1.21 The Dormitory

We reached the academy gate and asked the guard there about the dormitory. It was inside the academy but the academy was big in itself with a lot of infrastructures so we had no idea where to look for it.

The guard told us to look at the board where the dorm that the students were allocated was listed. We noticed that each dorm had 10 students and a teacher. They had to share bedrooms and other resources like the kitchen and bathroom.

Our names were listed separately and it was just the 8 of us with miss Lilith as our teacher. It looked like we were going to be living at a different dormitory than normal.

On our way, we found out that the other students at the academy were staring at us. 'Hope this is just because we are new here.'

When we reached there, we found out that it was a big two-storey house with a red roof and painted white walls. The house had a small flower garden at the front and a balcony on the second floor.

'We should have expected that there would a high-class dormitory for influential nobles to stay at a place like this.'

There was a handbell at the door which Sistina rang after which we heard a voice saying, "coming".

It was Princess Anna who came and opened the door. She was wearing her school uniform which really suited her light-blue hair. When she saw us she said, "Welcome home everyone".

It looks like she was waiting for us to come. I heard her saying, "I have always wanted to say that" in a low voice while getting in.

We took a look inside, Inside there was a sitting room, a dining room attached to a kitchen, a study room, a large training room, and an artificial hot spring in the backyard. It was fitted with magic appliances that made things like cooking to cleaning easier. It was more like a noble's mansion than a dormitory.

'Well, I knew they would never let a princess stay in the normal Academy dorm. The other one is from a foreign nation at that.'

"It's so big inside," Sistina made a comment when she saw all the things inside.

"Oooh, it even has a hot bath," said Arica who was excited when she saw the hot spring.

"I-Is it really okay for us to stay here?" asked Marina.

This is totally different from the dorm we imagined so I understand her. Nina had a similar concern so she said, "Yes, isn't it too big for us students to stay?"

"Oh, you guys are here. The bedrooms are on the second floor, you can decide which room you want," Miss Lilith, who was coming down from the second floor with Eliane said.

Miss Lilith was wearing a light blue one-piece dress that looked extra good on her tanned skin and Eliane was wearing the Academy dress like us. Somehow, the Academy dress looked different on her, probably because of the raise around the chest area.

"What do you mean we can choose? Is there a separate bedroom for all of us?" Ronald asked.

"Yes of course," Eliane replied as if it was the normal thing and the question is an odd thing to ask.

"Isn't this house a bit too big for us? I mean, cleaning and maintaining it will take all day even for all of us," I asked since we weren't sure how to maintain everything here.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Sam will be doing the work around the house, he is very good at it," Princess Anna replied.

As soon as Princess Anna said the word 'Sam', a middle-aged man who was wearing a butler uniform and had a short mustache and well-combed hair came out of the kitchen saying, "Did you call my lady?"

"Amm... yes. Can you take their bags to the second floor and show them their rooms," Princess Anna replied.

"No No, there is no need to carry our bags. You can just show us the room," Nina hurriedly denied the part about carrying our bags and just asked him to show us the rooms.

The butler moved towards the staircase and with a slight bow pointed his hands towards the stairs saying, "Please, this way". We followed the butler while Princess Eliane, Princess Anna, and Miss Lilith went towards the sitting room.

On the second floor, there were several rooms connected to the same hallway. The insides of the rooms were arranged to suit people's gender. Female rooms had a big mirror over a makeup table and the pictures, bed covers, and pillows were designed to suit feminine taste. Male rooms had a study table and more open space compared to female rooms.

"Those 3 rooms are already occupied so you can choose from the rest. The male rooms are the ones on left-hand sides while the female rooms are on the right-hand side. Please let me know if you need anything," Sam said pointing towards the three corner rooms. After saying that Sam went downstairs.

We chose a room each and went inside our rooms to check things inside. My room was as big as the one we stayed in the inn. It had a closet for clothes and a drawer to keep other materials. The bed was large, a bit too large. There was a window from where you could see the open training area behind the Academy.

'Man, this room is even better than the ones they had in high-class hotels in my previous world.'

