If you live in the academy city, there’s a race you’ll often encounter next to the terrifying high school girls.

These strange life forms scurrying about the shopping district on mechanical legs are that race.

The mechanical race of dwarves.

After drawing simple facial features on an iron circle, they look like 4-head-tall mechanical humans stuck into short cylinders.

No matter how you look at them, these robot-like beings were undeniably human in this world.

Immune to ether addiction, dwarves can live without problems in <Academy City Yord> even without the ether abilities of high school girls. They all maintain their livelihood by running shops around schools and streets.

‘No matter how I look at them, they’re really robots…’

I often encountered them as NPCs in the game. But in reality, it was difficult to distinguish who was who, or even whether they were male or female, until I heard their voices.

But after some time, I could distinguish them by the differences in their behavior and attire.

One of the reasons I became familiar with them was because I had been running all sorts of errands around the shopping district near the school for the past year.

-Thank you, at this age it’s hard to go out far.

-Thanks Clara! Grandpa really… why did he put things up so high…

-Thank you, Miss Clara. It’s indeed difficult to move flour sacks alone.

I could receive plenty of gratitude and goodwill just by helping with tricky tasks for them with their short limbs, like simple deliveries and organizing. The food and daily necessities they gave along with their thanks were a great help given our school’s poor conditions.

‘Alvit was disgusted, saying living for free was shabby.’

Being able to ask for help from someone in unexpected situations. Being able to receive tangible and intangible help from those around you was a great strength.

Humans can’t always live solely on fixed transactions and compensations like a knife.

It would be my role to maintain this until she realizes that.

‘Except for food, I’m gathering everything in the supply room. It will be a big help someday.’

Whenever I helped the shopping district people, I always did so in the name of <Central Prism Academy>.

‘Even though the shopping district people know I’m the only one attending the school.’

Even if it’s just pretense, there’s a big difference between [Clara’s goodwill] and [Goodwill given by a student of Central Prism Academy].

By removing ‘my name’ from the subject of goodwill, you can pass on that connection to someone else from the same affiliation.

So I want to pass that on to my juniors.

The juniors who will come to <Central Prism Academy> someday will inherit the goodwill of the shopping district people.

‘Before teaching how to fish, you need to create a fishing spot first.’

Hilde must also be continuing such things as the president of the <United Student Council>, representing the academy city.

Of course, she would be doing much more than me.

With such thoughts in mind.

On an early spring morning.

On the third day since Alvit’s enrollment.

I was still visiting the shopping district, running errands for the dwarves.

“Ho ho ho…”

This dwarf with impressive white beard made of optical fiber is the tailor shop grandfather. As compensation for my errands, he repairs my stuffed animals for free, including altering uniforms.

He was one of the people I was closest to among the shopping district folks.

The tailor shop grandfather with a stature like Doctor Hua Tuo.

His current concern was delivering laundry requested by a regular customer living at an awkwardly far distance.

The regular customer had personally brought the laundry before moving far away, then forgot about it.

I received the item wearing the red tracksuit designated as <Central Prism Academy>’s gym uniform.

“Oh, really? Thank you, Clara.”

“Huhuhu―☆ This is easier than eating cake!”

“Even if it’s a regular’s request. At my age, tens of kilometers is a bit… And it’s burdensome to use the ether train for such a small delivery… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it! Then I’ll be back before the macarons get cold―☆”

“But macarons are usually already cold before eating…?”

“Hehe☆ It’s just a saying―!”

I could sense the tailor shop grandfather shaking his head.

Ching

Ching

I put the laundry in the bag attached to the side of the bicycle. Then, loudly ringing the bicycle bell, I pedaled forward vigorously.

Whirr―

The dark horizon of early dawn.

The dawn when the sun’s faint presence is gradually felt.

The sky blending navy and purple, the stars watching the end of night were welcoming the morning.

Ching

Ching

As the diligent shopping district people open their stores one by one, a red body dashes past.

The red bicycle’s name is Red Hare.

It was a founding contributor on par with the stuffed penguin.

A faithful steed responsible for my transportation since first year.

I urged Red Hare on, raising its gears to the maximum.

‘Let’s go Red Hare!! It’s time to sortie!!’

Ching

Ching

Red Hare’s gears also roared fiercely.

Today’s road felt like it would become a battlefield.

Like Guan Yu who beheaded the enemy general and returned before his wine got cold, I had to go to the next village and back before dawn fully broke.

‘I wonder if Alvit is awake?’

I need to finish the errand quickly, then have breakfast with Alvit and look into information about the next student to enroll.

‘The twin-tailed little Rota.’

Unlike Alvit who comes on her own, we meet her by chance due to an accident. So I need to keep an ear out for news around for a while.

I want to meet her soon, the girl with the brightest dream of all.

Pedaling with all my might, I dashed down the outskirts road leading out of the shopping district.

The quiet road at dawn.

The scenery of the shopping district rapidly receding.

