Inside a dormitory at Regis Academy.
A brown-haired girl, Ani, looked at her roommate with curiosity.
“Iris, what’s up with that crow?”
At Ani’s words, Iris gently petted the black-feathered bird as if it were a precious treasure.
“Hehe… It’s my pet! I got it as a gift.”
Iris’s expression as she said this was one of pure happiness.
“Isn’t a crow not the best pet?”
“Ah… No? How can it be anything but great?!”
Iris was taken aback by Ani’s comment, her excitement boiling over as she exclaimed loudly.
“Crows are so cute, cool, dependable, and beautiful!”
“Uh…?”
“There’s definitely no perfect bird in this world aside from crows!!!”
“…..”
Ani had a lot she wanted to say, but decided to let it slide, thinking it was just a matter of personal taste.
‘Isn’t a crow a symbol of calamity…? It doesn’t seem to match a saintess.’
Well, it’s just a superstition, so it doesn’t matter.
Thinking this, Ani gave Iris a cheeky smile and said,
“By the way, Iris, do you have someone you’re seeing lately?”
“Y-yes?!”
“Recently, I’ve been seeing you smile a lot. Looks like you’ve fallen in love?”
Iris was taken aback by Ani’s words, but soon blushed and hung her head.
“Ah… Actually, I have someone I like…”
“What?!”
Ani was shocked by Iris’s surprising confession.
Instantly, she rushed over to Iris and grabbed her shoulders, exclaiming,
“Who is it?! Since when? Where?!!”
“Th-that’s a secret…”
Ani continued to pry, but surprisingly, Iris firmly refused to divulge.
‘Lady Hera asked me to keep it a secret…’
Iris thought to herself.
Eventually, feeling defeated by Iris’s resolve, Ani sighed deeply.
“Well, I don’t know who it is, but if he took the saintess’s heart, that guy must be pretty lucky.”
Iris felt a pang of guilt at Ani’s words, but she just chuckled and mumbled.
She then lay back on the bed, cradling the crow and staring at the ceiling.
‘I hope the weekend comes soon…’
Lady Hera promised to meet me every weekend… so I’ll get to see her again, right?
What should I wear that day…?
What should I wear to make Lady Hera like me even a little more?
I’m also contemplating where we should go on our date.
Honestly, just being with Lady Hera would make simply walking feel great.
I could… hold her hand, right?
If we linked fingers and wandered around, it would feel like bliss.
And as time passed and late night arrived.
Romantically, we would gaze at the moon and share a kiss… –
Her cheeks burst into a bright red at the embarrassing thought.
Yet, despite that, she didn’t know what was so good about it. She buried her face into her pillow and giggled to herself.
Eeeek! As she kicked her feet on the bed, she truly looked like a girl in love.
“I want to see you soon, Lady Hera…”
*
“You’re saying you want to enroll in the academy?”
In front of him, the old man Darkhan widened his eyes in disbelief.
“Yes! When can I start?”
“Y-you can start right now!! Great decision! You won’t regret it!”
Seeing the old man jump up in excitement made me slightly furrow my brows.
If I hadn’t known Darkhan’s true identity, I might have thought he was a crazy person.
Well, anyway.
I’ve decided to enroll in the academy.
It was after witnessing Iris’s serious condition that I made that determination.
I couldn’t just sit quietly while she was in such a similarly severe state, stabbing herself with a knife.
I promised to spend time with her every weekend, but my uneasy feelings wouldn’t dissipate.
Another decisive reason was Lily.
Now that Lily had become the hero, the original storyline would change countless times.
The protagonist in the novel was Robin, so I had no idea how things would pan out without him.
If we couldn’t prevent the coming calamity, many might suffer casualties.
I absolutely couldn’t allow that to happen.
If the story changes and someone dies, that guilt would fall entirely on me.
So, I made the decision to enroll.
To protect everyone.
To protect myself.
“What specialty do you want to pursue? Normally, you’d have to take an entrance exam, but I’ll let you in right away!”
Darkhan looked at me with bright, sparkling eyes as if he had returned to his original self.
“I’ll go for martial arts. I’d like to be in the same class as the saintess, please.”
Since my unique ability was in that field, martial arts should be suitable.
Speaking of which, I still don’t know exactly what my unique ability is. I just thought of it as super strength.
As I said before, I could determine my unique ability at the temple.
Since I’ve inherited the goddess’s power, high-ranking priests who wield her power should be able to see the types of abilities.
Iris probably could as well. I should ask her when the opportunity arises.
