Chapter 5: Mentor

“Freshmen? Come this way!”

As I entered the main gate, someone who appeared to be a current student of the academy gestured for me to come over.

I was wearing the academy’s uniform, so I looked like an upperclassman, and I didn’t have the slightest desire to rebel against the academy yet, so I obediently followed what he said.

As I got closer, a woman with impressive, uncommon green hair greeted me.

“Hello!”
“Hel…lo?”

For your information, it was that upperclassman who greeted me brightly.
I was flustered and stammered because of the overwhelming bright energy.

“I couldn’t tell from a distance, but you’re really handsome?”

Hmm, I definitely met this person for the first time today.
Honestly, I’m not unattractive, but I’m not that handsome either.
Is she trying to ease the awkwardness of being a freshman?

The answer I gave to the unexpected compliment on my appearance was a truly foolish one.

“······Thank you?”
“Kuk kuk.”

And upon hearing that answer, the nameless green-haired upperclassman began to cover her mouth and laugh.

Of course, it was an answer that I would have laughed at if I had heard it, but isn’t she laughing too loudly?

I feel a bit embarrassed.

“···”
“‘Hel…lo?’ What kind of greeting is that?”

Is she a person with great social skills, or is she very much her own person?

“My name is Tinia Ailander.
I’m a 2nd-year student at the academy and the person who will be your mentor for about a month.”

Seeing her consistently introducing herself, even knowing that I’m staring at her with a very foolish expression, it seems like she is very much her own person.

Besides, a mentor?

“A mentor?”
“You can be sure that you wouldn’t know since you’re new here.
The mentor system is a custom that has been passed down at our academy for a long time, where 2nd-year students each take on one freshman to help them adapt to school life as a mentor.”

So, it’s a consideration for freshmen who have come to the academy for the first time… right?

Since it’s a completely different environment from the environment they’ve lived in until now, it seemed like there would be many students who would have difficulty adapting.

In my case, I’ve never lived outside of the Count’s mansion from my previous life until now, so I thought I would have a hard time if I had to live without anything at first.

“And you?”
“Me?”
“What’s your name? We’re going to see each other for about a month, so we should at least introduce ourselves.”
“······I’m Rian Kindred.”
“···???”
“?”

What’s going on?

She suddenly froze.

Upon hearing my name, Senior Tinia suddenly froze like a stone, as if she had been hit by petrification magic.

“Senior Tinia?”
“······What did you say your name was?”
“I’m Rian Kindred.”
“That… the Rian Kindred I know?”

Oh, this senior has heard the rumors too.

Well, half of the academy students are nobles, so isn’t it strange if she doesn’t know my name?

Moreover, this senior used the surname when she introduced herself, so she must be a noble.

“Perhaps… it’s the Rian Kindred you know.”

At least, there’s no one with the name Rian Kindred among the nobles.

“Oh my.”

Senior Tinia, who expressed how surprised she was with a short exclamation, seemed to have stopped thinking.

Well… I think I would be surprised too.

My reputation among the nobles couldn’t be any worse than this.

The leader of the delinquent noble youths, the only stain on the prestigious Kindred Count family.

Those are the nicknames that refer to me, which seem like they couldn’t be any worse.

But this person has to guide me as her mentor for a month?
It was a situation that would make a soft-hearted person burst into tears.

‘······I think it’s not very different from crying.’

Come to think of it, crying might be better.
Than freezing like that.

“Senior? Senior Tinia?”
“Oh… oh? Oh.”

She does answer, but… she still doesn’t seem to have come to her senses.

It must have been shocking for her if her mentee was someone like this, but she couldn’t stay like this because she had to participate in the entrance ceremony.

I felt sorry for the senior, who seemed to have a soft heart, but I had no choice but to use shock therapy.

I’ve never done this once after deciding to reform.

“Aaa.”
I lowered my voice and spoke in a very low voice.

“If you help me well, I won’t turn out like the rumors.”
“Hiii!”

As the shock therapy(?) worked well, the senior hid behind a pillar, away from me as if she was a cat approaching.

And it was a bonus that she tilted her head and whispered.

“Really…?”

“Of course.
I’m not a madman, and would I harm someone who helps me well?”
“You seem… like a madman.”
“···”

My reputation is worse than I thought.

