Chapter 107
Chapter 107
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Academy Entrance Ceremony
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"The Academy campus is bigger than I thought."
"Isn't it...? Actually, even I didn't know my way around at first..."
"I can imagine."
We were chatting in Karen's dormitory room.
The topic of conversation was, naturally, the Academy. Now that we'd entered the Academy, we couldn't help but talk about it.
"But, Older Sister Karen."
"Y-yeah?"
"What grade is your dormitory room? This place... it's amazing."
"Uh... A-grade, I think...? But it's upper A-grade..."
"...They subdivide the grades too?"
"Yes."
"...Hmm."
...It looked like I needed to study even harder for the exams.
If even C-grade was divided into low, mid, and high... I really had to work hard.
In fact, ever since I'd entered Karen's dormitory room a little while ago, I'd been looking around nonstop.
The reason was obvious— it was so different from my own dormitory room.
"...This is nice."
"Right...? I was pretty shocked when I got assigned this room too."
"...Yeah."
It was worlds apart from the shabby C-grade dormitory room.
The kitchen, the size of the living room, the number of bedrooms... there were all sorts of differences, and even setting those aside, the interior design was on another level.
The lighting was luxurious, the curtains on the windows were high-end... in every way, it was clearly different from my room.
"Hoo..."
The sofa I was sitting on now was incredibly comfortable too.
I hadn't gone into the bathroom, but even without entering, it was obvious the room was top-notch overall.
"I need to make the most of Academy life."
"Hehe, Camellia, I'm sure you'll do great...!"
"Thanks."
"I mean it..."
"Oh, but Older Sister Karen. How was your break? I had a blast hanging out with Mother. What about you?"
"Hmm... With my little sister enrolling in the Academy, the mansion was a bit lively..."
"Ah..."
"Mother and Father were so... you know, that as soon as I got back, it was super noisy... I was exhausted..."
...One thing was clear: Grace Rosaki was enrolling in the Academy as a freshman like me.
I hadn't paid any attention to Grace until now, but since she was a freshman like me, things might be a little different.
Of course, there was no real need to care, and we probably wouldn't cross paths.
Still, it might not be as easy to completely ignore her as before.
We were both freshmen living as first-years at the Academy... we might run into each other a bit?
"Oh, right... Camellia, you're a freshman too. You might end up meeting Grace."
"I'm not sure. I don't plan on getting involved with other students, and Grace seems like she'd be super popular among the freshmen... hmm..."
Not sure.
Karen thought we might cross paths, but I figured it'd be nothing more than passing each other in the hallway.
After all, Grace and I weren't on the same level. The countess's daughter who'd always been popular and well-regarded since childhood and I... we weren't equals at all, right?
"But Older Sister Karen, do you know how class assignments work at the Academy?"
"Usually, they have an exam after the entrance ceremony... and they assign classes based on balancing the average scores across them."
"Balancing the averages?"
"Yes... If they divided by status or level, it'd cause more problems within the Academy..."
"Hmm..."
...Somehow, that felt off.
It was just a gut feeling. After class assignments were done, things wouldn't be peaceful.
Of course, it was just a hunch, but still.
*
Time flew by as I hung out with Lize in my tiny Academy dormitory room, playing and sleeping. Before I knew it, the Academy entrance ceremony had arrived.
All the freshmen gathered in the main auditorium of the Academy's central building. It was rowdy in all sorts of ways... not really my kind of atmosphere.
"Hoo..."
I'd spent about a month lounging around the Academy campus doing nothing, and the weather had warmed up a bit.
The flowers weren't fully blooming yet, but it was the perfect day for an Academy entrance ceremony.
"What's wrong?"
"The surroundings are a bit noisy. I'm not used to this kind of thing."
"Ah..."
Naturally, I was sitting with Ella.
Aside from her, I didn't have any close friends among the freshmen.
It was only natural, and Ella was in a similar boat. Though she probably had more friends than me.
Anyway, we were all gathered in the auditorium for the entrance ceremony, seated in the prepared chairs.
It was supposed to start on the dot... so it'd begin soon.
"Oh, by the way... I heard the freshman representative this year is some super famous lady."
