Morgana rubbed her temples.
"Hah... I thought you had changed, but I guess I was wrong."
She then fixed her gaze directly on Noah.
"Fifty credit points will be deducted from your account. Additionally, after today's lectures are over, you'll clean all the washrooms on your classroom's floor."
Noah's eyes widened.
Meanwhile, the trio couldn't hide their delight. Even Ria looked somewhat surprised by the punishment.
If she had taken Noah directly to the Discipline Committee, he wouldn't have been forced to clean the washrooms.
Instead, he had ended up receiving an even harsher punishment.
Noah looked at Morgana as though he had just witnessed a terrible injustice.
This wasn't what he had expected. He didn't particularly mind being punished, but he still wasn't satisfied with the outcome.
"What about them? They fought back too! They even mocked me over my personal affairs!"
Morgana looked at him calmly before replying in a cold tone.
"Hah... In that case, it could be considered self-defense. Besides, those three appear to be more injured than you. And even if they insulted you, you could have handled the situation differently."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Soon, you'll all have the opportunity to challenge one another to official sparring matches. You could have simply challenged them and taken out your frustration that way."
Her expression turned stern.
"But no... You chose to beat them up like some delinquent."
Noah wasn't particularly bothered by her lecture.
He had already expected to receive some punishment and didn't mind it too much. He had merely been trying his luck to see if those three could be punished as well.
After all, he had wanted to beat them up, and he had done exactly that.
'Well, whatever. I was prepared to face the punishment anyway.'
He tried hard to suppress his smile.
Despite everything, he had still managed to give those three a good beating, even if it had only lasted for a short while.
Morgana then shifted her attention towards Edward and the others.
With a stern warning in her voice, she said,
"And you three... Don't bother my student again, and stop going around insulting other people. If I hear about something like this happening again, you won't get away without punishment next time."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
The trio replied in unison.
"Tch!"
Noah clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He was dissatisfied that the trio had escaped without receiving any punishment.
Or perhaps he was simply annoyed because, if that senior hadn't intervened, he could have beaten them up even more.
'Hopefully, I'll get another chance to beat them up next time.'
Ria could only shake her head tiredly as she watched their reactions.
"Now, you're all dismissed. Leave!" Morgana ordered in an irritated voice.
Noah didn't waste a second. He immediately turned around and left the office, followed by the trio.
Soon, only Ria and Morgana remained inside.
Ria crossed her arms and gave a slightly worried smile.
"Instructor Morgana... You've really got yourself a troublesome student. Noah Eldritch is quite well-known for that, after all."
Morgana slowly shook her head before letting out a sigh.
"I don't think so... Well, at least I hope not."
Her expression gradually became firm.
"But if he continues causing trouble, I'll make sure to teach him a proper lesson. Under my guidance, he'll definitely change."
This time, her expression was filled with confidence.
Ria raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat amused.
"If you say so, Instructor Morgana."
She then bowed slightly.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave."
With that, she left the office, leaving Morgana alone.
Since it was only the first day of the semester, there weren't many lectures scheduled.
Although Morgana was the head instructor of their class, that didn't mean she personally taught every subject. Several courses were handled by different instructors.
Subjects such as alchemy, history, and mana theory were taught by separate professors.
---
Meanwhile, Noah was inside a washroom, cleaning the floor with a broom.
"Tch! This world is so advanced and has so many different types of magic, yet they still make me use a damn broom to clean this place!"
He muttered with an annoyed expression.
He was still irritated by everything that had happened that day.
He hadn't even bothered visiting the infirmary since his injuries weren't particularly serious.
"Hmm~ hm~"
Noah began humming softly as he continued sweeping the floor.
However, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
'Man, beating them up was actually pretty fun. But I really need to stop getting angry so easily.'
He paused for a moment, considering something.
'Was I really that angry because of those three... or was it because of Ophelia?'
His expression became slightly thoughtful.
'Do I still have some lingering feelings for her? Feelings that belonged to the original Noah?'
He couldn't help wondering about it.
But thinking about it any further wasn't going to change anything.
'Well, there are so many beautiful girls here compared to my university in my previous world. I never really cared much about getting into a relationship back then, but seeing so many gorgeous women here... I can't deny that I'm starting to feel interested.'
He scratched his cheek.
'But is that really me? Or is the previous Noah's influence affecting my thoughts?'
Another name suddenly came to mind.
'And then there's Ophelia... She's a pretty big problem.'
