Chapter 284: First Week [3]

Chapter 283

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Episode 74 - First Week [3]

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Rinna relaxed her shoulders and let out a quiet sigh.

The boy who had suddenly appeared a few seconds ago had really startled her.

After all, the only person she knew who possessed the ability to Teleport was none other than Adel.

For a moment, she thought it really was Adel, but when she saw the boy’s appearance, she breathed a sigh of relief.

’He really scared me.’

She felt relieved knowing that Adel wasn’t at the Academy.

She believed he probably wouldn’t return to the Academy from now on.

But at least, she knew where to find him.

However...

"....!"

Her heartbeat quickened the moment she thought about Adel.

Ever since the day Adel had hugged her, Rinna had finally begun to understand what was happening.

Of course, she wasn’t referring to her feelings of guilt exactly.

Rather, she was talking about the words Adel had said and the hug that had accompanied them.

Because from her perspective, those words seemed to carry a different meaning.

Although Rinna felt guilty for interpreting Adel’s words with a double meaning, she couldn’t help but think of them that way.

Just remembering them caused her cheeks to flush slightly, and her heart began pounding heavily.

’Ugh, w-why do I feel like this...? What he said wasn’t meant in... that way, right?’

Her face felt hot, and she began fanning herself with her hand.

However, her face obviously wasn’t actually hot. It was all in her imagination.

As her thoughts continued to wander, she suddenly heard the voice of the boy from earlier.

"Sorry for interrupting you, Miss Rinna, but as you can see, there’s no one else here, and I was getting bored, so I thought I’d talk to you. If you don’t mind, of course."

"..."

Rinna was startled for a moment, but she quickly smiled and replied:

"Ah, don’t worry about it. Actually, I’m also... a little bored and distracted."

The blond-haired boy sat down beside her and asked:

"You said you’re distracted. Is something wrong, Miss Rinna?"

Rinna looked at him for a few seconds before averting her gaze slightly.

She lowered her eyes to her hands, which remained clasped together, as her thoughts began to wander again.

After a few seconds, she finally spoke:

"Well, there’s a friend I’ve been constantly avoiding, but what I don’t understand is why I’m avoiding him."

"...."

"Whenever he appears in front of me... I feel strange. I wasn’t like this before."

The blond-haired boy watched her before asking:

"What kind of things do you feel?"

Rinna didn’t answer immediately.

Suddenly, her cheeks became slightly flushed.

"W-well, I feel nervous, my mind goes blank, I can’t look him in the face, and my heart starts racing like crazy."

Then she turned her head and looked at the blond-haired boy.

She pressed her lips together as her cheeks turned completely red before continuing:

"I’ve felt like this ever since... I heard some words he said to me. Ah, b-but I’m not talking about a confession or anything like that. It was meant in a different sense."

"E-even so, I can’t help thinking about what he said. For some reason, I feel like those words had a double meaning, even though I know he didn’t say them with that intention, but..."

"...."

The blond-haired boy listened in silence.

However, his expression gradually froze, as if some memory had suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Slowly, he stopped looking at Rinna, and his expression became completely blank.

As Rinna continued explaining everything that had happened to her, a voice suddenly interrupted her.

"Ah, that’s because you’re in love with that person."

"...!?"

".....!?"

Both Rinna’s expression and the blond-haired boy’s expression changed, although the latter’s only did so for an instant.

Meanwhile, Rinna’s mind went completely blank, and her cheeks flushed even more.

She turned her head toward the person who had suddenly appeared sitting beside her.

White hair, crimson eyes, and fangs peeking out from the corners of her lips.

It was Princess Very’Daal.

"W-what did you say?"

Rinna asked as her heartbeat quickened even further and her face turned completely red.

"I said you’re in love. Isn’t it obvious? You say your heart starts racing, your mind goes blank, and then you can’t even look him in the face... My goodness, it’s so obvious that even a newborn baby would figure it out."

"...!?"

Rinna’s mind tried to process Very’Daal’s words.

