Chapter 32
「Are you okay, Ainz? Did you forget something?」
「It"s okay . I"ve checked it many times, and Chris-san will come with me to the school」
「Olivia-sama . Rest a.s.sured, I"ll take care of it if anything happens」
「 . . . . . Chris was ditzy sometimes; can I really trust you?」
「Ugh . . . . 」
It was the long-awaited first day of school for Ainz after the winter .
There were a number of events before winter dawned, such as Ainz"s seventh birthday .
Ainz"s birthday was not a party, but a gathering of his family members . For Ainz"s birthday, Krone gave him a silver bracelet as a present .
While she was wearing the gift from Ainz, Ainz was wearing the Red Ball of the Earth, a gift from the palace .
It was a little frustrating when she thinks about it, so she decided to give him a bracelet .
And one more thing . Finally, Ainz"s unveiling took place .
Instead of a parade through the capital, he was presented to the people from the White Night Castle .
For the sake of safety, the presentation was held at a distance from the people .
From the people"s point of view, their first impression of Ainz was that he was difficult to recognize .
Nevertheless, the people were very excited to see the new future king .
「Well, mom . Anyway, I"ll be fine」
「I understand . But I"d like to send Ainz with me」
「That won"t do, Olivia-sama . There will be a great commotion, no doubt」
「You"re right . . . . . 」
Unlike Ainz, Olivia"s appearance is well known to the people .
If Olivia, the second princess, was in a densely populated area called the school town . It was only natural that there would be a big commotion if she showed up in such a place .
「Speaking of which, Mother . Krone has already left, huh?」
It had been a while since Krone and Graf had been in Ishtalica .
Graf had bought a mansion, though it was a few steps smaller than what he owns in Hyme . Of course, Krone had been living there as well, but she mostly stayed at the castle since it was more convenient for her to be there due to Warren"s many a.s.signments and various other errands .
「Yeah . Liebe Girls" School starts early . The school rules are strict, so it"s a great place to grow up」
Krone, who was also on her first day at the school, had already left . As for Ainz, who had confirmed that she had stayed at the castle last night, he was a little disappointed .
「Umm . Ainz-sama, we should be on our way」
「I"m sorry, Mother! it"s already late, so I’m off!」
「See you Ainz . Chris, take care of Ainz for me」
Ainz readily agreed to Chris"s proposal . He didn"t want to be late on the first day .
He grabbed his luggage and left for the White Rose station to catch the water train .
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Due to the crowded train station, Ainz was already tired before reaching the school, but he managed to reach the school .
Even though he had left a little early, the school town was still crowded with people . When he arrived at the grounds of the Royal Kingsland Academy, he could finally catch his breath .
「Chris-san . I feel uncomfortable when I think about this every day」
「 . . . . . Don"t worry, I"ll make sure you get inside」
Chris smiled a smug smile . Ainz had no intention of skipping, but Chris"s smile also showed her firm will not to allow him to skip .
「However, you can relax once we arrive at the Royal Kingsland Academy, where Ainz-sama will be attending」
The grounds of the Royal Kingsland Academy were so quiet and deserted that it was easy to tell by looking from the outside .
The reason was the number of students . The Royal Kingsland Academy is one of the largest schools in the city, but in terms of the number of students, it will be placed at the bottom .
The educational principles of the Royal Kingsland Academy are to train people who can be entrusted with the future of Ishtalica .
For this reason, the number of students at the school is 1/3 to 1/4 of those at the National Kingsland Academy and other schools .
The school requires students to have a high level of education and the strength to be able to handle it .
「Ainz-sama . I"ve been expecting you」
「Dill, you came to pick me up huh」
「Of course . Chris-sama, I"m Dill . I"ll be taking over the task of guarding Ainz-sama」
「Thank you for your hard work . I have indeed taken over . From now on, you must protect Ainz with your life」
「Yes」
It was a bit formal, but it was necessary for Chris and Dill . After taking over Ainz"s escort, Chris returned to the castle .
「Then, Ainz-sama, I am going back to the castle . I will pick you up when you return, so please don"t try to leave by yourself, okay?」
「I understand . Take care of yourself too Chris-san」
Chris thanks him and returns to the castle . And from here, Dill replaces Chris as Ainz"s escort .
「Ainz-sama, let"s go . I will show you to your cla.s.sroom」
「I understand . But this school is so big huh, I"m going to get tired just moving around」
「This vast area allows for a lot of training and research to be done . It"s not so bad if you think about it that way」
「I see . Well, it"s a good thing we have a lot of places we can use it」
The school was beautifully landscaped based on nature, but there were a few buildings visible . Ainz thought that these were probably the facilities that could be used for training and research .
