I’m Just an Ordinary Clown at the Academy

129 – Diary 2

Imperial Year 525, May 26th.

Special Training, Day 11.

I plan to start with training to avoid getting distracted by other stories.

By now, you all know well about the ordinary skeletons, right? Though the sheer number of them is still bothersome, thankfully not a single punch landed today. Of course, I’m still not used to the attacks from those strange skeletons.

Come to think of it, isn’t getting used to those strange skeletons even stranger? You can at least think of the ordinary skeletons as people. But those strange skeletons… oh, I don’t even want to imagine.

Just the strange skeletons I’ve seen so far: a skeleton with elongated arms, one with a protruding tongue, another throwing ribs, one with six arms shooting three bows simultaneously, a skeleton riding a skeletal horse, and so many more.

If the strange skeletons had ended there, I might have memorized them. There are still skeletons attached to the hogs that haven’t moved yet.

Hog said he would make me capable of defeating Betzdo within a month, and for that to happen, I need to pierce through all the skeletons during practice. Surely Hog won’t be disappointed if I can’t do it within a month, right?

At the beginning of training, I wondered if I could truly become stronger by avoiding something that’s fake anyway.

Today, I realized that this training holds significant meaning.

During Professor Gedra’s class, I ended up sparring with someone else, and surprisingly, it was much easier than expected.

Compared to dodging the skeletons’ attacks, I felt less tense, especially because I was only facing one person.

Moreover, practicing wearing armor and moving continuously during afterschool sessions seemed to have improved my stamina, as I didn’t feel too tired even after fighting for a long time.

Thinking about this, I feel motivated to train harder tomorrow.

Well, let’s stop the training talk here. I just have one small complaint to make now.

I didn’t ask Hog directly because it felt a bit awkward, but how can I never use the perfume I gifted? Does that make sense?

Listen up.

Last time, I mistakenly… no, actually, I should say Hog made a mistake.

Anyway, thinking we were going to have a drink instead of training, I wore a dress and sprayed the perfume as I thought that’s what Hog meant.

He complimented the scent and I even gifted it to him, yet he never used it!

I’m even embarrassed to ask him directly, so I asked my mother to buy a dress similar to the one Hog praised last time.

Wait. If I keep doing this, won’t I look like a woman who’s fallen hard for a man who praised her dress and perfume once?

The focus now should be on the perfume, not the dress!

I must confront Hog about it definitively tomorrow.

… But what should I say?

Hmm. Let’s narrow down a few options first.

[1. Hog, why haven’t you used the perfume I gifted last time?]

Eliminated. This one clearly shows that I’m concerned. What I want is to ask casually, as if I’m not interested, not paying much attention, not making a big deal out of it.

[2. How much of the perfume I gifted is left?]

Hmm… This one’s out too. Though it’s a bit more casual than the first one, with Hog, he’ll definitely tease me, saying, “Why do you want to know? Oh, if there’s not much left, will you give me more?”

★★★★★[3. Hog, you haven’t used the perfume I gifted even once, have you? It’s just a matter of etiquette to use a gifted perfume at least once. I’m not upset that you haven’t, so don’t misunderstand. Just reminding you that it’s polite to use it at least once!]★★★★★

This one’s good! It’s a bit long, but it doesn’t look like I’m clinging to him, and most importantly, it gently reminds him of etiquette.

It’s crucial, so I must emphasize it.

I guess that’s everything I wanted to write in my diary today.

It’s getting late, and I should stop here for today.

As I lie down in bed, ready to sleep, I suddenly remember something that annoys me!

Why on earth did Hog suggest having a drink later and then not mention it again! When is later? You should at least give me a heads-up, specify when we’re supposed to meet.

If he shows up in casual attire saying, “Ta-da, today is the day we’re going for a drink,” after all this, I will seriously… I’ll be furious.

… Could he have forgotten?

If he did forget, from now on, I’ll call him Goldfish.

If he suggested having a drink later and then only intends to drink tea, I hope that’s not the case. No, Hog isn’t that clueless.

What? We had plans to drink tea from the start, so what’s the problem with just drinking tea?

