We were heading back to school, having picked up a stray cat in a tattered school uniform. After much hesitation, she finally agreed to ride with us.

“...” “...” “...”

I glanced at Freya, who seemed timid and hunched over.

The dirty, smelly stray cat, true to her [Unique Ether] abilities, tried to gauge me as soon as she saw me. Unfortunately for her, my ether tank was completely empty this time, leaving nothing to hide.

“...!”

The empty ether inside me startled Freya. She sweated nervously, twitching her ears.

“Ugh… to think I’d encounter the pink, shameless brute… and in such an awkward situation…”

She turned her gaze away as if she had touched on an uncomfortable subject, sitting dejectedly in the corner of the vehicle. Despite her arrogance, she still had a timid nature.

I looked at Freya’s drooping purple cat ears.

“...” “How dare you, what are you looking at… you, you brute…”

Honestly, they were ugly cat ears. No matter how much I tried to think of them positively, I couldn’t.

Freya’s cat ears were not like the fluffy, folded ears of a Scottish Fold; instead, they were droopy and looked like they were missing fur, giving them a waterlogged appearance. While Freya herself was quite attractive, her cat ears were not.

‘Really not my type of cat ears.’

I looked at her creatively ugly cat ears with pity.

Memories of our first, arrogant, and aggressive encounter came to mind.

However, no matter how dirty, smelly, or likely she seemed to pee anywhere, even if she was one of the five strongest in the academy city, leaving someone asking for help stranded in the wilderness would have been wrong.

I nodded, reflecting on my sudden thought.

‘Freya… she’s passionate about magical studies, and has the ugliest cat ears among the cat beastkins. It’s like she’s Pang Tong.’

The meeting of the Sleeping Dragon and the Fledgling Phoenix. If this creatively ugly-eared cat beastkin was Pang Tong, does that make this pink Zhuge Liang?

Even with the instability of future knowledge, the stability of the academy city must be due to my intelligence and strategies.

‘Compared to my schemes, which have even thwarted <Ratatosk>'s sudden actions, magical studies are less practical. But Freya is one of the few practical magical ether users in the academy city.’

As a self-made genius in <Public Banna Boarding School>, which is dominated by nobles, Freya might be able to match my practical and clever mind.

This too is fate. I felt deeply moved by this sudden meeting of the Sleeping Dragon and the Fledgling Phoenix.

Anyway… We had picked up a stray cat.

“...” “...” “...”

The vehicle on the way back was filled with silence. Maya, as usual, didn’t care enough to ask. And honestly, I wasn’t that close to Freya either, so I kept quiet.

Rustle Rustle

Freya, seemingly uncomfortable with the silence, kept fidgeting and glancing around.

‘Ah… she must be uncomfortable around strangers.’

It was my fault for not considering her feelings. Being around strangers naturally made her uncomfortable. I needed to become friendly with Freya quickly to ease her discomfort. The best way to become friends was to get to know each other.

‘I won’t repeat the mistake of not talking with Hilde and regretting it.’

I spoke to the fidgeting stray cat in the back seat.

“Hey, hey―☆ Why was our peeing cat traveling alone in the wilderness? Were you wandering off from school? Wow, so romantic☆ It must be quite a distance from here to <Public Banna Boarding School>♪ Were you planning to run away far? Oh, is it a secret? Anyway, tell me! We’re not strangers; we’re old friends who haven’t met in a while―☆”

“Don’t, don’t call me a peeing cat…! What is that even! And… it’s not… it’s not running away… And what’s with the friendly act… We’re not even… friends yet…”

“Okay, I’m sorry haha―☆ But ‘we’re not even… friends yet…!’ is funny♪ Are you the type who values relationships a lot? I see~ You’re quite the romantic type to run away alone~ You look like an INFP―♪ Am I right? Yes, I’m right―☆ Haha, anyway, I want to know why you left, so please tell me―♪”

“When, when did I… stutter… like that…”

Huff Huff

Freya’s face crumpled, and she suddenly began to tremble and breathe heavily. Her dirty face lost color rapidly.

I felt bad for her.

‘Ah… she’s not ready for an icebreaker yet. I want to be friends…’

Just as I was about to say more, Maya’s warm hand touched my knee.

“...?”

I looked at Maya with a puzzled expression. Maya shook her head with a solemn face. Her eyes were filled with uncharacteristic sympathy.

“Stop… pushing. She’s an introvert. She’s already dead.” “Oh, okay―♪”

As I tried to understand what she meant,

“Ugh… sniff…”

I heard a quiet sobbing from the back seat. Freya was crying, her dirty face crumpled in sorrow. Even if she was a stranger, seeing her cry so sadly hurt my heart.

