Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The Freshman Hides A Slave (6)

“Keut! I won’t forget what happened this time…!”

Elisha quickly retreated, leaving behind a remark like a third-rate villain.

Well, at this point, it was impossible not to realize she was doing it on purpose. Elisha was no fool.

“I apologize, Master… I lost my temper for a moment…”

“It’s fine. If you hadn’t, I would’ve stepped in.”

As I gently tickled under her chin and said this, Carla adjusted her posture to make the tickling more comfortable, her face a mix of embarrassment and relief.

Those who saw this started murmuring again, but most of the talk wasn’t bad-mouthing me—it was expressing surprise that Elisha would go so far.

It looked like the image had been solidified that Elisha did all this.

“…Would this be a problem later?”

“Nah. We can handle this with the reputation of the Sylvan Magic Tower. Well… the problem would be in three months when Elisha’s support vanishes.”

“Don’t worry about that part.”

I planned to take control of it before anyone else did.

Should I prepare for it now? Should I lay down the groundwork in advance?

“Hey, Carla. Do you know what Elisha would like?”

“…To be number one?”

“She’d hate to lose in the ranking battle tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. She would think that she had to yield the first place to you. …Wait a moment. Master, you’re not aiming to be the class representative, are you?”

“It might be tough, but the higher the goal, the better.”

As I shrugged and said this, Carla nodded her head with a satisfied expression, as if she had heard something incredibly praiseworthy.

Ever since Carla began to see me as someone similar to her ancestors, she often looked at me with such pleased eyes.

“Exactly. The higher the goal, the better. By the way, Master, you’ve never actually participated in a formal magic battle, have you? That’s why you cheated during the entrance exam.”

“Cheated? Can you please call it an efficient battle strategy?”

It hurt to hear it called cheating, you know.

There wasn’t a single thing wrong with what Carla said, though.

I had used magic to the point of boredom while staring at monitors, but this was the first time I was doing it by actually moving my body.

The strengths and weaknesses of each spell, counter methods, hidden combinations, etc. I had confidence in the theoretical aspects, but being able to apply them in practice was another issue.

Noticing my concern, Carla gently tugged at my sleeve.

“If Master wishes, I’ll tell you everything I know. It’ll be a crash course, but it should be quite useful.”

“Sounds good. Learning in a hurry is better than not knowing at all. So should we go to the training room before the dormitory? I think first-year students aren’t allowed to use it yet…”

According to Iona’s explanation, some registration procedures would take a few more days.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In games, they’d simply say, ‘It seems too early, come back later,’ to prevent any interaction.

Hearing my words, Carla giggled and opened her soft chest widely.

“Don’t worry, Master! The dormitory assigned to Class A students has individual training rooms!”

“Oh, right. I forgot about that.”

Thanks to my excellent memory, I vividly remember everything I’d seen or heard—even if it happened on Earth—but recalling it quickly was another matter.

“Alright, let’s head straight to the dormitory then. You know the way?”

“Um… I’m not sure this time.”

“…Really?”

After all that talk about trusting only her guidance, she didn’t know the most crucial thing—the location of the dormitory?

Carla made a sulking face as I stared at her in silence.

“Well, what can I do? How would I know the location of the men’s dormitory?!”

“Ah, right.”

It couldn’t be helped then.

For the sake of Carla, who had never even held a man’s hand (until now), I asked one of the nearby servants for directions.

“Ah… this is my first time in a men’s dormitory…”

Carla looked around, seemingly fascinated by her surroundings.

“Don’t be too nervous. It’s a men’s dormitory, but there are also servants and staff here managing the dorms, so it’s not entirely men.”

“But there were only women in the women’s dormitory.”

“…Is that so?”

To be fair, it was common for male students to have female attendants, but it was rare for female students to have male attendants. Maybe that was because rumors would spark if they were seen together, especially in an academy far from their families.

Whether it was a matter of resources or some other issue, in H&A, the women’s dormitory was a place where entry was systematically impossible.

At most, you’d have to ask someone to call someone for you at the entrance.

That made me wonder about the women’s dormitory.

