The Former Assassin Becomes a Noble Lady

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Deciding to study hard, I had initially planned to just bury myself in my room and hit the books. I might have only missed a week, but when you combine all the subjects, that adds up to quite a bit. Still, I thought that if I concentrated for a few days, I could at least catch up on what I missed. If it didn’t work out, I could always borrow my friends’ notes, right?

“So, about today, I think it’d be better if I sit this one out.”

We had promised to go shopping together at the new store once I got discharged, but I decided to tell my friends I was skipping out to study.

“No way! Everyone was waiting specifically to go with El!”

“I’m really sorry. But I think I need some time to catch up. Just bear with me a little.”

I felt bad for keeping everyone waiting for a week, but it couldn’t be helped. Sure, missing just today wouldn’t be a huge issue, but today could easily turn into two, three, or even four days. When it comes to these things, it’s best to start quickly once you set your mind to it.

“But if El isn’t going, it’s not really a group outing, is it?”

Selian looked disappointed as she voiced her complaint. Just seeing her gloomy face made my guilt surge. Should I really just let today pass without doing anything…?

“Hm… How about I help you study instead?”

While everyone was caught in indecision, Yuli spoke up.

“If we study together, you could catch up quickly, right?”

Honestly, I’d be grateful if Yuli helped me. However, aside from gratitude, I also felt a twinge of guilt.

“No need to waste time because of me. That would just make me feel worse.”

So I tried to refuse, but Yuli raised her voice, strangely unlike her usual quiet self.

“I’ve gotten a lot of help from El in the past, and if I can help now, that would be great. Or am I being a bother…?”

Her voice, which had been raised, dwindled to a whisper at the end.

“No, no! That can’t be! I’d actually like to ask for your help! Yes! Please help me!”

I blurted that out just to comfort the glum Yuli, but once the words were out, I couldn’t take them back.

“Really?”

Yuli’s eyes lit up instantly, and she grabbed my hand. It was a bit alarming.

Sigh. I guess I’ll just have to fortify my resolve and take Yuli’s help.

“I’ll help too… I’m confident I can teach well.”

“Wait, what?”

Then Selian, who had been watching from the side, grabbed my other hand and looked up at me.

“What? Are you leaving me out? I’ll help El too!”

“Huh?”

And soon, Anne, who had become isolated, chimed in from behind, hugging my waist.

“Helping a friend in class is the class president’s responsibility. I have no choice.”

“Eh?”

The class president, who had come to pass along the overdue printouts, looked at our scene and said, “…Now that I think about it, the Swordsmanship Department’s first-year students did learn the basics of magic. I can teach enough about magic.”

“Really?”

Then, surprisingly, Frecia, who had dropped by to see me for some reason, caught up with the situation.

???

Somehow, everybody around me decided they were going to help without asking for my opinion. But then again, standing in front of these enthusiastic people, I couldn’t really pour cold water on their spirits, so I had no choice but to accept their help.

“But the goal isn’t for everyone to study together; it’s about teaching. Wouldn’t it be better to do it one-on-one?”

“One-on-one… Yes. Studying ‘one-on-one’ would definitely be more efficient. So then, I’ll…”

“Ahh~ Selian’s trying to monopolize El! I’ll do it too!”

“W-What do you mean monopolize! I’m not like that…!”

“…I can teach magic the best.”

“I won’t lose at taking notes!”

The scene quickly devolved into chaos. By the way, Yuli, do you realize that the person you’re speaking casually to is a professor from the Magic Department? She might look as young as Anne, and she is a kid (which is correct), but she is undeniably a professor of the Magic Department. You need to be careful with your words…

“How about we decide the order and take turns helping?”

The class president, who had been watching the mayhem, clapped her hands and offered a solution. Other students seemed to think Lena’s plan made sense and nodded in agreement.

…Why is nobody asking for my opinion?

With Yuli…

In the end, we reached a consensus to take turns looking after me for a day each. I figured if I said something, I’d be met with backlash, so I just stood there, nodding silently.

Knock-knock

As I awaited in a tidy room, I noticed the clock on my desk signaling the scheduled time, and a precise knock followed. There was no way they waited right in front of my door until the time was exactly right; it seemed to match perfectly by chance.

“Just a moment~”

I finished tidying up my desk and opened the door.

“Welcome, Yuli.”

“Hi, El. I’ll be intruding now.”

Yuli stepped inside quietly, greeting me like a proper lady.

“I hope I’m not wasting your time.”

“If you say that once more, I might actually get angry.”

Though she was saying she would get angry, her puffed cheeks were just too cute, reminding me of little animals. I even found myself wanting to tease her into getting mad. By the way, I realized I had never actually seen Yuli angry…

Suddenly, images of me chewing on an apology flashed in my mind.

I vigorously shook my head to erase the image. Nope. I don’t remember a thing. Our sweet Yuli wouldn’t get mad.

Yuli just worried about me and fed me snacks!

“El?”

Seeing me lost in thought, Yuli called out with curiosity.

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing!”

Fortunately, Yuli didn’t find anything strange in my loud response; she tilted her head slightly and continued.

