Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Dozing Through Class
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"Hey, how long are you going to sleep like that? You?"
"Hmm... Is it over already?"
"Seriously... You slept through the entire class period. Why did you even come to the Academy?"
"Ugh... Yeah... Why did I come here..."
...Ella, sitting next to me, poked me to wake me up.
...Come to think of it, I had spent the time from first period straight through to fourth just sleeping.
I did wake up once in the middle, but the lesson was so boring that I went right back to sleep.
"Hmm... Ugh... Hoo..."
Stretching, I checked the clock, and it was exactly lunchtime.
Truth be told, no one else was sleeping like me, but what could I do? The classes were just too boring.
The lessons would have to be a bit more interesting for me to pay attention...
"Sigh..."
"How can you sleep from first period all the way through?! Did you not sleep last night or something?"
"Huh? No, that's not it."
"Then why..."
"Sleep is something you can always catch more of if you really want to."
For real.
I'd felt this way for a long time: if you truly want to sleep, you can keep going for ages.
Plus, in a comfortably warm classroom, listening to something boring and sleep-inducing... there was no helping it.
It was genuinely too dull...
No one could reasonably stay awake listening to something that boring nonstop, right?
It was all stuff I already knew anyway, and since the Academy instructors didn't wake me, my sleeping was... inevitable.
"Ella, shall we go grab lunch?"
"I've been waiting for you to get up!"
"...Ah."
Yeah, that's true.
Even though it was lunchtime, five minutes had already passed, and the classroom was empty of other students.
Definitely...
"Let's go. Older Sister Karen should be coming soon."
"So you should've gotten up quicker!"
"What can you do about being sleepy? And couldn't Ella have woken me a little earlier?"
"Hah?"
"Anyway, let's get up."
With that, I stood from my seat.
By the way... It's only been three days since I started attending the Academy, but I don't think I've properly listened to a single class.
"...Should I try paying attention in the afternoon classes?"
"You've done absolutely nothing for the past two days...?"
"Hmm."
"Are you an idiot?!"
"Well, it happens."
Anyway, Ella and I got up from our seats to go find Karen.
To go find her...
"Hngh!?"
"...Sister?"
The moment I opened the door, there was Karen, so there was no need to search.
From Karen's perspective, I had suddenly flung the door open, startling her so badly that she fell right there in front of it.
...Hmm. In the end, it worked out fine, didn't it?
"I-I was waiting downstairs, but you didn't come, s-so I came to find you..."
"Ah."
"S-Sorry...!"
"No, Sister...? You don't need to apologize..."
It just so happened that Karen was standing right at the classroom door when I opened it, so she got quite a shock.
Normally, she wouldn't have been too fazed, but... the timing was just perfect this time. She seemed more startled than usual.
"Sister, um... will you get up first?"
"Y-Yes! I'll get up...! Sorry...!"
Anyway, after helping the startled Karen—who had fallen backward—to her feet, we set off for lunch.
Of course, before heading to the campus cafeteria, we picked up Lize first, making it four of us heading out for lunch.
Lunchtime was plenty long anyway, and I'd instructed Lize to come to the front of the Academy's main building around then.
It didn't take much time at all.
"What should we eat?"
"I-I'm fine with anything...!"
"Whatever the Young Lady and the ladies desire is sufficient."
"...It looks like no one else here can make decisions except us two. Ella."
"...Yeah."
We were walking together as four, but when it came to deciding, it was just the two of us.
At least we were still on our way to the restaurant district—small mercy?
"I'm fine with something light. What about you, Ella?"
"I'm pretty hungry... Unlike someone, I actually paid attention in class... Hmm..."
Hmm... Fair enough.
Unlike me, who hadn't listened to a single lesson, Ella had been diligently attending.
Karen probably listened well too, so maybe somewhere we could fill up a bit?
Personally, a slice of cake at a café would have been enough for me.
"Shall we just pick a decent-looking place? We don't know all the restaurants yet anyway... and Older Sister Karen..."
"Ah..."
"...doesn't know the campus eateries well either..."
