Nobody Anywhere Dislikes This
Thump, thump, thump.
Yuri's heartbeat quickened as she lay on the bed, her hands folded neatly in her lap, waiting for nothing but Wicker to lie down beside her.
Screeeech.
But her expectations were shattered by an earsplitting noise.
Wicker had pulled up a chair, sat down at her bedside with a book in hand, and nothing more.
“Uh… Orabeoni?”
“I'll read to you until you fall asleep. You used to love fairy tales, Yuri.”
“I— what? No, I mean… I do like them, but.”
“Hush, now. Close your eyes and you'll fall asleep faster.”
‘…Aaaaaagh.’
Yuri could offer no reply to Wicker's command, letting out only a silent scream.
She had sensed it little by little since their reunion, but now she was certain.
The way Wicker looked at her had not changed one bit from thirteen years ago.
‘This isn't how it was supposed to go….’
Yuri felt like crying at the empty loss of such a rare opportunity.
Still, with each sentence of the fairy tale he read aloud, the tension slowly drained from her body, and warmth crept up from beneath the covers, spreading through her.
‘…Ahh, Master's voice is so nice.’
Before she knew it, her eyes had closed, and his calloused hand was stroking her forehead.
It couldn't be called soft, but there was such care in the gesture that happiness overtook her in an instant.
She hated herself for being so easily satisfied with just this much.
‘But I can't let it stay like this….’
If things stopped here, there would never come a day when her Master saw her as a woman.
They might never be joined, not in an entire lifetime.
At last, Yuri realized how serious her situation truly was.
***
The first dormitory lecture had arrived.
Held in a small classroom in Earth House, this lecture belonged entirely to the first-years of Earth House and me.
Seeing twenty-four students seated at neatly aligned desks with such solemn faces made me glad for no particular reason.
“Hasn't everyone's shoulders gotten a bit too tense? As it happens, I'm feeling peckish myself, so let's have some snacks and chat for a while.”
They all looked baffled, so I cleared away the lectern first. Then I brought out the plastic bags I'd been carrying in both hands.
Inside was my secret weapon, cooked personally with my Cooking skill.
The moment the aroma filled the classroom, the students snapped back to their senses, their eyes regaining their light.
Lucas in particular was already flooding her mouth, the overflow spilling right out, so Tia wiped it up for her.
I understood.
Anyone who caught this scent would have no choice but to react that way.
After all, it was chicken.
I pushed the desks together so the students could face one another, then dropped the chicken into the middle.
“What— what IS this food?”
“The smell alone is clogging my arteries.”
“Professor, are we really allowed to eat this?”
I gestured for them to eat as much as they liked, and under Tia's leadership they began setting things out in friendly harmony.
The reason I'd created the fried chicken recipe wasn't anything complicated—I just wanted to eat it myself.
From making the baking powder and frying oil to following a certain old man's secret recipe, the whole process had taken a tremendous amount of trial and error.
Knowing what hearty eaters they all were, I'd prepared a generous ten birds' worth, so there should be plenty.
“Wow, this is seriously good!”
“There's a recipe like this? Professor, you'd make a fortune opening a shop!”
“I'm so happy…. Thank you….”
Unfortunately I hadn't managed to recreate cola as well, so I served lemonade instead.
“Eat up and listen. It's been a distractingly eventful start to the semester, but you're all excellent students, so I trust you've begun to settle in by now. I notified everyone of their one-on-one tutoring sessions with me—is there anyone who hasn't received theirs?”
Not a single hand went up.
“Good. From now on, your one-on-one sessions will focus on building your skills around each of your individual specialties. And there are temporary instructors who will be assisting with that.”
“Temporary instructors, you say?”
“Let me introduce them. These three—Lucas, Testia, and Yuri—are no ordinary students. In swordsmanship and magic, in healing and martial arts, they are masters who could represent entire nations.”
“W-well, I wouldn't say master… hehe.”
“Oh, hello thereee.”
“Woahm… gulp. Hello.”
The three of them each greeted the students. I'd asked the trio to serve as assistants in the upcoming tutoring sessions.
