I Became the Academy's Pink Airhead - Chapter 23

Bell, who had finished her business along with the absurd happening, said she would call headquarters before returning to the garrison on the late-night direct train.

Alvit spoke to Bell with a doubtful voice:

“Is it okay to go back and forth by train to <Mimir Technical High School> for such a trivial matter…?”

“…?”

To Alvit’s eyes, Bell seemed like someone who would take a taxi for any distance over 5 minutes of walking.

<Mimir Technical High School> and <Central Prism Academy> weren’t that far apart, but it wasn’t a distance to be going back and forth so frequently either.

But Bell answered in a very nonchalant voice:

“…Huh? What’s the big deal? All necessary expenses come out of the <United Student Council>’s coffers anyway. And with the dignity maintenance fee I received in 1st year at <Aesir Girls’ High School>, it’s enough to ride all year~”

“Di-dignity maintenance fee…?! And riding the train for a whole year?!”

“Isn’t that normal for schools from the union? <Central Prism Academy> should be part of the union too… Come to think of it, don’t you receive a dignity maintenance fee from your school foundation?”

“We don’t have a foundation… Let alone a dignity maintenance fee, we don’t even receive a survival maintenance fee…”

“Wow~ You guys really are beggars.”

“…”

Bell covered her mouth saying ‘Oh my oh my…’ with a truly shocked expression.

Alvit hung her head.

She just clenched her fists and vented her frustration.

“Ahh, this damn school…!”

At the same time, Kara and Rota also sighed while holding their heads.

“Hoo…”

“Haah…”

“Ahaha―♪”

Be strong, Peach Sisters.

Though you may be beggar girls of Takchoeon now, someday you will ride in carriages with huge roofs like the branches of that World Tree.

I was about to inwardly console Alvit while nodding my head, but flinched.

‘Oh right, Shu perished…!’

The example was too ominous.

Shu Road.

The place even Zhuge Liang couldn’t escape from.

Like the Shu Road in the treacherous mountains, <Central Prism Academy> was also on a steep hill road.

“…!”

I got goosebumps for a moment as I thought of Zhuge Liang’s tearful later years.

Ominous keywords swirling in my mind…

Memorial to the Throne, Five Camps at Wuzhang Plains, Zhang Wan, Flying Rain…

Our northern expedition had to succeed.

‘Ma Su…! We have to take down Ma Su!’

I decided that if I saw anyone saying they would climb mountains because the scenery was nice from now on, I would stuff the ultimate technique [Pink Lemon Sherbet] into their mouth.

Leaving Bell behind like that, who said she would make a phone call.

We returned to school from the shopping district with no results.

But I decided to have tea to stave off hunger rather than have everyone starve together. We had used up all the tea leaves we had taken out in the student council room. But since there were many tea leaves piled up in the supply closet, there was no problem bringing water in buckets to boil.

I clapped my hands to focus the attention of my juniors who were about to go to their rooms.

Clap clap―☆

The juniors turning around at the sound of clapping.

“…?”

“What is it?”

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t we have tea time while drinking some tea? If we all chat together including Bell who will come back later―☆ Both hunger and sadness will fly away to heaven♪ It will☆”

“Hmm… The occasion is a bit sad, but I agree. The wind seems chilly today too… I want to drink something before bed.”

Twitch

As Rota agreed first while moving her cat ears, Kara and Alvit also nodded. And they came out after changing into comfortable tracksuits in their rooms.

“Now now♪ Ladies―☆ Please follow this cute older sister well―☆”

“I get uncomfortable every time senior calls herself ‘older sister’…”

“I agree with that. No matter how I look at it, you seem like a peer or younger…”

“Yeah, honestly I don’t feel any respect at all…”

I pointed at Rota and Kara who were chattering and said:

“Hey―☆ Those two girls saying bad things! 2 demerit points―♪”

“What’s that?”

“Huhu. How scary.”

While the people in question were ignoring it, Alvit was the one who reacted to the word ‘demerit points’.

“What bad thing happens if demerit points accumulate?”

“By the way, if you accumulate 10 demerit points for doing bad♪ things―! Oh my goodness!”

“If you accumulate?”

“If you accumulate…!”

Alvit looking innocently.

I puckered my lips like a duck’s bill at her and clucked.

My glossy pink lips collided, making a cute sound.

Smooch smooch―☆

“You’ll receive a barrage of kisses from this cute girl―♡ Chu chu―♡”

“…”

Alvit looked at me with eyes like looking at trash.

Not quite food waste, but like somewhat dirty and torn newspaper… Eyes like looking at those paper bundles you occasionally see walking in the park.

That was about right.

I felt satisfied receiving that gaze.

‘I need to manage likability with ‘Clara behavior’ for a while since Alvit’s respect had risen above the allowable line.’

