Old School Building's Special Class (3)
Though I'd boldly declared that I was going to build a harem, fortunately there wasn't any major problem(?). 'Because there's already precedent.'
In Esdinas Academy, whether man or woman, as long as you had the ability, graduating with multiple fiancées was a kind of 'national rule.' Polygamy. Polyandry. The former seemed to be the universal norm in this original world, while the latter was a bold move by capable women.
Therefore, declaring a harem wasn't particularly strange. What mattered was whether you had the 'ability' for it.
"I understand your ambitions. The academy respects that mindset."
Esta nodded calmly in affirmation of my statement.
"In fact, it's refreshing to see your desires laid out so clearly. Nothing motivates someone to improve their abilities quite like lust for the opposite sex."
"You don't think it's weird?"
"I just have no intention of holding prejudices."
Esta downed the herbal tea in her cup in one go.
"Let's end the conversation here. Something urgent came up."
"Something urgent...?"
"Yes."
It felt sudden when she stood up, but her staying here any longer wouldn't exactly be good for me either—
"Since I'm staying here too, I need to tidy up the instructor's room."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, time had gotten pretty late for real.
"The old school building doesn't have a strict curfew, but be careful anyway. This place... has scary rumors."
"Scary rumors?"
"Yes."
Esta pointed at the clock with a serious expression.
"At midnight, a ghost appears."
"......."
Unia's face went pale at the word "ghost."
After Esta left and another faculty member came to inform us that 'the rooms are ready'—
"This is it."
I flopped straight onto the bed in the roughly 15-pyeong room. Among the old school building's rooms, this was fairly spacious—probably a noble's quarters from when the academy was first established.
'They gave this to me?'
In the original story, this was the protagonist's room. After chatting with the various characters in the old school dorm, it was the space where you could save/load or use other system elements.
'Grateful it's a familiar space, but it feels off.'
For someone who wasn't the protagonist—formerly Regiph, now disguised under another name—to occupy the protagonist's room like this.
'Is fate telling me to completely steal the protagonist's spot?'
If the protagonist got assigned elsewhere, that would cause its own problems, but just getting this room solved one issue on its own.
'The ghost at midnight.'
Soon, it would come—
Knock knock.
The knock came. The wall clock was nearing midnight, and I slyly closed one eye.
Whoosh.
Flames ignited before my eyes. Beyond the flickering fire, shapes began to appear like thermal imaging from a camera.
"......."
I quietly got up and walked to the door, opening it.
"What's up?"
"Uh, well."
Unia. She stood there in her pajamas, clutching her pillow tightly.
"I-I'm feeling uneasy for various reasons...."
What did it mean for Unia to feel uneasy? She knew there were others in this old school building right now.
"Is it okay to just barge into a guy's room in the middle of the night like this?"
"B-But...!"
Unia sounded flustered, but her eyes glared at me with a fierce stare.
"Alright, alright."
Meaning, behave yourself. More precisely, I know everything, so don't mess around.
"Come in. I'll treat you to some herbal tea that helps you sleep."
As I fully opened the door, Unia stepped inside, and I glanced outside before locking it.
Click.
The moment the door locked, I heard something moving in the hallway outside.
'Probably the faculty.'
They must have wondered where Unia was heading after leaving her room. And when they realized it was my room, they'd be shocked but decide to 'watch for now.'
If anything dangerous happened—
'They'd intervene immediately.'
The regular academy dorms had strict gender separations, so no big deal there, but the old school building was different. Especially since we weren't just temporarily crashing due to dorm damage—we were two special admits causing a scene on day one.
"Um, so...."
"Shh."
I alternated pointing at my hand and ear to Unia who'd entered the room.
[Tail. Surveillance. Faculty.]
I mouthed it silently to Unia, who squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.
"...I can't sleep, so wanna chat a bit?"
"Isn't it too late?"
"Just a little, then I'll go to bed."
Unia started acting naturally.
[I really want to talk.]
She mouthed her true intent briefly.
"Have a seat first. It's not fully sorted yet."
I gestured for Unia to sit, then placed paper and pens on the table.
[Note-passing.]
[Got it.]
We had to keep talking out loud. But Unia's real topic would be handled via notes, which we'd burn afterward to erase traces.
"You really worked hard today. Whew, it was like a miracle...."
Out loud, the kind of talk any special admit might have.
[Harem, for real?]
On paper, her true feelings.
[Obviously.]
[Really?]
[What's wrong with a guy pursuing a harem?]
[Not that it's bad, but.]
Unia's handwriting stiffened gradually.
[Is that really your ultimate goal?]
