There’s a story that if an Academy student messes up, a disciplinary committee is held. I used to really like that story.
The reason it’s in the past tense… is because now I’m experiencing it firsthand, and it’s not so fun anymore.
In the center of the Academy grounds, there’s a nearly abandoned Student Council Building.
Unlike the remote corner near the Rift, this place is small, poorly maintained, and messy. But for the first time in a while, it’s filled with people.
The reason? Seria blew up the ceiling of the Student Cafeteria, prompting the disciplinary committee.
Since it involved the Student Cafeteria, which everyone uses, the response was pretty quick.
Of course, the fact that the people involved were the Princess and members of the Student Council might have played a role, but still, having the committee set up in just an hour or two was quite unusual.
Anyway, because of all this, five people have gathered here now.
First, the main culprit, Seria.
Then, Alkiné, the Student Council President, in charge of running and judging the committee.
Followed by Diggerus, the Vice President, who seems to have just tagged along.
Reina, the teacher, acting as the committee supervisor.
And finally… me, the Student Council secretary.
What a lineup. This isn’t a disciplinary committee; it’s more like a Student Council gathering.
The atmosphere was far from what you’d expect at a disciplinary committee.
“Hahaha! In all my years as an Academy staff member, I’ve seen people destroy the Training Ground, but you’re the first to take out the cafeteria! Impressive!”
“Stop teasing me…”
At least Seria didn’t try to blame me when she got here.
By the way, the reason the Student Council is leading this instead of a disciplinary committee is simply because there isn’t one.
If you’re strong enough to handle discipline, you might as well help the Student Council tackle the Rift… or something like that.
Anyway, since everyone knows each other, there’s no tension to be found.
Even Alkiné, who usually takes these things seriously, couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Alright… let’s begin the disciplinary committee regarding the destruction of Academy property.”
After that, it just got boring.
It was all formalities, like reading from a script, so it couldn’t be interesting.
As the secretary, I took notes and summarized everything, but despite how long and tedious it was, it all boiled down to one sentence:
-Using aggressive magic in the Student Cafeteria is a serious offense, but since no one was hurt and there was no collateral damage, Seria is sentenced to one week of community service within the Academy.
Case closed. Bam bam bam.
Still, for a Princess, one week of community service is pretty lenient. Could’ve just been a reflection essay or something.
I thought you’d know what to do.
There were quite a few witnesses, so it seemed like they had no choice but to hand down a punishment that would be visible to others.
Seria accepted the outcome without showing any particular dislike.
“Rudion, you’re joining me, right?”
“Why should I share your punishment?”
“Because you’re also at fault, Rudion.”
I thought she had accepted it… but as soon as the disciplinary committee ended, she started again.
At this point, I started wondering if I really did something wrong, but no matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t do anything.
So when I stubbornly refused, she suddenly got all sulky.
“Lilith gets help. Why won’t you help me?”
“That’s different. She’s working on self-improvement, and you’re being punished for your own mistakes.”
“Then how about this? I’ll help Lilith too, and in return, you can help me with the energy you save. How about that?”
Wow, seriously. I’m speechless. She wasn’t originally this kind of character, but somehow she ended up like this.
Still, it’s better than her original self, who kept her mouth shut and didn’t communicate with anyone.
I even started thinking that maybe I should just help her since she’s asking so earnestly, even though she’s usually sharp with her responses.
If Seria helps Lilith with her training, there’ll be plenty of benefits.
Even though Lilith is more of a combat type, she’s still a Saintess who primarily relies on magic. Seria’s knowledge of magic would definitely be a big help to her.
The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to refuse. At this point, I was just looking for reasons to agree, but in cases like this, finding a reason is what matters.
“Fine, okay, okay. I don’t have much to do anyway, so I’ll help you out.”
“Really?! Thank you, Rudion!”
Whoa!
Seria suddenly hugged me tightly… Why are we using up the emotional climax scene meant for defeating the Demon King in the final act here?
I felt like something was seriously messed up, but in the embrace of a beauty, such thoughts didn’t seem important.
After that, Seria and I headed to the student cafeteria, which had no roof.
The others had already eaten dinner or had other things to do.
I wasn’t particularly hungry since I had a late lunch earlier, but if I didn’t eat now, I’d definitely want something late at night, so I had no choice but to eat.
It’s not that I dislike late-night snacks, but the concept of late-night snacks doesn’t really exist in the academy.
The only place to eat here is the student cafeteria, and it doesn’t operate at night.
If I really wanted to eat something, I could go outside the academy and explore the night market… but that would be against the rules.
