The girl named Anita Helge was quite the young lady.

As soon as we arrived at her dorm room, her personal maid bowed and said, “Welcome home,” to which Anita immediately ordered her maid to prepare tea for her guest.

After the maid left, I smiled wryly.

“You don’t need to be so accommodating of me.”

“First of all, you’re still a noble lady. One higher ranked than me, I’m a countess.”

“But there aren’t many children with attendants in the dormitory?”

Both on the way back to the dormitory and at the academy, I didn’t see many people with attendants. Moreover, Cecily, despite being the daughter of the Travasta family, which was supposed to be of the marquis rank, probably didn’t have a maid. Although, if she did, and she still ended up looking like this, that was a major problem.

At my question, Anita sighed while removing her coat.

“Including the Travasta family, the number of nobles struggling to earn money increases ever year due to the great famine that happened a few years back.”

“Then, I gander that Anita’s house is wealthy?”

“No, they’re just overprotective… Being honest with you, they were strongly against my coming to this academy.”

As we spoke, Anita briskly picked up some delicate bottles from her dressing table. There were three of them, to be exact. In addition to that, there were four compact containers, along with a short tube.

She gave them all to me.

“These are for you!”

“I’m grateful for your kindness, but I wonder if that’s really okay.”

I just wanted to know what cosmetic brands and beauty products were popular among young people. I figured that if I learned the ingredients, I would be able get my hands on substitutes similar to them. Then, after gaining enough knowledge and money, I’d buy them without hesitation.

She could’ve just given me some leftovers. I’d have been alright with that…

Instead, I was given a bunch of barely touched ones. 800 years ago, there was an adage that said, ‘Free is the most expensive.’

I held back so as not to offend her… But Anita bit her lips.

“…Did you see through my intention of getting you to speak highly of me to Eivind Dahl?”

“Huh, did you?”

Speaking of Eivind Dahl, he was that charmer who’d been making shady advances on me. Does Anita like that kind of guy? While I was thinking about how to admonish her for her bad taste, she desperately clung to me.

“Please—! Tell him to recommend me to the Royal Institute of Magic! This year is my last chance!”

Well, Cecily might’ve sympathized with her, but it’d be difficult for me, Nora, to do the same with only a few hours of knowing her. Still, judging from her appearance, she did seem desperate…

“I’ll decide based on your reason. Can you please tell me for the time being?”

Anita prompted me to sit. Despite being a private dorm room, it was spacious enough for one person. Given the size of the building, it was difficult to imagine everyone having been assigned a room of this size. Therefore, her parents must’ve donated quite the large sum of money.

Anita spoke tearfully.

“I-I’m getting married right after my graduation. My engagement was decided during my childhood. Once I marrying into his family, I’ll have to endeavor as his wife to conceive an heir…”

That’s… been the role of noble ladies since 800 years ago, or so I was told.

As most family estates were inherited by men, women were supposed to support them. Unless something extraordinary happened, it was unlikely that tradition would change.

“—But I want to be a magician! It’s always been my dream to work at the Royal Institute of Magic!”

—Nevertheless, there were always women out there who had dreams.

Just as there was an old saying that ‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered down’, it seemed that the dream of a humble person couldn’t be obtained through ordinary efforts alone.

“—Hence why, even if my parents and everyone were against it, I chose this academy—which has a vast array of magic classes—instead of a girls’ academy! I swore that if things don’t work out, I’ll get married… But I was able to achieve great results. Yet, before I knew it, I’m less than a year away from graduating…”

Come to think of it, Cecily and the others were in their senior year.

Whether they liked it or not, they’d have to think about their careers after graduation. In fact, that was exactly what I promised Cecily… At the same time, I couldn’t just ignore the girl in front of me.

“So, please—! Tell Eivind Dahl to recommend me!! This is my last chance…”

I spoke while bracing myself for what’d come next.

“Even though the two of you are classmates, he’s never reached out to you. Shouldn’t that suffice as an answer?”

“…!?”

Anita was speechless. I was sure she’d protest after this. There go the cosmetics… However, I didn’t regret telling her outright.

After all, I, too, once stood at the pinnacle of magic as a great sage. At the time, it was known as the Magic Association, but the Royal Institute of Magic should have a similar pursuit in mastering the wisdom of magic.

Hence why I needed to tell her—

“—Even if he recommends you and you are employed, you’ll only be setting yourself up for difficulty. I can see your getting hurt and regretting it down the road…”

“Who do you think you are!? Just because I invited you, do you think you can mock me!?”

That’s true… I have no excuses.

“Thank you for inviting me today. I was very grateful.”

When I was about to leave, I heard Anita sobbing behind me.

“Even though you were always bullied before, how are you capable of such beautiful magic… Even though I’ve been practicing all by myself the whole time…”

“Isn’t it because you are alone?”

I turned around and raised my index finger at the clue that I suddenly attained out of the blue.

“Look, I only managed that because I borrowed Eivind Dahl’s power.”

In fact, the body I currently resided in had almost no magic power. Yet thanks to Eivind Dahl, I managed to complete the task. I was in an academy. There was no reason not to take advantage of that environment.

“If you’d like, I could help you with your magic practice?”

“Eh?”

“One year might not be enough, but it’s better to start now than never. After all, once tomorrow arrives, today will never come back.”

Fufu, such is youth.

I wanted to help Anita improve her magic. That way, I’d be able to experience youthful things such as studying with a friend. Besides, by making Anita indebted to me, it might be useful for Cecily’s future.

It might be awful of me, but this is killing three birds with one stone!

Anita asked rather awkwardly.

“…Are you sure? Weren’t you looking down on my dreams?”

“Why would I make fun of my friend’s dream?”

“Frie—”

She suddenly shut her mouth. However, the next moment, she picked up the cosmetic bottles again and shoved them to me.

“…They are yours!”

“Like I said, I don’t need them—”

“—It’s hush money! I’ve never shown such a pathetic figure to anyone else!”

“Even without something like this, I won’t tell anyone.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. “Is the guest going home already?” Anita’s servant came in with a tea set. Anita immediately gave new orders to the maid who’d just returned.

“Prepare a cake, too. I’m going to teach her how to put makeup on. It’s going to take a long time! …A promise is a promise! The magic practice will start tomorrow! First of all, it’s better to do something about your appearance!”

The second half of her words were directed at me.

Anita’s maid must be familiar with her personality. At Anita’s smug tone, there was a happy gleam in the maid’s eyes.

“Certainly. Shall I prepare two—one for the young lady, and one for the guest?”

“Y-you’re mistaken!”

Anita denied the maid’s words while stealing glance at me, her ears dyed red.

“She’s my friend!”

---

***T/N: tsuntsun girl friend getto daze.

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