LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 17 - It's been a day now.
It probably wouldn’t be this hard even if I had run an Ironman marathon.
No, my body might be less tired, but my mind wouldn’t be as ragged as it is now.
“Everyone, move aside…”
Is this what it feels like when your mind is carved with a knife all day?
In the morning, I became the academy’s representative emotional trash can thanks to the homeroom professor’s antics.
At lunch, the duchess villainess with the potential for a rampage broke the script and approached me.
During the duel, I gave a passionate performance, spitting blood, thanks to Aslan’s hot-blooded nature.
After fainting and waking up, I found myself tied up by the evil wizard specializing in human experiments.
As soon as I escaped from the witch, the final boss appeared.
After overcoming that, the mid-game boss was waiting in the classroom.
Even after getting past that, the human-hating villainess approached me after dinner.
And all of this happened in just one day.
To be precise, it all occurred within half a day.
‘No matter how immersive your 4D is, the story’s development is sloppy, you crazy bastards…’
Aaron walked down the dormitory corridor, his mind barely hanging on by a thread.
“When will it end.”
Perhaps because his fatigue had surpassed its limit.
As he walked, dragging his feet, the end of the dormitory seemed endless no matter how far he went.
Maybe he had just gone crazy.
He didn’t even have the energy to care about the whispers of passing students.
He just headed towards the end of the dormitory with unfocused, droopy eyes.
—–
“Hahaha.”
Am I now seeing hallucinations because I’ve gone mad?
I’m sure I came to my room at the very corner of the academy dormitory to rest.
Why do I see Sephir and Vivian arguing in front of me?
And Arcana sitting in the middle.
‘I don’t even know anymore~’
The thread of sanity I was barely hanging onto seems about to snap.
My dragging footsteps from earlier suddenly become neat and proper, as if they might make the sound of dress shoes.
My bent back straightens, and my expression fixes into a smile.
With a business smile, I decided to quickly resolve the issue that had appeared in front of my room.
All for the sake of resting comfortably without any problems.
“Miss. Arcana. How do you do.”
First, I bowed and greeted Arcana, with whom I had become acquainted.
“Hello. We meet again.”
“What exactly is going on here?”
Next, I asked for an explanation of the situation.
“They want to buy my room.”
“…Who does?”
“Those two.”
Hmm, an unexpected problem.
“Are you considering selling?”
Let’s first get the current owner’s opinion.
“Honestly… I don’t want to sell. I’ve already finished unpacking, and if they buy my room, I’d have to go to one of their rooms, which is burdensome.”
“I see.”
The current owner refuses.
“Did you hear that? Both of you.”
I asked the two villainesses silently staring at me since I appeared.
“Miss Arcana says he has no intention of selling. Do you have anything else to say?”
“”……””
They just stare at me blankly.
“Staring at me won’t convince Miss Arcana. I have no reason to do so either.”
“”……””
Now they’re looking at me with eyes that seem about to shed tears.
‘That kind of thing makes my heart waver.’
Why do these villainesses have to have such pretty faces?
Making my heart flutter like this.
“Sigh…”
Touching my forehead with my hand, then running it through my hair, I asked.
“You two. What’s your reason for wanting to buy Miss. Arcana’s room?”
I need to know the reason so I can resolve this and rest.
“Well… the corner of the dormitory is where students don’t come often, right…? I thought it might be suitable for… experiments and such…”
She’s dragging out her words?
It seems like she’s making something up…
‘Enough.’
I want to rest now. Let’s not think about such things.
Vivian’s opinion makes sense when you hear it.
It’s natural for Vivian, who makes everything from extreme poisons to chimeras, to choose a corner room where students don’t go, as it’s good for experiments.
“What’s the issue for you, Miss Sephir?”
Now it’s her turn.
Her tail and ears droop, and she looks like she’s about to cry like a drenched puppy.
‘That’s not going to make me do anything.’
“The things I do are a bit… you know? It’s better to be in a place like this rather than somewhere conspicuous.”
Certainly. For Sephir, who runs an underworld business, it’s better not to be noticeable to people.
Of course, it’s not like Sephir to think about hiding instead of making connections in an academy full of students, but let’s move on.
‘I want to lie down quickly.’
Let’s summarize the opinions.
“So, Miss Sephir, you need a room where people won’t come for your work, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And Miss Vivian, you need a room for experiments?”
“That’s right.”
What? We’ve got the answer.
“Then why don’t you just use the room across from mine?”
Why are you so desperate to buy the room next to mine?
Just go to the room across from me.
“Uh…”
“That’s… right?”
It seems to be an unexpected answer for both of them as they scratch their cheeks.
