Chapter 33

Good morning.

It's a rainy morning.

After completing my usual routine, I wait for Shell to help me change clothes.

It's cooler than usual today, so the outfit I'm wearing is a fluffy, half-sleeved onesie with ears and a tail. The ears are those of a golden retriever, the tail is a cat's tail, and the back is light blue while the front is pure white. What kind of creature is this? A monster? A monster?

Arlshein looked at me silently for a while, then patted my head and carried me to the dining hall as usual.

On the way, we attracted more attention than usual, and I waved to more people than usual.

When I waved back, they squealed!

When we arrived at our usual seat at the end of the dining hall, Digray and Yogramp were already there and waved to us, so I greeted them and sat down.

Yogramp looked at me in my onesie with sparkling eyes, so I patted my cheeks, and he started flapping imaginary angel wings, skillfully doing it with a blank expression.

At the center of the hall, the usual two-timing girl was causing a commotion, but people seemed to be getting used to it and were no longer paying attention.

Since we had no intention of getting involved, we left as soon as we finished our meal.

Jus and Shell went to their respective classrooms after eating.

The classroom was still sparsely populated, and Digray was flipping through the textbook, commenting on what he was good at and what he struggled with.

I also flipped through Arlshein's textbook and was surprised to find that the math textbook was easier than expected, and I couldn't understand the meaning of the magic studies subject. Looking at the world map for the first time, I was surprised by the sparse population. The language textbook contained content about how to write letters as a noble and how to respond correctly to insults, which seemed troublesome.

In the social studies textbook, the frequent mentions of monsters and adventurers piqued my interest, but the content was too gory, and I lost the desire to read it.

Digray, being in the S-class and selected for the student council, is always at the top of his class, but he dislikes the gory content in social studies and finds the language subject, which is mostly about nobles, confusing, even though he is the son of the country's largest merchant.

Yogramp generally has good grades and few weaknesses, but he panics when he encounters insect-type monsters in the field.

What about Arlshein? His grades are always at the top, but until now, he couldn't perform practical magic, so his overall ranking was at the top but on the verge of being in the S-class.

The S-class is different from other classes; if your grades drop, you are immediately demoted to a lower class, so the number of students is not fixed.

To have an entire subject with no grades, you must be really bad at everything else.

By the way, Cavendish is in the second-year C-class, hahaha.

When the students gathered and the class started, two teachers entered, and our intellectual-yakuza homeroom teacher said,

"Yesterday, I mentioned that this semester will focus on practical exercises. Today, we will draw lots to determine the exercise locations, confirm the locations, adjust the schedule, and prepare the necessary items. Once you understand, quickly decide on a representative for your group and draw lots."

On the teacher's desk was a lottery box, similar to those from my previous life, with sticks inside bearing numbers.

Digray and Yogramp looked at me, but the representative was smoothly decided to be Yogramp.

For the same reason as in the student council, unless there is a special reason, nobles are not chosen as representatives for any trivial matters in the school.

Yogramp went to draw the lot and returned quickly.

The lot he drew had only the number 7 written on it.

After all the group leaders drew their lots, the intellectual-yakuza homeroom teacher snapped his fingers.

The blackboard instantly changed into a large 3D map!

I was so surprised that I flew over and started touching it!

The intellectual-yakuza homeroom teacher gave me a lazy look, patted my head, and the students behind me giggled.

When I returned to Arlshein, he patted my head, Digray giggled, and Yogramp looked at me with a warm smile.

The map was divided into several zones, with numbers written in areas enclosed by lines.

Number 1 was the dungeon inside the school, numbers 2 and 3 were the city streets, numbers 4 and 5 were the plains outside the city, and numbers 6 and 7 were the forests.

Each group would go to the location they drew and complete their tasks.

Depending on the location, the items to bring and the terrain research would differ, so today would be spent preparing.

Yogramp, sitting next to me, was hanging his head with a blank expression.

When I was about to ask him what was wrong, Digray explained,

"In that map, the areas with the most insect-type monsters are numbers 6 and 7."

"Ah, that's the worst! To draw the forest right from the start!"

