into these marks, you mean?"
"Yeah."
He traced a fingertip along the intaglio-carved paths.
"If you carefully channel qi into them, these paths should act as a guide."
"And if I can't?"
"Well, even if you take Land Navigation, you still won't find the destination."
That was a problem. He'd barely practiced qi manipulation a few times, and Land Navigation class was next week. As things stood, there was no way to use this map.
"And just taking Land Navigation once probably won't be enough to activate the guide either."
"Then what should I do?"
"Beats me…? Maybe if you combined it with astrology…?"
Astrology, all of a sudden?
"Navigators find their way by fixed stars, right? Same idea—if you learn astrology, you can pick up tracking techniques that basically light the path through constellations."
"Doesn't Land Navigation cover that?"
"You do learn reconnaissance techniques in that class, but that's more in the domain of magic. For weaving qi manipulation into tracking techniques, nothing beats astrology."
In short: input the destination into your navigation with astrology, then confirm your current position with Land Navigation and head toward the destination.
"That's incredibly complicated. Why does it have to be like this?"
"Why are you asking me? Go ask the people who made the map."
"…"
"But you're a first-year and you're trying to take astrology too?"
Honestly, Ethan was already overwhelmed by the classes he was currently taking.
"Is it a lot?"
Of course, this was his first time dealing with a university-style system like Thief School, and more importantly, he had no real awareness of the problem. When Ethan first received the Thief School course list, he'd thought:
Even if it's one of the Four Great Academies on its last legs, a school that produces Thief Masters expects this much from its cadets.
So Ethan had registered for every single course on the list. And the professors, seeing the name Ethan Cass—who'd left such a strong impression during the entrance exam—had all accepted his course registrations.
"List what you're taking. Go on."
Chris listened and folded his fingers one by one.
"As a first-year, you're taking the required courses—Qi Manipulation, Hand Techniques, Stealth, Dagger Arts…"
"…"
"Right. Lockpicking isn't until next semester, so you'll take that too. You said you're taking Land Navigation."
"…"
"Wait a second. Crafting Techniques… and Movement Techniques too?"
Ethan added:
"Alchemy and Unarmed Combat as well."
"Theory courses?"
"Ah, Throwing Techniques, Imperial Economics, and Archaeology too, actually."
"…"
Chris was speechless.
Does it take this level of insanity to be the top freshman?
Ethan had signed up for nearly every course a new student could take. Even for someone overflowing with passion who took as many classes as possible, half of what Ethan was taking would be considered normal.
Is he trying to become a Master of Thief Masters or something?
Even that didn't make sense. Upperclassmen didn't take this many classes either.
Even the Imperial Medical Academy doesn't load students this hard.
As Chris sat there with a grave expression, mouth shut—
"Is there a problem?"
Ethan spoke up.
"No, well… no problem, exactly… Do you even sleep?"
"Seven hours a day."
"If you want to live, sleep a lot early in the semester…"
"What does that mean?"
Chris had a vision of Ethan dying of overwork in the campus infirmary before long, then being discovered as a ghoul in the underground dungeon.
He reached out a small hand and took the map.