“Are you here, Yuugo Clay? If you are, respond.”
“Hna…?”
One day, as Yuugo prepared breakfast in the corner of the courtyard he called home, he heard a voice he did not recognize calling him, and responded with an inane sound.
He turned his head towards the voice, and saw a man appearing with a rustling sound.
“You really are living here… I can only say I’m surprised.”
“Ah, I… Who are you…?”
Yuugo asked an obvious question.
The man looked surprised, but quickly nodded, as if showing he understood it.
“Of course, you lost your memory. It makes sense that you don’t remember me. I am in charge of the first year of high school here in the Luminous Academy. My name is Uno Castle. Remember that.”
“Thank you, Mister Castle. Is there anything you need from me?”
If one were to describe Uno briefly, the words strict teacher would be it.
He seemed to be nearing the age some called the prime of their lives, but his sharp eyes showed a lot of spirit, and his bald head gave off an even bigger sense of intimidation.
And the way he was well dressed meant he gave off the air of an educated person.
Yuugo thought to himself that teachers who were in charge of whole years sure were different, as he asked the reason why he was there, and got an answer.
“Clay, how much longer do you intend to live here? Don’t you think having students live outdoors and not in a dormitory is a stain on the long-established Luminous Academy?”
“N-no, well, I don’t think it’s right either, but what can I do…”
Yuugo sounded flustered as he responded to a question that made sense.
Of course, if a student were to occupy a corner of the courtyard, no matter how small, it would be a problem a teacher could not overlook.
“But I do have to commend you for your indomitable spirit. You have a tent and camping equipment, but you’re still eating quite well. And you even have a horse…!”
“I bought the tent with money I got from requests. As for the food… A lot comes from the school cafeteria, but lately I’ve been getting friendlier with the members of the cooking club, so they share what they have to spare. And please don’t mind the horse, it’s my friend.”
Hehehe… Yuugo laughed awkwardly as Uno looked at him.
He thought about how he would have no other place to go if he was chased away from the courtyard, so his mind worked hard to find a way to avoid that, as Uno cleared his throat and continued.
“I applaud your effort. However, this is on school grounds, and a communal area. As a teacher, I cannot allow you to monopolize it.”
“I-I see, but if you chase me out of here, I won’t have a place to…”
“Don’t worry, I already made arrangements. You have a room in a dormitory. You can move there, Yuugo.”
“Eeh!?”
This caught Yuugo by surprise, and Uno continued after clearing his throat again.
“Just so you know, this is an empty room in a dormitory for common students. It will be very different from the spacious and luxurious room you had in the dormitory for nobles. But I won’t hear any complaints.”
“N-no no! What complaints!? But I can’t pay for that…”
“…You have achieved a lot, with the case of the murders perpetrated by Rush Winhelm, beating back the monster armor beasts attacking the village at the foot of the Yum Yum Mountain, retrieving and destroying forbidden magic items in the form of magic swords, and most recently, taking part in saving the inhabitants of that village. Therefore, your boarding expenses will be waived. Don’t worry about money.”
Yuugo was surprised by how convenient this all was.
He was having a hard time taking in this all too sudden happy turn of events, that would take him from sleeping outside to staying in a room with walls and a roof. He then asked a question.
“Hum… But why is this happening so suddenly? I’m happy, but it really is so sudden…”
“…Quite the contrary, this comes too late. It has been reported quite a while back that you were living here. However, nothing was done because I was waiting to see the reaction of your father, a noble and current head of the family…
Furthermore, as much as it pains me to say, I was injured during the incident caused by Rush Winhelm, and had to rest. I apologize for neglecting you during this time.”
“N-no, you shouldn’t apologize. It was my fault my father got all mad. I should thank you.”
“….Thank your friends, not me. Melt Epee, Marcos Borg, Hercus Ohno, Mizari Pym, Claire Rouge, and the members of the cooking club you mentioned… Also, Angel Amber of the technical department came to speak with me in person.”
“They did… I see…!”
Yuugo whispered while thanking his friends, now that he understood why things started moving so quickly.
Uno looked directly at him, and spoke plainly.
“You are moving to the fifth dormitory, room 043. Be out of here by tomorrow, or you will be taken out of here… Is that understood?”
“Yes! Understood!”
Yuugo reacted with a lot of energy.
Uno nodded, and having said what he had to say, left.
“…You found good friends, Clay. Study hard, so as not to betray them.”
“Yes! Thank you Mister Castle!”
Said Yuugo after Uno stopped for a moment to say something with a somewhat gratified tone.
And so, despite it being sudden, Yuugo did as Uno said and packed up his things before heading to the fifth dormitory.
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Finally Yuugo’s good deeds are officially recognized by the school!
Oh yeah finally some recognition
The school as caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand a student kept producing exceptional results, becoming a model to be emulated and an advertisement for the school itself. But he was living in borderline squalor – a mere tent in the corner of the school’s grounds, giving an unintentional advertisement of how the school treats such students.
But on the other hand the school couldn’t just waive the normal costs or others may insist upon a similar waiver. His results eventually gave enough weight to counter those arguments, but against that was the third hand: potentially angering the student’s father.
But the father’s continued inaction (not trying to remove him from the school by force when he continued to attend despite losing his dorm room and much of his status) combined with the pressure from the heirs of other noble families (and the lack of pushback upon their heirs from those families, showing indirect acceptance – or at least a lack of concern – of their heir’s decisions) eventually gave the school sufficient guarantee of political safety to risk ending the current situation.
That said, it would not surprise me if his father *does* react to this (however slightly), although I am uncertain in which direction.
I wonder who his neighbors will be? Because almost certainly one of them will be either someone he knows or the teased next conquer target. (Although it seems that the work is keeping Melt in the lead – and possibly as the only one. I thought Angel would be joining, but she seems to be aiming for Phi. And while Precia has been removed, she does not seem to have joined either. This may not be a harem work.)
~~~TOKUSATSU REFERENCE TIME~~~
The name of the teacher, Uno Castle, when translate to Japanese:
Uno (one) = ichi
Castle = jou
you’ll get “Ichijou” as in Ichijou Kaoru from Kamen Rider Kuuga.
Looks like Yuugo is graduating from being a squatter, that’s good a little longer and he might’ve showed the signs of being a bum. Like saying all he needs to live is tomorrow’s pair of underwear, or putting mayonaise on everything, or recently eating rocks XD