Incidentally, there is no entrance ceremony at the Royal Kingsland Academy . It is written in the doc.u.ments that students are considered to have entered the school from the day they are accepted, and new students are required to take cla.s.ses right from the first day .
「Ainz-sama . I would be happy to give you a tour of the school as soon as cla.s.ses are over . I will pick you up for lunch and we will go to the private lounge」
「Okay, well, I"ll be waiting for you in cla.s.s」
Dill led the way to the cla.s.sroom .
Thinking about what kind of people would be there made my heart beat a little higher .
＊＊＊
「Umm, here?」
「Yes, this way . Ainz-sama"s cla.s.sroom is here」
Ainz arrived at a cla.s.sroom with a tall, magnificent, and luxurious door that was about four meters high .
It was so different from the cla.s.srooms he had pa.s.sed before that he could hardly hide his surprise .
「Why are the doors so different? I"m really feeling the great disparity」
「The Royal Kingsland Academy has five cla.s.ses per grade, divided in performance order . Cla.s.ses change only once a year, but the closer you are to the top of the cla.s.s, the more privileged you are in some aspects . The cla.s.srooms are well designed, and there are many other benefits such as priority use of research facilities」
「They told me if I wanted something, I had to win it for myself huh」
「That"s what I"m talking about」
As it was run by the king, it turned out that it"s not equal and the compet.i.tion for survival was fierce here .
Even though we were able to pa.s.s the tough entrance exam, they had no intention of letting them soak in the lukewarm water .
「Fifth Group and Fourth Group have 25 students each . Third Group and Second Group have 20 students each . And the First Group, which will include Ainz-sama, has a capacity of 10 students」
「I heard it was few, but it was so few huh」
「It is also mentioned in the admission guide . However, it is not always easy to confirm the number of students」
「I had to check the cla.s.s format and stuff huh . Well, that"s okay . . . . . . Thanks for the tour, Dill . I"ll go into the cla.s.sroom then」
Ainz decided to go into the cla.s.sroom for now . He had heard that there were only a few students, but he hadn"t expected that there would be only ten people in the cla.s.s, including himself . But the fact that it was an elite few made him curious to see what kind of people would be there .
「Very well then, I"ll pick you up later」
Dill, who said he would come back later, smiled, which suited his beautiful boyish appearance, he thanked him, and went to his cla.s.sroom .
Then Ainz also opened the door to his cla.s.sroom, there were five students in the cla.s.sroom .
「He spent a lot of money for this cla.s.sroom huh」
The cla.s.sroom was so magnificent that I found myself talking to myself . Although it didn"t look particularly luxurious, the desks and chairs were instantly recognizable as a remarkable craftsmanship . The desks and chairs, while not particularly luxurious, were instantly recognizable as fine craft too, and the teaching tables were carved in a way that made me fascinated with it .
There was only one desk, a semi-circular one that seemed to surround the table . The desk is long and wide and can seat ten people at once .
Ainz didn"t know where to sit, and he didn"t like to sit in the middle, so he took a chair one inside from the edge .
With Ainz, there were now six students seated .
A few people glanced at him before he sat down, but he didn"t talk to them, so they didn"t talk to Ainz either .
Eventually, the time pa.s.sed, and a little while later, the seats were filled and ten of us were together .
「Good morning . I"m glad to see you"re all here . It"s not good to be skipping from day one」
A little while later, a man who seemed to be the homeroom teacher arrived . He was a middle-aged man with a good suit, gla.s.ses, and polished leather shoes . He was a middle-aged man with good style, dressed like a businessman that looks capable .
「In this cla.s.s, there are only a few opportunities to act as a cla.s.s unit . I hope you will understand this and work hard in your school life from now on」
The homeroom teacher"s words began in abrupt .
「Let me tell you first, this cla.s.s is special . That"s why I don"t have a lot to teach of the cla.s.s as homeroom teacher . Oh, and I don"t need you to introduce yourselves, if you need to, I suggest you do so privately after this」
The words of the homeroom teacher seemed to have caught Ainz off guard and struck him with emptiness, this might be even more different as school that is based on meritocracy .
「The only thing I want from you is result . You have pa.s.sed a number of exams and have been accepted into this cla.s.s . That"s why I"m asking you to maintain that high quality results, and hopefully, none of you will be replaced until the end of the cla.s.s . That"s all I have to say, cla.s.s dismissed」
In his head an 『Eh?』 words were the only things that kept running through his mind .
Was the homeroom teacher done talking after the first day"s meeting? Ainz felt as if they hadn"t talked too much .
「Oh yeah, I"m sorry . I still have more to tell you . You must attend the semi-annual exams . If you have a compelling reason, I"ll be happy to discuss it with you . You don"t have to attend any other cla.s.ses, as long as you show results, the school has no complaints . If you do not attend this exam, you will be dropped from the cla.s.s unconditionally, so be careful」
He said we don"t even have to attend cla.s.s . It makes me wonder what the school is doing now .
