We were awkward around each other the first time that we met, but as six months passed we naturally began to feel more at ease with each other (after all, we are sharing a room). Now we’re almost at the stage where we’re friends with all of the other commoner kids at school.
Just like how we don’t change classrooms or seats for all six years at this school, it seems like we won’t be changing rooms or roommates either, and so I am quite relieved to be able to get along with her. As you might expect, because we’re both commoners we have a connection to bond over, and while our classrooms may be different, we both share the same goal, or something like that.
It of course goes without saying that our goal is to “overthrow the aristocracy.”
All of us commoners place our hands over our hearts and affirm that solitary goal, as firm and unwavering as the northern star.
“What’s this, Nikeh is playing dorm mother againnnn?”
The other girl who shares our room, Benjamine, comes over to the washbasin, running her hands through her beautiful, wavy red hair.
She’s the kind of girl that shows a lot of skin. You can see quite a bit of her legs, only barely covered up by some green cloth draped around her waist. She looks like an older sister, and that’s how she feels to me. Her legs are slender and she’s pretty.
We’ve been spending our time together in this one room ever since we entered the girls’ dorm. In the dorm, the aristocrats are separated from the commoners, and so me, Nikeh, and Benjamine are all, of course, commoners.
But just because we’ve been separated doesn’t mean our rooms are any different. There are other aristocratic girls in the same building and on the same floor as us, so it just seems like they don’t have the commoners and aristocrats room together.
I think it’s the right thing to do.
“Nanalie, instead of spending all of your time studying, it’d be better if you practiced being more feminine.”
Benjamine, shut up.
“Anyway you two, we need to hurry if we’re gonna eat breakfast in the Great Hall.”
“No way, is it already that time?”
I remove Nikeh’s hands from my head upon hearing that.
“But I haven’t finished combing,” she complained, but I ran my fingers through my hair and felt like it had become nice and smooth enough for me to be satisfied. My hair’s not completely black—it has some dark brown mixed in with it—but thanks to Nikeh’s efforts it had become nice and shiny.
The best things to have in life are friends who have all the skills a woman should have.
“Mmmmm, delicious.”
We walk over to the Great Hall.
The only reason it was called the “Great” dining hall was because it was large. During breakfast time, a lot of students from different grade levels mixed together here, from the senior sixth years to us first years, so it was the perfect size to hold so many people.
The food was served buffet style, where you could take what you liked, put it on your plate, and then sit wherever you wanted. The dining tables were the standard rectangular shape, but no longer than three tails (one tail was approximately the length of an adult man’s arm), and several were lined up nicely.
We piled rice and vegetables on our plates and sat at an empty table near the doors of the Great Hall. The ceiling was made up of glass panes, so we were able to see the sky above the island quite clearly. The spaciousness of it all was wonderful.
“Benjamine! I picked that out!”
“It’s because you eat so slow that it always turns out like thiiiis!”
“You thief!”
“Hey, quit spitting all over me!”
I take some of the fried bunny-bird and stab it with a sharp utensil. It’s one of my favorite foods. A “bunny-bird” is what we call the blue birds with long ears. The reason their feathers are blue is because they used to be hunted quite fiercely by humans and other animals, and so in order to be difficult for predators to spot, they evolved to be the same color as the sky. Or so it’s said.
Must be tough being a bunny-bird. They had to turn that color just to survive. But when their meat is this deliciously juicy, they’re rather hard to pass up.
“You got it on my clothes!”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Nooooo, my clothes...”
Some of the grease from the bunny-bird had gotten onto Benjamine’s green waistcloth. Straight across it, quite cleanly, plop plop, it’s stuck on there. It’s rather artistically done, if I do say so myself.
“Now what are you going to do? This was freaking expensive, you know”—is what she doesn’t say to me with any sort of furious expression. She instead becomes more and more crestfallen, losing all of her previous energy.
Perhaps this might be something she does get angry about, but it’ll take time for her to do so.
“Why’d you wear clothes you were so concerned about getting dirty to somewhere like this in the first place? If you care about getting dirty, you should come to eat wearing just whatever.”
“How could you say such a thing, Nikeh? That’s rather heartless.”
“Oh no, Benjamine, I’m really sorry. I’ll learn a spell later that’ll remove that stain and take care of that!”
“Ha. No need to go that far.”
There are no uniforms at this school. All we have are our student IDs. All of us commoners do, of course, pay for our own clothes, and wear whatever we feel like. Nikeh is always wearing a short, one-piece dress with a round collar, and I only wear single-layer clothing with a belt that looks similar to hers. Benjamine, on the other hand, not only wears fancy stuff, but wears something different every day.
Benjamine is always telling me that I lack any sort of “sex appeal” in my outfits, but seeing as “sex appeal” isn’t necessary for studying, I really am not paying any mind to that sort of stuff... I don’t care about it at all, I swear.
“Oooohhh I will definitely learn that cleaning spell, OK!”
After all, we are all still only twelve years old. What’s the point in worrying about how we look?
Well, I suppose for the aristocrats it’s different. How you dress reflects the status of your house. But Benjamine has already seemed to have found someone that she likes, and so because of that, I think she’s paying careful attention as to her appearance. It’s all rather amusing to watch.
“Oh look, it’s Naru!”