Chapter 112

Chapter 112 [Entrance Ceremony (1)]

Three days had passed since I started living together with Ethan and Isabel in the dormitory of Luminor Academy.

Unlike yesterday morning, today I woke up a bit earlier than usual and started preparing to go out.

That’s because today was the day of the entrance ceremony for new students at the academy.

By the way, due to Ethan and Isabel’s earnest requests, it was agreed that I would change clothes in Isabel’s servant’s room. They said that since the sleeping arrangements are all that matters, there’s no need for Ethan to see me changing clothes. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Thinking about it, it seemed like a reasonable argument, so I accepted it without much opposition. It’s not like Isabel’s living space would become cramped just from me changing clothes there.

Also, Ethan would be more comfortable changing clothes without having to be conscious of my presence in the same room.

“Today’s your first day of school, right, Lilith?”

“Yeah.”

“It feels like just yesterday we were working together as junior maids at the Blackwood Mansion. I never imagined you would end up enrolling in the academy, Lilith…”

“I can hardly believe it myself.”

Even I hadn’t expected that I, as Lilith, would enroll in Luminor Academy, let alone in the Magic Department, that only nobles could enter.

Right after possessing this body, I had struggled just to avoid bad endings, but now, wearing the academy uniform gave me new emotions.

“Hey, Lilith.”

“Yeah?”

“That thing you’re wearing, is that the academy uniform?”

“Why? Is there something strange about it?”

“Well, it’s not so much strange as… this doesn’t really look like the academy uniform, but something a bit different…”

Isabel expressed her subtle impressions while looking at my clothes.

Well, I had tried it on once and made some adjustments.

I didn’t alter it by cutting and shortening it like Korean middle or high school students would, but I modified it in a slightly different way by adding some elements.

I added a bit of white fabric to give it a maid-like feel to the original academy uniform and wrapped a white sash around the waist.

“If I don’t wear something like this, others might not recognize that I’m Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid.”

“So you wanted to make it known that you’re the young master’s maid? I guess anyone who sees your outfit would think you’re a maid.”

“That’s fine then. The academy doesn’t really enforce anything as long as you don’t damage the original uniform, so this much should be okay.”

“I wonder if you really need to emphasize that you’re a maid to that extent… but it’s your choice, Lilith.”

Ignoring Isabel’s last words tinged with concern, I finally put on the white headdress that I always wear.

If I stick close to Ethan in this outfit, anyone would probably notice that I’m Ethan’s exclusive maid, so at least there wouldn’t be any middling nobles who might pick a fight just because I’m a viscount’s daughter.

It felt like I had done my best in all preparations.

“Well then, I’m off to the entrance ceremony with Young Master Ethan. We might come back a bit early today since that’s all we need to attend.”

“Oh, okay! Don’t worry about me; take your time and enjoy yourself with the young master!”

“…Enjoy ourselves?”

…Well, an academy’s entrance ceremony is a good time, I suppose.

Brushing off Isabel’s somewhat questionable words, I left the servant’s room and returned to the spacious bedroom.

There, Ethan was already waiting for me, dressed in his academy uniform.

A white dress shirt (T/N: a long-sleeved polo, for those in other countries) with a red tie and a navy uniform matched above and below.

The black cape of the Blackwood family draped over his shoulders clearly symbolized Ethan’s status.

Perhaps because he originally had black hair and black eyes, the dark-colored clothes certainly suited him well.

It seemed like there were some traces of fatigue under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept well last night.

“Are you ready, Young Master Ethan?”

“…Yes, Lilith. It’s later than I thought… uh.”

“What’s wrong, Young Master Ethan?”

“…Did you make that outfit yourself, Lilith?” 

“Yes. I added a few elements to the original uniform to emphasize my identity.”

“…Are you planning to wear that headdress and those lace straps too?”

“Without these, others might not recognize that I’m Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid, right?”

“……”

Ethan looked up at me from his chair, seeming to have a lot to say.

However, he didn’t particularly caution me about it and just got up to prepare for going out.

…If he has something to say, he should just say it. Why does he start to speak and then stop, making me feel uneasy?

“Well, if that’s what you want, Lilith…”

“The entrance ceremony will be held in the First Auditorium, Young Master Ethan.”

“Yeah, I heard about that yesterday.”

“Take care, Young Master Ethan! You too, Lilith!”

Leaving Isabel behind in the dormitory to see us off, we moved together to the First Auditorium to attend the entrance ceremony.

…This time, I’ll be able to confirm it properly.

I can confirm just how much the story of Luminor Academy is flowing according to the original game.

