Getting Acquainted

Getting Acquainted

Based on Pei Renli's gaming experience, running into an NPC in heavy armor in a fantasy setting did not seem all that strange. But looking around, everyone else wore long shirts and trousers convenient for movement. Forget heavy armor—even lighter armor was nowhere to be seen. Everyone was traveling light.

Then again, someone clad head to toe in heavy armor should have been incredibly conspicuous. Yet for some reason, Pei Renli had not even realized there was someone beside him until the man spoke. His presence was abnormally faint.

With one sentence, he successfully drew everyone's attention. Tin Can shifted the chair beneath him, making people wonder whether it could bear his weight without collapsing.

Only after moving closer did he lower his voice and say:

"That was when I was eight. I heard that Miss Kaya's carriage had met with an accident on a mountain road. A lot of adults went to help, and I was curious, so I followed them. We found the bodies of some accompanying servants beneath the road and on the cliff. It was horrific. Most of them had been smashed beyond recognition, but Miss Kaya alone was completely unharmed. When we found her, she was sitting on the ground without moving, as though she'd lost her soul. I even saw her smile in a really strange way. That was definitely a curse."

Tin Can spoke with absolute conviction, his voice carrying a faint tremor, as if the memory still frightened him.

"The survivors were mostly left disabled as well. Even a priest specially invited from the city said there was nothing he could do."

"Kaya's brother was disabled at that time too?"

"Yeah."

The halfling seated in front of Pei Renli shot him a look that said, See? I told you so, then asked Tin Can:

"Buddy, isn't it stuffy wearing all that?"

"Oh, I'm used to it."

As he spoke, the man raised both hands to remove his helmet.

Following the usual trope, there should have been a pretty girl beneath that helmet, but reality was clearly different from what Pei Renli had imagined.

When the helmet came off, it revealed a round, chubby face. Even with the armor concealing his figure, just looking at that face made it clear that he was definitely not slim.

A little embarrassed, he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I always feel insecure. I can only relax when I'm hiding inside armor."

How painful must his past have been for him to lack security to this extent...?

"Don't tell anyone else what I just said."

The halfling patted his chest and promised:

"Don't worry. I can keep a secret."

"What can't you tell other people? What are you talking about?"

A crisp, sweet voice and a pair of rabbit ears squeezed into the little circle of three. Without anyone noticing, another person had joined them.

She had short flaxen hair, adorable freckles still scattered across her face, and of course, the most eye-catching feature of all: those rabbit ears. At first glance, she looked like someone in cosplay.

There were many intelligent races in this world, not just humans.

If someone had animal traits but otherwise looked little different from a human, they were most likely a beastfolk.

Unlike the green-skinned, tusked beastfolk from a certain game company, the beastfolk here could technically be considered human. They were one of humanity's subspecies.

Human was really just a general term, with many subspecies beneath it. Other races were much the same.

For instance, the halflings Pei Renli had been talking with had different subspecies, such as stout halflings, deep halflings, and lightfoot halflings.

Beastfolk were human subspecies whose bodies had mutated to a certain degree under the influence of their environment and magic. Their animal features were usually not mere decoration, and they possessed some special abilities compared to ordinary humans.

For example, this rabbit-eared girl might be agile and have exceptionally sharp hearing.

"We were just talking about Kaya—"

"Hey, hey, hey! You said you wouldn't tell anyone else!"

"I'm kidding. I can keep a secret."

Pei Renli felt that when this halfling claimed he could keep a secret, it was less like being watertight and more like opening the floodgates of a reservoir...

"What are you writing?"

"This?"

The beastfolk girl waved the palm-sized notebook in her hand, then closed it together with the charcoal pencil and tucked both into her shirt pocket.

"I'm collecting information. It's a little personal hobby of mine. We'll be together for two years, after all. It's better if everyone gets to know each other more."

She gave a sly smile. That expression made Pei Renli think of a fox rather than a rabbit.

"I've got the measurements of quite a few pretty girls. Interested?"

The halfling immediately perked up.

"Miss, my name is Alton. Can I trade my name for your measurements?"

"Your name isn't worth anything."

After making the joke, the beastfolk girl introduced herself openly.

"I'm Koura, from the Howling Woods."

"Gary."

"Pei Renli."

At her introduction, Tin Can and Pei Renli gave their names as well.

Originally, Pei Renli had not intended to use his real name at school. Lavna had told him that someone's true name might be necessary for casting certain spells, usually curses or divinations.

