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「Mn? Huh?」
「…… Some are missing.」

Regardless of how delicious the chocolate is, buying all of them was too much. The two of us alone couldn’t finish it all. After feeding each other for a while, we took a break at a bench nearby and this happened.

Urania had a quick look inside our bag of chocolates and tilted her head in confusion. Seeing that, I looked inside the bag as well and confirmed that there really are missing chocolates. Well, yeah, I only know one person who would eat someone else’s snack without permission. I switch on 【Magic Sight】 and search the surrounding area…… and there she is.

「Haa…… “Bind” & “Move”.」
『Kyaa!? What’s with this!?』
「Arytte……」
『T-tehe~!』

Inside my hand is the chubby spirit Arytte adorably sticking out her tongue. Using “Move” on “Bind” is a surefire capture technique Ces taught me. With this technique, on top of capturing a dangerous target without needing to approach them, it’s convenient because you can also transport them as they are, he says.

「Arytte, why are you still here?」
『Oh? How unwelcoming of you! I told you, haven’t I! Maybe even sometime soon?』
「Didn’t you have work to do? And there’s another spirit here in the capital, right?」
『Not an issue, Lily. After all, I just got my leave! Being with you and the others seems interesting too. And besides, I’m curious about that demi-spirit girl.』

That was pretty quick. Are you really fine with that, spirits? Or rather…

「Right now, my name……」
『What? You’re the one ‌I called by name first, so what’s wrong with me calling you by name! 』

What’s with this tsundere. Since when did I score affection points with Arytte? Rather, she’s really coming with us? To the academy?

「I’ll say this again, but we will not be playing around at the academy, you know? We’ll be there to learn, okay?」
『I know, alright! It’ll be fine! I’ll do as I please while you’re busy in class! And I won’t get between the two of you!』
「In that case, sure, I guess.」

In that case, I guess I should have Arytte go with Hans or Est then? Well, she is a spirit, so she shouldn’t be visible to other people most of the time; I suppose there shouldn’t be any problem with her loitering around the area, but ‌I feel like she’ll cause some needless trouble if I leave her alone.

In the meantime, we headed back with Arytte. To begin with, we already planned to have today’s date last only until noon to make sure we won’t be worn out for tomorrow, so it’s about time to go. While we’re already here, we also bought chocolates for Hans and Est. Arytte shamelessly asked for her own share as well, so I reluctantly bought some for her too. She had the most out of the three, so the expenses got a bit out of hand.

◆◇◆◇◆

「We’re back.」
「…… We’re back.」
「Ah, welcome home. You came back earlier than expected.」

As we arrived home, Ces was there relaxing in the living room. There are documents spread across the table and from these, he hands me a bundle.

「This is?」
「The current list of the nobles who inquired about you. Just to be sure, they’re classified by faction. Nearly every faction is interested in you right now.」

The papers had a ton of family names written on them. The House of Ormos is also among them, I have no idea if they knew about me from Sola or if they got the information elsewhere.

「Also, take these.」
「And these are?」
「Your Student IDs.」

These were two silver plates with our names on them. The class name had Class A inscribed on it, and it seems like we won’t be able to join the class unless we have these plates. There are numbers on the upper left side of the plate too. Mine is “1”, Urania’s is “14”.

「What are these numbers?」
「It’s your ranking. It’s based on the results of the class sorting exams, so it’s still tentative, but congratulations on being the top passer Lily.」
「Ah, thank you very much.」

While I was ‌aiming for that, I didn’t really expect to be the top passer. Just to say, the class sorting exams didn’t just test the examinees’ magic capabilities, but there was also a general written exam. I’ve studied a lot during the winter, so it seems like I got a high score.

『You’re pretty good despite how you look, Lily.』
「And what do you mean by that?」
『Nothing in particular. I was simply praising you!』

What an un-cute spirit. Since she said that, I told her “I’m going to ban you from chocolates; you know?” and she prostrated herself in tears. From her resolute reaction, I couldn’t help but make a strained smile.

「Well, since you’re the top passer, you’ll be having a speech during the entrance ceremony. Other than that, you’ll need to have a face-to-face meeting with the principal prior to the ceremony. That should fit with your target, but who am I to say?」
「My, that’s quite something to look forward to. I’ll have to think of what we should chat about tonight then.」

Ces and I smiled at each other with evil grins. The forced enrollment is still fine, I agree with the point that sorcerers need to be properly educated. However, the academy becoming the stage for the adult’s factional dispute is unacceptable.

So when I consulted Ces about this, it seems like he was also troubled about this both as a sage and as a parent, so he gladly offered his support. To start, he gave me permission to use the name of the House of Iglesio and to make his support of us public. In addition, intermediation with possible cooperators.

With this in mind, being able to meet with the principal before the opening proper is a very good sign. From what I was told, the principal who’s supposed to be the head of the academy is just a figurehead.

I’m getting really excited about academy life now.¹

1. Silva: Ah yes, academy life, the zenith of any isekai novel. But the author did it way too forcefully.