After a very well rested sleep on a comfortable bed, I waited for Incus to leave her room.
Soon she did. Her elegant beauty was now bare, as she hadn't been clad in armor.
Crawling on the floor and tactically maneuvering, I followed her.
When Incus turned a corner, I rolled across the floor but was stopped. Turning my head upward, I saw a young woman looking down at me with anger.
"What in the world do you think you're doing, following hero Incus like that?" Her voice was stern, as her ear-length blonde hair with pink insides pointed down, casting a shadow over her face that made her sharp blue eyes intimidating.
"Me? I'm just doing as you said, following Incus. Wait… hero?"
Pausing for a moment, I asked:
"Hold on, how are you interacting with me right now?"
Picking myself up, I continued my tactical chase after Incus, who was slowly walking further away.
But as I did, the blonde haired woman just wouldn't bug off. She walked next to me.
"You got your answer, so scram," I whispered loudly.
"Not until you tell me who you are. I haven't seen you on this floor before."
Standing up, I counter questioned her.
"How about you try and remember the faces of your family and recall your memories of them?"
She then walked slower before collapsing to her knees.
"Ha, urgh. Why can't I remember? I know what Dad and Mom look like. So why, why can't I remember anything..?"
Shaking my head, I turned around and picked her up by the hand as I continued my pursuit.
"Do you want to know the truth? If you do, then you'll have to be my teammate."
Tilting her head at me with her mouth open in a confused look, she said:
"…Truth? What truth?"
"Just answer. Do you want to know the truth or not?"
She put her hand on her lips, pausing for a moment before giving me an answer.
"Yes, tell me this truth you keep talking about-"
"We're in a novel."
"Huh?"
With a sigh, I let her hand go and picked up my pace. Thankfully, the blonde youth also picked up her pace.
"You see her right there?" I said, pointing at Incus.
"She's the main character, and we're nothing but side characters."
She then gave me a look as if I was a lunatic, which I'm not.
"You're crazy. There's no way you're expecting me to believe that crap, are you?"
With a smirk painted across my face, I told her:
"Try talking to me then."
Whipping her hair, she walked up towards Incus and attempted to grab the black haired beauty by the shoulder, but instead she froze on the spot.
She then collapsed to the ground with a hand around her throat.
"Hah, same thing happened to me," I scoffed, pulling her up.
"…So I really am in a novel."
"I know. Amusing, isn't it?"
She then slapped my hand away and asked in outrage:
"What do you mean amusing? This is utter hell! How can you possibly be happy about this?"
I then patted her on the shoulder.
"I'm not. But the reason I can bear with it is because I've found a way to the real world. But we have to reach the conclusion of this story."
"…And how do we do that?" She asked softly.
"We defeat the Demon King."
Soon a faint smile appeared on her face.
"That's a pretty heavy burden to carry. Fine then… I'll be your teammate."
Extending my hand for a handshake, I smiled back.
"My name's Ring Euclid. Good to meet you, partner."
Accepting my request for a handshake, she gripped my hand firmly.
"Alleus Fineblue. Likewise."
***
After walking outside of the living quarters, Steinen was already standing outside waiting for Incus.
"Take that silly thing off," Incus stated, pointing at the helmet that veiled Steinen's head.
"I apologize, Lady Incus, but I cannot accept that request," Steinen replied, still wearing his knightly helmet despite wearing the academy's uniform.
With a sigh, Incus led the way.
Walking through the garden to the main body of the academy, the murmurs of students became apparent.
"She's back from another expedition..!"
"Already? She usually takes more than a week…"
Looking up, the window screen wrote:
—
Chapter 106: Return to the City of Jansoara
…
'Such a pain. The stuff I learn in this academy is good, but practical stuff such as math is really lagging behind the real world.' Incus thought, ignoring the gossip around her.
Soon, she reached her classroom.
Professor Talus greeted her and Steinen with a smile.
"My proud students, good to see you again! I hope your expedition went well."
Sitting down at her assigned desk, Incus looked outside the window.
"…Yeah, it was alright."
—
As I followed the two, Alleus walked in a different direction.
Catching her by the hand, I raised an eyebrow.
"Where are you going?"
She looked at me with confusion.
"What do you mean? My class is this way-"
"You fool. If we step too far from Incus, then we'll become brain dead. Losing the ability to think… If that author writes down that everyone in the academy dies except for Incus, what do you think will happen?"
After a brief pause, she answered.
"We'll die…"
"I'm glad that you understand."
***
Reaching the classroom, everything that had been written started to happen.
Me and Alleus took a seat near Incus.
After the room had been filled with students, the professor began teaching.
"Hello class, I hope you've all been doing well," he said, while writing on the board 'Prof. Talus.'
"Today we'll have a review for our upcoming test. Who can tell me what a rift is?"
Professor Talus then pointed at a student who had raised his hand.
"A rift is an occurrence when the ground cracks and demons come out from them."
Writing down what the student said, he continued.
"Correct! Now who can tell me how many of the Demon King's generals are currently alive?"
Another student answered.
"There are currently two generals as of now. The continent had defeated two, and Hero Incus defeated one on her own in less than a year!"
"Correct once more!"
As Professor Talus taught the class, I learned that magic needed mathematical formulas for them to be cast. So for mages to be good at casting quickly, they have to be able to memorize all the formulas for all the spells they have learned until they can calculate in a split second.
There were also seven kingdoms: Jansoara, Febritust, Marchant, Juenily, Augustus, Soptemstadt, and Neidebville.
Currently, I was in the kingdom of Jansoara. The kingdom that had faced the most demon invasions, and where the hero Incus had been summoned.
After I wrote everything down, the class had finished.
"Class dismissed. You may all go to your next class. Have a good day!"