NOVEL NEXT Chapter 62
The evaluation of the dispatch practice varies greatly depending on the student’s individual temperament.
For a student who enjoys wandering outside and doesn’t like sitting at a desk studying, they can’t help but love the dispatch practice. Academy classes are not that easy. In fact, if they haven’t received proper lessons from a tutor or attended school separately when they were younger, keeping up with the classes would be overwhelming.
Moreover, since they are children who have already been educated prior, they wouldn’t listen carelessly to school lectures. Their academic ranking is connected to their family’s honor, so most noble children work hard to maintain at least an average grade.
For those who find that kind of atmosphere stifling, the dispatch practice that lets them escape the Imperial Capital would be a breath of fresh air. Especially for commoners, who find the idea of traveling outside the Imperial Capital burdensome; they would feel even more so. Well, honestly speaking, if a commoner is struggling that much economically, they probably wouldn’t even be able to enter the academy in the first place.
On the other hand, if someone has a somewhat introverted personality and isn’t good at asking questions to people passing by or dislikes wandering outside, this kind of dispatch class would be completely unsuitable for them. They would prefer staying in their room reading books. If they at least have a group to hang out with, they might manage to blend in somewhat, but for those who have no one, well, even getting the minimum score would be tough.
As for me, I belong to the latter group.
I’ve been playing a game that comes out every year, where initial playtime is at least 50 hours and up to 80 hours, going through multiple rounds. Outside of that, I was the one buying short spin-off novels, comics, and setting books, and even when I wasn’t playing Chronicles of Aetherna, I was watching books, movies, dramas, and anime.
I occasionally traveled, but when I did, I tried to book the coziest accommodations and minimized wandering outside. If I had no plans, I preferred to stay indoors.
“Bam! Sylvia!”
“Ugh?”
“……Sylvia Unnie?”
So, the personality of my half-sister, who barged into my room at 4 AM without any blood relation and whom I hadn’t seen for ten years, wasn’t compatible with mine in many ways.
Again!
*
Why did I even choose the cool beauty image?
Couldn’t I have chosen to be emotional and optimistic instead? I could have been a character who usually has a laid-back personality but can solve difficult problems with ease when she puts her mind to it.
When I first took on the cool beauty concept, the reason was “I could minimize expression acting and it’s easier to hide my thoughts,” but thinking back, if I had a personality like Lucas or Jake, just adding something like “dark inside” might have made me an excellent character.
If I didn’t have to maintain this cool beauty concept, I wouldn’t have had to wake up 30 minutes earlier than Claire and get ready, pretending to polish my firearms.
“Sylvia! Ah, you’re still awake.”
Honestly, the phrase “you’re still awake” wasn’t really necessary.
Claire had been extremely flustered upon seeing me startled from my sleep. There was no reason for her to have her eyes widen as if it was surprising to see me up this early and already polishing my firearms.
“Well, the last time it was Sylvia who woke up before us.”
……When was that?
…………Ah.
She must be talking about the time I managed to catch the elemental dog on the first commission after enrollment while Leo and Claire were already outside at 4 AM. Since then, I hadn’t felt the need to wake up earlier than those two for commissions. Instead, it was better for my mental health to wake up at the same time as Alice to study. If I occasionally had something separate to do, I would ask for permission and move on my own.
Even with the side quests I knew about, waking up at 3 AM would be hell, and if I tried to take on other commissions that weren’t mentioned in the game while also waking up earlier than these two, I might end up not sleeping at all.
“Leo and I are planning to go out first. How about you, Sylvia? Wanna join us?”
“…….”
I momentarily fell into thought. If I head out now, what quests do I even have?
Normally, unless there was a setting that the commission came in urgently, the tasks had been gathered by Jennifer beforehand. In the game, these would be called ‘quests’… unlike the first week, which was practically a tutorial, we were about to slowly enter the main storyline with the first dispatch practice.
The game’s story isn’t solely composed of the protagonist characters. Regular hunting quests that wouldn’t affect the storyline too much can be done at any time, but quests involving people would definitely have to be performed at the right time.
My goal is to experience this game’s story as a character and save those destined to die for a happy ending.
……Since I haven’t really done anything bad, having reincarnated into this world, I decided to take that as my aim.
“How about the Crown Princess?”
“The Crown Princess? Ah, Alice.”
At my question, Claire’s expression darkened slightly.
Claire probably didn’t hold any particular ill feelings toward Alice. It was more about the sense of bittersweetness she felt knowing she had grown close to me, who was like a sister, instead of Alice.