After we finished looking at things at our rooms we gathered in the hallway and decided to join others in the sitting room. We also had to discuss the things regarding our training.

"Okay, take a seat, I will go through the plan for your training," said Miss Lilith when she saw us coming towards the sitting room.

We all sat on the sofas that were facing opposite sides and while Miss Lilith sat on the single-seater sofa that joined both, like in the guest house yesterday.

"Okay, so the first thing you need to know is that this is going to be nothing like Academy's training. I looked at the Academy's curriculum and what they teach is useless in a real battle," she said looking annoyed by the Academy's way of teaching.

"Useless?" Ronald asked with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, like they teach magicians long-range combat and knight short-ranged while in real battle the enemy can jump at you from anywhere. They don't give a damn if you are a knight or a magician," she replied with a simple example and we all understood her point.

"But still, a party is made of knights and magicians so they can watch each other's back," Arica said making a point.

"Yeah normally that would be the case if you were fighting humans but demons specialize in both long-range and short-ranged combat so they can easily get passed your teamwork," Miss Lilith replied.

"So, is there a way for us to deal with this? I mean some of us can't use swords," I asked since I was not sure how we could deal with this. We can't teach the girls close close-quarters combat.

"Hmm, the first thing you need to learn is how to strengthen your defense by increasing the mana density in your cloak. You can also use mana cloak for physical enhancement and attack your enemy with your fist. I will train you on that tomorrow morning so be prepared," She replied.

While we were talking, it was already time for dinner. Sam came and stood there signaling us that the dinner was ready without interrupting us at our talk.

"Okay, everyone looks like the dinner is ready so let's go and eat," said Princess Anna standing from her seat. It was getting late so we all decided to go and have dinner.

I could hear a small, 'I have always wanted to say that' from Princess Anna while we were going towards the dining room.

The dining room had a big long table where we sat facing each other. The dinner was no less than what would be served at a big restaurant back in my previous world.

It had a lot of meat dishes filled with a lot of fat and calories. But since this world doesn't have much development in terms of nutrients and dieting, people rarely have second thoughts about the food they are about to eat.

"It's our first day here so let us all take a bath at the hot spring together after this," Princess Anna said before we were about to start dinner.

"Ohh, that's a great idea," Arica commented on the idea.

"No no, we can't do that. Girls and boys can't take bath together," said Marina. Her face had turned completely red after hearing the idea. Sistina replied to that by saying, "Calm down, it's not like we will be taking a bath naked".

Nina and Princess Eliane were also a bit reluctant but Princess Anna and Sistina managed to convince them at last. I myself was acting calm to show my manliness but deep down I was preparing myself for this trial.

After we finished dinner, we went to our room to change into our swimming clothes. When I got down I met Arica and Sistina in the hallway.

Arica was wearing a bold black swimsuit while Sistina was wearing a blue one-piece swimsuit which really suited her fox ears. Marina was hiding behind them and was wearing a pink swimsuit, it looked really well on her since her body had nice curves.

Arica turned to me and asked, "How do I look" to which I replied with the classical line, "You.. all look very beautiful". Arica looked a little frustrated after hearing my reply but I thought if I say anything more than this, they would think that I was a pervert.

After a while, Nina came out wearing a purple one-piece swimsuit and joined us followed by Roland. We were about to leave for the hot spring when Princess Anna called us with "wait for us" and joined us. She was wearing a light blue swimsuit matching her hair while Princess Eliane was wearing a green swimsuit.

'Don't look at them! don't look at them! they have spells on them that will enchant you even if you just take a peek'

After we all went down and got inside the water, Miss Lilith joined us, she was wearing a red swimsuit dress that looked very good on her and showed her mature beauty.

I was trying to concentrate away from the girls by chanting 'don't look, don't look' but my eyes sometimes went out of my control. Princess Eliane was smiling every time she saw me looking at her.

'I am sorry, okay, I tried my best but there is a limit to how much I can control myself. God, please help me survive this trial of yours.'

Next chapter: Defense training