Childhood Friend...?
Of course, the teachers wouldn't ignore it when the students started fighting. Oliver rushed over quickly, stepped between the two, and demanded to know why the fight had broken out. When he heard the utterly ridiculous reason, he scowled deeply.
"You ran off on your own and got your summon killed?"
"……."
"And when you were in mortal danger, you abandoned your comrade and fled."
"……Yes."
Elton nodded quietly. Oliver grabbed his forehead in disbelief, clutching it hard. Then he decided on the punishment and spoke up.
"For now, Elton, you're getting a zero on this class. And submit extra penalty points on top of that."
"B-but—!"
"No excuses. I told you all to work together."
Ignoring the teacher's orders and charging ahead recklessly, nearly losing his summon in the process—that was a major screw-up. In the end, Elton had no choice but to accept the punishment.
"You too, Copy. If your friend was heading down the wrong path, you should've stopped him, not followed along?"
"I'm sorry."
"……You seem genuinely remorseful, so no penalty points for you."
But he couldn't stop the zero on this class either. With the two punished, Oliver's gaze turned to me.
"Ian Clark."
"Yes."
"You should be grateful I don't believe in guilt by association."
"Thank you."
Fortunately, Oliver didn't hand down any punishment to me. Not that he could've—I would've protested if he tried. What did I do wrong? If anything, I deserved a reward. Noble kids acting on their own whims wasn't exactly news.
Still, the class hadn't gone according to his plan, and he looked pretty bruised about his pride. The homeroom teacher from the next class over, Pleina, approached and started chiding him.
"See? I told you to assign at least one teacher as backup."
"……I wanted to foster the kids' independence."
"And thanks to that, two students nearly lost their summons."
"Looks like you've got the leisure to critique someone else's lesson plan."
It seemed there was some system where teachers evaluated each other's classes. I watched Pleina, mentally giving Oliver's class a big fat zero. She was subtly thrilled that it had bombed. No surprise—Oliver had only snagged top student and runner-up spots thanks to luck, so jealousy made sense.
"Anyway, despite all the nonsense today…… class is over. Everyone, head back."
The moment Oliver finished, the kids scattered toward the school. Some in uniforms headed straight out the gates. I was about to head to the dorms myself when the teacher from two classes over, Clara, approached.
"Um…… Ian Clark?"
"Yes?"
"Could you spare a moment?"
At her words, I gave her a quick once-over. Pink hair down to her waist, huge chest. She looked familiar, but I couldn't place her. Definitely not from the game. No real reason to make time for her, but……
Better to build ties with teachers too.
Reasonable call. I decided to follow her.
"Sure."
She led me to a private counseling room inside the academy grounds. A sealed space no one else could enter—teacher and student only. Once inside, she locked the door naturally, sat on the inner sofa, and stared straight through me.
No way……
One of those types who gets hot for students? I quietly prepared to summon Anna. I wouldn't go down innocent in this world, but scandals were nothing but trouble.
"……Just as I thought."
Clara examined my face closely, then spoke. I was about to pull Anna when she smiled wide.
"Ian!"
She grabbed my hand. That's when I realized—I couldn't summon with the pattern on my hand covered. Block the back of the hand, and no summons.
What the hell kind of……
Whether I panicked or not, she beamed and shook my hand up and down.
"It's me! Don't you recognize me!?"
"……Who?"
"We played together in the village all the time! Oh, maybe it's the long hair……."
She said that and gathered her hair up. The moment I saw her nape and the short hair underneath, my body jolted as memories flooded back.
"……Clara…… sis?"
"You remember!"
She wasn't someone I knew. She was a longtime childhood friend of this body's original owner, Ian Clark. Clara.
No wonder I didn't remember……
With most of the original's memories gone, the fact that this lingered subconsciously showed how much he'd treasured her. But if she was that important to him, she'd likely feel the same about Ian Clark. So why approach now? Worth finding out.
"I was so worried you wouldn't remember me, fidgeting like crazy."
Hehe, Clara came at me with a bright, bubbly voice. So pure, no hidden agenda detectable. But.
