Yeah, just you wait, idiots, I’ll earn the best marks of the year and definitely be able to look down at you fools and say, “Oh my, aren’t all of you ladies and gentlemen of aristocratic heritage? My my, and somehow your marks are worse than those that I, a commoner, was able to earn? Oh no, this won’t do. Is. Something. The. Matter. With. You?”
At some point, my goal had changed from getting high marks to getting the best marks. Perhaps now is a good time for me to redefine what I want to achieve. After all, if I am going to aim to get high marks, I might as well try to be the best. It’s more motivating.
Great. Now I just need to work on getting my high-pitched snobby “He-he-he-he!” laugh perfected by graduation.
“......Ahh.”
I sit down at my desk, rest my chin on my hands, and take a look around the classroom.
From the same group as before I can hear some distinguished voice say something like “How vulgar she looks,” but I ignore that. I pay it absolutely no mind.
The classroom windows are to the left from where I am sitting now, and the desks in the classroom are arranged in a sort of ascending staircase manner, with each row a step higher than the previous.
I can see round lights aligned quite cleanly, running along the ceiling of the classroom. I thought it was quite odd that this was the source of illumination for our classroom, at first. I knew several pieces of illumination magic, but as far as I remembered, I had never seen anything like that. It’s probably some kind of magical device.
My seat in this classroom was, as I went up the stairs, on the twentieth level. At first I was uneasy with how high it was compared to the rest of the classroom, but I now think of it as a rather good place for observation, where I can take in the whole classroom at a glance. I don’t stand out in this spot, either.
Having said that, the aristocrats still managed to look at me rather piercingly, their gazes focused on my frugal commoner attire.
“Sir Alois, would you possibly mind if I moved that commoner over there so I could sit beside you instead?”
“My lady, dost thou intend to go before my humble self?! To even think of one such as you, the daughter of a mere baron, speaking to Sir Rockmann before myself...”
“Say what you may, Lady Maris, but are you not also of lower rank than Sir Rockmann?”
“Sir Alois, take no heed of Lady Maris and Lady Nala! Would you care to grace my mansion with your presence sometime soon?”
“Now, now! You too shall learn your place.”
I take my hands that had been supporting my chin and cover my ears.
It may be break time right now, but they sure are going on and on quite noisily. At the schoolhouse I had attended up until quite recently, the students had also spoken in rather loud voices, but those girls would chitter-chatter in a rather cute fashion that these girls did not seem capable of. It feels like I’m being forced to watch some vicious struggle by carnivorous beasts over a piece of meat.
While the other group of kids in front of me and to my left who had been talking earlier hadn’t been too bothersome to hear at a distance, I’m right next to this conversation, so it’s rather irritating. The way that their shiny dresses keep blinding me is rather painful, and if it was allowed, I’d very much prefer to wear a blindfold.
“Sir Alois!”
One of the girls clasped her hands together, cheeks flushed and eyes shining.
“Would you do me the honor of letting me sit next to you?”
“Don’t be so hasty, Lady Maris!”
Now let’s see if he does them the “honor” of noticing them talking to him.
Right now, these girls are fighting over a certain boy. They are rather insistently crowding around him like flies to a honey pot, unable to stay away from the allure of his sweetness.
“Oh, that’s right,” he said, “I went to Maris’s mansion the other day, didn’t I? Thanks for the tea, it was delicious.”
“Oh, that was my pleasure. Please do be sure to visit again.”
Maris, one of the aristocratic girls, was blushing.
Upon seeing their interaction, the rest of the girls who were left out pulled out handkerchiefs from somewhere, bit the tips of the cloth, and began letting out rather frustrated, high-pitched screeching: “hiiiiiiiiiiii-!”
I was thoroughly impressed by the whole performance. It was the first time I had seen people do that sort of thing, ever. While I did have some thoughts about the way they talked about us commoners, being able to look and laugh at them now and then was kind of fun. I won’t say that to their faces, because I’m quite sure they’d find some way to punish me if I did, but still.
“Nala,” the boy said, “would you mind if I came over to your place during the next vacation?”
“M-m-my place?”
And now the next girl’s cheeks are flushing.
“Zelta, I want to talk with you about doing something too sometime before the next vacation.”
“Sir Alois! I will be looking forward to it.”
The girl who had been making a somewhat demonic expression at the girl named Nala brightened up immediately upon being spoken to by the boy.
They sure change their tunes quite quickly. I wonder if he’s using some sort of magic on them...
“Talk to you all later, okay?” said the boy, and the girls, hearing this, turned and went back to their seats without a fuss. The commotion that had been going on so loudly until then ceased, and went away just as quickly as it had come on, disappearing just like magic. Everyone left in high spirits.
“...”
I stare intently at the boy next to me.
“What?”
Yeah, I definitely won’t get along well with this guy.
The problem isn’t with how he looks—well, the face he’s giving me right now might be a bit annoying. The bright smile he had shown to all the girls just moments ago has somehow disappeared. And now he has that face, asking me “What?” It’s not just the fact that his expressionless face is loathsome, it’s also the fact that he was able to switch gears so quickly. That’s a little disturbing. Although, if he had turned to me with a bright shining smile, I would have found that just as creepy.
“It’s nothing,” I say.
“What’re you doing staring at me like that? It’s creepy. And you look ugly with that sullen look on your face, you know.”
Ha??!!
“Nghhh...”
Let’s ignore the fact that I’ve just burst a blood vessel somewhere in my head. This idiot, I’ll admit, is not bad-looking. I may say he’s not bad-looking, and in the words of the world at large, I think they’d say he’s pretty handsome. Just, as like, a general opinion. That other people might have.
He was unnaturally tall, to the degree that it made me wonder if we were both actually twelve years old. He looked about two years older. I can hardly see him as a kid the same age that I am. Honey golden hair as fine and smooth as silk, red eyes, a sharp, shapely nose, thin lips, and pale white skin.
In my opinion, it’s fair to say that one’s fate as a human being is decided based on how well one’s facial features are arranged. In the case of this guy, every single part of his face was carefully placed as though someone had drawn it there. He was, as they might say, a “beauty.” No doubt some goddess made the man just to her liking.
His totally black outfit suited him, and he had the sort of sweet face girls like. Even though he was a guy, he did have something like the looks of a young woman at times.
But setting all that aside, to me, this guy was:
“Ugh, why don’t you just show your true colors? You’re nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“Sheep’s clothing? I ripped that off a long time ago, and they all come fawning over me, knowing what I’m really like. There’s no avoiding it, you stupid girl.”
“You shithead.”
Our eyes flashed with anger as we looked at each other. I ground my teeth as I glared at him, loud enough for him to hear.