So I’m a Fish, So What?

Two contrasting gazes, one sharp and one gentle, unabashedly bore into our figures as we shuffled through the noisy crowd of fresh students.

Those two really had no intentions of going through this otherworld school life in a low-key manner, huh?

Especially the boy.

The way he is flaunting his aura everywhere is just disgusting… not to mention incredibly rude as well!

But I guess it is warranted considering his and his companion’s special standings.

You see, a crown prince and a Saint candidate aren’t usually the kind of people that need to care about such … mundane issues.

I mean, no one can actually reprimand them for it except for the Emperor and the Pontiff respectively.

They would– should normally tune it down to regular levels if they are in a foreign land though.

Causing a diplomatic issue is the last thing anyone of their standing would wanna do.

Dealing with those is a huge pain in the ass, and I fully know this since I watched my father rushing to deal with those multiple times over the years.

The Saint candidate of the Holy Allieus Kingdom has done a fantastic job at that since I couldn’t really feel much aura emanating from her.

In fact, the only reason why she grabbed my attention is because she has a relatively large quantity of magic power hidden in her body.

Of course, it’s a very small amount when compared to mine, but I’m much more adept at hiding it.

But I guess it is only expected she’d do great at social interactions.

Her position has a lot to do with inspiring the masses through saint-like deeds and maybe waving her staff a few times around the Hero, after all.

Compared to the crown prince of The Rexandt Empire, her lifestyle is destined to be much more down to earth.

The difference in their upbringing and societal training has become very clear to all despite only seeing them once.

The crown prince has been actively using his aura to pressure the other students away while looking down on everyone with an arrogant expression,

…It’s kinda irking to see if I am being honest, but it’s not like I care.

If I ever get a chance to punch that cocky face of his though, you’d better bet I’ll be giving it my all!

As I was in my usual position at the back, I had a full view of our entire group’s reaction to this unconcealed show of rudeness.

Shun’s body just stiffened in confusion, unable to decide which course of action he’s supposed to take in this situation.

As I said before, dude’s political skills are just bad… and by bad I meaning they’re nearly level fucking zero, if not negative.

He dodges any and all societal obligations he has through sheer luck, and it doesn’t help that the queen has been actively isolating him since he showed his talent in the appraisal ceremony.

Everyone –even Sue– can see this, yet he’s the only one that’s totally oblivious!

I gave up on advising or helping him through that stuff long ago.

I’d rather not get on the bad side of the queen for someone who doesn’t appreciate nor even realize the efforts I’ve put in for him over the years.

At the end of the day, he’s fine carefreely living his best life without getting involved with the complications of politics, so there isn’t much reason for me to intervene.

Sue's reaction was by all means lacking– the usual really.

Sue gives zero fucks about anything and everything that doesn’t involve her beloved Oni-sama.

Weeell…. she might give one or two fucks maximum if it involves me or Fei, which is kinda flattering considering she strangely used to see me as a love rival who’s competing for her Oni-sama.

I have no doubts that if she had a chance a few years ago, she would’ve offed me without hesitation.

That girl seriously has a few screws loose in her head.

Ughhh, bad memories.

Anyway, the rest of our group’s reactions didn’t differ much from hers.

Fillimos just continued approaching them, unfazed– as if she was used to it or/and experienced worse.

Odd, yet understandable nonetheless.

Her father is the rudest mother fucker in this world anyways– bastard just straight up appraised us without even trying to justify it!

As for me, I just kept silent since I’d rather not draw any unwarranted attention to myself.

It’s not like this puny aura could affect me anyways.

You’d at least need a full blown dragon’s might to as much as to get a reaction out of me after all I’ve been through.

Nevertheless, I took this rare opportunity to carefully observe these two legendary characters from an unnoticeable angle.

It’s not everyday that you get to see the future Sword-King, Hugo Baint von Renxandt, and the Saint candidate, Yuri Ullen, up close, y’know?

I only ever heard about those two through Barrietta-san’s rare gossip, the rumors exchanged between the adventurers in the guild, and the tiring exchanges between nobles.

