A Maid Cafe and Two Professors
I couldn’t answer the weekend “You, an idiot?” My stomach was still churning. Trying continuous acceleration after only a few days of training had been too much. I knew that. Even though Ailee had warned me, I went ahead and did it anyway.
“You knew it would turn out like this, so why the hell are you still sulking in the corner?”
I knew. From earlier, Aron had been looking down at me with a pitiful gaze. Leaning against the wall helped a little. The cool metal felt nice against my back, and my mood improved somewhat. The other simulation duels still weren’t over. On average, Titan battles took about fifteen minutes. The standard flow involved long-range suppression followed by closing in to gradually seize the advantage. There was no such thing as a tactic that ended a fight in three minutes.
“Your strategic thinking is a complete mess. What the hell is that garbage Titan you can only use in simulations, and you even kicked with it?”
“T-that was…”
You did it too. Before I could speak, Aron answered first.
“I did do it. That’s true.”
Thud! The hand that had been covering my mouth shot forward. At the same time, a water bottle was placed in my grasp. When I looked up, Aron wore the same dumbfounded expression as last time. But this time, he smiled.
“Commoner, I take back what I said about you not suiting the role. You certainly stand out. I don’t particularly like the method, though.”
No, I didn’t want to stand out at all. I understood he meant he wouldn’t ignore me, but please, I really didn’t want to be noticed.
“However, do not catch the princess’s eye. It will only tire you out, and the person who should receive her attention is me—her fiancé.”
It was strange. The princess had said that loveless engagements were common in the empire. Aron’s expression seemed similar. It didn’t look like it came from love; perhaps it was for some practical benefit.
“U-um, Lord Aron, do you…”
“Hm?”
“Do you… l-love Her Highness the Princess?”
Aron closed his eyes for a moment, remained silent, then slowly rested his chin on his hand. The answer came after quite a while.
“I’m trying to.”
“W-why is that?”
“Why, you ask.” Aron spoke with clear distaste. “Because a bride who is not loved should not exist in this world.”
Oh. Before I could even react with admiration, Aron extended his hand.
“Hey, commoner! More importantly, it’s time for the next duel! The desert gave me the advantage. Stop using that weird Titan and bring out a proper one!”
Just as Aron had taken back his words about me not suiting the role, it seemed I needed to retract one of my own opinions. Aron Dyke wasn’t that bad.
I liked pure love.
“T-to be honest, I don’t think that’s something you should say after almost losing.”
“…What the hell does that mean, you commoner?”
The first weekend was extremely important for first-year cadets at Bethesda Academy. That was what Revan had told me. I was grateful that he looked out for me simply because we were both commoners.
From the second week onward, official club activities would begin in earnest. To build connections among cadets, it was crucial to find and join the right club. Of course, the top priority was finding a club that would actually accept commoners.
“There’s no information.”
“Nope. Yeah, nothing. Not here either. Nothing here either.”
It was obvious, but that kind of information wasn’t written anywhere. Naturally. Bethesda Academy at least outwardly promoted equality among all social classes. The official central clubs operating within the academy couldn’t openly list class discrimination in their descriptions. They couldn’t prevent enrollment either. Instead, they would secretly spread class discrimination among themselves through word of mouth and use subtle, persistent pressure to force commoners to withdraw.
I was sick of digging into that kind of thing or suffering from it. Ailee, who had been scrolling through the academy web for a while, spoke in a fed-up voice.
“Ugh, it’s disgusting. Is class really that important? We’re all the same people.”
It was hard to answer. After all, I only remembered my original life without any class system.
“Still, we have to look into it.”
Bethesda Academy made club activities mandatory. Whether the better word was “forced” or “compulsory,” I wasn’t sure, but participation was required. They cited reasons like fostering friendships among students, developing character, building camaraderie between cadets, and so on, but it was obvious the main purpose was ease of control. Bluntly put, it was to make students devote even their free time and weekends to school life.
Since I had no choice anyway, I needed to pick something that would benefit me.
“By the way, Deep, do you even want to do club activities?”
“No.”
I hated it. I had gotten good at saying that. As I mentioned, I disliked club activities. I hated meeting and getting close to people I didn’t know. I hated having conversations. And even if I had to join a club, I absolutely refused to do anything related to physical exercise.
“Because of your leg?”
My thoughts froze. When I flinched and looked at my smartwatch, Ailee quickly added, “Sensitive topic?”
“Yes.”
“Got it! Then I won’t mention it! But that is part of the reason, right?”
“Yes.”
