12:30.
Right now, I was sitting in a classroom.
If anyone asked why I had arrived so early, my answer would be: I have no idea either.
After receiving that watch, I genuinely did not know what I was supposed to do next. Well, that was not entirely true. I had stopped by the academy cafeteria for a bit, with the perfectly ordinary intention of buying something light to eat before class started.
It was a nice plan.
Too bad it was impossible.
Now I understood why the dorms were free for students.
Because everything else was expensive to a completely unreasonable degree.
A single honey-covered pancake cost five thousand rent.
What the hell?
Compared to the currency in my old world, that amount was enough to buy ten similar ones, maybe even with enough left over for a drink. But here, it got me one pancake. Sure, it looked delicious, but it was still just one pancake.
For reference on the tragic state of my finances, I currently had about...
Seven thousand rent left in my wallet.
Seven.
Thousand.
Rent.
Pitiful to the point of comedy.
The moment I realized I was poor in such a dignified way, I immediately gave up on the idea of buying food in the cafeteria. It would be much better to buy some ingredients later this afternoon and cook for myself instead.
At least that way I might survive the first week without having to sell myself into janitorial labor.
This academy truly never stopped surprising me.
And so here I was.
Alone.
Selene said she wanted to get something to eat, so we split up at the cafeteria. It was not until then that I learned she was the daughter of a noble family.
Traitor.
I thought we were friends.
Of course, that accusation existed only as a very small complaint inside my heart. Outwardly, I kept a perfectly normal expression, because Selene had at least been kind enough to add that her family was only a minor noble house.
Mm.
At least that comforted me a little.
By the way, Selene and I were in the same class.
But no matter how you looked at it, a noble was still a noble.
In this world, even the lowest-ranking noble, or one from some remote backwater region, still stood very far above a commoner. That gap was not always written out explicitly, but it existed in the way people looked at one another, in the way they treated one another, and in the opportunities each person was born holding in their hands.
And the source of most of that difference, in the end, lay in something called a blessing.
In a way, this world really had produced an almost perfect class system on its own.
It was not that only people with blessings had talent.
Rather, it was the other way around.
Those with extraordinary talent were the ones most likely to awaken blessings that matched their abilities.
A child born with rare magical aptitude would, upon reaching a certain age, very likely awaken a blessing directly tied to that gift. And if a blessing came hand in hand with genius, it was almost never going to be ordinary.
Talent led to privilege.
Privilege gave birth to distance.
This world was unfair in a way that felt completely natural.
So natural that people no longer seemed surprised by it.
I rested my chin on one hand and stared vaguely toward the podium at the front of the room.
The classroom was still fairly empty. Rows of desks and chairs were lined up neatly from front to back, and the windows stood open to let in the midday sunlight, softened somewhat by the glass. The room was strangely quiet, with only the faint sound of wind outside and the occasional noise drifting in from the hallway far away.
If not for the painfully tragic state of the money in my pocket, this scene really would not have been bad at all.
Click.
Hm?
Someone came in?
I tilted my head slightly and glanced at the watch on my wrist. Apparently, this thing did not just display student information. It also had basic functions like telling the time.
12:34.
Still pretty early.
I looked up toward the door.
To be honest, for a brief moment, I had hoped it would at least be Selene. Maybe she had suddenly felt guilty about leaving me alone and decided to come back early.
But no way life would be that kind.
A girl with bright red hair walked into the classroom.
Not dark red. Not reddish-brown.
It was a vivid red so striking that a single glance was enough to draw attention. Paired with eyes of a similar shade, the overall effect was even more impressive.
She really was beautiful.
I had to admit that.
In this world, brightly colored hair was not actually rare, especially among nobles. People called it something like elite bloodlines, or something along those lines. It was less common among ordinary people, but not unheard of either.
A prime example being me.
No, wait.
What I meant was, even though I only had a few blue strands mixed into my black hair, technically that still counted as color.
Even so, a red this vivid was definitely rare. At least, I had never seen anyone else with something that eye-catching.
