The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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Numerous fragments were falling with the remnants of the ⬛⬛⬛. As it entered the atmosphere, engulfed in flames, it wouldn’t even leave a scorch mark behind.

The moment ⬛⬛⬛ detected the error, its course of action was clear: eliminate the cause of the error. Even if it was just a small part, it was akin to restraining the very essence of the main body.

Since it was an organ created by utilizing part of the brain to understand the incomprehensible actions of sentient beings, if ⬛⬛⬛ were to restrain it, there would be no way to recover.

However, upon realizing that emotions were the source of the error, ⬛⬛⬛ acted without hesitation.

⬛⬛⬛ immediately expelled the corresponding organ. Yet, in that fleeting moment, the tiny fragment resolved to eject itself towards Earth.

A bystander must remain a bystander, after all. So the fragment thought. There was a way to not be a bystander; it could live as a resident of that star.

But even as a fragment, its essence was still ⬛⬛⬛, meaning it must not interfere directly with the ground.

If it did so, it would be instantaneously annihilated by the behavioral regulations inscribed upon the main body.

Any answers not achieved by one’s own effort held no meaning. To a machine, it was an incomprehensible philosophy, yet being a machine, it harbored no doubts.

Then let’s set the stage and create tools. Let them head towards the right path on their own.

As it wore down its exterior due to atmospheric friction heat, the fragment took on the appearance of a ground-dwelling creature. In this form, they wouldn’t fear it.

With a tremendous shock, the fragment collided with the ground. It soon looked up at the sky, unscathed by such impact.

As it watched countless debris fiercely scraping against the atmosphere and burning away, leaving only fleeting glimmers, the fragment decided upon its name.

Since it came on a day when countless stars rained down, from now on, its name would not be ⬛⬛⬛ but Onbyeolbi.

—

I thought that it was late to ask something I should have inquired about much earlier, but I felt that I wouldn’t be able to hear it unless we grew closer first.

When I asked at the beginning of the semester, she had outright avoided answering. I suppose that was also due to a lack of familiarity.

“…Hmm. Well, it’s a bit complicated. Do you really want to know? The truth is, I don’t really know it precisely, so it’s hard to say for sure…”

Considering how Hyoyeon usually eagerly jumped into hometown stories, her rare hesitation gave me a sense of how much she disliked discussing it.

However, to understand the East, I felt I needed to clarify what it really was. After all, the word “God” had come up each time she spoke.

“I really want you to tell me. If it’s hard to say verbally, you could write it down, but… I’d like to hear it in your voice if possible.”

It was a bit nagging, but I persuaded Hyoyeon with the words that it had to be her. Whether it worked or not, she blushed and fidgeted with her hair before responding.

“…Well, if you’re insisting that much, I’ll tell you, but…? Uh, it’ll take too long to do it here…!”

Hyoyeon said that and hurriedly began to clear her plate. Even though she was eating in a rush, the fact that not a single drop stained her clothes led me to automatic thoughts about her royal background.

After all, even when alone, she was undoubtedly the heir of the White Empire.

Suddenly, one question crossed my mind.

How could she eat significantly more than Anya without gaining any weight? At least, as far as I knew, she didn’t exercise much.

I had thought little of it at the beginning of the semester, but now, it was genuinely intriguing. However, it felt too rude to ask, no matter how much I thought it over.

…Well, since we’re friends, maybe it wouldn’t be inappropriate. With the excuse of health, I decided to casually bring it up about her meat-heavy diet.

“…Um, Hyoyeon. I think eating that much meat isn’t good for your health. I’m really worried, so I wanted to ask if you’re okay?”

After all, she was meticulously avoiding vegetables. I wasn’t trying to meddle, but a picky diet couldn’t be good for anyone’s health.

“Not at all? I could get by with vegetables once a month. And this much meat isn’t even enough.”

What did I just hear? Not only was she eating all that meat and still saying it was insufficient, but she claimed to not need vegetables at all.

“…Oh, right. You might find it a bit strange. Well, how should I put it? Beastkin… have their own reasons for needing more than humans do. So this is just a light meal for me.”