Apparently, Hugo has shown incredible talent since the moment his hands first touched the handle of a blade while Yuri’s magical prowess was just as incredible, if not even better.

The political positions of both were as solid as a rock just because of how ridiculous their talent was compared to their peers.

They’re destined to someday become great leaders with significant influence over the entire human race – not that it has much effect on me.

High rank adventurers have long since acquired enough strength to escape the control of any kind of country or organization with authoritative powers amongst humanity.

It seems like we’re gonna be in close contact with these two big shots for the foreseeable future though, so I might as well put in some effort in getting to know them.

Who knows? Maybe it could prove useful somewhere down the line.

As for other students in the academy….. yeah, no thanks.

Interacting with them within the boundaries of noble etiquette is the best I could do, and anything more than that is just a pure waste of time… and sanity.

It wasn’t surprising that both of the aforementioned bigwigs immediately noticed us as soon as we came close.

An elf just strolling in the middle of a human royal academy IS quite a conspicuous sight, after all.

Especially when two of her companions are royalty and one is the daughter of the highest ranking noble.

Frankly, the amount of attention we usually get would be enough to inspire a severe case of Scopophobia in your average modern day teenager.

Thankfully, I’ve gotten used to it over the years, though I certainly had my fair share of trouble at the beginning.

Hugo and Yuri widened their eyes in surprise upon laying eyes on Filimos.

Is this actually the first time they met? Color me surprised.

I would’ve imagined they were already on close terms.

Y’know, just like how Filimos asked to meet us a year ago, even going as far as to have the king summon me into the castle and nearly send me into a severe panic attack.

But then again, Hugo and Yuri’s social positions are technically higher than hours, so maybe she just couldn’t secure a meeting in a similar setting.

At the end of the day, I’m just the ‘eldest daughter’ of a duke while Shun is the fourth prince born from a concubine– one that has already passed away, allow me to mention.

Their surprised expressions then morphed, one into a cocky grin and the other into a cheerful smile.

“Yo. So that puny elf is Ms Oka?” Were Hugo’s first words when we finally reached their position.

That cocky expression, that mocking tone… Yep, that’s definitely Natsume alright.

And it seems his egoistic personality has gotten anything but better with his reincarnation.

“Don’t be rude, Natsume. That’s no way to talk to a teacher! It’s good to see you, ma’am.” Yuri quickly berated him.

Yet her expression didn’t change.

She was still looking at us with that cheerful smile plastered on her face.

….I was a bit unnerved to be honest.

She was obviously just smiling, but it just felt very unnatural to me.

Not forced, just unnatural… or that’s what my intuition was telling me anyways.

Seeing that everyone else didn’t show any signs of feeling the same, I just chucked it up to my overly observant nature for now.

“Good to see you, toooo! Natsume, Hasebe, I’m so very glad you’re weeell.” Filimos responded with her usual tick, completely unperturbed by Natusme’s mocking.

Oh? She has definitely become a professional, I’ll give her that.

If a similar scene was staged back in Japan, hell would’ve gone loose!

Yet here she was, taking his unmistakable disrespect with a straight face.

Anyway, the identities of our two new potential friends have finally been unveiled!

Natsume Kengo and Hasebe Yuika.

The first was easy to guess, but the second came as a total surprise to me.

Yuika was… a normal girl back in Japan— IF not an overly considerate one.

Tomoko would sometimes describe her as an over optimistic fool, and I honestly can’t disagree with that.

She was one of our few classmates who actually thought Natsume wasn’t that bad of a person for some reason.

I personally steered clear of her most of the time since I didn’t wanna get stuck in a conversation with someone I dislike by any chance.

She used to deal with most of our classmates, after all, though she usually stuck with the quiet girl group.

It is still unknown how much her personality has changed as of our reincarnation, but hopefully, there hasn’t been much of a drastic change.

