“Hehe☆ Thank you! I’m the only one attending here, so I thought I was going to be left helplessly abandoned, with no one finding me, crying ‘MommyMommy’ and ending my life lonely. But to receive help like this from a kind student passing by― ☆ No matter how you look at it, this must be fate… or almost destiny, right? Wow―☆ So cool!! Destiny is the best!!”

“…I see.”

“Oh☆ Do you believe in things like destiny~? Are you interested in tarot cards or fortune-telling? Or how about MBTI, zodiac signs, birthstones, or birth flowers? Isn’t it romantic to confirm your destiny? I always rush to the bookstore every Monday to check magazines☆ Because there’s no one to talk to at school…☆ Anyway, if there’s a romantic horoscope written in the magazine, I’m so excited for the whole day that I don’t know what to do! Kyaa―☆”

“…No, I don’t know much about that.”

I borrowed the power of the evil black magic-like pretty filter.

With the pretty filter, I could chatter for 30 minutes even about a rolling twig.

Actually, I’m not just poking at Alvit’s mental state for no reason.

To be honest, there was some fun in teasing a junior for the first time. But it can be considered foreshadowing for Alvit’s sense of responsibility shown in the main story.

‘Alvit realizes the poor state of <Central Prism Academy> after the entrance ceremony and is shocked. And even though she’s a first-year, she acts as the de facto student council president.’

If I have the power of the evil pink rose tteokbokki-smelling filter…

And if I show her that the only senior is in this state…

I thought it would be enough to amplify Alvit’s disappointment.

‘I wonder…?’

While pretending to mop the stone floor soaked with rainwater, I watched Alvit stacking the scattered buckets neatly.

“…”

Alvit’s bag and clothes placed in the corner.

Alvit had rolled up her middle school uniform sleeves and was diligently cleaning the scene.

“It’s quite noisy. Please be quiet…”

The girl tying her hair back and picking up buckets.

I could sense her muttering something quietly to herself.

But it wasn’t desperate enough to match the description of their first meeting mentioned in the game.

‘Since Alvit is the main story protagonist, I tried to imitate a secondary creation episode based on the many past mini-stories mentioned about her. Is the impact still too weak?’

It seemed too weak for her to be completely disappointed in <Central Prism Academy>.

Then it was time for me to resolutely take on the role of the villain.

‘Frustration is what makes a girl grow.’

The saying ‘A lion pushes its own cubs off a cliff’ may be of unclear origin. 

But isn’t Cao Hong’s famous saying ‘Frustration is what makes a man grow’ written even in the game’s ancient records?

The words of General Biao.

Cao Hong’s sentiment that ‘The world can do without Hong, but it can’t do without heroes like Cao Cao’ struck a chord.

‘The main story can do without the gag character pink airhead, but it can’t do without protagonists like Alvit.’

Grow strong, Alvit.

With the sentiment of Cao Hong who advised Cao Cao, I spoke to Alvit again.

“Ah, come to think of it, the main hall seems to need a lot of repairs too because it’s so old☆”

“Yes, that’s… What? The main hall? By yourself?”

“Well, since I’m the only student in the whole school… Hehe☆”

“There’s only one student in all of <Central Prism Academy>…?!”

“Huhuhu―☆”

Maybe it’s because of the worse-than-imagined enrollment state of Prism Academy.

Alvit turned to look at me with surprised eyes for the first time.

‘This kid, she’s been only half-listening until now.’

By the way, the fact that I’m the only student attending this school has been mentioned several times in my pretty conversation. I was wondering how she managed to maintain her sanity amid the relentless pretty pink-pink conversation.

I decided to launch a secret attack to turn the mental state of this surprisingly tough-minded kid into soft and squishy konnyaku.

“Huhu, but it’s good that cleaning the main hall together like this is more manageable than expected! It’s truly the unity of girls! A girls’ alliance―☆”

“M-Main hall?! This is?!”

“Yes! How is it? Doesn’t it feel somewhat vintage and like a fairy tale forest garden? Then am I a princess from a fairy tale―☆”

“Huh.”

Alvit looked around in bewilderment with a dumbfounded expression.

Generally, all students in Academy City Yord are superhumans who handle ether. Moreover, befitting active female students, it was common for the main hall to have all kinds of facilities for sports activities, fighting tournaments, and training.

All kinds of ball game courts for students to use. Training grounds for practicing individual skills and ether abilities. Fighting arenas for the school’s talented individuals to compete with each other.

The main hall with all these comprehensive facilities boasted a size comparable to a decent comprehensive sports stadium, even for small schools.

Moreover, elite mega-schools like <Aesir Girls’ High School> or <Public Bana Boarding School> had more than 5 such main halls.

‘I actually haven’t seen it myself, I’ve only heard about it from Hilde.’

The main hall was the center of training facilities for each school.

Considering that cultivating one’s own strength is a virtue for students living in <Academy City Yord>, it was a facility that could be seen as the heart of each academy.

Then what about the main hall of our proud <Central Prism Academy>?

