Princess’ Request (Part 1)

“I guess I was expecting a bit too much.”

I was splayed on my bed while staring at the ceiling I’ve gotten used to by now. The rhythmic sound of water echoed within the bathroom then stopped. After a brief silence, a half naked man returned from the bathroom.

“What’s up?” he said while he rubbed his wet hair with a towel.

This person is Raizen Ember. He told me to just call him Raiz. He’s a first year student like me from block A and now we're roommates. I met him two weeks ago when I came into my room and saw him waiting at the front door. He came without notice so I wasn’t so sure what to do when I arrived. Thankfully, no problems came about and everything went smoothly. Well, almost.

“Before that, could you not walk around almost as if showing off your body? Put a shirt on.”

He kinda reminds me of one of my carefree friends back in university. It had been two weeks since we started living together and even if he could be tiresome at most, he’s a good guy.

Raiz grabbed his shirt from the drawer and brazenly put it on.

"Haa, that's so refreshing. So? Something troubling you?"

I turned my back to the side. "Nothing. I'm just tired."

Raiz cocked his head.

In Galdia Academy, there are 6 subjects offered for first years which includes magic and the teachers change with every subject. In my case, classes start with homeroom under Olivia-san. Fortunately, the subjects’s content weren’t that hard. In fact, all of it is just basic knowledge for me. Because of that I have to sit through the classes listening to things I already knew.

Though it is a good thing that I am able to revisit those basic knowledge, it still took an effort to focus intently on those. So far, the only subjects that somehow interest me are history and magic.

Suddenly, a knock came from the door. I turned around and asked Raiz if he had any visitors.

“You had a guest?”

“No. I don’t remember inviting anyone.”

Both of us looked at each other wondering who it was.

“I’ll go check it.” said Raiz.

Raiz walked towards the door while I remained on my bed. Suddenly, Raiz let out a weird voice as he opened the door.

“P-princess?!”

I sat up on my bed in a hurry while sweat ran down my cheeks.

“Good day, Are you perhaps Hiro-san’s roommate?”

“U-uh, yes! My name is Raizen Ember, you may call me Raiz. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Alyss!”

Uh, why are you talking nervously all of a sudden?

“It’s also a pleasure to meet you, uh... Raiz-san.” said Alyss-san. “Is Hiro-san here? I have something to talk about with him.”

Something to talk about? I was listening to their conversation when Raiz suddenly came out and whispered to me.

“What is this? You should’ve told me that you and the princess know each other! I was so surprised I didn’t know what to say... “

“It’s not like you asked and I'm also surprised that she came here.”

“Ara, there you are, Hiro-san!”

Alyss-san welcomed herself to the room and saw me talking with Raiz. She tilted her head wondering what we were talking about.

“Uhm, Alyss-san? May I ask why you are here?”

Raiz was still not satisfied with how I answered him but I ignored him for now.

Suddenly, Alyss-san brought out a piece of paper and held it out in front so I could see. I took a closer look at the paper. Perhaps he was curious as well, Raiz also took a peek.

“Quest?” Raiz and I said in unison.

I scanned the contents and saw the word quest in it. Furthermore, it’s an official request form from the adventurer’s guild which has its sign and symbol on it.

“Yes!” said Alyss-san while smiling proudly to herself. “I thought it would be a good way to earn points, right?”

Advancement within the academy depends on the number of points a student has accumulated. There are different ways to gain points such as participation in class or passing some kind of assessment. It also depends on the teacher if they wanted to give out points on a certain condition. Conversely, they could also take it away in some instances. Furthermore, special privileges are provided for those that reached a certain amount of points. For royalty like her, I thought those privileges were unnecessary.

I’ve heard that you could also earn points outside of the academy. The teachers said that the academy encourages their students to widen their experience and not limit themselves within the confines of the academy. Apparently, the adventurer’s guild which had an agreement with the academy provides a certain amount of points for different quests taken. Though only official adventurers can earn money as rewards for a quest, we students can earn points for the academy instead. This also helps students gain an actual amount of experience that normally wouldn’t be available from subjects taught at the academy.

I scanned through the paper, reading what the quest was.

“‘Herb gathering’” I read out the name of the request.

“Yes. It’s a kind of medicinal flower that only grows in certain areas once a year. Apparently, it’s called Alyssia. Well, it’s pretty similar to my name, right?” She cheerfully said.

“Right... “ My reaction was a bit short since I wouldn't know what to say when she’s acting all excited like that.

“It’s not that difficult as well considering the request’s contents. We’ll just have to gather a certain amount then we're done. Though I heard that there are also monsters around, it seems that it is only a small amount of wandering goblins. I’m sure we can handle it.”

She was smiling confidently as she explained. Me and Raiz couldn’t help but remain dumbfounded at the sight.

“Uh, why me?” I asked.

“Well, of course I told you right? Even though it’s only to gather herbs, there are still monsters nearby and who could be better than the student who had scored a perfect score on the entrance exam and even defeated me in a mock battle to act as my bodyguard? Hmm?”

She peered closer to me like she wouldn’t let me say no to her otherwise. Even if she says that... I suddenly recalled the time how she single-handedly defeated the teachers in PE classes in a practice battle. Isn't she more than strong enough to be able to defend herself?

Suddenly, Raiz, who was listening beside me, raised his hands.

“How about me? I could go too if that’s okay with you, princess... I also need points in my class, you see... “

Alyss-san smiled and clapped her hands once. “Ara, that’s completely fine. In fact, I’ll gladly welcome you. After all, the more people, the better. Also, you don’t need to call me princess everytime. Just Alyss would be fine.”

“Eh, really? Then I’ll just call you Alyss-san like Hiro.”

Alyss-san then turned to me like she was expecting for me to join in as well. That was when I suddenly remembered something.

“What about those two bodyguards you had last time?”

I recalled her having two bodyguards with her the last time I met her and even on the day of the entrance exam; I saw them beside her when she arrived. I wondered if it would be okay for a princess like her to go outside without them.

“As much as I don’t want to, they’re also coming with me... but they’re only there to act as bodyguards and they wouldn’t interfere with the quest itself.”

“Uhm... then why ask me to act as one?” You already have two royal bodyguards with you, right?

“Actually, for students who are taking a request from the guild, you’ll need more than one student to take the quest.”

Oh. So that’s how it is. They wouldn’t want students to take on possibly dangerous requests after all.

Alyss-san continued to stare at me with expectant eyes while Raiz remained quiet and waited for my answer. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind accepting since I don’t have anything to do anyways.

“If you don’t mind then, I’ll humbly accept.” I also needed some points too which is why it’s not a bad offer.

Alyss-san beamed with a smile and grasped my hands. Eh?

“That’s great! Let’s do our best Hiro-san!”