Ding-dong~ Good morning~ Ding-dong~ Pa-pa-pa pa-pa-
I reached over to my bedside and turned off the alarm.
For so 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, don’t want to hear that part…
What the heck, when did I fall asleep?
It felt like I had lost my mory, as if I had been blackout drunk.
Feeling a bit confused, I slowly opened my eyes.
…A strange ceiling.
I can’t believe I’m 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 didn’t really have the ti to think about stuff like this.
As I carefully sat up, I noticed there were screens set up around .
Considering my last mory was taking and smoking so magical herb from Leonor, it was highly likely I was still at the school.
With the screens and the bed around, it seed like I was in the nurse’s 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 movent.
“I wasn’t sleeping! I totally wasn’t! I was just ditating for a bit!”
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 seed to catch on, wiping the drool off with the back of her hand and letting out a shy little laugh.
“Hehe, you’re awake, huh? I sort of got the whole story from the girl who brought you here. When soone smokes magical herb for the first ti, you shouldn’t inhale so deeply. No matter how good it is for you and how there aren’t major side effects, it’s initially ant to stabilize the mind. So, if soone without tolerance inhales too much all at once, they end up all hazy like you just did. Be careful next ti, okay?”
I could guess what happened from her explanation.
Leonor probably brought to the nurse’s office after I got high as a kite on the magical herb.
The fact that I didn’t rember anything was a bit unsettling.
I hope I didn’t ss up in front of Leonor…
There are so bad mories tied to losing consciousness…
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 mories 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 “The Adorable, Cuddly Spirit!” which is now a legendary video.
I still can’t forget the shock I felt when I watched that video.
Sothing that looked like was clinging to people while acting all cutesy…
Who would’ve thought I had such horrible drinking habits?
If I could revert one mont in my life, the first would be the ti I comnted 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 ti I drank with my friends, that video would co up as a recurring topic, and it was incredibly tough to refuse their attempts to make drink more just to see it again.
“Oh, 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.”
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 ti, I realized that the class was almost over.
If I had slept from lunchti until now, that ans I’ve really been asleep for a while…
On my way to the classroom, I took out my phone and sent Leonor a text.
[Thank you for taking to the infirmary.]
I wrote it casually.
Almost imdiately, as if she had been waiting, a reply ca in.
[et at the snack bar after school.]
That text ca with a video attached.
Feeling an ominous vibe, I clicked the video with trembling fingers.
-Senpai~ Are we taking pictures? Hehe, cheese~
-I’m so sleepy… I wanna take a nap…
In the video, a girl was acting cute towards the person holding the cara.
Originally, it would have been a cute video that would make anyone smile… if it hadn’t featured as the star.
……Should I just end it all?
I really don’t 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 wouldn’t die if I jumped…
The sha would likely drive insane.
By the way, what on earth was the reason behind sending this video?
As I thought about it, all that ca to mind were strange ideas.
A humiliating video of a blonde bimbo could only an one thing…
I started getting scared about what might happen after school.
When I returned to class, all eyes were on as I entered through the back door during class ti.
Please don’t let them think I’m so delinquent skipping class!
I slightly bowed my head to the history teacher to apologize for my interruption and sat down. Sylvia turned to and whispered softly.
“…I told the teachers that Miss Scarlet was resting in the infirmary because she was sick.”
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 seed likely.
After a mont, class ended, and it was ti for announcents.
Eve ca in for the announcents, looking over at while grinning.
“Evande, did you get a good rest? You should be more careful next ti!”
She seed to know why I was in the infirmary.
Well, being the horoom teacher, she must have heard it from the nurse.
“I heard a student from your class collapsed after taking a hit from so weed for the first ti! Isn’t that right?”
How embarrassing…
After the announcents 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 tornt from now on?
Shaking, I arrived in front of the snack bar when suddenly sothing cold touched my cheek.
Huh?! I turned in surprise to see Leonor holding a soda can.
She offered 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.
“This is a thank you gift for showing sothing cute. I love adorable things, and thanks to you, I have sothing fun to watch before bed. What should I do about sharing this wonderful video?”
