The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 160: Beware Of The Red-head (2)

Friendships were easier to form than you think.

You could build a deep relationship simply by meeting frequently over a long time. Human relationships weren’t anything different. If the physical distance grew closer, then the mental distance was bound to do so as well.

Lotte and I were friends with matching interests; both of us were hardcore bookworms.

So our routine was simple as heck.

Study, eat, rest for a bit then back to studying. It was a common sort of friendship found at prestigious universities.

I’d experienced this kind of superficial relationship even at the schools I attended on Earth so it was familiar to me. The only part that was different was that Lotte and I stayed as roommates two semesters in a row.

This was because of marks.

With Vermel dropping out, I moved up to first place and Lotte became second. If someone else had been second instead of Lotte and a girl, that person would’ve been my new roommate.

But Lotte’s skills were incredible even amongst the gifted class.

Anyway, I just wanted to say one thing–the longer you stuck together, the more attached you became.

Lotte hung out with other friends, too, but she spent far more time with me. It felt like we were together for ten hours a day on average.

If you spent this much time together, you inevitably got to know a lot of things about each other; like lifestyle, or some kind of kept secret, for example.

Or an unexpected side of you that you didn’t show anyone.

People all had something unexpected to them. Who in the world was one-dimensional? Everyone had concerns or one or two habits that they didn’t really show others.

Of course, Lotte also had an unexpected side to her. I realized one of them not long ago.

“You’re all grown-up so you should be dressed properly. What is this?”

She... nagged more than I thought.

I wasn’t saying that nagging was bad. She was probably saying these things because she cared. Rather, it had been rare for her to point things out to me when we hadn’t known each other for long.

But lately, this sort of nagging has been increasing. If I thought about it, she started being like this around the end of first semester.

“Hey, are you listening to me?”

“...Mmhm.”

Despite Lotte’s prodding, I could only whine weakly.

I had used up all my energy getting my hair done. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even protest.

On the other hand, Lotte had been sighing continuously since earlier.

“So, it isn’t just about covering yourself with a robe or coat. You have to dress well on the inside, too. Okay?”

“Yes....”

“Are you tired?”

“Why are you doing this to me....”

“Because you’ll be a noble after you graduate but you carry yourself too clumsily.”

She wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t very conscious of it, but for a ‘girl’, the way I conducted myself was a downright mess.

First of all, my hair was a disaster; it was on the long side even compared to my classmates. And it wouldn’t have mattered if it was just long, but I’d neglected it so much that at some point, it would get all disheveled at the slightest movement.

But that wasn’t the case now because it transformed into sleek, supple locks thanks to Lotte’s ‘Aether: Become Human Project’.

I felt my hair while listening to Lotte’s concerns under the guise of scolding. It had definitely become a lot softer compared to before. The stiffness had completely disappeared and there were noticeably less splits.

Most of all, the weightiness. It’d often feel like my nape was being tugged on, but that sensation was gone.

There was the penalty of not being able to wash my hair for about 48 hours, but what could I do? I should tolerate this much.

I didn’t regret it so much. Yet contrary to my tidied hair, my clothes were still in a sloppy state.

“What do you think people look at first when they see each other?”

“Face.”

“And then?”

“Clothes, I suppose?”

It was then that Lotte nodded with a loosened expression.

Normally, Lotte didn’t comment all that much about attires. That was obvious since we mainly went around in uniforms at the Academy.

A white dress shirt and broach, a tennis skirt-looking dress and a robe on top was it. Most Academy students went around like that and no one criticized them for it.

But plain clothes were different.

There were endless combinations with plain clothes. Depending on how you wore them, the fit could be good or you could look stupid.

I was closer to the latter, because my sense of style was weird as fuck.

This was the same whether here or on Earth. All I’d done was read books and write papers so there had been no reason to be interested in fashion.

“Alright, let’s try this as well.”

I was half out of my mind from how much we’d gone around the store.

I’d spent a whole five hours at the salon alone. But after leaving the salon, another two hours had passed. So it had been at least seven hours of going around for cosmetic purposes.

Honestly, it was killing me.

It was getting darker and darker outside. The sun went down, and the stars and heavens arose. The moonlight scattered lightly through the clouds.

“I’m going to have a hard time with research the day after....”

