“So you were late coming here because you were too busy looking after that girl from another world?” the Demon Queen Erinyes asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
She was lounging about on her bed in only her underwear. I averted my gaze from the seductive sight as best as I could.
“I’m really sorry about that. I was just so busy this past week,” I said, clapping my hands together and lowering my head at her. This was the gesture that those on the Eastern Continent often used when apologizing.
“Hmm, is that so? Busy taking care of a girl, huh?”
“It sounds like you’ve got something more to say...”
“Did you do anything to her?”
I couldn’t believe what she’d just asked me.
“Of course I didn’t!”
“Oh? Really now?” As she spoke, Eri leaned forward until her face almost touched my neck. “I can smell another woman’s scent on you, Eugene. Looks like you and her have gotten pretty close.”
“Well, yeah. I’m her guardian now.”
“Spill the beans! You’ve already slept with her, haven’t you?!”
“I already told you I haven’t laid a finger on her!” I felt like someone whose lover was grilling him about infidelity. But Eri wasn’t my lover, and nothing had happened between Miss Sumire and me. I heaved a sigh as I continued to answer Eri’s bombardment of questions.
The Demon Queen was very tenacious today, and so I swore to myself that I would never bring up Miss Sumire around Eri ever again.
♢Sumire’s POV♢
“Today, I’ll show you around Lykeion Magical Academy.”
“Okay! Thank you, Mister Eugene!” I replied as I followed him.
I’d spent the previous night in a giant hospital, which was where I would stay for the next seven days so the doctors there could observe me. Nothing felt wrong with my body, but apparently, they wanted to take the opportunity and give me some more information and advice about life in this other world.
Another world... Yes, I—Sumire Sashiougi—had been reincarnated in another world! I remembered my name, but all my other memories remained foggy. In my previous life, I’d been a Japanese girl, born and raised in Tokyo. My parents had lived in the Shinagawa ward, and I had often played with my younger sister in the park near the canal. Though I had some vague memories of my family’s faces, I could hardly remember my friends’.
Lately, all my recollections of my previous life had come to feel more and more like a dream. Sometimes, I even wondered if those memories were nothing more than hallucinations. However, I didn’t have the luxury of sitting around and trying to remember more about my past.
Life in this other world was very difficult. Though I could speak the language here thanks to the king’s magical bracelet, everything else was completely foreign to me. I had to learn everything—from food to clothes to quintessential tools—from scratch. Fortunately, though I had no possessions to my name, everyone had treated me fairly so far. That was thanks to my status as an otherworlder. Apparently, the god of this world had taught the people to treat otherworlders with kindness. Thank god!
“Miss Sumire, over here.”
“O-Okay!” I’d been spacing out when Mister Eugene’s voice called my attention back to the present. He was still giving me an explanation of the facilities around the academy:
“This is the special classroom, where you’ll have your lessons. For now, you’ll receive private tutoring from, if memory serves me right, Miss Rin. I’ll introduce you two later.
“This here is the cafeteria. It’s open from eight in the morning to eight at night, so you can use it whenever you please. Miss Sumire, since you’re an otherworlder, the school’s giving you some financial aid, right?
“Over here are the training grounds for warriors and mages. Me? I’m a Barrier Mage, so I don’t make use of them.”
I jotted down every detail and description Mister Eugene gave me about the school so that I wouldn’t forget about any of it.
“And here’s the staff room. Oh, and there’s Miss Rin. Let me call her over.” With those words, Mister Eugene walked up to a beautiful woman with fox ears protruding from her head.
Those ears are real, aren’t they? There were multiple races of beastpeople in this world with ears like dogs, cats, or other animals. Apparently, my teacher was a fox beastperson.
The teacher approached me and said, “So you’re the otherworlder I’ve been hearing so much about. I’m Rin, your teacher. Should you have any questions, feel free to ask me. If I recall, you’ll be staying at the hospital for a few days, correct?”
“That’s correct! My name is Sumire Sashiougi, and it’s a pleasure to meet you! I was told that I’ll only have to stay at the hospital for a week, and then I can move to the academy’s dormitory after that.”
“Understood. As I’m sure you already know, the headmaster appointed Eugene as your guardian. Think of me as his assistant when it comes to those duties. If you have any problems that are difficult to discuss with a man, do not hesitate to ask me about them.”
“A-All right. Thank you.”
“Mm. You’re welcome.”
Miss Rin spoke in a curt tone that was unlike that of any other woman I’d met before. She was so cool. I’ll ask her if I need anything. But Mister Eugene’s my actual guardian, since that’s what the king ordered. As Mister Eugene was a student, I found it odd that he was taking on that role. Apparently, though, in this world, one became an adult at fifteen, and Mister Eugene was seventeen.
As soon as we finished our conversation, Miss Rin returned to her seat—she must have had a lot of work to do—and Mister Eugene resumed our tour.
“Mister Eugene, I’m so sorry to cause you so much trouble,” I said, feeling awkward, and he gave me a wry smile in response.
“His Majesty, the headmaster, personally assigned me this duty, so it’s an honor rather than a burden. And besides, he’s paying me well.”
Duty... A duty, huh? My chest tightened when I heard that word, and it was hard to describe what I was feeling. So once he’s finished carrying out the king’s orders, he’ll stop spending time with me? Wait, stop, stop! Don’t start getting all mopey! I chased my negative thoughts away and buried them in the corner of my mind.
After about an hour, Mister Eugene finished showing me all the important facilities.
“Well, that’s everything you’ll need during your time here. Is there anywhere else you’d like to check out? The academy’s pretty big, so I’m sure it’s hard to commit everything to memory in one day. But was there anywhere that caught your attention?” Mister Eugene asked, turning his head to look back at me.
“Um, I’d first like to learn how to avoid getting lost, so could you show me around one more time?”
“Sure. Let’s go around the academy once more, then, and this time, I’ll show you everything on a map too.”
Mister Eugene had accepted my request without looking annoyed or impatient. What a gentleman. As I followed him and listened to him explain the school in a calm voice, I thought back to when I first met him. Amid that hellish inferno, he’d reached out to me with a kind smile and taken my hand. I flushed at the memory. Mister Eugene was so cool in that moment... I’m sure he’s popular with the girls.
“Oh, that reminds me. Miss Rin told me earlier that they’ve finished preparing your student ID and handbook. We should go get them from the School Affairs Division.”
“Sounds good!” I replied with a nod.
“The student council room is near the School Affairs Division office. Since we’ll be in the area anyway, I’ll show you that as well.”
“If I remember correctly, the academy’s student council is a pretty large organization, right?” I asked, thinking back to what a teacher had told me. When I first heard about it, I’d thought, Wow, student councils exist even in this completely different world? That’s really neat!
“Yeah. The student council counts as a club, but it’s also one of two major factions within the school. The other one is the Swordsmanship Club.”
I hummed in interest. So those two clubs are the most popular. A Swordsmanship Club sounds like just the kind of thing you’d expect to find in a fantasy world. “Are there any clubs that focus on magic?”
“Of course there are. But magic vastly differs depending on your element.”
Mister Eugene explained that there were different groups for the different types of magic. Not only that, but the relationships between the various clubs weren’t very good.
“That sounds really complicated,” I said.
“Don’t worry; you’ll get used to it in time,” Mister Eugene assured me. He told me a little more about the clubs at the school, but there were so many that I couldn’t commit them to memory all at once.
“By the way, are you in a club?” I asked.