An Other Worlders (4)

After I finished explaining, Chloe finally released her grip on me. I fell on my bum, and she left me alone.

"Ugh..."

...What should I do now? I pondered to myself. I had left my mask back in my room, and my remaining money would barely last a week. Therefore, I decided to head to school, looking rather disheveled. My hair was a mess, and I had developed dark circles under my eyes for some unknown reason.

"How troublesome..."

I put on my glasses, the same ones I usually wore when venturing out incognito, and slung my bag over my shoulder.

I should mention that when my vision partially returned a few years ago, it was still somewhat blurry.

With my bag in tow, I left the estate to make my way to school.

---

(Alicia's POV)

Staring at the imposing school gate ahead, I gripped my bag and adjusted the sword hanging by my side.

"I hope Vallen stops following me this year."

The person in question is my childhood friend, Vallen. For some reason, after he lost his sight, he has become somewhat... obsessed with getting my attention?

I'm not entirely sure. He wasn't like this in the past. Even though he used to be expressive, I could sometimes sense an underlying gloominess about him.

It was weird.

Taking a deep, quick breath, I relaxed my grip and took a step forward.

"...Who's that?"

Before I knew it, a young man walked past me on my right. His hair was disheveled, he wore glasses that accentuated his brown eyes, and his uniform was somewhat unkempt. Most striking, though, was his pale, sickly appearance and the dark circles under his eyes... Had he been too excited to sleep? He must be new here, I mused to myself.

The young man didn't seem particularly strong, and from what I could gather, he wasn't carrying any weapons. Yet, there was something oddly familiar about the aura he exuded. Quite unusual.

I paid no heed to him once I noticed two unfamiliar individuals engaged in a heated exchange in the distance, a boy and a girl to be precise. Both were donning the school's uniform, marking them as students here.

Snippets of their argument reached my ears, the boy blaming the girl with something like, "It's because of you that we got trapped in this world," and the girl responding with an innocent "teehee!" along with a playful gesture.

This year was shaping up to be quite unusual, it seemed... I couldn't help but smirk as I entered the school's gate.

Who knew? Maybe this week would turn out to be the most memorable one yet. I wasn't entirely sure, but my gut had a peculiar feeling about it.

A few moments later, I found myself seated in the school's auditorium, observing as the principal concluded her opening speech.

Taking a glance at my right, it was the new student from earlier. His attention was transfixed to the center of the stage as the principal spoke.

"I would like to introduce you all to my disciple and the future successor, Artoria Veinswort. A prodigy in swordsmanship."

Stepping out from the wings, the student named Artoria made her way to the center of the stage and began her address.

"Fellow students... I hereby proclaim myself as the Future's Strongest."

...What an entrance.

...

..

.

As the principal's speech concluded, we were directed to the central hall of the school.

Earlier, while perusing the list of names on the bulletin board, I couldn't help but notice a familiar name just below my own.

'Vallen Sephtis.'

Why did he have to end up in the same class as me? I was grumbling to myself about it when a student accidentally bumped into my right shoulder as they passed by... It was same guy from earlier?

"H-hey!"

Just as I was about to reach out and say something, the professor for this room entered. She walked in confidently, clipboard in hand, and after a quick glance around, she let out a sigh.

"Alright, everyone, please take your seats according to your assignments."

There was no time for my complaints, and I decided to settle into my assigned seat. To my surprise, the guy from earlier sat down next to me and seemed rather bored.

I tried to recall his name. Since the seats were arranged alphabetically based on the names on the board, I mentally ran through the list.

"Vallen Sephtis...."

While I was quietly muttering this to myself, our professor started introducing herself.

"My name is Cossette Vol Arshiel, and I'll be your homeroom professor. I'm looking forward to—"

"Vallen!?"