Setting aside future plans like marriage or children, I couldn’t just let Azuki keep following me around.
With the intention to at least have a conversation, I headed toward the gravestone where she was hiding.
She must not have expected me to approach because Azuki’s tail stood straight up.
The more I looked at her, the more I realized she was a fox girl who expressed her emotions clearly.
“Hey…”
“Azuki!”
Just as I was about to speak in a way that wouldn’t make her feel pressured, someone called out for Azuki in a loud voice from the entrance.
Considering Azuki’s introverted personality, she probably hadn’t made any friends by now, so there was only one person who could be calling her.
“Hey, sis?”
“What are you doing here! Do you have any idea how much I’ve been looking for you?”
“Sorry…”
“I don’t want an apology, just come with me!”
Her older sister, Yuzuki, who was a fox as well, strode over and grabbed Azuki’s arm.
They resembled each other, as twins do, but Yuzuki’s eyes were sharper, and her figure was much slimmer.
Especially unlike Azuki, Yuzuki had tied her long hair back, giving off a confident vibe.
If Azuki was the literary type, her sister was the athletic one.
“And don’t come near the cemetery again! You might get bad luck!”
“Th-That’s…”
“You’re not going to listen to me?”
“Okay…”
Yuzuki scolded Azuki as she practically dragged her away, even saying some words that might offend someone who worked at the cemetery.
I understood.
It probably wasn’t a good place to be near a cemetery, where the dead are buried.
“Huh?”
‘However, how should I interpret the look of disdain Yuzuki was giving me?’
‘I don’t remember her showing such contempt even when she was cautious of Luke in the original story.’
‘Wasn’t her behavior too openly hostile, considering she was just trying to protect her little sister?’
I wasn’t the one who forcibly took Azuki with me, and we didn’t even have a chance to talk.
I felt a little hurt.
***
“Master, master.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“That kind of fierce woman, you know, usually has a weakness in her backside. Remember that well.”
“You’re teaching your disciple some good stuff!”
“I was just trying to comfort you since you got disrespected by a woman.”
As Sherthia scolded me, I felt Itshin put his arm around my shoulder and downed a drink.
No matter how I looked at it, he was a drunk uncle talking nonsense to his nephew.
However, there was some credibility in his words, considering his appearance.
This guy probably chased women around when he was young.
I decided to listen to the Sword Saint’s advice for now.
‘Sherthia told me to ignore him, but if I had to choose between an experienced alpha male and a virgin who had spent their life researching, I’d probably go with the former, right?’
“I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel bad.”
“Is it menopause?”
“If you say that again in front of me, I’ll make it so you can only drink alcohol through your rear end!”
Leaving the fierce conversation between the Sword Saint and the Sage behind, I headed toward the inn in the cemetery.
Today’s work had ended early in the morning, so I had some free time for now.
In the afternoon, I’d be busy with my teachers, so this was the only time I could rest.
There was still a lot of personal work to be done, but rest was necessary for efficiency.
***
“Are you there?”
Knock knock!
Just as I was about to take a short break while leaning in the chair, someone knocked on the door of my room.
When I opened the door, a small woman, barely tall enough for her head to be visible, was standing there awkwardly.
“Oh, hello!”
“Welcome, Professor Louis.”
She was the youngest assistant professor at Wellton Academy.
Being a rat beastkin, she was small in build but quick on her feet, often being sent on errands by the professors.
She was the person I was most familiar with among the professors.
“What brings you here today?”
“Actually, I’ve been looking for Gensan. Have you seen him? I heard he last spoke with Tao san.”
“If it’s Gen, he just went outside a moment ago, saying he was short on supplies.”
Gen was the senior staff member responsible for facility management.
He had a down-to-earth personality and was considerate, often putting others’ convenience first.
The reason he had come to me earlier was to ask if I needed anything since he was going to buy supplies.
“I see…”
“Is there a problem?”
“Well, during the combat class this morning, third-year students fought too aggressively, and the dueling arena was seriously damaged. The problem is that this afternoon, there’s a tour for new students to check out the academy’s facilities, and we need to get it fixed as soon as possible. But Gen is absent right now…”
“Have you told the other facility staff members?”
“They were all busy cleaning up after the entrance ceremony incident yesterday.”
Well, with the playground and the road in front of the main gate being damaged, they must have been preoccupied with repairs.
If there hadn’t been a massive magic bombardment, the damage would have been less severe.
But anyway, the troublemaker is that fox.
“I guess there’s no helping it. I’ll take care of the repairs.”
“Huh? You, Tao?”
“Yeah, I learned some facility management tasks from Gen before.”
“I’m grateful, but I’m wondering if I’m just putting unnecessary pressure on you…”
“It’s alright. I finished all my work earlier today, so I was actually free.”
