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“Is everything ready?”

I heard Lena’s voice directed at me just as I finished jotting down my notes.

“Yeah. I thought Anne’s notebook looked strangely organized for her, but turns out she just copied the monitor’s work.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

Anne protested against my remark that seemed to dismiss her, but I wasn’t trying to ignore her, I was just stating facts. In reality, comparing Anne’s textbook and notebook, the textbook was a chaotic mess with doodles everywhere, while the notebook was neatly organized with only the core content highlighted in different colors. It looked like it was meticulously arranged by someone who couldn’t possibly be the same person as the textbook owner.

And ultimately, just as I suspected, Anne’s notebook was a direct copy of Lena’s notes. It was clear that during the week I was absent, she had been busy studying and copying from Lena’s notes.

“Anne, before worrying about Elysia, have you memorized everything I mentioned?”

Before I could respond, Lena sealed Anne’s lips first. With just one word, Lena silenced Anne and handed a test sheet toward us.

“If you can solve these, we’ll wrap it up for today’s lesson.”

Upon hearing that class was about to finish, Anne’s expression went from despair to joy in an instant. Of course, I wasn’t sure whether she would be able to complete the problems, but I kept that thought to myself.

The test paper Lena handed to me had exactly ten questions on it. A quick glance at the difficulty hinted that the questions weren’t convoluted; if you had memorized the material, they should be manageable.

“Alright, I’ll give you ten minutes. Start!”

As soon as the signal was given, I began writing down my answers. While I filled the test paper without any obstacles, I noticed the absence of writing sounds coming from Anne’s paper. Instead, another sound began to emerge.

Of course, I didn’t mean a literal sound, but rather the sound in my mind of Anne’s eyes rolling around in her head as she started to cheat off my answers, subtly glancing over while trying not to get caught. As I pondered whether to let it slide or cover for her, Lena interjected.

“Just so you know, we had different questions, so it’s better not to do anything unnecessary.”

Surely Lena noticed that Anne was trying to peek at my test paper when she made that remark. And upon hearing Lena, Anne promptly began erasing the answers she had previously written down. Anne was blatantly cheating too.

“Done. I got all the answers.”

With nothing particularly difficult to solve, I handed my completed test paper to Lena. She took the paper without making any marks and simply confirmed my answers visually.

“Yup. All correct. Just as expected from Elysia. Maybe I should’ve made it a bit harder?”

Meanwhile, Anne was still struggling with her problems.

“…Time’s up! Alright, hand it over.”

As time ran out, Lena reached toward Anne while Anne hurriedly scribbled anything she could into the blank spaces of her test paper.

Fortunately for Anne, Lena didn’t stop her from filling in the test paper at the last moment.

Lena then began to scrutinize Anne’s test paper and, unlike the last time, she started ticking off answers with a pen.

Instead of circles, several lines were drawn.

Finally, Lena paused the pen and returned the test paper to Anne.

“Six out of ten correct. Normally, I’d say something, but… I’ll let it slide today.”

Upon being scrutinized by Lena, Anne’s previously defeated expression regained some vitality. She then gulped down the remaining strawberry smoothie in one go.

“Alright! Study time’s over! Close the books! Put them away!”

Fearing that another word might slip, Anne organized her book and notebook, then promptly began to tidy up my books as well. You could tell how much Lena had her on edge.

“It’s already late for dinner, let’s grab something to eat. I’m starving.”

At Anne’s suggestion, I noticed it was already getting dark outside. I hadn’t realized it while concentrating on studying.

“Where do you want to go then? The cafeteria’s probably closed already; let’s eat outside.”

“Meat! Let’s have meat!”

After organizing her bag, Anne shot her hand up and yelled. Since neither I nor Lena had any aversion to meat, it was naturally decided that meat would be on the dinner menu.

*

“So what about tomorrow? Do you want to study with me too, Anne?”

While we were having dinner, I asked Anne. Today, I had a tutoring session with Lena, but usually, it would’ve been Anne’s turn. Lena’s schedule had switched to tomorrow.

I thought it might be nice for Anne to join, just like today, while I studied with Lena.

“No!”

However, with a piece of meat in her mouth, Anne rapidly shook her head in refusal. Since I had no reason to pressure her, I was about to let it go when Lena remarked with a glance at Anne.

“Anne? What’s with that fervent head shaking? Do you really hate my teaching that much?”

While Lena’s tone was calm, Anne noticed something in it and began sweating profusely as she slowly stopped the frantic head shaking.

Then, with a worried expression, she started shaking her head again.

“No! No! It’s just that Lena teaches in a way that’s easy to understand, so I like it!”

Whether she was being honest or not, she was definitely in a state of desperation. Upon hearing Anne’s response, Lena stared blankly for a moment before letting out a small huff.

“Hmm. If that’s how you feel, I’ll have to work extra hard to help you study next time. You can look forward to it.”

At Lena’s words, Anne gaped as if she had lost everything in the world. Finding it amusing, I fed her a piece of meat, watching her expression remain unchanged as she closed her mouth and began chewing.

Even now, Anne seemed to be lost in thought. While continuing to feed her meat, she was swallowing it eagerly with delight.

