I already knew that attending this academy would be bad, but never once did I imagine that it would be this bad.
The dormitory building that I was staying in was around a ten minute walk to the main campus thanks to the size of the school grounds. It was a distance that I could've covered in less than a second if I was by myself and there weren't so many goddamn eyes on me.
Before coming here, I was told in very clear terms not to "stand out", but that was honestly easier said than done.
Although trying to not stand out was part of why I wasn't blasting through the paved street and getting the hell away from all the curious glances that were being shot my way, the bigger problem was the person that was walking next to me.
It was partially my fault that I was stuck in this kind of situation. Honestly, I never should've told Cyrus that I wanted to have someone that I knew accompany me. I mean, the only people that I actually knew were all part of the eastern nations, so it should've been pretty obvious that none of them were going to be able to come with me.
Instead of a familiar and friendly face, what I got was a familiar and hostile face.
"...You know, I thought nothing would be worse than execution." The small and bespectacled girl sneered at me as she continued to trod next to me in the most reluctant fashion that she could manage. "I was wrong."
Yeah, I bet you fuckin' were.
I turned to look at the girl. She wasn't someone that I had expected to see ever again. In fact, I'd even forgotten about her completely during the fight against Archbishop Taunes and only ended up remembering her way after.
When I was told that she went missing, I thought she'd end up hiding herself away from the rest of the world or something, but as it so happened, she was captured by one of the kingdom's punitive forces that were hastily put together after the effects of my battle against the archbishop could be seen even from a great distance away.
"Look, Liandra," I paused to make sure that I had her attention. "I didn't want this either, but it happened, so we're just gonna have to deal with it."
I would've tried being a little more amicable about it all, but she was still a former enemy and I honestly had mixed feelings about her. On one hand, she'd given us quite a bit of help even though it was coerced, but on the other she was a pretty dangerous mage and had a nasty attitude to boot.
When I first found out that she was to be my companion for the duration of my stay here at Manaquiver Academy, I immediately contacted Cyrus and asked if there was some sort of mistake.
Unfortunately for me, this was perfectly according to his plans. I didn't know if he was trying to get back at me for my remark during our "negotiation", but one thing was clear: this was all a part of his plan to "rehabilitate" Liandra.
I sighed as Liandra simply turned away from me with a brief "Hmph!" without even responding. I didn't know what the hell Cyrus was thinking when he did this, but he sure as hell should've come up with a better plan.
We made the rest of the way to the school building proper in relative silence, with only a few remarks from Liandra that were pretty much complaints.
I couldn't really blame her though. We were pretty much attracting the attention of any students that we passed by. Although I played my part thanks to my distinctly Japanese face that was completely out of place, Liandra was probably the one who was attracting the most stares.
Thanks to her status as a criminal and a magic user, she was required to wear a thick and heavy collar around her neck which sealed her magical abilities.
Before dumping her on me, Cyrus had ended up designating me as her temporary "warden" and had given me a small plaque that allowed me to authorize her usage of magic. It would be convenient in a pinch since it also allowed me to activate some of the collar's "punishment" features, but I honestly hoped that it wouldn't come to that.
Besides, the problem that we were facing right now couldn't exactly be solved by magic. With my incredible stats, I could hear the whispers of the students around us, and I was already certain that rumors of me being "friends" with a known criminal would circulate around the entire campus by the end of today.
Within the span of a day, I'd be known across the campus as someone who sympathizes with a criminal and then probably excluded or even harassed by other students. I gritted my teeth.
This is why I fucking hate schools. They're nothing more than echo chambers for rumors. No one even tries to find out what the truth is. The moment they've set their mind to something, it never goddamn changes.
Thanks to my [Suppression] skill that I'd acquired during my two month stay at the Zaltsel clan, I was able to prevent my negative emotions from leaking out, but since I hadn't raised it to a very high level yet, I wasn't sure what the extent of its abilities were.
I quickly distracted myself by thinking of something else, but still, it seemed that my self-control had improved quite a bit. In the past, I probably would've considered something drastic like killing all the students here except for Princess Sella and Radeca.
It would probably cause some sort of international conflict, but it wasn't exactly my problem and it'd technically accomplish the mission of protecting Princess Radeca from whoever was trying to assassinate her. There just wouldn't be an academy left to attend after that.
I took in a deep breath as I stopped in front of the massive wooden doors of the school building, mentally preparing myself. It'd been a while since I'd entered a school building.
The bustling hallways, the ever-present cliques, and the school drama. I hated all of that shit. I'd left it behind because I couldn't stand it anymore. And here I was, about to enter that dark abyss once more.
If only you were here, Lucrezia... Priya...
I wasn't confident in myself to bear it all once more. To anyone else, this probably seemed silly, but I honestly found re-entering school culture far more frightening than standing up to Archbishop Taunes.
I'd resolved to let go of the past, and for the most part, I'd succeeded. But I wasn't fully free from those shackles just yet.
"What the hell are you doing now?" Liandra asked, glaring at me as she pushed the doors open to reveal an almost empty entrance hall. The interior of the school was well-lit and lavishly decorated, but what caught my eye wasn't that.
In the very center of the room were two women who were both flanked by guards. I was already familiar with one of them, but I'd never laid eyes on the other until now.
Even so, it was obvious who she was.
Her incredibly striking beauty and delicate figure combined with her elegantly long, pointed ears created the picture-perfect image of an elf. There was no mistaking it.
This was Princess Radeca, and also the target of my mission.
...That's right, Ryuuko. Don't get it twisted, dumbass. You're not here to be a student.
With that single thought in mind, I simply walked up to the two of them and waved to the princess.
"'Sup, Sella? Who's this?"