Favorite Character

"There are more people than I thought."

On the way to the Academy with Renoa.

The streets, which had been quiet until just a few days ago, were now bustling with students wearing Academy uniforms.

"It's only natural since the Prince is coming to the Academy. Even for nobles, if they aren't high-ranking, it's hard to see his face once in a lifetime."

Renoa looked toward a certain spot.

There stood a woman who didn't look like a student, fully armed from head to toe with accessories.

"You should assume almost no one is coming here with pure intentions."

It meant that most of the incoming students were there for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠purpose of making a connection with the Prince to hit the jackpot.

Well, we aren't much different, though.

'No? Not me.'

In this Academy full of schemes and slander, I am one of the few people with a pure heart.

Because I'm actually enrolling in the Academy I only ever saw through a screen.

'I'm not a student, I'm a familiar, though.'

It's a bit disappointing not to be a student, but I'm satisfied just wearing the Academy uniform and living in the same space as them.

How happy I was when I met Elody a few days ago.

'My favorite character is talking to me? And not only that, she's smiling at me?'

Oh shit.

My master should have been Elody. Then I'm confident I would have been loyal like a dog.

I wouldn't have struggled to be liberated like I am now. If it were a master like her, it might be quite alright?

-Kkuuk.

"Ugh."

Renoa pressed down on the top of my foot. I snapped my head around to look at her.

Despite having stepped on someone, her gaze was still fixed straight ahead.

"I lost my footing. That's why I told you to walk a bit further away."

"......."

I hadn't said a word, so what didn't she like this time?

Even if I pondered for a hundred days, the day I understand her way of thinking will likely never come.

Before we knew it, we had entered the Academy grounds.

Perhaps the attention-seeking behavior at the banquet was effective, as there were several people who recognized us.

I've never been the type to enjoy drawing attention. But because of the slave collar, I'm drawing even more stares.

"Agassi."

"What."

"Since we've made a familiar contract, isn't it about time you took this collar off? Everywhere we go, people look at me strangely and ask if I'm a slave. This is quite uncomfortable."

My status might be good for drawing attention in the short term, but in the long run, it does Renoa no good at all.

In a noble society where status is everything, bringing a slave along as a guard knight?

Only immature young ladies would like that; the gazes of other nobles would never be kind.

Only then did Renoa look back at me and stare intently at the restraint.

"I'll consider it."

"Please, I beg of you."

It was while I was talking with Renoa in the plaza like that.

"Irion!"

"...Helena?"

Turning my head at the familiar voice, I saw Helena.

She approached us with a stride that was full of delight.

"It really was Irion! I could tell at a glance even from far away."

"Why is Helena here?"

Helena is the girl who was a trainee knight of Edelheid with me for three years.

Normally, she would have become an official knight of Edelheid, but on my advice, she left to look for a position in another house.

Such a girl suddenly appeared before me. And she was wearing the same Academy uniform as me.

That meant....

"Don't tell me you enrolled in the Academy too?"

"Yeah. Originally, I was going to become a knight right away, but then I heard His Imperial Prince was enrolling in the Academy?"

"That's true."

"My parents heard that news and made such a fuss telling me to go to the Academy that I ended up attending. Coincidentally, I also had the thought that I wanted to learn more."

To think that a single word I said to Helena would come back like this.

It certainly wasn't a bad thing.

Helena was almost the only person I could call a friend in my life in this other world.

I was just glad to see her here.

"Did Irion enroll in the Academy too?"

"Should I call it enrolling? More like an extra?"

"An extra?"

"They said slaves can't enroll in the Academy, so I made a familiar contract with Agassi. I came along with the status of a familiar."

"Eh?"

Helena made a face as if she couldn't believe it.

Unbelievable, right?

Me too. I didn't know I'd end up being a familiar on top of being a slave.

"You two look quite happy."

While I was sharing the joy of reunion with Helena, a chilly voice suddenly cut in from behind.

Renoa was staring at the two of us with a blunt expression.

Her head tilted slightly to the side was one of Renoa's habits when something displeased her.

"Agassi was here too. I'm sorry. I was just so glad to see Irion that I......."

Helena gave a sheepish smile and offered her greetings late.

"I heard you gave up on joining the Edelheid Knights, but I didn't expect to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠run into you here."

"I know, right? When I stayed at the mansion, I never got to exchange a word with Agassi, but I finally get to now. Have you been well in the meantime?"

"As you can see. Trainee Helena.... No, should I call you Yeong-ae now? Which family was it? I don't remember well."

"It's the House of Baron Weiss."

"House of Baron Weiss. As expected, I don't really know it."

"It's a humble family. It's far lacking compared to Edelheid."

"It looks that way."

What is this.

It sounds like a normal conversation, but this atmosphere is suffocating.

The gazes exchanged between the two were perfectly calm, but it felt like invisible sparks were flying in the air.

"That.... Let's not do this here and just head inside? The entrance ceremony will start soon."

"Yeah. Let's go."

The grand auditorium was filled with many students.

The entrance ceremony was held there. It wasn't much different from an entrance ceremony on Earth.

The Headmaster came out and sang a lullaby disguised as an exhortation, and the Prince, the representative of the incoming students, added the chorus.

There wasn't much important content.

That since this is an Academy and not the political world, learning must be prioritized above all else.

That this is a place that does not allow discrimination of status, so if you don't like it, leave.

The children of the nobles who heard that speech could not hide their discomfort.

They had come to the Academy following the Prince, but they were displeased at the thought of living on equal footing in the same space as commoners.

