After bowing my head to Eve, I exited the teacher’s office.

I had originally thought about becoming a debtor, but fortunately, things turned out well.

I came to repay the cost of the school uniform, but ended up accruing more debt.

Perhaps there was a better way, but unfortunately, [The Holy Swordsman of the Academy] was a novel centered around Yoon Si-woo.

When the incident occurred in the gym, Yoon Si-woo was not at school.

Thus, all I knew was just a few lines of narration.

However, the content contained within those few lines wasn’t something I could easily overlook.

I was a coward, lacking the courage to step into situations I didn’t understand.

That day, I was struggling to avoid staying at school.

It was an incident I originally planned to watch from the sidelines, not knowing how the future would change.

But I had debts to repay both to the class president and to Eve.

All I could do was set up a safety net for those who were out of the story’s spotlight.

There was less than a week left before the first incident would happen.

I had requested for the door to be installed as soon as possible, and I was just praying for the renovations to finish in time.

*

“Can I sit next to you?”

When lunchtime came, as always, I was about to huddle in a corner to eat when Sylvia cautiously approached me and asked.

I hesitated, wondering if it was okay for her to come and eat next to me instead of Yoon Si-woo, but that thought quickly vanished when I saw Sylvia blushing and fidgeting.

Like I was enchanted, I nodded, and Sylvia shyly smiled before sitting next to me.

With Sylvia beside me, I felt as if the quality of this place had risen by a couple of notches.

The student cafeteria sparkled brighter than a Michelin three-star restaurant.

I had never been there, but there’s no Sylvia there!

It seemed like the food was even tastier, and as I eagerly maneuvered my utensils to finish the meal piled on my plate, Sylvia looked at me in wonder and commented.

“Scarlet, you’re surprisingly a big eater. You look so delicate, but I guess if you have high physical abilities, you need to consume more calories?”

I tilted my head at her question.

It wasn’t that my body needed it; I was just eating a lot because it was delicious.

The food at the cafeteria was so good that just eating it relieved stress, I suppose.

If the cooks here made that, even the notoriously awful mackerel stew would probably be tasty.

If military mess food was like that, there wouldn’t be many people getting scolded for skipping meals.

Well, just as she was curious about me, I was also curious about her.

Sylvia was eating like a normal person, with an ordinary diet.

I thought elves were supposed to be vegetarians, of course.

Feeling oddly disappointed, I responded to Sylvia.

“Well… I always thought elves were vegetarians. You look like a fairy…”

“Scarlet… These days, not even little kids believe in those kinds of stories anymore… If I’ve shattered your illusion, I apologize…”

As Sylvia said this, she looked at me with the expression of a sixth grader who just learned Santa was actually their dad.

Gyaah, don’t look at me like that!

It makes me super embarrassed!!!

As I was blushing from embarrassment, Sylvia covered her mouth with her hand and giggled softly.

Even her smile was filled with elegance.

Lost in her smile, Sylvia said, “So this is what it’s like to have a meal while chatting with a friend.”

She wore a gentle smile on her lips as she said that.

“In fact, you’re the first true friend I’ve made, Scarlet. So it’s my first time eating comfortably and chatting with someone like this. It’s kind of amazing.”

As she spoke in a slightly sentimental tone, my mind went red, thinking about being Sylvia’s first.

It seemed I had to say something, so I babbled the first thing that came to my mind.

“Well, me too… you’re my first friend, Sylvia…”

I wasn’t wrong; after all, Sylvia was indeed my first friend in this world!

By accident, we were confessing our ‘firsts’ to a cute girl.

My heart was pounding.

Surprised by my response, Sylvia widened her eyes and replied with a beaming smile.

“Then… we’re both each other’s firsts?”

After saying that, her cheeks flushed pink, and she quietly murmured, “I’m happy…”

I felt like I was about to lose my mind.

Anyone who could maintain their composure after seeing that wasn’t human; they must be a statue of indifference!

