Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Academy Stories
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After strolling in the back mountains and returning, we were back at the villa, relaxing comfortably.
Some of us had gone to our rooms to rest, while others, like Ella who was now lounging alone in the lobby, were resting elsewhere.
"Ella, what are you doing?"
"G-Gah!? What the—!?"
"Uh... I asked what you're up to?"
"That's not it! Why'd you pop up behind me like that!"
I'd just spoken to Ella while she was resting, but I hadn't expected her to jump like that.
Of course, I had approached from behind.
She was sprawled out so comfortably on the sofa by herself, after all.
I had only meant to say hi.
"Hmm..."
"You scared me!"
"So, what were you doing? Just sitting here alone."
"I was just taking a quick break sitting down... That's why we came here in the first place, right...?"
"True enough."
Yeah.
Fair point.
We'd come here from the start to do nothing in particular and just relax.
I'd only asked out of curiosity.
"Did I startle you too much?"
"Huh?"
"You seem reluctant to answer."
It just felt that way.
My question to Ella wasn't anything weird, but her response was throwing me off a bit.
"Am I bothering you too much?"
"No, it's not that..."
"Then why are you keeping your distance like that?"
Ella, who was sitting on the sofa, was gradually scooting backward.
What was this about?
Was she annoyed by my question?
I didn't think it was anything strange.
"Ella?"
"It's..."
"?"
"Th-that...!"
Her face flushed a little, and she hesitated to answer, avoiding eye contact with me.
It felt a bit different from Ella's usual self in several ways.
She never acted like this normally, so it actually made things more awkward.
"What's wrong?"
I had no choice but to ask Ella more.
"W-why are you getting so close to my face!"
"Well, because you're keeping to move back?"
What was going on.
Did she really not want to answer that badly?
I'd spoken to her from behind the sofa, and she'd kept retreating, so I'd had no choice but to lean in closer.
"That's exactly why! You're too close!"
"Huh?"
"W-why are you coming in so close like this! I could answer normally even if you didn't shove that pretty face of yours right up in mine!?"
"...Huh?"
Ella's embarrassed response startled me instead.
Uh... was it really that shocking?
Sure, as Ella said, I had gotten a bit closer, but not to a shocking degree.
Anyone hearing her might think our lips were practically touching, but it was nowhere near that.
"Was I really that close?"
"Of course this isn't close to you...!?"
"Hmm..."
No clue.
Rozalin often got this close when dealing with me normally, and Lize never kept her distance either.
I had no idea if doing this to Ella was such a big deal.
"Why are you pondering so hard!"
"Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking for a sec."
"Seriously... You came up so close out of nowhere and scared me."
"I didn't realize it'd make you so uncomfortable. Sorry."
"Hmph... Fine, as long as you get it."
Honestly, I still didn't, but I answered Ella that way anyway.
Continuing to play dumb here with more questions would probably just annoy her.
"Hmm... Oh, right."
"What?"
I moved to the side of the sofa as Ella wanted.
The sofa was long enough sideways anyway.
"Are you going into the academy dormitory alone, Ella?"
"Huh?"
"You're using a private room, right? I'm planning to go in with Lize when I use mine. Just curious how you'll handle it."
"Oh... that?"
We still had time before heading in, but I was curious.
We'd talked about the academy plenty of times among ourselves anyway.
"Yeah, so you'll go in with your maid too?"
"Of course. I wanted to go alone... but Father insisted so strongly."
"Can't be helped."
Yeah, I got it.
It didn't seem like a noble lady could handle cleaning and organizing her room on her own, living normally.
She'd probably do the exact opposite.
Never tidy up, stay up late every night messing around alone—that sort of thing.
Thinking about it, the baron assigning a maid to Ella made total sense.
She didn't look it, but her parents actually cared about her more than you'd think.
"What about you? With... that Lize girl, right?"
"Naturally. She's my exclusive maid."
"Well, you've always been glued to that maid."
While chatting with Ella about the academy, Karen happened to pass by.
"Sister?"
"Y-yes!?"
"Uh... come over here for a sec."
