Ding-dong~ Good morning~ Ding-dong~ Pa-pa-pa pa-pa-
I reached over to my bedside and turned off the alarm.
For some reason, the spot where I usually leave my phone before sleeping was different, making it take longer than usual to shut off the alarm.
Ugh, donât want to hear that partâ¦
What the heck, when did I fall asleep?
It felt like I had lost my memory, as if I had been blackout drunk.
Feeling a bit confused, I slowly opened my eyes.
â¦A strange ceiling.
I canât believe Iâm actually having this thought in my life.
When I first fell into this world, the first thing I saw was my body on fire, so I didnât really have the time to think about stuff like this.
As I carefully sat up, I noticed there were screens set up around me.
Considering my last memory was taking and smoking some magical herb from Leonor, it was highly likely I was still at the school.
With the screens and the bed around, it seemed like I was in the nurseâs office.
Peeking behind the screen, I saw a woman sleeping slumped over a chair.
She was wearing a white coat, so she must have been the school nurse.
As I put on the shoes that were beside the bed and stood up, she jolted awake, startled as if she sensed my movement.
âI wasnât sleeping! I totally wasnât! I was just meditating for a bit!â
Fine, but could you wipe the drool off your mouth before talking?
As I silently stared at the clear drool mark on her mouth, she seemed to catch on, wiping the drool off with the back of her hand and letting out a shy little laugh.
âHehe, youâre awake, huh? I sort of got the whole story from the girl who brought you here. When someone smokes magical herb for the first time, you shouldnât inhale so deeply. No matter how good it is for you and how there arenât major side effects, itâs initially meant to stabilize the mind. So, if someone without tolerance inhales too much all at once, they end up all hazy like you just did. Be careful next time, okay?â
I could guess what happened from her explanation.
Leonor probably brought me to the nurseâs office after I got high as a kite on the magical herb.
The fact that I didnât remember anything was a bit unsettling.
I hope I didnât mess up in front of Leonorâ¦
There are some bad memories tied to losing consciousnessâ¦
Once, right after getting my ID, I drank with friends without knowing how much I could handle and ended up totally wasted.
When I woke up the next day, I had no memories of what happened after drinking, so I asked my friends if anything had happened, and they all laughed until their stomachs hurt.
Then one of them played a video from our group chat titled âThe Adorable, Cuddly Spirit!â which is now a legendary video.
I still canât forget the shock I felt when I watched that video.
Something that looked like me was clinging to people while acting all cutesyâ¦
Who wouldâve thought I had such horrible drinking habits?
If I could revert one moment in my life, the first would be the time I commented on the last episode of [The Holy Sword Academy], and the second would be when that video was taken.
If I could go back, I would never drink until I blacked out again.
After that incident, every time I drank with my friends, that video would come up as a recurring topic, and it was incredibly tough to refuse their attempts to make me drink more just to see it again.
âOh, by the way, the student who brought you here left her number on your phone and asked you to text her when you wake up.â@@novelbin@@
When I checked my phone, I noticed that a new contact had been added to my previously empty contact list.
Did she set the alarm while adding her number?
I thanked the nurse and left the infirmary.
Looking at the time, I realized that the class was almost over.
If I had slept from lunchtime until now, that means Iâve really been asleep for a whileâ¦
On my way to the classroom, I took out my phone and sent Leonor a text.
[Thank you for taking me to the infirmary.]
I wrote it casually.
Almost immediately, as if she had been waiting, a reply came in.
[Meet me at the snack bar after school.]
That text came with a video attached.
Feeling an ominous vibe, I clicked the video with trembling fingers.
-Senpai~ Are we taking pictures? Hehe, cheese~
-Iâm so sleepy⦠I wanna take a napâ¦
In the video, a girl was acting cute towards the person holding the camera.
Originally, it would have been a cute video that would make anyone smile⦠if it hadnât featured me as the star.
â¦â¦Should I just end it all?
I really donât want to die, but I was thinking along those lines.
I stole a glance at the window in the hallway.
The infirmary was on the first floor, and the first-year classrooms were on the second.
I probably wouldnât die if I jumpedâ¦
The shame would likely drive me insane.
By the way, what on earth was the reason behind sending me this video?
As I thought about it, all that came to mind were strange ideas.
A humiliating video of a blonde bimbo could only mean one thingâ¦
I started getting scared about what might happen after school.
When I returned to class, all eyes were on me as I entered through the back door during class time.
Please donât let them think Iâm some delinquent skipping class!
I slightly bowed my head to the history teacher to apologize for my interruption and sat down. Sylvia turned to me and whispered softly.
ââ¦I told the teachers that Miss Scarlet was resting in the infirmary because she was sick.â
That was a relief.
I nodded gratefully to Sylvia, who shyly turned her head away with slightly red ears.
But how did she know I was in the infirmary?
Did Leonor tell her?
That seemed likely.
After a moment, class ended, and it was time for announcements.
Eve came in for the announcements, looking over at me while grinning.
âEvande, did you get a good rest? You should be more careful next time!â
She seemed to know why I was in the infirmary.
Well, being the homeroom teacher, she must have heard it from the nurse.
âI heard a student from your class collapsed after taking a hit from some weed for the first time! Isnât that right?â
How embarrassingâ¦
After the announcements were over, I nodded to the kids who asked if I was feeling better and headed toward the snack bar.
