Chapter 7

EP.6 Chapter 6

After lunchtime ended, a few more boring theory classes followed.

In simple terms, it meant it was time to admire Lady Sylvia's face.

The four hours or so of heartwarming time passed in a flash, and the dismissal time arrived.

"Everyone, good job today! Many of you were probably surprised by the monster attack this morning, so take a good rest at home today and be more alert from tomorrow! You never know when or where I might give you a surprise test like today."

As Eve declared, the children began to murmur.

Indeed, for those who had never experienced such a thing, even if it was an illusion, the situation where a monster could appear at any time and place would not be easily accepted.

However, this was the educational policy of Aegis.

To train them to maintain composure in any situation.

The moment they entered this school, even though they were students, they were also heroes, and the places where heroes were needed were life-and-death battlefields.

"Ah, one more announcement. We need someone to temporarily take on the role of class president. Is there anyone who wants to do it?"

Of course, the class president was already decided.

I thought no one would be as pedantic and burning with a sense of mission to take on a troublesome role like a temporary class president except for that child.

I expected to see the class president stand up and say, "I'll do it."

But the classroom suddenly became eerily quiet, as if the murmuring from a moment ago had never happened.

...Huh? Is something wrong?

Wondering what was going on, I looked at the class president, who was sitting quietly with her head bowed.

She seemed to have looked at me for a moment, but was it just my imagination?

Seeing no one stepping forward, Eve looked troubled.

"If no one wants to do it, I'll have to choose someone. Is that okay?"

The classroom remained quiet even after Eve's words.

She tapped her desk with her fingers and eventually pointed to someone.

"Then, Mei will be the class president."

Was it the power of the world's coercion or just a coincidence?

Ironically, Eve pointed to the class president.

"Wh-What?! But I..."

The class president was flustered and looked around at the others.

It seemed everyone thought, "As long as it's not me," as I could sense their tacit agreement in their gazes.

She seemed to have looked at me for a bit longer, but it was probably just my imagination.

With no one stepping forward, the class president closed her eyes tightly and then opened them, saying,

"...I understand. Since no one else seems willing, I'll do it."

It was truly fortunate.

I almost became a class president without being one.

Anyway, since the class was over, I thought I'd head home.

"Evan, I need to talk to you for a moment. Follow me to the staff room."

As soon as I stood up, I was stopped by Eve.

I quietly followed Eve out of the classroom, and the students' curious gazes followed me, wondering what trouble I had caused on the first day to be called to the staff room.

I'm curious too!

But contrary to my worries, it wasn't anything special.

"Well, it's about the school uniform. Since your original one was burned, you need a new one, right? School uniforms are expensive, so it might be a bit of a burden to buy a new one. I'll sell you the one you're wearing now at a discount. Hmm, okay. Evan, you just pay 200,000 gold. I'll cover the rest!"

It was about buying a school uniform.

200,000... School uniforms were indeed quite expensive in the world.

The most expensive ones could cost up to 400,000, so Eve probably covered about half.

In any case, I was grateful, so I thanked Eve and paid the 200,000 gold before heading home.

When I got home and looked it up, the school uniform price was even higher than I imagined.

I didn't expect it to be over a hundred thousand...

So how much did Eve cover?

I should thank her again tomorrow.

By the way, was Aegis Academy a school only for the bourgeoisie?

I thought maybe I was too, so I checked my account, but it was far from it; my balance was 100,000 G.

I wasn't a bourgeois but a pauper.

For a moment, I was worried I might become homeless at the academy, but fortunately, there was a monthly allowance.

After deducting the rent, I had about 300,000 gold left each month.

If everything went as planned, it would have been fine, but with the school uniform expense, I would have to live on about 3,000 gold a day for the next month.

3,000 gold?

Seeing that amount, I was suddenly alert.

I almost forgot about the uncalculated expenses.

I had to pay 3,000 gold a day to Lady Sylvia as a friendship fee.

So my remaining living expenses were just 10,000 gold.

I could only spend about 300 gold a day.

I couldn't even afford a pack of ramen.

At that moment, a balancing game started in my head.

Skipping breakfast and dinner to be friends with a cute girl VS living as a loner but having three meals a day

...Isn't this a no-brainer?

A person can survive without food for three weeks, but I couldn't survive three weeks without being friends with Sylvia!

Besides, now that I'm a girl, maybe eating just one meal a day is fine.

I don't have much to lose, but I'll treat it like a diet.

Anyway, controlling my ability was more important than living expenses right now.

I had figured out how to use a flame that could burn something instead of just a decorative one, but if I couldn't control where to ignite it, it would be problematic.

How can I ignite only where I want?

I can't just get angry at a specific part.

Unfortunately, the only part I could get angry at was gone after becoming a girl.

I tried getting angry and igniting a flame on my body and tensing my arm, but the flame didn't budge.

...I'm tired.

I need to find a way to solve both the money and ability issues.

It'll be fine somehow.

With that thought, I buried my face in the pillow.

*

[The world was hateful.]

*

[Ding ding ding~ Good mo-]

I reached out to turn off the alarm.

A morning after skipping dinner and now having to skip breakfast.

Normally, I should feel weak from skipping meals, but for some reason, I felt lighter than usual.

Maybe this is the effect of intermittent fasting.

I'm not intermittent, but just fasting.

Anyway, I decided to go to school early since I was late yesterday.

I arrived 30 minutes before the morning assembly, and someone had already arrived before me.

The class president was naturally cleaning the classroom as if it was her duty.

What a good child...

I was moved by her, but when our eyes met, she was startled and bowed her head.

Oh, is she the type who gets embarrassed if someone catches her doing something good?

To be considerate, I turned and headed to the staff room.

In the staff room, Eve was leaning back in her chair, humming a tune.

"Teacher."

"Hmm? Oh, it's Evan. What brings you here so early?"

Eve stretched her head out from behind the chair to look at me and straightened up.

"I checked the school uniform price at home and realized I put a lot of burden on you..."

"Is that why you came? Hehe, what a good child, Evan. Don't worry about the price. I'm incredibly rich. I thought about just buying the uniform for you, but I wanted you to be more cautious, so I asked you to pay."

"Anyway, thank you."

"Sure, sure. Evan, you have a surprisingly cute side, don't you?"

I fled the classroom to avoid Eve's playful smile.

By the way, is Eve that rich?

Well, if she's the world's best illusionist, there must be many places that need her.

It's easy to see that she could make money easily.

If I could use an illusion spell instead of fire, I wouldn't have to worry about money.

This useless ability... I should pray there's no ability training class today.

Author's Note

Happiness of 10,000 gold

TMI) I searched for the school uniform price because I thought if I posted the school uniform worn by a current academy girl online, I could sell it for a high price and copy the money.

But with the unexpectedly high price of the school uniform, the money-copying bug ultimately failed.