Chapter 88

Thud.

Tia, who jumped off the carriage, placed her hands on her waist and looked around.

The sight of children going to school with their backpacks was no different from yesterday.

However, when she turned to the side, her mother was nowhere to be seen.

From today onward, she would have to go to school without her mother.

Tia swallowed and took a step forward.

Just as she was about to confidently pass through the main gate as Leopard had told her…

“Muh!”

“Stop right there.”

Suddenly, she was halted by a firm grip at the nape of her neck.

Tia quickly turned around with a pouty expression.

It was the gloomy teacher she had seen the day before, sharpening his sword alone.

There stood Alexander, dressed in priestly robes.

“Your attire is inappropriate. Your socks are wrinkled, and your skirt is crumpled. Your buttons are not fastened properly either. Maintain your dignity as a student of St. Sophia.”

“Muhhh…”

After all, it would just get wrinkled again after walking a bit.

Despite her dissatisfied expression, Tia obediently followed his instructions.

As Tia’s gaze continued towards Alexander, he became a bit tense.

“What’s your name, teacher?”

“Alexander.”

“Mr. Alexander. I’ll remember you as the strict and unfriendly teacher.”

“Hey…”

She had expected him to glare at her because of her mother.

It seemed Tia did not know that Alexander had arranged a tutoring session with Yuli the day before.

“Did your mother not mention anything?”

“She just told me to come back without getting hurt.”

“I’m asking if she didn’t say anything about me.”

“Huh? Do you know my mom?”

“No. I just asked out of curiosity…”

Tia tilted her head.

He considered explaining it but decided against it and kept his mouth shut.

Yuli had hidden the tutoring talk from her daughter.

If so, what could be the reason?

Did she not want people to know about it?

‘Well, it wouldn’t be good to spread rumors about meeting a priest alone…’

He was a priest, and also a teacher at the school her daughter attended.

She probably wanted to meet him secretly.

Alexander quickly concluded that.

‘If it was just a pure meeting, there would be no need to keep it a secret from her daughter.’

There must be some ulterior motive.

He couldn’t help but think about what Yuli’s impure motive could be, and a faint flush crept onto Alexander’s cheeks.

“Strange teacher…”

Meanwhile, Tia, who was looking up at the lost-in-thought Alexander, quietly slipped past him and dashed away.

She didn’t want to be near someone who sharpened swords alone or suddenly smiled creepily.

“But there are really a lot of people…”

On the first day, she hadn’t thought to look around, but with a little more time now, her field of vision seemed to clear a bit.

Upon close observation, the most noticeable were the humans, but there were also various and numerous other races, whether students or teachers.

There were half-humans, of course, elves with pointed ears, and even the short-statured dwarves…

All the races she had read about in the fairy tales her mother used to read to her were gathered here.

Tia had to suppress the impulse to touch the ears and tails of passersby, sweating profusely.

Her mother had told her that it was rude to touch others’ body parts without permission…

“Sister! Can I touch those ears?”

“What?”

But in the end, she failed to hold back.

The elf, who turned around at Tia’s rude question, frowned.

However, upon seeing Tia’s shining eyes, her expression softened immediately.

Though she lived in the Vladimir Empire, a nation of humans, and had suffered throughout her life due to her unusual ears…

“Um. Uh, I have to touch gently?”

“Yay! You’re the best! You’re so pretty!”

“Humph. Of course. Compared to humans, I am only divine beauty.”

For some reason, without realizing it, the elf girl lowered herself to match Tia’s height so she could touch her ears comfortably.

It was a sensation that was hard to define in words.

It felt as if her body was moving on its own, in a daze.

Not understanding her own actions, the elf girl thought that she must have found this child cute and charming.

“Thank you, sister!”

“Hey. Wait a minute…”

Just when she was about to ask for her name, Tia had already dashed off into the crowd.

Using the same method, Tia touched numerous half-human and elf ears, tails, and horns.

Tia’s random petting ended just before the first period began.

By then, all the students had gone inside the classroom, leaving no one outside.

With a satisfied smile, Tia finally stood in front of Class 1-3.

“Daughter of a liar.”

“Haah…”

However, that expression quickly contorted.

A blonde human boy with a sullen and proud expression.

He had been eager to pick a fight with Tia since the entrance ceremony and again yesterday.

With his fluffy tail and ears, or even horns, he had no cute aspects whatsoever.

Tia faced Nikolai with a frown.

