That afternoon felt strangely refreshing.

   It felt as if half of the concerns that had been weighing on me had been resolved. I’d found a way to recover quickly even when tired through meditation, and had at least partially addressed the issues in the north. And, I’d made my abilities clear to those around me.

   The emotional side I’d shown Mia Crowfield might also be somewhat diluted after this incident. After all, I’d proven that I alone could inflict significant damage on the enemy.

   Perhaps, by now, even Countess Crowfield, who likely harbored thoughts of revenge against the Emperor, would take it as a warning. In the original story, Claire hadn’t transferred until partway through her first year, and she certainly hadn’t acted as openly as I did, which had allowed the Crowfield side to underestimate her somewhat.

   Back then, I hadn’t blown up the Count with a bomb, either.

   There’s a vast difference between dealing with an assassin and facing a human weapon capable of decimating whole units.

   “...”

   I could understand why Mia Crowfield was now glancing nervously at me.

   This would probably make it harder to grow closer to her.

   “Sister!”

   ...And there was someone else whose attitude towards me had noticeably shifted.

   Considering I’d returned after performing as a one-person army, I thought people would find it even harder to approach me, but Claire, on the contrary, seemed more at ease around me.

   It was probably because I’d said, “This was something I wanted to do.” I hadn’t explained my reasons, nor had I done anything as straightforward as obtaining a reward. Instead, I’d gone out and dismantled a mercenary group. Yet to Claire, the action itself didn’t seem to matter as much.

   More than anything, it had assured her that I still had genuine emotions.

   “Claire.”

   “I know, I know! But we’re not in the Academy right now, are we?”

   Before I could say anything, Claire preemptively responded, tapping my arm.

   ...Though we weren’t technically on Academy grounds, we were still engaged in practical activities that counted toward our attendance.

   Plus, we were all in our uniforms. It wasn’t an Academy building, but it might as well have been, considering the setting.

   “By the way, Claire keeps calling you ‘Sister’ since earlier. Can you explain why?” Alice, walking on my right while Claire walked on my left, asked. This made me feel oddly unsettled, as they both felt like sisters to me.

   Though, in reality, I hadn’t explicitly thought of them as “sisters”… but, you know, that feeling you get over time when you’re around people. Claire followed me closely, and Alice had spent considerable time by my side, so I seemed to have developed such sentiments toward them both.

   “Oh, that?”

   At Alice’s question, Claire responded with a confident smile.

   “Sylvia has this vaguely older-sister vibe, doesn’t she? I had a younger brother, but never an older sister. So, I decided I’d call her ‘Sister.’”

   “...”

   Glancing behind, I noticed Leo staring incredulously at the back of Claire’s head, and I nearly burst out laughing. It wasn’t just the reason Claire called me “Sister” but more so her casual mention of having a younger brother that seemed to leave Leo in disbelief.

   “...For that reason?”

   Alice leaned forward slightly, directing a questioning gaze at Claire, then turned her eyes to me.

   She clearly didn’t believe a word of Claire’s explanation.

   “...”

   I looked silently at Claire, who avoided my gaze, pretending to be distracted by something else.

   Come to think of it, she hadn’t just started calling me “Sister” now. She had been doing so subtly for a while.

   I didn’t mind as much as I’d thought I would; it didn’t feel out of place or uncomfortable. Still, being addressed like that could complicate things in this situation.

   “...I’ll explain later,” I murmured to Alice.

   “...Alright.”

   Alice didn’t press further. She trusted me enough to leave it at that.

   Charlotte, standing nearby and likely within earshot, looked intrigued but refrained from prying further. Apparently, she didn’t think digging for secrets was a proper royal behavior.

   Jake, on the other hand, seemed entirely disinterested. He was glancing around idly as if he couldn’t care less… but I couldn’t relax my guard around him.

   In the original story, scenes like this, bustling with people, were rare. Each character had set lines, and unless a character was central to the plot, “optional party members” would often fade into the background during key events. Without dialogue scripts, even if they appeared in a cutscene, they’d just stand in the back, idle.

   Typically, only the character set as the main one by the player would move around, with maybe one or two companions during specific events. Although, in theory, they were traveling together, only one character would be visually present.

   So, this lively scene felt a bit odd.

   Yet, it was enjoyable, too. It reminded me of hanging out with friends in high school, even if it felt slightly awkward compared to the game’s scripted interactions.

   “Alright then.”

   Claire stretched her arms high and said,

   “Let’s give it our all this afternoon! We’ll be heading back tomorrow.”

   “...Are we going straight back to classes on Monday?” Mia Crowfield asked hesitantly.

   “Isn’t that obvious?” Charlotte replied matter-of-factly, prompting Mia to slump her shoulders.

   Tomorrow, we’d finish our practice in the morning and return to the Academy by train. However, since this place was quite far from Londarium, it would take several hours to get back. Though the train was spacious and comfortable, it didn’t offer sleeper seats, meaning we’d be sitting for hours.

   I imagined it was hard for them to accept that we’d be back to classes immediately after the trip.

   ...Though I planned to use a few resets to catch up on sleep.

   Still, seeing Mia Crowfield engage naturally with the others reassured me that our joint task this morning had been beneficial. It seemed they’d grown closer over it.

   The blue Marmaros in Mia’s staff still sparkled.

   *

   “Impressive.”

   Jennifer looked genuinely surprised.

   There wasn’t much to do in the afternoon. Since our group had completed most of the assignments in the morning, the others had hurried into the guild hall after waking up a bit later — not that it was very late, just relatively so — and had only a few tasks left by afternoon.

   In the original game, this was also the trigger that unlocked a hidden quest.

   If you cleared all the morning side quests, an event would trigger in the afternoon about “extra time.” Completing the morning quests didn’t reduce the number of afternoon quests, though.

   If you didn’t finish the morning side quests, the time would simply be filled with various tasks, and Jennifer’s dialogue scene wouldn’t even appear.

   Anyway, as we completed our work and returned, Jennifer greeted us with—

   “We still have plenty of time left before dinner.”

   “Yes, we do,” Leo agreed, nodding. Jennifer paused, her expression thoughtful for a moment before she spoke again.

   “Then, would you like to take on a challenging task with your remaining time?”

   “A challenge… ma’am?”

   Leo’s curiosity was evident, and Jennifer gave a mischievous smile.

   “Yes. If you succeed, it could be highly beneficial for you. Although the time might be a bit tight.”

   "..."

   The students exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with interest.

   Jennifer’s suggestion was half a jest and half a serious offer. She wanted to surprise her mentor, but she was also considering rewarding her favored students.

   She’d kept a close eye on Leo, who had inherited the swordsmanship of the Grace family.

   She must have seen potential in him.

   “Are you interested?”

   The students nodded in unison, and Jennifer smiled as she spoke.

   “Then—”