LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 14 - Break time.
‘Penalty window.’
[Yes.]
‘Do you have any functions like pathfinding or maps?’
[Why would I?]
‘You might, who knows.’
[Unfortunately, I do not.]
‘Useless.’
I thought it might be helpful later when searching for artifacts, but as expected, our penalty window is useless.
While heading to the dormitory, I asked just in case, but as expected, it’s good for nothing.
“More useless than a parasite.”
[Do parasites have uses?]
“At least they don’t directly harm you like you do.”
The thing that attached itself to me and imposed weird penalties is being mouthy.
“What was my room number again…”
I kept walking down the dormitory corridor.
Despite entering the dormitory building quite a while ago, my room was nowhere to be seen.
‘The farther, the better though.’
There’s an absolute unspoken rule in the academy dormitory.
And that is to yield the central rooms to high-ranking nobles.
You may wonder what that means, but it’s actually for the peace of the academy.
The dormitory is where hundreds of nobles from all over the continent gather.
As I mentioned, can a place where hundreds of nobles with inflated egos live together be peaceful?
No.
Absolutely impossible.
So, they just decided the positions among the nobles.
To prevent power struggles from happening in the first place.
As a result, high-ranking nobles gradually gathered towards the center, using the entrance as the center to enjoy the convenience of the dormitory.
And that became a kind of unspoken rule over time.
‘I’m pretty sure there’s a rule in the academy regulations that says not to change your assigned room…’
But as if that could control them.
The nobles who gauged each other’s levels at the entrance ceremony would find rooms suitable for their status…
“Here it is.”
And someone useless like me who doesn’t fit in anywhere ends up in the very corner room of the dormitory.
“The number… oh, I had a central room.”
Thanks to the nobles who worked hard to look good to their superiors, my room number had been changed long ago.
‘I’m fine with it though.’
I have no desire to forcibly mix in with the flashy lineup gathered in the center.
From the first day, I got involved with two ducal families, the Magic Tower Lord, and the Empress.
I just want to rest quietly in the dormitory at least.
-Squeak
Maybe because it’s the room of commoners who only had the name of nobles who lost in the ranking competition for generations.
“There’s not much here.”
It’s more modest than I expected.
There aren’t any particularly flashy items, just everything you’d expect in a dormitory room.
The only issues are…
-Hiss
-Patter patter
A snake crawling around and some dust piled up?
“It’s plain.”
I lived as an orphan and would have been grateful to have a room like this.
As long as there’s a bed and an intact drawer, that’s all I need.
-Thud
“It’s been a while. Should I clean up a bit?”
Let’s turn it into a livable room.
—
“Phew!”
I feel refreshed for the first time in a while.
“This feels like a major cleaning on the first day of living alone.”
The room became spotless.
Since there wasn’t much furniture in the room, to begin with, all I did was take everything out into the corridor and mop the floor, but that seemed to be enough.
As for the mold on the wallpaper…
“The familiar scent of a modern studio.”
To me, it’s a fragrant air freshener.
“Now I can finally rest properly.”
At last, the dormitory room feels like a place where people live.
-Plop
I laid down on the bed for a moment.
“It’s hard…”
It’s worse than the infirmary bed.
I’ll have to buy one next time I go outside the academy.
Nothing is more important than rest.
-Growl
As soon as I finished cleaning the room, my hunger signal rang out right on cue.
“What did I eat today?”
I don’t remember eating anything today.
It was a series of accidents from the morning, and before I could even feel hungry, the next accident occurred.
My body, which was in a state of tension at every moment due to the series of events, is only now starting to relax.
“I’m hungry.”
I’m getting insanely hungry now that I’m starting to feel it.
“Should I head to the cafeteria first?”
It’s free food.
How can I resist?
-Tap
‘I wonder if there’s a meal ticket or something.’
If there is one, I’ll bring it and stick it on the wall.
—
‘Status window!’
[I’m not a status window.]
‘Can’t you please turn into a status window?’
[Impossible.]
While going to the cafeteria to eat, I had nothing to do, so I engaged in meaningless small talk with the penalty window out of boredom.
Try spending 3 weeks alone, coughing up blood and talking to yourself.
You’ll realize how important it is to have a conversation partner.
‘Hmm… penalty window.’
[Yes.]
‘Do you know how to awaken aura?’
[Yes.]
‘Then can you tell me?’
[That’s impossible.]
Although I’m chatting and laughing with the penalty window, this is a really important issue.
Aura.
A mass of power different from mana.
It shows special strength in physical enhancement and is specialized for those who wield weapons instead of magic.
Mana and aura have opposing powers, so if one settles in the body, it pushes out the other power.
Yeah.
If it settles.
