“Your beard looks nice after shaving!”
“Really?”
I glanced at myself in the mirror at Millia’s words.
My face still bore the marks of life on a deserted island.
Honestly, I hadn’t cared about my appearance for the past ten years. Who in their right mind would worry about looking good when they had to scrounge for food to survive?
In the face of survival, such trivial acts would be tantamount to cutting one’s own life short. Besides, even if I wanted to take care of myself, how could I? With a life spent under the scorching sun, how could my skin stay unblemished? Even Karina, who was surrounded by sacred power and could recover from most injuries quickly, had slightly tanned skin.
Speaking of tanning, I think a hint of light brown on my skin actually looks pretty good…
“Johann! Johann!”
“…What do you want?”
“Why are you zoning out all of a sudden? Are you sick? Need a hug?”
“I’m fine.”
I roughly patted Millia’s worried head and turned my body. Since I was wearing nothing up top, it was time to put on a shirt. I pulled out a decent outfit from my bag and slipped it on. It was an ordinary shirt that looked pretty neutral.
“Wait! Take that off!”
“Why?”
“That shirt is ancient! It smells! Here, wear this!”
I caught the clothes Millia threw at me. They were clean clothes, although I had no idea where they came from.
Really, where did she get these? Did she bring them from this mansion? I asked Millia, who was staring at me.
“Where did you get these?”
“The older girls living here gave them to me!”
So the staff here must have lent me decent clothes to wear. I guess being a guest gets you this kind of service. But a suit… I never thought the first thing I’d wear at the academy would be a suit. It seemed like it was made of good material when I touched it.
Well, it’s no surprise that the clothing given to a guest in a building used by a saint is of good quality. They wouldn’t want to embarrass themselves by giving out cheap clothes. I tossed the clothes casually onto the bed and spoke to Millia.
“I’ll change, so you wait outside.”
“Okay! But you must change! If you come back without changing, I’ll be mad!”
Even so, I’m not that inconsiderate. I cast a glance at the closed door before changing. It didn’t take long to change into the new clothes.
Even though I had been stuck on a deserted island for ten years, I didn’t forget how to put on clothes… Oh wait, I buttoned this wrong. I unbuttoned and rebuttoned each button one at a time. Standing in front of the mirror fully dressed, I saw a man looking like a sharp-eyed gangster. If I left the top two buttons undone, I could probably look like a hitman.
Since I’ve already reincarnated, couldn’t they have given me a more appealing face?
With my body covered in scars, being good-looking wouldn’t matter much anyway. Still, I think I look better than I did before reincarnation… right? Honestly, I can’t remember my face before the reincarnation. I was a guy and a college student for sure, but my face was oddly blurry.
“…Done. What’s the point of thinking about past stuff now?”
Forget the me before reincarnation. The only past I need now is information about the game.
“Can I come in now~?”
“Come in.”
As soon as I finished my sentence, the door swung open, and Millia entered, along with Renny, who had snuck in without my noticing. Renny, with a smoking pipe in her mouth, glanced at me and whistled.
“Now that you’re dressed properly, you’re not too shabby. Just keep it that way. Don’t run around shirtless.”
“I have no intention of running around shirtless here.”
I had at least that much sense. After all, I’ve been wearing clothes all this time, even if they were a bit shabby. I turned my gaze away from Renny and looked at Millia, who was shining with excitement as she came closer to me. Millia naturally took my hand and pulled me along.
“Let’s go quickly! I want to tour the academy!”
“Alright, just don’t rush me.”
“Have fun! I need to prepare for Karina’s enrollment!”
“Good luck, Renny!”
Once Renny finished speaking, she quickly turned and disappeared.
I stared briefly at where Renny had vanished, then, with Millia continuing to nudge me, I reluctantly headed outside Yeomyeong-gwan.
—————-
“Look over there! A fountain! What’s that statue?”
“That’s Kalon’s Lion.”
I recalled the tooltip I had read ten years ago. How do I even remember that? Maybe because I clicked on it so many times trying to find something in the fountain?
“Really? So that’s what the Apostle of God looks like?”
Millia spun around the fountain, seemingly fascinated by the enormous statue atop it. It looked grand in person. The fountain was about the size of a pond, and the statue was bigger than me. Considering I had a decent build, it was quite large.