Honestly, anyone who saw her at that moment would have realized she was having a mental breakdown, as if she had just received the greatest revelation of her life.

On the other hand, after saying that, Very’Daal simply ignored Rinna.

Suddenly, her figure appeared beside the blond-haired boy.

She stared at him intently with her arms crossed, making her displeasure perfectly clear.

"If you hadn’t been talking just now, I really would’ve lost sight of you."

Her anger was obvious, although to anyone watching, she probably looked rather adorable.

However, Adel didn’t respond, nor did he even "look" at Very’Daal.

His thoughts were elsewhere.

’Pfft, hahaha, I told you. If you said those words to her, anyone would think you were confessing your love. Hahaha.’

Alice’s loud laughter echoed strongly in his mind.

She was really enjoying herself.

***

Five days passed quickly.

During that time, I attended several Classes.

With each passing day, the competition between the cadets of the two Academies grew increasingly intense.

That only made me wonder what would happen during the second week.

And, just as I expected, the second week began with practical tests.

That meant the cadets would have to utilize and demonstrate their various strengths in combat.

On the other hand, Very’Daal’s presence around me hadn’t disappeared either.

Even when I used Spatial Movement, her sharp senses allowed her to find me with ease.

And, most likely thanks to her Spirit, which could perceive my Natural Affinity, locating me was even easier for her.

So I stopped trying to escape from her.

It would be pointless anyway.

Besides, fortunately, she hadn’t tried to do anything similar to what she had done the first time she appeared before me.

Or at least, not yet.

Clank!

I opened the door and stepped out of the Sword Fundamentals and Principles classroom.

After that, I headed to the cafeteria, and as soon as I arrived, I ordered a few sandwiches and a coffee before looking for an empty table in a corner.

The moment I sat down, a figure appeared in the seat across from me.

However, no one seemed to notice her presence, as she was using some kind of illusion.

"....."

Even so, as if there were no one sitting across from me, I simply began eating my sandwiches and drinking my coffee.

All while ignoring the fact that a princess of an entire race was sitting right in front of me.

"Hey, why are you eating something so awful? I can overlook the coffee, but that thing you call a sandwich is absolutely terrible."

"..."

"Tsk, humans eat such horrible things. Why, if they can survive without eating, do they keep eating those things they call food?"

"....."

"Honestly, eating is pointless, isn’t it?"

She crossed her arms while watching all the cadets who were eating.

’Says the person who drinks blood and literally feeds on it.’

Of course, aside from blood, anything related to fruits or vegetables that came from nature also constituted her food source.

But putting that aside, what she said was true.

After reaching Five Stars, Awakened could go years or even decades without needing to eat anything at all.

In my case, I didn’t even need to eat for centuries or thousands of years because of the Divine Body.

’But why wouldn’t I enjoy delicious food?’

Food added flavor to my life.

Although, in reality, I only ate sandwiches and drank coffee every day.

Once I finished eating, I stood up from my seat and left the cafeteria.

My destination was the Plaza in front of the main building, where the cadet rankings would be posted.

A total of three hundred cadets would appear on the ranking list.

Those who weren’t on it would have to leave the Academy and return to their respective homes.

Therefore, after walking for a few minutes, I finally arrived at the Plaza in front of the main building.

By then, a huge number of cadets had gathered in front of a wall where the names of those who had qualified for the Ranking were written.

’Master, you can read the names of the top ten first and then look for mine.’

’Give me a second.’

As I waited for my master, the murmurs of the cadets around me suddenly ceased all at once.

I turned my head in a certain direction and "looked" at the person who had managed to silence them all.

Clana and Very’Daal stood at opposite ends, but both were looking at each other with smiles that appeared friendly at first glance.

But...

"..."

In reality, the two of them had been competing against each other, as if they were trying to determine who was the better princess.

Or something like that.

Either way, it wasn’t my concern.

’I’m back, disciple. Do you want to know your Ranking, or do you want to know who’s in the top ten first?’

’The latter.’

A moment later, my master began listing the names of the top ten.