“This is certainly an interesting Earth custom. We aristocrats usually sleep in separate rooms even if we’re visiting the homes of others,” Ellaine stated.
Meanwhile, Tasianna could only worry. “It sounds like an interesting idea, but … wouldn’t the innkeeper be furious if we simply took the beds out of the individual rooms and placed them inside here?”
There were three rooms shared between Aurora and the Magical Biscuits in our inn, while Grimnir, as he had his RV, was the only one who wasn’t here. Considering Yorshka rented it for us, he could at least enjoy the luxury!
After a pretty huge feast, I was about to go to sleep when Tamae came over and asked me, “Hestia-chan, would you like to join our slumber party?” I mean, it came out of nowhere, but I thought it would be rude to decline it since she seemed to be making an effort to get to know me better. Besides, after having Yorshka literally scream at me in Draconic for the whole day, I welcomed spending some relaxing time with others.
Putting the girl’s beds from the other rooms inside my storage, I placed them in Kazumi’s room, aside from Saori and Yorshka since they went out drinking. There wasn’t much space left to move around in the room, but the plan was to just lay and sit around on the beds anyways.
When Ellaine and Tasianna heard what a slumber party was, they were quite interested in the concept. Tasianna technically had already experienced it in the fairy village, and Aurora usually has a huge slumber party whenever we’re outside in the wild. We talked over a campfire and slept when we felt tired. But I guess we never really did one indoors.
Dressed in pajamas, the seven of us were ready to rock! Uhm, ready to gossip and go to sleep! Maybe.
“Hestia-chan, you go to sleep with your horns and tail out?”
And that was the first thing I heard from the Biscuit girls when I came in.
“Uhm, yeah. Pretty much,” I answered, confused why they would ask me something like that.
Apparently, since they knew Saori and I were able to transform back into a completely human form with [Humanize] at levels 9 and 10 respectively, they thought we slept in our human forms. Having tails and large horns pointing out our bodies sounded like it would cause terrible sleeping postures and a host of other problems. And, if this had been a few months ago, I would have agreed.
Kazumi, who’d just gained the ability to transform into a katzune through [Beastialize] complained about these very things, “When I tried to sit down, my tail just got in the way, and it was especially uncomfortable when the chair had a back. I tried lying down after putting on my pajamas and it always felt like there was a bump down below. Also, not to mention the mana drain while keeping the skill active.”
All these issues were something I had to deal with when I first grew up as a dragonewt. Thankfully, the mana drain from [Humanize] wasn’t a real issue due to my naturally high mana regeneration. The other inconveniences were just that: inconveniences. If you grew up as a human, you’ll of course have to first get used to your new assets and find a way to make them comfortable. Same thing here.
“You get used to them.” Was my answer to Kazumi’s worries before elaborating on it, “The mana is a problem, but you’ll just have to increase your wisdom and [Mana Regeneration] skill, that’s it. On the other hand, your tail is something you shouldn’t have too much trouble with, unlike with mine. My tail has scales, is bulkier, and longer than what your katzune tail looked like, so it gets in the way most of the time. That said, I still managed to get used to it. You should ask Saori. She figured out how to live with her wolf tail without any issue.”
I then jumped on my bed and laid down on my back, moved it between my thighs and curled it up until it touched my chest. I then grabbed it and held it like a hugging pillow, finishing my sleeping posture demonstration.
“I used to sleep on my stomach, with my tail curled to the side like a lizard. That ended up hurting more in other ways, so I ended up changing my posture to this one. When I curl up around my tail like this, I don’t feel that bump, and my long tail won’t get in the way of others. It’s in a resting position, I’m not straining my tail’s muscles, and it hasn’t caused any troubles yet when I move during deep sleep. The only issue is when I’m sleeping with a blanket, since my claws on my toes and fingers can tear through it easily. Thankfully, I generate a lot of body heat, so I don’t need a blanket.”
The only thing that was still an issue was my horns. They took up a lot of space on my bed, so it would get cramp while sleeping next to somebody. Fortunately, this was a minor complaint in exchange for sleeping in my dragonewt form instead of a human. Even if we were inside a city, I didn’t want to let my guard down completely. Assassins, after all.
“Ah, I guess you had over a year to get used to everything, maybe it was a bit too early to complain about everything. But, Kohaku grabbed my tail earlier and the sensation was intense, like wow, I yelped!” Kazumi complained.
A tail was a new body part with all the muscles and nerves coming with it, if somebody suddenly touched it, it would of course feel weird. Over time it would feel normal like an arm or leg.
“Also, if you’re scared your human form is too weak, then why aren’t you in your minor form? Your full dragonewt form.”
“Because I’m still human.”
Since all seven of our twin XL-sized beds were placed right next to each other, it felt as if we were all sleeping on two Alaskan king-sized beds. All seven of us had enough room to move around, lay comfortably, and share some bowls of snacks.
