Chapter 71: Entrance Ceremony
First, the person who walked up on stage was someone with blonde hair, golden eyes, and a tall, quite cool presence. I feel like they resemble someone, but who was it?
As I desperately tried to remember, that person began their speech.
"Dear new students, congratulations on entering the Royal School. I am Tristan Laarslacia, the headmaster of this school."
Tristan Laarslacia!? Did he just say Laarslacia?
Does that mean he's Alexis-sama's sibling!?
Come to think of it, I remember Alexis-sama mentioning once that he has one brother and one sister. I was preoccupied with various things back then, so I forgot. His brother is the headmaster of the Royal School now. I wonder if his sister got married and left?
"I've only been the headmaster for a few years, but I want to make the Royal School a better place for learning. Work hard from now on."
Headmaster Tristan's speech ended with a brief greeting. I think our eyes met when he was leaving the stage, but it's probably just my imagination. Definitely my imagination. I should stop thinking about it.
As I was reassuring myself inwardly, I heard a small voice from beside me.
"This is bad... Definitely bad... I didn't hear that the headmaster is royalty... Commoners could be killed at any time for that, right?"
Ronnie is getting negative again. With a name like Laarslacia, anyone would know he's royalty. It's quite scary, isn't it? I'm scared too, I don't know what kind of person he is. If he's friendly, it's reassuring, but if he's hostile, it's too frightening. There's a possibility that he's already noticed us...
"Ronnie, let's try to blend in and stay strong."
"Yeah, I'm confident I won't stand out, but in this school, that might actually make me stand out."
Certainly. If you were in the midst of commoners, you'd seem like a quiet, unobtrusive kid, but in this school, just being a commoner makes you stand out. Especially if you're not from a wealthy merchant's family, there are hardly any commoners here, so just that fact makes you extremely conspicuous.
"Don't worry too much; I'll do my best to handle it."
"But Leon, you're a commoner too, right? In that case, there's nothing you can do, right? By the way, why did Leon come to the Royal School? Are you from a wealthy merchant's family? Your clothing looks fancy."
Hmm, if I say it's thanks to the Townsend Duchy's support, he'll definitely get scared. Maybe I shouldn't mention it for now...
"Well, I'm actually the son of a tavern owner on the outskirts of the capital. But I happened to have some connections with nobility, so I was able to take the entrance exam for the Royal School."
"Is that so? Connections with nobility?"
"It's similar to Ronnie's situation. I had a chance to study, and I happened to excel more than other kids, so I was told to take the exam."
"I see. We're in similar situations, aren't we? It's reassuring to have friends who understand."
Ronnie said that and smiled a little. For now, I haven't lied, so it should be fine. I'll tell Ronnie about the Townsend Duchy when he gets more used to the school. It would be pitiful to talk about it now. He'll probably get used to it after a few days.
As I was thinking that, someone else walked up onto the stage. Isn't that Stefan-sama?
"As the representative of the new students, I would like to give a speech. I'm Stefan Laarslacia. My sister Martine and I are also enrolling this year, so we hope for more active learning than usual. We will be spending a long time together from now on, so I hope we can get along. At the Royal School, social status doesn't matter. As long as you have basic manners, I want us to get along regardless of social rank. When you're here, I hope you'll engage in discussions actively without worrying too much about your status."
Impressive, speaking confidently in front of such a large crowd. Truly befitting of royalty. And it's reassuring that he said social status doesn't matter. If the Crown Prince Stefan-sama says so, then people can't openly discriminate against commoners.
Well, I might still keep a low profile... And there are fools everywhere...
"Then, to foster camaraderie among the new students, we will hold a modest party for them to interact with each other," Stefan-sama said, returning to his seat. Servants soon appeared, placing dishes in order of rank. Magic stones were attached to light orbs, brightening the building.
The food consisted of easy-to-eat items like sandwiches, roast beef, and salad. Servants served each plate from large platters.
From the tables set with food, conversations started.
Observing as there were no attendants, I wondered if they'd taste the food without poison checks. Is this just for show? Will the staff eat it later? Then, what's the point of serving the food?
Well, if it's tradition... I thought.
As I sat further back, some children started eating. Maybe they don't fear poisoning?
Watching this, I realized the challenges of their elevated status.
I hesitated for a moment but decided to eat. My presence isn't widely known yet, so it should be fine. I need to create a magic to neutralize poison early. I think healing magic should do the trick.
By the way, will we have lunch at school from now on? Will attendants be brought? Or should I bring a bento?
I didn't inquire about this, so I'll have to ask when I get home today.
For now, I stopped pondering and tried to socialize with the children at this table, looking around.
Ronnie, sitting on my right, seemed to be enjoying the sandwich, so I decided to leave him for later. There were three more people on my left.
The two girls further away seemed to be chatting happily, so I decided to start a conversation with the child sitting directly to my left.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Leon."
When I said that, the child looked at me unhappily and said, "I've never seen your face before. Which merchant company's child are you?"
Huh? Such an attitude on our first meeting. Is this kid incredibly annoying? Doesn't look like we'll become friends!
"I'm not from a merchant company. I'm the son of the cafeteria."
"Hmph, I thought so. Those sitting here are commoners. The children of large merchant companies that deal with nobles know everyone's faces. Since I didn't recognize your face, I thought you were a poor commoner. I have no intention of associating with someone like you."
So irritating!! Who does this guy think he is? Just because he's a child of a wealthy merchant doesn't mean he's not a commoner like me. It's meaningless to boast about being a child of a merchant company in a royal school full of nobles!
Ugh... he just wants to pick on someone of lower status and revel in his petty sense of superiority. Annoying, so I'll avoid him.
I decided to stop talking and focus on my meal. Talking to this guy will only ruin my mood.
"Hey, why don't you say something? Do you think you can ignore me?"
Huh? I already said I don't want to associate with you, so why are you talking to me?
I'll even stop using honorifics. We're both commoners anyway.
"You're noisy. Didn't you say you didn't want to get involved with me?"
"You...! My family's company is the prestigious Vokler Company, preferred by nobility!"
Maybe it's an impressive company, but I've never heard of it before. Plus, someone who brags about their family right away probably has nothing else to boast about. So annoying.
"Wow, that's impressive."
I praised him insincerely.
I don't want to deal with him much, but should I use the Townshend Ducal House's influence to deal with this annoying guy?
I've realized that standing out is not a good idea. Just being a commoner who's not from a merchant family makes me stand out a lot. So, it's better to have the ducal house protect me rather than hide it.
Even if I tell him, he probably won't believe me, so I need Lucian to come and confirm it. Maybe I can show the ducal house's crest? But I don't really want to do that. I want a little more peace...
Sigh... the road ahead is going to be tough.