And in the original work, it was a poor statue that got smashed at every opportunity. But in such a noticeable spot, such things were inevitable… Even so, thanks to magic, it was restored each time, weirdly enough. It’s like game mechanics allowed for it.
I tore my gaze from the fountain and looked around the path leading to the main building and the surrounding garden. Sparse students were visible, but most wore grim expressions. Could the repercussions of the Hell Hound still be lingering? The school seemed to be on break currently.
“Johann! Let’s go check out the school now!”
“Okay, okay. Just keep your voice down, the mood here isn’t great.”
“Got it!”
Millia mimicked closing her lips with her finger and gave me a cheeky smile. What a cute little troublemaker.
Well then, shall we head to the main building?
We walked side by side toward the main building.
The path leading to it was well-kept, and with each step, the sounds of my feet striking the floor echoed crisply. I enjoyed the sounds of civilization and arrived at the main entrance. Even though it’s a break, I was relieved the doors were still open. After all, the departments focused on research wouldn’t stop their studies just because of a day like this.
By the way, might I run into the heroine from the original work while wandering around the main building?
Knight Department, Magic Department, Alchemy Department, Political Science Department, Administration Department… what else was there?
There should be one or two more. It’s hard to remember since the game had so many heroines. I vaguely recall a blue-haired girl, a red-haired one, a silver-haired one, and a black-haired one.
But if I actually meet them, I’ll surely recall more. For now, I’ll focus on memorizing the layout.
“The lobby is enormous! Ah…”
I quietly placed a finger on my lips. Since we were inside a building, being too loud could draw unwanted attention. Not that it would change much if we did attract attention, but it’s always good to be discreet.
We passed through the lobby and entered the corridor. Despite being called a corridor, it was spacious enough for about eight people to walk side by side. It was clear this was a school that received plenty of donations each year; every facility was impressive, making it a pleasure to behold. But it also meant I was hesitant to touch anything.
We quietly entered an empty classroom while passing through the corridor. Perhaps because it was merely named an academy but was practical like a university, the classroom looked like something out of my hazy memories of college. Save for the chairs and desks that looked overly luxurious.
“Is this where classes take place?”
“Probably.”
“I want to attend classes too…”
Looking at Millia as she spoke, I could see the envy she clearly couldn’t hide on her face.
Is that normal? Millia probably never experienced a normal life.
“…If you study hard, you might be able to attend a school yourself.”
“Really?”
“Only if you work really hard.”
I worried if I was giving her false hope, but it’s certainly possible. This academy welcomes talent, and depending on her efforts, she could have a decent chance. The Liberal Arts Department might have lower hurdles too.
“I’ll work hard!”
“Sure, sure.”
I ruffled her hair as if I were a proud father seeing his diligent daughter. When I did that, Millia moved her head around, sticking to me like a puppy.
“Hehe.”
“Let’s go check out some other places.”
We left the classroom and walked down the corridor again. Since it seemed to be where the classrooms were, all the rooms lined up in the corridor were the same structure. It looked like we’d need to exit this corridor to see something different. We were absentmindedly walking when we finally reached the end of the corridor. At the end, there was a door leading outside.
Now that I think about it, wasn’t the layout in the game divided into the main building, each department’s building, and dormitory?
We probably need to exit the main building to explore the department buildings.
“Millia, do you want to explore more of the main building, or should we check out the specialized department buildings?”
“Let’s go see other department buildings~”
“I’d recommend against heading toward the Knight Department.”
“Wha…?!”
At Millia’s strange scream, a girl who had spoken to us shrank back. Judging by her reaction, she seemed startled. To ease her shock, I asked in the softest voice possible.
“Is something wrong…?”
The girl, who had a large book hugged to her chest and exuded an intellectual vibe, glanced around before speaking in a low voice as if sharing a secret.
“A few new students died in the Knight Department… The mood isn’t great.”
“A new student… died?”
“Yes. The top student of the Knight Department, Elena, and several others… they died protecting people.”
…Elena?
I feel like I’ve heard that name before. Where did I hear it?
Elena… Elena… Elena… El…
Ah.
Oh fuck.
…She’s the heroine of the Knight Department, isn’t she?
I froze at the unexpected butterfly effect.
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