Now, according to my memories, the last time I experienced a slumber party was before I was ten years old, excluding the ones I had with my cousins. My idol obsession went wild after my first failed audition and I began dedicating more of my time to it to the detriment of my social life. Considering how a part of my memories came back and revealed how I actually was in my past life, I hope I could be a better friend now as Hestia.
The discussion then switched over to my sun core. The students were quite curious about my draconic features, although it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me seeing as Tasianna and I were the only non-humans among the seven of us. The core also shone through my pink PJs.
“It honestly looks like a gemstone.” Kohaku stated. “You do know you look like a boss with that huge, glowing weak spot, right? Isn’t this like a trope? Wouldn’t it be really bad if somebody hit it?”
“Yeah, I know, I know. You already saw me in my dragon form, Kohaku-chan. Don’t forget, I have renewable armor in [Panzer] made from my obsidian, plus I can also release a hot enough aura to push anything back. On top of that, it’s surprisingly pretty hard.” While tapping my core to demonstrate the hardiness, everybody except for Tasianna asked me if they could feel it, too. I was a bit reluctant with having people touch me like that, even girls, but it wasn’t like it was too much of a bother.
After that small skinship moment, the discussion then switched to Earth. Ellaine and Tasianna, curious as always when it came to Earthen culture, were bombarding the students with questions I couldn’t answer perfectly due to my memory loss. Also, receiving their perspectives as Japanese students was something new compared to my American experience.
Cultural and social differences between the US and Japan would be the main cause of culture shock for any American traveler, since Japan was a big stickler for conformity. Sure, they wouldn’t be too harsh on obvious foreigners, but if you spoke and looked Japanese, like my previous life, then those harsh glares from strangers could be pretty frightening.
“It sounds a bit like Artorias’s noble circles,” Ellaine commented.
However, what truly made me curious was when they began speaking about school.
“Sensei was, honestly, super scary in the first year she became our homeroom teacher,” Kohaku explained with an uneasy expression. “Like, I knew she was trying to gain our respect through it, but she was trying extremely hard. When we were in middle school, all we really did was be quiet, copy down the stuff from the teacher, and answer the occasional question they sent towards us. Class was never problematic until it’s like one or two weeks away from the midterms, and the teachers just begin pounding all the information into you.”
“On the other hand, Sensei was always aggressive when it came to teaching us,” Misaki continued. “Her history lessons were, surprisingly, the tamest since she had a huge passion for it. She always made the information easy to digest and plentiful. As a high school history teacher, nobody could complain about her, she was extremely qualified despite only having a bachelor’s. However, when it came to the preparations for the exams, that’s when her eyes began to glow red for the whole class.”
“Sensei was strict when it came to making us learn information. Asking questions to make sure students pay attention wasn’t uncommon, but with Sensei, she would bombard the class with questions. Even with the information she presented a week ago, she would be merciless with us,” Tamae recalled, admitting she failed one of Saori’s questions once and received a harsh scolding from her. “You have to understand, Shirako High was mostly for students with rich parents, and these parents have high expectations. During exam week, the school board would ‘encourage’ homeroom teachers to make sure their students did well on the exams. Sensei admitted she needed the bonus money on our first midterms together, and just overwhelmed us with questions from all subjects. Math, English, Japanese, Geology; she would constantly reach out to her senpais and revise their material just to question us.”
Saori with the golden glint is a scary beast, yeah …
As if she remembered one of those moments, Kazumi trembled for a second. “Urgh, and she was also pretty bull-headed against the other teachers. Competitive, dedicated, and qualified. My parents couldn’t stop praising Sensei when my grades were steadily increasing because of her boot camp. Haaaa, my parents spoke so often to me during our dinners that it was nauseating. Sensei is such a scary woman.”
Aside from Kazumi’s clear antagonism towards her parents, learning about how Saori was as a teacher was interesting. Saori had said almost nothing about her past as a teacher, preferring to talk about her passion for history. The most she’d said about her life as a teacher was where she taught, her reason for becoming a teacher, and her students’ identities for me to recognize them. She never spoke about how she literally forced her students to learn at a breakneck speed just to earn a bonus from the higher-ups.
Of course, there were some issues Saori faced as a teacher. She was only qualified as a history teacher when she first began. She was hired by Shirako High under the assumption she could gain a temporary teacher’s license and work as an assistant teacher for a whole year. When she finished her qualification year and became an official teacher under Shirako High, parents and certain board members weren’t too thrilled.
To become a teacher, a potential educator had to go to college designed for teachers and gain a bachelor’s. Temporary licenses could be given out for substitute teachers, but it was rare for any of them to become full-time teachers, especially for someone who only had a single year of experience. As you could expect, since Shirako High was privately-owned and mostly for students with rich parents or sponsorships, qualified teachers were important.