But what they want is results, in other words, whether you are in cla.s.s or not, if your results quality is low, you will be demoted .
「The exams are the same as in other cla.s.ses, with multiple subjects and electives . You are welcome to ask questions and talk to the teachers . . . . . My name is Kyle, and I"ll be your homeroom teacher for the next few weeks . So, that"s it」
Although we had a little more information, we ended up breaking up .
This happened just as I was expecting him to ask us to introduce ourselves one by one and explaining about the school . I can"t deny the fact that I was a little confused, but I understood that the stance of the school was that we were free to do whatever we wanted, but we had to produce results .
「Haah, That was quite a unique greeting」
Then, a boy approached Ainz .
He was a confident boy with a refreshing looks that surely will be handsome in the future .
「It"s nice to know someone else is thinking the same thing . I never thought he won’t even let his students to introduce themselves」
「Haha . I"ve heard that this is an even more meritocratic cla.s.s in a meritocratic school, but I didn"t expect even the homeroom teacher"s greeting to be like that」
「I"m surprised that they"re taking the stance that we have to find out where the facilities are and stuff like that on our own」
He seemed to have a friendly personality, which made Ainz feel good to talk to him .
「Oops, I was doing the same thing as the homeroom teacher . I"m sorry I"m late in telling you my name, but I"m Roland, and I pa.s.sed the exam in Magical Engineering . What subject did you pa.s.s?」
「I guess I pa.s.sed as a swordsman . That"s how I pa.s.sed and ended up in this cla.s.s」
「 . . . . . Then you were the boy they were talking about」
When he was told that it was a hot topic, Ainz wanted to hold his head as he had an idea .
It was probably that he had injured the examiner .
「 . . . . . By the way, what was the rumor is?」
「The swordsmanship examiner is a famous person . I heard that he used to be quite famous as an adventurer, because there"s no way that such a person wouldn"t be talked about for being injured by a seven-year-old examinee」
The other students around him began to talk and introduce themselves here and there .
Ainz was reflecting on what he had done .
「I did it because I was provoked . I don"t think It should be laughed at」
「I don"t think they"re laughing at you, they"re respecting you, they"re proud of you for beating a famous examiner at the age of seven . I"m sure he"s well known among the uppercla.s.smen, maybe they"ll even offer to test their skills on you」
Hearing this, Ainz became even more conscious of what he had done . He was also reflecting on his own mental weakness, when a visitor came to the cla.s.sroom .
「Dill, sixth year . Excuse me」
It was Dill, whom he had just left a short while ago . Ainz wondered why he had come at this time, since he had said he would pick him up around lunch time .
The air in the cla.s.sroom started to buzz as Dill entered .
Apparently, Dill was a celebrity, and several people mentioned his name .
「 . . . . . . It"s Dill-san . One of the strongest students at the Royal Kingsland Academy, I didn"t think he"d come to test his skills on you already」
「N-no, I don"t think so」
Roland was one of the people who knew Dill as well .
But he was wrong . Dill had probably only come to pick up Ainz, and Ainz was sure that would not happen .
「No, it"s possible! Like I said, you"re . . . . . . Sorry, can I ask your name if you don"t mind?」
Ainz realized that he was so late to tell him . He apologizes and tries to tell her his name .
「Sorry, sorry . My name is . . . 」
「I"m very sorry, Ainz-sama . I forgot that the first cla.s.s of the first year is also a free cla.s.s system . It seems that the homeroom teachers have finished their greetings, so I would like to give you a tour of the school」
「This format wasn"t just for the first year huh . I"m a little relieved . I"m sorry, Roland, I"m going to get a tour around the academy now . . . . . . . Oh, yeah, won"t you come with me?」
「A, ah . . . . . . . No, sorry, I"m fine . Actually, I already know a certain amount about the academy . So, don"t worry, you should get a good look at it」
「Is that so, very well then . I"ll talk to you later . See you later!」
Dill, who had come to show him around, took Ainz to see the academy .
Roland was a little out of his mind . When he thought that the famous Dill had arrived, he bowed to the person he had been talking to and said he would show him around the academy . He was surprised again when he heard the name Dill had mentioned .
「Th-that was Ainz . His Royal Highness the Crown Prince . . . . . . . ?!」
Roland was not the only one who was surprised by Dill"s appearance, many of the students in the cla.s.s were surprised as well .
And another thing, it was not only Roland who heard the name Ainz, but everyone in the cla.s.s heard it as well .
After that, the cla.s.sroom would be in an indescribable silence for a few tens of seconds .