NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4
The atmosphere was so tense that a fight seemed imminent.
Even the oblivious Anastasia couldn’t help but notice the fierce aura radiating from the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter before her, who was staring back at her defiantly. However, the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter appeared indifferent, casually regarding Anastasia.
“…Who are you?”
It was Anastasia who broke the stalemate. In response, the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter replied but only with cryptic words.
“I am called the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter. Pleased to meet you.”
With a posture that seemed more threatening than welcoming, she raised her tail high, wearing a distinctly unwelcoming expression. Even the emotionally oblivious Anya would have read the discomfort in her demeanor. Facing the outright hostility of the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter, Anya seemed determined to resolve the situation through conversation.
“…Ah, yes. I am Anastasia.”
However, the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter paid no heed to Anya’s effort and opted for a continued silence. Just as this suffocating deadlock threatened to stretch on, a new question emerged.
“Do you know where the snack bar is?”
“…The snack bar?”
Despite the incomprehensibility of the intent behind the question, the chill it sent down my spine was undeniable. Anya’s first encounter was all about the snack bar; if this situation changed due to the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter, I would have no way to build a connection with her until well into the second half.
And just as I feared, Anya promptly revealed the location of the snack bar to the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter, only to head somewhere else entirely.
This can’t be happening!
I thought about following Anya and striking up a conversation, but she was a Northern Grand Duchess while I was merely a commoner, making that akin to suicide. And regardless of being considered fellow students within the Academy, the invisible disparities between us were unmistakable.
Vertically, there were the worthless nobility from the outskirts, the central nobility, and the royal family. Horizontally, there were the Empire, the Papacy, and the riffraff. Commoners were completely off the table. If I dared to speak to Anya, a central noble, she might pardon me, but her followers surely would not.
I felt like I was about to implode with frustration. Sure, I could build rapport later, but the vanishing of what few opportunities there were to bond in the early stages felt tragic.
Then, another ominous thought crossed my mind. What if the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter obliterated other heroines’ events as well?
What would I do then?
Just as that thought hit, I found myself irresistibly trailing behind her. Fortunately, we reached the snack bar without any special incidents, but anxiety lingered. Even if it weren’t happening now, events could be crushed later due to her presence.
Finally, it struck me; I needed to quickly initiate events. Before things could escalate any further, I’d accelerate the events to definitely earn the heroines’ favor. That was my solitary objective.
After pondering whom to start with, only one heroine remained as a viable option. Cecilia. A half-elf heroine, beloved by a spirit. Although she had a devoted fanbase thanks to her elven charm, it was nowhere near what Anastasia commanded.
Her heroine event went like this: for reasons unknown, her contracted spirit weakened, and though she attempted various remedies to help, the spirit continued to frail, plunging Cecilia into the fear of losing the spirit who had protected her since birth.
Then, the protagonist generously bestowed upon her a fruit from the World Tree, miraculously restoring the spirit, and they fell in love, making her a member of the protagonist’s harem.
Normally, she wouldn’t need the World Tree’s fruit immediately, as the spirit only weakened in the second semester. However, for someone like her who was a half-elf, the World Tree held exceptional significance. If I could procure such a special item for her, surely her favor would rise. After all, elves relied on the World Tree in their lives, so it wouldn’t be too unusual.
Considering the fruit of the World Tree, it wouldn’t rot if left unattended, and it could remind her of me when her spirit eventually needed to use it, making it a remarkably shrewd idea.
Conveniently, within this academy, there was a young World Tree harboring old fruits. It was located in a secluded resting place, that tree was it.
– – – –
Avoiding the numerous gazes directed at me, I arrived at a large shelter with a massive tree.
I briefly wondered why such a place existed in the academy, but those trivial thoughts faded away in the crisp, refreshing air.
Although I didn’t show it, since stepping onto this continent, I had realized something.
The air was stifling and sticky, unpleasant to breathe. To be precise, it was the mana. It didn’t take long to figure out the deep-rooted reasons. The veins of mana that should have flowed deep within the earth were twisted and controlled by some warped mana.
The people here seemed to worship this something as divine power, but to my eyes, it appeared as nothing but twisted, polluted mana.
It wasn’t just the veins; even the celestial veins were controlled by this so-called divine power. Beyond that, the twisted mana, which the people referred to as ‘mana’, was more than enough to make me feel disgusted.
In the original story, the protagonist and his group were doing just fine, but I couldn’t help but wonder if my strong aversion was due to my mother’s blood. It was then that I started to feel this was no mere novel but a reality.
Anyway. While they blindly called each other mindless fools or misguided heretics, fighting over their differences, they didn’t seem much different to me.
Both sides were revolting. How ugly it was to witness them squabbling over who was superior and who was inferior while they disrupted the cosmic laws and carved the world as they pleased.
The coastal areas had slow-moving veins, but the deeper I went inland, the tighter the twisted mana gripped the veins. Even the magic towers and churches pulled mana from the veins, polluting them—
“…Sigh.”
