I Start with a Bad Hand!

The moment Frank and I made eye contact, he clung to my sleeve as if he were about to kneel in front of me. Disliking the feeling of someone else’s hand on my slightly sweaty training clothes, I instead grabbed Frank by the collar. But seeing his face, full of desperation and compliance, took the edge off my irritation, and I let go of him, feeling a bit awkward.

“I’m really sorry. I never imagined you’d go through something like that. It’s definitely,”

“No, being sorry is expected. Explain what happened.”

At my words, Frank looked as if he would flatten himself against the ground in apology.

“I just came from talking to the academy. They’ve sent an investigative team from the royal family.”

Ah, so that’s why he missed class. Seeing my indifferent expression and lack of response, Frank hastily pulled out a flyer from his pocket and handed it to me.

“I’m truly sorry for what happened to you. But I swear, I had no idea. Why would I do such a thing to someone I have to see every day? And look at this.”

As I took the flyer he handed me, I asked,

“What is this?”

“It’s a recruitment notice I found on the bulletin board near the academy library. There are always notices like this posted there.”

The library area? I never had a reason to go there, so I didn’t know such notices existed. Reading the flyer, I saw it was hastily written: “Archers Wanted, Preference for Long-Range.”

“Of course, I believed what was written here. The pay was reasonable, and other hunting recruitment notices are always posted like this. Really, I thought this one was just another regular hunting job.”

This is another hunting recruitment flyer. Frank hurriedly pulled more papers out of his bag and handed them to me. They were all in the same style, with scrawled handwriting.

“…Did you ever think about who might be posting these notices before you just went along with them?”

Of course, it wasn’t right for me to say, since I had eagerly gone hunting at Frank’s request. Frank, sensing a slight reprimand in my tone, responded defensively.

“I understand what you’re thinking, but the notices on that bulletin board are reviewed by the student council before they’re posted. The board is also regularly checked by the board manager to remove any unauthorized postings.”

This one was no different. Who could have predicted this would happen? Frank was now on the verge of tears, rolling on the ground in frustration.

“…That is how the bulletin board is usually managed.”

But I couldn’t fully trust Frank’s words. To verify his explanation about the bulletin board, I asked Irene. With a stern expression, Irene glanced at Frank, who stood next to me like a guilty party.

“But that bulletin board is for recruiting people within the academy. We’ve never allowed external recruitment notices. This one included.”

Frank, looking even more aggrieved, spoke in a small, retreating voice. Seeing this new inconsistency, I interrupted with a frown.

“He said the student council reviews them all.”

“Um… people do put them up secretly, from time to time. The board manager said the student council doesn’t always catch them if they don’t actively look,”

“It’s not that they didn’t catch it, they couldn’t. The student council checks the bulletin board at set times.”

Who is in charge of the bulletin board? Irene, looking at the speechless Frank, quickly scribbled a note and handed it to one of the waiting student council members nearby.

“Go. I’ve already heard about this through the royal knights, and the student council needs to explain this as well.”

Frank, looking pitiful with slumped shoulders, nodded. I tilted my head slightly and looked at Frank. His eyes were already brimming with tears, but I couldn’t let it end here.

“You’ve been on hunts quite often. You even asked me to go a few times, and we went together.”

“Really? You’re not just sticking up for Frank because you’re close?”

“I’m not close to him. We just happen to be in the archery club and the music club together, so we see each other often. And that bear hunting notice, a few others and I saw it together. We were supposed to go together.”

When I quietly asked Clara from the archery club, with whom I had started talking after a friendly match, she explained the situation in a calm tone.

“Really? Then why didn’t you go?”

Clara responded with a sour expression.

“A senior suddenly called for a regular practice. I couldn’t say I’d skip practice just for a hunt.”

After confirming with several others that Frank had been going on hunts regularly and that the notice had indeed been posted on the bulletin board, I nodded toward Frank, indicating that I understood. This brought him to tears again.

Thus, it was decided that from now on, any notice posted on the academy bulletin board must have the student council’s approval stamp, and no external organization could post promotional materials. It was a rather unsatisfying and seemingly ineffective conclusion.

‘Who is the bulletin board helper who puts up these suspicious papers?’

It was assumed that either a malicious person posted a dubious hunting notice, or an ignorant individual posted a dangerous notice without thinking.

Additionally, Frank made amends for his wrongdoing by giving me an instrument, offering me personal lessons until the end of the semester, and agreeing to fulfill any unreasonable requests I had for the next year. The only unresolved matter was identifying the negligent bulletin board manager.

***

“What a mess that was.”

“Tell me about it. When luck’s bad, everything goes wrong….”