I might be willing to ignore school rules if necessary, but breaking them because I’m hungry? Not even worth mentioning.
So, it’s best to avoid getting hungry at night.
That’s why I headed to the student cafeteria, but there was a signboard I’d never seen before standing in front of the door.
It said, “Our cafeteria is open as usual, even without a ceiling!” along with a cute character drawn on it, which looked exactly like Seria. It was clearly a targeted jab.
I wondered who had the guts to target the princess, but then I remembered who was in charge of the student cafeteria and figured it made sense.
Anyway, I had to tease her about this.
I immediately called Seria over and pointed at the signboard.
“Hey, Seria. Look at this cute drawing. Isn’t that you?”
“Me? Cute? Hehe, thank you.”
“Wow, now she can’t even understand sarcasm.”
She’s really acting weird. Where did her genius hearing go, the one that could supposedly hear an ant crawling? At this rate, the original story and setting knowledge might become meaningless.
Giving up on teasing Seria, I went inside the cafeteria, which was packed with people gathered for dinner.
It was noisy, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were probably talking about why the ceiling had disappeared.
I was worried it would be dark without the ceiling lights, but it seemed some skilled friends who knew light magic had used their spells to light things up.
Thanks to that, we could enjoy a delicious meal while looking up at the sky.
Seria didn’t seem very hungry and left most of her food, so I ended up eating it all. Ugh, if she was going to leave so much, why did she even come?
As I realized that even a 5-star meal could feel like a chore if you force yourself to eat it, I headed back to the dorm.
The sun had already set, but the place wasn’t too dark thanks to the lighting installed everywhere.
Seria, walking beside me, casually spoke up.
“You must’ve been really busy today.”
She had heard about what happened at the student council meeting.
Well, more accurately, I had casually mentioned it during dinner.
“Tell me about it. I feel like I’ll fall asleep as soon as I hit the bed.”
Between the entrance ceremony, watching the big brawl Reina hosted, helping Lilith with her training, saving the student council from near destruction, and then dealing with Seria blowing up the ceiling and the disciplinary committee… Yeah, that’s a lot for one day. No wonder I’m exhausted.
“You look really tired. But you can’t just go to sleep like that. You should wash up first.”
“Ugh, can’t magic handle this or something?”
“…”
There is a cleaning spell, but even though it theoretically makes things clean, there’s still something icky about it, so I’d recommend just washing things the old-fashioned way.”
“Oh, here it is. At this point, even if something weird popped up, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
I figured they probably didn’t bother implementing magic that helps with daily life since it’s not really necessary for the plot or anything. Just a thought.
Anyway, since it still feels icky to use, I’m not really drawn to it. I’ll just wash things honestly and enjoy that fresh feeling.
As we walked, chatting about nothing in particular, it was suddenly time to part ways.
The male and female dormitories are in completely different locations, so we had to split up midway.
So, I glanced at Seria to say goodbye, but for some reason, she didn’t seem like she wanted to leave my side.
We just passed the path to the female dormitory. What’s going on?
As that question popped into my head, Seria called my name.
“Rudion.”
The lighting was awkwardly placed, making it a bit dark, so I couldn’t see her face clearly.
But I could tell she wasn’t looking directly at me.
I wondered what she was trying to say, setting the mood like this, but her words turned out to be simpler than I expected.
“Tomorrow… no, from now on, do you want to walk back together like this?”
I mean, we’ll just walk together and head back when the time comes. What’s the big deal?
We’ll naturally end up walking back together after attending lectures and helping out with campus activities, so I didn’t see why she had to ask.
“I was already planning on it.”
“…You always say things so casually… Ugh, never mind. See you tomorrow, Rudion.”
I gave her a casual answer, and she reacted in a really strange way, but if I had to guess, it seemed like a good kind of strange, so I decided not to overthink it.
Under the dim sky, watching Seria’s figure gradually disappear, I really felt like the day had come to an end.
“Even though it was tough in some ways, I managed to get through it without any major issues.”
That thought made me smile without realizing it.
Still, I hope tomorrow… no, for a while, nothing eventful happens. I’m so tired.
…Am I doomed now that I’m tangled up with the main characters?
Eh, if it doesn’t work out, it’s whatever.
After returning to the dormitory, I washed up first.
The moment I saw the bed, I wanted to just collapse into it, but Seria’s words came to mind, so I couldn’t.
I barely managed to wash up and lie down, and before I could think of anything else, my eyes closed.
The next morning, I woke up to find my room had expanded.
“What the hell?”
Turns out, the room didn’t expand—the wall was gone, and it was now connected to the room next door.
Hey, give me back my wall.