“Martial arts…? You don’t look particularly strong.”
Darkhan asked, looking at me in surprise.
“I’m fine. Oh, and.”
Just before finishing my sentence, I murmured an incantation and cast a spell.
Suddenly, something pink and shining erupted above me, showering my body with sparkling dust.
As I cleared the dust away, Darkhan stared at me wide-eyed, clearly shocked.
“What was that…? Is it polymorph?”
“No, it’s not polymorph.”
Glancing at the little mirror beside me, a girl with ordinary brown hair and eyes reflected back.
Unlike my original face, it was the appearance of a round and innocent-looking girl.
This was me using one of Sephir’s disguise abilities.
When Athena and I went on a trip together, Sephir had used this disguise magic to follow us.
Although I nearly died that time because of Athena, it was quite a sophisticated spell that even she hadn’t noticed.
I spoke to Darkhan in my new altered form.
“I want to hide my true identity. I’d prefer to attend the academy like this.”
It would be better to remain like this if I wanted to observe Iris.
Also, I still didn’t have the courage to face Lily in my true form.
But with this appearance… maybe I would muster the courage to look at her.
Darkhan glanced at my face for a moment, scratching his head before speaking.
“Hmm… You don’t seem willing to share the reason. Alright.”
Saying that, Darkhan transformed back into his old man form and started to push me somewhere.
“Come on! Let’s get you to your classroom!”
“Wha-what? Already?”
“You know what they say, ‘Strike while the iron is hot!’ Let’s hurry!”
Thus, my heart-pounding academy life began.
.
.
.
The great mage Ariel.
The damage dealer of the hero party, possessing terrifying power to wipe out enemies with her strong magic.
She had tulip-colored hair and eyes, and was undoubtedly smarter about magic than anyone else.
When she first grabbed hold of my arm and dragged me outside the classroom, I couldn’t help but be astonished.
I had unexpectedly crossed paths with a new heroine. I finally realized that I had truly come to the academy.
After that, as she actively approached me, I slowly began to feel at ease around her.
During the time she showed me around the academy, I started to notice something that bothered me.
Throughout my time with Ariel, it felt like something was troubling her.
Her constantly fidgeting mannerisms and the way her face would occasionally flush red suggested she was in a bad state.
So I asked her if something was bothering her.
Ariel hesitated a bit before responding,
“Well, I do have one concern…”
Upon hearing her words, I suddenly felt tense.
I was already worried about Iris and Lily, and if something happened with Ariel as well, it would surely spiral out of control.
However, Ariel paused before speaking up about her worry.
In a desperate attempt, I took her hand and said,
“Please tell me. I want to help you, Ariel.”
‘Please let it not be something serious…’
While I was thinking this, Ariel blushed and intertwined her fingers with mine.
For a moment, I was taken aback by her unexpected action, but it wasn’t a big deal, so I accepted her hand clasp.
Time passed, and after a while of hesitation, she finally entrusted me with her concern.
“What do you think about girls expressing affection towards each other?”
“…Huh?”
….Huh?
Affection?
I looked at Ariel with a puzzled expression.
She stared at me with wide eyes, clearly curious.
“Affection? What do you mean?”
“Like… kissing. Or touching each other…”
I felt relieved that her concern was not something serious after all.
I had been worried that something was going seriously wrong with Ariel, but if it was just this, I could certainly listen to her.
Still, expressions of affection…
Hmm…
Kissing or touching…
Isn’t that nothing special?
When I lived with Lily, there were countless days we kissed more than ten times a day.
And when Lily and I took baths together, she was always touching my body.
Of course, I was surprised at first. But it didn’t take long to get used to it.
– It’s just light physical contact, sis.
What if I hadn’t learned common sense properly from Lily back then?
Everyone probably would have thought I was common-sense deficient.
I was really grateful.
“Girls touching each other is just normal, right?”
At my words, Ariel’s eyes began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck them.
“A-are you saying it’s normal? Girls touching each other?”
I found it strange.
‘Why is she so flustered?’
It was odd that she was surprised over something so trivial, but recalling the content of the novel, I could somewhat understand.
Ariel grew up in the magic tower.
Surrounded by books and many wizards, she had a wealth of knowledge about magic but probably knew little about other things.
Maybe that’s why she was reacting so flustered.
“Hehe…”
It felt like watching my previous, clueless self just after being possessed, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Why did her trembling eyes look so cute?
I smiled at her and said,
“Ariel, it seems you’re lacking in some common sense.”
Her eyes suddenly flared up with fire.
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.