The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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“…As expected, was my hypothesis correct?”

Magic modifies humans in a better way.

Observing the internal structures of the disemboweled golem while alive, Georg realized that indeed his theory was correct.

When he was with the hero party, he couldn’t conduct research as they kept slaying every creature in sight, but now he could leisurely study without interruptions.

Even now, the nearby tissue was writhing as it responded to physical trauma, trying to recover the body.

Georg thought it was an incredible resilience, no matter how many times he saw it.

He confirmed that the messy, flawed structure of the human body had improved in every aspect, and the strength of the bones was reinforced to the level of steel, and he meticulously documented this.

Having dedicated 40 years to creating a workshop that strongly resisted divine power, he felt little regret for the research results.

Since divine power was the force that fixed humans as ‘humans,’ despite having an improved body, as long as the source of the golem was human, there would always be a sense of self-loathing in an environment with divine power.

Georg had solved one curiosity, yet he still had questions remaining.

Why did magic induce such changes only in humans?

It was not that other races did not use magic. Even during his time in active duty, there were elves or beastmen wielding magic.

Moreover, he had also used magic for research or to resolve situations.

However, neither he nor their physical structures experienced any changes.

And why did his fellow countrymen treat the lowly humans so kindly?

Watching his fellow countrymen willing to grant anything at the request of humans, Georg always wondered: why were they so nice to humans?

Yet he never received a satisfactory answer.

Finally, why did the goddess create divine power? Why go through such troublesome means to fix humans as humans?

Believing his exploration was not yet finished, Georg stepped out of the workshop.

– – – –

Hearing something buzzing, I opened my eyes to find Anastasia just awakened, swinging her sword and loosening her body.

Watching the shards of ice scatter in the trajectory of her blade, I thought it looked pretty, and, as if noticing I was awake, she greeted me.

“Oh, Hoyeon, you’re up?”

“…Yeah.”

It must be morning; my head felt clouded.

Now that I think about it, something similar happened a month ago…

Ah, right. It’s the heat cycle. It’s been exactly a month.

While I could hide it at the Academy, if I did something strange now, it would surely be socially catastrophic.

“Are you tired…?”

“…No, I’ll get up.”

I might do something weird with Dokan beside me. Thinking back to what happened in the locker… I might do something even worse than that.

“Well then… want to wash up together to wake up?”

“Sure.”

There was no reason to refuse. I could wake up, distance myself from Dokan, and see Anya’s body.

I wasn’t excited about seeing a woman’s body anymore… but still, I wanted to see how big it was with my own eyes.

Feeling it and measuring would still seem inaccurate. Dokan’s experiences felt larger because we touched in a narrow, dark space.

People couldn’t possibly be that big.

Now, I had no major aversion to washing with water. I even kind of enjoyed it, except for when the water occasionally got in my ears.

The water wasn’t too deep, and the current wasn’t strong. The only issue was that it was a bit cold, but it was bearable.

Compared to the water used in showers during military service, this was warm.

How could they charge that much for water that flowed less than a mountain stream?

“…Uh, Hoyeon… please don’t stare at me like that…”

As I was washing and looking at Anastasia, she spoke shyly.

Yeah, I was definitely staring too openly.

But it was genuinely astonishing, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was about my height, but her proportions were good, her chest was big, and her face was beautiful.

How could I not look?

Though it might be shameless, her beauty naturally drew my gaze.

“Sorry, you’re just too pretty.”

“Y-yes? Ah… thank you for the compliment… Hoyeon, you’re pretty too!”

I wondered if she was prettier than me. I didn’t say it outright, knowing it was a polite compliment, but it made me feel good receiving praise.

Since she told me not to stare too much, I satisfied myself with sneaking glances while finishing my wash.

As I cleaned myself up, including under my tail and my ears, she asked me a question.

“Um… Hoyeon, what do you think of Dokan?”

She was cautiously bringing up a serious topic, and being a common question girls that age might ask made me a bit deflated.

“My closest friend.”

“…But Hoyeon is in a position to ask for more from him.”

If it’s a deeper relationship than friendship… best friends?

I didn’t know why she pointed out “body” so specifically, but I had no thoughts of asking for more. I was just happy to have a friend.

Even if he wasn’t the protagonist and just a passing extra, I would treat him the same.

“I have no such thoughts. I’m grateful that Dokan is my friend.”

“But Hoyeon’s belly…”

Just as she was about to say something significant, a rustling noise came from nearby.

Both of us turned our heads in that direction upon hearing the sound, and there stood Dokan.

With his flushed face, it seemed he had definitely seen something.

