NOVEL WEB Chapter 160
Chapter: 160
The club room was hotter than before.
Inside, I was spending time with my club members, notebooks spread out.
“………”
“Why? You’ve been staring at me for a while. Is there something wrong?”
At that moment, I threw the question to Ella, who had been looking at me with a disgruntled expression.
I knew exactly why Ella was giving me that look, but I was pretending not to.
“…Tch.”
“Fuh…”
Ah, this is amusing.
Really… I had been quietly enjoying Ella’s glares for some time, but this reaction was even funnier.
Although she was glaring, there was really nothing she could do about it.
All Ella could do was sit still and study hard.
The sound of her pencil scratching on paper filled the quiet room, and I was simply watching her solve problems.
“Ella, you ranked 10th in class last time, right?”
“Yeah. Hehe… I was pretty satisfied with my results.”
“Well then, it might be good to aim a bit higher this time! You’re good at studying, so I’m sure you can do it.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“Yes, definitely!”
“Then, I guess it’s a good idea to aim for a little higher this time.”
“Hehe… That sounds good.”
That was roughly the kind of conversation we had.
Yes, that was about it.
Looking back, I thought Ella was really innocent and cute.
Thinking about how she didn’t even realize what I was thinking and was just nodding and quietly smiling at my words… it made me laugh for real.
In the end, it was Ella who accepted it, and she had no choice but to study hard under my guidance.
After all, she said she would improve her grades and listen carefully to my teachings!
“Fuh…”
“Don’t laugh…”
“Hehe, why not?”
“…Tch.”
Honestly, all Ella could do was solve problems and take notes.
Sure, she might glare at me in discontent a few times, but that was nothing I needed to care about.
In fact, her reactions were just cute.
“Miss Grace, is there anything you find difficult? I’ve created problems based on what we solved for the midterms.”
“So far, it’s okay. There’s a lot I’ve learned from last time…?”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Other than letting Ella know how hard I could make the problems, I had other things to do.
After all, we were all first-year students studying together.
While letting Ella tackle difficult problems, I had to help Ivana and Grace with their midterms simultaneously.
“If there’s anything you absolutely can’t tackle, just let me know. The mana studies teacher is apparently going to make the exam a bit tougher this time.”
“Y-yes…”
Oh, and there was one minor change recently.
Grace’s attitude had softened a bit compared to before.
Back then, whenever Karen wasn’t around, she’d be constantly snapping at me, like a super fierce cat, but that wasn’t the case anymore.
She was definitely still not as gentle as when Karen was around… but recently, there seemed to be a noticeably kinder atmosphere?
“Fuh…”
Though the mischievous Grace from before was cute, the quiet and gentle Grace now was surprisingly adorable.
Maybe it was because of her looks.
“Miss Grace, is there something you’d like to drink?”
“Huh?”
“Since Rize is also here, you can ask her to bring you something if you feel sleepy or tired.”
“Ah… I’m okay for now. I still need to solve these problems…”
“Hehe, got it. If you need anything, just call, okay?”
Saying that, I moved over towards Ivana.
To be honest, Ivana was at a level where I really didn’t need to teach her anything.
If Ella ranked 10th on the last exam, Ivana was definitely in the top 5.
I didn’t ask about the exact position, but there was no way she wouldn’t be.
“Ivana.”
“Yes?”
“You’ve already solved all the problems, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… Should I provide more problems, or do you want to do something else?”
“I don’t really need to solve any more problems right now. Can we just talk?”
“Oh… is that so?”
Well… to be honest, Ivana didn’t need to study any more.
For her, preparing for the upcoming heir succession was much more important than focusing on finals.
Although there was still a lot of time left, that didn’t mean she could just ignore it.
I pulled a chair and got ready to discuss business matters with Ivana.
I didn’t mean to bring up business right away, but most of what Ivana talked about was generally related to it.
“The weather… isn’t it hot?”
“Right? It’s July now.”
“Haah…”
Ivana began speaking with a really tired expression.
The weather had turned hot, and she seemed to feel it quite a bit.
It must have been tough attending the academy recently.
