SWNOVELXO chapter 234
Chapter 234 – Side Story: Midterm Exam Replacement Test – 1
At some point, a shocking rumor began to spread among the students of Bellium Academy. It was a rumor that Crown Princess Laura, whose breasts had grown to the size of a woman’s, was walking around the academy dressed like a woman.
“I don’t know who spread it, but it seems like they’re determined to have me arrested for insulting the royal family.”
At first, no one believed him. Not only the students, but even the professors. In fact, they were usually thankful that he was not arrested for blasphemy.
That is, until Crown Princess Laura, who had disappeared for a while, appeared at an official event looking exactly as rumored.
“… … .”
The shock felt by those who saw that sight was indescribable. They thought that the Crown Prince was crazy, or possessed by something similar to the succubus incident. Or something that took the form of the Crown Prince.
It made sense, since it seemed like he had completely lost his s*xual identity.
“I was a woman from the beginning.”
In the midst of all the panic and chaos, Crown Princess Laura Ercarenziana Crescente von Euferantis Bellium calmly opened her mouth. She was a woman from the beginning, and her appearance as a man was only a fake.
The confusion gradually subsided when the artifact called the Necklace of Change, which was created by the great wizard himself, was also announced.
But it didn’t completely disappear. In fact, there were aspects that got worse. The most important reason was that I hadn’t told him why I had been active as a man until now.
“Wasn’t it because you were competing for the throne with that b*stard, the deposed crown prince? Now that your position has been secured, there’s no need to hide it any longer.”
“Then you should have announced it as soon as he died. It’s been several months, so why are you suddenly doing this now? I’m sure there must be another reason besides that.”
The most popular opinion was that there was no need to hide his true gender since his position as the next emperor was already secure, but there were also many opposing opinions.
One common guess was that there must have been a specific trigger other than the deposed prince incident, but since the crown princess herself remained silent, there was no way to know more.
“I was wondering where you’ve been for the past few days… … Is this what you were planning?”
“Isn’t this something I can decide on my own? I came here to ask for the opinion of my father in this world.”
Except for a few specific people.
“Oh my. You’re amazing too, really.”
Rosaria said a word while looking at Laura, who had an extremely relaxed expression. Mira had returned to her family home for a while, saying that the family was turned upside down by the fact that the crown prince was actually the crown princess.
The culprit was right in front of us.
“A library? Are you crazy? How could you think of doing that in a place like that?”
“I don’t think it’s any different from a movie theater or a library?”
“… … I was still able to avoid being caught.”
“I could have easily avoided being caught.”
“Who was it that proudly said that they almost got caught?”
“It’s okay since I didn’t get caught in the end.”
Laura, who had been casually accepting the absurd questions, glanced at the person sitting on the far left. A blue-haired woman with a red face, who was flustered and making a fuss.
“That, that! That too! Back, back… … Ugh! Butt! What the—”
“You can do it as much as you want, Miss Leona Brunhild. I have no intention of monopolizing that experience. I would also like to add that it is a completely different feeling from what you will experience in the future, so please experience both.”
At those blunt words, Leona’s eyes rolled around as if she was about to make a bang!
Although he occasionally played dirty pranks on Mira, it was only with superficial knowledge. He had no tolerance for the full-scale pranks done by experienced people.
“… … .”
In fact, Laura was similar. From that evening on, she had to lie down for a whole day without being able to move a single finger.
Even though I had clearly received healing magic, I couldn’t sit still because my butt was still sore. As a bonus, I had to tell Valera, who had come to use healing magic, everything that had happened.
But now, she had to be confident. Laura squared her shoulders with an expression full of pride. The Laura of now, no, Lee Seo-ah, was a woman who deserved to be like that.
“… … Crazy pervert b*tch.”
Rosaria muttered as if she was tired. Laura snickered and answered back.
“Would you be the only one wearing those clothes in front of everyone?”
“Hey! Are you saying that I wore it because I wanted to? Are you going to keep doing that?!”
While the two were meowing, Priscilla was trying to make excuses that the movie theater was a perfectly fine place, Leona was blushing and mumbling, and Elisier was looking at her with contempt, Latina was trembling from a little distance away.
“Laura, you are an incredible woman. You are no ordinary person to have left your first experience behind.”
“Huh? Isn’t that normal? You just put what you were told to put in where it was supposed to go.”
Nika, who was next to her, seemed to not understand such a Latina.
“… … The butt hole is not a place to put your dick. What on earth is the succubus’s special taste?”
“Eeeeeeeeeee… … It’s something that happened to succubi who fought against high-ranking demons a long time ago, but was it urethra dilation or directly inserting it into the eye or ear? Or—”
“Please do that. It’s horrible to even hear about it.”
Latina shuddered. She was already tired of such crazy behavior being treated as a simple s*xual desire rather than being forbidden.
“Don’t worry. I don’t like that kind of thing either. It means that the regular absorption doesn’t work properly. Oh, of course, if you want, I can happily accept it.”
“I’m telling you not to tarnish Mira’s name.”
“Why did you go home and come back?”
“It was revealed that Laura was actually the crown princess. So the whole family was turned upside down, wondering if she was connected to the royal family.”