She stepped into the classroom with an expression that looked thoroughly unpleasant.
Or more accurately, it was a cold look tinged with irritation, as if the whole world had collectively borrowed money from her and not a single person had paid it back. Even so, her appearance was striking enough that if you ignored that faint air of resentment toward life, she was absolutely the type who drew attention just by showing up.
Wait.
A strange feeling suddenly came over me.
Could this be one of those familiar romance drama setups?
The male lead sitting alone in an empty classroom, then the female lead walks in. The air is quiet. Their eyes meet. A fateful spark explodes. Spring suddenly knocks on the heart of someone who had long since gone cold.
That's right.
This was it.
Rain's spring had arrived once again.
Naturally, life punched me in the face almost immediately.
Because there was another girl behind her.
Pale blonde hair, black eyes, a slightly smaller frame, and an overall impression of someone very shy. The moment she stepped into the room, her eyes darted around a little, as though she were searching for some place safe enough to exist in.
Then her gaze landed on me.
"Ah."
Ah.
Our eyes meeeeeet.
Too bad the actual atmosphere was nowhere near that cute.
After realizing what had happened, the red-haired girl followed her friend's gaze and looked over at me too.
Then she glared.
I fell silent.
Question marks slowly began to appear in my head.
??
What did I do to you two?
"Tch."
Hey.
This is a classroom, you know, asshole.
You cannot just be annoyed because someone arrived earlier than you. What kind of terrible personality is that?
The blonde girl gave the difficult lady next to her a gentle tug on the arm.
"Hey, Es, I told you not to glare at people like that."
Es.
Probably her nickname.
The red-haired girl crossed her arms, her expression growing even more unpleasant.
"The way nobles look at people is never anything good."
A noble?
I almost laughed out loud.
My ass.
I wish.
And if she was saying that, then she herself was probably a commoner too. Maybe that red hair was the result of her blessing awakening, like mine.
Thinking about it again, it was not really relevant.
Whatever.
Rude girl.
The two of them exchanged a few more quiet words, then chose seats not too close to me. The red-haired girl sat down with the same guarded expression, while the blonde girl looked much more awkward, occasionally sneaking glances in my direction as though she wanted to say something but had not worked up the courage yet.
I did not really care.
It was not that unusual to run into someone who disliked you for no reason on your first day of school. I just had not expected it to happen this fast.
Right as I was thinking that, the blonde girl suddenly stood up.
"Ella, don't—"
The red-haired girl's attempt to stop her came from behind, but it was too late.
The blonde girl—or rather, Ella, apparently—walked toward me at a careful pace.
I stayed seated and watched her approach.
Her steps were not fast. There was even a trace of hesitation in them, as if each one came with a fresh effort to convince herself that yes, she really should do this.
She stopped in front of my desk.
"Um..." She hesitated for a moment before continuing, her voice small and soft. "My lord noble, could you please forgive us? Estelle... she's a little rude."
After saying that, she even lowered her head.
Hm.
This part was kind of awkward.
I looked at her for a moment, then lightly scratched my cheek.
"Um, first of all..." I said slowly, "I'm not a noble, so please don't act all respectful like that. It's embarrassing."
"H-huh?"
Her reaction was obviously genuine.
Her eyes widened. Her expression froze in surprise. Her whole body seemed to stop for a few brief seconds.
"Is something wrong?" I asked. "Also, what's your name?"
"Um... Stella," she answered. "Stella Reiss."
"I'm Rain." I gave a small nod. "As for the apology, there's really no need. You didn't do anything to me."
"But..."
"If anyone should be apologizing," I continued in the same calm tone, "it would probably be that red-haired friend of yours."
"Estelle."
A voice rang out from behind her.
I looked up.
At some point, the red-haired girl had already risen to her feet. Her gaze was fixed on me, so sharp that if looks could turn physical, I probably would have had a few holes in me already.
Ah.
Looks like this classroom wasn't going to be peaceful after all.