Hmm…….. Um……..

So…

Ah, right! It’s a waste of time, isn’t it!

Just drinking tea feels like a waste of time, so before having tea, why not grab a simple meal, huh? And after tea, to aid digestion, let’s walk together, huh? And if it gets tiring while walking, watching a play would be nice.

But it’s embarrassing to ask when we’ll drink tea, so maybe I’ll just ask about the perfume tomorrow.

————–

Empire Year 525, May 27th.

12th day of training.

Today, I succeeded in asking the fool on the way to school why they hadn’t sprayed perfume as smoothly as I wrote in yesterday’s diary.

What? Didn’t we agree to talk about training first? That’s not important right now.

That fool is already nonsensical with every word and action, but isn’t it even more absurd not to spray perfume?

They said they didn’t spray it because they thought it would be a waste.

Are they really that foolish?

Of course, using it would naturally decrease it. And if it runs out, you can always ask for more.

Even so, they said they would spray it tomorrow after getting angry… Just a moment, by saying this, they eventually revealed that they were bothered by me not spraying perfume.

It’s all because of their strange answers that made me angry. If I hadn’t gotten mad, I wouldn’t have been caught.

If they still don’t spray it tomorrow, I’ll definitely keep hitting them until they have no backbone left.

—————

Empire Year 525, May 28th.

13th day of training.

Today was a good day.

Why, you ask?

Because the fool finally sprayed perfume.

We coincidentally met again today and walked to school together. The fool proudly told me that they sprayed the perfume I gave them.

Originally, I was going to say, “Are you showing off that you sprayed it almost two weeks after I gave it to you?” But since I could smell the same fragrance on them as on me, it felt, well, something.

It’s hard to express this feeling in writing, how could I have said it out loud? Of course, I couldn’t say anything and just walked. But this fool, without any hesitation, said, “Oh? Do I smell the same as Sepia?”!

Are they kidding? Of course, if they used the same perfume, they would smell the same! Who wouldn’t know that!

And if we look closely, it’s not that I smell the same as the fool, but the fool smells the same as me.

What’s the difference between the two?

It’s incredibly different! There’s a huge difference between me smelling the same as the fool and the fool smelling the same as me.

Since they liked it, they’ll probably spray it again tomorrow, right?

And all the perfumes I ordered have arrived. About 200 or so…. The problem is how to naturally give them to the fool…

Since it’ll take time to use up all the perfumes I’ve already given, let’s think about it slowly later.

Now, let’s start talking about training………. No, let’s talk about the birdie first.

There’s one problem with the birdie……

It’s growing too fast.

Isn’t it good if it grows fast?

I did expect the chick to grow quickly, but this seems to be growing too rapidly. If it gets any bigger, it might wobble atop my head.

When I asked the fool on the way to school, they suggested going to ask Professor Elysia together.

It was nice to be asked to go together; these days, it was one of the most considerate gestures among the foolish actions.

Usually, when asked why not go to the Math professor for this sort of thing, the foolish would inquire, and they’d say that Professor Elysia knows everything.

Professor Elysia glanced at the chirping bird and then said she would investigate the bird all day.

There was no reason for Professor Elysia to do anything to the bird, so I readily agreed, but the bird went berserk. Of course, when the professor glared at it once, it quieted down. At home, it would chatter noisily until the spirits scolded it.

Leaving the sulking bird to Professor Elysia, as I was about to leave the office, Professor Elysia said it’s fine to train in the forest, but not too late, and if there’s anything needed, it’s okay to say, she said.

Later, when I asked the foolish, they said Professor Elysia and Professor Idra were close. So does Professor Elysia know that the foolish and I are training in the forest?

Surely Professor Elysia isn’t having strange thoughts, right? For example, the foolish and I in an empty forest doing something ◈ ◈◈ ◈◈ ◈◈◈…

…………..

Even though this is supposed to be just my private diary, it doesn’t feel real. I should erase it quickly.

Training is tough, but I’m so happy these days.

If tomorrow goes like today, it would be really great.

——

Imperial Year 525, May 29th.

14th day of special training.

Johanna Freyja came to the classroom.