Just sitting here in the club room made it really exhausting.
“At least we brought our magic tools, right?”
“…That’s true.”
“If we hadn’t bought them, we’d definitely be unable to prepare for the exam by now. I’m also pretty sensitive to heat.”
“…That’s definitely true.”
Ivana’s eyes drifted toward my neck and arms.
We were cooling ourselves with the magic tools, and although I wiped off the sweat occasionally… the heat was still there.
“Honestly, if we hadn’t bought the magic tools, I might have collapsed by now.”
No joke, I genuinely thought I would faint.
Just sitting in the club room without magic tools and with the windows closed felt like a recipe for disaster.
While it wasn’t blistering hot, I just happened to be sensitive to heat.
“…I really want summer to end quickly.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Normally, I couldn’t understand what was going through Ivana’s mind, but right now, I got it all too well.
It was a sentiment we both shared.
“If only it were winter, we could just go about normally.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, since it’s relatively less chilly. Don’t you feel the same, Ivana? Compared to the North, I think winter here is nothing much.”
“That’s true.”
Unlike with the other friends where we talked about exams, I mostly discussed the weather with Ivana.
Both of us were sensitive to heat.
It was the only topic we could have.
Even though the wind from the mana stones was constantly blowing, it wasn’t helping much.
…The heat was infuriating!
“Ughh…”
After some chatter about the heat, I plopped my head onto the desk.
“Ivana, aren’t you hot? You’re sitting up so straight.”
“…Yes, it’s hot.”
“Then why sit with such good posture?”
“The more surface area in contact with the chair, the hotter it gets…”
“Ah…”
That made sense.
Regardless… I truly hated the hotter weather.
If I could, I’d want to faint and not wake up until winter.
“…You.”
While I was whining about the weather to Ivana, suddenly Ella, who had been solving a problem, called me.
“Yeah? What’s up? Is there something difficult?”
“…Yes, there is. Come here quickly.”
“Hehe, should I?”
Hmm… I thought she was doing well on her own a moment ago.
Maybe most of the problems were actually quite challenging?
Ella called me sooner than I expected.
In fact, I’d anticipated this and prepared a fair number of tough problems on purpose.
I had intentionally set it up to make Ella come to me for help.
That was the plan from the start.
“Fuh… What was so hard, Ella? If you’re calling me while I’m relaxing, it must have been pretty difficult for you, right?”
“…Yes.”
“I thought you could solve it with your skills…”
“Isn’t it a bit too hard?”
“Hmmm… Is that so?”
I knew it all along, and though I had planned this from the beginning, I still felt oddly pleased.
Seeing Ella, who seemed to underestimate my skills, asking me for help was genuinely amusing.
Of course, I was trying to maintain a serious face while suppressing my urge to laugh.
“Where is it difficult?”
“…This problem.”
“Hmmm…”
“…Why are you staring at me like that?”
“You were staring at me too, right? Is it a problem for me to just look a bit?”
“Tch…”
I really enjoyed Ella’s annoyed reactions.
More precisely, it felt like she was irritated by me smirking.
But honestly, wasn’t it all the same?
“Fuhuhu…”
“Stop laughing and just tell me.”
“Hmm… Is it because the club room is too hot? I feel like I need to drink something to explain this properly…”
“…Are you serious about that?”
“Why?”
She answered with an innocent look, as if she truly didn’t know.
Honestly, though I’d calmed down, I wanted to show Ella just how hard I had been studying.
And of course, I wanted her to achieve great results too!
“How about we take a quick break, have something to drink, then study again?”
“Tch…”
“Don’t want to?”
“…Fine. But you have to properly explain later, okay?”
“Hehe, that goes without saying. You think I’d seriously not help you?”
“…You.”
I said that playfully while smiling at Ella.
Did I heat up her temper with that? Because now Ella was looking at me with a face that said she couldn’t believe it.
“Hehe.”
Why is it that most people around me respond so entertainingly?
At this rate, I might end up goofing off instead of studying for exams.
I’m not joking; it really felt like it could happen with how amusing their reactions were!