“The room across is empty anyway, so you can just move in. As for the cleanliness, with your overflowing money, it should be easily resolved.”
How many nobles would there be without status, power, or connections with other nobles?
Not many.
Even powerless nobles from the borderlands form small gatherings, so how could there be many such nobles?
As a result, there are quite a few empty rooms at the very end of the dormitory.
Why on earth did these villainesses try to take over an occupied room while leaving empty rooms untouched?
“Well then, let’s all get along as neighbors.”
Now, it seems I can finally take off my business smile.
Because I can really rest now.
“Okay.”
Vivian nods with a seemingly expressionless face.
“Alright. This works out well too.”
Sephir nods her head refreshingly.
I could tell by her tail wagging to the rhythm that she liked it more than expected.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Aaron!”
Arcana has an expression that looks like she might really shed tears.
Ah, right. Arcana is a viscount, so those two are really her superiors.
Being in a similar situation, I find myself cheering for her.
“Hang in there.”
“Pardon?”
Surprised by the sudden encouragement, Arcana makes a stunned expression.
That can happen.
“Well then, I’ll be going in now.”
I stroke the doorknob leading to my sanctuary.
‘Ah… I can finally rest now.’
My thoughts came out as words, but it didn’t matter.
Now, I’m going into my room-
“The front room is mine.”
“It’s mine.”
-Bang
I pushed the two against the wall and used both arms to block their line of sight, making them look at me.
“That’s totally kabedon…”
Let’s pretend I didn’t hear Arcana’s words.
I’m tired.
“The room across from mine is Sephir’s, and the one next to it is Vivian’s. Okay?”
Judging by the tension between the two, it seemed like it would never end no matter how long I waited.
So, I decided to just decide for them.
“Answer.”
I spoke with a bit of force that might sound somewhat coercive.
“…Okay.”
“Alright…”
…Was I scary?
Why do both look like they’re about to cry with their cheeks turning red?
The redness of their cheeks gradually spread, and their entire faces started to turn red.
“Well then, I’m really going in now. Rest well.”
Having gotten their answers, I greet them with force in my voice.
With a desperate meaning of hoping this would be the last time.
But I don’t know what it means to say “rest well” after I’ve said I’m going in.
My head is dizzy.
Having ended the situation, I entered my room with the mindset of not listening to any sound.
Like a modern person, I take off my shoes at the door before entering the room.
“Hah… ha…”
I take a deep breath.
‘This smell…’
It’s been about an hour since I left after cleaning the room.
The moldy smell full of moisture.
You wouldn’t know how much I missed this smell, like that of an apartment basement parking lot.
Walking barefoot on the clean floor.
It was worth cleaning so thoroughly that the moonlight from the window can shine on it.
Taking a few more steps, I finally arrived.
My bed.
I literally collapsed.
This damn medieval bed where my face feels sore just from falling face-first on it.
When I first saw it, I wondered what it was.
Tough cloth woven like a net with soft cloth covering it.
If I had to compare it to something… a hammock?
Yeah. It feels just like a hammock.
What mattress? What do you expect in a medieval fantasy?
Usually, high-ranking nobles use luxurious beds filled with feathers from magical beasts, but how could I use such a thing?
The bed is a luxury item with crazy prices depending on which magical beast’s fur is used.
If you buy a cheap one, you’ll feel like lying in a down jacket, and an expensive one is the epitome of comfort beyond modern beds.
This is from my childhood experience at a bed store before my family went bankrupt.
But how could a fallen noble like me sleep in such a thing?
Let’s just be thankful that I can sleep in a hammock.
It’s better than sleeping on straw with a hole-ridden old cloth as a cover.
“Ah… this is nice…”
Even this hammock feels amazing now.
“My eyes are heavy…”
Slowly, my eyes close, and my foggy mind returns to normal momentarily.
If only tomorrow were a weekend.
I want to sleep in like this.
‘Ah… in this world, even weekends are school days…’
Damn medieval times.
“Let’s just-
—–
sleep.”
‘……’
“?”
I just blinked once.
I just blinked once, that’s all.
-Chirp chirp
What could that sound be?
Surely, my ears must be mistaken.
That’s not the sound of birds. It must be the sound of an owl.
The light coming through the window is surely moonlight, not sunlight.
The stiffness in my body that has somehow become comfortable must be because I lay down…
“Oh, come on.”
No matter how much nonsense I tell myself, I can’t deceive the situation I see with my eyes.
“What on earth did I do for it to be morning already!”
I hoped it was just a dream, but it was too much to ask.
“It’s my habit that’s the problem…”
I hate myself for being always diligent, just this once.
Looking at the sun outside that hasn’t yet crossed the horizon, I knew.
It was dawn.