CH 43

“It’s over!” I cried.

“Good work today,” Corinna said.

The current time is 8 o’clock in the morning, and I have just handed over the sweet porridge to the last customer.

2 hours work from 6 o’clock, I’m pretty tired.

“Thank you, Corinna-chan,” I said.

“It’s no problem, check this account book and money just in case.”

“Roger that,” I said.

I did a quick count of the money, and the ledger and the money matched exactly.

Put it in the safe and you’re done!

“After that, we’ll take over, so the two of you should go to class,” Marissa said.

“Thank you, what time will the next supplier come?” I asked.

“They usually come at noon,” Marissa said. “May I ask you to meet them, Makoto-san?”

“Understood, I’ll meet them and fight.”

“You keep assuming there’s going to be a fight,” Marissa said.

“It’s the supplier who brought in all that rotten rolled barley, then, of course, we have to fight,” I said.

“If it’s a fight, you need me, too,” Linda said.

Linda-san, are you still here?

“Linda-san, please return to the Great Temple,” I said.

“Huh? But it seems you have worries still, Saint-sama,” Linda said.

“Shut up, go home!” I yelled.

“Tch,” Linda went.

If Linda-san is at the scene of the fight, I can’t let it get bloody.

I think she should learn to use gentle threats and intimidation that don’t leave a trail.

“Well then, we’re heading out,” I said.

“See you,” Marissa said.

I’m going to school with Corinna-chan.

We leave the girls’ dormitory and in 5 minutes you’ll be at the school building.

“There’s another wall bulletin,” Corinna said.

“The Newspaper Club must be having hard times every day, don’t they?” I said.

“I think it’s mostly your fault, Makoto,” Corinna said.

“Th-That’s not true,” I said.

Now then, what about today’s article?

“Credit To The Bejeweled Reijou-sama!! Completely naked as she rescued a young lady who fell into the pond at the back gardens!!”

I wasn’t naked…!!

I was wearing drawers…!!

As usual, the Magic Academy News was somewhat neutral, and after accurately tracing the outline of yesterday’s rescue of Melissa-san, they closed the article by questioning whether it was a conflict between factions.

The Noble’s New Bulletin is still a vulgar tabloid full of prejudice.

It was an unfortunate accident that Melissa-san fell into the pond, and when her companion noble ladies were trembling, a fake saint candidate, who was a mass of self-aggrandizement, shamelessly stripped naked and jumped in without permission to rescue Melissa-san. After that, she criticized her noble lady friends, saying, “You pushed her in and didn’t even try to save her.” and also verbally criticized Kevin-ouji when he intervened.

That’s about it.

“Goodness, the Noble’s New Bullet is getting quite lax, isn’t it? No matter how rude a noble lady is, there’s no way she would rant against the first prince, would she?”

What are you doing here, Gerald, don’t just suddenly speak out of nowhere.

“I just yelled at him because he was a nuisance,” I said.

“… So, it was true…”

Seriously, he was a nuisance.

“For-For the time being, I’ll have more respect for the royal family,” I said.

“Ouh,” Gerald went, lowering his eyes sadly.

I don’t understand.

When we entered Class A, Carol smiled and waved at us.

“Good morning, Carol,” I said.

“Good morning Makoto, this morning’s meal was delicious.”

“Come again tomorrow, if you don’t mind, tonight’s dinner, as well,” I said.

“Are you going to make dinner too? That’s amazing.”

“No, I’m actually in charge of the cafeteria, so I don’t cook. Basically, I wash dishes and work at the counter,” I said.

“So I see, but it’s still amazing,” Carol said.

Even if Carol comes to dinner, I can only see her eating from afar from the counter, which is boring.

Is there some way I can have a meal with Carol?

Even if I ask her to cook with me in the kitchen, I’m sure Carol will refuse because she’s a reserved person.

Ummn.

Anthony-sensei comes and homeroom begins.

The pond in the back garden is deep and dangerous, he says, so be careful not to approach it.

A fence will be erected around the pond in the near future.

Right, it would be more dangerous if it wasn’t fenced in.

From the 1st to the 3rd period, I made it through without any problems.

Academics are easy.

I don’t mind sitting in classrooms all day.

Also, history and history classes are interesting.

As one would expect from teachers at the Royal Appleton Academy of Magic.

They capture the key points in the flow of history and insert interesting episodes here and there.

Nice, nice, I love to talk about history.

I like it as much as my wages.

Then, the problem is 4th period, the martial arts class every other day.

I hate seeing Cattleya-sama.

I walk slowly into the girls’ locker room with Carol.

But even at a time like this, I can’t stop watching Carol’s undressing.

Uehihi.

“Wait, Makoto, you look kind of disgusting,” Carol said.

“I don’t what you’re talking about,” I said stiffly. We’re both girls, aren’t we?”

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re a boy inside, Makoto,” Carol said.

“You want to go check my crotch~?”

“I don’t want to see it.”

Carol got angry~.

Hmm.

