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The moment we stepped into the Class 1-F classroom, the source of the unease I’d been feeling became clear.

“There are mostly demi-human students here…¹” Alfe murmured, realizing it herself as she stood at the entrance of the classroom.
“It appears to be the case.”

Indeed, Alfe was a half-elf, and Hom was a homunculus. Although I was human, the Aether Overproduction Syndrome had rendered my body far from normal.

Like Farah had said during dinner the previous day, there hadn’t seemed to be a large number of demi-humans at the entrance ceremony. It appeared that, in reality, they were a minority. Yet, it was obvious at a glance that this minority had been concentrated into this class.

“Homeroom’s about to start, so we should probably find our seats and wait.”
“Yeah,” Alfe agreed, glancing toward the tiered seats in the back of the classroom. There, at the window seats that had been empty a moment ago, twin Dark Elf sisters were floating a crystal ball.

Their brown skin and silver side-tailed hair suggested they were likely the sisters Lili Ras Elma and Lulu Ras Elma. I remembered seeing students with the same surname on the list, but as identical twins², they were indistinguishable from each other.

“Look, there are Dark Elves³! They’re so cute.”
“Yeah.”

The crystal ball glided smoothly between the sisters’ hands, and it appeared they were doing some kind of divination. Reflected in the crystal was a projection of the classroom itself.

“Lili and Lulu, right? I wonder which one is which?” Alfe whispered quietly, but the Elma sisters’ ears twitched in response, and they both stood up in unison.
““…Do you require assistance, strangers with fair skin?”” they said in unison, their gazes fixed directly on us.
“Sorry for whispering about you,” Alfe apologized immediately, flashing a friendly smile as she approached them. “I’m a half-elf myself, so I was just happy to meet some Dark Elves,” she added, lifting her side hair to reveal her pointed ears. Now that we were in high school, Alfe’s ears had fully developed and were unmistakably elven.

“Oh!” the Elma sisters exclaimed in perfect unison, their eyes wide with surprise. The fact that their timing and voices were perfectly synchronized was fascinating.

“I see. Then, we shall inform you, pale-skinned unknown elf,” one of the sisters spoke, her voice measured.
“I am Lili,” one of them said, pointing to the purple ribbon tied to her right side-tail.
“And I am Lulu,” the other added, indicating the pink ribbon on her left side-tail.
“We knew you would come. Our fortune-telling revealed it.”

The elven sisters took Alfe’s hands simultaneously and smiled.

“Pale-skinned unknown elf, in honor of this fated encounter, Lili-Lulu hereby form the Elf Alliance with you,” they declared, their words perfectly in sync, once again displaying their extraordinary synchronization.

It was clear that without their ribbons, it would be impossible to tell Lili and Lulu apart. Given that they referred to themselves as “Lili-Lulu,” I decided it would be best to remember them as a pair, rather than try to differentiate between them.

“Th-thank you. My name is Alfe,” she responded, still a bit taken aback.
“We thank you for telling us, pale-skinned elf,” Lili-Lulu replied, still smiling. They then held hands with Alfe and twirled around in a little dance as they headed out into the hallway. Other demi-human students watched them curiously, clearly intrigued by the spectacle.

Well, so much for trying to avoid drawing attention… It looks like it’s going to be impossible now.

Lili-Lulu were unlike anyone I had met before. Alfe, for her part, seemed to be enjoying the impromptu dance, but I couldn’t imagine myself handling the situation as smoothly.

“…Master,” Hom spoke hesitantly, pulling me back from my thoughts as I observed the trio still twirling in the hallway.
“What’s wrong, Hom?”
“Do Dark Elves traditionally dance when forming alliances?”

Ah, come to think of it, this was the first time I’d encountered Dark Elves myself.

“No, I think that’s probably something unique to Lili-Lulu. Don’t assume all Dark Elves do the same.”
“Understood,” she nodded, looking reassured. She glanced around the classroom once more, her gaze sharp as if she was still checking for any potential threats. But for now, it didn’t seem like there was anything to worry about.

As the time for homeroom drew closer, more students were filling up the classroom. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a variety of demi-humans, from the fanged race, ratmen, horsemen, and even some from the fishmen. It seemed our class had gathered quite an assortment of unusual students.

“It seems we can safely ignore what the Gutenberg boy said about the class rankings being based on grades,” I muttered, looking around at the group.
“With Master and Lady Alfe’s grades, there is no way you both shouldn’t have been placed in Class A,” Hom replied, clearly agitated by the notion.
“Probably. Well, let’s check on Alfe, shall we?”
“Yes, Master.”

Through the classroom windows separating the room from the hallway, we could see the silhouettes of the three still spinning and dancing. Using that as a guide, we headed out into the hallway, where a Renard Beastkin student was running toward us, looking extremely flustered.

“We are late, late forsooth! Make haste, Sir Romeo!” the student called out in an unfamiliar speech pattern.

A fluffy fox tail swayed frantically behind him as he ran. His long, blonde hair obscured much of his face, but his checkered kimono hinted that he was likely from the Canado region. If that was the case, then the wooden sword at his waist was likely a training sword, rather than a weapon.

“Hold on, Isaac! No running in the hallway—”

A small, bespectacled student wearing an oversized lab coat hurried after the Beastkin. The boy’s neatly cropped black hair, especially at the nape, was typical of the ‘bowl cut’ often seen on children from the Canado region. His lab coat, upon closer inspection, was far too big for him. Given his size at this age, he was likely a member of the Halfling race.

