Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Last Day of the Trip
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The last day of the trip had arrived.
To be honest, this was far better than life at the academy, but there was no helping it—I had to go back.
After all, I was an academy student, wasn't I?
"How is it that the very last place we're visiting... is the same one we went to on the first day?"
"...Yeah, really."
Grace and I stared at the building with utter disbelief on our faces.
It was just a random visit on that first day in the capital since we had nothing else to do... and plenty of time left anyway.
Who would've thought this would be our final stop.
The destination for all us academy students was the Solchemia Cathedral.
It was literally the place we'd come to on day one, and now the last stop of the academy trip.
"...If I'd known it would turn out like this, we should've just eaten something delicious on the first day instead."
"...Seriously."
For real.
Even Grace, who usually nitpicked at my comments, was agreeing—it was that disappointing.
If we'd known, we could've wandered around all the other spots in the capital together, having fun.
Sure, it would've only been a few hours at most.
Still, it felt a bit of a waste to have checked out our inevitable final destination first.
"Camellia..."
"Yes, Sister? What's up?"
"Could we... sit over there in the back...?"
"Oh, sure, no problem. We've already been here once anyway, and I wasn't planning to fight for the front or center seats."
"Whew..."
I wondered what she was going to say when she suddenly spoke up.
It was nothing big.
The other academy students were all scrambling for the front rows or center spots right now.
"Sitting all the way in the back feels a little regrettable, though. How about somewhere midway back?"
"I don't care."
"Me neither."
Well, we'd all seen it once already.
No matter how stunning the cathedral was, it didn't really move us since none of us were big on religion.
Objectively, it was beautiful, of course?
Personally, though, I preferred the grand, opulent vibe of the imperial palace over this cool, sacred atmosphere.
Not that I could deny both were definitely pretty—it was just the palace edged it out for me.
What can I say.
As a symbol that screamed "money," the palace nailed it more convincingly.
"Yaaawn..."
"Tired?"
"Yeah, the inside of the building feels so warm, and the sunlight's coming in nice and cozy... something like that."
We'd settled into decent seats together, but since it was a place we'd already seen and weren't all that interested in anyway.
Plus, like I'd told Ella, the environment was just perfect for dozing off.
I couldn't help but yawn.
"...It's not like there's going to be anything interesting anyway. Should we just sleep?"
"Even so, this is the last event—don't you think sleeping through it entirely is a bit much?"
"...True, but it's not gonna be fun regardless... I'd rather go out and hang with Ella; that'd be way more entertaining..."
"Sigh..."
No, seriously, what was I supposed to do about the boredom.
On top of that, the indoor warmth made it ideal for sleeping...
"Going to that café Ella mentioned yesterday sounds good, or ordering some tasty desserts with her..."
"Just go to sleep."
"Eh?"
"No weird talk—just... sleep. I'll wake you up later."
"Weird talk? It's true, though..."
I felt a bit wronged, honestly.
Sure, I said it because sitting quietly listening to some cathedral talk was boring, but it was true that hanging out with Ella was more fun.
To get treated like I was spouting nonsense entirely...
"Fine, just sleep already."
"Hng."
"What's with the 'hng'..."
"You're so cold now, Ella..."
I rested my head lightly against the back of the pew in front of me and glanced toward Ella.
Hm.
It was kinda hard... but not enough to be an issue for sleeping.
"The old Ella wouldn't have been like this."
"I'm the same as always!"
"Hng..."
I made a slightly sulky face while looking at her, but honestly, Ella hadn't changed from before.
She was always energetic, kind?
And still loved bragging about herself, too.
"Just go to sleep already... you're distracting me."
"You won't be listening to the talk anyway."
"You think I'm like you? I always pay proper attention in academy classes."
"Hm... but your grades are lower than mine."
"That's...!"
I kept teasing her with my head tilted back, but it was definitely fun.
Ella's uniquely bright and cute reactions were always entertaining.
"Be honest. You never dozed off during class? Not even once?"
"I didn't sleep...!"
"Hmm..."
"It's because you did so much advance studying...! It's not that I can't study!"
"Hehe."
"Don't get all smug...!"
"I am pretty smart, huh? I get amazing grades at the academy without even attending classes."
"Eek..."