“For now, these three will be helping you, but you'll all improve quickly enough that before long, you'll be pushing one another forward instead.”
“It's not mandatory, of course. Some people focus better alone, don't they? I intend to build the optimal environment for each and every one of you.”
“Just one thing. All I ask is that you put your trust in me. As your professor, I will do everything in my power for your life here at the Academy.”
“You already showed us as much at the tournament.”
“I heard all about it from Marque!”
The students nodded at my words, and I continued.
“As our first stage for showing off the true mettle of Earth House, how does the ‘Silver-Blue Festival’ sound?”
“The spring flower festival at the Academy?”
“The big one I've only heard rumors about. They say it's absolutely spectacular, with all kinds of things to see.”
“I hear the silver-blue flowers bloom in enormous numbers….”
The Silver-Blue Festival. A blooming-season festival held about two months from now.
It is also an occasion symbolizing the peace of the Academy Territory, drawing people from across the continent to see the blossoms of the silver-blue trees, sometimes called blue diamonds.
It is also a stage where students can show off their skills and research achievements, so I planned to measure there just how properly their direction had been set.
If I told the freshmen to aim for Opticulum right away, it would only feel distant and daunting.
Goals should be close and look easy. Best to present them step by step.
“For now, your goal for the Silver-Blue Festival will be to lightly show off a subject of your choosing to the audience. And since everyone's gathered anyway, let's have a session where this year's dormitory freshmen introduce themselves and talk about their specialties.”
The moment I proposed it, Xuehua sprang up from her seat. She was already gargling down an entire chicken with her enormous mouth.
“Mmh! I look forward to serving with you all! , my goal is to conquer every dojo in the East!”
With Xuehua leading the way, the other students continued their introductions.
“I'm . It seems my blunt-weapon proficiency is rather high, so I intend to aim for Paladin. My dream is to someday climb the Alan Mountains with nothing but a single pickaxe.”
“I'm ! Why a jester and not a dancer, you ask? Well, funny is simply more fun! I'm here to learn potion-making that brings joy to everyone.”
“Umm… u-uh, umm… I'm , c-cough, cough! Fifth, fifth tier… I want to… reach it.”
“Er… whatthe… is it my turn already…~~? Uuuugh… am I…! Professor, don't suppose there's another drumstick going…?”
Some students introduced themselves and their ambitions with great vigor, while others were still too shy. Either way, they looked fresh and earnest, a joy to watch.
Lucas, Tia, and Yuri each gave tidy introductions of their own. The reactions were favorable—as recommended-admission students, they already drew attention.
But there was one student whose atmosphere was just slightly out of place.
“I suppose I'm last, then.”
She wore an old-fashioned formal uniform, her appearance arranged to perfection. Every movement and posture radiated an impeccable nobility.
Though an adopted daughter with no blood ties, she had looks as if the Emperor herself had been plucked straight from a portrait.
Her head held rigidly high, she fired a piercing, ice-cold voice down upon everyone in the room.
“I am , the proud Second Imperial Princess of , the seventh ruler of the mighty Denglewood Empire.”
The princess, Ashley, had done nothing but sit since the beginning.
She hadn't so much as touched the glistening chicken, naturally, nor had she sat close to the other students seated in the circle around her.
To resist chicken of all things. Royalty truly wasn't a position just anyone could hold.
Some students may have wondered if she was simply shy around strangers, but her next words shattered that hope completely.
“I have no interest in learning anything at this Academy, nor do I intend to associate with any of you. That is all.”
The classroom fell silent. Ashley glared at the other students as though the atmosphere meant nothing to her whatsoever.
One by one, as if seeing straight through them.
I broke the brief silence.
“A fine introduction. It told us exactly who you are and what your goals are, and your enunciation and oratory were excellent, too.”
Ashley turned her gaze to me. She had evidently taken it as mockery.
“However, I'd like to correct one thing.”
“You mean to tell me status doesn't matter at the Academy?”
“Hmm? Not at all. What I'd like to correct is the part where you claimed to be last in order.”