The academy’s entrance ceremony wasn’t particularly special or grand.

The entrance ceremony event was almost entirely about letting you know who enrolled in which department, allowing you to roughly predict the subsequent story of the game.

After seeing the ending of Luminor Academy about five times in my previous life, I usually skipped the cutscenes by holding down the X button.

…But today, unlike before, I needed to focus intently on this entrance ceremony.

After all, since I couldn’t directly intervene in other characters’ pre-game storylines as a player, I had to clearly confirm where and how the others’ stories had become tangled.

If the person who possessed the protagonist had intervened in other characters’ pre-stories, it’s possible that some of the names for the first and second place in each department changed at the entrance ceremony.

For example, ‘Thomas, the Wind Spear,’ who was supposed to be the top student in the Spearmanship Department, could enroll a year late due to the protagonist’s intervention before the main story. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Or having ‘Selena, the Divine Archer,’ who originally would never have left the World Tree Forest, enroll as the top student in the Archery Department.

If one wanted, one could make their desired characters enroll by altering their storylines before the main story and proceeding with the subsequent story comfortably. Conversely, it was entirely possible to retire all the characters essential to the story progression before enrollment and turn the difficulty into hell mode.

I just earnestly hoped that the person who chose the crazy pseudonym Gyeongmwajogyegigwat hadn’t just been trolling.

“From now on, I will call the names of the students who are the first and second place in each department. Would the attending students please come up to the platform once called…”

With those words echoing throughout the auditorium, the names of the new students were called one by one by the host of the entrance ceremony.

The first student to be called was, as in the game, the top student of the Swordsmanship Department.

“Top student of the Swordsmanship Department, Gyeongmwajogyegigwat Volt.”

Well, I expected this much. If you enroll in the Swordsmanship Department as the protagonist, it’s normal to be at the top.

Anyway, it meant that the protagonist had basic combat prowess, so it wasn’t bad news. …Although it’s a bit disappointing that Ethan didn’t take the top spot.

“Second place, Ethan Richard Blackwood.”

“Congratulations, Young Master Ethan.”

“…I’ll be right back.”

Ethan walked out confidently with a strangely relieved expression when his name was called for second place.

It seems he was a bit worried that he might not even get second place.

Well, I had already confirmed that Natalie and Caraham had enrolled in the Swordsmanship Department before, so Ethan taking second place didn’t cause any problems for my plans. These three, including Ethan, were the only characters likely to play important roles in the story from the Swordsmanship Department.

“Top student of the Spearmanship Department, Thomas Jameson.”

…Well, it seems he didn’t troll at least.

By the way, according to the game, Thomas was the childhood friend of Natalie, my favorite character, so if not for other characters, I had quite a few sins committed against Thomas in my previous life.

The key to Natalie’s route was deliberately preventing her from enrolling in the same year as Thomas through some actions before the main story and then filling the empty seat next to her, who became lonely without her friend for that year.

It was in my previous life, and moreover, it was in the game, so there’s no need to feel guilty about it.

“Top student of the Archery Department, Selena Isolde.”

“…Huh?”

Wait, Selena?

The fact that Selena enrolled this year means that this Gyeongmwajogyegigwat guy visited the World Tree Forest in the prologue story? Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I was just surprised in many ways that this Gyeongmwa-whatever guy had been moving around so diligently.

‘Is he seriously trying to complete the entire game? Or maybe Selena is just his favorite character and he brought her along…’

Selena was the only elf heroine in Luminor Academy, so she was overwhelmingly popular among elf enthusiasts. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Although I still had many questions, the fact that Selena had enrolled was a very positive sign.

With her presence, we should be able to get through the Hunting Festival arc in the middle of Part 2 with minimal damage. Of course, the protagonist’s abilities would play a role there too.

After that, the host on the auditorium’s stage began to announce the list of the new students at first and second place for each department one by one.

Among them, I could find the familiar names of characters from Luminor Academy.

‘Moonlight Shadow Princess Seraphine’ enrolled as the top student in the Martial Arts Department and as the top student overall, ‘Hellfire Agnes’ enrolled as the top student in the Magic Department, Seraphine’s bodyguard, ‘Shadow Luke,’ was second in the Technical Department, and I also recognized ‘Witch Lara’ who was the top student in the Pharmacy Department.

Just as I was starting to relax, thinking that not only had nothing deviated from the original story, but things had only improved so far…

Suddenly, the name called for second place in the pharmacy department jolted my relaxed mind awake.

“Second place, Lizzy Lynn August.”

…What?

No, why are you appearing here?