“It’s time to wear the veil again.”
At Karina’s sudden comment, I glanced at the veil in her hand. Ah, I forgot that we need to wear it during the semester. We wouldn’t want useless bugs buzzing around.
Especially since there are people who stare at Karina as if they were trying to pierce through her face.
But now that I’ve gotten rid of my wheelchair, Karina’s burden has lessened a bit. After all, being in a wheelchair was inherently inconvenient.
I also need to put away chairs; they take up a lot more space than ordinary chairs and inevitably make some noise, which can be bothersome.
After all, the Saint typically attracts a lot of attention, and having extra factors to catch eyes only makes things more uncomfortable.
“Don’t worry too much. If it gets too hard, I’ll make it opaque enough that you won’t feel the stares.”
“…Hehe, thank you.”
Karina’s bright smile hit my heart like a bang. I realized again that the smile of a stunningly beautiful woman could feel like a mental attack, and I checked the kids entering the cafeteria one by one.
“Hehe, I’m getting a junior!”
“J-Junior…”
“I hope they don’t cause any trouble.”
“You seem worried.”
“Ah, Uncle. The Alchemy Department tends to have frequent accidents, you know. I can’t help but worry… Plus, now that I have a junior, I have even more to keep an eye on. Ugh, please let them be decent juniors.”
“Just keep your mind at ease. It’s not like there’s anything you can do about it.”
“I just hope that brat Braden doesn’t get in.”
Braden… It’s been a while since I heard that name. I wonder what he’s been up to. I haven’t seen him since the last time we met.
“Is Braden still bothering you?”
“No… he occasionally makes snide remarks but doesn’t approach me. I heard he got scolded by his father for messing with the noble’s dignity or something? Plus, there’s really nothing for him to gain by touching me…”
Noble’s dignity, huh?
That was something unfamiliar to me.
Being a new noble myself, I was much more accustomed to my identity as a bodyguard than as a noble. I’d need to learn the ropes eventually, but…
Let’s think about that later.
Right now, it’s time for me to guard Karina.
“Johann… hello…”
“Ah, Elisa. Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Um… thanks to you?”
What did I do to deserve that response? As I felt the gazes darting back and forth between me and Elisa, I hurriedly opened my mouth.
“Looks like you’re still a bit sleepy, Elisa.”
“Eh…? A…!?”
It seemed my words struck a chord, as Elisa’s face turned crimson and she bolted out of the cafeteria. Naturally, all eyes turned to me.
“What was that! I don’t know what it was, but do it to me too!”
What on earth is she saying? I quickly suppressed Millia, who tried to throw the cafeteria into chaos, with a light flick to her forehead and scanned the surroundings.
Okay. Still safe.
I raised my voice full of innocence to claim my innocence.
“I didn’t do anything.”
——————–
“I-I’m so sorry…”
“It’s fine, so don’t apologize too much. Nothing happened.”
“Re-really…?”
Sure, Millia did cause a bit of an uproar, but since she was lightly suppressed with a flick, I could confidently assert that nothing happened.
She might feel a bit miffed, but I can smooth things over later.
“That was quite the eye-opener this morning. Right, Uncle?”
Viola seemed to find the sudden twist amusing and poked me in the side with her steel elbow. What a ticklish move. In retaliation, I ruffled Viola’s hair mercilessly.
“Ow! Stop it! You’re messing up my hairstyle!”
“If you tease adults, you’ll be punished.”
“We’re the same age!”
Well, she got me there. I continued to ruffle Viola’s hair, turning her pristine hairstyle into a complete mess. She glared at me, but if you play, you gotta suffer the consequences.
“Geez…”
“V-Viola… I-I’ll fix your hair…”
“Thanks.”
“Johann, you shouldn’t bully her too much.”
“Johann the troublemaker~”
Cheerfully chatting, we passed through the academy’s garden and headed toward the auditorium.
