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“Hello there, Sharon. I hope it’s okay for me to bother you again today.”

“Oh, no need to say it like that! It’s rather flattering that someone as important as a Hero remembers the name of a simple desk staff like me and greets me every time!”

It seems like the timing just wasn’t right; this was my first encounter with Sharon since our last introduction.

“Come on, you’re a full-fledged employee of the Academy now! I hear the salary is pretty good, the benefits are nice, and as long as you don’t cause any major incidents, there’s no worry about getting fired. Honestly, being a desk worker is way better than being a Hero!”

“Haha… Well, getting the desk job was quite tough, to be honest. Most of what I do is just greeting people unless something special comes up.”

Perhaps to emphasize that the Academy is supported by the Empire and is the best one on the continent, the staff within the Academy actually enjoyed pretty decent benefits.

So my statement that being a desk employee is better than being a Hero held more than half the truth.

If you were to grab any Academy staff passing by and ask them, I bet everyone would respond that they are quite satisfied with their job.

What? The teaching assistants under professors?

I was clearly talking about Academy “staff,” but why was the topic of grad students popping up?

“Oh, right!”

Suddenly exclaiming as if she remembered something, Sharon reached out her right hand towards me and opened her mouth.

“As I mentioned last time, I haven’t washed my hand since shaking hands with you!”

…

As her hand approached mine, I instinctively took a step back.

“…You’re joking, right?”

It had been at least a week since our last greeting… Ugh…

“Pfft. Of course, I’m joking! Though, honestly, a part of me wanted to never wash it!”

Immediately admitting it was a joke, Sharon continued.

“Well, since you’ll often be visiting to see Professor Frecia, you’d probably shake hands with me whenever I ask, right?”

“Uh… sure.”

“Then you can shake hands with me again right now! Before you go upstairs, I’d like to request a handshake just like last time!”

Sharon stretched out her hand again, which she had just offered to me.

However, naturally, my hand, which I wanted to extend for a handshake, faltered and barely reached out to clasp Sharon’s hand.

“I’m about to finish my shift soon, so by the time you come down, there might be someone else. See you next time!”

With Sharon seeing me off, I slowly made my way to Frecia’s room.

Sniff sniff…

Phew. As soon as I turned the corner, I brought the hand that had just shaken with her close to my nose, and thankfully it only smelled of the hand cream Sharon used, with no strange odor at all.

Thank goodness it was a joke after all.

“Ah, Student!”

“Huh!?”

Ouch.

I was startled, sniffing with my palm close to my nose, when a sudden call made me flinch.

Naturally, the hand that was too close to my nose smacked my face.

“Ugh… Who… Ah! It’s the desk staff!”

Rubbing my aching nose, I turned my head towards the source of the voice to find a familiar face I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Though I’m no longer just a desk staff now.”

“Oh, right… Anyway, I was actually bummed that I couldn’t greet you properly, and here we meet again! The last time we saw each other was… when I was called to the administrative building by the investigator.”

I had thought we might meet again since she hadn’t really left the Academy but had returned to her original position after working at the desk for disciplinary reasons.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t surprised at this chance encounter.

“Ah, right! How was the investigation? Those people were pretty strict, weren’t they?”

“Well, I just told them what had happened at the time. Instead of being pressured, I was treated nicely…”

“Hmmm… Really? I suppose they couldn’t afford to look down on a Hero, so that makes sense.”

The man nodded as if he understood, stroking his chin.

“By the way, what are you doing here? Wasn’t your original workplace in the Magic Building?”

“Ah, Room 606 in the Magic Building is my professor’s office. I haven’t inherited it for long, though.”

“Y-you’re a professor?”

I had never imagined that.

I might not recognize the faces of professors in the Magic Department, but I would certainly know if they were a Faculty of Knight professor.

“There’s no need to think of it so grandly. I’m just a simple successor to my mentor as her only disciple, so don’t worry about it. I know you’re a good person, Hero.”

Apparently, she had inherited the position of a wizard from her retired mentor.

“Anyway, it was nice to see you. I’m busy, so I’ll take my leave now.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to keep you for too long. I’ll drop by to properly say hello next time.”

“No need for that… but if you do come, I won’t treat you coldly. Come by anytime it’s convenient for you.”

Waving lightly as a farewell, she quickly departed.

*

“The Emperor is attending the opening ceremony too?”

Leaving behind our chance encounter, I sat at the table in Frecia’s room as always, drinking tea and cookies provided by Gomtaengi and Tokki, engaging in conversation with Frecia.

“Yeah. The Chief Wizard mentioned it to me not long ago?”

Of course, there was no reason for the Emperor not to attend the Celestial Festival.

Especially since the Academy is an institution supported by the Empire, it would only be natural for the Emperor to come and give a speech.

Yet I wondered why I had never heard such important news during the rehearsal for the opening ceremony.

“Ah…”

As I pondered this surprising thought, Frecia covered her mouth with her tiny hands and let out a small exclamation.

