Chapter 7: First Steps at the Academy

“Wow, who is that? She’s so beautiful.”

“Is she one of the teachers’ children? That blonde hair and blue eyes are adorable!”

“Really, she looks just like a doll…”

As he walked along, he encountered many girls. Although the scene he had imagined—girls in the dorms lounging around in only their underwear—did not appear, Liya still kept his focus straight ahead. As a man, and a gentleman at that, Liya had his own principles and was confident he would never stoop to sneaky peeping.

As for the comments he overheard about how cute he was… Liya managed to suppress his urge to go berserk through twenty-seven deep breaths. Deep breathing was truly the best relaxation method invented by the ancients; without it, he didn’t know how much harder things would be.

“Liya, this is your room—a temporary one for now. Also, I’m the dorm supervisor for this floor of the girls’ dormitory. My room is right across from yours, so if anything comes up, you can come find me.”

The dormitory structure was pretty clear now. There were five floors total. First-years occupied the first two floors, while second- to fourth-years took the third through fifth floors. Basically, aside from the first years, each grade had its own floor. The faculty dorms were in a separate building. Every floor had a public bath, which basically provided hot water 24/7. Of course, if someone wanted a bit more luxury, they could pay to use a special bathhouse. But that kind of extravagance held no appeal for Liya.

Besides, going to the bathhouse meant seeing things a gentleman should not see… As a gentleman, Liya would never do such a thing.

“Liya? Liya! Liya!”

“Huh? What is it, Teacher Christine?”

“Nothing much… but you suddenly spacing out was a bit weird. Oh! Your nose is bleeding!”

Liya wiped his nose, and sure enough, there was a streak of red. But he shook his head decisively.

“No, Teacher, you’re mistaken. This is an internal injury. I must not have fully recovered from the previous test.”

“Really?! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine. I just need to circulate my energy and regulate my breathing. Don’t worry, Teacher.”

“Oh, okay… If there’s any problem, be sure to tell me!”

Liya nodded while circulating his magic power to heal his body.

Then he followed Christine into the single room assigned to him. She used magic to light the lamp, and the room’s layout became clear at a glance.

Standard apartment setup: kitchen and living room in one space, bedroom and bathroom each in separate areas. It was quite luxurious. So this was the privilege of a transfer student.

“Liya, you’re among the more outstanding transfer students. Though I’m not sure exactly how strong you are, with a year of hard work, you should be able to become one of the top ten elite students of the academy.” Christine said with some emotion. Even she hadn’t expected such an excellent transfer student to suddenly enroll, especially one who had been an unknown little girl before. Talent was truly mysterious.

“Top ten? Is that determined by arena matches?”

“Mm, you could say that. After all, this is a martial academy. Written exams only count for a small part; most of the grades come from actual combat. There’s a ranking list on the academy’s arena. The top ten with the most wins represent the academy’s image. Some meddlesome students even give them nicknames, but I’m not very clear on those.”

“I see…”

As expected of an academy! This system was perfect for competition! Liya felt his blood begin to boil. The feeling was different. How wonderful! He felt an urge to rush to the arena.

“Alright, Liya, take out your luggage. I’ll help you organize it.”

“No need, Teacher. I can handle it myself. For a child from the church, this is nothing.” Liya put down his backpack and took out his toiletries, leisure items, and some things Ailiya had prepared for him. He began sorting them methodically, even brewing two cups of black tea and handing one to Christine. She looked quite satisfied.

“You’re so capable, Liya. Were you this independent at the church?”

“Of course. It was necessary.”

“What about your parents? This time I only saw Grandma Ailiya. Didn’t your parents come with you?”

“I’m an orphan. Grandma Ailiya raised me from a young age.”

“Ah…” Christine opened her mouth awkwardly, as if wanting to say something, but Liya quickly smiled at her.

“So I’ve always been grateful to Grandma Ailiya. As for my parents, I have no memories of them, so it doesn’t matter. I hope to be more independent and not cause Grandma any trouble.”

“Mm… Liya, you’re really such a sensible child.”

“Thank you.”

Liya nodded, while thinking to himself:

‘Great! This is the rhythm! This way, I’ve established the image of a good kid! This is my first step in the academy! My first step toward enjoying life!’

Back in his previous life, Liya had decided that if there were a next life, he would become stronger while also enjoying life to the fullest. But since his reincarnation, ten years had passed, and he had been training all the time, never finding time to make friends. But now it was different! The foundation of his magic was laid. From now on, he just needed to cultivate step by step. So what he had to do now was start enjoying life!

That meant expanding his social circle and becoming an excellent youth with both emotional and intellectual intelligence.

To achieve that goal, the first step was to establish a good image!

‘Looks like I’m doing pretty well! My EQ is quite high, after all.’

Thinking back, in his previous life, his close friend who founded the martial arts sect with him always scolded him for having low EQ. Probably out of jealousy. Otherwise, his usually gentle friend wouldn’t have resorted to angry scolding, which was so undignified. Tsk, tsk, jealousy is a sin.

“By the way, Teacher, I’m done organizing. Where is the arena you mentioned? Could you take me there?”

“Eh? Liya, do you want to give it a try?”

“Yes, I’m very interested in seeing it. It’s only three in the afternoon now. After watching, I can still go for dinner.”

Looking into Liya’s eyes, Christine knew that ‘watching’ and ‘fighting’ were probably synonyms in his mind. Going to the arena was clearly not just for watching.

Still, this battle maniac’s personality might have fostered his belief that he was male.

But that was fine. This way, she could see just how strong this little genius girl was. After all, she had voluntarily stopped their earlier fight and hadn’t truly seen Liya’s strength.

“Then let’s go. The arena is open in the afternoon. It’s the most money-consuming place in the academy. In a way, it’s quite amazing. It’s worth a look.”

Hearing this, Liya’s anticipation grew even deeper.

“Alright, let’s go, Teacher.”

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