83. Good News and Better News
83. Good News and Better News
"Looks like everyone's seated. Good. Before I begin, I have good news and better news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"The better news!"
After Adelia's sly question, a female student standing at the very front answered brightly.
I remember that one's name properly.
Retel Gronevelt. Second daughter of a count's family, and bright enough to rival Eurasia.
The peculiar thing was that, despite being a count’s second daughter, she got along well with commoners.
Not just the commoner students in our class, but the commoners in the next class over, and even students from Hurnt, not Signia, seem close with her.
If our class ever picked a class president, Retel seemed the most likely to get it.
"Hmm, no. Can you just start with the ordinary good news?"
Meanwhile, Adelia, having heard Retel, chuckled and opened her mouth.
"The good news is that, starting today, the student Community is opening for Karelai Academy first-years as well. Would everyone check their Devices? There should be a link in your message box that lets you access the Community."
Adelia smiled brightly.
At the same time, an enormous cheer erupted from among the students.
Eurasia, sitting beside me, also startled and hurriedly pulled out her Device to check.
Com... Commu—what?
Anyway... what is it that they're all so happy about?
And these kids seem to have known about it for a while.
With the Device too, and this Commu... whatever, where do they get all this information?
...Eurasia seems to have known too.
Why didn't she tell me?
I rubbed my nose for no reason and pulled out my Device.
Just as Adelia said, there was a message in my message box sent by the academy.
A long string of English... is this the link?
So what am I supposed to do with this?
I turned my head slightly and peeked at Eurasia's Device. Eurasia, noticing my gaze, smiled softly and whispered.
"You just press that link."
"Ah, yeah. Thanks."
Following Eurasia's words, I pressed the link firmly.
Then, pop! A pure white screen lit up, and...
[So what the hell actually happened with the Arant Museum?](1)
[I'm not actually a furry](11)
[If my loan isn't released within two days I'm taking a shit in the fountain](35)
[For those whose stocks got fucked because Demons showed up in the Imperial Capital](32)
[Is there a famous artist in Hurnt?](2)
[They say there was a murder in the back alley yesterday](17)
[If Karelai keeps going like this](5)
[The Eustetia Knight Order that visited the academy yesterday](72)
[List of main items for the auction opening soon](43)
[!!!!!!!!!!!!!Mod performance test!!!!!!!!!!!!!](1)
[Is today the day the first-years come in?](16)
[They say there's a total thug in the first-years, who is it?](8)
Strange posts scrolled down in a row.
"...What is this?"
The densely packed text and bizarre titles stole my attention.
Among them, that title with all the red exclamation marks stood out the most...
The title is "Mod performance test"?
What's a mod?
...Can I press it?
I moved my finger, about to press it, when—
"Ah, my lady!"
Eurasia urgently reached out and snatched my wrist.
"Wh-what? Why?"
"My lady. You mustn't press that."
"Huh? Mustn't? How do you know that, Eurasia?"
Tears welled up in Eurasia's blue eyes. Then she trembled and let out a deep sigh.
"...I didn't want to know either."
"Now that you say that, I'm curious."
"No. Absolutely not."
Eurasia, who always spoke all goofy and dorky, turned resolute in an instant.
"...If you put it like that."
I had no choice but to nod and set down my Device.
Only then, as if relieved, Eurasia's expression returned to normal, and she too set down her Device and faced forward.
"Now, now. Everyone. I know you're all excited, but you should hear the explanation first, right?"
Adelia, standing in the center of the classroom, spoke in a gentle voice.
"First, your Community IDs are already assigned to each of your Devices. And while Karelai Academy guarantees the Community's anonymity, if you cross the line, the academy will have no choice but to expose your identity, so be careful."
Admiration burst from the students' mouths.
"Barring such cases, this Community's anonymity is absolutely guaranteed. Of course, if your Device is stolen, or you tell people yourself, or you regularly post things that could let people deduce your identity, then others will find out. But barring that, it's absolutely guaranteed, so you don't need to worry."
Adelia's explanation continued after that.
From the explanation alone... it seems you can act anonymously, write posts in this place called the Community, leave things called comments, and communicate with many people.
And in this Community, the academy's large club called the Newspaper Club is also very active, so you can quickly learn news not only from the academy but from outside it as well.
Looking at it that way, it seems like it'll be helpful in many ways.
Maybe that's why the students all had excited faces. Even Eurasia, who until just now had looked like she'd seen a naked photo of a cockroach, brightened up quickly.
Once the explanation of the Community ended, Adelia gave the students a brief moment to chatter, then clapped her hands once more—clap!—to draw their attention.
"Let's stop the chattering now, and I'll tell you the next piece of news. It's better news than what I told you a moment ago."
One by one, the students' murmuring died down, and when all eyes were gathered—
Adelia spoke again.
"Three days from now, the academy's off-campus prohibition order issued by the Empire is said to be lifted."
