The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

[I’ll wait for you at the end of the past spring, Ronan.]

Arisa repeatedly read the sentence she had written, two or three times.
By the fourth reading, she thought,
“Damn it… what the hell is this nonsense?”
She couldn’t hold back her cursing.
The end of the past spring? Waiting? For me?
Where exactly is the end of the past spring, and the way the sentence implies I should obviously go find it bothers me.
Oh, right. Of course, I’m not saying I won’t go looking for Arisa. I will definitely look for her. Not just Arisa.
Luna, Paulo, even that son of a dog, Kaloso.
I’ll go find them all.
And when I find them,
Kaloso… I had this tiny inkling, something akin to a curiosity about whether he had some reason for killing me, but regardless.
When I find him, I’ll be sure to give him a good punch.
So, yeah… I can understand that line about waiting for me.
But still.
The phrasing is just… ambiguous.
Why is she writing such emotional sentences?
It’s like she scribbled down some nonsense she doesn’t even understand.
Has that girl just hit puberty late?
Actually, Leona has already read it, but I can’t help but think she must not understand what it means.
Am I the stupid one?
No, I’m not stupid.
Paulo. He’s probably already written it in his mental notebook, saying how cool the sentence is, mumbling one day that he’ll say such lines himself.
Kaloso. I wonder if it’s magically enchanted, and I’d like to zap this note with some magic.
Arisa. The Arisa who loved spring would probably just grin and say the sentence was lovely.
Luna. If it’s Luna, she might understand it. She was the smartest among us.

“…Tsk.”
Anyway… with the information I currently have, I can’t interpret it.
I clicked my tongue and put the note into my A-Space Pocket.
Arisa has disappeared from the Holy Kingdom.
And when I reach the 6th Rank, I’ll find out Luna’s location.
I don’t know where Luna is, but surely, she must be far from the system.
The Holy Kingdom is no different. It takes too long to go back and forth. So then… I’ll have to move during summer break.
Well… if I’m really in a hurry, I could move right now, but regardless of how urgent they are, I can’t act rashly because I’m too weak right now.
I must at least reach the 6th Rank.
So then, where should I check first?
While thinking about that.

“Young Lady! We’re all set!”
From a distance, I heard the cheerful voice of Yurasia.
“I’ve also prepared the bath salts! It’s lily scent!”
Lily scent? That’s a fragrance I’ve never smelled before.
“It smells amazing! Hurry up and come!”
“Okay.”
Thinking about all the people waiting for me, I stripped off the remaining pieces of underwear.

