The academy is a narrower society than you think.

Even if you simply count the number of departments that include students, even if you include newly established departments, the number will be less than ten.

It was a rule to admit exactly 100 freshmen per department, and even those students disappeared from the academy for various reasons as the grade went up.

They figure out that it doesn’t fit their own path and set out on a different path, or get expelled because their tuition or grades don’t fit the conditions.

Or unfortunately leaving the academy due to various unpleasant things that occur during the hunting festival.

It was a natural phenomenon at the academy that the population decreased as the senior year went on.

Among the over 10 million citizens of the empire, the population included in the society called the academy was at most 3,000.

If you include not only the students, but also the professors, staff, and shopkeepers in the shopping district, that’s just the number.

After living in a place like this for three years, meeting unexpected acquaintances while walking down the street became one of the normal routines.

Even if that person was someone you never really wanted to see again in your life, it was the same.

“ah.”

“Eh?”

A shallow sigh escaped my mouth momentarily at the unpleasant relationship I hadn’t met in a long time.

The embarrassing thing about this meeting was that it wasn’t me, but the other person’s mouth as well.

Me and the other person had become the appearance of going through an unwanted confrontation situation with a narrow alley in between.

“… … .”

“… … .”

Shouldn’t have fallen down this road today.

If I didn’t use this alley, I would have to go around a fairly long distance to the next lecture building, so I made this choice because I didn’t want to waste my time.

Had I known I would run into him here, I would have been better off going back a bit.

“Let’s go first.”

I wasn’t in the mood to mix up a lot of words, so I was considerate so that the conversation wouldn’t be too long.

The alleyway was narrow enough for one person to pass through, so I didn’t want to cuddle in the middle.

“… … .”

The leopard keeper on the other side of the alley had a strangely hesitant expression on his face after hearing my proposal.

The last time we talked was in the first semester of last year, and I couldn’t remember his name because we weren’t very close.

Still, I remembered this one thing for sure.

Even until the hunting festival at the end of the first semester of last year, he belonged to a party led by senior Xian.

And that he was the one who took the lead in criticizing Xian’s strategy at the after party at the after party.

It wasn’t a very good relationship, but it wasn’t a person to hold on to hatred, so it was also a natural flow to forget it in my head.

“Well, don’t go wrong, do you want Conrad to pass first? I-I’m fine.”

The student from the spear club across the alley seemed to be taken aback and returned the consideration I gave him in the first place.

Strangely, it seemed as if he was constantly looking at me.

“Then let’s do it.”

Well, after a year, we won’t be able to run into each other, even by chance.

It didn’t matter who passed first, as long as it ended in a direction where there were as few words as possible.

That’s why I rushed out of the alley without intentionally making eye contact, and while I was quickly moving my steps in the direction I was originally going.

From the back of my head, I heard a voice calling me again.

“Hey, there he is!”

If it was a bad day, it would have been okay if I ignored the calling voice and hurriedly went on my way.

For some reason, he was calling me in a tone that made him want to look back, so he inadvertently turned his head and looked towards the student in the spearmanship club.

“What is it?”

“You know… I wanted to tell Gya that I was sorry the other day… .”

I was wondering if you would hear any resentment about me taking out senior Xian, who was the party leader.

The words that came out of his mouth were unexpectedly sincere expressions of apology.

“Well, now, when I was at a party with Xian last year, didn’t I drink and talk weird!”

“Yes, you did.”

“But after going out to the party like that, thinking about it, the thought that I said something like an asshole keeps spinning around in my head… .”

“… … .”

“T-T, of course I don’t mean to ask for forgiveness or anything like that, it just means to tell him that I was sorry at that time.

At that time, he went out to a party, and now I’m taking my juniors and having a hunting festival, but when I try to be a leader, it doesn’t work as well as I thought… . Kids don’t listen to me… .

AC… The more you talk, the more it looks like an excuse. Oh, anyway, that’s right! Sorry for saying weird things!”

Are you aware that you have done something embarrassing? The leopard beastman belonging to the spear club ran into the alley in an instant, blushing.

I haven’t even given you an answer yet.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

Hearing it roughly, it seemed that he was clearly aware of the mistakes he had made.

It was a lot late, but I also conveyed the meaning of being properly sorry.

With words like this, it wasn’t a bad feeling even if he took on the role of a messenger.

In the first place, it was Xian-senpai’s job to forgive him and decide not to, not me.

* * *

Half a day was enough to deliver the letter that suddenly flew to me to Xian.

Coincidentally, on that afternoon, I had a chance to meet at lunchtime with Xian-senpai’s call, and it wasn’t too difficult to borrow that spot and tell the story I heard during the day.

Meal time with senior Xian sitting side by side on a bench in the plaza with a toasted bread sandwich in each hand.

As she listened to my story, a calm answer came back.

“That’s what happened.”

“Yeah. It’s been a while since I met him, so I can’t remember his name.”

“If it’s a leopard beast in the spearmanship, it’s probably Rayon. Because he was a kid with a very strong desire to win.”

Even after receiving the apology, senior Xian did not change his facial expression and just silently put the vegetable sandwich in his hand into his mouth.

It seemed that the whereabouts of her former party members were not of much interest to her, and the response was as normal as expected without any error.

“Still, it’s been a while since I’ve washed away the dishonor of the past, but it doesn’t seem like you’re very happy.”

“There is nothing to be called a disgrace. I had no intention of repairing my relationship with the kids who were already my teammates at the time, and I wasn’t interested in it again.