As I walked in the direction the dining hall attendant pointed out, large buildings appeared before me.

The façade gave off a moderately luxurious vibe, but oddly enough, the windows were close together.

Those buildings in a row must be the Class B and Class C dormitories.

Carla, who had been watching this, started to smile with a slightly smug expression.

“Hehe… Master, do you know? The facilities in the Class B and Class C dormitories are almost the same. The difference is that in C-class, three or four people live together, and in Class B, they have individual rooms.”

I was well aware of it, having been unable to enter Class A during my newbie days or during restricted playthroughs.

As I nodded and played along, Carla snapped her fingers and spoke in a strange accent.

“Ha-we-ver! The Class A dormitory is an entirely different building! They pay special attention because it’s where the academy’s top talents live… like this!”

Carla stretched out the finger she had been snapping to point at the area behind the Class B and Class C dormitories.

There stood a building that could rival a small palace in opulence.

“Huh…”

The visuals made it look one way, but seeing it in person had a different impact.

Just as Carla said, the quality of the Class A dormitory was visibly different.

This was not only because it was difficult to get into Class A but also to motivate other students.

“Why are you so excited since earlier? I’m the one who got into Class A, not you, Carla.”

“Hehe! True, but I share the bed with you, Master. And your pride is my pride!”

It was a fair point…but it sounded more like something an actual family member would say rather than a slave.

Carla visibly deflated as I stared at her incredulously. She carefully observed my reactions and eventually started scratching the back of her head, chuckling nervously.

“Actually…I’m a little happy to be back at the academy.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Meeting people I know or people who recognize me is still hard, but this place was the happiest part of my life.”

“……”

I took a moment to look at Carla. More precisely, at the thorn vine engraving on the nape of her neck, signifying her slave status.

Come to think of it, Carla was expelled from the academy just before graduating.

With a smirk, I playfully ruffled Carla’s platinum-blonde hair.

“I saw earlier that attendants can also attend classes.”

“Yes, but we can only listen.”

“Then, if you listen to the lectures with me until I graduate, it’s almost like you’re attending the academy as well, isn’t it?”

“…Ah.”

Carla stared at me as if she’d realized something.

Yes, she wouldn’t receive a diploma, but if she attended all the classes for four years, she would have learned everything there was to learn from the academy. It would be no different from graduating.

“Ma-Master!”

Carla, with her ruby-red eyes, dashed towards me.

However, perhaps lacking the courage to embrace me in a crowded place, she just grabbed my hand.

She rubbed her face against the back of my hand, my palm, and even kissed each finger later.

Students passing by the dormitory were not just glancing our way but outright staring by this point.

Ah, whatever.

Elisha would turn it into a scandal anyway!

Even if not, I didn’t want to give up this moment’s touch just to care about other people’s stares.

I headed slowly towards the Class A dormitory, with Carla clinging to me affectionately.

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“My name is Yandel. I’m a freshman.”

“Oh, yes. Please wait a moment.”

Perhaps recognizing Carla attached to my side, the dorm supervisor rubbed his eyes a few times before pulling out two keys, large and small, from his drawer.

“This is your room on the third floor, left wing. Use the large key to lock it. Housekeeping will clean your room during the morning classes. If you don’t want anyone to enter, use the small key to lock it completely.”

Nodding, I took the keys from the dorm supervisor, who was doing his job efficiently while stealing glances at Carla.

Finding my room wasn’t too difficult, as the floor plan was simple, with rooms branching off from the central staircase.

Click.

I was using half a floor of this spacious building all by myself.

It felt more like a small house rather than a dorm room. One of the closed doors must lead to a private training room.

While looking around, I pinched Carla’s cheek, who was still sticking close to me.

Pinch, pinch.

“Ah!”

Carla let out a cute scream while moving away from me.

Smiling at Carla, I spoke,

“Let’s finish our last-minute training first.”

“…What comes after that?”

“We need to test how soundproof the room is.”

“Heuk!”

She gulped but was still smiling, as if she weren’t entirely against the idea.

We then trained haphazardly.

…And it turns out, there was no need to worry about soundproofing.