"Sis."
"Yeah? What's up, Ian?"
"Why'd it take you this long to come find me?"
She clamped her mouth shut. If she was this thrilled to see me, why not sooner?
Mouth tight, Clara spoke carefully in a cracked voice.
"I…… was scared you wouldn't remember me."
According to Ian Clark's memories, her last look was a bob that didn't reach her shoulders. Now it draped to her lower back. Years apart, enough time to blur even vivid memories.
"Then why now?"
"This is my first year posted here, so I've been swamped. Things are settling now. You weren't coming to me first, so I called you over. Sink or swim, let's see."
No lies in her tone or words. She could've been fooling herself with an act, but a simple country girl from years ago wouldn't master deception that fast.
Academy's a noble snake pit, though…… who knows.
Still, what gain did she have deceiving me right now? None I could think of. So even if it was a ploy, I'd play along.
I sifted through Ian Clark's memories and spoke carefully.
"Yeah. Truth is, I'd completely forgotten you, sis."
"Oh…… I see."
"Even now, I'm doubting if you're really her."
"Why……?"
"The sis I knew always came up smiling and chatting with me."
A commoner tenant farmer's daughter, yet she'd approach a noble kid like Ian without hesitation. All he remembered was her pure, unreserved self.
At that, Clara chuckled like she'd half-expected it.
"True…… not like me at all. I was too scared to approach."
She let out a light sigh, steeled herself, and slowly came closer. Sitting beside me, she pulled me into those ample breasts and gently stroked my head.
"Long time no see, Ian."
"Mmph……."
"I missed you."
She hugged tighter. Her bosom smelled strongly of milk—a heavenly scent, but staying put felt like it'd send me there for real. I smacked her arm and barely pulled away.
"Ah, sorry…… you loved this as a kid, so I thought……."
"……When was that supposed to be?"
I love it now. Keep going.
I looked up at her. Age gap like mine back on Earth, pretty face, big chest. Prime heroine material?
……Thinking of dating?
For a split second dreaming of a bright future with her, I remembered my terminal illness. Or rather, this world's doom. If I couldn't stop it, couldn't beat the Demon King, everything ends. I might survive and return to Earth, but back there? Still dying.
Whether she sensed my thoughts or not, she grinned and spoke.
"Any troubles from now on, come to me anytime! Oh, call me Teacher Clara outside?"
"……Got it, Clara sis."
"Teacher!"
"Teacher Clara."
Only then did Clara beam and see me out.
After self-training, rolling around in the dorms, I got an unexpected visitor late afternoon.
"Reine…… secretary?"
"Cadet Ian. The principal wants to see you."
Not unusual for the top student like me. I changed quickly and headed to the principal's office. Students shouldn't get too comfy in staff rooms, but somehow it felt more familiar than class. I opened the door, and Catherine, shuffling papers, greeted me warmly.
"Sorry, still finishing up…… mind waiting five minutes?"
"Of course."
"Thanks. Reine, tea and snacks, please."
After that, munching the snacks and tea the secretary brought, about ten minutes passed before Catherine finished and plopped on the sofa.
"Sorry, making you wait after calling you……."
"Your time's worth more than mine, Principal. No helping it."
"Haha, you're too much."
She gulped the tea her secretary brought and carefully broached the topic.
"Ian, you know about the demon incursion a few days ago, right?"
"Yes, of course."
I was the one who'd stopped it, after all. But she had a reason for bringing it up.
"An incident like that at the academy is shameful…… so we launched a full sweep right after."
"Full sweep……?"
"Yeah, scoured the whole place for hidden passages we didn't know about."
I racked my brain—any story arcs with demons tunneling in later? I remembered bold frontal assaults wrecking the academy, but sneaky spy tunnels? Not anymore.
"And we found a massive cavern under the academy."
"……Underground?"
Wait, what? I stared at her in shock. There was no such cavern. Not now, anyway.
But Catherine continued matter-of-factly.
"Yeah. An infinitely sprawling dungeon beneath."