She was quick-witted, but aside from that, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity. If her questions were answered without needing too many details, she would more or less accept it and be satisfied. If other people had only drawn the line that much, maybe Deep wouldn’t have hated club activities this much.
“Well, anyway! Since Deep says he needs it, I’ll keep looking. Though I doubt anything will come up!”
“I know, but I’m still counting on you.”
“A little more?”
Of course, this artificial intelligence also had a slightly annoying side.
“There’s only you, Ailee. Please.”
“Okay! Got it! Good. Then I’ll put in a bit more eff—”
Beep-beep. A ringtone sounded. It caught me off guard. I had never set such a cute-sounding ringtone. But it was clearly coming from my smartwatch.
“Ah, I changed it! I picked one that wasn’t too cutesy, considering Deep’s taste!”
That was unauthorized.
“You have a message. Want me to tell you?”
Still, it wasn’t too flashy or loud, so it was fine.
“Please tell me.”
“Sure. Two messages arrived at once, from two different people. Uh… wait, what?”
Ailee fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“Looks like we don’t need to look for clubs anymore!”
“What?”
“Both Professor Zeke and Professor Sumeragi contacted you at the same time. They’re both asking if you’ll join the clubs they advise.”
That.
“Deep, you’re so popular! This is great!”
What the hell was she talking about?
The interior of the cafe was quiet. Occasionally, staff in neat butler uniforms or maid outfits moved about. These weren’t cute French maids. They were classic Victorian maids. Was this a butler cafe or a maid cafe?
Professor Zeke, who had called me here, looked extremely comfortable in this atmosphere. He didn’t seem the type, but maybe he was a regular at maid cafes.
“As you probably know.”
I don’t.
“You must have seen the academy notice. You have to decide on your desired club by next Tuesday and submit it through the academy page. That’s why the advisors and presidents of each club are contacting freshmen.”
I just found that out.
Professor Zeke stared at my face for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
“At least check the academy notices. If you don’t trust yourself to remember, at least ask your AI to remind you.”
“U-understood.”
“Good. But I like that your reply was quick.”
Professor Sumeragi, sitting beside him, set down her teacup in agreement.
“That’s right. Deep is probably the only freshman who replied this quickly on the first weekend. Most new cadets are busy drinking with newly made friends or having fun, so they ignore professors’ messages.”
I almost responded but quickly shut my mouth. Professor Zeke looked at Professor Sumeragi with a dumbfounded expression. She had basically just politely said I looked like I had no friends.
Professor Sumeragi seemed to realize what she had said a beat too late. She froze, then cleared her throat.
“A-anyway. The reason we called you today—”
“We.”
“—is to recommend our clubs. That’s what this is about.”
The club advised by Professor Zeke and the one advised by Professor Sumeragi. The fortunate part was that both professors were friendly toward me.
When Professor Zeke tried to speak, Professor Sumeragi quickly cut him off.
“You must be wondering why we contacted you like this. It’s simple. We both saw more potential in cadet Deep than others.”
“Th-thank you.”
“So, would you like to reconsider the assistant position?”
“No. No thank you.”
Professor Sumeragi’s expression stiffened slightly. Professor Zeke glanced at her face, then gave a light shrug.
“The club I advise is the Servant Club.”
What was the Servant Club? When I made a strange face, Professor Zeke continued explaining as if it didn’t particularly matter.
“At the academy, commoners build connections with nobles, and lower nobles with higher nobles. As a result, higher nobles sometimes hire people they like as servants.”
Clink.Zeke set down his teacup.
“The club helps you build general knowledge for such situations. Even if you don’t plan to become a servant, it’s good for cultivating mental strength through etiquette training.”
For a moment, the image of Professor Zeke in a maid outfit flashed through my mind. It really didn’t suit him. A butler uniform didn’t suit him either. Professor Zeke as a servant? It didn’t fit at all. No matter how I thought about it. It was surprising that he was even the advisor for this kind of club.
While I was still processing it, Professor Zeke gestured around us.
“This place is also run by members of the club I advise.”
So that’s why there were butlers and maids. Professor Sumeragi’s eyes widened.
“Isn’t that cheating?!”
“It’s not.”
“O-of course it’s not! Then, cadet Deep! Please listen to me too!”
Professor Sumeragi hurriedly rummaged through her bag and pulled out a strangely shaped holographic projector.
“I believe pilots should also have knowledge of engineering. This holographic projector was made by the members of my club. Let’s learn engineering together!”
“Out of all the things you could have brought, pulling out something completely unrelated to Titans is quite the skill.”
“It’s an interface to assist with Titan displays, okay?”
Wow, the two professors were fighting over me. Why? I felt like I was going to lose my mind.