Chapter 70
Let’s Get Along with Maria-chan
With a sharp snort, I watched the three of them flee. The entire classroom was staring at me now—pulling back slightly, at that.
Oops. I reflexively drove them off.
Maybe I went a bit too far.
But having that sort of riffraff hanging around you never leads to anything good anyway.
Even if I end up all alone at the academy, it’s fine because I have my big brother.
As long as you have someone you adore in your heart, you can overcome anything—no matter how hard it gets.
I took my seat with the composed, aloof expression befitting a high-ranking noble. Beside me, Maria-chan was looking at me with sparkling eyes.
“That was amazing… I mean—amazing, ma’am. It’s made of paper… is it?”
Maria-chan, having been raised as a commoner, doesn’t seem very good at using honorifics.
She’s trying to use polite speech somehow, but it comes out awkward and choppy.
The classmates who had been recoiling from me earlier were now frowning at Maria-chan’s way of speaking.
No, really—if she’s never had to use polite language before, it can’t be helped.
Even if her speech isn’t perfect, those three earlier were far ruder, weren’t they?
“Yes, that’s right. It’s made by folding paper.”
“Folding paper?”
Looking puzzled, Maria-chan watched as I took some paper from my bag.
This was square-colored paper Father had made for me at my request. It’s a little thicker than origami paper, but as long as the folds aren’t too intricate, it works just fine.
In fact, when you fold the beak of a paper crane, it folds crisply and feels great.
“First, you line up the corners and fold it into a triangle. Then you fold it into a triangle again, and after that—”
I continued folding while explaining. When it reached the stage where it looked like just wings and legs, Maria-chan stared at it as if she were looking at something strange.
But once I formed the head and tail and it became clearly bird-shaped, her eyes lit up again.
When I spread the wings to show her, Maria-chan exclaimed, “Amazing!”
“Does this bird fly like the one earlier?”
“This one doesn’t fly. How to make it fly is a secret.”
“I see.”
She nodded honestly—still not using honorifics.
Since Abel used polite language properly with my brother earlier, maybe Abel could teach her.
But Abel lives in the dorms, right?
Basically, nobles with magical power are required to attend this academy.
So for students who live so far away that it would take weeks by carriage, the academy provides dormitories.
The dorms are divided into the luxurious Kreis Dormitory, built for high-ranking nobles and named after the first king, Kreis Highclare, and the Fitz Dormitory, funded by donations from nobles and used by poorer nobles and scholarship commoners.
Of course, Abel and Maria-chan are in Fitz Dormitory—but inside, the buildings are strictly separated by gender, so there’s no interaction.
I mean, honestly, it would be a problem if they could interact freely.
That means it might be impossible for Maria-chan to learn polite speech from Abel.
If her roommates are kind and teach her, that would be great—but who knows?
Once something like this catches my attention, I can’t stop thinking about it.
Ideally, I’d rather not get close to anyone connected to Abel—who might one day kill my brother.
But when I see Maria-chan looking at the paper crane with such sparkling curiosity, I can’t help thinking it would be cruel for her to be hurt by the malice of the nobles.
Since I’m a noble who still carries the sensibilities of a commoner from my past life, I feel like I could support her in a good way.
But if I become close to Maria-chan, that inevitably means getting closer to Abel as well.
For now, the Demon King hasn’t been resurrected, so my brother and Abel are just senior and junior.
In the novel, they were supposed to fight together after forming a party during the academy’s field training.
Even if the Demon King is resurrected as in the story, if things stay as they are, my brother isn’t guaranteed to join the subjugation party.
So I know it would be better to remain just classmates with Maria-chan, but…
Still, I’ve been kept alive by the goodwill of many people.
Starting with my brother—Father, Professor Robert, Dorothy, and others were there for me. Because of them, my excess mana was cured, and I can attend the academy like this.
If that’s the case, then if there’s a hand I can extend, shouldn’t I do so?
“Maria, you can use healing magic, can’t you?”
By speaking to her like this, I’m subtly showing that I, Leticia Rosenberg, acknowledge Maria-chan.
There isn’t a single noble here who wouldn’t understand that.
When I casually swept my gaze around, everyone quickly lowered their eyes.
They understood… right?
I’m not just being feared… right?
“Yes. That’s right. Abel—ah, my childhood friend who came earlier—and I were playing when we were attacked by a magical beast. Abel got hurt protecting me. Then there was this bright flash, and his wound healed.”
“You were attacked by a magical beast?”
Wait—hold on.
You were attacked by a magical beast?
Then miasma would remain. Ordinary healing magic shouldn’t be able to heal that.
The only ones who can are priests trained at the temple—or—
“Yes. There was a lot of blood, and the wound turned purple.”
“And you healed that?”
“Yeah.”
A wound turning purple—that’s definitely miasma.
Which means—
“A Saint…?”
Could it be that Maria-chan is a Saint!?