This was all for the event for new students—the lengthy, tedious speech from the headmaster that the entire student body had to attend.
If things went according to the original story, an incident would occur here, but with Lewis’s presence having thinned out, I couldn’t guarantee that such a minor event would unfold as it did.
Right now, Lewis was just a promising student with potential.
There wasn’t much I could do since I had eaten everything that Lewis was supposed to have.
One different thing was that because I defeated Harpas a year earlier, the West wasn’t completely occupied by demons, and my reputation was somewhat intact in the empire.
Also, I’m not a student but a bodyguard.
Thus, first-years were less likely to pester me.
With a relaxed mind, I checked the seat where Karina would sit by running my hand over it to check its condition.
“No traps, and the state seems fine.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m just doing what I should.”
“Johann, can you check mine too!”
“Got it.”
I checked Millia’s seat beside Karina, nodding in acknowledgment. It was safe. After confirming that the girls had gathered, I stood behind her.
She had chosen a seat at the very back for my convenience, allowing me to guard her without any issues. First-years glanced at me every time they came in, but that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.
I wonder when the key figures of the first-year class will arrive.
Wait, have they already come in, and I just didn’t see them?
I recalled the characters that appeared in the original story and peeked at the entrance. There wasn’t much reason to check if the original characters came in, but I still wanted to see the original first-years at least once.
Who were they again?
I recalled the key figures in the first year that I should keep an eye on.
Kaimak, the second son of Duke Rineus, one of the four great dukes of the empire.
He was quite the capable tank. Aside from being a bit aggressive, his personality was generally okay.
Rena, the granddaughter of the guild master of the Mage Guild.
She was quite the genius, so her pride was high, but it wouldn’t have been likely for her to entangle with us. First and second years sometimes had joint classes, but would she really seek us out?
In the original, you couldn’t even recruit someone unless you were in the Magic faculty, so it was unlikely we’d cross paths.
Sandulbaram, the elf from the great eastern forests, would also likely have little overlap with us. She typically had no connections with our party and was the type to “isolate everyone.”
In the original, the protagonist managed to break through her frosty façade and win her love through persistent advances, but our original protagonist was busy capturing the heart of his childhood friend with a pure love story.
And…
“Is that lady the Grand Duchess?”
“I heard all the Tiranus family members are as white as snow, and it’s true…”
From head to toe, she was completely white. In her school uniform, she would blend into the snowy landscape without a trace.
I stared at the back of the Tiranus Grand Duchess as she passed by with the students at the entrance, then glanced at Karina, feeling the intense stare on my cheek.
“Johann… should you really be looking away? Is someone like her your type…?”
“I was just looking because it seems like a human-shaped snowman is moving. She really is as white as snow.”
“Is that all?”
“Of course.”
Objectively, she wasn’t unattractive, but she wasn’t my type at all. No matter how pretty she was, a sheer cliff is still a sheer cliff… smaller than Millia.
“I heard the Tiranus family is like snow, but I didn’t expect them to be this extreme.”
“Y-Yeah, I thought so too…”
“How fascinating!”
Is it even okay for a dullahan to say such things about a person?
“The opening ceremony is about to begin, so you should look ahead, Millia.”
“Tch.”
Millia turned her head sharply, sulking.
I’m just glad they didn’t make a band that looked exactly like her skin. Because it completely covered her neck, the unnatural parts were hardly visible. Still, with her unnatural movement as a human, she needed to be careful…
“Welcome, the best of the best, to Kalon Academy, the greatest academy on the continent.”
At the familiar voice, I raised my head and looked forward. There stood the newly appeared Principal Merlin, smiling pleasantly as he surveyed the students.
“This year~”
Here we go, the human sleeping pill, Principal Merlin’s mental attack begins.
I crossed my arms and started to keep a lookout around.
Nothing major should happen, but at least this was less boring than getting drowsy from his speech.
Thus, my non-battle of wits against Principal Merlin had begun.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.