She startled even more than Ella had, but anyway... I called over Karen as she passed.
So Karen ended up sitting on the sofa with us too.
"Wh-what... is it?"
"Nothing much. We're talking about entering the academy next year, and you happened to pass by, Sister."
"I doubt I'd be much help..."
"But you're an academy senior. I'm sure you can offer something."
"Senior..."
I still had tons of questions, honestly.
Karen hadn't done anything spectacular at the academy.
But she was still a senior who'd gone there first.
"Anything to watch out for when entering the academy? That sort of thing?"
"Uh, oh! Not really anything special...! Most are nobles anyway... These days, students at the academy are used to noble society from childhood..."
"Oh..."
"Of course, there are some weird ones occasionally..."
"Like what...?"
"...Testing magic and blowing it up while prepping in the academy auditorium...? Or losing a 1-on-1 to a commoner over a girl...?"
"...Hmm."
"...There are a fair number of idiots like that."
...Didn't you say 'occasionally'?
Hmm.
I had a feeling starting at the academy next year would bring all sorts of problems.
Ella next to me probably thought the same.
"You never did stuff like that, right, Sister?"
"M-me!? Why would I do something like that...!"
"Good thing..."
Yeah.
Really a relief.
Karen would never do that sort of thing, but hearing examples... made me a little worried.
Explosions, 1-on-1s with commoners.
It was so far from the noble image I'd first imagined.
"What's studying at the academy like? Besides magic, I haven't heard much about the other parts."
Ella sitting beside me chimed in with a question too.
Somehow, Karen and Ella ended up on either side of me as the talk continued.
From my position, having cute girls on both sides wasn't bad at all.
"Oho..."
"There's more to it than I thought! Kinda looking forward to next year now!"
"Yeah. Way more than expected."
"You all don't need to worry too much... probably...! This year had a lot of incidents because of weird kids... I'm sure the academy will work hard to prevent that next year...!"
That's a relief.
Honestly, attending the academy sounded like a hassle, and I had no big dreams or hopes for it.
Just learn some decent stuff, network with nobles for business connections—that'd be fine.
So major headaches at the academy... not keen on that.
"What are you all talking about?"
"Oh, Mother."
As we chatted away, Rozalin came down to the first floor and spoke to us.
She'd gone up after our mountain hike, probably to rest a bit.
We'd strolled the back mountains and been back a while, so she'd likely rested enough by now.
"We were talking about the academy. Since Ella and I are entering next year."
"Oh... right. You're in your second year now, aren't you, Miss Karen?"
"Y-yes!"
"Hehe, I used to attend the academy myself back in the day."
Come to think of it, Rozalin had attended the academy too.
I usually didn't ask much since she didn't react fondly to academy topics.
But she was still a graduate at heart.
"Want to join us, Mother?"
"Is it okay for me to butt in? Wouldn't I seem like an old lady fussing?"
"Of course it's fine."
Even as a graduate, no issue.
Age-wise... yeah, about double, but whatever.
"I feel like if I join, I'd just ramble about ancient history..."
"It's really fine."
"Really...?"
Rozalin sharing old stories was no big deal.
Anyone listening might think she was spilling weird secrets or something.
Personally, I actually enjoyed hearing Rozalin's tales.
"Then... Miss Karen? Mind if I ask how the academy is these days? It's been years since I graduated... haha..."
"Lately... there seem to be a lot of weird students...!"
"Weird ones have always been around."
"Really...?"
"Yes. Odd as it sounds, when I was there... so many things happened."
"Like what...?"
Karen and Ella on either side of me.
Rozalin sat on the opposite sofa as we talked.
We were especially passing the time with Rozalin's old academy stories.
Maybe because it was the academy back then.
So... full of romance, or should I say barbarism?
Shockingly absurd incidents way more than you'd imagine.
Seriously.
"Suddenly pulling a sword in a classroom and causing a scene..."
"...Wow."
"Ha... One professor back then even froze a student solid..."
"......."
Hmm.
Actually, the recent stuff Karen mentioned sounded better.
For real, seriously...