Chapter 19: An Icy Encounter

“…Huh?”

My mind started to blank out at the feeling of the assertive lump of fat felt from behind.

Even though I had been living as a girl for five years, my sexual identity was still closer to that of a boy than a girl.

I preferred pretty girls over handsome boys. It was just that in a medieval world like this, there was no one who would accept my preferences, so I didn’t talk about it.

Perhaps that was why my mind was filled with strange delusions. Because I had never been in such close contact with a girl in my previous life, let alone in my current one.

“Y-Yelena…? It’s, it’s too close…”

I felt like my language ability had temporarily broken down. Even in this situation, my excellent senses perceived the softness beneath the fabric.

I involuntarily thought that Yelena’s body was surprisingly soft, and then I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the strange thoughts that filled my mind.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Sian?”

“No, it’s just…I don’t think we’re close enough for this.”

“…Is that so.”

Trying to hide my trembling, I answered in a normal voice. However, Yelena’s response was unexpected.

“I thought we were close enough to hold each other yesterday, but I guess I was mistaken. I’ll be careful from now on.”

Yelena said that in her usual, indifferent, ice-princess mode, bringing up the fact that I had held her in public. A few students around us turned their gazes towards us.

“Ugh?!”

An idiotic groan escaped me involuntarily at the rush of shame.

No, even if we were both girls, saying something so open to misunderstanding with such an indifferent expression, then…!

My mind was about to be filled with strange thoughts, so I tried to change the subject.

“Ah, um…anyway. Yelena, did you do well on the class placement test?”

“Of course. I was easily assigned to Class A.”

“Ah…”

I let my words trail off powerlessly.

I never doubted that Yelena would be placed in Class A. But if that happened, I wouldn’t be able to take classes with Yelena.

Even if I did well on the sparring test and received a good evaluation, that test only accounted for 50 out of 100 points.

The other 50 points were from yesterday’s battle royale test, and I was effectively disqualified because I was trapped in the dungeon with Regina.

No matter how well I was evaluated in the sparring test, considering that I defeated Yelena, I probably wouldn’t make it past Class B.

“…It’s a shame. I wanted to take classes with Yelena.”

Two years before I was possessed into this world. Ever since the third-year story of [Arcana Academy] was released, Yelena had held the position of my favorite character.

If I could take classes with Yelena, I was confident that I could concentrate throughout the entire class.

Can’t you just make other friends? I, who was naturally an outsider and loner, found that impossible. The scariest thing during my school days was writing down the emergency contact list for friends.

“Hmm? Sian, you were assigned to Class A.”

“Yes?”

So, when Yelena said that with an indifferent expression, I almost let out a cheer without realizing it.

I was sure I would fail Class A. How did I pass? Did Elin use her influence? But even if she was a Swordmaster and a teacher in the swordsmanship department, wasn’t it an abuse of power to arbitrarily raise a student’s class?

As if she had noticed my complicated thoughts, Yelena pulled me out of the crowd and continued.

“It’s probably because of the dungeon you cleared. It was rated D+.”

“D+…?

Generally, dungeons are divided into six ranks. From A to F. And a D+ rank dungeon is a level that can only be solo-cleared by an Imperial Knight or the head of a territory’s knights.

To that extent, it is a dungeon where a large-scale ‘raid’ takes place. Usually, adventurer’s guilds gather silver badges or higher to raid a D+ rank dungeon.

As expected, even though it was incomplete, an ancient lich was still an ancient lich.

“Yes. Basically, this academy exam is to check the students’ capabilities, and you and Regina proved your practical ability by defeating the ancient lich.”

“Ehehe…I’m glad. I didn’t want to be separated from Yelena. You’re my first friend, Yelena.”

“First…friend?”

“Yes. Before entering the academy, I was always an adventurer wandering aimlessly.”

I looked up at Yelena as I murmured that. Yelena’s usual ice princess mode, but somehow I could feel a warmer atmosphere from her.

Instinctively, I could tell that Yelena was happy with my words right now.

“…I see, that’s good.”

Yelena replied, holding my hand.

“Sian. You don’t know where the Class A classroom for the swordsmanship department is yet, do you?”

“I know. I saw it when I was exploring the academy last time.”

Having played [Arcana Academy] for thousands of hours, I already knew the location of the classroom by heart.

“Ah, is that so? Then let’s go and wait there in advance since there’s still an hour left before class starts.”

“Okay.”

The Class A classroom was more like an auditorium than a classroom.

It was a classroom for only thirty students, but there was a large training hall attached to the side of the classroom. I guess Class A really did receive different treatment.

Even though I had seen this countless times in the game, seeing it on screen and seeing it in reality were quite different.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Elin Agnes, and I’ll be in charge of the first-year swordsmanship Class A this year.”

The structure of the classroom, which was made like a lecture hall. As I looked around the lecture hall as if I were curious, I looked at the girl sitting next to me.

“What’s wrong?”

“No. I just like that we’re taking classes together. You know, I’ve always lived almost alone. So I like this time, taking classes with a friend. I was a little lonely when I didn’t have any friends.”

“Friends…I see.”

Yelena silently mulled over my words. For a girl who had spent her whole life focused solely on revenge, perhaps this kind of relationship was still a bit unfamiliar.

In this way, Yelena seemed to have some similarities with Regina. Girls who were unfamiliar with emotions, with a part of them broken.

Maybe that was why I wanted to take off the mask of the Northern Archduchess that Yelena was wearing.

The occasional glimpses behind Yelena’s mask were no different from an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl. I wanted to see more of that side of Yelena.

“Still, now that I’ve entered the academy, I have two friends, so I’m not lonely anymore.”

My school life in my previous life wasn’t very bright either. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any friends, and I was a bright student in my own way, but after that incident…

“Oh.”

I shook off the strange thoughts that came to mind and focused my attention on the podium.

However, for some reason, I felt a strong gaze from the side. The sky-blue mixed with silver eyes of Yelena, who was staring at me.

Feeling a chill for some reason, I trembled and carefully asked Yelena.

“Eh? Wh-what…?”

“Do you like, cute friends?”

My sexual preference…was for cool older sister types like Yelena, but since both Yelena, I, and Regina were all girls, she obviously wasn’t asking that.

The fact that I had some romantic feelings for Yelena didn’t mean that Yelena had romantic feelings for me.

She was probably asking what kind of friend I found cute.

So I answered without much thought.

“Um…I guess so?”

But for some reason, Yelena made a strange expression and asked.

“I, I see. Okay. Can I, by any chance, meet that Regina?”

“Ah, yes! Of course.”

If friends could get along with each other, that would be the most perfect friendship. Besides, Regina was very lonely, so she needed other friends besides me.

And I had promised to meet Regina after class anyway, so it would be fine.

So, as soon as the first day of swordsmanship class was over, I took Yelena and went back to the infirmary where Regina was waiting.

“Ah, Sian…!”

Regina, who had been waiting for me in the infirmary, greeted me with a bright smile as soon as I returned. I smiled back at her.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“Yes. But it wasn’t long, so don’t worry…!”

Perhaps because of the endless regressions, a few hours were not a long time for the broken girl. I gently stroked Regina’s head.

“Ah, um…but, who is that behind Sian…?”

Regina’s ruby-red eyes and Yelena’s silver eyes met in the air. The atmosphere seemed to sharpen slightly for some reason.

Thinking that the atmosphere was just my imagination, I answered Regina’s question.

“Ah, this is my friend, Yelena. Yelena, this is the friend I mentioned before, Regina.”