Saori, however, overcame this hurdle and showed everybody she was not only qualified as a history teacher but as an educator as a whole. It also helped that most of Saori’s students had demanding parents and went to prep schools, and with Saori literally working her ass off to learn what her students needed, her students motivated each other to work more.
“Nobody wanted to be embarrassed,” Kohaku answered. “All those questions, and if you failed one of them, Sensei would point out what you needed to reread, but all of this happened right in front of everybody else. This especially motivated the children of corporate parents, seeing as they knew each other through their parents’ network. The fear of shaming yourselves made everybody enthusiastic.”
“I knew Saori was strict with our finances, but I never knew she was like this as an educator!” Ellaine exclaimed with horror. “T-that is far, far, far stricter than any of the professors at the royal academy. Most of us were there to build up connections and become acquainted with the children of prominent nobles, so the professors rarely scolded us like that. There were even cases where these parents would complain if a professor actually lectured their children. Saori would have been fired the instant she showed this behavior towards a magnoble or greifnoble.”
“Our parents paid very good money for our education, and most expect the school to provide us the education to easily enter any colleges or universities in Japan. Because of this status, talented students with rich families or high sponsorships congregate to Shirako, and, as this is the majority, lazy or delinquent students are unwelcome.” Tamae sighed. “The noble academy is there for nobles to socialize with each other, from what I heard in Griffonpeak, while Shirako High School is there to compete with the best schools in Japan.”
Honestly, Saori sounded like a Korean manhwa protagonist, always motivated by money and achieving her goals in the end.
Kazumi continued, losing her frightened expression in exchange for an excited one. “However, Sensei was pretty relaxed when we were done with anything serious. She congratulated us for passing the midterms, told us to have fun and recuperate during our holidays, and usually made sure we enjoyed our class trips, mostly so she could enjoy them herself, but the intent mattered. The first year was rough, but the later ones became smoother as we got to know Sensei better.”
“Yeeaaaaaahhhhh,” Kohaku let out a long sigh, “It was really nice meeting Sensei again. Maybe she could have kept everybody together, or kept Takuma-san’s and Light-san’s huge egos in check. They were far too much for the class.”
“Who are they, and why did you call this ‘Light-san’ person in English instead of ‘Hikari?’” I asked the students, confused at the random language change.
Tamae raised her hand, answering my question, “It is because the person in question asked us to call him that. He is a half-foreigner and his name is Fram—Uhm, sorry, I can’t pronounce it too well, let me write it down for you.” Tamae then took out a wooden slate and a piece of charcoal from her storage, writing something on it before handing it over to me.
‘Akabane Franz’
“Franz?” I repeated this person’s first name.
Franz? Franz? Isn’t that German? Franz. Franz. Franz?
“Yup, he’s half German, half Japanese. His father is the most influential prosecutor in all of Japan, and an actual devil according to Misaki’s parents,” Tamae continued to explain while I was still mesmerized by the wooden slate. “After Takuma-kun requested everybody to use their first names so we could be more approachable for the Peolyncians, Akabane-san asked everybody to call him ‘Light’ or use his family name. Both of them are leaders of their respective parties and they went with Yuuko-chan, the leader of the last of our class’s five parties, to the Folschreck Empire to expedite the assault on the demonkin, so we can return home faster. That was the plan until you arrived, Hestia-chan.”
He’s German … I see.
“German? My lady, weren’t you half German, too, back on Earth?” Tasianna turned to me, prompting everybody else to raise a brow.
Two half German, half Japanese transmigrators. One of one side of the continent while the other is on the other side. My memory told me nothing, absolutely nothing. Then again, I couldn’t remember anyone’s name on Earth. My memories were slowly returning, but I wasn’t sure how to feel about this fact.
“Yeah, I am … the name ‘Franz’ doesn’t mean anything to me, though. It doesn’t even trigger something like a memory return.” I had already told everybody of my fractured memories, they knew about my inability to recall people’s names and faces from Earth. “Then again, just because we’re 50/50 German and Japanese doesn’t mean we’re related. Don’t you think that’s too much of a coincidence?”
“I mean, Sensei somehow made it to Peolynca; if you ask me, that is a pretty huge coincidence, too,” Kohaku argued. “Then again, maybe all this is just a red herring. Misaki-chan, do you know if Akabane had any female relatives?”
“I don’t know him much. Maybe Aiko-san, but I only knew Akabane-san from rumors. I do know that he is an only child, but I’m not sure about cousins.”
What a weird occurrence this has been. Maybe something would be triggered later in my sleep.
The discussion then went on towards the students’ departure, which would happen in two days, as they figured out the discussion with Franz was making me uncomfortable. They said they were happy they got to meet Aurora during their trip, and that they felt bad they mostly spent time with Saori, mentioning when we meet again, we should all have another girl’s night and go shopping or something.
Something inside me was afraid they would reveal that Saori was joining them and leaving Aurora for them, but all of them mentioned they were glad to learn she was here with them in Peolynca, and that their next meeting would include more of their classmates. I let out a deep internal sigh.