Yogramp, who seemed to really dislike insects, put his head in his hands.

"But, if you get the unpleasant things out of the way first, the rest will be easier!"

"Haaaaa, that's true, I have to stay positive and do my best!"

"Right, right, let's start preparing! First, we need to research the terrain and the monsters that appear, so let's head to the library!"

Yogramp, who seemed to be comforting himself, patted my head and reluctantly got up, and we all headed to the library.

As we passed other classrooms, we saw students still arguing about group assignments.

Looking at this, our class seemed to be progressing very quickly.

I could understand why the intellectual-yakuza homeroom teacher was smirking.

The other classes looked very troublesome!

We arrived at the library.

The first time I entered the library, it smelled of old paper and ink, which reminded me of the libraries from my previous life, but the appearance was so different that the nostalgia quickly disappeared.

The library was a huge cylindrical building, like a tower, with a thick, pillar-like bookshelf in the center and bookshelves densely lined along the inside of the tower.

The floor was a gently wide spiral staircase, and the ceiling was so high that it couldn't be seen.

Floating lights, antique-like single-seater sofas placed here and there, and long-pile carpets.

It was truly a fantasy world.

While I was moved, I had no idea how to find the books I needed.

There must be a classification system, but it would take a terrifying amount of time to find what I needed.

While I was dazed, looking around while being carried by Arlshein, Yogramp approached the central pillar and touched a transparent panel embedded in it.

The transparent panel faintly glowed and displayed text.

Hmm, a touch panel.

I suddenly felt a sense of reality.

When Yogramp selected the necessary items and touched them, a glowing line appeared at our feet, guiding us to the book.

It was no longer a fantasy but high-tech.

Feeling a bit awkward, I was carried forward without having to walk.

The book we needed was a bit up the spiral staircase, and no one was around.

While Arlshein and Yogramp were taking out a few books, Digray operated a wall touch panel, opened a shelf containing tables and chairs, and set them up.

The tables and chairs were, of course, for students, so I couldn't reach the table when I sat down.

Arlshein sat in a chair and placed me on the table.

Yogramp and Digray kept piling books on the table.

A monster encyclopedia, a topographical map, last year's exercise reports, and the latest monster distribution information were placed on the table, and when they seemed to have gathered enough, Yogramp and Digray also sat down.

"We know the general situation from last year's exercises, but let's confirm the latest information just in case."

"Right, even though the forest near the capital is relatively safe, it wouldn't be funny if Yogramp panicked and started a friendly fire incident."

"...... If you say that, Digray, last year during the exercise, you panicked when a blue bear suddenly appeared and started firing fire and wind magic, almost turning the area into a wasteland!"

"That's because! If someone suddenly yells from behind, anyone would be surprised!"

"Turning the area into a wasteland is too much! If there hadn't been someone with water magic, it would have been a disaster!"

"If you say that, Yogramp, you panicked when a normal spider fell from above and fired lightning magic, splitting a large tree in half! Someone who was too slow to escape was buried under it, causing a big problem!"

Arlshein, who was listening to their argument with a wry smile, told me that in the final year of the junior academy, they go on a field trip-like exercise in the forest.

Arlshein, who couldn't use magic last year, had calmly cut down monsters with a sword, so he didn't have any significant failure stories or particularly interesting episodes.

Noticing that Arlshein was smiling wryly, the two looked at each other uncomfortably, smiled wryly, and then returned to the topic.

"There don't seem to be any significant changes from last year?"

"...... This hasn't been officially announced yet, but there have been reports to the military that some monsters have become more aggressive or powerful."

"Really! Isn't that a serious matter!? Why hasn't it been officially announced?"

"It's only a few reports so far, and the degree of aggression and power varies among soldiers. The investigation is ongoing, but since it's not confirmed information, it hasn't been disclosed outside the military. However, since this exercise will involve many students facing monsters, the school has been informed, or rather, warned. The forest near the capital hasn't been affected yet, but it's best not to be complacent."

"That's true, we must be cautious no matter what kind of monsters we encounter."

The three of us divided the work and wrote down the general distribution of monsters on the necessary maps, and our business at the library was done.

Let's move on to the next place.