It was perfectly reasonable and possible for a treacherous official flattering the Queen to be attacked by assassins sent by political rivals while sleeping.
Thus, Erika had to remain vigilant at all times, wary of any potential assassins in her vicinity.
The Elf’s keen ears became her natural protective umbrella.
“Should we wake her up?”
“Seems like that’s the only option.”
Two women whose voices weren’t particularly pleasant were talking beside her bed.
Although Erika didn’t know exactly what they were discussing, she wasn’t naive enough to assume it was anything good.
So, Erika, her eyes still closed, slowly reached out from under the quilt toward the dagger hidden beneath her pillow.
Grasping the hilt, her heart settled slightly.
‘No matter who it is, if they dare to come, I’ll give them a taste of my blade first.’
“Erika Angelina, if you aren’t asleep yet, please get up. We’re planning to throw an orientation party.”
‘An orientation party? Am I Zhang Huaimin? Why do they have to come in the middle of the night?’
The girl opened her eyes in confusion and saw two women holding oil lamps standing by the candlestick.
They were looking down at her, their faces appearing none too friendly in the shadows, but at least she could tell they had no intention of hurting her.
“What is… an orientation party?”
One of the women, who was wearing a tracksuit and had a slightly plump build, answered, “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Since it’s the first day, we wanted to get to know each other.”
“The two of us have been chatting for a while, but this is our first time meeting you. You’re Erika, right? Erika Angelina.”
‘Oh, alright.’
She thought this was probably an invitation for a late-night chat to promote dormitory friendship.
‘Was it time to put on my clothes and head out to the courtyard for the part where “the moonlight was like water pooling on the ground” and “the water plants and algae were intertwined”?’
However, the fact that the ones taking the initiative to speak were not assassins made Erika feel strange.
‘Could it be that someone was already unmoved by the rumors and was gently reaching out a small hand of friendship to her?’
Erika sat up. The blonde, slightly plump woman, who didn’t look like she was in her teens, addressed her. “I’m Lisette Rumonchi, the eldest daughter of a minor lord from the southern territories. Just call me Lisette. This one with the glasses is—”
“Apprentice Priest Axis.”
The girl with glasses looked quite young, probably only 14 or 15 years old, but from her appearance, Erika didn’t look much older than her.
‘There seems to be no hostility…’
So Erika bowed her head in greeting.
“I am Erika Angelina, from Noelle. So, what is this orientation party for? As far as I know, we’re supposed to sleep after the lights are out.”
Hearing the girl’s question, Lisette pointed to the window in the corner.
“That’s true, but as long as we don’t let the light leak out, we don’t have to worry about being caught. I do this every semester.”
Only now did Erika notice that the dormitory windows and door cracks were covered with black cloth.
‘Was that really done to prevent light from leaking?’
“Try some of the cheese I brought first. The cheese from my territory is a famous specialty far and wide. Hey! Axis, take out that jam bread you brought too.”
“Okay.”
The three girls of Room 3 sat on Erika’s bed just like that, starting an oddly-styled girls’ night chat while sharing food.
‘You naughty girls, you’re getting breadcrumbs all over my bed.’
While sharing the delicious and sweet bread and cheese, the chubby-cheeked Lisette suddenly spoke.
“So it’s true, isn’t it? You’re that Erika Angelina? Axis and I were both very curious; after all, that name is too famous.”
She swallowed a mouthful of bread and continued, “When we were chatting earlier, I said you were the same person, but Axis said it was probably just someone with the same name.”
Lisette looked Erika up and down by the candlelight. “But looking at you now, it seems Axis lost.”
‘What did that mean? Had she already gotten the answer?’
Hearing Lisette’s words, Axis, who was wearing glasses, also stopped eating her bread, her gaze falling on the girl.
Erika realized that this was the main topic.
“Yes, the Erika Angelina you’re thinking of is likely me.”
“Haha, there probably isn’t anyone else. I wouldn’t believe it for a second if someone said there were many people as special as you in the Academy.”
Erika was a bit curious.
“Special? You can see what’s special about me?”
‘Is it my ears? Then she should have thought of an Elf first, right?’
“Specially beautiful! To be honest, that concubine my father dotes on so much can’t even compare to one of your fingers,” Lisette said with a grin.
Though she didn’t know if it was flattery or sincere, Erika, who was rarely praised so bluntly, felt a bit embarrassed.
She nodded and didn’t continue the topic.
“At first, I heard you had two pairs of breasts, each larger than a head, and that you had eight arms and a hideous face. Now it seems the Rumors can’t be trusted; they’re the complete opposite. Anyway, Axis, give me 50.”
*Clack.*
Lisette held out her somewhat fleshy palm.
The girl with glasses clicked her tongue and took a piece of paper from her pocket, handing it over.
‘Does this place have KFC?’
Erika, seeing this kind of currency for the first time, couldn’t help but widen her eyes.
“Is that paper money that circulates somewhere?”
Lisette answered while waving the bill triumphantly.
“That’s right. This is the currency used inside the Ark. The basic unit is called a Star Coin, and this is a 50-Star Coin banknote. Isn’t it amazing that such a small piece of paper has such high value?”
What was valuable wasn’t the paper itself, but its credit.
Erika remembered that the Ark didn’t use traditional Copper Coins or gold coins, but operated on an independent currency system.
When Erika enrolled, she had also received about 5,000 Star Coins in the name of a grant and development incentive fund.
Erika had calculated its value based on purchasing power, and it was roughly equivalent to 5,000 Soft Girl Coins in the 21st Century.
While Erika was musing on this both novel and familiar currency system, the young girl with glasses, Axis, adjusted her frames and spoke.
“Still, it’s hard to imagine you’re Erika. You look like a girl around my age. Forgive my boldness, but how old are you?”
“Hmm.”
‘Apprentice Priest Axis’s question made me realize I need to set a suitable age. What age would cause the least trouble?’
“I’m 19.”
“Oh? Then you’re a few years younger than me. But don’t be so formal, friend. Let’s get along well from now on. You don’t have to be so polite when you speak.”
“You’re older than me; I’m only 14.”
‘I should have said I was 20…’
*Knock, knock.*
“Alright, that’s enough. Go to sleep right now. Since it’s the first day, I won’t deduct points from you.”
The dormitory matron knocked on the door, and they had no choice but to crawl back to their respective beds and cover themselves with quilts like Jerrys who had seen Tom.
‘Well, this isn’t so bad.’
Thinking this, Erika gradually could not resist the surging wave of sleepiness.
Her long eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes.
Her roommates seemed decent enough.
Maybe they had some expectations of her, but at least there were no signs of it yet.
‘Just friends? Radiating kindness? Are there really people like that in this world?’
‘But then again, this is where The Church trains future Heroes. Perhaps it’s only natural for everyone to be kind and loving… People with personality issues like the cold-blooded Witch Evelyn or the muscular Big Guy Emil are probably the outliers instead.’