Aah… no…
Feeling my face heat up with embarrassnt, I realized I was stepping right into her trap, so I nervously uttered the dreaded line.
“…What will it take for you to delete it?”
Ah, I said it.
From now on, I wouldn’t be able to refuse any of Leonor’s requests, and I’d end up being subjected to all sorts of unspeakable things until I was completely at her rcy…
With that hopeless feeling, I waited for Leonor’s next demand.
She thought for a mont, then her face lit up with a suddenly bright idea.
“Well then, could you call ‘onee-san’ from now on?”
“No way. Do whatever you want with that video.”
I stiffened my face and flatly rejected her.
No matter how cool Leonor was, even if she made want to call her “big sister,” there was no way I could seriously call her that—especially considering I was older. I’d rather have a sword at my neck than say that.
A man has his pride, you know.
I’d rather be called “Evande” by everyone!
“Hey, are you mad? Actually, I had no intention of spreading the video from the start, so lighten up… But do you really hate calling ‘onee-san’ that much?”
Leonor looked a bit down.
I knew from the beginning that she wasn’t the type of person to pressure others into things they truly disliked.
I assud 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 “gap moe”?
Of course, even then, I had no intention of calling her that.
“I won’t call anyone ‘onee-san’ unless they’re family.”
“…Did sothing bad happen to your sister?”
Unless it was a situation where it would be strange not to refer to soone as “big sister” — like if Scarlet Evande had a sister and they weren’t being referred to — I had no intention of calling anyone that.
I ant it in that sense, but seeing Leonor cautiously asking made think she might be misunderstanding, so I prepared to clarify my statent.
“It’s nothing like that. I don’t have any family.”
Since I have no family that could face sothing bad, it’s totally fine!
Saying that while smiling, Leonor’s expression grew serious, as if she was holding sothing back.
I raised an eyebrow at her peculiar reaction when she suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Hey, your na is Scarlet, right? Do you want to join my club?”
A club activity…
I hadn’t thought about joining anything, but her desperate expression made consider at least hearing her out.
“What club is it?”
“It’s the cooking club! We borrow the cafeteria kitchen every Friday evening to cook together. It’s just for whoever feels like it, so hardly anyone shows up, but I thought we could cook together and maybe eat dinner or sothing…”
The ntion of “dinner” sparked my interest suddenly.
Maybe eating sothing other than bean sprouts every once in a while wouldn’t be so bad?
As I was warming up to the idea, she continued.
“Normally, the annual fee is 100,000 gold, but I can cover that for you. So, how about joining?”
If it were free, I might have given it so thought, but since there was an annual fee, entering felt heavier.
I only had 23,000 gold left, and 100,000 gold?
In theory, that’s a debt I couldn’t take lightly.
I shook my head and handed back the soda can she’d given .
“Uh, I really don’t like to get into debt, so if I decide to join later, I’ll pay and officially sign up then. You don’t have to give that soda.”
“No, if I’m paying for club fees, that’s 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 ti.”
She accepted the soda can back with a bittersweet expression.
Was she really that eager to do club activities with ?
I didn’t have any real intention of joining a club anyways, but thinking that there was no way in because I was broke made feel a bit bad.
Should I try earning so money?
I decided to think about it once I got ho.
*
As soon as I got ho, I searched on my phone for ways to make money.
Excluding jobs that required long hours or clashed with school hours, I aid to find sothing 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 “students from the academy preferred.”
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 didn’t know exactly what the job entailed, this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
I quickly filled out my profile and sent an email to the given contact. Shortly after, I received a confirmation ssage.
It asked to co to XX park by 8 PM the next day.
It was that sa park I had visited before.
Feeling lucky that it wasn’t far from my ho, I plopped down on my bed and suddenly felt sothing crinkly in my pocket.
I pulled out the chocolate that the class president had given in the morning.
After being in my pocket all day, it had nearly lted and lost its shape.
I paused briefly and then smiled bitterly.
Sorry, class president. I can’t eat this.
I opened the refrigerator and placed the chocolate in a corner where it wouldn’t be seen.
After having dinner and changing my clothes, I lay down on the bed.
Tomorrow, I could beco wealthy, and maybe I could finally buy more than just bean sprouts.
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