In the midst of this ticklish atmosphere, I barely managed to suppress my swirling emotions, finished my meal, handed Sylvia the macarons I’d made that morning, and dashed out of the cafeteria.

As I left, I sensed Yoon Si-woo’s gaze from a distance and stole a glance back.

For some reason, he looked extremely confused.

*

Thanks to the conversation I had with Sylvia at lunch, I was so engrossed in trying to calm my pounding heart that before I realized it, school was already over.

After the bell rang, when I told Eve, who was leaving the classroom, that I was counting on her, she patted my back reassuringly and vanished.

I trudged home and opened the door.

“Oh, you’re back?”

Seeing an unfamiliar man, I quickly closed the door.

Did I open the wrong door?

I glanced at the number on the door.

Room 203, it was definitely my home.

Then who was that man sitting on my bed just now?

Cautiously reopening the door, I saw a disheveled middle-aged man still sitting on my bed, looking over at me.

“You said you wouldn’t be able to come often… But reacting so coldly hurts my feelings…”

The man said timidly, looking as though he had been wounded.

Who are you?!

“More than before, this place feels like a home now. I saw the fridge had some things in it. Are you cooking now? I’d love to eat something you make one day.”

The man spoke with a proud expression.

No, seriously, who are you?!

“Before, you really just lay there like you were dead. I guess sending you to the Academy was the right choice after all. I’m glad to see my efforts are paying off.”

He continued babbling on.

I stared at him warily and spoke cautiously.

“Um… who are you?”

“Was that a joke? Hahaha, you really are acting like a girl your age now…”

Upon hearing my question, the man burst out laughing and then gazed at me with misty eyes.

I had no clue what he was talking about. I just quietly glared at the man who was chatting away by himself.

After a moment of silence, the man seemed to feel something was off when I was just staring at him quietly.

He chuckled nervously while looking at me, and then his face paled as if he realized something.

With a trembling voice, he asked me, “Scarlet, are you serious?”

I nodded.

The man’s expression turned very serious as he began to mumble.

I thought I heard something about “side effects” or something, but his voice was too soft to understand the words.

Then he sighed deeply and muttered to himself, “Maybe this is better…” before addressing me.

“Just keep in mind that I’m your legal guardian since you don’t remember anything. I won’t be able to visit often due to circumstances, so you probably won’t see my face much. Since you seem to be doing well, I’ll take my leave.”

The term “legal guardian” made my head spin.

Since he hadn’t appeared in the original story, I thought he must be a new addition…

The idea that this body has a past I’m unaware of wasn’t particularly pleasant.

I don’t know.

Right now, I was too overwhelmed with the future to think about anything else.

As I blinked in bewilderment, the man, preparing to leave, hesitated upon seeing me and scratched the back of his head before speaking gently.

“Um, is the Academy… manageable for you?”

His question sparked various thoughts in my mind.

To be honest, it had been tough.

Still, I had become friends with Sylvia, and Eve promised to put in a door for the gym…

I slowly nodded my head.

The man smiled slightly.

“That’s good.”

Since he claimed to be my guardian, I decided to see him off.

Just as the man was about to leave, he suddenly paused, turned back, and took out an envelope from his pocket, handing it to me.

“I couldn’t put much in it, but use it as your allowance. Well then, I’ll be off.”

With that, the man waved goodbye and closed the door behind him.

I am a human, after all, and I don’t remember everything from the story.

I silently tried to recall the events.

In [The Holy Swordsman of the Academy], there were 29 students in Yoon Si-woo’s class.

But now, there were 30 students in Class 1-A.

I was left wondering if Scarlet Evande was simply a character added because I arrived here or if an event from the original story had changed into me being in this body…

My head was a jumble, yet I soon decided it was pointless to dwell on it and opened the envelope the man had left.

Inside were ten 10,000-gold bills.

…That man doesn’t seem like a bad person.