“Hey.”
Just then, Erika heard someone calling her from behind.
She turned around to see a woman in a white tracksuit and red shorts wandering along the Academy’s walkway.
The heroic-looking girl with slightly curly blonde hair tied neatly back was, of course, the Big Guy.
“Lady Emil, what are you doing out here so late?”
“Just out for a stroll. I happened to run into you.”
‘Happened to run into me?’
Though Erika could choose to believe her, the Big Guy’s cheeks were flushed red from the cold, suggesting she had been outdoors for quite some time.
‘Has she been waiting for me to come out of Evelyn’s room this whole time? No, no, even the brainless Big Guy wouldn’t do that. Besides, there is no way she would do something as considerate as waiting for a girlfriend in the dead of winter…’
Emil looked around before her gaze met Erika’s. “So, are you finished? I heard you’ve been working on your schedule.”
“Yes, there’s course registration tomorrow, so I have to get in line early in the morning.”
“How troublesome. Wouldn’t it be easier to be ranked in the top few like me? You wouldn’t have to wait and could just pick your classes directly.”
On the left chest of Emil’s tracksuit was pinned a V-marked Platinum Brooch — the Roman numeral for five. It seemed the Big Guy’s sequence in the Academy was Rank 5.
“Tch.”
Emil suddenly blew a breath into her palms, clicked her tongue, and asked in a slightly mocking tone, “So, what classes are you planning to take? Let me see that schedule.”
“This is it.”
The girl showed Emil the temporary schedule she had made. The blonde Big Guy stared at it for a while before letting out a long, “Hmm — Afternoon Tea Party? Elves? Ancient Death-whisper? Why is it nothing but boring, tedious classes? You finally made it to the Ark; wouldn’t it be better to choose something more combat-oriented and practical?”
Emil criticized Erika’s schedule heavily, expressing her dissatisfaction. “And most of these are morning classes, right? Your free time is also a mess — scattered and disorganized. What’s going on? Have you never been to school before?”
“…”
Although she felt a bit dejected that the schedule she had spent five hours adjusting was being dismissed as worthless, Erika decided to act as if nothing was wrong. “Miss Emil, what classes are you taking? Is there any overlap with mine?”
“I’m not telling you!”
‘What was that? How stingy. Well, I’m not showing you mine either.’
Silence brewed between them as neither spoke. The Big Guy looked awkward, as if she didn’t know what to say but still wanted to linger, rubbing the sole of her shoe against the ground.
Erika suddenly realized that it had been a long time since she had spent… no, that sounded too strange. It had been a while since she had properly interacted with Emil.
On this cool spring night under the moonlight, the Big Guy was dressed as if it were midsummer. Her smooth, flushed thighs reflected the faint light, making Erika worry if she might catch a cold.
‘Should I say, “Lady Emil, you could actually wear stockings to keep warm”? But the Big Guy seems to be the bare-legged type.’
“…”
“…”
In the end, Erika couldn’t bring herself to say it. The girl walked silently along the path with Emil, the two heads — one tall and one short — side by side.
“Are those clothes issued by the Ark? They fit you well,” Erika said, finally deciding to break the silence.
“Yeah, it’s a tracksuit. It’s pretty comfortable. I heard the ‘Tracksuit Baron’ designed these.”
‘What on earth?’
“…The shorts wouldn’t happen to be made by the ‘Short Shorts Viscount,’ would they?”
“I wouldn’t know about that.”
What interested Erika were the tracksuit and short shorts Emil was wearing. These were clothes young girls often wore on the streets in the twenty-first century. Moreover, the legs of the Big Guy’s shorts were unexpectedly high, reaching almost to the top of her thighs, which was why Erika called them hot pants.
Such an outfit usually belonged in a delinquent girl’s wardrobe, but it looked surprisingly good on Emil.
This was a fantasy world that blended the Middle Ages with some modern elements. Although the overall style leaned toward Western fantasy, if one were to ask why hot pants or tracksuits existed, one would have to ask a light novel author with strange fetishes.
If one delved deeper into the setting, perhaps it could be explained that some foreign items flowed in from other worlds through those Rifts created by the Demon King, Solomon Noel?
Consequently, this world was full of various items that clashed with a medieval fantasy style, such as otaku-style track jackets, shampoo, and showerheads. Clearly, some things could not be produced by the technology tree of this world.
Further information gathered since arriving here suggested that the key lay with the students of Ark Academy.
The Heroes had the closest relationship with the Rifts on the other side of the barrier. They brought back trophies from their travels to other worlds; it wouldn’t be surprising if someone pulled out an aircraft carrier one day.
“Where is your dormitory? I’ll walk you back.”
“Oh, Lady Emil is walking me back?”
Erika and Emil headed together toward the Bronze Rank dormitory, “Truth Hall.” Although the brick building was covered in vines and moss and looked a bit dilapidated, it was said to have a long and storied history.
‘Isn’t that just a fancy way of saying it’s old?’
Erika wondered how the Big Guy would judge it. Would she say something like, “How can anyone live in a place like this?”
“Truth Hall… This is the dormitory where my father once stayed.” However, the words that came out of her mouth were completely unexpected.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Our family has been educated at the Ark for generations. I really didn’t want to come at first, but here I am, enrolled in spite of myself.”
That was the first Erika had heard of it. After all, such minor details were never mentioned in the original novel.
‘That Leonardo actually stayed in this run-down dormitory?’ With his strength, it would have been more normal for him to stay in a luxury suite.
Because Erika felt the Big Guy definitely wouldn’t say, or that the girl probably didn’t understand why herself, she didn’t ask.
“Go on in, then. I should get back to running a few more laps.”
After saying that, Emil ran off as quickly as an athlete in training. Erika felt strangely empty, having wanted to chat with her a bit longer.
‘Loneliness?’
‘Am I actually feeling a bit of regret over parting with the Big Guy?’
‘No, no, no. It’s probably just because the new semester is starting, and my emotions are a bit complicated and unadjusted.’
Walking into the dormitory building, she crossed the creaking wooden corridors and old stairs to reach the leftmost three-person room on the third floor. Room Three — this was the room of Erika, a Bronze Rank student.
*Creak, creak.*
Entering the room, she could already hear the steady breathing of several people sleeping. They were her roommates, but she hadn’t had the chance to talk to them much yet, so she didn’t know their specific situations.
One was named Axis, and the other was Lisette, right?
The names were typical of background characters, and she didn’t have much of an impression of them, but with her memory, she likely hadn’t remembered them incorrectly.
‘I hope they’ll be good roommates.’
Erika took off her heavy winter dress, placed it on the chair by her bed, lay down, and pulled up the covers.
‘Tomorrow is course registration, and after that, the new semester begins.’
‘Mmh, I have to get up early. Better sleep quickly…’
*Rustle, rustle.*
Just then, the drowsy Erika heard the sound of blankets being tossed aside from the beds on both sides of her. There were also the faint sounds of bare feet stepping on the floor, slowly approaching her bed.
“Is she asleep?”
“I don’t know. Probably not yet; she just got back.”
The whispering voices were a bit unsettling.
‘Are they trying to assassinate me? Are they the assassins who followed me all the way here?’
‘Surely I’m not going to be subjected to a night raid even in the girls’ dormitory?’
Whatever it was, they better not mess with Erika.
‘Otherwise… otherwise… anyway, just don’t come!’
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