The Team of Simon and Meilin is Born
The news spread quickly, and the surrounding students began to whisper.
"Wow, those two are on the same team?" "The special case number one and the top of class A are in the same team? That's almost game-breaking."
"But who knows? I saw Simon earlier, and his grades weren't that high."
As the students who were watching Simon's recruitment jumped back into their own competition, a few of them cautiously approached Simon and Meilin.
"You still have a spot in your team, right? I'm aiming for Shadow Magic, can you let me in?" "Do you need someone for Martial Studies?" "Simon! Simon! Do you remember me? We talked in the last class...!"
Suddenly, as students rushed in, Simon was startled and pulled his head back.
"Whoa. Just a moment! Let me through! Thanks!" At that moment, Dick skillfully navigated through the crowd of students with a friendly smile and waved his hand.
"Sorry, but there's no spot right now! The last one is still under negotiation, so honestly, it would be quicker to find another team!"
"What are you?" Meilin asked, narrowing her eyes.
Dick confidently smiled and placed his hand on his chest.
"I'm also a member of Simon's team! Dick Hayward."
"What?" Meilin turned her head.
"Hey, Simon. This is the first time I'm hearing that you have such a clumsy guy on your team."
Simon scratched his head and laughed.
"I told you, I wanted you to join 'our team'."
"......"
Was there a fly stuck to her? Meilin sighed softly and lifted her eyelids.
"What subject are you aiming for?" "Shadow Magic, 74 points, and an overall average of 70 points."
"...... That's decent."
In fact, for Meilin, as long as she reinforced her weak point in Summoning Studies, she didn't care about the rest of the subjects.
She had over 90 points in all subjects except Summoning Studies.
No one could surpass her, no matter who joined.
And having 74 points in her chosen subject with an average of 70 meant she was good at everything overall.
It was a reasonable choice for an all-round player to support her, even if it wasn't perfect.
"Okay, I got it."
As Meilin moved on without further comment, Dick clenched his fist.
Then he turned to look at Simon.
"Haha, you really did it!" His eyes sparkled as if he were looking at a returning hero.
The two lightly bumped fists.
"You're really a problem solver! How did you bring Meilin along?"
"I just had good timing."
"But about that promise we made earlier, is it really okay?" Simon nodded.
He thought that if he focused solely on Summoning Studies from now on, he might manage to get through the midterms somehow.
"Save the touching friendship of men for later."
Meilin said sulkily, resting her chin on her hand.
"Who will be the last member?"
"I can bring anyone you want! Just say the word!" Dick was truly confident he could bring anyone.
Who would refuse to join a team with the best ace card, Meilin? With the right words, he might even be able to pull students who had already formed teams.
Of course, doing so would create enemies for the rest of their school life.
"Hmm."
Meilin closed her eyes and pondered.
"First, we need to find someone for the Shadow Magic. I'll take care of the curses."
"Thanks for that! So, is there a subject among the four where you're a bit weak?"
"I don't have any weaknesses. I'm good at everything."
She answered, flipping her sky-blue hair behind her ear.
It was a bit annoying, but Dick smiled and let it slide because of her status as the top of class A.
"But if you had to say?"
"If I had to say, I think it would be good to find someone who specializes in Hematology, since it has a lot of calculations and takes time to solve."
"Hematology? Okay, I'll bring someone! You all just relax here!" Dick headed into the battlefield of tangled students.
Left behind, Simon and Meilin quietly sat together, passing the time.
"......."
"......"
About ten minutes passed in silence.
Feeling awkward, Meilin pretended to tidy her nails and then glanced at Simon out of the corner of her eye.
"Hey."
"......?"
"You said your name was Simon Polentia, right? I didn't catch it. Which family are you from?"
"The Baldwin Kingdom's baron family. We manage Reshill."
She nodded.
So he was from Baldwin.
Reshill was a territory she had never heard of before.
"What about you?" At Simon's question, her pupils widened.
"Uh, you don't know me?"
"I don't."
Kuhk.
She felt a bit embarrassed, but since she didn't recognize Simon's family either, she couldn't get angry.
She forced a smile and said, "I'm from the Ivory Tower faction."
Simon recalled what he knew about the Ivory Tower.
The only thing he knew was that the platinum-haired girl who had sworn an oath with him during the entrance ceremony was the heir of the Ivory Tower.
"Oh, the Ivory Tower, where Serne from special case number two is..."
"Sorry."
Meilin's smile turned ominously dark.
"Could you please not say anything more than that? I'm begging you."
"...... O-Okay."
She coldly turned her head away.
'What's up with her?' Simon was puzzled.
Meilin seemed to realize that Simon hadn't intentionally brought up a sensitive topic, so she didn't get angrier, but her expression was still quite uncomfortable.
It seemed he had made some kind of verbal mistake.
'Indeed, noble families are complicated.' Still, he could take his time to learn about them slowly and be careful.
As Simon was processing the sensitive topic that his new teammate had brought up, he saw Dick returning with a confident stride from afar.
"Did you wait?" Beside him stood a female student.
'......
Huh?' Simon recognized her.
She was small and had a gentle, puppy-like impression.
She seemed shy, her gaze fixed on the ground.
He remembered her as the girl he had helped during the Martial Studies class when she couldn't get on the hippo by herself.
"I was wrong in my assumptions."
Dick shook his notebook and glanced at Simon.
Then he introduced the girl to them.
"This is Kamibarez Ursula. She's aiming for Hematology with a score of 87."
87 points! Meilin whistled in admiration, and Simon smiled.
Kamibarez bowed her head.