“If you can catch him, do whatever it takes to hold on to him?”
“No. I don’t care what you do, but I want you to do it in a way that doesn’t affect the family as much as possible. The rule that has been passed down through generations is to not get involved with the central nobles unnecessarily. If that’s the case for nobles, how much worse must it be for the royal family.”
Since the Crates are essentially merchants, they cannot avoid being completely entangled with the nobility. What the iron rule means is that you should be wary of forgetting your duties and becoming too close to them.
But that rule was in danger of being broken. No matter what the rule was, you couldn’t go against the emperor’s words.
“The women around me are… … really amazing. Including you, Leona.”
In fact, she was the crown princess, the next duke of the Agnes family, one of the three major ducal houses of the empire, the empire’s only saint, and likewise the empire’s only warrior.
Once a collision occurs, no one caught in the middle will be safe. It would be natural for someone who doesn’t know the details to think that way. That’s what the parents in this world were worried about.
But you believed me when I said I was okay.
“Why is the atmosphere so chaotic today? Oh, right. It was midterms week.”
As soon as she entered the classroom, Leona muttered softly at the chaotic atmosphere she felt. With midterms just around the corner and Laura’s work piled up, it would have been abnormal if it had been less chaotic.
Everyone seemed to be fidgeting and trying to study, but they just couldn’t concentrate.
“You don’t need to take the test anyway, right?”
“That goes for you too, Mira. No, I have to practice area annihilation magic and dungeon practice, but Mira, you don’t have to do either, right?”
“I’m taking the theory test too?”
“What if I get hit too?”
We whispered like that and headed to the corner of the classroom. We didn’t want to stand out. Being exempted from the midterm exam was a privilege that most students couldn’t even imagine.
“Ah, Ciel is over there.”
“Yeah. You went ahead and now you’re studying.”
Of course, Elisier, who was also a first-year student but was merely a transfer student to the academy, was an exception. Elisier, who had left a long time before us, was sitting in the front row, intently looking at something.
It seems like he was in a position where he had to get good grades in order to stay in the academy. Of course, there is a way to force it by using power, but it won’t be a good thing.
Elisier herself also wanted to attend the academy with pride.
“Mummy Crate! Is the mummy crate here?”
Suddenly, the classroom door opened and instead of the professor who was supposed to be giving a theory lecture, Jaina popped her head in.
“Yes, there is.”
“I have something to say, so can you come with me for a moment? I’ll only need a moment.”
I nodded to Leona and headed out. There was no one else in the hallway, probably because class was about to start.
“You know midterms are coming up soon, right?”
“Of course I know.”
“But you don’t need to take the exam. The area annihilation magic lecture, my lecture, and the sparring practice. Honestly, you don’t need the first-year courses.”
Professor Jayna let out a short sigh.
“So, I was saying that it’s unfair to make you play by yourself while other people take the test. Do you agree?”
“What happens if I don’t agree?”
“What’s the matter? The midterm exam scores for three subjects are eaten up in a flash. I don’t know if other students will gossip about it a little.”
“What about the professors?”
“It’s not like you got those grades through tricks or fraud. It’s purely your own ability. You were exempted from the exam because you’re an excellent student, so what?”
Professor Jayna, with an expression on her face as if asking a bunch of questions, held out the scroll she had been holding at her side.
“Now that the expectation has come up, I’ve been thinking about what to do, and I’ve decided to give you a special assignment to replace the exam. If you refuse, that’s the end of it, so if you’re not interested, just tell me honestly.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Really? You shouldn’t say anything else later?”
“I don’t do that. That kind of thing.”
He unrolled the scroll. It was a map of the Empire with Xs marked all over it.
“Did you know that recently, strange phenomena called Gates have been occurring all over the continent?”
The term gate was gradually becoming established in this world as well. It was because Rosaria brought it up without thinking.
While giving a lecture in front of people, I accidentally blurted out the much more familiar word ‘gate’, but in my ignorance, I insisted that it was a word I had made up.
“yes.”
“If you look at the map, there will be a total of 7 X-marked places. Just go and close them. It’s probably a place that’s hard to access normally. The deadline is from now until the end of the theory lecture exam on Friday. It’ll be about two weeks.”
“… … It’s even in the middle of the ocean?”
“I guess so, because it’s an underwater gate?”
It’s the ocean. If it’s a guy who blatantly attacks you, then it might be okay, but if it’s a guy who runs away like the Leviathan last time, then it’ll be a pain to chase after it.
“… … .”
“And, I have one more thing for you.”
Professor Jayna brought her hand to her lips and whispered.
“Among the ones marked with an X, the four near the beach and the mountains were also chosen as candidate locations for group trips after the midterms. You can go and check them out and tell me whether they’re okay or not. I’ll reflect them in the vote later.”
The group trip they’re talking about here is, in Earth terms, just a school trip. This time too, Erestica pushed for it.
“That sounds fun. I’ll try it.”
“very good.”
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
“That’s right. I heard that you might be a bit hesitant to send it alone, so I’m going to send one more person along. Since it’s only for surveillance, you can pretend that it’s not there and move around comfortably.”
“One more person? Who do you mean?”
“Someone you know.”