“This is… I was told to keep it a secret…”

If it’s a secret related to the Emperor, it must be top-tier classified information, yet Frecia let it slip so easily.

If this gets back to the Emperor, Frecia might find herself in a sticky situation.

“Well, is it okay? Like, I don’t think it needs to be a secret from Elysia…”

However, unlike my worries, Frecia seemed to brush it off as if it were nothing.

“Of course, I wouldn’t spread it around, but is it really alright to mention it so casually?”

“The Emperor is not the type to be uptight about such things.”

How bold is Frecia, to talk about the grand Emperor as casually as a neighbor?

“Just be careful. While I naturally wouldn’t go around blabbing, if it happens that you said this in front of others, it could lead to trouble, you know?”

“Well… I only do that in front of Elysia… I wouldn’t say anything in front of others.”

“Ah…”

Wow, I almost made a wrong assumption there.

Hearing Frecia’s statement, which felt like a confession, made my heart flutter.

Even though Frecia is only 16, looking quite young, she is still a beautiful girl.

How could any guy not get butterflies when a girl of their age speaks to them like they hold a special place in her heart?

However, I had to calm my racing heart.

In the first place, my current appearance is not at all that of a man.

Frecia viewed me as a trusted assistant, a colleague, a friend, just as another girl, and nothing more.

It would be embarrassing to take Frecia’s words as something special only for me, creating a cringeworthy memory and disrespecting her.

Still… Even if just for a moment, I could imagine being confessed to by a beautiful girl, so that was a win in itself.

Living my life in a woman’s body, who knows when I’d hear such words from another beauty again?

Ugh, if I imagine being confessed to by guys, I think I might throw up.

Even if I end up living alone for the rest of my life, I will never be in a relationship with a man. Yuck.

*

“Tokki, so until next time, do you have to listen well to your boss? Our dependable Gomtaengi, please take good care of the boss too.”

I hugged Tokki and Gomtaengi, who had come out to see me off, and bid farewell to Frecia.

“Then please call me again next time. Of course, I’ll come by even if you don’t call.”

“…Okay.”

Under normal circumstances, Frecia would have properly seen me off with a goodbye, but today she merely gave a small response that was barely audible.

Her face was clearly filled with dissatisfaction.

After all the days I’ve been with the boss, how could I not notice this much?

A true ace assistant should easily pick up on the subtle feelings of the boss.

Well… Actually, there wasn’t much need for attention since Frecia was outwardly pouting and clearly stating, “I’m upset!”

But why suddenly the discontent? It wouldn’t help not knowing the reason.

Was it because I took too many cookies earlier? Though, considering I’ve been snagging those expensive cookies each time and even taking a bunch when leaving, even Frecia might feel some discomfort about it.

If that’s not it, could it be that I regularly take my wages but haven’t been doing as many magic experiments lately? I probably should’ve requested compensation from my side if I had any sense of conscience. Anyway, becoming a Hero has lessened the financial burden to some extent.

But if that’s not it… Could it be that Frecia is starting to feel anxious because I inadvertently let slip the secret about the Emperor’s visit? She might be concerned I’ll blabber about it when I return and fail to keep it secret.

However… I hope that’s not the case. If that assumption holds, it means Frecia doesn’t trust me. Of course, compared to what I thought earlier, the likelihood of this is quite minimal.

While I was deep in thought, contemplating Frecia’s little actions, she decided to speak first.

“I…”

“Yeah?”

“I…”

What is “I”? All I did before her was say goodbye to Tokki and Gomtaengi… Obviously, I said the same goodbye to Frecia.

“Why didn’t you hug me? You hugged Gomtaengi and Tokki…”

“Ah…”

My boss is such a cute person. I never thought she’d get jealous over something so trivial compared to her loyal familiars, Gomtaengi and Tokki.

“Ah, our boss is so much cuter than Gomtaengi and Tokki. If I get the chance to hug you, that would be an honor instead.”

As I opened my arms wide, Frecia cutely dashed over with small steps and jumped right into my embrace.

As I wrapped my arms around Frecia, she snuggled even closer into my hug.

Just like when I had to hold her tightly because of the ghost antics during my time as a previous mentor.

However, perhaps because I almost mistook her previous words as a confession, I felt a bit embarrassed this time compared to when we were stuck before.

“Well, I really should get going now. I’ll see you next time!”

Before I could get flustered by my own feelings, I let go of Frecia.

“Okay… make sure to get home safely.”

Finally, Frecia saw me off properly.

I turned away, waving back at Frecia and the others, Gomtaengi and Tokki, as I made my way back to the dormitory.

Since I had faintly heard fragments of Frecia’s past, I sensed that like me, she might not have received enough love from her family and was probably feeling a bit starved for affection.

That led me to think that she might find solace in being hugged by me.

Realizing this, I thought that from now on, hugging Frecia once every time we part ways like this might be a good idea.

 

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