“Again, you call me that. Why am I the daughter of a liar?”

“Because your mother lied to me.”

“What lie?!”

“Your mother said she would introduce me to Duke Dragania if I got a perfect score on one of her tests. But the tests were always designed to be impossible to score perfectly!”

“Hmph. So what? That’s your fault for being fooled.”

“Okay. I’ll cancel calling your mother a liar. Your mother is a scammer.”

“What?!”

His anger flared up.

Leopard had said to punch anyone who picked a fight with him from the start.

However, the boy seemed too weak to hit with such an appearance.

Moreover, he looked like he had no will to fight.

If he didn’t want to fight, why was he picking a fight at all?

Tia didn’t feel it was worth her time to engage and turned her back.

“Meh. I’m done. You’re boring, so I won’t engage with you.”

“Hey! You think you can ignore me? Turn back! Right now!”

“…”

When the classroom door slammed shut, Nikolai was left dumbfounded.

No one in this school dared to treat him, the prince and next emperor, in such a manner.

From the first day, all his classmates had been busy flattering him, and even some seniors had come to show their faces.

Yet, what was so special about that girl that made her treat him like this?

“A girl who doesn’t know her place…”

He wanted to see her kneel before him.

He wanted her to beg for forgiveness.

He wanted her to grovel for his mercy.

Nikolai clenched his fists, lost in such thoughts.

His face had turned red.

Whether it was from anger or some other reason, he had no way of knowing.

“Huu…”

Meanwhile, Tia, who had entered the classroom, was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

That boy was so bothersome just to meet.

She didn’t even want to imagine how tiring it would have been if they had been in the same class.

“Muhuh.”

She quickly spotted Turi, who was sitting alone at the back.

A demon girl with dark red horns.

On the outside, she seemed a reserved lady, but once she spoke, she turned into a timid, fearful eight-year-old.

Today, Tia wanted to touch Turi’s horns no matter what, and she headed straight for her desk.

“Hold on, Tia.”

“Huh?”

But she was immediately stopped as arms were held back on either side.

Tia, who was suddenly pulled backward, looked around in confusion.

A wolf half-human, whose ears made her want to pet them just by looking, quietly whispered to Tia.

“You shouldn’t get close to that demon girl.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well… because she’s a demon. Look. She’s already being picked on by human kids.”

“Oh?!”

Sure enough, Turi was indeed being bullied by human children.

They surrounded Turi, poking her horns, touching her hair, and pushing her around.

But Turi just kept her mouth shut and did not respond at all.

Seeing this made Tia’s anger rise.

“What’s this? We should help her!”

“Why should we help a demon?”

“Bullying is bad, isn’t it?”

“Demons are worse than bullying.”

“Huh?”

Tia was shocked by the wolf-eared girl’s cynical attitude.

What exactly had that child done wrong?

Was she to blame for a war that took place fifty years ago?

Tia just couldn’t understand.

“Anyway, demons and humans should just stick to their own, and we should get along as beastmen.”

“It would be better if we all got along.”

“No way. Humans are all arrogant and only care about themselves.”

“…”

Remembering Nikolai from just earlier, she thought that might be true.

But her mother was human, Leopard was human, and the innkeeper was also human.

Most of the humans she had met so far hadn’t been that arrogant or self-centered.

“Hm, still, isn’t it better to get along…”

“Look, we’re just the inferior ones?”

Just then, a group of human children approached from the other side.

The half-human children instinctively took a defensive stance.

“Uh? Inferior ones?”

“Isn’t that right? You half-humans are all inferior to humans. You come to St. Sophia because there are no decent schools in your own country, right? This is a country that treats you half-humans as slaves. Honestly, don’t you all want to be slaves?”

“That jerk!”

“Hey, guys, don’t fight…”

In an instant, the atmosphere in the classroom became hostile.

Even Tia stepping forward to mediate was useless.

It felt like the children would leap at each other any moment.

“Hey, little brats. If you want to fight, go outside and fight.”

“…?”

“It’s gym class for the first period. I’ll even set up the arena for you to fight.”

The door swung open with a creak, and their teacher Yuli appeared.

With a grin, her words only inflamed the atmosphere further.

It was like fanning the flames of a burning house.

Caught in the middle of the fight, Tia tried to understand this situation but…

“Gym class!!!”

Finally, she gave up and raised her arms high.

The thought of being able to run around freely made her simply thrilled.

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