Haben’s clear gaze had landed on my shoes.

I looked down at my brown leather shoes.

These had been the first gift Mom ever bought me, and they were shoes made by an incredibly famous craftsman... but I had worn them and run around in them so much from spring through summer that they had gotten a little worn.

Besides, they were boys’ shoes, so they were a bit clunky too.

I do have dress shoes in my trunk, but....

I really wanted to keep wearing these shoes.

My feet are growing like crazy!

Because that meant the day I had to say goodbye to Mom’s gift was not far off.

Well, I guess that could have made it look like I was just wearing old shoes by accident.

Hmm... I see.

Only then did I realize how I must have looked to other people.

“Ah~ the Academy atmosphere is seriously so shabby~”

Haben turned with a heavy sneer. The boys standing slightly behind him snickered and laughed frivolously.

“Haben! What have you even been saying this whole time? That’s not it, it’s just—!”

“Titi, wait.”

I stopped Sortie, who was about to flare up and correct him.

Haben had already lost interest in me and was noisily chatting among themselves.

So.

...Do I really need to?

That was what I thought.

“She looked like a servant from a noble house.”

Khalid’s voice came back to me.

What he had said about the suspicious maid.

I widened my view and slowly swept my eyes across the children attending camp.

She could be among their families, couldn’t she?

We were forbidden from seeing our parents during camp life, but exchanging letters was allowed.

At the entrance ceremony, it would’ve looked like I never came....

Dad was not nearby, and the situation felt unstable in all sorts of ways.

So maybe it would be better to just leave things as they were?

Besides, someone like Haben was only a cute little gnat in comparison....

“Rubian, why are you stopping me? If you don’t say anything, the others won’t realize who you are.”

Sortie shoved her face close and whispered.

“Huh? Ah, well....”

I tried to think of an excuse, but what came out was whatever sprang to mind first.

“I’m actually in hiding! So I’m planning to keep it secret that I’m Rubian for a while! Uh, I made a really huge bet, so if I get caught, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Huh? Hiding? With who?”

“Um....”

The Mage King?

I barely swallowed the answer before it came out.

My head spun furiously.

What was I supposed to say?

Someone who could plausibly be here at the Academy.... Someone I knew, and someone believable enough that Titi would sort of accept it....

Ah.

I broke into a bright smile.

“My brothers!”

*****

This actually works.

I walked along in renewed amazement.

“Now then, this is the east wing of the dormitory where all of you are staying! You know that once you enroll, dormitory life is mandatory for the first three years, right? This is where you’ll be living then.”

The professor in charge of the Academy tour explained with a smile. A cluster of children trailed after the professor like ducklings.

Sortie and I were slowly following at the very back of the group.

I was worried about what I’d do if the professor called attendance....

There were only about fifteen of us at most, even counting the boys.

The professors must already have memorized the names and faces separately, because they only checked the headcount and did not bother calling attendance or anything like that.

I don’t know how long this will keep working, though.

At least until I finish investigating the secret of the mark, I think it would be better to keep things this way. It was comfortable, too, since no one was paying attention to me!

I just need to avoid running into my actual brothers.

Titi had said Licht had duties at the Imperial Palace, so although he had registered for the fall term, he had not been able to attend yet.

She said he would probably come after camp ended, so it did not seem like we would run into each other.

So where should I start searching through the Academy?

I was walking along, lost in thought, when—

“Hey, Jerdin! Say that again! What did you say?”

A familiar nasty voice barged into my ears.

Them again.

I frowned slightly and turned to look at Haben, who was fooling around a little behind us.

“S-stop....”

“S-sstop? Puhahaha! Do all commoners stutter like that?”

Huh?

My eyes narrowed on their own.

Because when I looked more closely, there was a boy in the middle of Haben’s group with his head bowed low.

“Ugh, his jokes are getting worse by the day. I should stop keeping in touch with him.”

Next to me, Sortie muttered to herself.

Jokes? This isn’t joking, it’s....

Isn’t this bullying?

“Hey. If a commoner made it all the way to the Academy, that means you’ve at least got some money, right? Then why are you so grimy? Ugh, you stink!”

“T-that’s not... n-no.”

I furrowed my brow hard.

It was because the way he spoke had been grating on my nerves from earlier.

People like that usually copied the way their parents spoke almost exactly.

I had never actually spoken with Count Abellus, but... for some reason, I felt like I already knew what sort of character he was.

So, borrowing Dad’s expression—

Trashy.

That was exactly what it was.

After thinking for a moment, I shot one hand straight up. I would rather not stand out, but asking a question should be fine, right?