The discussion became too engrossing later on for us to worry about anything, whether it was sleep or any of the previous information. Tasianna described her experience inside the fairy village before any of the tragedies happened to her, sounding relatively happy for a moment before condemning how carefree fairies were.
Ellaine also didn’t have a happy story, revealing everything she experienced as a noble who had lost her will to inherit her House’s rank. The issue of having a talented elder sibling who was impressing others while all she could do was to try not to embarrass her proud parents and enviable brother. When she finally did relinquish her right, something inside her felt relieved and free, but the consequences of her actions caught up to her.
I wonder what happened between Ellaine and the Duke’s daughter?
Ellaine hadn’t mentioned anybody’s names yet outside of her family. Yet, I had a feeling if we were to visit the royal academy, that we would meet with this “Amelia Greenveil.”
If there was one thing a bunch of adolescent girls did well together was to complain. With Tasianna and Ellaine sharing their troubled past, so did the students.
Time just flew by as they recalled their experiences and lives. When it was finally my turn, dawn was already lighting up the sky and everybody was beginning to feel tired. I wasn’t particularly tired, but my terrible memory made it hard for me to give them a great story. Still, if everybody was willing to share their struggles, I didn’t want to feel excluded.
While I was explaining about my fourth audition failure, the door suddenly opened up, and a drunk Yorshka and Saori entered the room. They were laughing and holding onto each other like the best of friends as they greeted us. From behind them, Nishio came in looking not too good—his hair was soaked with mead and ale while his clothes were stained with juices and sauces from whatever the three had eaten.
“Hahaha, everybody thought Nishio was our boyfriend! Ahahaha, as if I’d date somebody smaller than me!” Yorshka bellowed out in her drunk ecstasy.
Saori followed up with her hearty declaration, “Hahaha! People kept coming up to us and just glared at him like he was the scum of the world, literally everybody in the tavern did that! Ahahaha, this amazing woman here and I pummeled some of these guys onto the ground for trying to flirt with us while trying to push Nishio out for looking too ‘young!’ Ha, RestDay is amazing for getting out for a dri—Urp! Kuso—Argh! My throat!”
Yorshka smacked Saori’s back thrice, laughing like mad. “Saori, you should just let it all out next time. Who cares if you need to vomit! Ahahahaha! Come, Nishio, we shouldn’t disturb the girls too much.”
“… Help me.”
Poor dude …
For the rest of the day, the students slept, along with Saori and Nishio, while Ellaine and I had to train with a semi-drunk Yorshka, who kept drinking Tasianna’s tea to get rid of her hangover.
[Dragoon Jump], the most basic of all abilities for a dragoon, was the first ability Yorshka taught us, believing we could handle the rest of our training if she showed examples of her using it. She had to leave with the students tomorrow, so she tried to cram everything in our head before then, bringing to mind the student’s horror stories of Saori the demon teacher. Once tomorrow came, goodbyes had to be said.
“We will be meeting again, Hestia,” Yorshka told me after giving me a hug. “Please, when your mother arrives, give her a warm welcome. She’ll be as unsure as you on how to handle this situation.”
I forced myself to nod. “Yeah, I’ll try.”
“Thank you,” Yorshka responded, letting me go. She then loosened the armor around her neck, opening it up to reveal her white scales before plucking one of them off and handing me one. “Dragons grant those they trust their scales. Dragons take pride in their scales and picking one off means weakening their defense. Yes, I am a bit of a distant relative, but we dragonewts take care of family, just like a dragon would. I will be gladdened to meet you again, and if possible, introduce you and Priscilla to our clan in Loatryx.”
I accepted her gesture, remembering Cernust calling this action also a sign of fealty or submission. Trusting everybody wasn’t encouraged, but rejecting a potential ally was idiotic. “Yes, that would sound great. Please, stay safe until then, Yorshka.”
Yorshka’s eyes widened as she saw this new System notification before giggling and ruffling my hair. “Come now, I didn’t even pledge my oath yet and you made me your retainer? You are mischievous, Hestia.”
“Not like the title means anything to me. You might have trouble gaining the SP needed, but with the title, I’m making sure we meet again, Yorshka.” This was my symbol of trust, my way to say she was my friend.
The aunt and niece relationship we are supposed to have is complicated, but calling each other friends isn’t.
“Sensei, thank you very much!” On Saori’s side, her five students bowed before her, thanking her for her teaching and also for spending time with them. “When we next meet, it will be as ten!”
“Yes, please, take care of yourself, alright?” Saori gave all of them a hug. “Let’s make sure to meet up with the entire class again. If you all find a more reliable way to return to Earth, ask and I’ll make sure to help, otherwise, we can always rely on Hestia helping you out with persuading Aurena.”
And with that, Aurora and The Magical Biscuits ended their first meeting together.
