The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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The gentle demeanor I had seen at the shelter was nowhere to be found; instead, a hoary glare filled with malice and intent was directed at me. The moment she recognized me, her expression seemed to soften slightly, but what was more important was the fact that she had come out of Georg’s class.

How did she get out?

Did she know the Mana Breathing Technique? That seemed plausible. Children of central nobility or royalty likely knew at least one of either magic or the Mana Breathing Technique. It wasn’t entirely strange for her, as a princess, to have learned Mana Breathing.

Compared to the type of magic that relies solely on talent, the Mana Breathing Technique, which eats up both money and time, was certainly more advantageous to master. But did the eastern continent even have such a technique?

No, it didn’t. Nothing had been written about using mana at all.

I started to recall the setting of the eastern continent to check if I had missed something.

There was no holy power to suppress the beasts, so if one went to the back mountains of a village, A-grade monsters could roam freely, and there was hardly any mana to gain power or to use magic—described in a way that made one wonder if humans could even survive there.

In reality, they had been living well enough to prepare for an invasion war. Even the small soldiers were all beastmen, possessing power comparable to or overwhelming that of users of the Mana Breathing Technique.

Seeing this made me think that the balance was entirely shattered. But that was a problem for later.

Worrying now wouldn’t yield any practical solutions, and if I couldn’t connect with the heroines, my concerns would be meaningless. For the time being, I needed to focus on making sure the original storyline unfolded as it should and on increasing my own power.

So, recalling the original knowledge, I looked back at the White Royal Family’s Eldest Daughter and noted that she didn’t seem to need either the Mana Breathing Technique or magic.

Being a beastman, she might have simply relied on her strength. Regardless of whether in the east or here, beastmen were consistently described as having absurd strength, which made this here more believable.

Whatever the truth, it was still dangerous to get close. Just like the incident with Anastasia during lunch, she was an irregular that should be excluded from the story if possible.

For some reason, she seemed to show kindness towards me, but taking that uncertain feeling as a basis for approach carried too much risk.

If I could handle her well, it might even eliminate the event in the second part altogether, but if I failed, it would likely trigger that earlier than expected. Instead of gambling on this continent, it would be better to steadily make progress towards certain results, even if it was difficult.

“Oh, it’s you. Did you get lost on your way?”

Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, she spoke to me casually. She still radiated a black aura or something like that, but there was no malice or hostility in her words. There was no need to clarify what she had been doing, so I just played along.

“Yes. The paths are quite complicated.”

“Hmm, hmm. I see. So it wasn’t just me wandering around.”

She left with confidence, but I wondered if she had actually moved without knowing where the gymnasium was.

Shouldn’t the academy provide a campus map or something?

I had investigated everything in advance, so I knew where everything was. But if Iris from the original work, Ho-yeon, and several other students were wandering around lost, there really was a problem.

Seeing her smile gently for some reason made my heart slightly waver.

Could it be, if I tried, I might be able to successfully woo her?

“Well… did you eat the bread?”

She was still concerned about that. I had thought she was the type who would be indifferent to others, but surprisingly she had a careful side.

I wondered why she had such a fierce rivalry with Anya. I hadn’t even looked at her for long, but she was quite a whimsical person.

Usually, those types were far more exhausting to deal with. With that thought, I was able to steady my heart. She seemed emotionally unstable, so I should just give up neatly. Such a woman was usually dangerous.

“Yes. Thanks to you, I had a hearty meal.”

I didn’t need to tell her that it barely filled me; I just answered as she wanted from over there. Maybe because she was a beastman, her emotions were very apparent.

Like the way she stood with her tail held high…

…

I wanted to believe that was a sign of happiness, but she had clearly done the same with her tail when talking to Anya.

So I could come up with two assumptions. Either she was releasing killing intent while happily meeting someone completely unfamiliar like Anya, or even now was feeling unpleasant, but was trying to hide her feelings towards me for some reason.

Whatever the truth, it was still too risky to get close.

—

Hearing that the bread I gave was delicious lifted my spirits for no reason. I hadn’t said it was tasty, but saying I was full was almost the same.

