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I, Palra, was born and raised in Berte village, Ausente.
The village was my whole world, and I’ve never thought of it as a small place. Actually, I even found it to be a big village with so many places to play at.
However, after arriving at the Royal Capital, I was made aware of how small my village was.

Despite the inconveniences, the village was plenty enough for me.
However, my parents were so overjoyed when they learned that I was an 「Advanced Huntsman」 that they even made me learn how to read and write—which isn’t a cheap expense for our family—so I can’t really just go back home without at least going through the academy entrance exam.
After living the unfamiliar inn lifestyle and somehow finishing the exam—I don’t even know how I passed—I moved into the academy dorm.

The capital was an unfamiliar world to me, and I didn’t know anyone at all, so there were times when I wanted to go back home, but after moving in and meeting my roommate Tietta—Tiye—it wasn’t as bad anymore.
Like me, Tiye also came from outside the capital, and despite how I am, she talks to me normally. Since I was so nervous at first, we talked about various things so I could ease up.
Like the reason we enrolled, where we came from, what we did back at home, and our future aspirations.

For Tiye, she apparently wants to make fashionable but hardy clothes and equipment for female hunters in the future.
When I told her I wanted to be a hunter after graduating from the academy, she promised that she’d make clothes for me.
I’ve never really had much interest in clothes up until now, but after seeing how fashionable all the girls in the capital are, I felt a bit envious of them, so I really appreciate the promise. Even if it only happened on a whim.

For the first time, I no longer felt like I was just being carried by the flow, that I finally had my own objective.

Since I was able to become friends with Tiye before the first day, I was feeling optimistic about my upcoming academy life. I was, but then I made a terrible discovery when the day finally came.
Tiye and I have different classrooms. I can’t believe that we didn’t share our assigned classroom after all the talking we did, but the bigger issue is that I once again have to make a friend from scratch. I’m feeling dizzy already.

Tiye can probably make new friends easily, but even trying to talk to a stranger is deathly terrifying for me.
Even so, I can’t run away from this, so I decided to at least try talking to a seatmate as I entered my classroom.
Not everyone has arrived yet, but there were already plenty of people, and some even seem to have made friends already.

I went to my seat, and as I faced my right side, I saw a tall boy. It’s impossible for me to start a conversation with such a huge person!
My fate now rests on my yet-to-arrive left-side neighbor.

After a while, a girl shorter than me approached the seat to my left.
Her long white hair is eye-catching, but even after sitting down, I still couldn’t see her face.
She’s looking out of the window with a bored demeanor. Is this a sign to not talk to her?
I don’t know. I don’t know, but if it’s her, I might be able to do it.

After all, she’s smaller than me.
So… So I’m sure I’ll be alright.

Finally mustering my resolve, I opened my mouth 「Umm, hello……」 but I could only squeeze out a small greeting.
Perhaps not hearing it, the girl didn’t react at all.
I was hit with the feeling that if I retreat now, I might end up just crying to my roommate Tiye day by day, never be able to talk to anyone at all, so I didn’t back down.

After several tries, the girl finally seemed to have noticed me, as she finally turned my way.
Her now visible face is like that of a princess; she had a kind of beauty I’ve never seen before. No, while she’s already really cute right now, she’ll definitely grow up to be gorgeous in the future.
She just turned her head, but I was absolutely captivated; even the way she brushed her hair to aside felt like something from another world.

As her drowsy, sky-blue eyes pierced through me, I felt cold sweat gushing from my whole body.
After all, this girl is clearly not just any normal girl. She must be a high noble, or maybe even an actual princess, a kind of person that someone like me can’t just easily talk to.
But she was so pretty, so tiny, and so adorable that a part of me wants to be her friend.

「I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.」

Her voice was so calm, 「N-no… please, don’t worry about it…」 completely opposite from my awkwardly stiff response. And with the way she was speaking, she’s definitely not a normal person.
Despite this, the girl didn’t seem bothered; she only tilted her head in response.

「Do you need something from me?」
「W-we sit next to each other, so I wanted to… hoped to give my greetings…」

At this point, I don’t even know what I was saying.
There was a moment of silence, so I was afraid that I might have done something wrong, but hearing her response, 「Please talk normally. We are all equal within the academy, after all,」 that wasn’t the case at all.
I’m still scared, but she probably said that because my half-baked attempt at polite speech was so terrible, so I gathered my resolve to speak the way I usually do, but I ended up making a weird sound.

I then asked if she could also adjust her way of speaking, thinking it might help me feel more at ease, but she refused, so I simply went ahead and introduced myself.

「Um, I’m Palra. Nice to meet you.」
「I’m Ailneige.」
「Ailneige… are you a noble?」
「I have no family name.」
「I see. But how do I describe it? You’re so pretty. No, um, I mean, your skin is so pale and your hands are smooth, and…」

Since she has no family name, maybe she’s not actually a noble. But on closer inspection, her skin and smooth hair are among the most well-cared-for I’ve ever seen. Even if she’s not a noble, she’s probably not a commoner. Maybe she’s the daughter of a wealthy merchant or a high-ranked hunter.
Ailneige’s appearance caused me to spontaneously say that she’s pretty, but after the words left me, I suddenly realized that I said something weird. Doesn’t it sound like I was trying to flirt with Ailneige?