As someone who often receives help from Mr. Gen, this was also an opportunity to repay the favor.
So, I reassured her not to worry, and her expression brightened noticeably.
She was so happy that she grabbed my hand and shook it up and down.
“Thanks to you, Tao, I don’t think I’ll get scolded by the professors! I’ll leave it to you!”
Since she was the youngest assistant professor, it seemed like she was being hassled by the professors in various ways.
Her situation reminded me of my own past when I was the one being bullied by seniors.
Maybe that’s why I wanted to help her even more.
***
“People working in the same academy should help each other, right?”
“Thank you! I’ll definitely repay this debt someday!”
With a bright smile, Assistant Professor Louis left the cemetery.
Though my precious morning break was gone, it was alright.
I could shorten the time I’d spend with my masters in the afternoon.
If I explained that I couldn’t rest because I was helping someone in trouble, I was sure the masters would understand kindly.
***
“You’re going to fix the duel arena, right? Since it’s already broken, how about sparring there? Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?”
That was never going to happen.
“Huh? I’ve never seen you before. Who are you?”
“You didn’t know? He’s the caretaker of the cemetery behind our building.”
“In other words, he’s just the person who does all the chores. What’s he doing here?”
When I entered the main academy building to fix the duel arena, everyone’s attention was on me.
Since I usually only went to the cafeteria, cemetery, and the back mountain, most students didn’t know who I was.
Of course, a few people recognized me, but there wasn’t a single friendly glance in their eyes.
‘Maybe that’s why they mocked me, urging me to leave quickly, as if to make sure I heard it.’
“Let’s see… from here, level 2, level 1, level 2, level 3, level 1… The quality of life has definitely improved. When I was around, any mage below level 4 couldn’t even chat in the hallways.”
“Wellton’s reputation is about to hit rock bottom. I feel like I want to crack open their rotten heads to snap them out of it.”
“It’s really sad how rare it is to see a child who can communicate with spirits. I’m not even hoping for a mid-tier spirit, but if they can’t even form a contract with a low-tier spirit, wouldn’t it be better to just live their life over again?”
“Looking at their stats, even if they all come at me at once, I can finish them in five seconds.”
Even though I heard the students mocking me, I didn’t really care.
The masters’ harsh evaluations were far worse.
Some even suggested that I reset my life completely, which made me feel sympathy.
If I were told that I, an ordinary graduate, was falling behind compared to heroes who had shined in their time…
I was just glad that only I could hear their voices.
***
“Student, if you have time to worry about others, hurry up and go to the duel arena.”
“Got it.”
Urged by Itshin’s persistence, I turned my steps toward the duel arena.
Passing the “No Entry Except for Authorized Personnel” sign, I went deep inside, and a vast space welcomed me.
It was a grand hall big enough to accommodate the entire student body of the academy.
The main stage, where student duels were held, was placed in the center, and the outer areas were all seats for the audience.
There were crystal spheres in several places in the audience, allowing even those far away to see the stage clearly.
The duel arena, true to its reputation as the best in the world, was equipped with all sorts of expensive-looking facilities.
***
“Ugh…”
The main stage where the duels took place was full of sword marks and burn marks.
The marble floor was deeply scarred, and stones were scattered all around.
There wasn’t a single intact spot, and I finally understood why Assistant Professor Louis had been so anxious.
“I think we’ll have to postpone the duel. I won’t have enough time to fix all this before the afternoon classes.”
“!”
No matter how disappointed I was, it couldn’t be helped.
I wasn’t a veteran like Mr. Gen, and I had only learned by watching, so it would take time to fully restore everything.
‘Shouldn’t I at least be able to face Assistant Professor Louis, who trusted me with this work?’
“So, what is someone in a hurry doing right now?”
“Isn’t that an installation-based wide-area explosion magic? Why are you setting it up five layers deep on the floor?”
The boss of Chapter 1, Act 1 of “How an Academy Extra Survives” was about to appear right here in the duel arena.
In the original work, Luke and Erin team up to defeat it, but no one knew what kind of variables would arise this time.
To be prepared for anything, I was setting up traps to obliterate it the moment it showed up.
“Well, you see…”
However, I couldn’t tell the masters the real reason.
So, I decided to explain another reason to them.
“I hope it doesn’t come to this, but if I get unfairly dismissed later, I plan to blow up the entire duel arena and run away!”
“We weren’t raising heroes, we were raising monsters.”
“I think it’s a great idea. What Tao really wanted to blow up wasn’t the duel arena, but the rotten academy itself!”
“That sounds fun. How did you come up with such a clever idea?”
It must have been thanks to my masters.