"I'm Kamibarez Ursula! If my name is too long, just call me Kami. I'm still lacking, but I'll work hard so I won't be a burden to you all!"
"You're in the same grade, so you can speak comfortably, right?" At Simon's question, her face turned bright red.
"...... Ah. I'm 16 years old, and I got into Kizen, so... um..."
Dick chimed in.
"What's age got to do with it? There are people in their twenties in the first year."
"...... Ah, yes. If you all want, I'll speak comfortably..."
It seemed that for her, speaking comfortably was a form of respect.
Simon and the others decided not to push her.
Thus, the four of them successfully formed their team and sat around one desk.
It was still 15 minutes until the 30 minutes that Jane had mentioned, so they were halfway through.
"Ah, I can finally relax! I thought I was going to get stress from being nervous."
Dick stretched and muttered.
Simon also felt a throbbing headache from worrying too much in such a short time.
Kamibarez seemed to have relaxed from the stress of team selection and was chatting happily with Meilin.
"Wow, indeed! You're the Ursula I know, right?"
"Yes!"
"She's really amazing!" Meilin exclaimed.
"If it's Ursula, then it's the great Vampire family!" Simon was taken aback and looked at Kamibarez.
This girl is a vampire? Upon closer inspection, he noticed her gentle face had the characteristic fangs protruding slightly.
"I have wings too. They're hidden under the uniform, so you can't see them."
Her back wriggled as she spoke.
"Isn't that uncomfortable?"
"It's a little bothersome, so I asked the administration office to alter my uniform! Next week, I should be able to let my wings out of my uniform."
"Good to hear they're altering it for you."
Dick, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, crossed his arms.
"But it's a bit strange. The daughter of the Ursula family came to Kizen, yet why hasn't there been any rumor about it?"
"Ah, that's..."
She blushed and shrank her shoulders.
Meilin glared at Dick and scolded him.
"Hey, how can you ask something like that?"
"Huh? What's wrong with that?"
"Oh, seriously... You're not a noble, are you?"
"I'm a commoner."
"This is why we can't communicate."
She crossed her arms and shook her head.
This time, Dick's expression turned cold.
"Here we go again with the noble girls' superiority complex. I'm a commoner, so what have I contributed?"
"Don't talk to me, it's annoying."
"Don't, don't fight!" Kamibarez shouted.
When everyone's gaze suddenly turned to her, she seemed to realize her voice was too loud and covered her mouth, lowering her head.
"I-I'll say it. Actually, my... my mother is an ordinary human..."
With that one sentence, Simon immediately grasped the situation.
A daughter of the vampire family.
Her father must be the great vampire of the Ursula family, but her mother is likely a human concubine.
Simon, who was born between a Necromancer and a Priest, also had his own family issues, so he could fully understand her feelings.
"...... I'm sorry."
Dick scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I didn't mean to ask that."
"No, no. I'm really okay! Hehe."
"Since you mentioned your background, I'll share mine too. I'm the son of the head of the White Ox Merchant Guild."
Dick blurted it out and then looked around with an expectant gaze.
Kamibarez gasped and covered her mouth, but the other two had lukewarm reactions.
In fact, Simon, lacking background knowledge, genuinely didn't know, and Meilin was a bit surprised but didn't want to show it, so she turned her head away.
"Technically, I'm the third son among the eight sons of the guild leader."
There was a hint of bitterness in Dick's tone as he said this.
"My father plans to pass the guild to my eldest brother. All the educational resources of the family are focused on him. And me and the other sons... we're just the second plan, nothing more, nothing less, to be used as they please."
"Used as they please?"
"Yeah. In my case, I was sent to Kizen because I have talent in black magic. My mission is to understand the needs of black magicians and conduct market research."
This was why Dick had said that going to Rochester on weekends was more important than weekday classes.
"Of course, I haven't given up yet! I'll graduate properly from Kizen, and I plan to create a big guild with my name, not the White Ox Merchant Guild. Then maybe my father will look at me differently."
Simon smiled.
"That's great."
Kamibarez clapped her hands.
"I'll support you, Dick!"
Meilin, with a sulky attitude, muttered, "Whether you succeed or not, it doesn't matter."
Simon and Kamibarez laughed out loud.
"Oh my, the atmosphere is already nice~" The instructor approached with a smile.
As the four of them were about to stand up, the instructor told them to sit down and placed a piece of paper on the table.
"You are team seven. Please write down your names and your chosen subjects next to them."
"Yes!"
"And you also need to decide on a team name and a team leader."
Simon blinked.
"A team name?"
"Yes, it's not that important. Professor Jane will just call you team seven. You still have some time, so think about it slowly."
After the instructor left, the four of them exchanged glances.
Meilin said, "I'll be the team leader. Is anyone unhappy with that?"
No one had any objections.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Meilin was half of team seven's strength.
When the three nodded, Meilin elegantly wrote her name in the team leader section.
"So, what should we name the team?"
"You said it wasn't important, so let's just pick anything."
Dick laughed as he playfully tapped the back of his head.
"How about this? Meilin Hard Carry."
When Meilin brightened up and was about to write it down, Dick shouted that it was a joke and tried to stop her.
"Simon! Don't you have any ideas?" Dick asked urgently.
Simon blurted out without much thought.
"Team Seven."
"That's too careless, no matter what!"
"How about this? Pink Rabbit Girls..."
"But we're a mixed team! Think about the boys' perspective too!" All eyes turned to Meilin again.
With a slight blush on her face, she cleared her throat and said, "Uh, uh, how about that thing Dick mentioned earlier? Meilin Hard Car..."
"Let's just go with Team Seven."
"Hey!!"