CH 61

The day after the study session with Alice.

Yesterday, I was left alone with the princess at the inn, and the man guarding her almost killed me, which would normally make me want to stay indoors. But in spite of all this, I woke up, ate, prepared food, and went to school as usual. In fact, I feel more relaxed about going to school than I usually do.

Yesterday was tiring, but I’m sure the royal family will have been able to convince Alice to stay away from me after this incident. Now that I’ve solved the problem of not getting involved with Alice, I feel a bit relieved.

Hmmm… oops, I started laughing. What should I do? I feel like my limbs are going to start moving and dancing on their own at any moment! I’ve always had to watch Alice to avoid her. I was relieved of such a huge burden. It’s like the feeling you get when you’ve just finished an exam or a test, but incomparable to that, you feel as light as a cloud and the world seems more colorful.

It was as if the ground had turned into a trampoline, pushing me up to my feet and propelling me towards the school. Just when I realized that I had somehow ended up in front of the school building, I was approached by a very unpleasant voice.

Hey! You! What are you doing with your weird face and movements?”

I turned towards the direction I was called and found a small, overweight man. And at that moment my feelings were heavier than the rain clouds and the world looked monochrome.

“Well, well, well, Alfred-senpai! What do you want from me, who neither has a creepy face nor moves in any way? If you don’t have any business with me, I’ll leave you to it.”

“I’m not joking, and I’m not prejudiced, but I’m telling you that you’re weird! You can thank me a little for that! And why would I go out of my way to get involved with you if I had no business?”

You can’t say I’m creepy unless you’re joking and are prejudiced. You’re such a jerk. Besides, what do you want? I just got rid of Alice. I want you to stop bothering me.

“Thank you for that. So, what can I do for you?”

“Hmm. From now on, be straightforward from the start!”

Alfred said as he turned his low body and gave me a proud, condescending look. Damn it. You’re annoying me to the max. Just tell me what you want.

“I heard a rumor from a source this morning that the history exam is going to be quite a challenge.”

“Huh. What’s wrong with that?”

“I thought you could teach a lesson!”

…There’s no way I’m going to do that now that I’ve gotten away from Alice. I’m sure he’s just trying to make me spend less time studying so that I get a bad grade

“I’d love to help you, but I’m a freshman and I don’t understand the second-year curriculum. If it was a first-year course, I could help you in a small way, but only if it was a first-year course!”

“What are you talking about? There’s no way I’m going to learn anything from you! You’re a fool!”

“So, who would you like me to teach?”

“The first years in my salon.”

“……May I ask why you wanted to invite me to be a teacher for the people in Master Alfred’s salon?”

“Hmm. Don’t you understand that, you fool? The history teacher is an old teacher, as you know. He’s been told by the royal family to make the test more difficult.”

Huh. I don’t know why it was brought to my attention, but it’s true that Alfred has an advantage.

The old history teacher flunks his students, the children of the nobility who have passed the entrance exam. In other words, he judged them only by the results of the test, which they could not cheat on, neither by money nor by power.

However, even if they flunked, they wouldn’t have to worry about failing because they could stay in school as long as they were able to pass the other subjects, but Alfred’s goal was not to save the first years at the salon from being dropped, it’s to make sure that no one from his salon flunks the class.

The reason for this is that it doesn’t sound good to say that people in your salon get bad grades. In the coming war, when you are thinking about which camp to join, there is no way you will want to join the camp of stupid people. On the contrary, people will think that they can win and survive if they follow the smart ones.

And what if, on the other hand, everyone gets a good score on a test that can’t be cheated on? There is no easier way to demonstrate excellence.

By not letting others know that you are making an effort, you can make your excellence better known. So he wanted me to conduct lessons in his salon where others could not enter, but he could not invite outsiders, that’s why I was chosen.

This study session is not so bad for me. Now, I can interact with the children of the nobles who follow Duke Orar. I’ll be able to see the power structure of his faction, which will be an important indicator for me when I choose to join a faction. This was after all my purpose when I decided to enter the academy.

“If that’s the case, I’m more than willing to help.”

“Hmm. I see. Then come to the salon after school today. Class is about to start. Let’s get going.”

I walked to the classroom, some distance away from Alfred, who had started walking with his back to me.