Remove the filter

Arin looked down at the sword in her hand as she left the tent. A golden grip with a crimson cross-guard. And above it, a blade that reflected the scenery like a mirror.

It was the sword she couldn’t pull out but desperately wanted as the prize from the tent she just left. At the same time, it was the sword that the red-haired woman had carelessly thrown to her before leaving.

“Just who was that woman…”

At the time, she was too flustered to speak properly, but now that she had calmed down considerably, Arin carefully recalled the words the woman had said to her.

The answer the woman had given her as she handed over the sword and left.

“She said I’d find out when I come to the academy, right?”

To Arin’s question of why she was doing this much for her, the woman had replied that she would find out when she came to the academy. Then, could she be a student at the same academy as herself?

She looked about two or three years older than Arin, so if she was a student, she would likely be an upperclassman at the academy.

If so, she would probably be able to see her when entering the academy. Thinking about it calmly, it really did seem like she would be able to see her soon, just as the woman had said. After all, the academy’s entrance ceremony was the day after tomorrow.

And as she looked down at the sword, remembering the sword technique the woman had shown earlier in the tent, Arin clenched her fist tightly.

“It was… amazing.”

She had seen the woman draw two swords. The image of her crossing and drawing the two beautiful swords hanging at her waist into both hands remained in Arin’s memory.

However, the next moment, the sight of her swinging the swords to cut the mithril holding the sword and then sheathing them again was not in Arin’s mind.

Because she couldn’t see it.

“I couldn’t see even a little bit of it.”

She had thought she possessed skills that wouldn’t lose to anyone, but even though she was watching the woman’s sword technique up close, Arin couldn’t perceive her movements.

Could it be that all the upperclassmen have such skills? Arin shuddered for a moment at the hypothesis that seemed to break her will, but soon shook her head, saying it was nonsense.

She had seen Lua Academy graduates a few times before, and it was a fact that Arin herself had confirmed that they didn’t possess skills as good as that woman’s. Concluding that such a thing was impossible, Arin returned to the main point and muttered softly.

“How can she be that strong?”

She didn’t know exactly how the woman had become that strong, but it was a goal she wanted to catch up to if she could.

Deciding to ask for sword training lessons if she could meet her as an upperclassman, Arin hung the sword the woman had given her at her waist.

She didn’t have a scabbard yet and would need to custom order one, but this sword the woman had given her was definitely dozens of times better than the practice sword she had been using before, so the cost of custom ordering wasn’t a concern at all.

Wearing this sword, entering the academy, conveying the thanks she couldn’t express earlier, and receiving teachings.

“Alright.”

Arin muttered several times, firmly etching the goal she had just set for herself into her mind.

And it was less than two days later that she realized this plan was completely useless.

No one. I couldn’t find anyone.

“Sigh…”

That was the reason why I was sitting absentmindedly on a bench like this even after the two-day festival, including yesterday, had ended.

Surprisingly, after discovering Arin on the first day, I didn’t see a single familiar face of the characters.
At this point, it could be said that either seeing Arin on the first day was a miracle, or the other children had noticed me and deliberately avoided me.

Of course, I had said I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet them and would just enjoy the festival and form connections if I happened to meet them, but I had still hoped to meet at least one or two more.

I never expected not to meet even a single one.

“Haah… It can’t be helped. It’s about time I head to the academy now.”

I stood up from the bench, grasping the thread of consciousness I had almost lost. Looking at the clock tower set up next to the fountain, the current time was 8:30. Considering that the entrance ceremony was at 12, I had to meet the dean and greet him first before that.

Yesterday, during the festival, a priest sent by the Pope said that they had secured the professor position and that I should meet with the dean, so I guess I have to meet him.

I think I’ll probably just receive some advice as a newly appointed professor, but anyway.

Because of this, I stretched my stiff body and diligently moved my feet towards the academy, and after about 10 minutes of walking, I was able to arrive at the academy.

“It’s incredibly large.”

This is probably the only way to express seeing Lua Academy for the first time upon arrival.