“I am not running! This is a Shukuchi⁴ technique, Sir Romeo!” Isaac replied energetically, referring to a speed technique in his quirky speech.
“You’re talking nonsense, Isaac—” Romeo, the student following him, started to respond but abruptly stopped, his gaze landing on me.
“S-sorry…” he muttered, staring at me intensely.

I hadn’t intended to block their path, but it seemed I had. Stepping aside, I gave them room, which caused Lili-Lulu and Alfe to also pause their dancing nearby.

““Well, well, strangers from the Renard the Halfling races,”” Lili-Lulu announced theatrically, gesturing grandly as they invited Isaac and Romeo into the classroom.
“Uh, th-thanks…” The two, now clearly out of their depth, exchanged glances before meekly entering the classroom, their earlier energetic demeanor gone.

“Master, do you know that Romeo?” Hom asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
“No? What makes you ask?”
“He seemed particularly focused on you.”

True enough, Romeo was still sneaking glances in my direction. Perhaps he had mistaken me for another Halfling due to my condition.

“Well, no need to—”
“Geh!”

My thoughts were interrupted by an annoyed voice. I turned around to see Vannabelle and Numelin standing behind me.

“Wait, you’re really in the senior grade? And in the same class as me!?” Vannabelle exclaimed, her tone full of disbelief.
“…Unfortunately, it seems that way,” I replied calmly.

Vannabelle was clearly not thrilled about this, and her blunt honesty made it clear that engaging with her would only be a hassle.

“What’s with the ‘unfortunately’? Got a problem with being in the same class as me!?” she snapped back. It was strange; she was the one who started this confrontation, yet she seemed irritated when I didn’t engage. Ignoring her was likely the best course of action here.

“Now, now, let’s all just get along~” Numelin chimed in, her gentle tone attempting to soothe Vannabelle’s temper.

Before Vannabelle could reply, the warning bell rang throughout the school building.

“Everyone, make sure you’re seated before the bell finishes ringing,” came a voice from the doorway. The speaker was a Beastkin man with the head of a tanuki, holding a black booklet that looked like a class roster. His attire—a military uniform of the Empire—made it clear that he was likely a teacher from the military department.

Vannabelle, not one to let things go, muttered under her breath, “I haven’t accepted you as a classmate yet, you know.”
“……” I didn’t respond, choosing instead to walk past her into the classroom. There was no point in engaging with someone so set on being difficult.

“…Tsk! Say something, will you?”
“Belle~! If you don’t sit down, you’ll be late!”
“I know, okay!?”

I took my own seat, ignoring the commotion behind me. As the bell finished ringing, everyone settled down, and the tanuki-headed teacher stepped forward to introduce himself.

“Alright, everyone’s here. I am Tanutius Tanutard⁵. I’ll be in charge of this Year 1, Class F. You can call me Tanutanu⁶—”
“Even the homeroom teacher’s a demi-human? They’re really going all out with this, huh…”

Vannabelle interrupted loudly with what seemed like a muttered complaint.

“Vannabelle, I’m still speaking. Please refrain from private comments.”

Instead of backing down after being reprimanded, Vannabelle stood up and slammed her desk, showing no remorse.

“It’s not like I lied! They’ve shoved all the demi-humans into Class F! And from what I hear, this discrimination’s been going on since last year!”

Vannabelle’s sudden outburst sent a ripple of unease through the classroom. Looking around, it was clear to see that the majority of students were indeed demi-humans. However, Mr. Tanutanu remained calm, waiting for the murmuring to settle before responding.

“…Just to clear up any misunderstandings, not everyone here is a demi-human.”
“What!? What part of this class isn’t!?”

Vannabelle raised an eyebrow, spreading her arms wide to gesture at the students around her. The classmates whispered among themselves, and soon all their gazes focused on me.

“Master,” Hom whispered, uncertain of what to do, awaiting my instructions.

I raised my hand and stood up, meeting the curious stares of my classmates head-on.

“I’m human. Due to certain circumstances, I’ve stopped aging and remain in this form.”
“See? Even if she says she’s human, she’s just some shorty.”
“Who are you calling shorty!”

It was Romeo, the Halfling student from earlier, who lashed out, visibly angered by Vannabelle’s dismissive tone.

“Clearly, there is something going on, yes? It is best not to mock someone else’s appearance, especially when you are oblivious to their story,” Isaac chimed in, stepping in to calm the situation in place of Romeo, who was flushed with anger, perhaps interpreting her earlier remark as discriminatory towards Halflings.

Realizing she might have crossed a line, Vannabelle quickly apologized.

“…Sorry about that. But still—”

Before Vannabelle could continue, Mr. Tanutanu tapped the blackboard with a few sharp clicks to get everyone’s attention.

“That’s enough chit-chat. After introductions, we’ll be selecting the class president.”

By now, the words ‘Self-Introductions’ and ‘Class President Election⁷’ had been written on the board without anyone noticing.

Lili-Lulu

⁸

Tanutius Tanutard (Tanutanu)

1. Robinxen: Hurray for human supremacy!
2. Robinxen: THEY’RE TWINS!
3. Robinxen: DARK ELF TWINS! I CLAIM THEM AS MINE!
4. TLN: Literally translates to ‘earth shrinking.’ it’s a general term for fictional/mythical movement techniques that allow you to cover distances quickly (including stuff like teleportation).
5. Silva: Mhm… of course you are…
6. Silva: Called it.
7. Robinxen: I wonder who it could be… Actually considering the schools situation having the (apparent) only human in the class might be a logical choice…
8. Robinxen: Uohhhhhhhhh! I LOVE THEM! I claim them. These two are mine now. Perfection has been achieved. I hereby deem them as my mascots.

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