*
“Like I mentioned before, next Monday, in three days, we’ll start the mid-term exams. I hope everyone is well prepared?”
At the end of April, it’s mid-term exam time.
The mid-terms at Karela Academy are conducted solely in writing, unlike the entrance exam.
In contrast, the finals are conducted entirely in practical assessments.
Thus, the written exam for mid-terms includes basic knowledge along with hints that will form the backdrop for the final exams.
Anyway, the mid-terms will be in three days.
A lot has happened since I enrolled, but after receiving Arisa’s note from Leona, I spent a peaceful, uneventful month.
No, it wasn’t entirely peaceful or quiet.
“So, everyone? The mid-terms are coming up, and we also need to prepare the report for our club during that period, right?”
This was the demonic realm exploration club created by Stella.
The responsible professor was decided to be Adelia.
Why? Why the hell did they do something so crazy?
According to Stella, Adelia came forward after seeing her running around all flustered, desperately saying she wanted to be the supervising professor.
From Adelia’s words, it appears she found Stella, who looked like she was about to cry in the faculty room, pitiful and stepped in to help.
It seems Adelia’s words are closer to the truth. Not just a little, but completely true.
As the submission date drew near, Stella must have gotten anxious and went to hunt down professors as best as she could, and after being declined all the way until the end, she must’ve suffered alone.
But she wouldn’t be able to ask us to help after boasting that she would do it herself; her peculiar pride wouldn’t allow it.
So, she probably just had her sad eyes in the faculty room. And… Adelia, who had been watching her all along, must’ve helped Stella at the right moment.
Not mentioning to me who the club supervisor was, it seems they had coordinated and agreed.
I saw Stella and Adelia exchanging glances on the first day of the club.
That wretched girl collaborated with the Dark Mage.
“Oh my. Staring at me like that won’t change anything, you know? The receiving side for the performance report is the club-related department. So, Miss Ellie, could you be a little softer towards me?”
“My eyes are like this naturally.”
“Hmm? That’s a lie. Your eyes become much softer when you look at Stella, Pina, and Yurasia, right? Hmm… What about Ophelia? Did I leave her out because she’s a senior?”
“Lady Eliaernes would look at me softly…?”
Stella muttered as she looked at me.
“Hehe.”
Yurasia chuckled and leaned toward me.
“I like Lady Eliaernes too!”
Pina scribbled adorably on a new sketchbook device she received from Adelia.
“Aren’t you secretly bullying us because you’re a senior, huh, juniors?”
The closeness Ophelia and I developed over the month allowed her to poke fun at me.
“Enough chit-chat… let’s get on with it.”
“Alright.”
Clap! With a clap, Adelia changed the mood, flashing a bright smile as she picked up some chalk.
“Performance report. It’ll be difficult to write. Our club is bound to be that way.”
She emphasizes the word “our.”
It seems she’s extremely happy to have become the supervising professor of this club.
“So, as the professor in charge of this club, Adelia Baros, I’ll be helping you all. You see, I’m a professor who cares about you guys!”
“Are you really going to help us…?”
Stella, with dark circles under her eyes, looked surprised at Adelia.
She seems to have been losing sleep over the report.
“Yes. A demonic realm exploration club. Anyway, it’s a club related to the demon realm, right? Since it has an exploration tag… we can’t prove our club’s proper performance without going into the demon realm.”
“…That’s true.”
“So, I’ve done several investigations?”
Her beautifully curved eyes turned to me.
“So let’s go eat some chicken skewers.”
“…What? Chicken skewers?”
The heads of the four girls sitting next to me all tilted at once.
“Yes. Chicken skewers. While eating that, I’ll explain what I’ve researched.”
“Is it just to eat chicken skewers?”
“It’s not just about chicken skewers. This is an outing for your club hours.”
After saying that, Adelia pulled out five small pieces of paper from her pocket. I looked closely thinking what it was, and they were outing passes.
Looks like she prepared them ahead of time. The ink on the signed papers seems completely dry, which means she wrote them last night.
She went all out.
“Alright, let’s hurry! We’re going for chicken skewers!”
With a gleeful smile, Adelia took the lead, and hearing the promise of delicious food, Pina quickly followed.
Stella stood up with a meaningful expression and Yurasia stood up early to guard my side.
Ophelia…
Hiii-choo!
Let out a stupid sneeze, then placed a small note on my hand.
Her skill of placing it while avoiding Yurasia’s gaze is quite impressive. Even I, who used to be a pickpocket in my past life, can’t help but admire her.
What’s on the note? No need to think.
It’s about the request I gave her to investigate the movements of the Holy Kingdom.
Only, this won’t be the completed report.
She said to notify me of any problems or information she couldn’t find out, so something must have gone wrong again.
This time it’s the sixth issue in a month.
Even after earning enough money for a feast, I can’t understand what kind of problem keeps occurring like this.
And what’s also annoying is,
That she hands me notes when there are people around instead of just passing it to me when it’s night or when I’m alone or even in the bathroom.
While chatting about this and that, it’s like she has a dream of such thrilling espionage? Or something like that, but she has a knack for making me annoyed too.
“…As expected, Yurasia is the most normal.”
Pina, having once again belted out a sorrowful shriek, followed the Dark Mage to eat something delicious, while Stella kept checking my mood during club time, and Ophelia… certainly has lots of issues.
“Yes?”
“Uh, no. Let’s hurry.”
I hid the note Ophelia had given me into my pocket and moved forward. Stella, who had been acting all coy, followed right behind me.
