The President's Guidance and the Theater Surprise
“Done?”
At the same moment Lena's voice reached me, I had just finished jotting down the last of my notes.
“Yeah. When I mentioned that Elicia's notebook seemed oddly well organized, I didn't realize it had been copied straight from the class president's.”
“Kyaa! What do you mean by that?!”
Elicia snapped back as if I were deliberately ignoring her, yet I was merely stating a simple fact. In truth, when I compared her textbooks to her notebooks, the textbooks were filled with chaotic scribbles and random doodles, while her notebook was neatly arranged with only the core points highlighted, colors deliberately changed for emphasis, and every detail organized with genuine care. One could never imagine it was written by the same person responsible for the textbook.
Indeed, as suspected, Elicia's notebook was simply a direct copy of Lena's. Obviously she had copied during the week I was absent.
“Elicia, have you memorized everything I just explained before I even finished speaking?”
Before I could reply to Elicia, Lena cut her off with one decisive word. The class president immediately produced a test sheet she had made on the spot and held it out in front of both Elicia and me.
“Solve these ten problems and today's class will be over.”
Upon hearing that class would end, Elicia's face—which had looked utterly defeated—suddenly brightened. Of course, I had no idea whether she would actually manage to solve them all, but I remained silent.
The test paper Lena handed me contained exactly ten questions. Judging by the difficulty, they were nothing more than standard memorization; if anyone had paid attention in class, they would have answered easily.
“I'll give you ten minutes. Begin.”
At the signal, I began filling out my answers without hesitation. While I completed my paper smoothly, no sound of writing reached Elicia's sheet. Instead, I began to hear something else.
Of course, it was not the literal sound, but rather the expression of hearing the sound of Elicia's eyes rolling.
Elicia subtly rolled her eyes as much as possible without anyone noticing, copying my answers one by one. I debated whether to overlook the obvious cheating or still shield her for her sake, but before I could decide, Lena's voice cut in.
“By the way, I gave you different problems, so avoid unnecessary tricks.”
Lena had clearly noticed Elicia glancing at my paper and was merely warning her. Elicia immediately began erasing the answers she had written upon hearing that.
“Here. I've finished.”
Since none of the problems were particularly difficult, I handed Lena my completed test paper. She accepted it without circling any answers, simply checking them with her eyes.
“Good. All correct. As expected of Elicia. I should have made it slightly harder.”
Meanwhile, Elicia was still struggling with every problem.
“...Dang! Time's up. Here, pass it.”
At the same time as the clock struck, Lena reached toward Elicia while she hurriedly scribbled whatever she could into the blanks.
Fortunately for Elicia, Lena did not stop her.
Lena then carefully examined the test paper Elicia had received. Unlike me, she lifted her pen and began marking one by one.
Instead of circles, she drew several slashes.
Lena finally stopped, returned the paper to Elicia, and declared:
“Only six correct out of ten. Normally I would have scolded you, but... I'll let you slide today.”
The moment Lena spoke, fresh vigor returned to Elicia's face, which had been drained of energy. She then finished her remaining strawberry smoothie in a single gulp.
“Study ends here! Put the books away!”
To avoid any further words, Elicia organized her own books and notebooks, then proceeded to do the same for mine.
“It's already late for dinner, so let's go eat something. I'm starving.”
At Elicia's words, glancing outside revealed that it had grown quite dark. I had been so focused on studying that I hadn't noticed the time.
“Where should we go? The student cafeteria is probably closed by now. Let's eat outside.”
“Meat! Let's eat meat!”
Elicia, who had finished organizing her bag, shouted while raising her hand. Neither Lena nor I disliked meat, so the evening menu was naturally decided to be meat.
***
“Then tomorrow, how about we study together again? Will you come too, Elicia?”
While eating dinner, I asked Elicia. Today had been a lucky coincidence that Lena gave me tutoring, but originally today would have been her turn. Tomorrow was Lena's assigned day.
Since things had come to this, I proposed that tomorrow, when I received tutoring from Lena, I might as well have Elicia listen to the class alongside me.
“No way!”
Elicia vigorously shook her head while having a piece of meat in her mouth, clearly refusing. Since I had no particular reason to force her, I was about to let it slide, but Lena looked at her and spoke.
“Elicia? That vigorous head shake—what does it mean? Did you hate me teaching you so much?”
Lena's tone remained calm. Yet Elicia broke into a cold sweat, sensing something from the tone, and stopped her head shaking unnaturally slowly, like a machine.
Then, with a look of pure shock, she shook her head again.
“Ugh! N-no! It's good because Lena teaches so easily!”
I didn't know if it was sincere, but desperation was clear. After hearing Elicia's answer, Lena stared at her for a moment, snorted, and said:
“Hmm. If Elicia says so, I shall help you study harder next time. Look forward to it.”
At Lena's words, Elicia opened her mouth in apparent despair. It was so amusing that I placed a piece of meat in her mouth; with her expression unchanged, she simply began chewing slowly.
Elicia was still in a daze. While chewing, she continued receiving more meat and ate it quite well.
Still, how could Lena's class be so frightening? At least during the time I was learning from Lena, Elicia had never reacted that way.
