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「…….」
「M-My apologies, milady! However, Lady Arytte wouldn’t-……」
「You’ve finally arrived! I was getting tired of waiting!」

The room I got from the principal was a corner room on the third academic building’s fourth floor. The room is slightly bigger than a classroom and a table is positioned at the end of the room. I requested this during the pre-academy opening meeting, but the principal only had it ready this morning. I instructed Est to inspect the room and prepare the things we might need, but who could have expected Arytte to come along, moreover, for her to be gobbling on snacks.

「Arytte…… You……」
「What? You have a problem with me?!」
「No, that’s not what I-……」
「Um…… Lily?」

Oh crap¹, I forgot about the others being here.

「Y-Yes? Is something the matter?」
「Ah, no. Who might she be?」
「A lot of students bring their servants with them, but she seems just a little too small for that……」

Arytte’s appearance is that of a chubby little girl. A bit too young to insist that she’s a servant, and most of all, she’s too haughty for that. They’d probably believe me more if I tell them that she’s a spoiled daughter from some noble family. On the other hand, it’s doubtful if they’d believe me if I honestly tell them that she’s a spirit.

「Ah, could she be the heiress of the Iglesio household, Miss Adanalbus? But wait? You called her Arytte just now, so she must be someone else. Then would she be a daughter from the Iglesio household’s branch families? Since I don’t know of her, she couldn’t be from the main family, is she?」
「Ah, uh, Right! You’re absolutely correct! This here is Miss Arytte! She hails from Sir Ces’ aunt’s lineage!」
「Lily? What are you even talking about? I’m a spi-「S-Spirited to see what the student council does, you see? So we brought her here for the occasion!」」² ​
「Mhhg-! Nhgg-!」

Before Arytte could say something that would definitely be troublesome, I crammed a muffin-like pastry that was sitting on the table into her mouth. She’s making some inaudible complaints, but seeing how her eyes are in bliss, she’ll probably forget about it by the time she’s finished eating.

This muffin is made by Est. I asked her to make it after teaching her my recipe, and its appearance and taste are now of high quality. It probably wouldn’t look out of place on the shelves displayed in one of the pastry shops in the capital, but maybe I’m doting on her too much?

「Anyhow, please feel free to leave Miss Arytte aside for now. Sola, no, Miss Solarima, Sir Teybert. I would like to invite the two of you to become officers of the student council. Would you accept this invitation?」
「「I don’t mind (doing so), but I have a condition-…」」
「「Ugh……」」

Why were the two of them in perfect sync even in the way they turned to each other? Sola aside, I’m a bit shocked that even Teybert gave an instant agreement. I wonder what I did to touch his heartstrings?

「I’m glad to hear positive replies from both of you. Still, it’s hard to have a chat while standing, so why don’t we discuss your conditions over a cup of tea? The leaves we’re using today are a first-class import from the Empire, you see?」

Naturally, these were from the Iglesio Manor’s supplies, which I asked for a small amount of. In general, the academy provides for the food, clothing, and shelter needs; but luxury items such as tea and pastries are things that you need to supply on your own. In the case when one wants to order things from outside the academy, it will be necessary to have them sent together with supplies transported to the academy once every week by way of teleportation. For letters, there are monsters that work like carrier pigeons, so you can make orders and requests using these. If it’s just a small package, then it can be sent in through that as well.

I take a sip of the tea Est poured for us, and then take a deep breath. The muffins are plain ones that go well with jams, so we can spread the jam of our choice before eating it. Though of course, the muffins are still delicious on their own, and their soft insides are just how I like it. I don’t quite like muffins that are dry.

Sola took a bit of her muffin and brought her free hand over her mouth in surprise. These muffins seem to be on the small side for boys like Teybert, since he’s filling his mouth with one whole muffin after the other. Considering how he’s eating nonstop, I guess he likes it too.

Or rather, Arytte. You’re eating too much. She was likely eating even before we arrived, and despite that she’s burning through the muffins at about the same speed Teybert does. Really, where all of this can fit in her small body is a complete mystery. Maybe her stomach has the same nearly unlimited capacity that 【Dream Storage】 does.

「Miss Lily, these muffins, which shop is this from?」
「Fufu, Miss Sola, I’m honored to hear your praise. These muffins are personally made by my attendant, so, unfortunately, I can’t introduce you to a certain shop.」
「My!? These are homemade?」

Sola shifted her surprised gaze from the muffin to me, then to Est who lowered her head as a display of gratitude. Est being praised really makes me feel happy, it’s like I’m being praised myself. Even though she used to be like 「I have nothing.」 or 「I’m a slave.」 before, she’s now a fine attendant. Even if I disappear from her life by any chance, Est, as she is right now, should have no issue with finding employment.

「Knowing where these snacks are from is nice and all, but would you mind hearing my condition now?」
「Oh, excuse my discourtesy. Right, in this case, I would like to hear your conditions, starting with Sir Teybert.」
「You can just call me Tebby, no need for the sirs. What I want is simple. Miss Lily, I want to have a magic bout with you.」

The condition Teybert, Tebby, gave wasn’t that surprising to me, rather, it was something I expected. Considering the way he stared at my magic during the fire attribute exam, I’m sure that he has an extraordinary passion for fire attribute magic.

「In that case, allow me to call you Tebby. Then Tebby, you would like to have a duel, is that what you meant by that?」

Duels, a part of this academy’s system. The students attending this academy are assigned ranks for each school year. And the ones with higher ranks, in other words, the A-class, are given priority in terms of being supplied facilities and education. There are two ways to raise one’s rank. The first is to get good results in the schoolwide examination that happens twice a year, or to challenge someone of a higher rank to a one-on-one battle, a duel.

Naturally, it’s not as if there aren’t any limits on the duels. You can only challenge people up to ten ranks higher than you are, and you can’t challenge anyone below you in rank. Additionally, it’s necessary to have witnesses, five or more in the case of students, three or more if they are professors instead.

「That does sound nice too. Still, I have no intention of challenging you for the time being. After all, as I am now, I don’t feel like I can win against you.」
「So then?」
「It’ll only be for training. Even an hour is good enough. I… want to know your strength, you who can manipulate fire better than I can.」

As he said so, he showed a covetous smile, like that of a cat before it’s prey. He’s a sheep though.³

1. Lyly: Kek, it’s really nice to see that Lily is always the same in the inside, ditzy
2. Lyly: Kek, I can’t
3. Lyly: Lol, but he sheep tho