How to Survive at the Academy Chapter 73

Wintering (6)

“Uh ha ha ha ha~~.”

“Thanks for your efforts.”

Submission of conference agenda documents, submission of new student placement test plans and basic preparation checks, drafting of academic schedule adjustments after school starts, final exam grades and ranking assignments, and full professor review preparations have all been completed.

Assistant Professor Claire buried her head in her desk, feeling that her soul was draining.

“If you do well in the freshman placement test next week, you can rest for the rest of the vacation.”

“Anise is amazing. Steel stamina, really. Look at the skin not showing at all. I’m already getting dead skin cells… Is this… youth…?”

Assistant Professor Claire kept her head down and only turned her head to look in the desk mirror. There was a body in the mirror.

On the other hand, Anise, sitting at a large table in the center of the lab and surrounded by papers… I wonder if that is a person.

Looking at her dazzlingly elegant look as she turns over documents, it seems that she has just come to work and is in excellent physical condition, but to my surprise, Anise has been staying up all night for the second day.

It is a dignity that was forged while working alone as an assistant professor in the laboratory of assistant professor Clare, who was already lacking in research manpower.

He handles everything by himself, even the things he wasn’t told to do, and even takes care of chores to keep the lab running well… From the point of view of assistant professor Claire, he has no choice but to treat him like his boss. I can’t tell who is the professor and who is the assistant.

‘As expected… External scholarship students can’t be trusted.’

In the meantime, Anis turned over the papers and sighed deeply.

Unlike Anis, who is openly working as assistant professor Claire’s senior assistant, it is difficult to expect a sense of belonging from the undergraduate scholarship staff.

So, as well as entrusting important tasks, even trivial tasks must be carefully checked to see if they are handled well.

The verification work itself also requires quite a bit of effort, so it can’t be seen as a very efficient workforce.

Sure enough, whether it’s the 3rd year Onyx or the 1st year Clevius, the work process isn’t neat. It might be difficult for students to deal with paperwork, even if it’s not a big deal, but I thought that I was stupid for expecting the minimum level.

For the most part, Anis had to go back to work. The only person who didn’t get his hand was Ed Ross Taylor.

Since it was the most worrisome person, Anise marked it closely, but surprisingly, it didn’t work at all.

If I hadn’t thought of mentioning Ed in relation to Yenica, it would have been more efficient for Anise to stick with the other side. There is no point in attaching yourself to someone who is good at handling work alone as a supervisor.

There is nothing wrong with the paperwork or the actual handling itself. Usually, the student workforce has little experience, so they are not proficient in handling work, and they often say that they do not know even the smallest parts.

However, Ed Rosteylor did not treat most problems simply as problems, but had a strong tendency to make flexible, solution-oriented decisions.

For example, he took a checklist while taking a preliminary field trip to the exam site, but Ed Rosteyler did not judge the site by confining himself to the checklist.

– ‘Students may come in and out of this entrance by mistake, so it’s better to close it in advance.’

– ‘Your eyes are very slippery. Even on the day of the test, it would be a little difficult if it was this slippery.’

– ‘The scope of the test site is wider than I thought. It may be necessary to set the range a little narrower, or if that is not possible, increase the number of hidden mana stones and adjust the level of difficulty.’

‘Unexpectedly, it seems that he didn’t live up to his expectations…’

Practical problem-solving ability is a characteristic that is difficult to find in those who have simply lived a noble aristocratic life.

It was a bit unexpected. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t embarrassed.

“By the way, did Anis go out with Ed? How is it?

“Is it similar?”

“Umm… You don’t know Anis. Student Ed was excommunicated, right?”

“No… I know that much.”

“Really? Then this is all I know… Can I tell you a secret?”

Assistant Professor Claire said to Anis with a mischievous face that she seemed to feel a little relieved after being relieved of the heavy workload.

“That Ed student, do you know where he lives? The vast forest to the north of the school building. In the northwest corner of the forest, he builds a cabin and lives alone…!”

“…Yes? Really?”

“Yeah. I had some things to investigate at the time of the Occupation of Ophelis building, so I tried to follow him… Umm… This is a secret from Ed student…!”

This is the top secret about Jenika’s unrequited love. It is a fact that even Yenica did not tell others about her carelessly.

Anise swallowed and nodded.

“Well, he made a decent camp in a space much bigger than this lab by himself. What the heck…! Tools, workbench, bonfire, display rack, drying rack, smoker… Nothing seemed to be handmade. He doesn’t look like that, but he’s more dexterous than I thought, isn’t he?”

“That’s right?”

“In addition, he even signed a contract with the spirits by himself. There is a barrier to entry in spirit-inspired training.

Only then did Anis seem to have a clue about Ed’s problem-solving abilities.

Living on your own in the wild presents you with all sorts of practical problems. If you solve all the difficult things you will face right away, the ability to solve that level of practical work will naturally accumulate.

Aristocrats who have lived as flowers in greenhouses have a practical sense that they cannot get their hands on even if they go their entire lives. It’s a seemingly insignificant ability, but Anise knows best how important it is.

