“Are you done?”
At the same moment I heard Lena’s voice directed at me, I had also just finished writing.
“Yeah. I was wondering why Anne’s notebook was unusually well-organized for her… Looks like she copied it from the class rep.”
“Aah! What do you mean by that!”
While Anne resisted my seemingly dismissive comment, it wasn’t meant to belittle her—it was simply stating the truth. If you compared Anne’s textbook with her notebook, it was clear the textbook was a mess, filled with scribbles and disorganized handwriting. On the other hand, the notebook was meticulously cleaned up, highlighting the core content with different colors—so much so that it almost seemed impossible that it could be from the same person who owned the textbook.
And as I suspected, Anne’s notebook was indeed a direct copy of Lena’s. Clearly, during the week I was absent, Anne had taken the opportunity to copy Lena’s notes.
“Anne, have you memorized everything I mentioned before we worry about Elisia?”
Before I could respond, Lena cut Anne off. The class rep silenced Anne with just a single sentence and then pushed a hastily prepared test paper toward me and Anne.
“If you can solve all these, we’ll end today’s class here.”
The mention of ending the class brightened up Anne, who had looked utterly dispirited. Though whether Anne could solve all the problems, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t comment on it.
Lena’s test paper had exactly ten problems. A quick glance told me the difficulty was standard—if you had done a proper review, answering them would be straightforward.
“Well, you have ten minutes. Start!”
As soon as Lena gave the start signal, I began writing my answers. While my pen flowed smoothly across the exam paper, there was no sound of Anne writing on her paper. Instead, another sound began to emerge.
Of course, there wasn’t an actual sound, but it felt like I could hear the movement of Anne’s eyes.
Anne quietly glanced at my answers, sneakily attempting to copy them. I hesitated—if I should ignore it or perhaps cover my answers to help her, but Lena’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“For your information, I gave different problems, so it’s better to avoid any unnecessary attempts.”
Clearly, Lena had noticed Anne trying to cheat and responded appropriately. At the same time, Anne started erasing the answers she had previously copied.
So Anne was quite blatant about trying to cheat.
“Here. I’m done.”
Since there was nothing particularly difficult, I handed my completed exam paper to Lena. She received it and checked my answers with a single glance rather than meticulously marking each one.
“Yeah, all correct. You’re as expected, Elisia. Maybe I should’ve made it a bit harder next time?”
Meanwhile, Anne was still struggling with the problems.
“…Ding! Time’s up. Alright, hand it in.”
As soon as the time was up, Lena extended her hand toward Anne, while Anne hurriedly tried to fill in as many blank spaces as possible. Thankfully, Lena didn’t interfere with Anne’s last-minute efforts to complete her test.
After receiving Anne’s exam paper, Lena began checking it thoroughly, unlike how she quickly glanced through mine. She picked up her pen and started marking each problem systematically.
Instead of circles, several crosses marked some answers.
Finally, Lena stopped marking and returned the exam paper to Anne.
“Out of ten, only six correct answers. Usually, I’d have something to say, but today, let’s pass it.”
The moment Lena’s judgment was over, the vigor returned to Anne’s dispirited face. She then immediately gulped down the remaining strawberry smoothie in one go.
“Study’s done! Close the books! Put them away!”
Worried that Lena might say something else, Anne quickly tidied up her books and notes and even helped organize mine. She must have been pretty exhausted from Lena’s strictness.
“Well, we didn’t realize how late it was. Let’s eat something. I’m hungry.”
Glancing outside, it was already getting dark. I hadn’t noticed the time passing while focusing on studying.
“So, where to? The student cafeteria is probably closed by now. Let’s eat outside and return.”
“Meat! Let’s eat meat!”
With all the bags already packed, Anne raised her hand enthusiastically and proposed. Neither I nor Lena had any problem with meat, so it naturally became the dinner menu for tonight.
“So, what about tomorrow? Do you want to join me for another study session, Anne?”
As we ate, I asked Anne. Today was an accident since I was originally supposed to get tutored by Lena tomorrow. Today was Anne’s initial turn, but it got skipped.
Since it’s like this, I thought it would be nice for Anne to also join my session with Lena tomorrow.
Shaking her head wildly, Anne refused vehemently while still chewing some meat, refusing to join the session.
However, instead of pressing further, Lena added her voice to the conversation:
“Anne, what’s with the wild head-shaking? Is my teaching that bad?”
Lena’s tone was even, but Anne seemed to sense something in it, as she started sweating profusely even though she hadn’t before. She then very slowly and mechanically stopped her head shaking.
And again, this time with a look of sheer panic, she started shaking her head sideways in denial.
“Ngh! No, no! Lena’s teaching is easy and good!”
Whether Anne meant it sincerely or not was uncertain, but there was clear desperation in her words. Lena, hearing Anne’s answer, stared at her for a moment before letting out a soft scoff.
“Hmm. Since Anne said that, I should try my best to help you even more next time. You can look forward to it.”
Hearing Lena’s words, Anne looked as if she had lost everything in the world, her mouth gaping wide open. Thinking she might say something further, I picked up some meat and fed it to her. Her gaping expression remained, but she silently began to chew while her mouth closed.