However, her voice carried faint irritation, annoyance, and worry.
But the students, seemingly oblivious to that, cheered even louder than when they'd heard about the Community.
Before going to the imperial palace, according to the messages I'd exchanged privately with Fabiana, the off-campus prohibition was supposed to last more than fifteen days.
Why is it being lifted so quickly?
And why does Adelia have that expression?
Tap, tap—I tapped my lips and studied Adelia's expression. Soon after, Adelia, noticing my gaze, looked at me with a meaningful glint in her eyes.
*****
Today is the day for elective lectures.
So, after making an excuse to Silina that she should think of a reason why it had to be that way, and roughly ditching her—
On my way to Thursday's first lecture—
"Huh? Hey! Eliarnes... you...!"
I ran into Stella.
Totter, totter—
Stella, who had been walking along diligently carrying a grubby stack of papers, glared at me with a fierce expression.
"How can you not contact me even once?!"
"What contact?"
"I... I sent you so many messages! You even read them! So why don't you reply, you?"
How did she know I read them?
Is she just fishing?
"I didn't read them."
"Ha, seriously unbelievable. Now you lie without even wetting your lips? I confirmed that the messages I sent showed a read mark?!"
I never dreamed messages had a mark like that.
They made a uselessly annoying feature...
"...Guess I read them half-asleep."
Actually, they didn't seem all that important, so I kept putting them off and forgot.
Actually, they weren't important.
[Eliarnes, are you okay?]
[I heard you’re going to the Treasury? I heard from Eurasia.]
[What?! You're going into the Forbidden Archive too?!]
[I'm 4th Circle!!! Pina finally made a circle too!! How's that? Fast, right?]
[Of course it had to be. I'm the master!]
[What? You're Tier 5? Since when...?]
[Hey!! If you read it, reply!!!(fierce cat)]
[-_- Reply already.]
[Hey]
[So annoying]
[_|_]
It was a message full of nothing but useless talk like that.
And the last thing she sent seemed like a typo, but it was a typo that made me feel worse the more I looked at it, so I deliberately didn't reply.
Anyway.
Hiding my flustered look, I handed over the macarons in my pocket. Warm macarons I'd bought this morning. This time, there were even three of them.
"Congrats on making 4th Circle."
"...Ha, whatever. It's not like I'm getting a bow from you on the ground."
Her tone was rude, but the corners of her lips were trembling, and she was squirming, showing with her whole body that she was pleased.
"A-and, you said you read them half-asleep, so how do you know I made 4th Circle?"
Hmph! Stella snatched the macarons from my hand, carefully tucked them into her pocket, and smiled softly.
"Still, well... thanks. The macarons too... I'll enjoy them."
Then, after a moment, she tilted her head, looking at the textbook in my hand.
"Huh? What. You're taking [Mana Cultivation C] too?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm... overlaps with me, huh?"
The corners of her lips twitched again. Every time I see her secretly liking something while pretending not to, she really seems like such a loser... it's a bit... a bit much.
"But do you really need to take it? Wouldn't you be better off taking practical application instead of just cultivation?"
"I'm taking practical application too."
"...Aren't you skipping all your Friday afternoon lectures to have lessons with the Vice Dean?"
"Right."
Stella's expression twisted bizarrely.
"...So you're not taking any practical lectures at all, like combat lectures or subjugation lectures?"
"I do fine without taking stuff like that."
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter since you don't use weapons."
I can't tell whether this girl just said that to make fun of me or because she genuinely thinks so.
...It pisses me off for no reason.
Just as I raised a finger to poke Stella in the side, the bundle of papers she was holding caught my eye.
"What's that? Why'd you make your textbook like that?"
"H-huh? Ah..."
She hid the bundle of papers—what looked like a textbook printed out and roughly bound—behind her back and averted her eyes.
"I... lost my textbook."
"You've barely been enrolled and you lost it? Hey, don't tell me..."
Stella looked at me with anxious eyes.
I stared into those navy eyes, then scrunched up my face.
"Did you sell your textbook? Sell it and then buy some shitty Artifact?"
"...Wh-what?! No! Am I crazy?!"
"Then where did your textbook go?"
"I don't know! I said I don't know! I lost it! Why are you getting annoyed when I'm the one who lost it?! I'm more annoyed!"
Suddenly Stella's face flushed red and she shrieked. As if that weren't enough, tears even seeped into her wide, brazen eyes.
...What's this.
Her reaction is weird today.
The reaction is the same as usual, but rather than satisfying... it's, how to put it. Somewhat uncomfortable.
"What. Is something going on with you?"
Stella, who had been moving her lips, turned her back without a word.
"...No."
There was no usual hmph!, no coy look, no rude tone—just a deflated voice that wasn't like Stella at all.
Watching Stella's back as she walked away, I scratched my cheek and followed her into the lecture hall.
...It seems like it's that day, so I should be nice to her today.