“Ahem, no going back on your decision.”

Maybe I would’ve set a limit had I known this would happen. Smacking my lips, I went into the fitting room again.

So I just kept going in and out like that repeatedly. When we managed to leave a store, it was straight to the next one. And what we did here wasn’t much different, just a repeat of changing and dressing.

The prices were significant due to the recession, but my wallet was sturdy thanks to Rosemary who’d started supporting me.

“I said I’ll pay.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s because I want to get it for you....”

Lotte tried to bring out her wallet a few times but I stopped her each time. I had several reliable sources of income, but she didn’t. I’d just bought several outfits right now, and I couldn’t have her spend too much.

Besides, today was for Lotte to demand anything of me. I couldn’t be the one receiving money.

I pulled out a card instead of gold or platinum coins. It was a very useful payment method that wasn’t universalized in this world.

The way to take the money was simple: just charge mana into the magnetic stripe. I could get small amounts of mana directly from the hardcover so it wasn’t that hard to use.

I flowed mana into the magnetic stripe, then the mana soon turned into gold coins and was placed on the counter. Lotte and the employee watched this scene with amazed eyes.

“It’s a fascinating tool no matter how many times I see it.... Where in the world did you get something like this?”

“From somewhere.”

I couldn’t tell her that it was from Lady Blueberry of the Blanton family who was really a Cataclysm.

Rumble.

Anyway, I was hungry. I was going to die of starvation since it had been over seven hours of getting my hair done and going shopping for clothes.

“Should we get something to eat?”

“That would be good.”

“Is there anything you want in particular?”

“Anything... ah.”

Lotte’s eyes narrowed. ‘Anything’? It was a word disliked by a considerable number of people.

“You’re going to be a noble in the future. Try talking a bit more decisively.”

“...Uh, pasta?”

Lotte finally gave a pleased smile. I suddenly found myself in a situation of learning about noble etiquette.

Actually, I had been learning about noble etiquette from time to time for a while. Even just this past summer break, I’d learned how nobles drank.

Come to think of it, I was once told by Miss Heerlein.

─ When a commoner suddenly becomes a noble, then they get picked on a lot, even over simple manners. So not everything is sunshine and roses after graduation.

Commoners and nobles had different lives, and so there could only be differences in the rules of etiquette that they shared.

That subtle difference incited heavy rebuke, including the clothes worn and maintaining a decent hair style.

It was the same for dining. Unlike the lower class who needed to eat ‘anything’ out of poverty and destitution, nobles could actively choose what they wanted to eat. These kinds of differences were said to be small but significant. At least, in aristocratic society.

I couldn’t. I knew being a noble wasn’t going to work for me. I somehow had to leave here before graduating and get to Iliad....

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

...Was what I thought for a moment, but Lotte who was all happy was sitting in front of me.

Lotte looked like she was pondering something. Then after the food came out, she carefully asked.

“When you get your title later, should we ask His Majesty for you to get the land right next to our estate?”

“Huh?”

My fork, which had been aiming for the freshly-made cream pasta, froze when I heard that.

It was a continuation of our last talk where Lotte had suggested that after we develop a thermonuclear weapon, eradicate all the Beasts in the world, and the world becomes peaceful, we should live together peacefully in her hometown.

I had reluctantly agreed to it, because the atmosphere at the time felt like I shouldn’t refuse.

In fact, it was still the same now. I had gotten a lot more from Lotte than I had given.

That was why I had suggested this whole thing. Since both of us had enough money and we interacted a lot through our studies, to please ask me for what you need.

In a way, it was a cowardly move. Lotte couldn’t be comfortable with a good friend lowering herself to her.

That could be why she was trying to dress me up this time, because it was much better than using me like a slave or servant.

She was a very considerate kid. So how could I dare not listen to this pure child’s cute request to ‘live together’....

Unfortunately, it was a difficult request to grant. Because I would be gone and back to Earth once we defeated the Demon King.

To be honest, I didn’t want to keep lying.

I took a deep breath. Even if I couldn’t tell her that I had the body of a monster, I should at least say that I wasn’t going to be able to stay with her to the end.

Determined, I was just about to open my mouth.

“S-sis! Four hundred gold just went out of my account, is that right...?”

Then a single Blueberry burst into the store.