That way Alvit’s sense of responsibility will be maintained appropriately.

This is all behavior with deep meaning.

The flaw is that Rota’s likability went down together so I still can’t touch those tempting cat ears.

Anyway, I headed to the supply closet in the basement of the main building for the first time in a while since the day I had uniforms fitted for my juniors.

“While we’re at it, I plan to bring things we’ll use for several months all at once―♪”

“I see.”

“Is that so.”

“…”

The juniors following with indifferent expressions.

The path to the supply closet was unexpectedly complex. A haphazard path as if illegal extensions had been attempted countless times. We had to go back and forth between the ends of the main building on deformed stairs, and go down for quite a while before reaching it.

Thump thump―

Our footsteps echoed in the eerie path with only a few very small emergency lights on, the old passage where a stuffy dust scent could be felt.

I pointed to the supply closet in the middle of that path.

“We’ve arrived―♪”

“This is the first time I’ve been here since the entrance ceremony day…”

“Yes♪ Because this kind and cute older sister brought clothes for Rota and Kara―☆”

“Our school is dirty, narrow and old, but the basement is surprisingly complicated.”

Twitch

Rota seemed to be looking around with pupils shining like jewels even in the darkness.

At that moment, a faint sound heard from one side of the wall.

Thud…

[Beeeep―]

Twitching cat ears.

Rota stopping for a moment while walking.

“Hm? Just now what sound…”

“Yes―!! Miss Rota!! You just said a bad word~♪ 10 demerit points!! Come here chu chu―♪”

“Aaaah?! Are you crazy! Stop it! I said stop―!!”

I quickly made a show of showering Rota’s cheeks with kisses, and Rota really recoiled and hid inside the storage room.

‘Phew… Avoided the spoiler.’

It wasn’t time yet.

‘We haven’t even taken down one disciple of <Ratatosk> yet, and they’re already crying.’

Thoughtless spoiler.

I tapped the basement wall where the sound had rung out once with a somewhat resentful heart. Then I followed my juniors into the supply closet.

“Kids―☆ Did you already go in―♪ It’s sad to leave your senior in the hallway~”

Inside the supply closet we entered like that.

Past the wardrobe where uniforms were kept.

The three juniors were looking around the storage room which unexpectedly had many items.

“There are plenty―☆ of tea leaves in the supply closet~ So feel free to take them out and drink~ Huhuhu♪”

“Se-Senior?! That…!”

Alvit was shocked seeing the canned tea leaves filling an entire wall of the supply closet like the Great Wall of China. Seeing her surprised anew, it seemed she hadn’t noticed last time she came because she was caught up in the atmosphere.

“Wh-What on earth is this…?! Why are there so many tea leaves when there’s nothing to eat?!”

“Yes♪ That’s because―☆ For girls like us, a cozy tea time is as important as life itself♪”

“Why stock up on tea leaves instead of food!! Shouldn’t we take care of life itself before something as important as life?!”

“No way―♪”

Like the storage room of someone who obsessively stockpiled food in an apocalypse movie, an entire wall of the supply closet was filled with canned tea leaves. And each can had the names and emblems of schools in the northeastern region of the academy city stamped on them.

‘Well, actually I just collected a lot in 1st year since they were often given out as prizes at other schools’ events.’

We took plenty of canned tea leaves from there, and various trivial items like blankets and oil drums, then came out again.

Thud―!

Thud…

Fortunately, on the way back, the metallic sounds from the oil drums and cans echoed loudly. So we could no longer hear the faint sound of a spoiler.

To begin with, ‘that thing’ seemed to have become aware and stopped crying.

I finally declared an outdoor tea time in front of the underground passage we had emerged from.

“Now♪ We’re going to have a leisurely tea time☆ while looking at the stars in the night sky―♡”

“Is tea time… something done by lighting a fire in an oil drum…?”

“Rota, you lose if you think about it anymore. Haha!”

“Good grief.”

“What does it matter! As long as it goes in your mouth, it’s memories and romance! Hahahahaha!”

“Oh! Kara―♪ You’re saying something pretty for once―♡ I’ll give you 4 merit points―☆”

This time Alvit reacted to the keyword ‘merit points’.

“There were merit points too?”

“Yes♪ Of course―☆ If there are demerit points, there must be merit points! That’s the just and fair rule of girls! Goddess of justice! Noble maiden―♪”

“Then what are the criteria for merit and demerit points…”

Alvit trying to find some connection in the ‘Clara sounds’ I was blurting out thoughtlessly and spontaneously. Kara patted her shoulder and shook his head.

“Comrade Alvit, you lose if you think about it! Hahahaha! That’s romance!”

“Kara♪ Plus 6 merit points―♡ Come here! I’ll give you a kiss as a reward! Chuuu~☆”

“I respectfully decline.”