Well, if Lucas hadn’t been around, I might have ended up at Grace’s Estate. In that case, Leo, Claire, and I might have become the three siblings, and I wouldn’t have had to choose a ‘cool beauty’ character.
Well, that was all in the past, and I did like the character Alice, so I was enjoying the current situation in its own way.
“Alice seems to still be half asleep. Actually, before coming here, I stopped by Alice’s room first, but she just mumbled in response, so I couldn’t properly hear what she said.”
“…….”
Hmm.
But I thought Alice would eventually join us.
The reason was simple. In the game, I was able to include Alice in the party. If Alice was set to still be sleeping, it wouldn’t have been possible to place her in the party from the first quest.
“Understood. I’ll head down soon.”
“Got it!”
Claire’s expression brightened instantly at my reply. Is it really that good?
Well, since Claire was someone who hadn’t had any family-like figures show up at all, it might really make her happy that she has someone like family with her now.
Speaking of which, what happened to all the kids from the orphanage that were barely depicted in the original? Are they still at Grace’s Estate? Maybe they’re working as helpers or maids there now.
Now that I think of it, Claire, who’s now in a position of being a lady of Grace’s Estate, might treat any orphan that’s come in as if they’re siblings.
Just imagining it makes me feel good.
Since I’ll be visiting Grace’s Estate later in the story, maybe I should check it out then.
“Well, I’ll go down first and order breakfast!”
“Understood. I’ll just tidy up what I was doing and head down right away.”
“Okay!”
Claire nodded vigorously and carefully closed the door. I could hear hurried footsteps leaving in a hurry.
Is she excited?
Well, maybe I can understand that. With two people who are practically family present and all her friends gathered here, she’d definitely feel that way.
To Claire’s eyes, it probably feels like we all came to play together. Can it be thought of as some sort of training camp?
“…….”
As I began to slowly reassemble the firearm parts I had been disassembling and cleaning in a daze, I thought.
Well, still, it was a bit tiring, but that’s just how it is.
*
Even though I pretended to disassemble the firearm early in the morning to appear thorough, it wasn’t a bad thing. Thanks to that, I could double-check the condition of my weapon before diving into work. If I were to experience any extreme situation with a malfunctioning firearm, there might have been a scenario where I’d spend hours reassembling it.
Since I wasn’t heading out right away, I left the firearm safely in my room and stepped out.
“Ah… Sylvia….”
A voice calling me was distinctly different from what I usually heard—dry and cracked.
“Your Highness.”
“……Though it’s part of the practice… I’m still an academy student, so call me by my name…”
Though Alice could barely open her eyes and was half zombie-like, she still managed to throw a little jab at me.
“Are you okay?”
“……Do I look okay?”
In response to my question, Alice turned her face toward me. The reason I described it as her facing me instead of saying she looked at me was that Alice couldn’t open her eyes properly.
Her face wasn’t swollen, and apart from the hair being a little messy, her beautiful face still looked just like Alice’s, but even someone as meticulous as Alice seemed to find waking up at 4 AM quite challenging.
“……Your hair is a bit messy.”
“……It’s fine. I know, but I can’t fix it right now.”
Despite my words, Alice said that and slowly started to walk.
However, while talking, she seemed to be waking up little by little; her cracked voice was gradually returning to normal.
Following behind Alice, who couldn’t properly open her eyes while going down the stairs, I paid attention to her steps as she moved down. Fortunately, Alice didn’t stumble and maintain her balance.
The dining area on the first floor had several round tables that looked similar to what we had seen near the station before.
However, the surroundings were somewhat different from the place we had seen before.
Unlike the slightly dark place we had seen in the daytime, this place was bright even though it was still early. The floor was made of wood, but it had been excellently polished using high-quality materials, unlike the tavern that had creaked and dark stains everywhere, and the hotel lobby we had seen before was also wonderfully built.
Clearly, a lot of money had been spent on completely different construction materials, yet seeing this dining hall brought the realization that this place was still in the Northern Region.
“Hey.”
Leo, who had been sitting and waiting, raised his hand to greet us.
“…….”
And beside him, there were classmates in a nearly zombie state like Alice, sitting consecutively.
In truth, Mia Crowfield looked like she was already dead. She was sitting in a chair but had her head on the table, completely unresponsive.
Jake was rubbing his eyes repeatedly, while Charlotte was barely sitting in a way to maintain the Crown Princess’s decorum.
……Thank goodness.
I’m not the only one feeling ordinary.
Well, in the first place, the original protagonist was Leo.
The original protagonist characters move according to the lead of the protagonist.
The problem would be that this protagonist’s morning was a bit too early.