The Duty Of An Academy Student Should Be To Study - Chapter 12

Episode 12

Rose cautiously tried to defend Briley.

“Briley seems like a nice person.”

“…I guess so.”

“Huh?”

“You’re close with her?”

Close with Briley? Well… Rose hesitated to answer. Her thoughts were conflicted with two criteria. As someone who hadn’t had friends at the Academy before, Briley was indeed her closest friend so far. But they had only known each other for a few days, so it might be difficult to call her close by other people’s standards.

As Rose pondered over the exact answer, Jasper blurted out abruptly,

“Never mind. Don’t talk about her.”

That wasn’t the point. Rose rolled her eyes.

“Why…? All of a sudden?”

“Don’t know. I don’t want to hear it, that’s all.”

Rose opened her lips slightly and then clenched them shut again.

‘He’s still as capricious as ever. Just the same!’

Despite that, after encountering him a few times, Rose was no longer greatly surprised by Jasper’s whims. Jasper Conway was naturally that kind of person.

They walked in silence. Occasionally, Jasper’s pace quickened, causing Rose to fall behind. Each time, Jasper stopped, waiting for Rose to catch up before moving again.

Yet, Rose didn’t notice Jasper’s considerate actions. Her mind was preoccupied with different thoughts.

‘Why does he avoid talking about Briley?’

Before she knew it, they had arrived at the mineralogy classroom. Just then, Professor Luis, the mineralogy professor, came running from the opposite side.

“Hello, Professor.”

As Rose greeted him, the disheveled-looking Luis stopped in his tracks. He seemed to have rushed out as if he had overslept. His glasses were crooked on his face, and his brown hair was tousled. He didn’t even have time to iron his checkered shirt, which looked crumpled.

Luis cleared his throat a few times before speaking.

“Oh! Are you the students I’ll be teaching this year?”

“Yes, please take care of us.”

“It’s me who should be saying that… Oh, drat! I want to shake hands or something, but I don’t even have anything in my hands!”

Luis was one of the professors at the Academy known for his eccentric behavior. It was said of him that he always seemed to be missing a screw.

However, within the field of mineralogy, he was one of the Empire’s leading figures. At a mere thirty-something years old, Luis surpassed scholars with much longer careers and established new standards for mineral classification. He might not have appeared like a remarkable scholar at first glance.

Professor Luis mumbled to himself.

“I almost ended up being late on the first day. This is big trouble, big trouble. But I obtained a very unique mineral yesterday. Our friends will find it quite fascinating.”

“Yes… I’m looking forward to it.”

Rose replied reflexively to Luis.

Jasper pretended not to hear and remained silent, but he held the door open for Luis, who was holding something in his arms.

Inside the classroom, there was a faint scent of paper and earth. As it had been one of the original classrooms since the Academy’s founding, it appeared slightly worn.

The area now called the western section of the main building was originally the entire main building. The expansion construction had pushed less popular subjects toward the West.

Inside the classroom, rather than individual desks, long rectangular tables were arranged in a tiered formation. There were only around five or six students present.

Luis greeted the students with nods and made his way to the lectern, his voice brimming with excitement.

“Nice to meet you all. Welcome.”

Luis scanned the classroom before speaking with an excited voice.

“Half of the class is already here! Just sit wherever you’d like.”

“…Half?” 

Jasper, who had been quiet all along, muttered softly. There were around ten students in total. Other elective courses usually had around 30 to 40 students on average.

Knowing that mineralogy was an incredibly unpopular subject, Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I barely made it past the minimum capacity. It was almost cancelled… I’m glad.’

If there were fewer than ten students enrolled, the class would be canceled. The mineralogy class faced that situation last year. They almost didn’t have the chance to take mineralogy and nearly graduated without it.

Jasper made a discontented expression and then gestured towards Rose.

“Let’s go there.”

“Huh?”

“You can sit anywhere.”

Jasper pointed to the corner by the window.

“Well, I…”

She had been about to sit in the front row… Moreover, she hadn’t even considered the idea of sitting next to Jasper, which caught her off guard.

With even wider eyes, Rose looked up at Jasper. After hesitating for a moment, she pointed to the spot right in front of the lectern.

“I’m… going to sit there.”

“Sure, got it.”

“…Huh?”

Jasper nonchalantly headed towards the spot that Rose had indicated. He walked confidently as if urging her to follow.

“Uh, um…”

Awkwardly, Rose stood there before gingerly taking a seat next to Jasper.

With the class about to start, Rose retrieved her notebook and stationery from her bag one by one. While Rose appeared to be preparing for the class in a relaxed manner, her mind was filled with various thoughts.

Jasper Conway in the front row—what an unfamiliar sight. It was something she had never witnessed during their common lectures.

‘Why does he want to sit next to me?’

Rose tightly gripped her pen and wrote down today’s date on the first page of her notebook. She wanted to concentrate on the class she had been waiting for, but her confusion kept drawing her attention sideways.

‘…Does he consider us friends? Are we friends, Jasper and I?’

Her normally neat and precise handwriting wavered.