By the way, I wondered what kind of teaching Lena was doing that made Anne seem so desperate. I hadn’t seen such reactions while I was learning from Lena today.

Well, since I probably wouldn’t need to study further in this situation, I’d have no way of knowing.

“Become stronger, Anne.”

Time with the Monitor

“Yesterday, I couldn’t help Anne as much since I was busy studying with you.”

“No, it’s fine! It wasn’t really your turn to help anyway; I appreciate it.”

If Lena hadn’t shown up, I would’ve kept holding onto Anne.

“By the way, you always look busy when I see you.”

Indeed, Lena was diligently working beyond what her role of Monitor required. During class, she actively engaged; during breaks, she caught up on her studies, and all class-related matters were always handled through her. She even helped students like Anne catch up on their studies.

“Well, I can’t fall behind.”

Though she expressed humility with her words, her grades were undeniably in the top tier. Even in the Swordsmanship Department, she had quite a keen interest in magic and even planned to take magic classes in her second year.

“If you tell that to the other students, they’ll probably complain about you.”

“Ahaha…”

We were in a study room within the school. Although I had thought about going to the café like yesterday, I couldn’t go out because I got sidetracked doing errands for Professor Ferrent, ending up in this empty study room instead.

“Shall we continue?”

I had noticed yesterday, but Lena explained in a way that was easy for me to understand, drawing from her experience of often helping other students.

As we were seriously delving into our studies, I caught sight of someone pacing outside the glass door of the study room.

At first, I thought it was just someone passing by, but when I caught sight of familiar blonde hair repeatedly peeking in our direction, I couldn’t possibly miss who it was.

Once more, as the blonde head passed by, I swung the study room door wide open.

“Ah!”

Since she had been peeking over here, she clearly hadn’t expected me to open the door first, causing Selian to yelp in surprise.

“W-wha— What a coincidence, Elysia!”

“Uh, er. Yeah. As you can see, I was studying with the monitor. What’s up with you, Selian?”

Though I knew she had been anxiously pacing outside, I opted to pretend like it was a coincidence.

“Well… I was thinking of studying too…”

Selian said, lifting her bag slightly in her hands. It seemed like she had stumbled upon us while heading to study. However, unsure if we were the right people, she had been checking several times by wandering around.

“Then want to join us here?”

“Is that alright? Sorry for intruding.”

When Lena, sitting inside the room, asked Selian if it was fine, Selian accepted with a bright smile as if she had been waiting for that.

Since the study room was spacious and Selian, unlike Anne, wouldn’t need my remarks while studying with Lena, it wasn’t a huge inconvenience.

I gestured for her to come in, and Selian nodded while walking in lightly.

Selian placed her bag down next to me and pulled out her books and notebook. Seeing her take out her materials, I resumed my study session with Lena.

“I think this should be enough. You can study the rest on your own and feel free to ask if you don’t understand anything.”

As Lena closed her book, she declared. It seemed our session had ended quicker than expected. I too started putting my items away while glancing over at Selian.

As we were about to finish studying, Selian also closed her books and notebook that were in front of her.

Before she closed them, the pages of her books and notebook looked startlingly identical to when she first opened them… But it must be a trick of the light! There’s no way Selian couldn’t study, right?

“So, what are you two doing this weekend?”

“I’m not sure. Nothing specific planned…”

“I haven’t thought of anything either.”

Although we didn’t have anything locked down, I figured we might go out together as usual with Selian, Yuli, and Anne.

“Great! I was gifted tickets to a play, but I won’t be able to use them this weekend because I have plans. You two can go!”

As she spoke, Lena placed a ticket in each of our hands.

Looking at the tickets, a familiar title caught my eye.

“The Blooming of the Lily.”

It was the title of a novel I read upon Selian’s recommendation.

“This play was adapted from the original novel because it was so popular. I really wanted to see it, but the ticket is only valid for this weekend… Oh! If you haven’t read the novel, I recommend reading it before you go!”

“Oh, I’ve already read it because Selian recommended it. It was really fun.”

At my remark, Lena glanced at Selian with half-closed eyes before continuing.

“Anyway! I scarcely got these two tickets, so don’t forget to go together. Understood? Don’t give them to anyone else!”

After saying that much, I had no intention of passing them to anyone else. Since I enjoyed the original novel, I felt a certain level of anticipation.

“I’m not heartless enough to give away a gift. But is it okay if I take this ticket? How about I treat you to a meal someday?”

“No, you don’t have to… Oh! Then you two can take me out for a meal later!”

It wouldn’t be unexpected to be treated separately by Selian and me, but I felt a sense of generosity in Lena’s intention to have us treat her together.

“Sure. Think of something you want to eat. I’ll treat you as much as you want.”

“Yes! Selian and I will take you out for something delicious.”

Satisfied with our responses, Lena nodded and glanced at the time before standing up.

“I should get going first. Since class ended early, I’d better finish up some errands. You two can head out for dinner now.”

After saying that, Lena waved her hand and exited the room first.

Left alone with Selian in the study room, I placed the tickets in my pocket and shrugged my shoulders at her.

“It’s already dinner time. Shall we decide what to do for the weekend while we eat?”

“Yes! Let’s hurry!”

Selian responded energetically to my suggestion. She must be quite hungry.