Chapter 107 – Her Highness Alice Likes to Cosplay?

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

Inside the March Royal School of Magic’s Dean’s Office, the elderly dean seated behind the desk voiced his greetings as he looked at Alice, who sat across him, and the maid who stood beside her.

“I was given quite the fright when I heard that King Hatter’s daughter would be attending our school.” the old dean said merrily.

“Her Highness Alice has only recently found out about her status, so some of her behaviors might not match noble etiquette. Please understand that, Dean,” Luna replied on Alice’s behalf.

As Alice didn’t know how she should behave like a princess, Luna did most of the talking for her. Meanwhile, as an intelligence agent and an all-around maid, Luna had no problem helping Alice cope with the conversation attempts of other people. At the very least, she could do it much better than Alice.

“As Her Highness’s maid, I will also do my best to help her integrate into academy life as quickly as possible.”

“Haha! You don’t have to mind those things. This school doesn’t just have nobles. There are plenty of commoner students as well,” the old dean said, chuckling. What he said was also the truth. There were plenty of commoner students attending the March Royal School of Magic. Though, he had left out the minor detail of these students being incredibly talented and capable. “However, forgive me for asking this, Your Highness, but what is the thing hanging off your waist and the thing you are carrying on your back…”

The dean had wanted to ask these questions when he first laid eyes on Alice. However, only now did he find the opportunity to do so.

There was no problem with Alice’s attire at first glance. She had already changed into the college’s uniform—a white magic robe—so she looked very much like the magicians one could find all around the school campus. However, what was a problem was the unconscious Milu Rabbit hanging off of Alice’s waist. If he wasn’t an accomplished researcher in mana, he wouldn’t have noticed the faint trace of mana within the Milu Rabbit, and he would’ve probably assumed that the Milu Rabbit was simply a doll.

In addition, there was also a small stone tablet tied to Alice’s back with a rope. The old dean recognized this stone tablet. It was the stone tablet situated in a small clearing inside the small forest near the academy’s entrance.

Although the old dean wasn’t aware of the tablet’s exact origins, ever since he took over as the March Royal School of Magic’s dean, the stone tablet had already existed in that small clearing. Meanwhile, the students treated that clearing as a sacred confession ground, so the tablet had become a witness to countless confessions.

There were naturally people who had ideas about the stone tablet in the past. After all, the stone tablet had remained unchanged even after sitting in that clearing for so many years. It was bound to have some special and valuable properties. However, nobody had ever succeeded in digging it up—that was until Alice came.

“Oh, this? It’s my pet,” Alice said with a smile as she petted the unconscious Milu Rabbit’s head.

Who would carry their pets around in an unconscious state and hanging by their ears no less—was what the old dean wanted to say. However, he refrained from doing so out of his fear for Alice’s identity. Although he was the March Royal School of Magic’s dean, he still worked under the kingdom’s education department. King Hatter could easily have him out of work tomorrow with a single order. So, the old dean suppressed his desire to voice his thoughts.

“As for the tablet on my back, I’ll put it away after I return to my dormitory. I won’t carry it around with me all the time,” Alice said as she turned around to look at the tablet on her back. She naturally had to take the Soul Gathering Tablet holding Kristine’s soul with her. After all, she couldn’t possibly leave Kristine by herself at that clearing until she helped Kristine reconstruct her body, right?

—No, my point isn’t whether you will carry the tablet around all the time, but why you dug it up in the first place?

The old dean had many questions he wanted to ask, but he eventually converted them into a heavy sigh. After all, while he did find Alice’s behavior strange, the princess at least seemed like an amicable person…probably?

Although most noble students were well-mannered, there were bound to be exceptions. Meanwhile, these exceptions would typically treat him with disregard while relying on the fact that their parents held a high official position. It was especially true for noble students who had lost their sibling rivalries at home. These students would typically behave like little tyrants at school to vent their anger and frustration. The worst part was that the old dean couldn’t do anything about these disrespectful troublemakers.

The princess was much better in comparison.

“I have already prepared your dormitory for you, Your Highness. Following Catherine’s request, I have also arranged for the student named Zauna to share a room with you,” the old dean said, wisely choosing to ignore the Milu Rabbit and stone tablet. “Zauna has excellent grades. Seeing as you are friends with her, you can ask her for help if you encounter any problems in your studies, Your Highness.”

“Are you well acquainted with Catherine, Dean?” Alice asked. She was a little curious to hear the old dean referring to the royal guard captain directly by her name.

“That’s right. Catherine also studied in March in the past. However, after studying magic here, she went on to integrate magic into swordsmanship, creating techniques that are more suitable for combat than research, so she didn’t remain in the academy as a teacher,” the old dean said, chuckling.

Although most magicians in this era tended to focus more on technical research than actual combat ability, there was no doubt that combat ability was also very useful. Whether one joined the army or the royal guards, both required strong combat capabilities to perform their duties.

“Eh… So Catherine also graduated from here.”

Alice was a little surprised. When Catherine previously invited her to military school, she thought that Catherine had graduated from there. She didn’t think that the woman was a graduate of the March Royal School of Magic instead.

“The curriculum in March is relatively relaxing. I believe you should know the reason well, Your Highness,” the old dean said, smiling as he looked at Alice.

In response, Alice nodded knowingly. Many noble students were attending the academy solely to pass the time, so the academy’s curriculum naturally couldn’t be too stressful.

“However, apart from the required courses, we offer many elective courses. Once you are done choosing your major and minor magic courses, you are free to choose whatever elective course you wish to learn.”

The elective courses were prepared specially for the commoner students. Unlike the noble students who were here to pass the time, every commoner student attending the March Royal School of Magic was someone looking to improve their standing in society. So, they would naturally take their studies more seriously and try to increase their knowledge as much as possible.

However, the academy’s loose curriculum was good news for Alice. It meant that she could spend more time researching taboos in the library.

“Are there any conditions to read the books in the library?” Alice asked after thinking over her goal of attending the magic academy. “Specifically, books on the more specialized subjects such as documents on taboos. Are there any borrowing conditions for them?”

It seems Her Highness is serious about studying? The old dean was a little surprised when she heard Alice’s question. He originally thought that “Princess” Alice was here to pass the time, similar to the other nobles. He didn’t think she would ask about the library of all places.

Of course, if it meant having one less problem child to worry about, the old dean was naturally more than happy to answer Alice’s question:

“If it’s the library, you can borrow any book so long as you apply for a library card using your student ID. There are no specific restrictions in place. As for books on taboos… Other than a few teachers, nobody bothers to read them, so feel free to read and borrow them at your leisure.”

“That’s great.”

Alice nodded in satisfaction. If hardly anybody borrowed those books, it meant that it was unlikely for anyone to notice her when she was borrowing those books.