He stopped sweeping for a moment as he thought about her.
However, it didn't take long before he shrugged indifferently.
"Meh... I'll just see how things go with her. For now, I need to focus on getting stronger and figuring out my future."
With that, he resumed cleaning.
After some time, he finally finished sweeping the last washroom.
He picked up the broom and bucket of water before heading towards the exit.
However, just as he stepped out, he accidentally bumped into someone.
"What?!"
Noah exclaimed in surprise.
The first thing he noticed was a head of short, neck-length black hair.
"Sorry!"
The person quickly apologized.
It was a young woman.
Fortunately, she hadn't been walking particularly fast, so neither of them lost their balance. She simply took a small step backwards and bowed apologetically.
She wore a pair of large, round glasses that framed her black eyes. Her facial features were rather ordinary at first glance.
She had a small, delicate nose and soft, plump lips with a natural rosy hue.
Her skin was smooth and fair, and she possessed a slender figure.
She stood at around 167 centimeters tall.
Although she wasn't as breathtakingly beautiful as the female leads of the game, she was still quite cute in her own way.
Noah remained silent for a moment before calmly nodding.
"No worries. It wasn't your fault."
The young woman nodded as well, but then she looked at him with a slightly confused expression.
Noah noticed her gaze.
"Is there something you want to ask?" he said.
She hesitated briefly before cautiously asking,
"Why did you come out of the... female washroom?"
Noah blinked.
He immediately understood why she was looking at him so strangely.
Or perhaps she was even a little suspicious.
He raised the broom in his hand, showing it to her.
"Can you see this? I was cleaning the washroom."
He then turned around and pointed towards the sign hanging on the door.
CLOSED FOR CLEANING.
However, his explanation seemed to confuse her even more.
With a puzzled expression, she asked,
"But why were you cleaning it? Isn't there staff responsible for that? Besides, the academy has much better machines that can make cleaning considerably easier than using a broom."
Hearing that only made Noah even more irritated.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
'Looks like the news about me getting punished on the first day hasn't spread yet... Well, I guess it's not particularly interesting enough to become a rumour.'
Looking at her face, he forced a gentle smile.
"Well... I was punished by Instructor Morgana."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh! So that's why you're here. What did you do to get punished?"
Noah scratched his cheek awkwardly and gave her an embarrassed smile.
"I kind of... got into a fight with three students from another class."
Her expression immediately turned serious.
"Why would you do that? Don't you know it's wrong to fight unofficially, especially on academy grounds?"
Noah shrugged casually.
"They mocked me and insulted me... so I got angry and ended up fighting them. Haha."
He let out an awkward chuckle.
The young woman sighed, looking somewhat disapproving.
"You're already causing trouble on your very first day."
Noah could only respond with a helpless expression.
"As I said, they were mocking and insulting me. That's why I did it."
She raised both hands slightly, as though signaling that she didn't want to continue the discussion.
"Okay, okay! Just let it go now. Don't get into another fight. By the way, what's your name?"
Noah answered calmly.
"...It's Noah."
Her eyes widened once again.
"Y-You're Noah Eldritch?"
Noah looked at her curiously.
"Yeah, I am. Is there a problem with that? And what's your name?"
She quickly waved both hands and shook her head nervously.
"No! No! Not at all. Haha... I'm Mary."
Noah nodded.
"Oh... I heard your name during attendance. No wonder you looked familiar."
Mary scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Yeah... In my case, I wasn't really paying attention to the other students, so I didn't realize you were Noah. Anyway, I'll go use the washroom now. Bye!"
She quickly walked past him and entered the washroom.
Noah stared at the door with a puzzled expression.
"...Why did she suddenly become so nervous after hearing my name?"
He already knew the answer.
"Fuck my bad reputation! ...Whatever."
He shook his head and continued down the hallway to return the broom.
---
It was already evening.
Noah had been delayed because of his punishment, and now it was finally time to return to his dormitory.
He had originally planned to spend some time training, but all that time had been wasted cleaning washrooms.
As he walked across the campus towards the dormitory area, he noticed a familiar group of people walking ahead of him.
'Damien... And Leonard and the others.'
It was the protagonist of the game.
Walking beside him were Leonard, Emma, and Lyria.
Noah watched Damien's back for a few seconds.
Just as he was about to look away, Damien suddenly turned around. Their eyes met.
---
[A/N: Well, now it's time for some character development. Don't mind him. He'll get better as the story progresses. So, please have a little patience, guys!!]