Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear - Cardboard Houses Do Not Tear chapter 103

103 – Exploring the University

As if there was something ambiguous about it, Priianian looked at the young lady and asked.

“Excuse me, my lady, but can I listen to the proof of qualifications part again?”

“As much as you like.”

The poor young lady put the sleeves of her robe together as if they were overlapping each other.

And the sleeves of his clothes moved as if they were fidgeting. It seemed to be her habit when she thought of something.

“To sum it up more briefly, it is this. First, is your identity clear? Second, is it someone who will not harm the well-being of the university.”

“Didn’t you say there was a third?”

“The third is now special, and does not include ordinary people.”

To the question I posed, the young lady answered firmly.

“Don’t get me wrong. The normal people I’m talking about include me. I just said three things to let you know that there are.”

I could see the young lady’s sleeve moving a little as she hurriedly added an afterword. You seem to have a pretty timid personality.

“That’s why you said you were wondering if you could qualify. Because of the first point I said earlier.”

“I don’t know about Ms. Priyanian, but it’s quite difficult for me to enter the university because my status is not certain.”

No matter how many gold stars I have, I’m still an F-class mercenary with no affiliation.

She nodded her head.

“That’s right. It’s a situation where Prianian doesn’t even have enough status to take you, especially.”

After speaking, the poor young lady looked at the glass of water placed in front of me.

She seems to be thirsty as she continues to talk.

I asked, looking around.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t even give you anything to drink. What would you like to drink?”

At my question, Priyanian raised her glass slightly.

“I’m fine.”

The poor young lady said confidently.

“Water is enough for me.”

…Even so, her hood subtly swayed slightly toward the writing on the counter.

-There is fresh fruit juice.

“Is water really enough?”

“Sure. I prefer water to other drinks.”

And yet, judging by the fact that her hood was still tilted that way, it seemed that water wasn’t what she wanted.

For some reason, holding back a laugh, she nodded.

“Water is great, but how about a cold fruit juice? I will buy it.”

If I make it, it’s the most annoying, but if someone else makes it, I recommend the best drink, and the young lady’s voice brightens slightly.

“I’m fine with water, but-“

“Then shall we order three glasses of water?”

“The mercenary wants to drink juice, but I can’t help it. I’ll give you a watermelon.”

“I am the same as Mr. G-House.”

After a while, three glasses of watermelon juice of unknown origin were placed on the table without a blender.

No, there are only two glasses left.

Tak.

At one point, the poor young lady, who had drunk her entire portion of juice without making a sound, carefully set the glass down again.

“Hmm, hmm.”

“Would you like more?”

“No. That’s enough.”

“So, is there no way we can get into college right now?”

At Prianian’s question, the young lady shook her head.

“At least I know of none.”

The silence created by that resoluteness did not last long.

The young lady came up with a word.

“Without me.”

***

The next morning.

I came down to the first floor with the apple that Priest Rien gave me in one hand.

The owner of the inn, who was cleaning the table for the guests who had left after the hangover, greeted them warmly.

“Good morning, what’s that thing you’re holding next to you?”

“It’s an apple for breakfast.”

“It’s a gift from Priest Rien.”

After giving a slight nod, I picked an empty table by the wall and grabbed it.

While enjoying the privileges that only those who come down first in the morning can have.

The innkeeper talked to me as if he was bored.

He himself was an adventurer when he was young, and he gave his impressions after roughly nodding his head at his impressive story of how he set up an inn with the money he earned by getting his nose pierced by his wife.

“At least you didn’t serve as a guard, so you’ve got a good retirement. You seem to have used a greatsword well when you were young.”

“Seeing that even at this age, my shoulders aren’t all that bad. So, are you a mercenary or an adventurer?”

“Mercenary. F-class.”

“I see.”

He showed a mediocre reaction to the word F grade, and moved on to another topic.

“And the two people next to you?”

“One is right, one is not.”

Upon hearing that, the innkeeper nodded.

“Three people. Be careful.”

“Yes?”

What do you mean by guarding yourself?

“It’s just that everything is easily lost while traveling. I was like that when I was young.”

The innkeeper, who showed melancholy for some reason, asked as if he remembered something.

“Come to think of it, when are we going to eat? I have to wash the pot soon.”

“I’ll wake up the party, so prepare three plates now.”

I was afraid to say that when I heard the sound of someone coming down from above.

“Good morning, mercenary.”