The landscape outside the road stretching like paint being spread.

The wind hitting my face and my tied-up hair swaying.

I was now running, having become a streak of pink wind.

I could feel the bicycle’s body heating up from the heat generated by the rotating chain. And I could also feel my heart heating up with anticipation of meeting the next junior.

‘Hilde, are you also living feeling such fulfillment in the United Student Council?’

A faint silver star in the dawn sky.

It seemed to shine brilliantly like her eyes.

* * *

When I returned, Alvit was already up.

Alvit, who had woken up at dawn, was wearing the same red training clothes as me. She had tidied up the main hall that had been a complete mess, and was practicing ether swordsmanship alone.

She’s a diligent one who moves on her own without being told.

Moreover, perhaps due to her characteristically neat personality, the sand on the main hall floor, which I had used carelessly ignoring things like bird droppings, was neatly arranged. And the practice weapons that had been buried deep in the school’s weapon storage were polished and well-maintained.

Alvit, wiping sweat with a towel buried in her face.

She put the practice sword in its sheath and slowly walked to the main entrance to welcome me.

“Oh, senior? Where have you been?”

“Huhu―☆ It’s a girl’s-se-cret♡ “

“Well, you probably went to run errands for the shopping district people.”

“…”

Alvit had become quick-witted. So she often saw through my attempts at pranks.

‘Has she fully adapted in just 3 days?’

Actually, Alvit was originally a perceptive character.

Her initial flustered appearance was due to nervousness. Or maybe because I had turned her mental state into konnyaku jelly.

‘But isn’t she adapting too quickly?’

Did I hit her sense of responsibility too hard with my foolish act on the first day?

Alvit grinned at my gloomy face from having my girl’s secret seen through.

“No, you wrote in a letter in front of my room that you were going to the shopping district in the first place.”

“T-That’s right―☆ But that alone…”

“And every time you went begging, the bakery owner thanked you for helping with errands.”

I thought she was grumbling and pretending not to listen at the time.

But she heard everything.

“…”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t know? You were planning to tease me for a long time about wanting to know a girl’s secret over tea time or something, right?”

“…”

Damn.

I was planning to tease her all morning about the girl’s secret and whatnot.

I quietly pulled my bicycle in, feeling somewhat deflated.

“…”

“Ah, she’s sulking.”

Alvit giggled, hung her sweat towel around her neck, and glided towards my side with quiet footsteps.

Presence and breathing.

Footsteps and distribution of force.

‘She’s skilled in [Basic Ether] operation, but not yet at the [Vibration Ether] level.’

I unconsciously assessed Alvit’s level while gauging the ‘distance’ within which an exchange was possible.

Due to the difference in skill so great that measuring was meaningless, I felt no sense of crisis even if she stuck right next to me.

She still has a long way to go.

But her potential is limitless.

Not knowing my thoughts, Alvit smiled brightly and pointed at Red Hare as she spoke.

“Come to think of it, you ride a bicycle. I didn’t expect that image.”

“It’s my wonderful steed that’s been with me throughout school life―☆”

“Somehow I imagined you as someone who would call for an electric car to take you even for distances you could easily walk.”

“I see☆ That means I look like such a noble and cute princess―☆”

“Senior, you write notes normally but always speak in that manner.”

‘Do you have a problem with my pretty filter?’

Alvit, as if dumbfounded, took out a crumpled letter from her tracksuit pocket.

By the way, that letterhead is also something I brought in bulk from other school events.

[Going to the shopping district. Don’t be surprised if I’m not there in the morning. – Clara]

Alvit waved that paper and said:

“If you spoke this neatly usually, you’d look more like a reliable senior…”

“Then am I the type you want to protect? Kyaa―☆”

“Ah, yes. There it is right away.”

Alvit sighed and crumpled the paper back into her pocket.

Considering her usually neat personality, she would never carelessly litter on the street.

Watching me lock the bicycle, Alvit spoke as if remembering something.

“Oh right. Senior. A letter came at dawn, and when I checked, it was a notice sent from the <United Student Council>?”

“Hm? From the Union?”

“I haven’t opened it yet because I wanted to look at it together, shall we check it now that you’re here?”

“Yes! Let’s do that☆”

So we entered the student council room in our tracksuits.

On the student council room table was a notice with the <United Student Council> emblem in an envelope.

I opened it and spread it wide so Alvit could see too.

The content was a warning about motorcycle gangs using illegal ether vehicles.

It was a warning that delinquent students had expanded their activity range from the slums to near the central area. Their main pattern was to kidnap innocent students from each school, then contact their schools to extort cash under the guise of ransom.

Alvit frowned at the behavior of these delinquent students and muttered.

“What cowards. Kidnapping students…”

“…”

I agreed with her muttering but didn’t open my mouth.

‘An incident is about to happen soon.’

The junior I want to meet.

‘Rota’ will enroll in <Central Prism Academy> because of the commotion caused by these guys.