3 Tea with a girl

"Why the heck is a noble's daughter going around alleyways without an escort!?" [Tasou]

"I'm only the daughter of a baron. And that was my escort, ya know? Papa doesn't live here in the capitol so he had to hire some mercenaries to watch over me. Why are you making such a weird face?" [Mari]

"I want to object but it's such a waste of effort!" [Tasou]

This girl is done for. Mari, huh? Must be a nickname for the marbles she never had. Such a girl dragged me off to a tea shop. I dunno, maybe so that she wouldn't have to walk alone and therefore suffer a repeat performance of the alley? Oh wait, I guess that makes her kind of clever. Whatever.

As expected of the cliche, she's cute, but despite the tea I'm still sick to my stomach. I want out of this situation before I get dragged into something worse.

"So, why exactly are you here, then, if your father isn't? [Tasou]

"I'm enrolling in the Royal Academy!" [Mari]

Khhk. Is this what I think it is?

"Don't try to drag--" [Tasou]

"--Anyone can enroll by securing a scholarship! You look my age, and so..." [Mari]

She grabs my hand. Oh no, please, no.

"...you should get that scholarship and enroll, too!" [Mari]

Wao! Oh, and also I look like a kid in this world. It was such a cliche that I forgot to mention it! <AN: whoops>

"Why are you so interested in this?" [Tasou]

"I don't have guards anymore! They were gonna assault me! So now I'll take my chances with you!" [Mari]

"Are you some kind of masochist!?" [Tasou]

Putting yourself on the line in some weird act of Social Darwinism. What kind of pervert are you? Though as expected, it's the school arc. I admit, it's a good place to learn about the world. And a great way to bootstrap myself from zero to some semblance of understanding and controlling my situation. The problem is...

"Hehe." [Mari, peace sign]

This girl.