The poor young lady came down with her robe still on.

She smelled like she was washed as she sat naturally in her seat, but her clothes were still stained.

Maybe I was staring too blankly, so she looked in my direction.

“Mercenary. It’s going to take a little while for breakfast with Prianian to come. Can you guess a simple problem?”

From noble mtl dot com

“Yes?”

“It’s really simple, so don’t be nervous.”

It was a somewhat cheerful voice compared to yesterday.

“I’ll guess anything.”

“Why do I keep wearing this hoodie?”

Seeing her wearing only a piece of cloth all day long,

Because I, a stranger, felt cramped, and I was concerned that I might suffer from a serious vitamin D deficiency.

Perhaps she knew I wouldn’t be able to guess the answer, the young lady tried to give the answer right away.

“The reason for not taking off the hood is simple.”

“Isn’t it because you don’t want to take it off?”

It doesn’t matter if someone else is holding a greatsword in her heavy gloves or carrying only an oak club in her pants.

That’s probably because he just wanted to.

“That’s correct.”

The young lady looked at it as if it were quite curious.

I was rather curious about that gaze.

“Usually I thought there was a deep reason, but when I found out the answer, everyone was embarrassed.”

“Your lady said it was a simple question, so I thought it was simple.”

“Mercenaries are quite strange people.”

After answering that, the poor young lady let out a slight laugh.

Under the hood, only a slight outline could be seen, unobscured by the shadows.

“Relax. At least the ugly face won’t wait.”

“Do I really need to think like that? Rather than an ugly face, there could be a bright flower inside.”

“A flower.”

“Yes. Flowers.”

“That sounds interesting.”

“If what lurks in the shadows can be something ugly, what lurks in them can be something beautiful.”

Hearing that, the young lady spoke with interest.

“Mercenaries are quite open-minded. To the extent that they say that to nobles.”

“Oh.”

My head suddenly felt dizzy.

But the poor young lady didn’t look bad.

“Don’t worry, I won’t report you to the guards for harassment.”

“Thank you.”

“Never say that anywhere else.”

Footsteps were heard from the top of the stairs.

Miss Prianian, dressed more splendidly than yesterday, was slowly descending holding onto the railing of the stairs.

Looking at it, somehow I thought it was fortunate that there were no other customers around.

Miss Prianian greeted us.

“Good morning, Mr. G-House and Mrs. Young lady.”

“Good morning.”

After saying hello, the food came out shortly after.

After finishing the meal, the young lady opened her mouth.

“After you finish eating, go straight to college.”

I expressed my doubts about the plan that was different from yesterday.

“Didn’t you say you stopped by the clothing store first?”

“Looking at what they’re wearing, I don’t think it’s necessary. I don’t think there’s a need to dress up.”

Youngae said that while looking at the two of us.

***

Perhaps it was because they had put all their luggage down, the carriage quickly arrived in front of the university.

The university in the other world, which I had never seen before, was quite grand.

Lightly armed men stood at the arched stone gate.

Beyond that, there were some old-fashioned buildings that reminded me of the foreign universities I used to see on TV.

But the atmosphere was quite similar to the one I knew.

“Oh.”

I felt the people around me glancing at me at the momentary exclamation.

However, as if the outsiders were familiar with this, they quietly went on their way again.

That peaceful scene was a scene that reminded me of when I was going to school on Earth.

Youths in brightly colored clothes were walking under the tree-lined trees holding hands tightly.

As much as the color of the clothes, I heard a promise of a bright future.

I heard the grumbling of a task, the sweet voice of accepting it, and the greedy whisper to eat while bathing in the sunlight.

If the brightness of life could be expressed in numbers, it would probably be displayed at its maximum, and their faces looked full of happiness.

But where there is light, there is also darkness.

There were people with dark circles all over their faces. And they were around me too.

People wearing loose or baggy clothes with books on their sides just walked around looking at the ground.

I naturally heard them muttering as they passed us.

Familiar conversations that started with Professor and ended with Thank you were naturally forgotten for the sake of my mental health.

Ah. Why am I here, I need to hurry up and prepare my speech-

‘f*ck.’

When I saw their expressions, as if they had poured all their energy into their speech, PTSD instantly surged.

It didn’t look very good. Still not forgotten

I gritted my teeth and turned my head away from them, finally realizing that I had come to the university town.

Seeing that, the poor young lady looked at me and asked.

“Why but?”

“No. I came to see another world for a while.”