The level at which mana or aura is described as having settled isn’t exactly accurate, but it usually refers to being able to use magic or imbue aura into a sword.
Although it’s said to settle, it actually means the time it takes for the body to adapt to the power of mana and aura.
But what if, before one of them settles, you start using the other one as well?
‘There’s an example of that happening.’
The completion of the protagonist.
But if only they can do that in the worldview, there must be a reason, right?
The reason is simple.
Because it takes less than a week on average for mana or aura to settle.
How likely is it for a child who barely feels mana to feel aura simultaneously?
Within a week at that?
That’s an issue beyond talent.
Of course, since it’s possible, that’s how the overpowered protagonist Arcana was born, but still.
Anyway, as my aura and mana limits have been confirmed, it’s dangerous in many ways unless I use both.
Should I consider this fortunate? My talentless body that only started using mana after regaining my memories and just reached the 2nd circle still can’t use magic.
In other words, there’s still a possibility of learning aura.
‘So when do I learn it?’
Unlike mana, which I could use since I regained my memories, I can’t even feel aura.
I need to learn it from someone, but who the hell do I learn it from?
“I have no clue.”
From now on, the academy will be a completely dog-eat-dog competitive society.
I don’t think there will be anyone who will help me for free. I’m worthless even if helped.
“Tsk.”
The future looks so bleak that it’s suffocating.
-Clatter
I finally arrived at the dormitory cafeteria.
“It’s peaceful.”
The nobles who ran around greeting people since morning arrived here exhausted.
I missed a meal because of my unfortunate situation, but they chose to fast for the sake of the future.
They have no choice but to eat quietly without a word.
‘Let’s hurry and get some food.’
-Slurp
A bowl of still-warm soup.
-Crumble
A few pieces of stale bread that were made a few hours ago.
The combination of food seems rather lacking compared to what I expected.
But there’s no better combination than this right now.
“Gulp.”
The taste itself is just as plain as it looks.
No, maybe a little bland.
Moderately warm soup and moderately stale bread; this is how you should eat it.
-Dip
I tear off a piece of stale bread that could be described as tough and dip it deeply into the soup so that it absorbs the soup well.
“Ah.”
Although it seemed to be soggy with soup, I was disappointed that only the author layer was soft. I put it in my mouth and chewed slowly.
“Nom nom.”
It’s comforting.
It feels even more rewarding because of everything that happened today.
Bread and soup that can be eaten anywhere, yet somehow feel blandly inviting.
They are the most suitable soft foods for a stomach that is screaming from the hunger that follows.
‘I think I’ll eat this often.’
I don’t know why.
I just… have an uneasy feeling that I’ll get hit by a lot of accidents and go around starving a lot.
“Nom nom”
A quiet mealtime spent blankly eating bread and soup.
The only thing resounding in the cafeteria is the performance of the tableware touching the bowls.
‘This seems to be the best place in the academy aside from my room.’
I should come here often.
—
Slowly eating, the bread that had swelled up in my stomach before I knew it.
‘It was a satisfying meal.’
3 weeks since I regained my memories.
After only eating meat while hunting, I finally had a human-like meal.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Saying thanks as I leave the cafeteria seems to be an unavoidable habit.
-Clatter
I opened the cafeteria door and stepped outside for a moment to digest-
“Sister! Please calm down!”
“No, let go. Right now, I’m going to shoot an arrow into that Aslan guy’s forehead…”
“You guys, hurry and stop Sister too!”
“We can’t stop the princess either…”
“Ah, seriously!”
I’m sure I just left the cafeteria, but why is another incident unfolding right in front of my eyes?
‘Why the hell are they here?’
The self-proclaimed descendants of the great earth, the descendants of Alb.
The princess and prince of the elves.
Lioness and Mordred.
Lioness, the villainess, despite being an elf princess.
Mordred grew up with a clean personality despite being the younger brother of such a villainess.
‘She’s only a villainess by human standards. She’s the most caring to elves.’
In the original work, Mordred, who trembled at Lioness’ extreme misanthropy at the academy, gradually grew distant from her.
As a result, I only saw them having sharp conversations with each other, but…
“Ah, please! Sister! Stop summoning spirits!”
Mordred pleaded while holding Lioness’s arm.
“I call upon the earth. Beyond all things…”
Lioness chanted, ignoring him.
“No matter how much you hate humans, I can’t overlook shooting an arrow at a ducal family!”
‘A typical pair of siblings.’
It seems that even in a fantasy, the relationship between siblings doesn’t change.
And the elves of similar age watching the siblings from a distance.
They’re probably the elves in charge of assisting them.
‘But why are those guys supposed to assist them doing that?’
Why are they all standing far away and just watching?
As if they’re trying to avoid some kind of dangerous accident.