The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

Until the selection lectures that continued from morning to afternoon ended, Stella, whom I had occasionally run into, still looked out of sorts.

As if that wasn’t enough, after rejecting the invitation to have dinner, she locked herself in her room.

Pina, who always stuck to Stella like a set, left saying she couldn’t follow today’s class properly and needed to attend a supplementary class.

Yurasia was slowly packing her things.

“Ugh… I guess it’s about time to head out.”

Today was the day Yurasia was going back to her home.

Normally, she wouldn’t be able to go out due to a ban on outings, but thanks to the influence of our First Princess and Second Princess, she was able to sneak out of the academy without trouble.

How impressive.

“By the way, didn’t you say you’d come back next Friday?”

“Yup… Should I come a bit earlier?”

“No way. Just take it easy and rest. But don’t skip the morning training. You need to keep your morning workouts regular; otherwise, your pattern will get messed up and you won’t form a habit. Eventually, it’ll just be like breathing—”

“Uwaaaah, I get it!”

“…Huh, what’s wrong with her?”

Despite my sharp glare, Yurasia puffed out her cheeks.

“Seriously? I have to be apart from you for a week, and you’re going to nag me until the very last moment?!”

“Nag? This isn’t nagging; it’s all for your own good, idiot.”

“…I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

I squeezed her inflated cheeks.

Then, chuckling while looking at Yurasia’s stretched-out cheeks, I said, “Have a good trip. Don’t get hurt.”

“Okay.”

“Be careful of the wagon on the way and watch out for people.”

“Heh… Young Lady.”

As I let go of her cheeks, Yurasia’s expression softened.

“Yeah?”

“You’re 17, two years younger than me, and you look so cute and pretty like this. But why… when you talk, do you remind me of my grandmother?”

“What? Are we not going to see each other for the last time today? Are you quitting today, Yurasia?”

“Eek… it’s not like that. I just think… um… Anyway, sometimes you seem much older than me.”

Because I actually am…

About 30 years older, right?

Of course, I can’t say that.

Yurasia would be extremely hurt if she looked at me like I was a crazy woman…

“If you read a lot of books, Yurasia, you can grow up too.”

“…If reading a lot of books is what makes me like that… then I don’t want to read much.”

“Today, you seem particularly cute and bold. Are you letting everything out since you’re leaving for a week?”

“Hehehe.”

With a bashful smile, Yurasia hoisted a backpack bigger than her body and stood up.

“Before I go, give me a hug!”

“No way.”

“Ugh!”

With her arms wide open, Yurasia jumped at me and bear-hugged me like a toy.

This kind of impromptu hugging is nothing new, so I adapted to it.

“…If you were gonna do this, why did you even ask for a hug?”

“Because hugging me and you hugging me are two different things!”

“Anyway, I’m smaller than you, so it wouldn’t mean much.”

“Still, it feels different! Huuhhh!”

Yurasia, speaking firmly, squeezed me even tighter! After giving me one strong hug, she released her arms.

“Charging complete…! I’m off!”

*

After seeing Yurasia off to the academy’s main gate, I decided to enjoy the rare alone time.

I went towards my very own personal training grounds that Leona had arranged for me.

And right in front of it.

“Finally coming, huh?”

“…You’re really clingy.”

I ran into Silina.

“Clingy? How rude.”

“When did you even start waiting here?”

“Hmm, has it been over an hour?”

“…Now you’re starting to scare me a bit.”

“That’s normal, you know.”

“I didn’t mean scary as in that, I meant scary as a human.”

“Better than being underestimated. You should always think like that from now on.”

What an incredibly shameless response.

It seems that Silina has figured out how to deal with me.

This is why I dislike perceptive kids.

“So, what did you want that brought you all the way here? Want me to spar with you or something?”

“Spar? Spar… sounds good. But there’s something more important than that.”

Fwoosh — Silina turned her sharp gaze around and pointed at the training grounds’ door.

“I think it’s better to talk inside.”

“No way.”

“…Why not?”

“It’s my personal space.”

Silina’s face crumpled.

“…Huh, I didn’t think you cared about that kind of thing. You look like you don’t care about anything when you’re out and about.”

Why are Yurasia and Silina so insistent on provoking me today?

“Still, I think it’d be better to talk inside. If you didn’t clean up, I can wait until you’re done. If I waited for an hour, can’t I wait another 30 minutes?”

“Haah… fine. Just come in.”

I placed my finger on the training ground’s locking mechanism. Click — and soon the door creaked open as Silina slipped inside first.

Standing in the middle of the training grounds, Silina surveyed her surroundings with her platinum-colored eyes shining.

“It’s pretty spacious for just the two of us, huh? It doesn’t even smell of sweat or anything. Lucky you, Eliaernes, to have a place like this all to yourself.”

“It is nice.”

I carelessly brushed off Silina’s words and grabbed a drink from the fridge and tossed it to her.

“…What’s this?”

Thud —

“Mint Chocolate Milk.”

“Do you drink this stuff?”

“Why do you have such a sour face without even trying it?”

“I don’t need to try it to know it’s bad.”

“Just try it. It’s tastier than it looks.”

“What in the world is tasty about chocolate and toothpaste mixed together?”

“Toothpaste and mint are different.”

Why does everyone keep saying it looks like toothpaste? I really don’t get it.

How could mint possibly be the same as toothpaste?

To begin with, toothpaste is something that imitates mint.

Plus, it could even neutralize the heavy taste of chocolate with mint’s refreshing flavor.

Even my father said it was delicious.

At first, he looked a bit surprised and disgusted, but after I fed him a bite, he smiled brightly and kept asking for more.