Panicked, I started rambling, but I hope it didn’t cause a misunderstanding.

「Enough about me; would you care to tell me more about yourself?」
「Me? I’m not really interesting, though.」
「You’re a commoner as well, right?」
「Y-yeah. I’m a commoner from Berte village.」
「Berte village… I’ve never heard of such a place before; is it a village on the western side?」
「That’s right! How did you know?」

The moment the topic became my village, it became a lot easier for me to talk.
How do I say it? Since Ailneige asked me about it, I got the feeling that it was okay for me to talk more.

After that, we continued talking until I finally realized that I was the only one speaking most of the time.
Ailneige did speak a bit, but it was mostly interjections and short responses; the topic has been all about me the whole time.
I felt blood run cold through my body, but since I didn’t want to be hated for this, I mustered the courage to bring it up.

「O-oh… Sorry, I kept going on about myself. It must’ve bored you.」
「That’s true, it was boring.」

The directness of her response struck me like a boulder to the head.
No, it’s my fault for being boring, I shouldn’t be surprised.
Why couldn’t I make our conversation more enjoyable? I want to scold my past self.
What do I do now? This is so awkward. Am I going to survive this…

But as I was mulling over things, she thanked me, 「Still, I’m grateful for it.」
As I wondered what part of our exchange warranted gratitude, our advisor arrived, interrupting our conversation.

As the teacher finished explaining, Ailneige stood from her seat. I mustered my resolve and greeted her goodbye, 「See you later.」 Though expressionless, she replied, 「Of course. See you later.」

◇◇◇

「Hmm, so there’s that kind of girl.」
「Yup. She was super cute. And she listened to my talking, too.」

I was able to meet up with Tiye when changing into my party dress, so I talked to her about my first day.
Mostly about Ailneige, though.
Thinking back on it, she really was a pretty girl. While she did give off a cold impression, she never got mad or upset, so I want to be friends with her if possible. I can’t really call us friends with her response earlier, so I just hope that it gets better from here.

「Since she’s from a well-off family, do you think she’d let me see her dress?」
「Who knows?… She might let you as long as she doesn’t find you a nuisance…?
She did honestly say I was boring her when I went off ranting, so maybe she hates being bothered…?」

It’s mostly because I kept on talking about myself, but I don’t really know much about Ailneige.
Tiye seemed to be contemplating something before saying, 「I see.」

「Isn’t that pretty harsh of her?」
「I was the one who kept on talking non-stop, okay!」
「Hahaha, I get it, I get it. I don’t hate people like her either.」

For some reason, I didn’t like how Ailneige sounded like a bad person due to my mistake, so I frantically defended her, but I was laughed at.
That irked me a bit, so I slightly puffed my cheeks.
She might be super frank, but we probably would have continued talking if not for the interruption, and I don’t want to lose the chance to make friends because of it, so I’m fine with that.

But come to think of it, didn’t she say something weird, too?

「Tiye. I was thanked for all the talking I did; do you have any idea what it could be for?」
「That girl did?」
「Yeah.」
「Maybe she was using you as a pest repellent?」
「Pest repellent?」

I didn’t bring any pest-repelling herbs on me, though. Besides, I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of bugs inside the academy premises…

「Sorry to interrupt your weird imagination, but in short, by having that conversation with you, she was able to keep other people from talking to her.
Palra, that girl was so cute that she captivated you, right?」
「Yup, yup. She was super pretty.」
「I don’t know why you’re so smug about it, but in that case, everyone would probably want to talk to her then.」

Ah, I see. It’s just a hunch, but I think Ailneige doesn’t like being bothered. Rather than having to talk to multiple strangers, she probably finds it better to have a long conversation with someone already familiar.

「I’m glad even someone like me was able to be of help to her.」
「Well, if you’re fine with that, then I’ve got nothing more to say.」

Okay! From here on out, I’m going to get closer with Ailneige in ways that she won’t find bothersome!!!

And that ends this chapter! Sudden Palra POV, a welcome surprise!

Man, I feel bad for Palra, but it’s kinda cute how she has a weird smugness about being acquainted with our girls. “Yeah, this girl I talked to was *super* cute, what about it?” lol. She’s really lucky to have met Tiye which how socially unprepared she was for the capital. Also, it’s funny how she catches herself being maybe a bit too enamoured by Ailneige only after she had already given what would be normally awkward remarks.

It also like how she was able to find what she wanted to do, because it’s really hard to just go to school out of obligation. Seriously, it might be easier to go with the flow of expectations, but finding yourself and your personal wants is important. In the end, there’s no telling if your credentials are still useful by the end of your academic journey, so it’s best you learn about things that you’re actually interested in.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!

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