Well, in this case, since I wasn't studying the rest anyway, I could know or not know.
Strengthen yourself, Elicia.
***
***
“Yesterday, because you studied together with Elicia, I couldn't see it properly.”
“No. Originally, it wasn't my turn to help, and rather, I was grateful.”
If Lena hadn't appeared, I would have continued holding Elicia behind.
“By the way, the class president seems to always be working hard when she's being watched.”
In reality, Lena, whose position as class president was insufficient, was always moving busily. During class she listened intently, during breaks she studied what she had missed, and all matters related to the class were handled through her. She even helped students like Elicia who were studying the rest.
“Well, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to keep up.”
She said it modestly, yet her grades were definitely in the top tier. Despite being in the martial arts department, she had considerable interest in magic, and I heard she wanted to take magic classes in the second year as well.
“If I told that to the other kids in class, they'd scold her?”
“Ahaha...”
The place where we were studying was the empty study room inside the school. I had wanted to go to a cafe like yesterday, but because of Professor Phrentz's errand, we couldn't go outside and ended up taking this room.
“Then shall we continue?”
As I had felt yesterday, thanks to experience helping other students, Lena explained it in an easy-to-understand way.
While we were seriously continuing the lesson, someone passing back and forth beyond the glass door caught my eye.
At first I thought it was just a passerby, but the familiar blonde hair color kept passing by and glancing sideways at this side, so I couldn't help but know who it was.
The moment the blonde hair passed by again, I opened the door of the study room wide.
“Kyaa!”
Elicia, who had been watching this side, had not expected me to open the door first. She let out a small cry at the suddenly opened door.
“U-uh, coincidence, Elicia!”
“Eh... um. Yeah. As you can see, I was studying with the class president. What brings you here, Celia?”
I knew it wasn't mere coincidence since I had been watching this side, but I let it slide as if it was.
“I- I came here to study too...”
Elicia said that, lifting her bag slightly to show it. She must have been coming to study when she discovered us. But since I wasn't sure if we were correct, she had been walking back and forth in front of the door and checking several times.
“Then shall we do it together here?”
“Even if, is it okay? Then I'll intrude.”
Lena, who was sitting inside the room, asked Elicia, and she accepted it with a bright smile as if she had been waiting.
Anyway, the study room was spacious, and Elicia didn't need to study with Lena like she had with me yesterday, so it wouldn't be much of a bother.
I made way for her and gestured for her to enter. Elicia nodded slightly and came in with light, quick steps.
Elicia placed her bag next to me and pulled out a chair to sit. Seeing Elicia taking out her books and notebooks, I began the class with the class president again.
“This should be enough. Study the rest on your own and ask if there's anything you don't understand.”
Lena closed her book and said. The class ended sooner than I thought. I also organized what I was studying and looked sideways.
When we were about to finish studying, Elicia also closed her own books and notebooks in front of her.
The pages of the book and notebook that were slightly visible before closing seemed the same as when they were first opened... It must be a misunderstanding? Elicia wasn't studying badly, and there's no reason to be stumped at the same section.
“By the way, what do you two plan to do this weekend?”
“Hmm? There's nothing special planned yet...”
“I don't have any plans yet either.”
There are no promises yet, but probably Elicia, Uriel, and Elicia will go out together sometime. As always.
“Then it's good! I received a theater ticket, but since I have a schedule this weekend, I won't be able to use it. You two can go!”
Saying that, Lena handed each of me and Elicia one theater ticket.
Looking at the ticket, an familiar title caught my eye.
“Around the Time Pink Flowers Bloom”
It was the title of a novel book I had read thanks to Elicia's recommendation in the past.
“This original novel is so popular that it was made into a play this time. I wanted to go too, but the ticket deadline is this weekend... Ah! If you haven't read the novel, I can recommend reading it before going!”
“Ah, this is the one Celia recommended, so I already read it. It was fun.”
Upon hearing my words, Lena looked at Elicia with half-open eyes and then opened her mouth again.
“Anyway! These two tickets are barely obtained, so don't forget and go together with the other person. Got it? Don't give to someone else?”
She said it like that, but she had no intention of handing it to someone else. Anyway, since I had a good time reading the original novel, there's some expectation.
“I'm not conscienceless enough to give away the gift I received to others, so don't worry. But is it okay to eat it so readily? Should we buy dinner sometime later?”
“It's not like I need to... Ah! Then later, you two can buy me dinner together.”
I could eat separately with Elicia, but Lena was deliberately trying to eat once from the two of us instead, and I could feel the president's pettiness.
“Yeah. Just think about what you want to eat. I'll buy as much as you want.”
“Yes. Elicia and I will buy something delicious.”
Our answer satisfied Lena, who nodded her head. Lena glanced at her watch and got up from her seat first.
“I’ll go first. Since the class ended earlier than expected, I think it's good to finish the pending tasks. Since it's evening time, the two of you can go eat dinner together.”
Saying that, Lena waved her hand and left the room first.
I put the ticket in my pocket and looked at Elicia, shrugging my shoulders and saying:
“It's already evening time. Then shall we grab some weekend time while eating?”
“Yes! Let's go quickly.”
Elicia answered my proposal with enthusiasm. Probably because she was very hungry.