As I was pretending to cry, Carol pulled the hem of my gym clothes.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Wait, you’re going to stretch the hem,” I said.

When we arrived at the training ground, mock weapons were lined up on the table.

I take a dagger and the magic buckler.

Carol takes a wooden morning star.

It’s kind of weird to simulate a melee weapon like it.

It’s a weapon that relies on its weight to do damage, so I don’t think there’s much difference between wood and iron.

“Morning, aye.”

“Oh my.”

Isn’t that Okappa-chan with the super salty porridge?

So she was from Class A.

“Koishi Kominvitch, aye, Viscount’s daughter~,” Okappa said.

“I’m Makoto, of House Kimball,” I said.

“Mnn, nice to meet you, aye, Kimball-sama.” Okappa said.

“Just Makoto is fine, Kominvitch-sama,” I said.

“Just Makoto it is then, mm. I’m fine with you calling me just Koishi too, aye,” Koishi said.

“Thank you very much, Koishi-sama,” I said.

“I’m fine with you getting more casual, so you know, Makoto-san.”

“Mmm, thanks, Koishi-chan,” I said.

Koishi-chan looks like a kokeshi doll.

She took the wooden sword from the selection.

“You’re using a sword, huh?” I asked.

“My House’s treasure is a sword handed down from the east, aye,” Koishi said.

“I wonder if it came from Horai,” I said.

“That’s right, aye, my grandfather came from Horai,” Koishi said.

Huh, did people from Horai come all the way to pseudo-France?

So Koishi-chan has black hair and black eyes.

I want to go to the pseudo-Japan, Horai.

Is it the Edo period right now? The Meiji period?

Koishi lightly waved her hand goodbye and left.

I also stand in the same position as last time.

Geh, Cattleya-sama is next to me, she’s glaring at me.

Batten-sensei came, and after a lighthearted introduction, we did the same as last time.

Well, it’s still the second class, so they’re still just young ladies who can’t swing properly.

I can do front slashes, but I’m not confident that I can fight properly with a dagger.

For now, swing, swing, swing.

“Goodness, an attention-seeking upstart is no ugly and embarrassing.”

Oh shut up, Cattleya-sama.

“Is there any point in saving a girl who fell into the pond by accident, even if she’s completely naked? What a shameless pervert.”

“Shut up, I was wearing drawers,” I said while still practicing.

“Aren’t you ashamed of being completely naked? Is a noble lady not supposed to be modest?

“If you go into the water with your clothes on, you will drown,” I said.

“……Huh?”

Cattleya-sama stopped swinging.

“You have a uniform, so imagine wearing it in the bath.”

“O-Oh…”

“Your skirt will absorb water, it will add weight, and you will get trapped and drown.”

“Is it going to be that heavy?” Cattleya said.

“The weight will be on your waist, so if you strengthen your body it will be a little different, but it’s quicker to take it off,” I said.

“We-Well then, the drowning girl should have… ”

“Sunk after a while,” I finished.

Cattleya-sama was silent as she resumed her swing.

“Was it an emergency?” Cattleya said.

“Yes.”

The residents of this world’s royal capitals, whether they’re nobles or commoners, can’t swim.

The river is dirty and the sea is far away.

I can swim because I had a pool class in my previous life.

“So they didn’t do anything about their faction mate’s accident…”

“From where I was looking, they pushed her in,” I said.

“Im-Imbpossible…” Cattleya said, wide-eyed as she stared at me.

“They probably didn’t know how dangerous the water was, because they just looked at her with a smile without helping her.”

“That can’t be, it’s impossible…”

“Don’t talk among yourselves, keep practicing,” Battenmeier said as she came over.

“What’s wrong, Pickering-san, it feels like your heart isn’t in your sword?” she asked after a moment.

“Sensei, um, if you go into the water wearing a skirt, will you definitely drown?” Cattleya asked.

“… Ah, this is about yesterday…” Battenmeier said, looking at me.

“There was the flooding of the Larga River about 5 years ago, right?” I said. “You know, the one where there was a tragic flash flood right in the middle of an evening party, and Sensei was one of the guards there?”

“Ye-Yes?” Cattleya said.

“All the ladies who were wearing dresses drowned,” Battenmeier said. “The few who survived were the first to forsake their clothes.”

“…”

“Everyone will find Kimball-san’s behavior strange yesterday, but that was the correct answer. When two people in clothes enter the pond, they will just end up grabbing each other’s clothes instead and both drown. All the teachers in the staff room were quite impressed. Thank you, Kimball-san”

“No, no,” I said.

The ladies who were listening on the sidelines started to raise a fuss.

“As expected of the Bejeweled Reijou-sama, you are very bold,” Battenmeier said.

“I’m ashamed for even thinking that your nudity was some sort of dubious hobby,” Cattleya said.

“You have to be completely naked when you jump into the pond,” I said, “I was so embarrassed I almost didn’t take it off.”

No, it’s rare for a young lady to jump into a pond, to begin with.