Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

「Incidentally, how has your academy life been? I’ve never studied at the second academy, so I’m genuinely curious about it. I have heard stories, though.」
「It’s quite enjoyable. Learning alongside many people has been a stimulating experience, and it allows me to objectively assess my capabilities.」

For the lesson contents, there’s only a few I do not know about. I have been given prior education, after all, and I believe that I should have a good understanding of things. Still, learning once again, and from new teachers, was more interesting than I expected.
I’m taught the same topics, but the difference in teaching styles has been very illuminating. The problem is that while there may not be much of a gap in knowledge level, there are still major differences on the technical level.

And while style differences are not an issue, there are situations where there is conflict between old and new information, so the problem is what to do then.
Should I fall back to what I was taught before, or should I instead adopt the new techniques taught here?

「So what do you do when that happens?」
「I discuss it with Runya―the Hausen family’s Rulinia. She has experienced the same kind of education as I have. And―」

I hesitated on whether I could talk about it or not, but since I suspect that this is part of what Brother wants to know about, I mentioned another name.

「I’ve also inquired about Miss Ailneige’s opinions of this. And her thought process is to set her existing knowledge as the foundation, incorporate all that has value in learning about, and simply ignore the rest.」
「How do I say this? She’s an interesting individual.」
「She is, indeed. Miss Ailneige doesn’t appear to put much importance in having high grades, you see.」

When Miss Ailneige is at the academy, she is quiet, doesn’t cause any problems, and normally maintains good grades like any good student. However, due to her appearance and her status as an E-rank hunter, she stands out considerably and is one of the individuals that everyone in the class knows the name of.
However, the way she stands out is different from others―from us, as it’s better to describe us as not merely conspicuous but more as renowned.

「How is her reputation in class?」
「Mostly good, I believe. There are many who are intrigued by Miss Ailneige, but most of them seem to be satisfied simply observing from afar.」
「I see… While it appears to be alright so far, there’s no telling how things will develop if a problem were to occur…」

Brother Arc’s concern is most valid; if Miss Ailneige were to get involved in an issue―if she were to be bullied by a classmate, for example―we can’t simply ignore the risks. It may lead to a deterioration in our relations with Central, and to begin with, if Miss Ailneige were to take any sort of action, the only ones that could possibly stop her in the academy are the rumored near S-rank in power headmistress and the rumored high-ranked hunter in hiding.

Right now, Miss Ailneige is hiding her true identity. If it were known that she is the Princess of Central, there would be no one daring to test her patience―or at least I want to believe it to be the case―but right now, there is a high chance that someone may unwittingly cause her problems.

「Miss Ailneige goes to great lengths to remain incognito, so I believe she shouldn’t act immediately. Concerned about this, I once asked her possible course of action, and she said that she’d give a warning first and only act if all else fails.」
「In that case, we should be fine as long as nothing disastrous happens.」
「That’s right. I’m sure no one would perpetrate such a mess of disastrous proportions… But even if someone does, she stated that she would consider it a personal matter with the perpetrator.」
「So that no matter what happens, the damage will be kept minimum, huh―For now, I’m glad you’ve become friends with the Central Princess.」

Hearing Brother’s words, I was a bit troubled.
As I was contemplating on how to reply, Brother asked, 「Is there something wrong?」

「No, I’m just not really sure if Miss Ailneige and I can be considered friends…」
「She was willing to tell you that she is the princess of Central, wasn’t she?」
「That is true, but rather than telling me because we’re close friends, she mostly did it because it would be less troublesome that way.」
「Ah, I see… She seems to be quite a resilient individual. Mii, what do you personally think of her?」
「Me?」

What do I think of Miss Ailneige―of Lady Cielmer? Thinking back on my exchanges with her, we always had trivial conversations. It’s only a short time before she heads to the roof, but we would talk about how the class was that day or which food in the cafeteria tasted delicious.
While it is partially for formality, I do find chatting with her comfortable since she doesn’t have interest in political prestige.

While there are times like today when she would bring up very stressful matters, they are generally matters that I’m grateful to learn of in advance rather than when they are already a problem, or ones that I do benefit from, so it’s difficult to hate her whimsy.
Most of our classmates are only observing her, but I know that many hope to talk to her. Though the reasons may vary from wishing to learn from her experiences as an active hunter or simply wanting to befriend a lovely girl such as her.

I can’t deny that being someone who has had plenty of chances to speak and learn from her has brought me some sense of superiority. And besides, I feel a small sense of affinity with her.
As I was deep in thought, my brother suddenly muttered an important revelation.

「Perhaps it’s just difficult making friends with someone older, huh.」
「… Dear Brother Arc, what did you just say?」
「Hm? She is a year older than you, isn’t she?」
「Is… that so. I’m surprised you know.」

I nearly fell speechless from the shock, but I somehow managed to respond.

「Lady Cielmer doesn’t hide any of her private information about her hunter activities, you see. After hearing that Central got a princess, I did a quick investigation.」
「I couldn’t really risk carelessly investigating on my end.」

Besides, unlike Brother, I don’t have the connections to investigate Central. Additionally, ever since meeting Miss Ailneige, I purposely avoided gathering relevant information just to be careful.
As Brother was convinced by my answer, I added, 「If possible, I do want to be her friend,」 and nothing more.