Leon's POV
Walking out the auditorium with Lex Nicks by my side (Nicks had come by to check on us, I couldn't help but feel like crying when I remembered how Lex and I had embarrassed ourselves today.
"Leon I'll head to our dorm, I'm too tired, and I really need to sleep" Lex said before leaving.
I turned to Nick's and asked how the ride on my ship felt compared to commercial ones.
Nicks, a third-year at the academy, lifted his bag and yawned. "It was nice being able to come here straight from home. Beats taking the regular service and having to transfer along the way."
Our (Me and Lex) older sister, Jenna who had just arrived as soon as Lex left, was a second-year. She was a brunette, and obsessed with the latest fashion in the capital.
Her new slave, a cat-eared demi-human with a slim yet muscular form, wore a suit far more expensive than anything Nicks, Lex and I had packed.
"A more glamorous airship would have been better," Jenna huffed. "My friends all have luxurious passenger ships. I hate that I'm the only one who had to ride in something so cheap."
First of all, it's not your ship. Second of all, you only think it's cheap because you don't understand the price of the materials used in it's creation, the the scientific concept it uses are centuries ahead of what you know, plus if you hate it, then don't freakin' ride on it. If only I could say that to her face.
Nicks averted his eyes. "How is it that our mom's fine," he said to me quietly, "but all of her daughters are…this?"
"Hey, are you two listening to me?" she said petulantly. "Leon, if you're really that rich, pay up—you have no idea how much my entertainment expenses cost."
"Hey," I said to Nicks, "how about we just tell the academy you were the one who found the island and all the treasure? You take the credit and go to the higher class, huh?"
"I haven't fallen so low as to steal my younger brothers achievements," he said at once. "Besides, I don't want to go to the higher class, either, t, so you and Lex will have to suffer for 3 years, and You know it's full of women like that."
We both turned to glance at Jenna, still whining as she trailed behind us.
"She used family money to buy herself a freakin' slave, that wench…" I growled.
The slave glared daggers at me. His twitching cat ears sure were sensitive.
Nicks clapped me on the shoulder. "She's been influenced by the higher class. You gotta understand that."
Status among the higher class was determined by what you wore and what you owned and whether you had a slave or not. The opposite was true for men; if they dressed gaudily or dared to have a female slave, they were treated like pariahs.
"You know," Nicks began a bit awkwardly, "it's thanks to you and Lex I can focus on my studies instead of getting a part-time job. My chances of getting a partner are looking good, too. …I just wanted to say I appreciate everything you've done for me."
"Great, then repay me by—" "I'm not going to take your place in the higher classes," he interrupted.
"Oh, by the way, you better memorize this map… It's easy to get lost here."
Nicks and I separated; he had to go to the general class's dormitory, and unfortunately, I was assigned to the higher class's dorm.
Suddenly my feet felt a lot heavier… The dorm was much more luxurious than I would have expected. Even the entrance looked more like a hotel lobby, complete with a receptionist waiting at a desk. Uniformed employees moved briskly to and fro.
"Wow, this place looks just like it did in the game," I mumbled.
My impression? Extravagant. That's it. If I'd been more excited about attending the academy, I might have had more to say. Alas, this was basically a prison for me. Nothing to fawn over but some elaborate background art come to life.
I gave the receptionist my information.
"Ah yes, Lord Leon Fou Bartfort, your room is located here, right next to Lord Lex fou Bartfort" The receptionist showed me a map and handed me a key. "Please be sure to peruse through the dormitory rulebook. If you have any issues, please alert the person in charge."
Just then, another student came up behind me and brushed me aside, a group of lackeys fanning out behind him. "Hey. Show me to my room right now."
He wasn't that high status—just a rich viscount—but when the receptionist heard his name, they bowed their head low. "Welcome to the dormitory! We'll guide you to your room immediately. Please allow us to take your luggage…"
The difference in our treatment was profound. Despite my wealth, I was still unknown, and Bartfort House lacked size. There was definitely a kind of caste system at play; one's school popularity factored into it, of course, but your family's territory and power influenced your status the most.
"I want to go home already," I whined as I dragged myself through the corridors alone. I arrived at the room I would be using for the next three years and let myself in with my key. It was a single and not exactly a spacious one at that—clean, though, and my luggage awaited me. I opened one of the boxes, only to realize my textbooks and notebooks already lay on the desk.
"Three years, huh…?"
I flipped through one of the textbooks.
A voice piped up from inside my bag, "If we have arrived, I would appreciate you letting me out now."
I promptly opened the bag and Luxion floated out, his big red eye scanning over the interior of the room.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot about you," I told him.
"Of course you did, Master. Your memory is utterly praiseworthy."
I sighed at his usual sarcasm as I arranged my things. "So, how was the trip?" I asked sarcastically, as it was punishment for what he did to me at the assembly.
"The magical technology astounded me , but nothing about it could not be replicated just as well with science… I will continue to investigate regardless, but everything else is is, centuries behind Jarvis's and my technology."
In other words, something had piqued his interest.
"For an AI, you sure hide your true feelings. You trying to play games with me?"
"Play games? Are you treating me like a woman? I'm afraid I'll disappoint you, Master. No concept of gender exists for my kind."
You really piss me off.
I forced back the urge to smack to smack him—it—whatever. Fortunately, he drifted off on his own, so I resumed unpacking.
Just then, I heard a knock on the door.