“So mean―☆”

The tea time that started after much trouble.

In the open space in front of the dormitory building, branches and firewood piled inside an iron oil drum were emitting a warm light.

The night sky where a curtain of starlight had descended under the branches of the World Tree faintly shining white. The taste of tea drunk while looking at the night sky and burning bonfire in front of the quiet dormitory building was excellent.

Slurp―

Actually, since we had just roughly thrown water and tea leaves into a kettle and boiled it, the tea’s inherent aroma had long since flown away. We were just drinking to forget hunger and warm our bodies.

“Slurp.”

“…Gulp.”

“…Phew―”

My juniors quietly drinking tea while looking at the bonfire with blankets draped over their shoulders. Among them, Rota seemed unable to drink hot things well, as she couldn’t take even one sip.

A bonfire lit under the dark night sky.

Girls in tracksuits wrapped in old blankets.

Bitter tea being swallowed to forget hunger and cold.

“…”

Isn’t this just a scene in front of a labor office at dawn…?

I couldn’t help but chuckle for a moment.

I thought it felt like a scene I’d seen many times before.

But it wasn’t too bad.

“…”

Alvit spoke in a quiet voice while drinking tea:

“…Senior Bell. She’s late.”

“Hm? You’re right? She doesn’t seem like the type to just disappear without saying anything…”

Rota, who hadn’t been able to take even one sip and had just been blowing on her tea, reacted to those words. And Alvit continued speaking with her gaze still fixed on the bonfire:

“Is it because of the… dungeon gate erosion state? It seems like something bigger than expected has happened.”

The words Alvit blurted out.

Those words added a chill to the comfortable silence that had continued until now.

“…”

“…”

“…”

We had all been inwardly sensing the unsettling atmosphere since the moment we left the bakery with no results.

“…”

And I quietly put down the cup I had been drinking from.

Apparently something really unsettling had happened.

Because there was a presence rushing urgently towards this place reminiscent of a labor office.

“You guys―!! Wait~!! Help me―!!”

Tap tap tap―!

A brat wearing the same red tracksuit as us.

Bell was running towards the bonfire across the school grounds, waving her hands with an urgent voice.

“…Senior Bell?”

Clatter

We who had been drinking tea, including Alvit, quietly put down our cups and looked at Bell.

“…?”

“What’s the matter?”

And Bell, who had run at a very fast speed befitting a high-level ether ability user, pleaded with a desperate expression:

“Aaaaah―!! Big trouble!! The <Gjallarhorn> guys at the garrison―!! They ignored my standby orders as the on-site commander and went to the north!!”

“What?!”

“Moreover, those guys are now wandering around in the north as they please and got into a fight with the <Scarlet Academy> guys―!! I don’t have enough hands by myself!!”

We looked at each other silently.

* * *

The vice president of the <United Student Council>.

Sieglinde urgently knocked on the door of the president’s office, passing by dozens of attendants trying to stand up and greet her.

Her expression was terrifyingly stiff, and her black wolf ears were trembling.

“I apologize, President. The ether reception phone condition was poor, so I came to report in person.”

Knock knock knock

“…!”

At that moment, the attendants who were about to stand up and greet her all rushed out.

Three knocks.

It meant a serious matter that only executive-level students could hear.

After the presence of the quickly departing attendants passed, an indifferent girl’s voice was heard from inside the door.

“…Enter.”

“Excuse me.”

Creak

The <United Student Council> president’s office she entered.

There, sitting in her seat was the silver-white girl with an expression like a wooden statue as usual… Brunhilde.

Sieglinde stood at attention in a polite posture and reported:

“The leader of the <Gjallarhorn> investigation team dispatched to <Mimir Technical High School> in the northeastern region, Sigrun, unilaterally led the investigation team to conduct an investigation in the northern eroded area. And it is reported that a clash occurred with students of <Scarlet Academy> encountered in the northern region.”

“…”

“In the… process, news that one of the Five Colors… [Crimson Trajectory] intervened…”

Clang―!

As soon as Sieglinde’s words ended, Brunhilde stood up holding the lance behind her seat. And she gave instructions without even looking back:

“…Arrange a train heading to the northern region.”

“I’ve already instructed that.”

“Understood.”

Trudge trudge

Like that, Brunhilde left the student council president’s office without a moment’s hesitation.

“…”

While Sieglinde was counting instructions to give to the attendants in preparation for the president’s absence. She suddenly felt something off about the items on the president’s desk.

Narrowing her eyes as she looked, she could identify the source of that unsettling feeling.

“…?”

For some reason, the ether reception phone directly connected to the president’s office was smashed.

Amidst the shattered pieces of the phone, what suddenly caught her eye was… a very small amount of blood.

“…President?”

Sieglinde looked with an expression of disbelief at where Brunhilde had left, but there was only a chilling silence lingering there.