I didn’t notice before because I had only been receiving food after my friend said, “If it’s you giving it, I won’t even eat steak.” Now, just providing something like this felt strange.

I had told them not to drink from the fridge if they wouldn’t eat what I offered, but the image of my friend stealing drinks while saying, “That’s different,” popped into my mind.

He had been an annoying guy, but he was my only conversational partner.

When I got into college, I might have missed his wordplay of whether he was laughing or congratulating me.

Anyway, I didn’t want to keep holding onto someone who was late, so I let him go. The teacher might forgive him, but being late was still not acceptable.

“Alright, if you’re full, then that’s good. I dragged this out unnecessarily. Hurry up and go since you’re late.”

I thought the mood was wrapping up, but Han Dogon still had something to say and stopped me.

“Princess, may I ask you one thing?”

“Princess? You can just call me by my name. It’s fine to humble yourself, but aren’t we all just students inside the academy?”

Something overly polite felt weird. Being treated like a superior outside my hometown made my conscience scratch a bit.

And thinking of how the protagonist was practically idolized made it feel even more strange. Remembering how such a polite guy could say anything in bed created a tremendous sense of disconnect.

“…Then, Ho-yeon?”

No, no, no, no. That seemed a bit off.

“Th-that’s a little too casual, isn’t it…?”

I thought it was a bit inconsiderate. Hearing a young man call me by my name without hesitation made it feel like my repressed emotions would surface again.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to hear it, but it just felt weird. I didn’t even know what to say. It felt awkward, and I hated to say it, but with that face saying such words felt oddly disturbing.

“Then let’s go with Ho-yeon, shall we?”

“Yes, that should be fine.”

“Okay, Ho-yeon. Then I have one question. Did you happen to face humiliation or ridicule from the professor during class?”

Though it felt somewhat formal again, this was an appropriate level. That said, what a strange question to ask. The teacher wouldn’t do something like that, would they?

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly asking that, but no. Not at all.”

“That’s a relief… since that professor has a bit of a notorious reputation. Even the Empire’s crown prince has been knocked down for being rude, so I was worried there might be a problem.”

Why are you worried about that? What a strange guy.

Wait, the crown prince was knocked down too? Though the teaching style was a bit rough, despite a somewhat intimidating appearance, he wasn’t a bad person; that seemed unlikely.

Some spoiled noble likely was being a nuisance in front of the teacher, only to get what he deserved, and that reckless fellow probably spread malicious rumors.

Gossip tends to get exaggerated and distorted as it spreads. But to hear they knocked down the crown prince was way overboard.

Noble society was indeed a murky place. Surely the teacher had no choice but to bring out the rod for that noble, only later being criticized by the murky practices of noble society.

“I don’t know why you’re worrying about that… but I’ll thank you for your concern.”

I wasn’t so shameless to tell someone who was thinking about me, “Who do you think you are to worry about me?”

When I expressed my thanks, Dogon’s expression momentarily became strange, but soon he bid farewell and stepped into the gymnasium.

Oh right. I intended to ask where the library was. Am I really that foolish?

Though he probably wouldn’t be that helpful since he had wandered around lost during the fourth period.

That aside, I had felt someone’s gaze on me since earlier. It was similar to the one sent by Golden Sun but had a subtly different vibe.

The gaze sent by Golden Sun was an incredibly burdensome stare, like a challenge to fight; this one felt more like a scummy cultist observing passersby hoping to snag a sucker on the street.

I had felt that gaze since I started talking with Dogon but ignored it thinking it would clear up quickly, but it seemed not to be leaving anytime soon.

Feeling anxious, I glanced around to see who kept staring at me, but nobody was there. Only the trees rustled in the wind, and there was no other sign of life.

But someone was definitely watching me. I wanted to shout out loud, but since it was class time, I simply murmured in a frightened little voice.

“…Show yourself.”

As if anyone would come out. I couldn’t help but think I might have been imagining things because of the state I was in. I felt ridiculous for feeling like someone was actually there for a moment.

And what does “show yourself” even mean? Would a thief ever come out if you told him to?

With a small sigh, I started to walk away.

“…I never expected you to find me.”

There really was someone there.