I strummed the banjo Frank had given me, responding without much enthusiasm. Since opportunities to learn from such a skilled person were rare, I decided to make the most of it.

“So that’s the first song you learned from him?”

“Uh… yeah, but I’m having trouble with the chords. It’s harder when I try to sing along.”

“Oh, sing it for me.”

From that moment, Agnes lay sprawled on my bed, listening to my stumbling attempts at playing.

“Lovers, lo… lovers and, dream, dream… dreamers and,”

“….”

“Dream~, no, again.”

“….”

“Lov…ers and, dream, dream, dreamers, and fro… frog, frog~. Okay, again, lovers… and~, dream, dreamers, and, frog, frog,”

“Aaaargh! Frog! Frog!”

At first, Agnes enjoyed listening, but at some point, she began to thrash about on my bed, screaming in frustration. Watching her flailing around like she was having a fit, I steadfastly continued plucking the strings. Agnes, now floundering on my bed, writhed in agony. Irene had long since returned to her dormitory.

“Lov…ers and,”

“What’s the next line after ‘lovers and dreamers and frogs’? Ah, I’ll memorize it too. Give it to me.”

Agnes then began strumming the chords at double speed. After about five repetitions, she handed the instrument back to me.

Nevertheless, I continued practicing diligently whenever the sun was up. My words about practicing until my fingertips were sore were not just empty talk.

「Could you please stop playing? It’s too hard to listen to.」

My seemingly endless practice was briefly interrupted when a note was left on my door by a neighbor I had never met.

‘I only played for about 30 minutes during the day, not even at night….’

But the phrase ‘too hard to listen to’ instead of ‘too loud’ was enough to make me feel dejected. In the end, I relocated to a clearing far from the academy to practice.

“The melody is nice. Why are you practicing here alone?”

A few days later, while I was practicing in a secluded part of the academy, someone approached and complimented my playing for the first time.

“Well… I was looking for a place with no people, so I ended up here.”

I looked up at the person. Though the backlight made it hard to see their face, the voice was unmistakable.

“Hayden, what brings you here?”

“With the spring ball approaching, the academy has been so noisy. I was looking for a quiet place too, but I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Come to think of it, we always seem to meet in places with no people. Still holding my position on the chord, Hayden moved closer and sat beside me. With nothing more to say, I remained silent, but Hayden didn’t seem to mind as he spoke to me.

“You’re coming to the ball this time, right? It’s been so hard to see you at any of the balls.”

Why does he need to see me at the ball? Trying not to let my doubts show, I replied.

“Uh… no. Actually, I’m not planning to go to the spring ball.”

“Why not?”

I paused to think. Did I really need to explain to Hayden why I wasn’t going to the spring ball? I turned my gaze back to the banjo and replied,

“Actually, I don’t have a suitable dress.”

Although I did have a dress for the ball… This seemed like a good enough reason, making the moment appropriately uncomfortable without offering an obvious solution.

“What…?”

However, Hayden took my words seriously, with a genuinely sympathetic expression. His concern made me feel uncomfortable and even a bit flustered, so I hastily added,

“I’m also busy with other things. If I had a magical ox or a frog to help with my chores and prepare a dress for me, it would be nice, but alas.”

Of course, I wasn’t some fairy-tale character, and such things didn’t happen. Even if they did, I’d rather work alongside the ox and frog than go to the ball. I had truly become ingrained in my laborer mindset.

‘Wait, shouldn’t it be a fairy godmother here? I’ve been here so long, my references are getting mixed up.’

However, to my surprise, Hayden understood my joke from my world and smiled.

“There’s a similar fairy tale in Sereti.”

“What…?”

“A magical frog and ox help the protagonist go to a party, fixing a leaky wine barrel along the way. The stepmother abuses the protagonist, right?”

Hearing this localized version of our fairy tale, I felt a bit of unexpected warmth.

“Oh, right. That’s the story. They have it in Sereti too.”

I felt a sense of camaraderie, even if the frog fixed a leaky wine barrel instead of a broken jar. Relaxing my grip on the strings, I set the banjo aside. As I did, Hayden leaned in slightly and said,

“In the Empire, it’s a fairy godmother. Similar concept, but different details. The stepmother abuses the protagonist.”

“Still, I prefer the frog. The fairy godmother feels too unrealistic, but the frog… you know, it’s a bit more plausible. Makes me think it might actually be possible.”

I laughed, leaning back against the tree, feeling more at ease. Knowing someone else shared my experience as an outsider in this world gave me a sense of comfort.

But even so,

“This wasn’t what I expected…”

The events of that sunny day returned a week later in the form of an awkward gift.