This is unexpected.

“That’s a slight exaggeration from the rumors, and I’m not that crazy.”
“Really?”

She asked hesitantly several times as if she didn’t believe me, just like a cat.

“Really.”
“······I don’t believe you, but I have no choice but to believe you because of the entrance ceremony coming up.
I also get penalties if I can’t guide my mentee properly.
Now, follow me.”

Does a mentor also get penalized if the mentee doesn’t adapt to school properly?

I thought that most people wouldn’t want to do this kind of thing, but it was a clear answer that broke through that thought.

‘It seems like she’s being forced to do it with her grades as a hostage.’

My doubts and suspicions about the mentor system, which has been going on since ancient times, being a form of passion pay, grew and grew, but I had to chase after Senior Tinia, who had already started walking briskly, so I pushed the doubts to the side of my head and began to walk in a hurry.

“······Why me…”
“···”

I decided to lightly ignore the sighing sound coming from in front of me.

Following Senior Tinia, we arrived at a building surrounded by a large circular roof.

“This is the Grand Auditorium.”
“The Grand Auditorium?”

The Grand Auditorium?
What kind of building is it used for?

Perhaps because my eyes were showing too much curiosity, the senior started explaining about the uses and history of the auditorium.

“This auditorium was built at the same time as this academy.
It’s essentially a building that has been with the beginning of the academy.”
“Oh…”
“And we use this auditorium whenever there are large events that all students participate in, such as the entrance ceremony.”

If it’s not a big event like the entrance ceremony, she rarely uses it, right?

Looking up at the building again, the size of the auditorium seemed too big to use for just any event.

I didn’t really feel anything from looking at such a majestic building.

‘It must be hard to clean.’

Most of the time, they’ll use magic, but unless you’re a person who has mastered cleaning magic, you have to clean it to some extent.

I was only worried about the suffering of the person who cleans that building.
I didn’t have any words that would stick to my mouth, like it’s cool or majestic.

“Can you see over there?”
“?”

Over there… does she mean those chairs?

A group of empty chairs could be seen in the direction that Senior Tinia was pointing.

“That’s the freshmen’s seats.
After the entrance ceremony ends there, you’ll receive your student ID card and be guided to your dormitories by your mentors.”
“Do I just go over there?”
“Yes, you’ll see me a little after the entrance ceremony ends.”
“Then I’ll go.”
“Have you forgotten what you promised earlier?
I helped you well!”

What I promised earlier… is she talking about the part where I said I wouldn’t cause any trouble if she helped me well?

She seems to be quite concerned about what she said.

“I’ll keep my promise.”
“That’s a relief.
I was sure you wouldn’t keep your promise.”
“···”
“See you later.”

I didn’t intend to cause any trouble… It makes me somehow angry when she says it like that.

I briefly parted ways with Senior Tinia and sat down in the freshman’s seat, finding the place with my name written on it.

‘Rian Kindred’

“Here…right?”

Well, as I said before, there’s no one with the name Rian Kindred.

As I sat down, thinking such useless thoughts, I heard whispers from the seats that had been empty when I saw them from a distance before parting with Senior Tinia.

“That person…the one that we have only heard about…”
“He’s handsome.
If it weren’t for the rumors, I’d have tried talking to him right away.”
“Hey, do you still think like that even after hearing those rumors?
I’m too scared to even go near him.”

It was the same kind of whispers I always heard at the Count’s mansion, but the fact that the subjects of the whispers were my peers, such as students, and not maids or servants, made me feel strange.

The whispers themselves were something I couldn’t separate from my previous life, so I’d reached the point where I didn’t really care about hearing them, and what I felt strange was that it was really different from the past.

In the past, the peers I saw were only those from the delinquent noble families, and there was no way for those guys to openly whisper in front of me, so the feeling of being whispered at by my peers was a very strange feeling.

‘······Shall I take a nap?’

Since it still takes some time for the entrance ceremony to start, I was going to use the whispers as a lullaby and try to sleep until the entrance ceremony started, however.

“Riana…?”

The sleep was completely gone because of someone’s voice, that I couldn’t forget even in my dream.

“······Adel.”

It was a rather early meeting, which overturned my expectations that I would only meet her after the school started.