An excessively large school gate and behind it, the main building of the academy with a size and width that seemed endless. Behind what couldn’t be seen, there would probably be auxiliary facilities like gymnasiums or practice fields.

As I moved my feet that had momentarily stopped beyond the school gate and looked around, I saw that besides me, there were people who looked like teachers and some diligent students entering the academy.

Of course, there were zero familiar faces among them. No, there were some faces that seemed vaguely familiar, but there were no representative characters among the students, and the teachers didn’t seem particularly familiar as they were probably teachers of jobs I hadn’t raised.

“Well, there’s no need to worry about it.”

If they’re teachers I don’t know, we’ll naturally start talking when necessary later, so there’s no reason to approach them first now.

Now… I have to go for a troublesome interview.

Surprisingly, I was able to quickly reach the dean’s office by looking at the pamphlet at the main building entrance.

Well, honestly, I could have found it relying on my memory even without the pamphlet, but anyway.

The dean’s office was located on the 7th floor, the very top floor of the main building. Since there was no other room on the 7th floor except for the dean’s office, I climbed the stairs and knocked on the luxurious black door that obviously looked like the dean’s office.

Knock knock──

[Come in.]

A voice was heard from inside when I knocked. As soon as I heard the permission to enter, I opened the door and stepped inside without hesitation.

What I saw then was bookshelves filling one corner of my view and a common lacquered wooden desk. And behind such a desk was the figure of the dean, setting the mood while looking out the window.

A woman who appeared to be in her early 30s, with light brown hair braided and tied up, wearing a robe that looked almost reverent. She looked exactly the same as the dean I had often seen in the game.

However, I didn’t make the mistake of showing any sign of recognition. As I was currently in Aria’s form that I had changed into the day before yesterday, I approached the dean’s desk at the front of the room with her characteristically expressionless face.

As she was currently in the superior position, I waited for her to speak first, and the dean slightly bowed her head as she turned her body from looking out the window.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard about you from the Pope beforehand, but you’re Aria, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m Aria.”

I also bowed my head as the dean bowed towards me. Fortunately, Aria’s filtering seemed to recognize situations where polite speech was necessary, and spoke to her in a dignified manner rather than her usual arrogant tone.

The dean seemed slightly awkward, as if my speech was different from what she had heard, but she quickly composed her expression skillfully and offered me a seat in front of the desk.

“Would you please sit down for a moment? I have quite a few things I’d like to ask, so I’d like to have a conversation until the entrance ceremony begins.”
“If it’s alright with you, by all means.”

I absolutely hated long talks, but what could I do? I plopped down in the seat the dean offered and removed the sword that was bothering me as it hung on the chair, placing it on my lap.

As if she had been waiting for me to arrange my sword, the dean pulled out a few sheets of paper from the pile of documents placed beside her as soon as I put the sword on my lap.

“As I just mentioned, I have several things I’d like to ask, but first, I’ll ask a question for the sake of our academy.”
“What is it?”
“The Pope said he wanted to include four people as professors at our academy, including you, Aria, and one person as a cook for the cafeteria, correct?”

The papers the dean had pulled out from the pile of documents were none other than papers listing my other bodies, including Aria, who were to be appointed as professors and a cook at the academy.

For some reason, I held my breath for a moment at the papers that gave me an ominous feeling, and our dear dean threw a question that hit me right in the solar plexus while smiling.

“No matter how I look at it, you don’t seem unrelated to each other. If it’s alright, Aria, may I ask what kind of relationship you have with the other four?”

This was absolutely a question I couldn’t answer in my current situation.

Or rather, should I reveal the truth here, trusting that she’ll keep it secret because she’s the dean? But I revealed the secret to the Pope because they were believers of Goddess Iriel.

For a moment, ten thousand thoughts flashed through my mind, and I couldn’t open my mouth that was stuck shut, but fortunately, as I opened my mouth to say something, this body’s filtering came up with an excellent method and presented it.

“Um… we are sisters.”

It seemed that this excellent method was excellent in making me eat crow, though.