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“This is certainly an interesting Earth custom. We aristocrats usually sleep in separate rooms even if we’re visiting the homes of others,” Ellaine stated.
Meanwhile, Tasianna could only worry. “It sounds like an interesting idea, but … wouldn’t the innkeeper be furious if we simply took the beds out of the individual rooms and placed them inside here?”
There were three rooms shared between Aurora and the Magical Biscuits in our inn, while Grimnir, as he had his RV, was the only one who wasn’t here. Considering Yorshka rented it for us, he could at least enjoy the luxury!
After a pretty huge feast, I was about to go to sleep when Tamae came over and asked me, “Hestia-chan, would you like to join our slumber party?” I mean, it came out of nowhere, but I thought it would be rude to decline it since she seemed to be making an effort to get to know me better. Besides, after having Yorshka literally scream at me in Draconic for the whole day, I welcomed spending some relaxing time with others.
Putting the girl’s beds from the other rooms inside my storage, I placed them in Kazumi’s room, aside from Saori and Yorshka since they went out drinking. There wasn’t much space left to move around in the room, but the plan was to just lay and sit around on the beds anyways.
When Ellaine and Tasianna heard what a slumber party was, they were quite interested in the concept. Tasianna technically had already experienced it in the fairy village, and Aurora usually has a huge slumber party whenever we’re outside in the wild. We talked over a campfire and slept when we felt tired. But I guess we never really did one indoors.
Dressed in pajamas, the seven of us were ready to rock! Uhm, ready to gossip and go to sleep! Maybe.
“Hestia-chan, you go to sleep with your horns and tail out?”
And that was the first thing I heard from the Biscuit girls when I came in.
“Uhm, yeah. Pretty much,” I answered, confused why they would ask me something like that.
Apparently, since they knew Saori and I were able to transform back into a completely human form with [Humanize] at levels 9 and 10 respectively, they thought we slept in our human forms. Having tails and large horns pointing out our bodies sounded like it would cause terrible sleeping postures and a host of other problems. And, if this had been a few months ago, I would have agreed.
Kazumi, who’d just gained the ability to transform into a katzune through [Beastialize] complained about these very things, “When I tried to sit down, my tail just got in the way, and it was especially uncomfortable when the chair had a back. I tried lying down after putting on my pajamas and it always felt like there was a bump down below. Also, not to mention the mana drain while keeping the skill active.”
All these issues were something I had to deal with when I first grew up as a dragonewt. Thankfully, the mana drain from [Humanize] wasn’t a real issue due to my naturally high mana regeneration. The other inconveniences were just that: inconveniences. If you grew up as a human, you’ll of course have to first get used to your new assets and find a way to make them comfortable. Same thing here.
“You get used to them.” Was my answer to Kazumi’s worries before elaborating on it, “The mana is a problem, but you’ll just have to increase your wisdom and [Mana Regeneration] skill, that’s it. On the other hand, your tail is something you shouldn’t have too much trouble with, unlike with mine. My tail has scales, is bulkier, and longer than what your katzune tail looked like, so it gets in the way most of the time. That said, I still managed to get used to it. You should ask Saori. She figured out how to live with her wolf tail without any issue.”
I then jumped on my bed and laid down on my back, moved it between my thighs and curled it up until it touched my chest. I then grabbed it and held it like a hugging pillow, finishing my sleeping posture demonstration.
“I used to sleep on my stomach, with my tail curled to the side like a lizard. That ended up hurting more in other ways, so I ended up changing my posture to this one. When I curl up around my tail like this, I don’t feel that bump, and my long tail won’t get in the way of others. It’s in a resting position, I’m not straining my tail’s muscles, and it hasn’t caused any troubles yet when I move during deep sleep. The only issue is when I’m sleeping with a blanket, since my claws on my toes and fingers can tear through it easily. Thankfully, I generate a lot of body heat, so I don’t need a blanket.”
The only thing that was still an issue was my horns. They took up a lot of space on my bed, so it would get cramp while sleeping next to somebody. Fortunately, this was a minor complaint in exchange for sleeping in my dragonewt form instead of a human. Even if we were inside a city, I didn’t want to let my guard down completely. Assassins, after all.
“Ah, I guess you had over a year to get used to everything, maybe it was a bit too early to complain about everything. But, Kohaku grabbed my tail earlier and the sensation was intense, like wow, I yelped!” Kazumi complained.
A tail was a new body part with all the muscles and nerves coming with it, if somebody suddenly touched it, it would of course feel weird. Over time it would feel normal like an arm or leg.
“Also, if you’re scared your human form is too weak, then why aren’t you in your minor form? Your full dragonewt form.”
“Because I’m still human.”
Since all seven of our twin XL-sized beds were placed right next to each other, it felt as if we were all sleeping on two Alaskan king-sized beds. All seven of us had enough room to move around, lay comfortably, and share some bowls of snacks.