Knowing it was too late, I instinctively covered my important parts with my hand. At least the lower half was submerged in water, so maybe it was a little fortunate.

However, Anastasia seemed to think differently.

Instead of covering her body, she immediately picked up a pebble from the ground and hurled it with all her might toward Dokan.

“What are you looking at, you trash—!”

Despite the distance, the pebble made a loud crack as it struck Dokan’s forehead.

At that moment, seeing the mana swirling around her body, it seemed she even used a mana breathing technique, and I couldn’t help but worry if Dokan was hurt.

While it was wrong to peek, this felt a bit extreme.

I attempted to approach Dokan to check on him, but Anastasia held me back fiercely.

“…Tell me, Hoyeon. Are you really okay being treated like that by trash like him?!”

– – – –

My head felt like it was going to explode.

No, it might have actually broken.

Having received the full force of her blow, which could momentarily contend with Baek Jeong-ho’s strength, it was a miracle I wasn’t completely out of it.

“───”

I heard someone say something, but I couldn’t quite hear it clearly.

I just wanted to lie here like this.

No, I had peeped at her while she was naked, but almost killing someone for it was just too much.

…More importantly, I wasn’t much behind Anya when compared to her.

Since I was already hated by Anya and Camilla and had no connection with Iris, I considered just focusing on pursuing Hoyeon for my own comfort.

I knew them, but to them, I was completely a stranger.

“─Dokan!”

Wondering who was calling my name, I turned to find it was Anya.

“Dokan! Are you okay?! Oh no… I’m so sorry… because of me…!”

She must have thought it was harsh to throw a stone at poor Dokan, as she was apologizing profusely.

“…It’s fine. I’m still alive.”

“Dokan?! Are you okay?!”

“Uh, more than that, could you speak a bit quieter? My head is ringing.”

I appreciated her for raising her voice to snap me back, but my ears felt nearly numb.

Clothes neatly folded by the riverside nearly cost me dearly for my curiosity, so I thought I ought to resist looking next time.

“Dokan!”

I heard Hoyeon calling me, but I couldn’t respond because she had tightly hugged me down.

Lying on the ground while Hoyeon climbed on top of me was too much pressure on my chest.

With her being on the same level as Anya, it really made it hard to breathe.

She was wriggling as if relieved, and I could barely manage to say a word.

“Hoyeon… I can’t breathe…”

“Ah.”

Seemingly understanding my words, she got off me without hesitation.

Just as I escaped one near-death experience, another one was already looming.

“…Could you help me stand up a bit?”

“Here, take my hand.”

Though the dizziness steadied a bit, it was still hard to stand on my own.

I took Hoyeon’s hand and stood up, only to find Anya approaching me.

What was she going to do this time?

“…Dokan! I’m so sorry for being harsh! I made the most absurd misunderstanding…”

“…Huh.”

With Hoyeon watching from the side, Anya slowly explained why she acted that way.

Overwhelmed by her followers, she had come to say a word to Hoyeon but spotted her entering my room.

With her poor understanding of sexual matters, she seriously thought Hoyeon was pregnant with my child.

So, she kept following and observing, but seeing me be friendly with other girls made her think I had discarded Hoyeon.

If Hoyeon hadn’t corrected her misunderstanding directly, she probably would have lived with that delusion forever.

I’m truly sorry.

“…Uugh…”

Seeing Anya’s face flush bright red, head hung low, I felt quite a mix of emotions.

So that’s why she treated me like that. Ignoring me in the club, then turning away whenever we crossed paths.

“…It’s fine now that the misunderstanding is cleared.”

I was just glad the misunderstanding had been resolved.

“…So, have I been forgiven…?”

“Forgiven? It’s not like you did it on purpose. You just didn’t know. There’s no need to hold it against you.”

It wasn’t like she did it on purpose, and since she didn’t know either, I could only be grateful that Hoyeon was mad on my behalf.

Then, we could consider this a reset in our relationship with Anya.

“Then, once again, please take care of me. Is it okay to call you Anya?”

“Ah… yes.”

“I did well, right?”

As I was chatting with Anya, Hoyeon clung closely to me.

“Uh, thanks to you, I cleared the misunderstanding. I appreciate it.”

“If you’re thankful, hurry and pet me.”

From the way Hoyeon clung so closely, I could smell that nice fragrance again. How was she smelling nice even without using shampoo this time?

I asked if there was another way to pet her since it was like that, but she flicked her tail, meaning that wasn’t an option, so I had no choice but to pet her gently.

I’m sorry, Anya. Please don’t look at me like that.

Though the misunderstanding was resolved, it felt like a different misunderstanding had somehow increased.