'Renoa used to be the strongest when it came to authoritarianism.'

With her family at her back, she used to look down on students of lower status than her.

She was just a fantastic duo with Gerard.

At the time, I thought she was just looking down on subordinates normally because she was a noble, but that wasn't it. It was self-loathing.

An illegitimate child.

The inferiority complex and trauma settled deep within Renoa.

Every time she discovered that deficiency in others, Renoa would bare her teeth even more sharply.

For fear of being caught.

Just as the more fake something is, the more it pretends to be real, packaging itself more flashily and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠raising its voice.

But she, who was like that, is now.

"Pathetic. When even a slave is becoming a knight, what's the big deal about commoners?"

She's changed like this.

Renoa's obsession with bloodline and status has become blunt as she hung out with me, a slave.

It was a tremendous stroke of luck.

A Renoa who isn't interested in Aether and doesn't hate commoners?

Who on earth is going to stop her?

This is already as good as being invincible.

The entrance ceremony ended with the audience's applause.

It was an entrance ceremony without any special events, like demons invading.

Now it was time to find our respective places.

Which faculty and which classroom we had to go to was decided before enrollment.

"Irion is in the Knight Faculty, of course, right?"

"That's......"

"He's in the Magic Faculty."

Renoa answered instead of me at Helena's question.

"The Magic Faculty? But Irion can't use magic."

"Common sense-wise, since he enrolled with the status of my familiar, wouldn't he follow me?"

She wasn't wrong.

The very idea of having the title of a familiar and taking classes in a different faculty away from the master made no sense.

That could no longer be called a familiar. Just a student.

Helena pouted her lips as if disappointed.

"I thought I'd be able to train and sweat with Irion like before...."

I also nodded my head.

Sparring with Helena was quite fun. It's definitely painful not being able to go to the Knight Faculty.

Furthermore, there's nothing I can do even if I go to the Magic Faculty since I can't even use magic. At most, I'll just sleep.

But before my disappointment could even pass, Renoa's cold voice cut in.

"A familiar's duty is to be at the master's feet. There's no reason for you to be disappointed about where he is, what he's doing, or what happens to him."

Helena shut her mouth tight at Renoa's thorn-filled words.

Sigh, this Agassi is starting again.

Even if she was a subordinate, they met after a long time; would it kill her to say something nice?

She said she wouldn't discriminate against commoners, but it seems her suppressed authoritarianism flared up again upon seeing a knight from an easy-to-handle lower noble family.

"Let's go. We can't be late from the first day."

Renoa grabbed my arm and yanked it.

"Then see you later! I'll come visit the Magic Faculty side!"

Helena's bright voice was heard from behind. Despite being treated like that, Helena smiled broadly and waved her hand.

As expected of Helena. Her personality is incomparable to our master whose personality ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is twisted.

I was about to wave back happily.

"Don't answer."

"Yes?"

"Don't wave your hand, and don't look back. Just look ahead and walk."

"......Yes."

I had no choice but to wave slightly with my other hand where Renoa couldn't see.

I followed Renoa and moved.

There are various faculties and departments in the Academy.

Representatively, there are the Magic Faculty and the Knight Faculty, and there are all sorts of things that only exist in fantasy, such as Archaeology, Demonic Beast Ecology, Alchemy, and Herbology.

Among them, the place we were going was the Magic Faculty.

Due to accessibility, the number of people was small, but it was a faculty regarded as the core of the Academy.

When we opened the door to the large lecture hall and entered, the view opened up, revealing a grand interior.

A semi-circular tiered structure, as if an amphitheater had been moved there.

At the center of the lowest part was a wide platform and a blackboard where the professor would stand.

And surrounding that spot, desks and seats that grew higher floor by floor stretched upward in a fan shape.

Such a classroom was bustling with students who had arrived first.

"Most of them look like nobles, right?"

"I suppose so. Since it's the Magic Faculty."

About twenty people in a class. Most of those people were the children of nobles.

No matter how much the Academy shouted about banning status discrimination, the Magic Faculty had to be an exception.

Because magic is a product of thorough bloodline and wealth.

Superior bloodline, expensive elixirs, rare grimoires, and excellent teachers.

Since one can only become an excellent mage when all those conditions are met, it was a natural logic that most of those in this classroom were nobles.

Among them, there was a place where people's attention was particularly concentrated.

The very center of the tiered seats.

The so-called seat of honor, with the best view and the most space.

There sat Aether, the silver-haired young man, with a relaxed smile.

Around him, noble children were already swarming, trying to make an impression.

I wasn't surprised anew.

Because I already knew that Renoa and Aether studied in the same classroom.

"It's the Gongnye-nim!"

"Gongnye-nim was in this class too?"

"Is that person the slave knight? Why is a knight in the Magic Faculty...?"

Students who recognized us flocked around.

"Nice to meet you. I am Renoa Edelheid."

Renoa, responding to them skillfully like a proper noble.

Leaving her behind as she looked busy, I slipped out of the crowd.

The Magic Faculty classroom where Renoa and Aether were.

In such a place, there was one more key figure who took classes with the two of them.

"Excuse me."

"Hu-huh? Ah, the knight I saw last time?"

A window seat in the corner of the classroom.

There sat a girl wearing only her uniform neatly without a single accessory.

Transparent light blue hair and opal-colored eyes that shone more clearly than any noble's jewel.

My favorite character in 「Lady Maker」 and the only commoner in this classroom, Elody.

"If it's alright, may I sit in the seat next to you?"

Uwah, I love Elody!