“That’s why Anise nodded when she followed Ed~. There are many subtle similarities between the two, right?”

“Ed and I? What…”

“Yeah~. Have you seen Ed’s report card progress? Shall I show you?”

“Isn’t student report card not allowed to be disclosed to others at will?”

“Ah, oops…”

Laughing haha, assistant professor Claire twisted her hair.

“Anyway, I suddenly felt how tenacious he lived. That Professor Glast was even nodding his head? He lived his life without complaint despite unfavorable circumstances. It’s really not just anyone.”

“You’re talking about something embarrassing…”

“Uh, yeah…? But I think that’s great.”

After saying that, assistant professor Claire raised her head and looked at Anis.

Anise looked up from the pile of papers piled up like a mountain, and now she was used to it.

He never loses his dignity even when under heavy pressure.

There is a reason why people say that he looks like an aristocrat even though he is a commoner.

“Um… Thank you for evaluating me that way, but…”

Anis clutched her chin and was troubled. Before thinking about the words of assistant professor Claire, who praised her self, her evaluation of Ed Ross Taylor was eventually stepped on in her mind.

I concluded that his evaluation, which has recently been reversed, is simply because his misdeeds are being forgotten.

It is difficult to give a positive answer when it comes to how much Ed has grown personally after being excommunicated and being treated as an invisible person within the school.

It’s a little bit like believing only the reversed evaluation and sending support to Yenika to love pretty.

However, when I bumped into it myself, there was really no place to grab a book. Even if you turn on the light in your eyes and look for it, it is just a boy A living a sound life.

He doesn’t even show his hard work or seek recognition. He is such a human being who just lives by doing what he has to do.

After coming this far, are you just a really nice guy? He even thinks of doing it.

quite a thought. Isn’t it really just okay objectively? He’s good looking, doesn’t show a particularly c*cky attitude, and assistant professor Claire’s evaluation is good… I don’t think all of this is just a playboy’s performance, but it’s rather unnatural…

Looking back at Ed’s behavior, he seems to be more gentle than I thought. It’s a fact that I found out unintentionally, but the body seems to be pretty good, and as a result of hugging it, the body odor is surprisingly mild.

It doesn’t even smell like sweat or musty, which is typical of students who work all day long.

“…Anis? Are you bruised?”

Huh, Anise swallowed her breath and shook her head.

“No. I was thinking about working for a while. Shall we open the window in a bit hotter?”

“Huh? Yes, let’s ventilate. Be careful not to blow the papers away in the wind.”

“Yes, Eb.”

It wasn’t a big deal, but Anis felt as if she had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer, so she quickly swallowed her breath.

There is nothing particularly sinful. I just objectively evaluated a man named Ed.

I’ve never thought of grading others as a sin, but I get goosebumps running down my back as I feel a subtle sense of guilt tightening my heart.

Why? If asked, Anis did not bother to define the emotion precisely.

However, I do not deny that I felt quite special about the fact that Ed resembles Anise.

It’s hard to share with someone just how hard and hard life has been.

Best friends in Sylvania, who have long been intoxicated with the life of a romantic girl, are used to lively and cute topics rather than heavy and gloomy stories.

The same goes for the male students who flirt with Anise because of her appearance. Most of them are those who have never reflected more than the youthful worries as students without serious concerns about life.

That’s not particularly bad. A student is the most attractive law when he is a student. In particular, it is strange to think that you can easily make such serious and heavy friends at such a romantic Sylvania Academy.

Only those who have experienced it know that the cold reality is harsher than the bitter cold of midwinter.

The fact that he revealed his sincerity to Ed a little bit because he was intoxicated with that consensus was dismissed as a mistake.

“Annis, your face is red. I wonder if you’re overdoing it.”

At those words from assistant professor Claire, Anise felt as though her heart had been pierced by a knife.

I jumped up from my seat, went to the mirror, lifted my bangs, and checked my face. Seeing his expression in the mirror, Anis instantly finished his self-objectification.

The pupils, which were widened in surprise, were filled with blush. Not to mention the heat.

this is a bit of a big deal

I don’t think this is really a big deal, but this is a really big deal.

Anise pulled the chair she could hold onto and sat down on it, washing her face dry with both hands over and over again, trying to regain her composure. Still, the cold sweat continued to well up.

However, there are undeniable facts.

Anise’s specialty is to objectify vague things such as emotions and feelings. I can’t pretend I don’t know now.

Still, isn’t this emotion still manageable? Early detection is the good news.

Emotions also have stages, so as long as you get rid of them before they develop, you can capture them as much as you like.

As she was barely trying to regain her composure, one of the words from assistant professor Claire passed through Anis’ mind.

– ‘In addition, he even made a spirit contract by himself. There is a barrier to entry when it comes to spirit response training. I don’t know how he did it, but hey… he must have put in that much effort.’

As Claire said, there are barriers to entry into spirit induction training, so it is difficult to explain such a level of growth without the help of a fairly high level elemental lyricist.

If there is a fairly high level Elementalist around Ed Rosteyler, it’s almost obvious who it will be.