‘Maybe she’s in pain? Even [Unique Ether] users feel pain…’

I turned around and spoke out of concern.

“Why is our stray cat crying―☆ Oh, are you hungry? Or… if you need to pee, we can stop for a bit, no need to hold it in―♪”

“Sniff… wa, waaaah…!” “Oh, okay―☆”

Freya wailed with her mouth wide open. I was taken aback and could only watch.

“Hoo… this is why… extroverts…”

Maya shook her head, watching the scene.

Back at school. We gathered in the student council room for a brief chat. Alvit and Kara were out running errands in the shopping district.

“Ah…!”

Rota was shocked to see the dirty Freya. But it wasn’t fear of having her place taken by the stray cat.

Her orange eyes were filled with admiration. Rota, who still researched books at night. To her, [Purple Spindle] was a role model.

‘Freya, despite not being of noble origin, was a self-made genius at <Public Banna Boarding School>…’

There were several guesses why she ended up as a stray, but the timing was too early to know for sure.

Rota, with her cat ears perked up, spoke in a trembling voice.

“Th-the sage of magical studies―?! Why is [Purple Spindle] here?!”

“Ugh… who, who are you… Judging by the ears… are you from <Public Banna Boarding School> too…”

“Uh? Ah… no. I dropped out.”

“I, I see… Well… as long as you have… ability, it’s… enough… Anyway, most of the idiots in second-year can’t even understand… <Magical Ether Application> left by [Golden Witch]...”

Freya rubbed her tear-streaked face. Her nose was running like icicles, her dirt-covered face looked ridiculous, but pride showed through.

I chuckled at her words.

‘You’re the only one who fully understood it in the first year… and even those who understood half in the second year were considered strong characters in the game.’

By the way, the magical book left by [Golden Witch]… <Magical Ether Application> consists of five spells. In the game, it was the basic attack skill for mage-type characters, and Freya was the only one who mastered all five.

‘It’s impossible to use magic purely by following the heart…’

I felt sorry for the magic users. Even if they had decent firepower and versatility, they had to learn twice as much as others.

Just imagining it gave me a headache.

‘Heroes shouldn’t have to study…’

Contrary to my thoughts, Rota shyly lowered her head and spoke.

“I still… only understand the first spell.”

“Hmm… Well… I don’t get it, but… there are… dull people like that.”

“Somehow, <Magical Ether Application> doesn’t seem like it’s just about using magic as it is… Um… it bothered me, so I tried using it my way, but it didn’t make sense…”

“…!”

Freya’s eyes widened at Rota’s words. Her drooping, ugly cat ears perked up. Watching her ugly cat ears move was like watching a barren mountain in a drought.

Freya approached Rota and spoke.

“Perhaps… other than that… did you… understand more… newbie…”

“Uh? Well…”

Rota moved her short arms, explaining <Magical Ether Application> as if she were dancing. Although it should have been a scholarly and theoretical conversation, it was filled with emotions and fairy tale-like words.

Even as a complete outsider, I could tell it was a very different interpretation.

But Freya didn’t interrupt, listening quietly.

“...”

I watched proudly. Seeing this, Maya tilted her head and asked.

“Did you understand that? I took <Magical Ether Application> as a general course, but this is the first time I’ve heard such an in-depth conversation…”

“Nope, nope―☆”

“Then why do you look so proud?”

“Because our Rota is cute―♪”

“…”

Maya gave me a rude look.

I don’t know. She’s just cute, what am I supposed to do about it?

Creak

Then the student council room door opened. Alvit and Kara entered in their training outfits.

“We’re back――?!”

“We’re back… but why does the student council room smell like the barn from my childhood?”

Alvit pinched her nose, looking towards the source of the smell. Freya flinched and looked back with a start.

“Wh… what… so rude…”

“…”

Alvit approached me. Trying to be considerate, she whispered while still holding her nose.

“Senior…! Who is that person, and why do they look like that?! No, it smells like someone washed a toilet brush…”

“Stray cat―♪”

“I can’t argue with that. This is too much…”

Alvit turned to Freya and smiled.

“Um… you’re welcome to use our school’s washroom… if you’d like…”

“…”

As a [Unique Ether] user, Freya could hear all of Alvit’s whispers. She lowered her head, starting to tremble.

Then, an annoying sound came from the side.

Squeak―

We all turned to look. Rota, looking awkward, had opened the window and was glancing at us.

“Uh… well… I thought of airing out the room because it felt stuffy…”

Rota was trying not to make Freya feel uncomfortable.

“…Sniff.”

But it seemed that consideration hurt Freya. She started crying again.