Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Ordinary Days and Steady Growth
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The second semester had started, and several weeks had already passed since then.
I was gradually bringing up the idea of starting the business with Ivana.
My daily life with the other girls around me was just ordinary....
"Why do you look like that, Young Lady?"
"My bust size seems to have gotten a bit bigger."
"...Ah."
Anyway, I was just going through an uneventful daily routine.
The season had shifted from summer to autumn.
Separate from the fact that they now knew I liked women, I was just living ordinarily.
Of course, it felt like there was a bit more physical contact than before?
"This one should go to Ivana separately...."
Originally, I had planned to play around innocently with girls who weren't fully grown yet, laughing and clapping hands.
After all, getting involved with women who weren't adults felt a bit straining on my conscience?
But that was separate from everything else.
Since they didn't refuse anyway, I ended up doing that kind of skinship a little more often.
Holding hands, lying on the bed together, using arms as pillows, or hugging... well, that's nothing much, right?
I did that occasionally with Rozalin too, after all.
"Lize, bring me some candy."
"Yes, Young Lady."
Anyway, the conclusion was that I was just living ordinarily.
Without anything particularly noteworthy.
*
Academy, first-year second semester.
October 4th.
A month had already passed since the second semester began, and midterm season was approaching.
All I did was sleep through classes, roughly finish any assignments if there were any, then sleep again.
Aside from that, club activities were over.
It was still the same repetitive daily life.
But lately, maybe because the first-years were rowdy in the club room due to exams,
Karen was staring at me intently more often.
She didn't seem to notice she was doing it... but she was surprisingly perceptive about that sort of thing.
She had noticed Ivana tailing me before, after all.
When I was teaching Grace literature, solving Ella's mana studies problems, or talking business with Ivana.
Every time, Karen would glance my way with eyes that held a bit of dissatisfaction, or maybe just a hint of jealousy.
From childhood—
No, to Karen, I was her first real friend.
Even living as part of the Rosaki Count Family in the city of Melnik, she hadn't been able to make proper friends.
So I was her first friend.
That was probably why she was looking at me like that.
I even imagined that if Karen liked women, maybe she liked me in particular.
That could change things in various ways....
But for now, that was it.
Academy, first-year second semester.
October 30th.
Midterms were over.
Midterms weren't something that lasted a whole month anyway; a week was plenty.
During that time, I spent a lot of time with the first-years because of the exams.
And since Karen kept staring at me throughout, after the exams ended, I spent a lot of time with her.
Of course, other friends joined in often, or my little sister Grace was with us a lot too.
Still, seeing Karen with a better expression than when she was studying for midterms seemed enough.
On top of that, the academy even organized a trip to celebrate the end of exams.
I just spent ordinary time with friends; nothing particularly happened.
Spending time with Karen or the other girls was the same, and with Lize too—it stayed at the usual ordinary level.
The repetition of the same everyday life as before... honestly, it wasn't fun.
It would have been better if something had happened.
In the novels I read in my previous life, there were always incidents at schools or academies.
Time was passing with absolutely nothing going on, to the point of boredom.
Academy, first-year second semester.
November 11th.
It had been quite some time since I started business talks with Ivana.
It wasn't much different from our previous discussions.
For Ivana's project to become Family Head, we decided to start with a Northern Region tourism business.
Of course, it wasn't just about developing tourist items for the north; prioritizing ways to make it easy to visit the north came first.
I hadn't been to the Northern Region even once yet, after all.
The Northern Region really was hard to access without help from locals, or you had to go through the center every time and take separate routes.
We started with opening paths from other regions, then discussed ways to experience Northern Region culture.
Separate from helping Ivana become Family Head, I was pretty serious about the business.
Since it had been a while since I did business, it was natural to put extra effort in.
Anyway, the conclusion was that Ivana's business was about to truly start soon.
If she returned to the north during this break, we'd open roads that could be accessed directly from the west and east.
I had plenty of money, but opening roads between regions wasn't something money alone could solve.
We ended the talk with Ivana handling that part.
*
"Yawn...."
"You seem to fall asleep as soon as you enter the classroom lately. What's up?"
"I'm tired...."
"What have you been doing? Aren't you just lounging in bed at the dormitory every time?"
"That's true, but...."
Maybe because I've been spending time before bed writing in my diary lately.
Or perhaps preparing for business with Ivana is more tiring.
There were other tiring things lately too....
"The mana studies teacher has been giving a lot of assignments lately, so that's probably making me tired."
"Ah, yeah, those are annoying. You just have to write page after page...."
It made me realize why I wrapped up business right before starting at the academy.
I thought handling academy studies along with business or other work would be too tiring, but it was even more exhausting than expected.
"And this weekend, I have to catch up on low-tier magic assignments, and buy new underwear too."
If it were something creative, it wouldn't be hard.
Just type it out.
But... maybe because it's first-year academy level?
Most assignments were just writing several pages on what we studied or learned.
"...Buying more?"
"Huh?"
"No, I mean.... underwear... buying more again?"
"Ah. I didn't expect to need new ones so soon either, but the size doesn't fit at all anymore."
I thought she was asking about assignments.
Turns out it was about underwear?
Well, the ones I'm wearing now were bought right before final exams last semester.
Since I'd mentioned it before, Ella probably couldn't understand.
Even I didn't expect ones bought just a few weeks ago to not fit already.
"Well, it's a growth spurt."
"That's... true...? But isn't it too fast?"
"Better than not growing."
"Yeah, but...."
I used to be on the smaller side compared to girls my age not long ago.
Ella and Grace were small among people around us, but I was even smaller than them.
Of course I'd be positive about growing in height and body now.
"Just go shopping like for clothes. The weather isn't summer-hot anymore; it's getting chilly."
It's November, after all.
"Plus, I can go with Lize for a mood change while doing assignments."
"That's not the issue. It's just...."
"Just what?"
"The you I know was shorter than me, and way smaller in build!"
"It wasn't that bad...."
I got what Ella meant, but no matter how I thought about it, it really wasn't to that extent.
Sure, I was small for real.
But not to the point where she'd say "way smaller"....
"Besides, Ella, you're short too."
"But taller than you?"
"No...."
In the end, she's admitting she's short too.
The way Ella puts it, it sounds like I was so short I could compare to kids three years younger.
No way it was that bad.
At worst... a head shorter than Karen or Lize...?
Even that, I'd already outgrown by the end of first semester.
"Anyway, Ella. You're not exactly one to talk when your chest is smaller than mine."
"That's got nothing to do with height...!"
"Height and chest—they're both body parts. How's that not related? Very related, I'd say."
In reality, Ella... isn't particularly big, right?
Sure, Karen and Ivana around us are on the bigger side, but during break, Grace grew a bit and is about the same as her.
Just that size.
"Hmm...."
Looking at her now, definitely not huge—B cup at best....
"W-W-What are you looking at...!"
"Pfft.... Nothing."
"Why are you laughing!?"
Hmm.
It's a cute size.
Like looking at my old self.
Of course, compared to me now, it's a size I'd feel sorry for my chest about?
"Puhuhu...."
Anyway, business and body alike.
Things were definitely progressing steadily, growing step by step.