NoveLight ™
"Ah, thank you so much for coming all this way, students of the Academy."
After traveling for two more hours from the meadow where we had spent the night, we arrived at the village of Bridget.
As soon as the village elder, a white-haired man representing the village, saw our carriages—mine, Ethan’s, and the hero’s party—arrive, he greeted us with a handshake, starting with the hero.
"It wasn’t too far. We reached it within a single night’s travel."
"We’ll be in your care for the next three days, Elder."
"Oh, no, not at all. We’ve prepared rooms in the village hall for your stay. Please come in."
The hero and the princess, naturally assuming the role of our representatives, spoke with the elder as if they had been leading us all along.
Just as a note, for this event, all of us—regardless of our actual statuses—were attending as "commoner students."
Since the Humanities Exploration Class involved aiding regions affected by bandits, using noble or royal authority would defeat the purpose of the class. This rule prevented anyone from causing problems by suddenly pulling rank and making a fuss, saying, "How dare these commoners!"
‘Although, in reality, there were plenty of people in our party who could blow up the whole village if rubbed the wrong way.’
We had the hero, the princess, the saintess, and several nobles in our group.
Even though my status as a noble was only a cover I had created to enter the Academy’s magic department, Ethan and Agnes were actual noble heirs—Ethan, a lord’s son, and Agnes, a noble lady.
With Ethan and me joining forces with the hero's party, we had created quite the dangerous group, full of highly valuable individuals—a party that could easily explode with a 50% chance of disaster if mishandled.
"The village hall isn’t very large, so we could only prepare three rooms. I hope it won’t be too cramped for you."
"It’s no problem, Elder."
"Having a roof over our heads is more than enough."
"Thank you for saying so. Each room has two beds, which should comfortably accommodate two people. Please divide the rooms accordingly. Ah, and here’s a letter from the professor at the Academy, who asked me to deliver it to you. I can’t read, so I’ll just hand it over."
"Ah, thank you."
With those words, the village elder handed a piece of paper to that person from the hero’s party.
I had seen that piece of paper countless times in the original game, so I could already guess what was written on it from a distance.
Tasks to Be Completed in Bridget Village (10 points):
...
...
...
It was a list of tasks assigned by the professor of the Humanities Exploration Class, detailing what we needed to do to earn service points during our stay. It seemed we would have quite a busy three days ahead of us.
‘In truth, you could ignore all the other tasks and just complete the final task to get a B grade, but still.’
Uncover the village resident conspiring with the bandits and eliminate the bandit group (50 points).
Well, this was something that person from the hero's party would have to handle.
It would be a good opportunity to test how sharp that person's mind was during this investigation event.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
After being shown our lodgings by the village elder, we soon found ourselves involved in a somewhat chaotic discussion about how to divide the rooms.
"Since Lilith and Ethan are outsiders to our party, they should have a separate room, and the eight of us can split the remaining rooms."
"Wait a minute, that’s not necessary."
"Since we’ll have to mix men and women, it can’t be helped. I suppose I’ll just have to share a room with that person from the hero’s party. It’s a necessary sacrifice."
"...Is it really? It seems like you’re using this as an excuse for your own desires."
"What are you talking about, Miss Selena? There are six women and two men, so at least two of the women will have to share a room with a man. I’m simply volunteering to be one of them. Is there a problem with that?"
"It’s not a sacrifice; you’re just scheming to share a bed with Volt. I won’t allow that."
"Wait! I, uh, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to share a room with any of the women. Especially not someone as distinguished as Princess Seraphin. It would be improper in many ways."
"Really? Well, since it’s you, the hero, and Thomas in one room, I was thinking Natalie should be the one to share it."
"...Huh?"
"Natalie has been Thomas’ childhood friend for a long time. I don’t think she would mind sharing a room with him. Would it be a problem?"
"...Well, if that’s the case... If Natalie is okay with it, then maybe it’s fine…"
"Me? I’m fine with sharing a room with anyone! You’re fine too, Thomas!"
"...Yeah. That’s… great."
"Wait a second, why did you stop? I’m not letting Seraphin crawl into Volt’s bed by herself. If she’s sleeping with him, then I’m sharing the bed too."
"I think it’s unseemly for young men and women to share a bed. Unless, of course, they’re engaged like Lilith and Lord Ethan. But Princess Seraphin, Selena, and Natalie… It’s a bit too improper."
"...I just want to split the rooms and rest. As long as there’s no man in my room, I don’t care."
"I also don’t mind which room I sleep in, Princess Seraphin."
The discussion dragged on as everyone clung to their preferences, and it didn’t seem like it would ever end.
Honestly, this would’ve been solved if Ethan and I hadn’t been here. With three rooms available, one could be used for the men, and the remaining two for the women, with three women in each room.
Since this class was primarily aimed at gaining experience points, it was unpopular with regular students, so it was unusual for us to interact with anyone besides the hero’s party.
‘It’s only this messy because I convinced Ethan to come along…’
If Ethan and I took one of the rooms, it would only cause more confusion, so the best solution was for us to integrate with the hero’s party’s usual room arrangement.
"Ethan, I think it’s best if you share a room with the other two men, and I’ll share a room with the women."
"...Yeah, that seems like the best solution."
"Originally, I was planning to use the Aura of Healing to continue treating your arm tonight, Young Master, but... It seems that won’t be possible now."
"...If we did the same thing as last night again, I’d probably collapse from lack of sleep tomorrow, Lilith."
I ignored Ethan’s baseless claim.
Then Ethan and I joined the ongoing room discussion in the center of the hero's party.
After he spoke, the room arrangements for the next three days finally began to take shape.
"I’ll share a room with the men in your party. And Lilith will share a room with the women. That way, it’ll be three people in two rooms and four in the other. That should work, right?"
"Lord Blackwood...?"
"Weren’t you two going to sleep together as a couple?"
"I’d feel bad if Lilith and I took up one of the rooms by ourselves, especially when they’re meant for four people. Plus, it’s better to split the rooms by gender rather than creating tension on the first day of class."
"R-right... I completely agree with you, Lord Blackwood. Even if you’re a couple, it’s improper for men and women to sleep together before marriage..."
"...Understood. If Lord Ethan and Lady Lilith are being so considerate, we’ll accept your kindness."
Seraphin looked visibly disappointed, but this was clearly the most reasonable solution.
If we had left things as they were, that person would have had to spend three uncomfortable days stuck between the three heroines, and Agnes would have been visibly upset if she had ended up sharing a room with Thomas.
I was aware of my surroundings. I wasn’t so selfish as to insist on being alone with Ethan at the expense of everyone else’s comfort.
"The men will use one room, and we’ll just need to split up among ourselves."
"Indeed, Lady Lilith."
"So, which room should I take? Does anyone specifically want to share a room with me?"
"...Me."
Agnes raised her hand without hesitation when I asked who wanted to share a room.
This wasn’t too surprising, and the following responses were also within my expectations.
"I’ll share the room with Lady Lilith and Lady Agnes."
"Of course, I’ll accompany Princess Seraphin."
Well, that was to be expected.
Other than Luke, I was on friendly terms with the rest of them, so it seemed the next few days wouldn’t be too boring after all.
Ty