This wasn’t my business. Once I graduated from the academy, I had no reason to stay on this continent. I was merely here to learn, so I shouldn’t cause trouble while here. Inhaling the fresh air was calming my anger.
To be honest, when I first heard that the academy was located in the continent’s deepest part, I contemplated leaving. I was already suffocating in the coastal region, and thinking about delving deeper made me dizzy. Yet exhilaration flooded me with thoughts of adventure, and curiosity about what might occur at the academy pushed me forward.
The results, however, were dismal. But gazing at this tree gave me a breath of fresh air. Whenever I felt utterly suffocated, I could return to this spot.
With light steps, I retrieved a cream bun from the paper bag resting close by and took a big bite.
The taste was incredibly comforting.
It was just like the cream bun from the nearby bakery that I used to buy during breaks at the academy. A wave of emotion almost made me want to hum, but with milk still left, I postponed my delight.
It wasn’t the milk in a carton that I was used to, yet the glass bottle had its own charm. The cap was tightly sealed, and it took me a moment to open it, but the fresh taste made it worthwhile.
For some reason, the lingering taste was slightly metallic due to contamination from mana, but paired with the cream bun, it was delicious. Perhaps it was due to the fresh air. Since stepping into the academy, I had felt trapped in heat, humidity, and dirty air, but now it felt like I was basking in a cool breeze.
Yes. The reason I went this far to avoid people wasn’t out of fear but from the disgust at the accumulated mana and divine power they harbored.
I was definitely not fleeing out of fear of speaking with others.
—Grrr.
Who could it be? Just when I was enjoying my private healing time, a nefarious villain interrupted me. Expanding my senses, I noticed a boy awkwardly hiding in the tree above.
I had countless questions: Who climbed the tree when, why, and how? How could I not notice someone so obvious, and what on earth was he doing up there? But my mouth kept munching away at the cream bun.
…Wait. Upon closer inspection, it was the protagonist. I found myself curious about what he could possibly be doing up there instead of flirting with girls, but just then, another sound broke my train of thought.
—Grrr.
It was an unmistakable rumble coming from his stomach, loud enough to be hard to ignore.
Did he realize he’d been caught? The way he kept glancing at me nervously was so comical that I almost entertained the thought of teasing him. But if he fell, it could lead to serious trouble, so I gestured for him to come down.
I wondered how he got up there; was he that skillful at climbing branches and crevices? As he nervously descended, he wore an incredibly tense expression.
I wanted to ask what he had been doing up there like a pervert, but there was something else I needed to do first. I pulled out another cream bun from the bag and held it out to him.
If this were a comic, he would’ve had a giant question mark floating above his head, alternating his gaze between the bun and me.
Feeling a mix of jealousy and slight irritation at this guy who would eventually end up in a harem, I tossed the bun to him, and he caught it in surprise. Yet he still wore an utterly clueless expression, and I couldn’t help but say something.
“I couldn’t help but hear your stomach rumbling from down here. Eat up. There’s no shame in eating in front of someone who’s starving.”
Whether it was the clean air or simply his status as the protagonist, I felt no hesitation while speaking to him. It felt odd that this outsider was being friendly with an introvert, but if not now, when would I get to experience this?
“…Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Watching him carefully unwrap the packaging like he had committed a crime made me wonder one thing.
What was his name again?
“Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard your name. Would you be willing to share it in exchange for the bun?”
During the months of my father correcting my speech, I had resented him sometimes, but putting it into practice felt surprisingly good.
I felt a bit like a princess, in fact. While he was eventually treated like a savior, right now, I felt superior, tickling my insides.
“…Han Dogon.”
“Han Dogon; are you perhaps from the Eastern Continent?”
If my memory serves me well, that didn’t sound like an Eastern name. In the original story, it was often something more Western, like James or Chris.
“No, I’m not from the Eastern Continent. But both my parents hail from there.”
Was that a setting? There wasn’t much detail about the protagonist’s family. In fact, there really wasn’t any. They weren’t significant enough to warrant that. The main character was essentially a person who had reincarnated into the body of a commoner in this world.
Now that I thought about it, this was a mess. I had reincarnated into a novel about an academy, or rather, an isekai.
And I was tsundere to top it off.
So, was this guy pulled from the world of a story set in Korea into the story within a story? The more I thought, the more my head felt like it was spinning.
Maybe that name was even his original name before he got sucked into this novel.
As they say, strike while the iron is hot; I was just about to probe further when the bell ringing for the end of lunch broke the moment.
“Is it already time? You should head out. Oh, and be sure to eat that bun.”
Based on my past experiences, being late for gym class wouldn’t end well. Those who were tardy always found themselves doing push-ups or laps around the field as punishment. I definitely wanted to avoid running in that horrendous air.
That aside, ever since he got spotted by me, he seemed to have something hidden behind his back. Setting the questions aside, I made my way toward the gymnasium.