“Pff-ha-ha-ha! I mean, Ms Oka might not have been the tiniest out there, but now…. Ha-ha…She definitely is! Even that pipsqueak Ito was larger than!” He continued in between his laughter, gesturing towards Filimos’s petite elf body.

“Natsume!" Yuri suddenly shouted.

Apparently, that was enough for Yuri to finally snap, as her smile finally faded into a serious expression.

I don’t know whether the cause of that was Hugo’s continued disrespect or if she felt the aura of danger I began radiating upon hearing the last sentence.

Most likely the former, but it helped deal with the latter anyways.

Frankly, I wouldn’t care much if any of us who are standing right here are insulted.

But him taking the chance to insult Tomoko whose whereabouts are still unknown just because he can escape her ire for once just pisses me off.

It would appear the effect of Tomoko’s shoulder throw has been worn down over the years, huh?

I hope this academy has practical classes where we can duel, cause I sure as hell would love to renew its effect.

“I’m an elf, so I can’t help being small, you knooow. Besides, you’re not so much taller than me now, Natsumeee.”

Seemingly wanting to move on from this topic already, Filimos finally responds to Hugo with a comeback of her own.

I mean, she isn’t really wrong per se, but…. He’s definitely still much taller.

In fact, Filimos is by far the shortest out of all of us– she didn’t even go through the violent growth spurt we all went through.

Maybe it has something to do with elf physiology?

It could be a cliche development where ‘elfs age ten times slower than humans’ or something like that.

Like, maybe she has to wait until she’s 90 before she gets any taller… I would love to see her expression upon learning that!

I snicker out loud at the thought, but quickly cover my mouth in an elegant manner.

Someone seems to have misunderstood something though, because that snicker earned me a very harsh glare from Hugo.

Glad to see you’re still as unlikable as ever, asshole.

I just stared back at him indifferently.

Perhaps realizing that his show of force isn’t having much effect, Hugo just harrumphed and shifted his attention back to Filimos.

“I’m gonna have a huge growth spurt soon, just you wait! Anyway, this one’s the prince of this country, right? Who’s in there?” He asks while gazing at Shun with a predatory gaze.

I could tell Shun was very disturbed being watched by him, but I made no attempts to intervene for the moment.

If I had to guess Shun’s thoughts right now, I would say he’s definitely comparing the current Hugo to the past Natsume.

A mistake he has been making ever since we reunited with each other in this new world, and one he’ll probably continue on making unless he gets a harsh reality check.

While I would definitely hate to see my best friend get thrust deep into such a situation, it is unfortunately the only way for him to wake up from his decade long daydream.

“Shunsuke Yamada” Shun simply replies.

“And I’m Kanata Ooshima. Long time no see, Natsume.” I quickly stepped forward and cut in before Hugo got the chance to mock Shun in any way.

As long as it’s something harmless like verbal bullying, I wouldn’t mind redirecting the target to myself if it means I can protect Shun.

I do still remember that childish promise we made to each other in our new life.

And it’s not like the relationship between me and Hugo was particularly great in our previous lives in the first place.

We didn’t really deal with each other at the beginning, but our relationship soured very quickly when he began pestering Tomoko, then became irreconcilable the moment she threw him over her shoulder that one time.

“Aah..? Ooshima?” Hugo’s only response was to open his mouth in a flabbergasted expression.

“Yup. It’s definitely Ooshima hiding in here. Being reborn as a woman comes as a great surprise, doesn’t it?” I chuckled amusedly.

Now even Yuri was staring at me with an expression that’s definitely not suitable for a girl to make in public, earning another chuckle from me.

Then I just stood there, waiting for whatever Hugo was going to throw my way.

“A-aaahh…. Long time… no see.”

But surprisingly, I didn’t receive any sort of ridicule or derision even after waiting for a solid minute.

Instead, he just gave an awkward smile and proceeded to forcefully shift the subject of our conversation.

I could only give him a perplexed look and continue along with the new flow.

Did his brain circuits get fried by the revelation of my gender bend or something? This is really unlike the Natsume I know.

Interesting…

Maybe the next few years won’t be as boring as I thought.

---