“Hey, Stella.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Congrats on reaching 5th Rank.”
Saying that, I threw a bracelet at Stella.
It was an artifact I had custom-made in celebration of her reaching the 5th Rank.
Its effects include… well, lots of good stuff.
And just like before… a cherry blossom-shaped jewel and magical stone are embedded in the center of the bracelet.
I didn’t order it.
That guy made it on his own.
“Huh?! Wh-what is this? Wait… thanks first. But what the hell is this?”
“A present.”
“I know that. But… a bracelet? With cherry blossom-shaped jewels and magical stones?”
“It’s an artifact. I stretched it to its maximum size since I didn’t know your mana capacity, and it has two protective spells. Also, if you break the bracelet in case of an emergency, it’ll alert another artifact.”
“Another artifact…?”
Stella tilted her head. I showed her the pocket watch I had inside my robe.
“This.”
The pendulum hanging from it. The cherry blossom-shaped magical stone. If Stella breaks that bracelet, an alarm will ring here.
It’s an incredible function, allowing me to know approximately where she’s missing.
I spent a lot of money to add that.
“…This is too much for a gift.”
“Take it when I give it.”
“But I didn’t give you a gift when you reached the 5th Rank…? And I don’t have the confidence to give such a large present just because you’re about to reach the 6th Rank.”
“Pay me back later.”
“…Later.”
Murmuring that, Stella lowered her head with a bright smile.
“Yeah. Thanks… I’ll use it well.”
I didn’t respond and continued moving.
Just then, I felt an incredibly sharp gaze from beside me. No need to check. It’s Yurasia.
Giggle – I turned to look at Yurasia,
Her expression was gloomy yet subtly expectant, and a hint of jealousy? Was I right to sense it?
“What’s with that expression?”
“My expression is always like this.”
“Right now, it looks just like a mushroom with an attitude.”
“Eh?!”
I handed a small box to the flustered Yurasia.
“Huh?”
“Of course, I have something for you as well. Open it.”
“Ah… earrings…!”
Earrings. They’re the same cherry blossom-shaped ones.
“The effects are the same as I gave to Stella. They’ll probably be better than the necklace you had before.”
“Wow…! Young Lady, you’re the best! I love you, Young Lady! I wouldn’t want anyone but you!”
Yurasia’s face brightened up, all dark emotions evaporating.
Yurasia, with her usual grin, and Stella, with a randomly bad mood and a creepy smile.
Meanwhile, Ophelia watched us with an expression of sheer shock.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh? No… I just thought you value your friends a lot, junior.”
“I do.”
“Huh!” Yurasia took a startled breath.
Stella froze at that moment.
Ophelia surveyed us with an odd expression.
“Hmm, who’s the senior here?”
“Senior?”
“Oh, never mind. Anyway, let’s hurry up, juniors!”
With an awkward smile, Ophelia turned around and hurried to chase after Adelia.
I too moved to catch up with the group leading ahead.
The air isn’t chilly. The warm breeze carries a smell suggesting it’ll get hot soon.
“Young Lady, Young Lady.”
“Yes?”
“What season do you like the most?”
“I like winter. My birthday is then.”
Yurasia tossed the question while Ophelia intervened, replying first.
“I like winter too.”
Now it was Stella’s turn to speak.
“Sleeping in a tent by hugging a heater artifact in winter makes for the best sleep ever.”
“That’s killing yourself, you crazy woman.”
“What?! Crazy woman?!”
“I like summer! Even if it’s hot, we can eat refreshing things in summer!”
Yurasia patted Stella who had gotten angry and replied,
“What about you, Young Lady?”
“I…”
I paused to think.
The season I like.
I like neither hot nor cold.
Autumn? Too many fallen leaves.
What about spring? I dislike it because Arisa likes it.
So, if I had to say,
“I like the space between spring and summer.”
“…Huh?”
“What’s that in between spring and summer?”
“You’re unexpectedly emotional, junior?”
“Before you poke all your eyes out, walk straight and properly.”
“Eep.”
“Hey! Speak in a nicer tone!”
“I’m sorry, junior, I won’t do it again.”
As their gazes drifted away when I glared at them, I looked up at the sky with a faint smile.
The space between spring and summer.
Honestly, it’s funny that I responded that way.
I don’t even know why I like it.
It must be because of some memory from my childhood that I can’t recall.
Just a feeling that it’s something buried beneath a hazy mist…
“Between spring and summer… is that the end of spring?”
While pondering that, Yurasia muttered softly.
“The end of spring?”
The end of spring.
Arisa’s letter.
[I’ll wait for you at the end of the past spring, Ronan.]
“…Huh?”
I,
Why do I like the end of spring?
‘Ronan. I like the end of spring.’
Arisa’s voice.
The phrase that she loves, “the end of spring,” not spring itself, is something I’ve never heard before. But I’ve heard it once…
A strong question flooded my mind.
The memory concealed in the fog—memory? Experience?
What is it? Things I’ve never experienced.
At that moment, accompanied by a terrible headache—
“Yee! Hee!”
From a distance, Pina came rushing toward me, crying like a fountain.
And behind her, Adelia was awkwardly smiling while holding chicken skewers.
Adelia sees me.
Her red pupils shine. Her lips twitch as she takes one step, tap tap.
The headache fades.
The unsettling memory gets obscured by the fog once more.
What’s left is pure curiosity.
The end of spring. Arisa’s letter.
The season I like.
She said she’d wait for me there.
Why? No, how in the world does Arisa know the term “end of spring”? Is it a coincidence? It’s too much of a coincidence.
“Young Lady? Are you feeling unwell?”
“…No. I’m fine. Thank you.”
I cautiously pulled away Yurasia’s hand, which had been supporting me. At the same time, Pina hugged me.
“Hee…! Hic! Hiiik!”
Yeah…
Before thinking about the end of spring and everything, let’s figure out why this squirrel is crying first.
I looked up to see Adelia. She was still gazing at me with a radiant smile.