The grade levels at which the Academy classes were taught meant they were pretty pointless to me. There was no way I was going to do poorly on the tests and fail. But that didn’t seem good enough for Milia.
“That’s not the issue, Arius,” Sophia insisted. “Milia misses you because she doesn’t get to see you in class.”
“S-Sophia! What are you even saying? You’re the one who was complaining about him skipping class,” countered Milia.
“W-Well, yes, but…I may complain, but I don’t miss him like you do.”
The two of them were such good friends. It honestly felt nice to be told by my friends that they missed me, but they were exaggerating. We saw each other at lunch.
“I already knew Arius was like this…” muttered Milia.
“I agree, Milia,” said Sophia.
The two of them were staring at me like they knew what I was thinking. But what was the problem?
Milia sighed. “Arius, you’re taking part in the tournament, right? You’re not going to skip that, are you?”
This topic again? The tournament was a popular event in Love Academy too. Maybe that was why Milia cared about it.
“I’ll show up at least,” I answered.
“Show up at least? I feel like that has some hidden meaning there.”
“Arius isn’t very enthusiastic about the tournament,” Vern explained.
“Hmph. I guess the tournament is pretty pointless for someone like Arius,” Milia nodded between mouthfuls.
I couldn’t very well tell them about the situation between Eric and Keith, and it was true that I felt the tournament was pointless, so I didn’t disagree with her.
“That’s enough about me,” I interrupted. “What about you, Milia? Are you taking part?”
“Yep. Sophia, too. I got selected, so I’m going to give it my all.”
Being the protagonist of Love Academy meant Milia was also stat-heavy. Other than Eric, she was the highest level out of all the characters.
“I’m not sure if I should. I have to be careful about my reputation being Prince Eric’s fiancée,” worried Sophia. Doing well in the tournament wasn’t very “ladylike,” so a lot of the girls refused to take part.
“I don’t think Prince Eric cares about that sort of thing,” stated Vern.
“I don’t think so either,” said Sophia, “but it’s not only about me. I need to think about what others think.”
Sophia seemed worried about affecting Eric’s reputation and wanted to be helpful to him.
“Well, it’s your choice in the end,” I said. “No matter what you choose, I’ll support you.” I wasn’t going to disagree with a decision she made after she’d taken a good look at the situation.
“I’ll support you too,” concurred Milia.
“I feel a little odd hearing that from my opponents. But thank you, Arius, Milia,” said Sophia with a happy smile.
“By the way, I have a favor to ask you,” Milia began, looking at me. “I know you’re busy with adventuring work, but I was wondering if you might help us train a bit these two weeks before the tournament. It’ll be a good opportunity to see how far your strength can take you, and I want to be as strong as you. Obviously, when you have time.”
It honestly seemed like she wanted to get stronger.
“Sure. I can probably manage an hour in the morning,” I replied.
“Wait…really? Are you sure?” she blurted. Maybe she hadn’t expected me to agree.
“I’ve got a little spare time in the mornings. I can’t do it every day, but probably three days a week.”
“Thank you, Arius!”
She looked happy. Milia was a good person. The least I could do was help with training a bit.
“Milia, do you mind if I join this training, too?” Vern asked, breaking his silence.
“P-Prince Vern! Why are you asking me and not Arius?” she stammered.
“Uh, just…because.” He acted like it was no big deal, but I got the impression he was under some misconception.
“I don’t mind if you come along,” I told him. “What about you, Sophia? Even if you decide not to participate in the tournament, training won’t be a waste. Do you want to join?”
“Well, if you’d like me to, then don’t mind if I do. Sorry, Milia.”
“Why? Besides, you look happy that Arius invited you!”
“Well, of course I’m happy. My friend invited me to something. Obviously, that would make me happy.”
“And I’m happy that we get to train together!”
They really were such good friends.
“Do you mind if we invite Prince Zeke and Sasha as well? I don’t know if Sasha would actually train, though,” Milia directed at me. She was friends with both of them. Sasha wasn’t the type to enter the tournament, but she might want to come along to training if Zeke participated.
“I don’t mind if they come. It’s just a gathering of friends. No one’s going to be super picky about who comes.”
Sophia and Vern nodded.
“Thanks, Arius. I appreciate it,” she said.
“There’s actually one other person I’d like to invite. Do you mind?” I asked.
“Of course not. It doesn’t sound like you mean Prince Eric, though,” she said.
Eric was busy with Duke Jordan. Besides, he wasn’t the kind of person to practice where others could see.
“It’s not anyone you know, I don’t think. We met before I became friends with any of you.”
“Huh, a friend that you met before us? It’s obviously not weird at all that you have friends outside of us,” Milia said stiffly. Maybe she figured I had no other friends since I skipped class and then went straight to the dungeon after school. However, if we’re talking about Academy friends, we’ve pretty much covered them all already.
“Arius, is this friend of yours a boy?” Sophia asked.
“No, a girl.”
Sophia’s mouth was smiling, but her eyes weren’t for some reason.
“R-Right… Well, if she’s your friend, then I’d like her to be my friend too,” Milia stated, but something was also off about her.