Ashley froze like a doll, evidently failing to grasp my meaning.
“Those who know will know, but I'm a freshman of this dormitory myself, this year. My introduction is still coming.”
Several students burst into light laughter. The tension melted away.
“I heard about it! You tricked Professor Vande with that little prank to enter the tournament, didn't you!”
“Hey, you don't prank a professor.”
“Honestly, it was a bit low, wasn't it!”
“Haha. That Vande, he never saw it coming at all.”
I happily played along.
“Very well, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Wicker Phedia. Before coming here, I was a baron; before that, a master merchant and an adventurer. Ah—would anyone care to hear about the Dryad Shangri-La in the Intermediate Realm?”
I kept the conversation flowing with my students.
Until the dormitory lecture ended, Princess Ashley's gaze remained fixed squarely on me.
Let's try to get along, shall we? Even if she hated it, I'd make her graduate at the very top of her class.
***
‘How is Master this good at cooking too? I've practiced so, so hard.’
The dormitory lecture had ended, and it was now afternoon.
Tia, who had come to the outdoor training ground for the Advanced Practical Magic lecture, was growing a little anxious.
She'd thought Wicker might enjoy it, and that it could make a big impression, so she had kept up her cooking practice diligently.
The fact that the Magic Tower Master was such an impossibly picky eater had played its part, too.
But tasting his food had shown her that Wicker's cooking was already at a considerable level. Ordinary dishes would hardly be enough to move him.
‘It must be an original recipe. He even seemed to extract the ingredients himself. There were spices from the northern wharves, and the scent of southern pepper, too.’
Above all, how had he gotten the oil to soak in like that while keeping the texture so crispy and nutty? She couldn't figure it out.
Tia was in the middle of reminiscing about Wicker's cooking, mulling over what dish to make him next to delight him, when a grating voice rang in her ears.
“Hey! I've called you how many times, and you don't answer?”
“Huh? Oh, I'm sorry!”
Tia apologized reflexively. Standing before her, face twisted with irritation, was the tiny halfling, .
“It's been five seconds since I explained that you can't sit in on my lectures without the proper qualifications. Three people have already turned back. A mere without even a 3-Star rank. And you claim to be from Earth House? Ha, go on then. Show me.”
“Show you what?”
“Magic! Cast whatever you're confident in! If it's pathetic, I'll flay your backside on the spot!”
Only then did Tia look around.
She had simply signed up for this lecture thinking she ought to take at least one ordinary magic course.
But it appeared to be quite the Spartan regimen right from the first day.
The other students, standing in neat rows across the spacious field, were tensely gathering mana as they braced for Professor Pelia's test.
Tia turned back to Pelia and asked,
“What kind of magic?”
“How many times do I have to say it—whatever you're confident in!”
“I'm confident in all of it.”
“Is this girl insane? Fine, if you're SO confident, why don't you try casting ‘Dragon Thunder’!”
Professor Pelia, fuming at Tia's lack of attention, made an outrageous demand with the aim of driving her out.
She had told a freshman to cast Dragon Thunder, a 5th-tier lightning spell.
“Oh, is that all?”
Tia gave her staff a light wave. Five enormous magic circles blazed to life in brilliant light, floating up above her head in an instant.
Krrrumble— kraka-crack!
Thunder split the clear sky, and a dragon-shaped bolt of lightning shot down toward the ground.
— KWA-BOOOOOM!!
The earth burst apart and soil flew into the sky. Clumps of mud riddled with earthworms slapped wildly against Pelia's cheeks.
“There you go.”
Tia said to Pelia with an innocent face.
Pelia, who had been blinking up at Tia in a daze, suddenly seized her by the skirt.
“Huh? What are you doing?”
“Student Testia. Any interest in transferring to Water Hall?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? No, thank you.”
“Please! Cast a 5th-tier spell, chantless and instant, at your age—you're a genius! I absolutely cannot let you slip away!”
“Ew, you're giving me the creeps. I'm dropping this course.”
Tia furrowed her brow sharply and fixed Pelia with a look of pure contempt.