The main hall of <Central Prism Academy> did evoke a fairy tale world, just as I had said.

The problem is that for some, it might be an unbelievable cruel fairy tale.

“This shabby barn is the main hall―?!”

“That’s so mean~☆”

Where Alvit was looking up in bewilderment.

Following her gaze, what first caught my eye were holes through which the blue sky could be seen. And there were countless such holes. There were so many holes that my earlier statement about ‘rain leaking’ seemed laughable.

This was almost like a half-open stadium.

Chirp-chirp-

A bird whose wing movements had been bothering me for a while.

That bird looked down at us through one of those holes, making eye contact. Then it raised its tail, spun around, and aimed in our direction.

Squirt―

Splat

The bird carelessly left a stream of excrement and disappeared into the distant sky.

Following the white line left by our friend, I lowered my gaze to see cheap stone paths and shock-absorbing sand spread on the floor.

Numerous bird droppings on the sand.

The white trajectories of our bird friends on the shock-absorbing sand were not just one.

Originally cheap facilities, but made even more miserable by being neglected for too long.

On top of that, the makeshift chairs, exercise equipment, and even the iron bars of the fence had completely rusted and turned red. It looks like you could get tetanus just by brushing against them.

And even more miserable was the smell.

The damp scent of rainwater and the rotten smell of sand tickle the heart.

For a girl, dirt is shocking, but smells leave scars.

Considering that main hall facilities are usually built with non-rusting ether shock-absorbing materials, this is no different from a beggar’s den, no matter how kindly you look at it. Even that had long since been torn apart, leaving a landscape no different from a wasteland.

Having observed everything, Alvit muttered in a dazed voice.

“I, I… thought it was some kind of warehouse… But, but even that… it looks like a collapsing hut… I thought it was a warehouse being thrown away…”

Anyway, for the sake of the main story, she has to keep attending this school.

Alvit was shaken by a sense of helplessness in the face of this unavoidable reality.

And I watched her shaking state closely.

Is she still not crying?

Should I prepare an even greater trial?

Just as my own heart was starting to ache.

“Sob.”

Oh.

She’s sniffling.

The bite is finally coming.

Her sharp eyes have rounded up and tears are falling.

‘Kuu…’

Cao Hong.

I have fulfilled your command.

I have planted ambition in the heart of a hero of troubled times.

‘Frustration makes a girl grow―!!’

Feeling a sense of accomplishment in my heart, I decided to drive in the final nail. Let’s give her a despair that will be talked about until the latter half of the main story, so she won’t forget today’s events.

Pretending to be oblivious, I grasped Alvit’s trembling shoulders and brought my face close.

“Ah! Pe… pe, pe, pe, pe, perhaps―☆ A, are you a new student?!”

“…”

“Are you a new student―?!”

“…Yes.”

“Wa… wa―☆ I, uu―☆ Kyaa!!! Nice to meet you!!”

“…”

Her shoulders shaking weakly are pitifully precarious, but now is the time to just follow Cao Hong’s sentiment.

Pretending not to see Alvit’s welling tears, I grasped her hands with all my might and shook them up and down in a handshake.

Boing―

Boing―

“Kyahaa―☆ Then since you’re my junior, I can speak casually, right? Hm? Yeah☆ I’m glad to meet you too. My name is Clara! I’m the only student and a 3rd year at <Central Prism Academy>! I’m so glad! Nice to meet you! What’s your name?”

“Ugh?!… A-Alvit.”

Perhaps bewildered by the endless barrage of handshakes, Alvit’s tearful expression cleared and she looked at me with wide eyes.

I met those eyes, stopped shaking hands, and spoke carefully.

“Um… Alvit―☆ I know it’s rude to ask on first meeting, but…”

“Yes…?”

“C-Could you do me a favor as your senior…?”

“Wh-What kind of favor…?”

Alvit’s expression, eyes wide open and completely stiff.

What kind of favor is this pink airhead going to ask right after introductions?

I could feel her looking at me with such questions.

I carefully approached Alvit’s side, and cupping my hands towards her white ear exposed by her tied-up brown bob-cut hair, I whispered carefully.

“I… actually don’t know how to handle basic ether… Could you teach me―☆”

“…”

“Tehe―☆”

“…”

For reference, basic ether refers to the first stage of exerting physical force in the process of handling ether.

It meant the process of covering swords or spears with red ether.

In this world setting, they called it [Elementary Education].

Alvit’s final trial.

The only dummy senior in the academy.

Hasn’t even passed the elementary school curriculum.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Tehe―☆”

Thwack☆

Finally, I stuck out my tongue and, with Cao Hong’s sentiment, gave myself a flick on the forehead.

Alvit’s expression watching this,

Resembled Xun Yu’s expression upon receiving an empty food box as a gift.

<Central Prism Academy> was an empty food box.

Plop―

In the end, unable to bear the bewilderment, Alvit slumped to the floor.

Ah, she’s broken.

“Tehe―☆”