At last, the suspension is over, and for the first time in a while, I go to school at Royal Sword and Magic Academy.
Early in the morning, I train in the garden with Nagisa, work up a sweat, and have breakfast.
After finishing the morning preparations, I board the Baskerville family carriage, followed by Urza, Aeris, and Nagisa.
It is natural that Urza, a slave, sleeps at my place... but Aeris and Nagisa also sleep at the Baskerville family's place as a matter of course.
Nagisa, an international student, lives alone in a rented lodge, but she had already moved out of the lodge, so, it was reasonable. And she seems to be planning to stay at my place for the time being.
The problem is Aeris, who has her own house being the daughter of a cardinal... However, she has officially obtained her father's permission to stay out overnight and is now living in the Baskerville family's mansion with full pomp and circumstance.
The other day, she was severely punished for staying out overnight without permission, but I heard that she spent a day trying to convince his father to let her stay at my place.
But after that, I am surprised that Viscount Centorea gave her permission to stay here, since I am sure he has heard of the notoriety of the Baskerville family.
"It's all God's will. My father finally convinced himself that my being with Zenon-sama is also a gift from the God."
—This is what Aeris said, proudly puffing out her huge chest.
I don't know what Viscount Centorea was thinking when he chose to leave his daughter in my care, but I beg him not to come and visit me.
I don't want to do such a "please give me your daughter" kind of thing.
"Huff..."
Now, I spend time with three beautiful girls in the same carriage.
And lately I have been sleeping in the same room with them and my maid Levienna every night, but I still feel uncomfortable being in the same space.
Although I am not doing anything wrong, I feel strangely guilty or out of place.
Because Aeris and Nagisa are heroines who are supposed to be married to Leon. Urza also a character from another game.
Perhaps it is natural for me to feel it since I am dealing with three people who are not supposed to be with me.
After a 30-minute ride in the carriage, we arrived at the main gate of the academy.
As I get off the carriage and walk in front of the open gate, I hear a murmur from the other students who are going to school.
"Could that be...?"
"Isn't that Zenon Baskerville...! Was the rumor that he quit school a lie!?"
"I heard that he killed a student in the dungeon that he didn't like... If that's the case, why is he allowed to come to school?"
"Maybe he pressured the school to cover up the incident. There are stories that he made some teachers quit because he didn't like them..."
"Hey, hey... my rumors are getting worse and worse."
What kind of rumors are they talking about?
Some of them are true... but those rumors have been completely made to make me look like a bad guy, covered with dorsal fins, tail fins, pectoral fins, and even butt fins.
Is this because of my evil face?
Or is it because of the notoriety of the Baskervilles?
"Arrived, desu~no"
"Phew, it's been a long time since I've been here."
"Me too. I've been training in the dungeon instead of attending classes for a long time."
Following me, Urza, Aeris, and Nagisa get out of the carriage, and the buzz from the surrounding area grows even louder.
"Huh! Isn't that Centorea, the Cardinal's daughter?"
"And there's Seikai-san, the foreign student, too! Why are two students with excellent grades with him!?"
"Hey! Don't make eye contact them! There's that 'Breakball Ogre'! She'll make you incapable of having children!"
Aeris and Nagisa are known by their names because of their excellent grades, but now even Urza has a funny nickname.
"...I miss my old school. It's going to be a noisy school life again."
I mutter to myself as I walk toward the school building.
It is not going to be easy to go to school for the first time in a long time after being suspended from school.
Thinking of the commotion that is about to happen, I let out a deep sigh.
* * *
When we arrived at the school, we first went to the teacher's office to meet the teachers after the suspension.
Wanko-sensei gives me a sermon with a serious face, as I meet her for the first time in two weeks.
Still, she tells me to consult her immediately if I have any problems. I realized once again that Wanko-sensei is a good teacher.
After leaving the teachers' office, we went to the classroom. As I open the door and enter the classroom, Jean, one of my few friends, waves to me.
"Hey, Baskerville! I see your suspension has been lifted!"
"Yeah... it's a little fast, but it's been an exciting summer vacation."
I shrugged my shoulders lightly and responded to Jean's greeting.
"Urza-chan! How are you!?"
"Mgh!? L-Let go of me!"
Arisa, Jean's girlfriend and his member party, hugged Urza.
She hugs her as if she were holding a stuffed bear, and Urza flails her arms and legs.
If Urza wanted to, she could shake her off by force, but she does not do so, so she may not really dislike it.
"Ah, Centorea-san. It's been a while."
"How have you been?"
"I'm fine, and I'm glad to hear that you are all well."
A little further away, Aeris is chatting with her friends.
Aeris, who is known as a friendly and 'saint', has many friends unlike me.
"Oh, it's you, Seikai-san!"
"At last, you've come to the school, have you finished your training?"
"Yes, the training was quite meaningful. Thanks to that, I met a good teacher."