While she still seemed lost, as I kept feeding her more meat, she gladly continued eating.
Despite how Anne seemed so desperate, I couldn’t figure out why Lena’s lessons scared her this much. During today’s session, I didn’t have any reasons to react like that.
Anyway, unless it is a case like today, I won’t get the chance to study more with Lena, so I’ll never know.
Get stronger, Anne!
Time with the Class Rep*
“Yesterday, we couldn’t properly focus on Anne while studying.”
“Actually, it wasn’t even your turn to help, so thank you.”
If Lena hadn’t appeared, I might have ended up spending more time with Anne.
“Still, you always seem to be busy doing something.”
Indeed, Lena was tirelessly active as the class rep. She always listened attentively during classes, studied further during breaks, handled various class matters, and even helped struggling students like Anne.
“Anyway, if I don’t keep up, it’ll be hard to keep everything organized.”
Though she sounded humble, her grades were consistently strong. Even though she was in the Department of Swordsmanship, she had shown a keen interest in magic and was even taking optional classes in magic since her sophomore year.
“If you say that to the other kids, they’ll hate you.”
“Aha…ha…”
Our study spot was a study room on campus. Initially, we thought about heading to a café like yesterday, but the errands for Professor Ferent made us late, so we decided to head to this empty study room.
“Shall we continue?”
Similar to yesterday, her extensive experience helping other students certainly helped her explain things in a way that I could easily understand.
While we were intensely continuing the lesson, I noticed someone walking back and forth beyond the glass window of the study room.
At first, I thought it was just someone passing by, but as I saw familiar golden hair walking back and forth and occasionally glancing this way, there was no mistaking it.
The moment Selian passed by again, I promptly opened the study room door.
“Kyeek!”
Though she had been looking this way, Selian let out a small scream when the door suddenly opened, seemingly not expecting that.
“It’s… coincidence, El!”
“Err… yeah. Looks like the class rep and I were studying. What’s going on, Selian?”
Though it was a stretch to call it a coincidence, she seemed to want to let it slide, so I played along.
“…I thought I’d study here as well…”
Selian held up her bag slightly as if to show she was here to study, possibly discovering us while on her way to study. It seemed she’d been unsure it was us and kept checking by walking back and forth.
“Would you like to join us?”
“Is that okay? Then I’ll join!”
When Lena, who had been sitting inside, asked Selian, the latter immediately agreed with a bright face.
The study room was spacious, and since Selian wasn’t joining us for a lesson like Anne did yesterday, she wouldn’t be a bother.
I gestured for her to come in, moving aside slightly. After nodding her thanks, she quickly stepped inside with light steps.
Selian placed her bag next to me and pulled out a chair to sit down. Seeing her take out her books and notebook, I resumed my lesson with Lena.
“I think this should be enough. Study more on your own, and if you have any issues, feel free to ask anytime.”
Lena closed her book, indicating the end of our study session. I finished tidying up my things and turned my head slightly.
Since we were finishing up, Selian also closed her books and notebook.
I noticed, though, that the pages of her books looked the same as they did when they were first opened. Maybe it was just my imagination—Selian wasn’t bad at studying, so there was no reason she’d be stuck on the same section.
“So, what are you guys doing this weekend?”
“Hmm? Nothing specific yet…”
“I haven’t planned anything either.”
We probably would go out together with Selian, Yuli, and Anne as usual. That’s how it usually happens.
“Then great! I received tickets for a play, but I won’t have time this weekend. So both of you should go!”
As she spoke, Lena handed each of us a ticket.
Looking at the ticket, a familiar title caught my eye.
‘When the Lily Blooms’
It was a novel that Selian had recommended to me, and I had enjoyed reading it.
“This play is based on a popular novel. I really wanted to go, but the ticket’s valid only this weekend. Ah! If you haven’t read the novel, I recommend doing so before the play.”
“Ah, this one was recommended by Selian, and I’ve already read it. It was pretty fun.”
At my words, Lena glanced half-askance at Selian before speaking again.
“In any case! These tickets were hard to get, so don’t forget to both go together. Got it? Don’t give them to someone else.”
There was no way I’d give such a thoughtful gift to someone else. Given how much I enjoyed the original novel, I was looking forward to the play as well.
“I’m not that ruthless to give away a present. But if it’s okay, I’d like to treat you both to a meal in return?”
“Unnecessary, really… Ah! Then both of you can treat me to a meal later.”
Even though she could separately get free meals from both of us, Lena cleverly combined them into one—showing her class-rep efficiency.
“Alright. Feel free to think about what you want to eat. I’ll treat you.”
“Yes! El and I will treat you to something delicious.”
Satisfied with our replies, Lena nodded her head, glanced at her watch, and stood up.
“I’ll go first. Since our class ended earlier than expected, I’d like to wrap up some overdue work. You two can go grab dinner together.”
With that, she waved her hand and left the room.
The study room now housed only Selian and me. I slipped the ticket into my pocket, glanced at Selian, and shrugged.
“It’s getting late already. How about we grab dinner and schedule some time for this weekend?”
“Yes! Let’s go.”
Selian responded energetically to my suggestion. She must have been hungry.