“Professor!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

The professor, who had been fully absorbed in explaining the building in front of us, turned to me.

“What building is that over there? I was curious!”

As everyone’s attention turned this way, Haben’s bullying naturally stopped.

“Ah, that is the Academy Central Library!”

The professor began excitedly explaining the building I had pointed at at random.

“But Haben? Why are you all gathered over there like that?”

“N-nothing!”

“Don’t lag behind. Come over here.”

“Yes....”

Haben and the children in his group reluctantly started walking again.

Then, all at once, Haben, who had been walking ahead, whipped around and glared at me.

“You... you didn’t do that on purpose, did you?”

“Hm?”

I tilted my head as if I had no idea what he meant. He shot me a dirty look, then lightly kicked the floor.

“Ah, seriously. I came here to build connections, so why does it smell like commoners everywhere I go?”

I stared blankly at the retreating back of Haben Abellus.

He’s... a total disaster of a person, but I guess he’s pretty sharp after all.

If only those two things had been packaged together a little differently.

Good grief. Honestly.

Anyway, maybe because I had pointedly asked that question, the professor led us straight to the Academy library after that.

“Now then, this is the Central Library.”

I tipped my head back and looked up at the white stone building.

Thick pillars carved with beautiful patterns stood in elegant rows like gatekeepers.

Central....

I rolled the professor’s words over in my mind.

Rather than a library, at first glance it looked more like a temple. Something about that unique atmosphere made me feel strangely overwhelmed.

I was wondering where I should even start investigating... maybe I didn’t need to make it so complicated after all?

We went inside the library.

The marble floor gleamed brilliantly, and directly ahead stood a beautiful central staircase.

The professor continued speaking while standing in the library lobby.

“This is the largest library in the Empire. In terms of location as well, this is the exact center of our Academy, its very heart.”

“But the heart is on the left!”

“Ha ha. It’s a figure of speech.”

Answering the children’s questions, the professor headed toward a small collection room beside the staircase.

“Now then, let’s choose whatever books you want from this reading room! If you have any questions, ask them, and do not go outside this collection room. Especially beyond the central staircase—that is a specially authorized area, so be careful.”

The students answered in a lively chorus, “Yeees!”

A specially authorized area? Why would a library have something like that?

I narrowed my eyes.

Good. Let’s start exploring from here, one step at a time.

This collection room seemed to be where the children’s books were gathered—picture books, storybooks, things like that.

I wandered between the tall rows of shelves, surveying the area.

The inside was enormous, and it was not just us; I occasionally spotted other first- and second-year elementary students who had come to read as well.

According ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) to the schedule, we’re staying here for an hour....

I quietly started edging toward the entrance. The professor was surrounded by children pestering for help finding books and did not spare me a glance.

And just as I was about to step over the threshold of the wide-open children’s collection room door—

“I figured out why my brother always gets lost.”

At the familiar voice coming from outside, my head snapped around.

“Why?”

“Because he reads while he walks. Could you please close the book for once?”

“Boyd, how innocent you are.”

“What did I do!”

“Whether I read while walking or not, I get lost anyway. In that case, my philosophy is that it’s better to do what I want while getting lost.”

“Oh, wow... I want to be impressed, but I’m getting annoyed now! I said let’s go look for Ruby, not let’s go look for the way to the library for you!”

“Oh, wow.... Boyd, look at this part. Apparently there’s a sealing stone that imprisoned the high-rank magical beast Iglius?”

“Iglius or Whatever-lius, who cares—come on!”

Good grief.

“Wait, aren’t those the young masters of House of Zebbert?”

Why were those two here?

On pure instinct, I hurried to hide behind a large pillar near the entrance.

When I cautiously stuck my head out and peered outside, I saw two familiar black-haired heads approaching from afar beyond the wide-open door.

“No, but we already borrowed everything we needed! Why are we going to the picture book section?”

“There are actually a few picture books that portray things like magical beast claws and tentacles in quite a lot of detail. I’m going to fact-check them thoroughly and bring them to our fairy. She’ll obviously love them.”

“Hm, really? Then fair enough.”

No! I do not need tentacles and claws, thank you very much!

If they catch me here, my quiet Academy life is over!

I shrank down even more.

Looking closely, there was a small gap between the wall and the pillar. If I slipped through there, I could probably get out through the entrance somehow....

Just as I took a tiny step backward—

“Ah.”

Someone made that sound right behind me.

“What? Did you just step on my foot?”

When I turned around, there stood Haben, frowning deeply.