"It's surprising it's not a Saintess."
"Probably because there are two of them. If only one did it, it'd be a huge uproar for sure."
Hmm.
Ella had a point.
Of course, I didn't have any particular thoughts on it. Personally, I just wanted to get the ceremony over with and head back to the dormitory to hang out with Ella.
So I sat quietly with Ella, waiting and waiting.
There was still time until the exact hour, and I had zero intention of wandering around in a crowd this big.
-Testing, testing.
As we sat there, finally, a man who looked like an old wizard climbed onto the podium on stage.
Not the principal... maybe the vice principal or something.
As the old man took the stage, the freshmen who'd been chattering noisily until moments ago fell silent.
Hmm, this was nice.
-First, welcome to the Solchemia Imperial Academy... freshmen. Our Solchemia Imperial Academy...
...One thing was certain: everything he said was boring.
Really, really... not just ordinarily boring, but insanely boring. Some students even nodded off at their seats.
Not me, of course.
"Ugh..."
Even Ella, sitting next to me, dozed off midway... and that was how we endured the speech.
It lasted about 30 minutes—though it felt like an hour—and afterward, a student council president took the stage and gave another speech, but I didn't pay much attention.
It wasn't anything important, and since the president was a guy, I didn't feel the need to focus.
And then... as I sat there lost in thought, the freshman representative finally began ascending to the podium.
"...Hmm."
I'd only heard she was a lady; Ella hadn't given me any other details.
She'd probably just heard rumors and passed them on.
"Y-you! Is that really who I think it is!?"
Everyone was cheering and screaming as the lady climbed onto the stage and podium.
It felt a bit over the top to me, but the woman on stage was worth it.
"The Nordal Family's lady."
"W-whoa... The Nordal Heiress as the freshman representative..."
"I just realized too—it's amazing."
"I'd heard the Nordal Heiress was enrolling... but I never imagined she'd be the freshman rep...!"
Ella, sitting next to me, was making a huge fuss in admiration. I wondered if it warranted that, but yeah, it did.
The Nordal Ducal Family was that kind of house.
Among the many families in the Northern Region, they were the strongest by far, powerful enough to subjugate all the surrounding marquesses and barons through sheer force.
They'd endured for ages in a harsh land teeming with monsters and built their influence... yeah, something like that.
Anyway, the beautiful heiress of that great and noble house was Ivana Nordal.
As far as I knew, she was the most famous among this year's freshmen... maybe even more than the two Saintesses.
A woman with snow-white hair like fresh snow and blood-red eyes, perfectly embodying the Nordal Family.
Proficient in all fields from childhood, excelling most in combat, always at the forefront of Northern Region monster subjugations even before Academy enrollment... in short, a cheat character.
And insanely popular too, receiving love letters regardless of age or gender, even in her early teens... yeah.
"Impressive."
In all sorts of ways.
"Right!? The Nordal Heiress as freshman rep... as expected of her!"
Ella next to me kept gazing at the Nordal Heiress with eyes full of wonder and awe.
Hmm... her reaction rubbed me the wrong way a bit, but it made sense, so I let it be.
It wasn't just Ella—most freshmen were reacting the same way to the Nordal Heiress. Totally different from their boredom during the Academy teacher's and student council president's speeches.
The student council president almost seemed pitiful. Well, since he was a guy, not really.
-Testing... can you hear me?
She spoke into the voice-amplifying magic tool.
Her voice carried a unique dignity unlike that of ordinary ladies.
Something you wouldn't sense from Christina or Alexandra of the Rose Count Family. Actually, I'd never sensed it from the Roses, or anyone else.
"Hmm..."
She's even prettier in person.
The portrait from the Information Guild had made her seem ordinarily pretty. It clearly hadn't captured her fully.
It hadn't conveyed that distinctive charismatic presence at all.
...Like a fierce, intimidating wolf? That was Ivana Nordal's look.
Yet, separate from her scary, cold impression, her unique beauty was drawing the eye too.
I could somewhat understand why Middle Eastern oil tycoons in my past life kept ferocious beasts like tigers and lions as pets.