So, from mint chocolate milk to mint chocolate shaved ice, mint chocolate cake, and mint chocolate pie, I made him try all the mint chocolate dishes at the restaurant.

A true masterpiece that even the Duke of the Empire can’t resist!

Gulp Gulp—

“…Haah.”

Forced to drink the milk, Silina grimaced and shivered.

“If I were the Emperor, I’d string up the guy who invented mint chocolate.”

“If I were the Emperor, I’d make the guy who invented mint chocolate a count.”

Shakes head — Silina shook her head and plopped down onto one of the chairs in the corner.

“Before sparring, let’s have a little chat.”

“I never said I’d spar with you.”

“…Eliaernes, why do you dislike me so much?”

“I don’t dislike you, though?”

“Then why are you acting like this?”

“Because it’s annoying.”

Silina narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

“I don’t think I’ve ever bothered you. In fact, haven’t I been helpful?”

“You’re right. But to others, it might seem like I’m just trying to ride on the Second Princess’s coattails.”

“I just learned today that you actually care about how others see you.”

“Because you’re a Duke’s daughter.”

Snickers — Silina chuckled lightly.

“Considering that, you don’t seem to care about the rumors going around in the academy either, huh?”

Her words made my head tilt slightly.

“Rumors?”

“About you. Haven’t you heard anything?”

“Well… I’ve got a basic idea. The kids avoid me. But I just thought they would since I’m Eustetia, so I didn’t really care about the rumors…”

Silina, looking at me with a strange expression, immediately pulled out her device and tap-tap-tap punched in some commands on the screen.

Then she gestured towards me, displaying her device’s screen.

“Here. Come look.”

After tossing the empty milk carton into the trash can, I walked over to Silina. The text on the device started to come into view.

It wasn’t a message or a note, though.

“What is it?”

“Today’s community board.”

“Ah, this thing.”

I nodded, sitting down across from Silina, and looked closely at the screen of her device.

[Heard that a first-year made a second-year cry? For real?]
Yup, for real. I’m too scared to name names, but in any case, for real.
The student council president, his sister, and ‘that first-year’ all came together to bully the second years.

But that’s not the end of the story about ‘that first-year’.
The rumors are scary.
Called to the headmaster’s office during the entrance exam.
Cursed out the vice headmaster during the entrance exam.
Due to that, called up by the vice headmaster from the first day of class.
Tore up the timetable given by the homeroom professor the next day.
Due to that, had a personal meeting with the homeroom professor (rumor has it that there were some loud noises coming from the professor’s private office).
Parents were summoned to the academy.
And today, caught one of the guys in the group going out of the academy (with the ban on outings, it seems like he’d be suspended?).

Actually, some parts aren’t rumors, but I’ll put it down as a rumor since I heard it.

=nobody named, but everyone knows who it is lol

=nobody talked about this, but I heard it too.

=Wow, that’s so amazing… did he really do all that?

=Wait, wasn’t it less than a week since the first years entered? lol

=Wow, that’s super cool!

=Whoa… that’s really scary;;

=So, what’s the identity of that first-year? A secret weapon?

=Isn’t the kid who got bullied just an idiot?

=It wasn’t that the second-years called him out to bully him, but the second-years were the ones who called in the first-year, and he helped them out. Stop with the nonsense.

=Correct. That person was just helping us. Please don’t say bad things.

=Why does this kid sound so annoying?

=So, is he cute?
=He’s super cute for sure.

=Oh.

=But… isn’t he a bit small?

=What do you mean?

=Overall.

=Whoa… nuoooon lolololol

=You crazy kid, lolol.

“Nuooon…? What is this?”

“It’s the rumor about the first-year delinquent spreading in the community.”

“No, I know that… but is this talking about me?”

“Well, who knows?”

“Gimme a break, what’s with that?”

I squinted and glared at Silina.

Silina shrugged playfully and giggled.

“Why are you glaring at me like that?”

“Uh, damn… can’t we do something about this?”

“About what?”

“This, this… it’s not all false… but damn it, it sounds weird written like this.”

“What can you do? You just have to leave it be. That’s just how the Karela Academy community operates. Even if you try to find out who wrote this, the Karela Academy side might intervene.”

“…Why? Isn’t this, like… how do you say it? Nobility defamation… isn’t this that sort of thing?”

“Where in this piece does your name appear? Plus, this is the academy. Just like how you casually speak to me, they can casually write such lousy things. While it’s not a good thing to write about a person who can be identified, what can you do? If that person wants to write like that.”

Silina just laughed snicker-snicker, finding this situation amusing, and waved her device playfully.

“And just to be safe, let me tell you this. It’s better not to comment on or refute anything in this post. People like you and me, who are known, are easy targets for these things. So, I recommend just ignoring this kind of post.”

“…But if I write a refutation? Wouldn’t that go unnoticed? It’s anonymous, right?”

“Eventually, that sort of thing will be found out. There are more morons with nothing to do and plenty of time to waste than you’d think in the Karela Academy community. So unless you want to embarrass yourself further, it’s better to just stay quiet.”

With that, Silina tapped a few times on her device and showed me another post.

“Let them chatter away like this. If you directly get involved, it could escalate even more.”

I took the device Silina handed over and looked around the absurdly packed titles of the posts.

[That’s a popular post slandering someone.]
[If it wasn’t for ‘that first-year’, the first years would be having a really hard time, huh?]
[I don’t know about the rumors, but ‘that first-year’ is super cute.]
[The only thing scarier than the student council president’s sister is ‘that first-year’.]

As Silina said, it looked like they were just tossing around words about me among themselves.

But then.

[In these times, a Beastman is going outside.]

“…Beastman?”

One title caught my eye a little suspiciously.

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