Pei Renli had never forgotten that he was hiding his identity as the "Demon King." If someone cast a spell to see whether "a new Demon King had appeared," they might very well obtain his name. And since Pei Renli was a rather unusual name among the locals, he could easily be identified.

But Lavna had handled the paperwork. Without seeming to think much about it, she had simply written down Pei Renli's real name...

Since that was the case, using a false name now seemed pointless.

In truth, Pei Renli was overthinking things. Using magic to locate a particular person was not so easy. He was basically outsmarting the air.

Still, "Pei Renli" was indeed a strange name to the locals. Koura's rabbit ears twitched as she gave him an interested look.

But adventurers were famously full of oddballs. A name with unusual pronunciation was nothing remarkable.

"All right, quiet down."

The teacher had probably arrived. The buzzing chatter in the classroom quickly died down. Seeing this, Koura hurried back to her seat. It turned out she sat directly in front of Gary, that Tin Can.

And the teacher who entered the classroom...

Honestly, she really did not look like a teacher.

She appeared to be a woman around thirty. Unlike the girls who still retained considerable youthfulness, every gesture of hers brimmed with the charm of a mature woman. Her outfit was a robe, yet it had deliberately been cut open in many places. Whether it was for fashion or simply the design, no one knew, but large swathes of fair skin were exposed. Combined with her excellent figure, the young people—none much older than twenty—were staring so hard their eyes nearly popped out.

Only Pei Renli was not particularly interested. For someone from the Information Age, this was still rather tame. She was not even as pretty as the 2D girls in mobile games...

He had simply seen too much.

The thing that made her least like a teacher was that she seemed quite pleased with the effect her clothes had caused. Only after several seconds, when the classroom had gone completely quiet, did she tap the blackboard and say:

"I am your teacher for Magical Common Knowledge. But there will be no lessons today. I'm giving everyone a chance to get acquainted. In my experience, it is best not to stir up any conflicts during your time at school. You may end up working together in the future."

There were very few lone wolves among adventurers. Most formed teams that worked well together, and most adventurer teams began building that teamwork during their training. Maintaining interpersonal relationships was important.

That was also why Koura was collecting information on everyone. The more she knew, the more likely she was to avoid stepping on conversational landmines.

Speaking of Koura, while the teacher was talking at length in front of the class, Pei Renli noticed that she had pulled out her notebook and was furiously scribbling with her charcoal pencil.

Since he was seated diagonally from her, Pei Renli could clearly see what she wrote in the notebook: "Alton and Gary are virgins."

This... could not possibly have been the conclusion she drew from their reactions just now, right?

Then she wrote: "Pei Renli may be more interested in men."

Hold it right there!

The teacher's appearance had only been for a few reminders, such as not leaving the school without permission and not damaging school facilities. These rules were already written on the parchment that served as their enrollment certificate. She was merely emphasizing them again.

There were no classes on the first day of enrollment. Besides allowing everyone to get acquainted, it also gave them time to familiarize themselves with the campus. The school was quite large, after all. If someone wanted to visit every place from beginning to end, one day might not even be enough.

Finally, she added that the headmaster's speech had been moved to the afternoon and told them to remember to gather in the auditorium. Then she left without hesitation.

The people in the classroom did not linger either. They rose one after another, chatting as they headed out, planning to deal with lunch at the cafeteria.

Although most of them had only just met, little groups had already begun to form. Usually, people moved around in twos and threes.

Pei Renli was no exception. He followed the crowd toward the cafeteria with Gary and Alton.

The Adventurer Training School had age requirements for enrollment: no younger than fifteen and no older than twenty-five. Everyone was close in age, so naturally they had no reservations while chatting. The only thing Pei Renli needed to watch out for was accidentally blurting out things about Earth or revealing that he was the Demon King.

The only exception was Kaya. Everyone else traveled in twos or threes, while she seemed extremely lonely by herself. Almost no one approached her. It seemed the rumor that she was cursed had indeed spread widely.

Since it was almost no one, there were naturally exceptions, such as Koura.

On the way to the cafeteria, Koura could be seen running back and forth between different little groups. She chatted and laughed with everyone, as if she had gotten acquainted with every person in that short time.

People like her were indeed rare. There were more than sixty students, after all. At first, everyone mostly just spoke with those sitting nearby. They had two years to spend together, so even if they did not become close, they would at least become familiar faces.

This made Pei Renli think that Koura, hopping along with rabbit ears atop her head, might have a severe case of being ridiculously good at socializing.