‘I told Bry that we’re not friends…’

The memory of firmly responding to Briley resurfaced.

Upon careful consideration, maybe they could be considered friends. They had even ridden in the carriage together, and they planned to study together regularly in the future. Moreover, their elective courses coincidentally overlapped.

‘Am I… friends with Jasper Conway?’

However, the word “friends” felt awkward. Jasper Conway and Rose Bell were friends. The more she thought about it, the more contradictory the statement seemed. It was like a sentence full of contradictions—cold fire, tasty broccoli, steadfast George Bell… It was like those things.

Jasper, who had been watching Rose in secret, spoke up.

“Do you dislike sitting next to me?”

Rose turned to Jasper, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Sitting next to me during class isn’t a big deal, is it?”

“Yeah, I guess… You’re right.”

“Mineralogy students are mostly quiet and not interested in others, so no one openly stares in this direction.”

Furthermore, the inside of the classroom was quite chaotic. Professor Luis was spreading various minerals all over, creating a mess.

Jasper furrowed his brows and said, 

“You act all tense when it’s just sitting next to me. I don’t get it.”

“…You think so?”

“You acted like you hated people in general, but you stick close to Briley Lawrence.”

Jasper’s voice became sharper again.

“Ah, well, Briley is an exception.”

“Why?”

“Um. Briley… is a bit unusual. In a good way.”

“Why don’t you try being even a little nice to me?”

Rose blinked her eyes. Jasper’s request sounded oddly strange.

“Do you… want to get closer to me?”

Jasper looked at Rose with a bewildered expression.

“Otherwise, why would I bother doing this?”

“Oh. Uh, well…”

Rose was flustered and couldn’t find the right words to respond immediately. Why did he want to get closer to her? Why would Jasper Conway want that?

Jasper tilted his head slightly, let out a sigh, and said, 

“You’re good at studying. We’re taking the same classes anyway. What’s the problem with getting to know someone like that and spending time with them? If it helps.”

Oddly, Jasper’s somewhat cold tone seemed to clear Rose’s mind. With this explanation, she understood immediately.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll help you with your studies from now on.”

“….”

“If I upset you in some way, I’m sorry. I’m not good at interacting with people. You, well… you’re… uh, popular… and it’s harder to approach you.”

“I’m popular?”

“…You’re not asking because you don’t know, right?”

“I’m curious. Why do you think I’m popular?”

Jasper’s gaze fixated on Rose intently. Rose swallowed dryly.

‘Is he really asking me this…?’

Jasper Conway was truly odd. Would he be embarrassed to hear why he’s considered special? Rose realized that Jasper was fundamentally different from herself in many ways—temperament, personality, hobbies, background, and more. She doubted there would be even a single overlap.

Different didn’t mean bad, of course. She simply regarded Jasper as a peculiar existence she would never fully comprehend. It was easier to let go of understanding everything. Rose focused on finding appropriate answers to Jasper’s questions.

“Maybe because you’re handsome and cool, that’s why you’re popular?”

Jasper was holding his chin with his hand and then straightened his posture.

“Do you think that too?”

“Huh? Oh, well, then…”

“Am I handsome?”

“Maybe everyone… thinks so?”

“Right. So, do you completely agree with that thought?”

Jasper’s gaze seemed to pierce Rose as if he wouldn’t let her off without a straight answer.

Rose took a small breath and nodded her head.

“I-I agree.”

“Well…okay. Got it.”

Jasper’s face relaxed a little.

‘He seems to like hearing that he’s handsome.’

It was unexpected. He must have heard that pretty much every day of his life. Rose thought that if it were her, she would have grown tired of hearing such remarks a long time ago.

Casting a sidelong glance at Jasper’s expression, Rose asked.

“Feeling relieved?”

“I wasn’t angry in the first place.”

“Well, that’s fortunate… Let’s study hard together. I’ll help you with the mineralogy class.”

“That darn studying…”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

Just then, Professor Luis walked to the lectern, wiping sweat from his forehead.

As Rose was about to quickly prepare herself for the class, Jasper lightly tapped her pen with his fingertip.

Perplexed, she handed him the pen, and Jasper used its end to lightly tap out a message in the corner of her notebook.

When should we have our tutoring session?

His handwriting was so terrible that she was surprised. Tap. Jasper handed her back the pen. Rose promptly replied in neat handwriting.

A brief exchange of notes took place between them.

– When would be good? When is your Intro to Magic Engineering class?

– Wednesdays and Fridays in the afternoon.

– How about Friday evening? No class the next day.

– Let’s do Wednesday too.

– Sure! You’re so enthusiastic.

– Not particularly…

Ahem, ahem. Just then, Professor Luis, in front of the class, cleared his throat as if he were caught in a net. His tall, slender frame shook as he coughed.

“Ahem. Well, everyone. I’ll… begin the class now.”

After writing the last sentence in her notebook, Rose gave Jasper a meaningful look.

Stay strong!

With a soft rustle, Jasper silently tore the page with their note exchange from the notebook. Then he folded it three times, tucking it into his jacket pocket.