Now, according to my memories, the last time I experienced a slumber party was before I was ten years old, excluding the ones I had with my cousins. My idol obsession went wild after my first failed audition and I began dedicating more of my time to it to the detriment of my social life. Considering how a part of my memories came back and revealed how I actually was in my past life, I hope I could be a better friend now as Hestia.
The discussion then switched over to my sun core. The students were quite curious about my draconic features, although it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me seeing as Tasianna and I were the only non-humans among the seven of us. The core also shone through my pink PJs.
“It honestly looks like a gemstone.” Kohaku stated. “You do know you look like a boss with that huge, glowing weak spot, right? Isn’t this like a trope? Wouldn’t it be really bad if somebody hit it?”
“Yeah, I know, I know. You already saw me in my dragon form, Kohaku-chan. Don’t forget, I have renewable armor in [Panzer] made from my obsidian, plus I can also release a hot enough aura to push anything back. On top of that, it’s surprisingly pretty hard.” While tapping my core to demonstrate the hardiness, everybody except for Tasianna asked me if they could feel it, too. I was a bit reluctant with having people touch me like that, even girls, but it wasn’t like it was too much of a bother.
After that small skinship moment, the discussion then switched to Earth. Ellaine and Tasianna, curious as always when it came to Earthen culture, were bombarding the students with questions I couldn’t answer perfectly due to my memory loss. Also, receiving their perspectives as Japanese students was something new compared to my American experience.
Cultural and social differences between the US and Japan would be the main cause of culture shock for any American traveler, since Japan was a big stickler for conformity. Sure, they wouldn’t be too harsh on obvious foreigners, but if you spoke and looked Japanese, like my previous life, then those harsh glares from strangers could be pretty frightening.
“It sounds a bit like Artorias’s noble circles,” Ellaine commented.
However, what truly made me curious was when they began speaking about school.
“Sensei was, honestly, super scary in the first year she became our homeroom teacher,” Kohaku explained with an uneasy expression. “Like, I knew she was trying to gain our respect through it, but she was trying extremely hard. When we were in middle school, all we really did was be quiet, copy down the stuff from the teacher, and answer the occasional question they sent towards us. Class was never problematic until it’s like one or two weeks away from the midterms, and the teachers just begin pounding all the information into you.”
“On the other hand, Sensei was always aggressive when it came to teaching us,” Misaki continued. “Her history lessons were, surprisingly, the tamest since she had a huge passion for it. She always made the information easy to digest and plentiful. As a high school history teacher, nobody could complain about her, she was extremely qualified despite only having a bachelor’s. However, when it came to the preparations for the exams, that’s when her eyes began to glow red for the whole class.”
“Sensei was strict when it came to making us learn information. Asking questions to make sure students pay attention wasn’t uncommon, but with Sensei, she would bombard the class with questions. Even with the information she presented a week ago, she would be merciless with us,” Tamae recalled, admitting she failed one of Saori’s questions once and received a harsh scolding from her. “You have to understand, Shirako High was mostly for students with rich parents, and these parents have high expectations. During exam week, the school board would ‘encourage’ homeroom teachers to make sure their students did well on the exams. Sensei admitted she needed the bonus money on our first midterms together, and just overwhelmed us with questions from all subjects. Math, English, Japanese, Geology; she would constantly reach out to her senpais and revise their material just to question us.”
Saori with the golden glint is a scary beast, yeah …
As if she remembered one of those moments, Kazumi trembled for a second. “Urgh, and she was also pretty bull-headed against the other teachers. Competitive, dedicated, and qualified. My parents couldn’t stop praising Sensei when my grades were steadily increasing because of her boot camp. Haaaa, my parents spoke so often to me during our dinners that it was nauseating. Sensei is such a scary woman.”
Aside from Kazumi’s clear antagonism towards her parents, learning about how Saori was as a teacher was interesting. Saori had said almost nothing about her past as a teacher, preferring to talk about her passion for history. The most she’d said about her life as a teacher was where she taught, her reason for becoming a teacher, and her students’ identities for me to recognize them. She never spoke about how she literally forced her students to learn at a breakneck speed just to earn a bonus from the higher-ups.
Of course, there were some issues Saori faced as a teacher. She was only qualified as a history teacher when she first began. She was hired by Shirako High under the assumption she could gain a temporary teacher’s license and work as an assistant teacher for a whole year. When she finished her qualification year and became an official teacher under Shirako High, parents and certain board members weren’t too thrilled.
To become a teacher, a potential educator had to go to college designed for teachers and gain a bachelor’s. Temporary licenses could be given out for substitute teachers, but it was rare for any of them to become full-time teachers, especially for someone who only had a single year of experience. As you could expect, since Shirako High was privately-owned and mostly for students with rich parents or sponsorships, qualified teachers were important.