She was clearly offended by the harem mention itself. There was a sense of disappointment too.
[No.]
Unia's eyes lit up at my reply.
[A harem is just the means.]
Unia tilted her head.
[I told you I saw the future? I'm here to stop the apocalypse coming to this academy.]
Unia swallowed hard.
[I saw it. Different women destroying the world from this academy.]
The casual conversation loud enough for outsiders continued, but the notes hidden between held grave content.
[Most broke because of 'romance.' For whatever reason, they crumbled from not receiving love.]
[Collapse from emotions...?]
[Something like that.]
I pondered briefly. How much to reveal? For others it might be fine, but with Unia, I was at a loss.
'No certainty yet, so keep Unia secret.'
Can't say you're the apocalypse right in front of you.
[Instructor Esta. I've seen fragments of the apocalypse in her.]
Unia's body stiffened. I hadn't heard it from her, but knowing the original backstory and why she came to the academy, I understood why.
[I'm here to stop the apocalypse at the academy.]
That was Unia's mission—to stop that apocalypse. The problem was she didn't know its form.
[How do you know she's the apocalypse? And what even is the apocalypse?]
[I told you. I can see the future.]
It must be disconcerting that I knew more than her, passed down from her witch grandmother, but Unia nodded at my ironclad excuse.
[Can you tell me?]
[Like something from a dream, so fragmentary.]
Clap.
"Miss Unia."
"Y-Yes?"
"Aren't you curious about my ability?"
As I clapped and spoke aloud, those outside began approaching the door one by one.
"Uh, um... Are you going to show me?"
Fragments of the apocalypse.
"Yeah. It's like a kind of 'memory sharing,' you see?"
"Memory sharing?"
"Yep. It lets others see my experiences. Technically called 're-experiencing,' but no need for complicated explanations."
I pointed at the bed.
"Think of it as me hypnotizing you, Miss Unia. I'll cast a spell on you, and you'll indirectly experience my memories through a dream."
"Um.... Is that possible?"
"Why not?"
I mimed driving a bus with my hand.
"I can do a lot of things."
"......."
Unia nodded slightly and mouthed,
[That's partly why I came.]
Ah.
"What, Miss Unia? Can't sleep without my massage anymore?"
"N-No! What are you even saying?"
"Fair enough. My sleep massage is pretty effective."
I deliberately rubbed my hands together loudly, laughing.
"My big sis and little sis can't sleep without it either—they take turns bugging me for one every week."
This wasn't a joke. The demon duchesses demanded my massages as payment for sparring with them.
"Wanna try lying down? Oh. You might fall asleep...."
"I-It's fine!"
Unia shot her hand up, yelling.
"The school rules manual, uh, the one students must follow says...."
Unia glanced outside furtively.
"...Academy students must not sleep anywhere other than their assigned dorm room."
She started citing rules.
"...This isn't the dorm, it's the old school building, right?"
"Ha."
Was that a sigh from outside my imagination?
"Breaking rules on day one of enrollment?"
"I'm not breaking any. The rules say 'academy dorms,' not 'old school building,' remember?"
Spot on. After the new dorms were built, new rules were added, integrating and abolishing old ones.
"N-Not a rules violation! I'd sleep in my own room in the dorms, obviously."
The academy dorms meant the current student spaces—not the old school building.
"So... huh? It's not my first time anyway."
"This'll be my first here."
We'd done a sleep massage on the bus once, but sharing memories was new.
"Alright. I'll show you. If it hurts during the massage, say so. Got it?"
"D-Does it hurt?"
"I'll try to make it painless."
[But.]
I lightly tapped Unia's head area.
[After experiencing the apocalypse, people might look different to you.]
What reaction would Unia have, I wondered.
[Instructor Esta, you see.]
Heroine No.11. White Sword Saint Esta.
[In the future, she becomes an iron-fisted tyrant suppressing everyone's desires.]
"...Pardon?"
"Just lie down comfortably."
Unia's expression grew serious as she stared at my mouth.
[She builds an iron empire no one can defy....]
Swish.
[A world where anyone not riding a unicorn gets executed.]
"......Huh?"
I smoothed Unia's hair while making a gesture in front of her face.
[Do this = execution.]
I made a ring with my fingers and thrust my thumb in and out. No.11-01. Bad Ending.
[She forces purity on all humanity.]
The apocalypse wasn't just volcanoes erupting, tsunamis and floods raging, typhoons overturning the world, or earthquakes striking.
[Humanity stops having descendants.]
Esta[Angel]. Her other form was the Tyrant of Chastity. A goddess-enforced control where humanity couldn't breed on its own—an apocalypse called 'breeding ban.'