“By the way, this is my first time entering El’s room.”

“Is that so?”

Thinking back, while I had welcomed friends at the door, I had never actually invited anyone inside. It would be a natural situation for any guy to feel butterflies in their stomach being alone in a room with a girl. But after becoming a girl, I felt fluttered at first, but now it felt normal except during the occasional times.

…Yes, I’m sorry. I was acting calm, but this is indeed one of those ‘occasional times.’

Upon entering, Yuli began to look around my room as if she were seeing something wondrous.

Of course, any evidence of my assassin life had already been disposed of or hidden away tightly. So, I wasn’t worried about that. However, I was anxious about her potentially finding my room, unlike the others, a bit bleak.

“Let me take a proper look around later, but should we get started on studying now?”

Fortunately, Yuli didn’t comment on the state of my room and immediately pulled out textbooks and notebooks from her bag, returning to the original purpose of studying.

“Okay. I’ll be counting on you.”

That’s how I ended up receiving one-on-one tuition from Yuli.

“You can easily solve that part by inputting the formula we learned before.”

“Really? Then like this…”

Yuli casually solved the blocked math problem while giving hints. Just as she had said, applying the formula I already knew made it easy to solve. I had heard that being good at studying and being good at teaching are different, but Yuli had talent in both.

“Oh wow, it’s really solving right away?”

“Now that you’ve got the hang of the problems, how about trying this one? It’s an advanced problem, so it might be tough, but if you can solve this, it means you’ve completely understood this part.”

Yuli said this while passing a problem written in her notes toward me.

“This is a problem assigned separately by the professor during class. It also includes the solutions, so it could be a good idea to solve it yourself and compare.”

“Okay. Please wait a moment.”

I picked up the pen and started to tackle the problem she had given. However, just like Yuli had mentioned, the difficulty of this problem was clearly higher than the previous ones. Right from the start, I felt overwhelmed wondering which formula I should use and how to approach it.

So, I thought long and hard, knowing there was no time limit since it wasn’t a test. I focused solely on solving the problem without feeling rushed.

I scribbled in my notebook, trying different formulas, realizing I was wrong, looping back to the beginning, and restarting over again.

After a considerable amount of time grappling with the problem, I finally found a glimmer of hope. From there, things started to fall into place. Although I filled an entire sheet with the working process, I managed to arrive at a satisfactory answer. Of course, I still had no clue if it was right or wrong. Now it was time to confirm the answer with Yuli.

I carefully pushed my notebook over to Yuli, showing my working and answer, seeking verification.

However, I received no response from Yuli.

“Yuli?”

It was essential to clarify if it was wrong or right to proceed to the next question, so I turned to look at Yuli and called her name.

“Uh, yeah!?”

Yuli looked startled when our eyes met, as if jolted back to reality. What’s going on?

“I solved this all…”

“Uh, yes!”

Pushing the notebook gently toward Yuli again, she finally realized what I was saying and began checking my work and answer.

Was she dozing off?

Well… even while studying, I could see how it might be boring if you were just watching someone else study.

Still, I silently thanked Yuli for teaching without letting on while waiting for her to assess my work.

“Yeah. Perfect. Now, I think you just need to practice this section a bit so you won’t forget.”

“Hah~ Why do we even learn math~”

I sighed, leaned back, and stretched. Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was already time for roll call.

“Quickly head back to your room. Don’t get any demerit points. I really appreciate it for today.”

If Yuli got a demerit because of me, I’d feel so guilty I might not be able to look her in the eye. So, I was eager to send her back before she got delayed.

“……”

However, Yuli was still fiddling with her textbook and notes, looking like she had something to say but hesitating and not putting them back in her bag.

“Yuli?”

“Um…”

“Yeah?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Yuli nodded to herself and then opened her mouth.

“Can I stay over and sleep in your room like we used to?”

“…?”

Caught off guard by the sudden overload, I lost my words. After a moment, I could just barely comprehend what Yuli had said.

Wait, what? Isn’t she too old to be this shameless…?

Yet just as I was about to say something to Yuli, I recalled my own situation.

I was no longer ‘Third,’ a guy, but ‘Elysia Frentz,’ a girl. To Yuli, I was merely a childhood friend she used to play with. Perhaps memories of playing and sleeping together when we were younger had resurfaced in her mind.

If I were the real Elysia, I might have accepted Yuli’s proposal, but with the remnants of my male memories still fresh in mind, I couldn’t simply be brazen enough to sleep alone in a room with a girl.

I wasn’t that much of a scoundrel yet.

“No, that’s…”

“The math load isn’t too much anymore, so let’s hurry and finish this, then we can move on to the next subject tomorrow.”

“But…”

“Is that… a no…?”

I’d opened my mouth to refuse, but Yuli was already looking at me with eager eyes, pressing her question again before I could respond.

I should definitely reject her, but at the sight of Yuli’s hopeful look, I found myself unwittingly accepting. I felt a sense of déjà vu in not being able to refuse her request. But surely, it was just a coincidence.

By the time I realized what I had said, Yuli was already beaming, excitedly going back to her room to get ready for roll call.

…I’m not a scoundrel.