Chapter 118. I Asked Where the Cafeteria Was. Two Harem Members Volunteered to Show Me.

He didn’t underline anything in his notes, add anything, or make any noise while he changed his timeline for Apollo’s eventual removal to take into account the fact that the man was more charming and smarter than he had hoped.

What happened fifteen minutes before the lesson ended was the only useful thing about it, and Rex could finally catch a breath just because of how boring class really was.

He remembers that in his previous life, he always excused going to the bathroom just to bring any girls that could give him a blow so he could stay focused, and it seems like he needed one right now from one of Apollo’s harems.

Professor Elizabeth had only been gone for a short time to get a reference book from the prep room next door. The class was in a kind of semi-supervised quiet that quickly turned into small side conversations.

Rex let Talyra make the first move because she’s the type of girl that was always going to do it. There was no point in wasting energy getting there when she would do it for him.

She had been looking over at him for the past twenty minutes, and when Elizabeth left, she leaned to the side in her chair at an angle that was technically within her own space but very much aimed at him.

"So," she said, her voice low but audible. "Reincarnator, huh? Where exactly did you come from?"

"One without overpowered magic," Rex said plainly. "But... at least this one is much less interesting."

"No magic at all?" She seemed really upset for him. "That sounds awful."

"How did anyone get anything done without any good magic?"

"Slowly and with a lot of paperwork."

She laughed, a bright, real sound that she knew to cover up with her hand. "Okay, hehehe, that’s actually funny."

"Most reincarnators get sad and nostalgic when asked about their world, but you seem glad to be out."

"Yes," Rex said, because that part was true.

He feels sad and nostalgic about having to start over from scratch here in order to become the one who attracts every woman, including MILFs and GILFs. But still, he loved every bit of it just because this fantasy world has so many things for him.

He could hear Aisella’s soft voice from the seat next to him. "Have you always been a reincarnator here, or did you come here recently?"

He looked at her. She had her hands folded on her desk and was paying attention in a way that was very different from Talyra’s energy.

Talyra was curious and full of energy, while Aisella was careful, paying attention, and really wanting to know the answer instead of just talking.

"Well... it was a few weeks ago." Rex said, "I came with almost nothing, but my will to survive in this world full of magic and exotic things."

"That must have been frightening," she said, and she meant it. It wasn’t a polite phrase. "A new world with no connections and no resources."

"It was an adjustment," Rex said, and he let the understatement do its job. "But I was lucky at first, just because I met some nice people who helped get through it."

"I heard about the Starlights," Aisella said. "Lady Helena talked about you at the last meeting she went to."

"She has many good things to say about you, and it’s rare for someone to get that much respect from Lady Helena herself, you know?"

Rex blinked once. "You and Helena have talked?"

Aisella nodded. "I’ve met her a few times through the temple network."

"She’s worked with the Divine Order before." She smiled. "She said you saved her daughter and her family from an unusual Goblin King."

"That’s a big deal." She looked impressed.

’Divine Order...? What the fuck is that...?’

"Well, it was the right thing to do," Rex said, and the modest frame fell softly. "Anyone would have helped in that kind of situation."

Aisella said, "No one is brave enough to do something like that," putting a little more emphasis on the fact that she knew better.

"Most people, even trained fighters, run away from Goblin Kings, especially if they have some kind of unusual powers!"

The door opened, and Elizabeth came back in, and the side conversations folded away. But Rex noted that when Aisella turned her attention back to the front, there was something settled in her expression that hadn’t been there before.

He had passed some internal test; she hadn’t announced she was running.

’Good...’

...

The lunch break hit like a relief valve opening.

’Fucking finally... it’s the best thing that could happen for any student like me who wanted peace in this goddamn forsaken class.’

A wave of students left the Special Honor classroom, and most of them made their way to the main hallway. Apollo quickly gathered a small group, like gravity pulls smaller things together, and went to what Rex thought were the upper-tier dining halls for Honor students.

Rex was watching him leave and mentally noting the group’s formation when he heard Talyra’s voice right behind his left shoulder.

’What the...? She didn’t come with that asshole...? Ain’t she one of the harem as well?’

’Well... that’s a chance for me to steal then.’

Rex looked at her and asked, "Hey... Do you know where the main cafeteria is?"

Talyra was there with her bag already over one shoulder, and Aisella was next to her.

Rex didn’t even notice when Aisella showed up. ’Wait... she’s here too. What’s going on here?’

Rex said, "I was going to figure it out."

Talyra shook her head with the happy authority of someone who had been finding their way through complicated places since they were a kid. "The Honor Canteen is nice, but it’s also kind of stuffy, and everyone looks at everyone else’s grades."

"You should come to the main canteen; it is better. The food is better, the people are better, and the conversations are more interesting."

"And not as competitive," Aisella said.

Rex thought about this for just long enough to realize that having two of Apollo’s harem members show him around on his first day was a gift he didn’t have to plan.

"Would you two mind accompanying me to the main canteen?" he said.

"Of course~!" Both agreed with a different tone and expression.

And then the three of them start to move towards the main canteen.

The main cafeteria was three floors down and took up most of a wide hall that was clearly meant to hold all of the Academy’s students at once. The first thing he noticed was the smell.

It was something roasted and savory that was much better than he had expected from a cafeteria. The noise level was just right, and the light came in through high windows on the eastern wall at long angles in the afternoon, which made the whole space feel warm.

They found a table near the windows. Talyra had apparently decided that Rex was someone she liked somewhere between the classroom door and the canteen because for the first ten minutes of lunch, she told him things about the Academy that weren’t in Diana’s notebook and wouldn’t have been in any official orientation guide.

The professor overseeing the advanced combat practicum valued students who demonstrated initiative and disapproved of those who merely debated theories without putting them into practice. Honor students could get to the upper floors of the library, but the fourth floor had a collection that was only available to faculty members and required knowing which librarian was on duty.

Two of the four study halls were set aside for reincarnators on rotating schedules. If you timed it right and looked like you belonged, you could use any of them without anyone checking your schedule.

Rex listened, asked two questions that made her tell him three more things, and then he quietly took it all in.

Aisella, on the other hand, gave a different view of the same picture. Talyra’s information was about strategy and social issues, while Aisella’s was about relationships.

Which professors got along best with their students.

What parts of the Academy’s support network were real and what parts were just for show?

Who to talk to in the temple office if you ever needed a healing session that didn’t go on your formal medical record?

"You’re both great at showing people around," Rex said during the meal.

Talyra smiled. "We know, and we’ve done this for Apollo’s friends before."

Rex asked, "How long have you been in his class?"

"Since I signed up," Talyra said. "We all got put together pretty quickly."

"The Academy likes to group students with similar skills and abilities, and it seems that we all get along well enough to share a homeroom."