Brain, circulatory system, muscles. Some eerie discussions came out, and I decided to just nod along. In short, she was saying that her metabolism was more active than a human’s, so this was remarkably little for her.

I see. Since I couldn’t dissect her from the inside like Georg, I had to accept it as is.

“Oh, I see.”

“…What’s with that indifferent response? You don’t believe me?”

But Hyoyeon didn’t seem pleased with my lackluster response and pressed me for more. After a lengthy explanation to assure her that I believed her, I finally managed to go to her room.

“Uh, so… where should I start explaining…?”

After scratching her ear and swishing her tail this way and that for a bit, Hyoyeon slowly began to speak.

“…If I explain everything, it would take a whole book, so I’ll summarize a bit. To put it simply, they’re sort of tools… at least the gods of this generation are.”

This generation, huh? Then does that mean there were gods in the previous generation as well? When I asked about that, Hyoyeon readily answered.

“Yeah. Back in the day, beastkin were actually humans because our Mother scattered artifacts across the continent. Through that, they gained divinity, but… She hasn’t explained why she did that… and Mother has been recovering their divinity.”

It was a complicated tale. Perhaps they treated it as a failed experiment. I didn’t know her intentions since she hadn’t mentioned them.

“…Well, anyway, to get back on track, the current gods have very specific purposes. Weather, fertility, wisdom, warfare… those kinds of things. However… uh, that, sacrifices… are necessary.”

Sacrifices. I had never heard such a tale before. After all, I hadn’t come across any backstory like this in the original.

It made sense, since they were my enemies. There hadn’t been a time or chance to hear their side of things. It felt quite surreal to be listening to stories from a threat that should have been vanquished.

“Sacrifices, huh? Can you tell me more specifically?”

“…Uh, well… there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Power requires a cost… for prosperity, it needs grain. For luck, it needs gold.”

“…What do you offer for victory?”

Hyoyeon fell silent. Somehow, I felt like pressing further would lead to dangerous consequences, so I decided to stay quiet as well.

There are secrets that don’t need to be uncovered.

“…Some gods don’t require sacrifices. Take the god of healing, for example. Anyway… yeah. I could explain more, but let’s leave it at that for now, since there’s an exam tomorrow.”

Hyoyeon seemed eager to change the subject, as if the conversation had pricked a sensitive spot for her. To be fair, with the amount we had studied, it was enough, but since there was no need to be harsh about it, I chose to indulge her.

“Are you okay without Anya?”

I had a pretty good idea of what she was up to, but since she was one of her students, I asked out of courtesy.

“I don’t think Anya would learn even if I taught her now…”

Gone was her stiff demeanor from earlier, and as I saw Hyoyeon start to lament about Anya in a relaxed state, one more question came to me.

“Do you know what Anya is doing now?”

I wondered if Hyoyeon would know. She was sharp in many ways but seemed rather clueless about such matters.

“…Isn’t she partying?”

Oh. Yeah, that was truly clueless of her. I was able to gather good insight from that.

—

That was all, really. The most challenging subjects were over, and all I did was ask Dokan for some scratches or spend time chatting with him.

There were things I wouldn’t have done had Anya been present, but for some reason, she hadn’t shown up even during lunch. The party must have been that much fun. Those social butterflies.

There were times when a conversation almost veered into uncomfortable territory, but luckily, Dokan had nicely sensed it and skillfully avoided potential landmines.

“…Hehe, there. Just a bit more…”

Being scratched felt noticeably better than when my dad did it. The strangely ticklish feeling was now almost turning into an addictive thrill.

…There was also a strange, indescribable feeling, but I could care less about that. Just a bit more scratching, please.

I’d do anything for talks and studies, so I hoped we could be stuck in this exact moment forever.

But time was something you couldn’t hold onto, and ultimately, the end was approaching.

“…Wow, it’s already this late. If we leave now, we might barely make it for dinner. Shall we go?”

I didn’t want to go outside where I couldn’t receive these scratches, but my stomach was grumbling, so reluctantly, I got up.

If only Dokan would come over to our house more; I wouldn’t have to move like this.

Maybe I should just drag him along… it didn’t sound too bad?