Surprisingly, Nagisa, who is a lone swordsman and does not seem to be good at socializing, is also surrounded by her classmates.
Unlike Aeris, who talks with only girls, Nagisa's classmates are mostly boys. They are all athletic guys with good physique.
"I'm surprised... Nagisa is quite popular, isn't she?"
"Oh? Ah, those are the guys who had a match with Seikai-san and lost. Baskerville may not know this but Seikai-san has been doing some kind of dojo-storming activities in various clubs since she entered the academy. Some students don't like her because of that, but there are some who became friends with her because of that, you know?"
"...You mean she made a friend through fighting? She is really battle maniac"
I mutter half in dismay and half in admiration, and take a seat near Jean.
Jean comes up to me, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"No, I'm the one who's surprised. Since when did you become friends with Seikai-san? It's so mysterious that you come to school together."
"Well, uh... a lot has happened. A lot of things"
I blurted out with my unexpressed feelings and turned my eyes out of the window.
In fact, many things happened during the suspension period.
I met Nagisa during the "Straw Millionaire" and she volunteered to be my apprentice, we went on a holiday date together, and so on.
After some twists and turns, I even ended up in a duel with Leon.
"Hmm... Speaking of which...?"
Leon is nowhere to be seen in the classroom. Neither is his childhood friend Ciel.
It was only a few days ago that we had a duel... but I don't remember that I hurt him so badly that he had to miss school.
As I think about this, the door of the classroom opens and Leon enters.
He is accompanied by Ciel and another unfamiliar female student.
The unfamiliar girl with Leon has purplish-black hair tied back behind her head with a hair ornament.
She wore black-rimmed glasses and looked somewhat plain, but upon closer inspection, she was not inferior to Aeris or Nagisa, and her face was enough to be regarded as a 'beautiful girl'.
This person did not appear in the [DunBrave] game. After all, I didn't recognize her.
"...!"
Leon's face twists awkwardly for a moment when he sees me.
Still, he does not speak to me and takes a seat far away from me.
By the way, Ciel is staring at me with eyes that are obviously hostile. It was as if she was looking at me as if I was her parent's enemy.
"Oi, oi, did you do something to make Brave hate you again? You guys are perfect for each other!"
"Don't joke around. I was just poking him a little... but who's that girl with Brave? Was there someone like that in our class?"
"Who? You can't even remember the names of your classmates?"
At my question, Jean scratched his head in exasperation.
"That girl is Melia. Melia Su. I hear she has been hanging out with Brave lately, and they will be partying together for the final exam"
"Heh... I don't remember her, though."
I folded my arms and thought about it, but I couldn't remember.
To be honest...I don't remember half of my classmates' names.
Aside from the characters from the game, Jean and Arisa were the only ones I'd ever talked to.
"I heard that she got 6th place in the entrance exam. Though she wasn't invited to the entrance ceremony, she;s a pretty good honor student."
"Hmm, that's good to hear. It seems he has found a good friend."
He is a great protagonist in such area.
He missed Aeris and Nagisa, but he still has another beautiful girl with him.
"By the way... the final exam will start next week. Have you already arranged a party for the practical test?"
Jean changes the subject in a casual tone.
Anyway, he'll find out soon enough. Since I had nothing to hide, I answered in the affirmative.
"Yes. Me, Aeris, and Nagisa are going to take the test together. Urza can't join the party because she's not a student of the school."
"A party of three... well, all of you have good grades, so it's good enough"
Jean nodded, held up his index finger, and turned it in a circular motion.
"In the class, most of the students have already formed a party. Most of them seem to be grouped together within the class, but there are some who are teaming up with club mates from other classes."
"So, you're going to team up with Arisa?"
"Yeah, of course. The members of our party haven't changed since we started school."
Jean turns his attention to his childhood sweetheart.
Meanwhile, Arisa pulls out an apple pie-like pastry from her bag and feeds it to Urza.
"Aaaa! Urza is so cute! Eat this one too!"
"Munch, munch... Don't treat me like a child, desu~no. Urza is older than you, desu~no!"
"Geez, you keep telling lies like that... Look, look, I have chocolate too..."
"Ugh... you're still an annoying woman, desu~no!"
Urza complains unpleasantly, but opens her mouth to eat the sweets. Maybe this is one of the forms of friendship.
"Okay, let's start the class. Take your seats."
Wanko-sensei opens the door of the classroom and enters wearing a suit and tie.
The students, who had been chatting with their classmates, take their seats.
"Excuse me, neighbor student"
"I will take a seat here. Master."
Naturally, Aeris and Nagisa sat down on either side of me.
Urza also tries to come toward me, but Arisa catches her on the way and makes her sit next to her.
"Okay, first we will review the test subjects for the final exam. Please listen quietly."
Thus, the first class I have had in two weeks begins.
The only difference from before is that the heroines are sitting on either side of me.
With the final exam just around the corner, my new school life begins.