Ella wasn't obsessed with grades, but she did care quite a bit.
She'd actually done really well on this midterm exam—top of the academy ranks, no sweat.
But separate from that, it was a fact that my grades were even better.
"Seriously... just sleep already."
"Hehe, alright then?"
"Yes, or I'll want to smack your head."
Hm.
As much as anything, getting hit wasn't my thing.
So I decided to sleep, like Ella said.
Perfect timing, too—a grandpa type who looked like he'd drone on forever with lectures and scoldings had just appeared on the platform. Seemed like prime naptime anyway.
*
"Yaaaawn..."
"How can you be this sleepy already, even after sleeping during the day?"
All of today's schedule was finally done.
All that was left was a good night's sleep and heading back to the academy tomorrow.
We'd wrapped up at the cathedral, then hung out at a nice café or restaurant with friends, chatting away, and now we were gathered in the lodging room.
Normally, we'd split between two bedrooms, but since it was the last night...
"Young Lady, is spreading the blankets like this on the floor sufficient...?"
"Yeah, that should be fine. The blankets are super fluffy anyway. The floor isn't that uncomfortable."
Tonight, we'd all decided to sleep in the same room.
It kinda happened by accident, but we'd gone with it.
"Hmm... how should we arrange the spots? Better to decide somewhat in advance."
"Can't we just figure it out ourselves? I just need to sleep next to Sister."
"Then Grace can lie next to Older Sister Karen... and I'll go next to Lize..."
"I'm fine with that. The middle might be a tad uncomfortable, though..."
"What about you, Ella?"
"With this many people...?"
Well, yeah.
Six people sleeping together couldn't be entirely comfy.
The room floor was spacious, and we'd laid down two thick layers of blankets as mattress substitutes that were nice and plush.
"Hm... then I'll sleep right in the center."
"You sure?"
"Like yesterday, I've been in the middle the whole time anyway? No big difference now, and with six of us, it's not like I'm the only one stuck dead center."
And so we settled it.
There was no real need to cram into beds, and sleeping sandwiched between girls didn't bother me much.
I took the middle roughly, and let the others sort themselves out.
"Yaaawn..."
We all changed into pajamas and started lying down one by one on the floor.
It was a bit early, but... it was night.
We'd gotten up early for the morning schedule, run around all day, so everyone was subtly exhausted.
"Hmm..."
"What's up again? Something wrong, Ella?"
"You... seem like you've gotten bigger somehow."
"...?"
Ella said that while watching me roll around comfortably on the fluffy-blanketed floor.
What had gotten bigger, though.
"What got bigger?"
"Uh... in all sorts of ways. You're a bit taller, and other parts too..."
"Hm... I did change my underwear size recently."
"See?"
She seemed pleased to be the first to notice my body growing.
Ella looked at me smugly, beaming.
"Hehe... after watching you all this time, of course I'd notice!"
"Wearing pajamas that hug the body a bit more... does it show more than other clothes? I changed sizes a little while ago."
The pajamas I had on now did cling a little.
Unlike my usual loose, flowy ones, these fit snugly...?
Not so tight that my stomach showed or my figure was overly emphasized, of course.
"Your breasts have definitely..."
I lightly lifted my breasts inside the pajama top with my hand.
Not quite big enough to fill my palm yet... but they'd grown to where I could certainly feel the weight.
"Grown, right?"
Yeah, even I could tell they'd gotten bigger.
Ever since starting menstruation last time... I'd been sensing my body developing in various ways.
Lize had said the same about my height and figure, and we'd even bought larger sizes together.
"Hey... you don't need to keep bragging about it like that."
"Am I?"
"...Yeah."
"But Ella, you brought it up first, so I just checked—and honestly, it's not my fault, right?"
Grace, passing by, said that as I casually checked my breasts with my hand.
I wasn't even bragging.
My breast size still wasn't definitively "big" territory.
Not like Karen or Ashley's.
Compared to others now... probably around Lize or Ella's level?
"But... you don't need to keep holding them like that."
"Eh."
I hadn't expected even Ella—who started the topic—to say that...
I'd hardly initiated the talk; I just checked my own body size alone, yet somehow I was being treated like the bad guy. Felt pretty unfair.
"Seriously."