NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77
It’s really pointless to think about where things went wrong now.
I did my best, and this is what I got. Honestly, if I had to rewind time and solve the problem again, I wouldn’t be confident I’d pull it off for sure. No matter how well I know the process, the fact that I’d have to go through the same thing over and over again isn’t good for my mental health.
At least, I really don’t want to go back to the battlefield for a while. The smells, that dampness, and the noisy sounds are things I don’t want to hear anymore.
So, right after I parted ways with Palace of Great Blessings, I just went back to my room and collapsed onto my bed.
And just like that, I fell sound asleep.
My head was overheating, and for at least a few hours, I didn’t really want to think about anything.
Zzz…
When I opened my eyes, my body felt incredibly light.
And based on that fact, I could ascertain a few things.
No matter how much I learned to meditate to alleviate tiredness, in the end, sleeping is still way better than meditating. Meditation just helps maintain the state of the body, it doesn’t actually make tiredness disappear.
To keep the mind clear through meditation, one needs to mix in proper breaks from time to time, and it seems like physical stamina has to be above a certain level too.
I honestly haven’t really liked exercising until now.
I didn’t personally like it much, but more than that, it was because I never knew when I’d have to rewind time.
No matter how hard I trained, if I had to rewind because of some sudden incident, all that effort would just go to waste.
I tried to build up habits that I could resolve through practice and the same goes for knowledge.
Still, since I had to follow the protagonist’s group, I at least forced myself into doing the minimum training, but that doesn’t mean I planned to catch up to those extraordinary protagonists.
…But considering I didn’t faint after all the chaos on the battlefield yesterday and continuing to follow my group to complete requests, it seems that the minimum training and meditation really helped a lot.
Had I not learned meditation, I probably would’ve collapsed right when I returned and wouldn’t have woken up until the next morning.
I could say that being able to hold on just a few more hours was thanks to my master.
I wondered if Leo and the group had returned. I had this feeling they might not have come back yet.
There’s no way the group that went to meet the Sword Saint would be back so soon. Even if they studied through the night, they’d only have learned a little.
Well, as far as this event goes, just meeting the Sword Saint has a meaning of its own.
Grrr…
Maybe it’s because I didn’t have dinner last night and just fell asleep, but my stomach was already growling.
I looked at the clock; it was nine in the morning.
Should I wash up and go eat?
Splash!
No matter how disciplined one’s life is, if they’re not part of the very small minority of truly diligent humans, most people lose their rules the moment they relax.
In the academy dorms, we’re supposed to wake up, get ready, and eat by seven-thirty in the morning, and then attend class by nine.
But here, Jennifer, who oversees this area, wasn’t the type to insist on such strictness.
If you want to, you can sleep in as late as you want. As long as you can maintain your grades, Jennifer doesn’t care how long you sleep or how much you enjoy playing around.
The students knew that too, which was probably why they were bustling around so hard yesterday. If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have been able to meet the minimum scores.
Maybe that’s why the dining hall at Winterfield Castle felt so empty. There didn’t seem to be many students around.
If it were a game, I would’ve thought it was just that the resources couldn’t handle so many players. But seeing students in academy uniforms and only about three of them visible, it seemed that such reasons didn’t affect reality.
Two of them were people I recognized. They were in Aristocrat Class A, just like me. I had seen them in the game and read about them in guides. We didn’t usually have deep conversations. In fact, they weren’t major named characters that were heavily involved in the story.
A girl and a boy were sitting across from each other, having their meal, and thinking about their different last names, they didn’t seem to be siblings. But it didn’t quite feel like they were dating either… perhaps there were a few more companions who were spread out in the dorms.
And aside from those two, there was another person…
……
Eh.
Who is that?
The girl with short, dark brown hair had a striking face despite the short hairstyle. Sure, her hair was short, but it was still longer than most boys’.
Not only her hair but also her uniform was a female one.
She had taken off her coat and neatly draped it over the empty chair next to her, so her uniform was fully visible, which meant no one could mistake her for a boy.
Was there someone like that in the Aristocrat Class?
As I mentioned before, in the game, all the students in the aristocrat class had their different models, even the side characters. After playing the game and reading all sorts of books, I still had their list in my head.
And that girl was not on that list.
It’s hard to even think she’s a commoner. They must have gone on practical training somewhere else. Sure, I could think she might have come from a nearby area, but if there was really an urgent message that needed delivering, they wouldn’t send a student to do it.
This might be a prejudice, but… I sensed a somewhat noble air about her.
“……”
Hmm.
I had a bad feeling about this.
Isn’t it going to get troublesome if I get involved?
After all the chaos I went through yesterday, I just wanted to spend today peacefully, so I deliberately sat at a distance from her.
This place wasn’t somewhere I could just order food. It isn’t a restaurant that someone operates by taking money.
By sitting down and waiting, a servant would quickly come, inform me about the meal options, and I could say what I wanted to leave out or add. If breakfast seemed too burdensome, I could settle for a cup of coffee instead.
I sat there, dazed while quietly staring ahead, waiting for a servant to come, when I heard footsteps.
They were very orderly and regular footfalls. Moreover, they were different from the ringing steps of the servant. The shoes the servants wore were what you’d expect out of regular office workers— real ‘dress shoes’. While students wore shoes that were presumably still dress shoes, they were much more comfortable and made from softer material.
So when they walked, the clattering wouldn’t be so distinct. On campus, the difference in footsteps between teachers and students was actually quite clear.
Now, the sound I could hear was from those ‘students’.
“……”
I felt uneasy.
For some reason, I had a bad premonition that something unexpected was about to happen.
“Crown Princess.”
And my feeling turned out to be very accurate.
It was a stroke of luck I didn’t flinch. Perhaps it was because I had seen so much chaos the day before and was tired of the bomb blasts and gunshots that I managed to stay calm.
I slowly turned my gaze to the person calling me.
There was a noble girl’s face smiling brightly.
From a distance, I hadn’t noticed, but apart from her upright posture, she looked a bit younger than I expected. The fact that she looked younger than so many young faces I frequently saw at the academy meant she was at least a year younger than me.
She was taller than I had thought and quite physically developed, but there was an indelible air of youth about her face.
Thud.
Then that youthful-looking noble girl saluted me with perfect form. It wasn’t just a hand raise— I could even hear a clap! sound from her heels clicking together!
It wasn’t the imperial way of saluting.
“……”
“……”
Since I wasn’t saying anything while looking up, she stood there in salute without moving.
…Ah, is she actually greeting me right now?
“You may feel free to relax.”
Once I said that, she gracefully lowered her hand. This time, the sound of her clothes moving made the thud! sound again. That was a sound that actually could be heard in reality after all.
“May I inquire about your business?”
“Oh!”
“……”
With that stiff reply, I nearly raised my hand to my forehead, but I held it back.
“I am Rena Meyer!”
So, who’s that?
That question almost slipped out.
“Are you a student at our academy?”
“Yes.”
Rena Meyer responded to my question.
“I came to introduce myself as I’m transferring in this time.”
“……”
I was at a loss for words.