...Karen's Academy stories were pretty pitiful all around.
I'd heard a lot from Karen, who enrolled first, but most of them were... a bit heartbreaking.
From eating lunch alone because there was no one to eat with at the Academy.
There was even that one story about nearly getting caught eating bread alone in the bathroom and being terrified.
Hmm... Hmmm...
...Thinking back on it, she really did have it rough.
"...Let's just go into someplace with nice decor and settle there."
That's what we decided.
None of us had a strong craving for anything specific anyway, so no need to be picky.
Plus, there were still plenty of restaurants left in the Academy campus... we could try a different one every day?
*
"Yawn..."
"You're going to sleep again?"
"...I'm thinking."
After lunch, before fifth period started, I laid my face on the desk.
Pressing my forehead down hurt too much if I fell asleep that way?
Resting the side of my face left less of a mark, and the cool desk surface wasn't bad at all.
"...And I'm also thinking about bringing a small pillow next time."
"Seriously... If you're going to be like this, how did you get such good test scores?"
"...I thought that was average."
I had no idea of the exact ranking.
It wasn't even worth asking the Information Guild about.
But even so, Ella had known from the start that I'd scored high.
"By the way, do they not reassign dorm rooms based on the Class Assignment Exam...?"
"...Sigh."
"...You should at least buy a new pillow."
"Stop sleeping and listen to class. Do you know how hard it is for me every time the teachers look this way?"
"Ah."
Hmm.
I hadn't thought about that.
"So, stay awake for at least this period!"
"...I'll try."
I'd slept plenty last night, and after first through fourth periods, I wasn't even tired.
...Yeah, I really had slept a lot.
Fifth period was Imperial Language and Imperial Literature... basically, literature class. And a particularly boring one.
Looking at super classical literature and lyric poetry, learning that stuff... just like that?
There were other Academy classes too, like Basic Mana Studies, Basic Magic and Low-tier Magic Fundamentals, Imperial History, Etiquette, and so on... but this one was especially dull.
I'd promised not to sleep and even chatted with Ella next to me... but honestly, it felt impossible.
"Ella."
"Yeah?"
"...Feels like it's been ages since I opened the textbook."
"...Doesn't it match the lesson progress?"
"I'm not listening anyway. I figured I'd just read the literature section during class to pass the time."
"Sigh..."
Better than sleeping outright, right?
At least I'm looking at the Academy textbook, even if it doesn't match the progress... still not sleeping?
All these literary works were things I'd read one or more times back when I was even younger anyway.
As I chatted with Ella like that, the bell for fifth period rang before I knew it, and the instructor for the class entered the room.
A woman who looked like she was in her mid-twenties, with a prim and proper appearance from the get-go.
Hmm... About the same age difference as Rozalin, I think, but no comparison.
"...Hmm."
Suddenly, I missed Rozalin.
We'd been exchanging letters often since arriving at the Academy, but... it wasn't the same as face-to-face conversations.
"...Ella."
"Yes?"
The instructor started saying something to begin class, but I didn't pay much mind.
I already knew the material, and as long as I aced the exams, that was all that mattered.
"Wake me when class ends. Let's hit the school store."
"...Huh? No... Y-You...?"
Class had already started, so Ella couldn't make a fuss loudly like before.
Thanks to that, she couldn't disturb my sleep, and I just slumped over the desk and started dozing off.
My mood was off a bit, and the boring class wasn't helping.
It had been over a month since I'd parted from Rozalin.
I really couldn't help missing her. I'd wanted to see her for weeks already...
...Is it just my imagination that thinking like this makes me miss her even more?
"...Tch."
My mood wasn't great.
After school, maybe write another letter in the dorm room?
I had nothing else to do, no homework or assignments.
That sounded good, and teasing Lize to pass the time also sounded fun.
"The speaker uses symbolism to convey their emotions and thoughts toward the other person through..."
Anything would be better than listening to this damn literature class.
I was only half-listening with my ears, but it was truly boring.
Really... I was starting to get sleepy.