Renaria-ya apologized to me at the end, and since we’re in the same archery club, we sometimes say hello. I had completely forgotten about the other two.”

“I see.”

“It doesn’t really matter how people outside my relationship evaluate me. You have a lot to live for in the future, but you can’t waste your emotions on a thin relationship like a sheet of paper.”

“Since senior Xian is talking about it, the meaning really comes to me.”

“… Just tease me about your age one more time.”

As if she had dealt with an injustice that should not have been touched, her expression contained a fleeting but recognizable rage.

By the way, the longevity species certainly have a slightly different concept than humans.

It’s a new feeling, but since Xian is an elf, not a human, he’ll probably live several times longer than me.

During that time, she will meet many more types of people than I do and have more colorful experiences than my life.

So, if you are an ordinary person, you should be able to pass over things like the past incident that would have made you feel a great sense of betrayal.

“Besides criticizing me, I’m also a little grateful to that kid named Rayon.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, if that kid hadn’t suddenly disrupted the party atmosphere by criticizing me, I wouldn’t have joined the junior Conrad party.”

“Looking at it, you are right.”

In this regard, I should also feel grateful to him for handing Xian over to our party.

“If it wasn’t for that kid, he would be such a capable man… You probably never had a chance to join a party led by a junior.”

“I am rather competent.”

Certainly, if the cluttered atmosphere at the after-party had not been created then, it would have been difficult to create an atmosphere where we could talk alone with Xian-senpai.

Even if somehow the two of them found a place to talk, it would be virtually impossible to get Xian, who was the party leader, out.

Of course, even so, the process of recruiting her was not as smooth as it could be.

“I thought I was the strongest in the academy even before I fought Conrad’s juniors in the evaluation match. It would only be limited to when there was a sufficient distance from the arrow.

If it had been recruited by someone other than Conrad’s juniors, he would have rejected it. Even if I entered, if I hadn’t properly proved my skills against me like Conrad did, I would have left first before long.”

“Under the right conditions, there are only a handful of people who can win a one-on-one battle against Xian.”

“You are good at what you say on the subject that knocked me down with an overwhelming difference in skill.”

“Of course, it doesn’t change that I’m stronger than my seniors.”

“At the same time, he’s also honest, and that’s probably the charm of junior Konrad.”

Looking back and forth, there is also a vague possibility that the relationship with Xian could not be reached, or even if it continued, it would not have been as deep as it is now.

Still, this life was going much more smoothly than the previous one, just because she came to my party somehow at the right time.

Not only her, but also Stella, Lulu, and Saint Claire.

I quietly thanked everyone in my heart for believing in me and following me.

Of course, senior Xian will graduate from school and leave the academy in half a year, so there will be a period of time to promise a later date with the relationship falling apart for a while.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you call me because you had something to say?”

“Yes, it was. I almost forgot about it because of the story that junior Konrad brought up.”

The archery department’s lecture hall and the magic department’s lecture hall were buildings that were quite far apart, even within the academy.

That’s why meeting and talking with Xian-senpai during lunchtime rarely happened unless you deliberately set up an appointment like this.

There were times when I called her for a hunting party or other business, but it was rare for Xian-senpai to invite me to meet her like this.

He must have called me to convey an important agenda.

After passing the last piece of the veggie sandwich in his hand, Xian finally opened his mouth.

“me. I applied for a grade extension, junior Konrad.”

“Yeah?”

As soon as I heard the words that came out of her mouth, the first impression was surprise.

Because, I knew that Xi’an-senpai from the previous life went back to her hometown, the forest of the world tree, as soon as she finished her 4th year graduation exams.

A question naturally came out about whether her words, which made a different judgment than the future I knew, were true.

“Really, Xian-senpai?”

“Where are you going to lie about something like this?”

“That’s true, though. Then why, Xian-senpai?”

No matter how much the academy is a higher education facility, the application for grade extension was a decision that had to be made after careful consideration.

In addition to the additional tuition and living expenses for one year, he would have to go through the four tests that were taken over the course of a year.

It even led to the slightly uncomfortable situation of having to take classes with juniors a year younger.

“Isn’t it because of junior Konrad?”

“… Is it because of me?”

As soon as I heard her meaningful words, a possibility popped into my mind.

“Don’t get me wrong. It means that I decided that I should learn more myself thanks to Conrad’s juniors forcing me to realize my shortcomings.”

what else do i say

Even though I thought I had gotten used to it these days, it was still a conversational style that confused people.

I’m glad I didn’t spit out what just popped into my head.

“But are you okay? You can stay away from home for another year like that.”

“Are you worrying about time for the elf?

A year or so is, at most, the realm of entertainment, so it’s not something that Conrad juniors are worried about.”

“Come to think of it, I guess so.”

Considering the elves’ concept of leisurely time, an extension of one year shouldn’t have been such an important issue.

Tuition, of course, since I was the senior in the year, I would have been exempted with a scholarship, and since I have regular gathering activities with me for living expenses, it wouldn’t have been enough.

Since you decided to stay at the academy for the purpose of learning in the first place, taking the test again shouldn’t be a problem.

After examining it one by one, the reasons why she decided to stay at the academy were all understandable.

Although I felt a bit of responsibility that I changed the future of Xian-senpai, who would have returned to his hometown as soon as he graduated.

“So I’ll take good care of you next year too, Junior Conrad.”

This is also her choice, and it is true that I will benefit in many ways if she remains at the academy.

There was no better option now than to hold her outstretched hand.

“I’ll take good care of you too, senior Xian.”

The Demon God Subjugation Unit within the academy was destined to continue its existence a little longer.