Saori, however, overcame this hurdle and showed everybody she was not only qualified as a history teacher but as an educator as a whole. It also helped that most of Saori’s students had demanding parents and went to prep schools, and with Saori literally working her ass off to learn what her students needed, her students motivated each other to work more.
“Nobody wanted to be embarrassed,” Kohaku answered. “All those questions, and if you failed one of them, Sensei would point out what you needed to reread, but all of this happened right in front of everybody else. This especially motivated the children of corporate parents, seeing as they knew each other through their parents’ network. The fear of shaming yourselves made everybody enthusiastic.”
“I knew Saori was strict with our finances, but I never knew she was like this as an educator!” Ellaine exclaimed with horror. “T-that is far, far, far stricter than any of the professors at the royal academy. Most of us were there to build up connections and become acquainted with the children of prominent nobles, so the professors rarely scolded us like that. There were even cases where these parents would complain if a professor actually lectured their children. Saori would have been fired the instant she showed this behavior towards a magnoble or greifnoble.”
“Our parents paid very good money for our education, and most expect the school to provide us the education to easily enter any colleges or universities in Japan. Because of this status, talented students with rich families or high sponsorships congregate to Shirako, and, as this is the majority, lazy or delinquent students are unwelcome.” Tamae sighed. “The noble academy is there for nobles to socialize with each other, from what I heard in Griffonpeak, while Shirako High School is there to compete with the best schools in Japan.”
Honestly, Saori sounded like a Korean manhwa protagonist, always motivated by money and achieving her goals in the end.
Kazumi continued, losing her frightened expression in exchange for an excited one. “However, Sensei was pretty relaxed when we were done with anything serious. She congratulated us for passing the midterms, told us to have fun and recuperate during our holidays, and usually made sure we enjoyed our class trips, mostly so she could enjoy them herself, but the intent mattered. The first year was rough, but the later ones became smoother as we got to know Sensei better.”
“Yeeaaaaaahhhhh,” Kohaku let out a long sigh, “It was really nice meeting Sensei again. Maybe she could have kept everybody together, or kept Takuma-san’s and Light-san’s huge egos in check. They were far too much for the class.”
“Who are they, and why did you call this ‘Light-san’ person in English instead of ‘Hikari?’” I asked the students, confused at the random language change.
Tamae raised her hand, answering my question, “It is because the person in question asked us to call him that. He is a half-foreigner and his name is Fram—Uhm, sorry, I can’t pronounce it too well, let me write it down for you.” Tamae then took out a wooden slate and a piece of charcoal from her storage, writing something on it before handing it over to me.
‘Akabane Franz’
“Franz?” I repeated this person’s first name.
Franz? Franz? Isn’t that German? Franz. Franz. Franz?
“Yup, he’s half German, half Japanese. His father is the most influential prosecutor in all of Japan, and an actual devil according to Misaki’s parents,” Tamae continued to explain while I was still mesmerized by the wooden slate. “After Takuma-kun requested everybody to use their first names so we could be more approachable for the Peolyncians, Akabane-san asked everybody to call him ‘Light’ or use his family name. Both of them are leaders of their respective parties and they went with Yuuko-chan, the leader of the last of our class’s five parties, to the Folschreck Empire to expedite the assault on the demonkin, so we can return home faster. That was the plan until you arrived, Hestia-chan.”
He’s German … I see.
“German? My lady, weren’t you half German, too, back on Earth?” Tasianna turned to me, prompting everybody else to raise a brow.
Two half German, half Japanese transmigrators. One of one side of the continent while the other is on the other side. My memory told me nothing, absolutely nothing. Then again, I couldn’t remember anyone’s name on Earth. My memories were slowly returning, but I wasn’t sure how to feel about this fact.
“Yeah, I am … the name ‘Franz’ doesn’t mean anything to me, though. It doesn’t even trigger something like a memory return.” I had already told everybody of my fractured memories, they knew about my inability to recall people’s names and faces from Earth. “Then again, just because we’re 50/50 German and Japanese doesn’t mean we’re related. Don’t you think that’s too much of a coincidence?”
“I mean, Sensei somehow made it to Peolynca; if you ask me, that is a pretty huge coincidence, too,” Kohaku argued. “Then again, maybe all this is just a red herring. Misaki-chan, do you know if Akabane had any female relatives?”
“I don’t know him much. Maybe Aiko-san, but I only knew Akabane-san from rumors. I do know that he is an only child, but I’m not sure about cousins.”
What a weird occurrence this has been. Maybe something would be triggered later in my sleep.
The discussion then went on towards the students’ departure, which would happen in two days, as they figured out the discussion with Franz was making me uncomfortable. They said they were happy they got to meet Aurora during their trip, and that they felt bad they mostly spent time with Saori, mentioning when we meet again, we should all have another girl’s night and go shopping or something.
Something inside me was afraid they would reveal that Saori was joining them and leaving Aurora for them, but all of them mentioned they were glad to learn she was here with them in Peolynca, and that their next meeting would include more of their classmates. I let out a deep internal sigh.