With every step, my mind ran wild with images.
I could picture Leonor snickering and threatening to spread the video unless I did what she said.
Was I going to face torment from now on?
Shaking, I arrived in front of the snack bar when suddenly something cold touched my cheek.
Huh?! I turned in surprise to see Leonor holding a soda can.
She offered me the soda that had just touched my cheek. When I took it, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and shook it with a mischievous smile.
âThis is a thank you gift for showing me something cute. I love adorable things, and thanks to you, I have something fun to watch before bed. What should I do about sharing this wonderful video?â
Aah⦠noâ¦
Feeling my face heat up with embarrassment, I realized I was stepping right into her trap, so I nervously uttered the dreaded line.
ââ¦What will it take for you to delete it?â
Ah, I said it.
From now on, I wouldnât be able to refuse any of Leonorâs requests, and Iâd end up being subjected to all sorts of unspeakable things until I was completely at her mercyâ¦
With that hopeless feeling, I waited for Leonorâs next demand.
She thought for a moment, then her face lit up with a suddenly bright idea.
âWell then, could you call me âonee-sanâ from now on?â
âNo way. Do whatever you want with that video.â
I stiffened my face and flatly rejected her.
No matter how cool Leonor was, even if she made me want to call her âbig sister,â there was no way I could seriously call her thatâespecially considering I was older. Iâd rather have a sword at my neck than say that.
A man has his pride, you know.
Iâd rather be called âEvandeâ by everyone!
âHey, are you mad? Actually, I had no intention of spreading the video from the start, so lighten up⦠But do you really hate calling me âonee-sanâ that much?â
Leonor looked a bit down.
I knew from the beginning that she wasnât the type of person to pressure others into things they truly disliked.
I assumed she was just joking around, but seeing such a cool person like her get sulky made her seem kind of cute.
Is this what they call âgap moeâ?
Of course, even then, I had no intention of calling her that.
âI wonât call anyone âonee-sanâ unless theyâre family.â
ââ¦Did something bad happen to your sister?â
Unless it was a situation where it would be strange not to refer to someone as âbig sisterâ â like if Scarlet Evande had a sister and they werenât being referred to â I had no intention of calling anyone that.
I meant it in that sense, but seeing Leonor cautiously asking made me think she might be misunderstanding, so I prepared to clarify my statement.
âItâs nothing like that. I donât have any family.â
Since I have no family that could face something bad, itâs totally fine!
Saying that while smiling, Leonorâs expression grew serious, as if she was holding something back.
I raised an eyebrow at her peculiar reaction when she suddenly grabbed my hand.
âHey, your name is Scarlet, right? Do you want to join my club?â
A club activityâ¦
I hadnât thought about joining anything, but her desperate expression made me consider at least hearing her out.
âWhat club is it?â
âItâs the cooking club! We borrow the cafeteria kitchen every Friday evening to cook together. Itâs just for whoever feels like it, so hardly anyone shows up, but I thought we could cook together and maybe eat dinner or somethingâ¦â
The mention of âdinnerâ sparked my interest suddenly.
Maybe eating something other than bean sprouts every once in a while wouldnât be so bad?
As I was warming up to the idea, she continued.
âNormally, the annual fee is 100,000 gold, but I can cover that for you. So, how about joining?â
If it were free, I might have given it some thought, but since there was an annual fee, entering felt heavier.
I only had 23,000 gold left, and 100,000 gold?
In theory, thatâs a debt I couldnât take lightly.
I shook my head and handed back the soda can sheâd given me.
âUh, I really donât like to get into debt, so if I decide to join later, Iâll pay and officially sign up then. You donât have to give me that soda.â
âNo, if Iâm paying for club fees, thatâs one thing, but refusing even that⦠I understand if that makes you feel more comfortable. If you need help with anything, just reach out. See you next time.â
She accepted the soda can back with a bittersweet expression.
Was she really that eager to do club activities with me?
I didnât have any real intention of joining a club anyways, but thinking that there was no way in because I was broke made me feel a bit bad.
Should I try earning some money?
I decided to think about it once I got home.
*
As soon as I got home, I searched on my phone for ways to make money.
Excluding jobs that required long hours or clashed with school hours, I aimed to find something I could do in a single day.
One thing distinctly caught my eye among the options.
Demonstration of psychic abilities.
There was a note saying âstudents from the academy preferred.â
It said you just needed to demonstrate your abilities for about two hours, and the pay was a whopping 120,000 gold.
That breaks down to 60,000 gold an hour; I wondered how they could afford to be so generous.
Though I didnât know exactly what the job entailed, this was an opportunity I couldnât pass up.
I quickly filled out my profile and sent an email to the given contact. Shortly after, I received a confirmation message.
It asked me to come to XX park by 8 PM the next day.
It was that same park I had visited before.
Feeling lucky that it wasnât far from my home, I plopped down on my bed and suddenly felt something crinkly in my pocket.
I pulled out the chocolate that the class president had given me in the morning.
After being in my pocket all day, it had nearly melted and lost its shape.
I paused briefly and then smiled bitterly.
Sorry, class president. I canât eat this.
I opened the refrigerator and placed the chocolate in a corner where it wouldnât be seen.
After having dinner and changing my clothes, I lay down on the bed.
Tomorrow, I could become wealthy, and maybe I could finally buy more than just bean sprouts.