Also, I heard that Ed Rosteylor lives in a camp in the North Woods. The Northern Forest is completely in the domain of Yenika.

It is obvious that the spirit that Ed Roth Taylor would have contracted with must be the spirit from inside the forest to the west.

If the spirit that Ed Rosteiler contracted with follows him all the time, or at least witnessed him while he was with Anise…

Anise swallowed dry saliva.

“The work seems to be over, would you like a snack…?? Shall I bring you something? What should I eat…?”

Assistant Professor Claire, who was ignorant, was just begging for tea to be brewed.

It was a total mess.

*

The ranch of the Pale Rovers family was not very large, but it was a sound place that no one knew in the village.

The reason why they were able to raise such high-quality livestock on a small scale is largely due to family customs that emphasize internal stability and emphasize harmony and coexistence.

As Jenika, the only daughter of the Failover family, she was never arrogant despite her great natural ability.

Rather, it was her beautiful heart that cared for others and loved everyone that made her shine far more than her ability.

– ‘Yenika is nice.’

– ‘There will be no one as good-hearted as Jenika.’

It is the same even after leaving my hometown and coming to Aken Island.

It is a life like a protagonist in a fairy tale loved by everyone. It was a life far from the word solitude, and thanks to that, I was able to gain a lot of sincere friends… but there is no such thing as a life without worries.

On a moonlit night, under Merilda’s guardian tree.

The guardian tree that I looked up while training to respond to the spirits was still wide and green, as if the season had changed.

Yenika sniffed once.

– ‘Yenika Failover is an ace among aces in name and reality who boasts the best recognition, popularity, and skills among prospective third-year students. Merchants like me may have the financial ability, but I don’t have the natural charm to attract people.’

– ‘Politics is about taking sides after all, right? It is important to receive the support of the students and enlist the loved ones as allies. don’t worry too much Nika sunbaenim has a good nature and is considerate, so she listens to and believes in anyone’s words.’

– ‘Well, but since you’re a senior, don’t be rude. It’s never going to happen, but it’s possible that Yenika-senpai is feeling down, right? Hmmm… At least I’ve never seen Yenica sunbae-nim in such a gloomy state, but you never know. So please don’t say anything that goes against my heart.’

Thanks to Lortel, who gave her sincere advice, Tanya felt like she had won a fortune.

It’s because it’s not common to have a chance to talk like this with the person in charge of Elte Firm.

When I met Ziggs, I was confused by the unexpected reaction, but I didn’t have time to be confused by such happenings.

Right now, next week is the freshmen placement test, and then, after the vacation, as soon as the new semester begins, the election for the student council president is held. I had to diligently take a face stamp from now on.

As a result, they arrived at a large tree in the northern forest lake. It was ‘Merilda’s guardian tree’.

It is said that the tree is inhabited by a giant wind spirit that protects the forest, but to Tanya, who has just arrived at school, it just looked like a giant zelkova tree.

It was a place that I finally reached after struggling through the rough roads of the northern forest with four servants. It’s such a hardship, if you can subdue Yenika, you can do it as much as you like.

I see the back of a girl looking at a zelkova tree. Her diminutive frame resembles Tanya’s, her pale pink hair flowing down a shawl in a pretty braid.

The girl raised her hand and released a bat made of flame. She seems to have been talking about something just now.

Of course, to Tanya, who has no spirit sensitivity, it just looks like she is stretching her arms outstretched.

Tanya caught her breath and spoke loudly.

“Nice to meet you, Yenica senior!”

I spoke with respect in my own way, so as not to look arrogant.

Yenica, who quietly turned and looked towards Tanya, was exactly what Lortel had told her.

An idol who is kind and beautiful by nature, and is loved by everyone in the school. He was probably the most ideal senior Tanya could have imagined.

For Tanya, who has lived her entire life in an aristocratic hierarchy, the existence of a senior with whom she can sincerely communicate and escape from such a power structure is romance itself.

It’s warm and comfortable just by looking at it, and it feels like the traffic jam just disappears just sitting side by side. Imagining her future bachelor life, Tanya smiled.

“I’d like to introduce myself and talk… Is it okay?”

After talking as elegantly as possible, I looked at Yenika.

The image is the same as I thought, but there is also a hint that the expression looks a bit dark. Had something bad happened?

Still, I heard that he is basically a good-natured person who listens to what others say.

“My name is Tanya Rosteiler.”

When Tanya, who had greeted her with a bright face, revealed her name, Jenika finally looked in that direction.

moonlit night.

Under the guardian tree swaying in the wind, the girl quietly turned backwards holding an oak staff.

Feeling inexplicably intimidated… Tanya swallowed dry saliva for a moment.

*

Camp on a quiet winter night.

Lortel sat quietly across from the campfire, so I served her a mug of herbal tea.

Lortel smiled at the whole view of the camp, as if she was happy for no reason at the appearance of the camp, where there were many household items.

“I feel relieved because everything I need right now seems to have been resolved.”

“Yeah… It’s almost like home at this point. I’m grateful for your help as well.”

“What? It wasn’t even that hard.”

Lortel took a bite of herbal tea while smiling.

“There are many things to talk about.”