The discussion became too engrossing later on for us to worry about anything, whether it was sleep or any of the previous information. Tasianna described her experience inside the fairy village before any of the tragedies happened to her, sounding relatively happy for a moment before condemning how carefree fairies were.
Ellaine also didn’t have a happy story, revealing everything she experienced as a noble who had lost her will to inherit her House’s rank. The issue of having a talented elder sibling who was impressing others while all she could do was to try not to embarrass her proud parents and enviable brother. When she finally did relinquish her right, something inside her felt relieved and free, but the consequences of her actions caught up to her.
I wonder what happened between Ellaine and the Duke’s daughter?
Ellaine hadn’t mentioned anybody’s names yet outside of her family. Yet, I had a feeling if we were to visit the royal academy, that we would meet with this “Amelia Greenveil.”
If there was one thing a bunch of adolescent girls did well together was to complain. With Tasianna and Ellaine sharing their troubled past, so did the students.
Time just flew by as they recalled their experiences and lives. When it was finally my turn, dawn was already lighting up the sky and everybody was beginning to feel tired. I wasn’t particularly tired, but my terrible memory made it hard for me to give them a great story. Still, if everybody was willing to share their struggles, I didn’t want to feel excluded.
While I was explaining about my fourth audition failure, the door suddenly opened up, and a drunk Yorshka and Saori entered the room. They were laughing and holding onto each other like the best of friends as they greeted us. From behind them, Nishio came in looking not too good—his hair was soaked with mead and ale while his clothes were stained with juices and sauces from whatever the three had eaten.
“Hahaha, everybody thought Nishio was our boyfriend! Ahahaha, as if I’d date somebody smaller than me!” Yorshka bellowed out in her drunk ecstasy.
Saori followed up with her hearty declaration, “Hahaha! People kept coming up to us and just glared at him like he was the scum of the world, literally everybody in the tavern did that! Ahahaha, this amazing woman here and I pummeled some of these guys onto the ground for trying to flirt with us while trying to push Nishio out for looking too ‘young!’ Ha, RestDay is amazing for getting out for a dri—Urp! Kuso—Argh! My throat!”
Yorshka smacked Saori’s back thrice, laughing like mad. “Saori, you should just let it all out next time. Who cares if you need to vomit! Ahahahaha! Come, Nishio, we shouldn’t disturb the girls too much.”
“… Help me.”
Poor dude …
For the rest of the day, the students slept, along with Saori and Nishio, while Ellaine and I had to train with a semi-drunk Yorshka, who kept drinking Tasianna’s tea to get rid of her hangover.
[Dragoon Jump], the most basic of all abilities for a dragoon, was the first ability Yorshka taught us, believing we could handle the rest of our training if she showed examples of her using it. She had to leave with the students tomorrow, so she tried to cram everything in our head before then, bringing to mind the student’s horror stories of Saori the demon teacher. Once tomorrow came, goodbyes had to be said.
“We will be meeting again, Hestia,” Yorshka told me after giving me a hug. “Please, when your mother arrives, give her a warm welcome. She’ll be as unsure as you on how to handle this situation.”
I forced myself to nod. “Yeah, I’ll try.”
“Thank you,” Yorshka responded, letting me go. She then loosened the armor around her neck, opening it up to reveal her white scales before plucking one of them off and handing me one. “Dragons grant those they trust their scales. Dragons take pride in their scales and picking one off means weakening their defense. Yes, I am a bit of a distant relative, but we dragonewts take care of family, just like a dragon would. I will be gladdened to meet you again, and if possible, introduce you and Priscilla to our clan in Loatryx.”
I accepted her gesture, remembering Cernust calling this action also a sign of fealty or submission. Trusting everybody wasn’t encouraged, but rejecting a potential ally was idiotic. “Yes, that would sound great. Please, stay safe until then, Yorshka.”
Yorshka’s eyes widened as she saw this new System notification before giggling and ruffling my hair. “Come now, I didn’t even pledge my oath yet and you made me your retainer? You are mischievous, Hestia.”
“Not like the title means anything to me. You might have trouble gaining the SP needed, but with the title, I’m making sure we meet again, Yorshka.” This was my symbol of trust, my way to say she was my friend.
The aunt and niece relationship we are supposed to have is complicated, but calling each other friends isn’t.
“Sensei, thank you very much!” On Saori’s side, her five students bowed before her, thanking her for her teaching and also for spending time with them. “When we next meet, it will be as ten!”
“Yes, please, take care of yourself, alright?” Saori gave all of them a hug. “Let’s make sure to meet up with the entire class again. If you all find a more reliable way to return to Earth, ask and I’ll make sure to help, otherwise, we can always rely on Hestia helping you out with persuading Aurena.”
And with that, Aurora and The Magical Biscuits ended their first meeting together.
AbyssRaven Sleepover, yay!
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