When Lynn opened his eyes, the first faint light of dawn was already breaking.
“Young Master... Young Master...?”
A gentle call sounded in his ear, and he could even feel the warm breath drifting over.
‘Ah... I don't want to get up.’
The gentle muttering continued, and a cold sensation brushed against his cheek as a pair of small hands seemed to pat his face.
“Our first class is at 8:00. There's only a little over an hour left before it starts.”
Ah, why did an alternate world also have the absolute evil of 8:00 AM classes?
“You can't go back to sleep, okay~”
The cherry-blossom-colored tips of her hair brushed against the young man's firm chest.
Hehe? After not seeing him for a night, the young master seemed... a bit more handsome?
Lilian smoothed her hair. After taking one last greedy look at the young master's rare, dazed, and cute expression, she suddenly leaned in close.
An icy-cold sensation came from Lynn's neck as those soft, boneless little hands gently wrapped around him.
Lynn suddenly had a bad feeling. He snapped his eyes open. “W-Wait...!”
“Tier 1 spell—Ice Skin.”
A thin layer of ice instantly coated those fair, tender little hands, which then lunged forward to grab the young man's waist.
In an instant, the young man leapt up from the bed.
“Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold—!”
...
A woman's tenderness really did have a time limit.
Clutching his waist as he sat at the dining table, Lynn was currently deeply aware of this universal truth.
“...Couldn't you wake me up in a gentler way?”
“No way~” Lilian cradled her cheeks, her drawn-out tone carrying a cute trill. “If I did that, Young Master would only take a mile and keep sleeping in.”
“Honestly~ Today is the first day of school. How can you not be energetic?”
As Lilian nagged, she walked around to stand behind Lynn.
Her slender fingers ran through his messy golden hair, patiently smoothing down the cowlicks strand by strand, before using a warm, damp towel to wipe away the remaining sleepiness from the corners of his eyes.
Her movements were so gentle it was as if she were taking care of a child who couldn't look after himself.
Yet, the girl herself was petite. Even on her tiptoes, she was only slightly taller than the seated Lynn. Her long pink hair slid from her shoulders with her movements, brushing past the youth's ear from time to time. She looked exactly like some overly youthful, virtuous wife and loving mother.
“Look up. Ah—”
Lynn subconsciously opened his mouth.
The next second, a piece of toast slathered in jam was accurately stuffed inside.
“Mmph?”
“Eat slowly, don't choke.”
Only after seeing the youth swallow the bread completely did Lilian nod in satisfaction, casually brushing away the crumbs at the corner of his mouth.
Lynn looked at the "loving" (?) pink-haired dumpling in front of him in disbelief.
What was with this person in front of him who was acting like a loli mom!
“It's not even seven yet... It's a good thing you came to wake me up this early.”
“Hmph~ This is a maid's duty! Even after coming to the academy, Lilian won't abandon it!”
The pink-haired dumpling clapped her hands with high energy, then suddenly leaned in close to Lynn.
Sniff, sniff.
Her small nose twitched, and she finally revealed a sweet smile.
“Young Master smells so good! There's a scent of lavender~”
Lynn averted his gaze and laughed sheepishly.
‘...Fortunately, I took a very thorough bath last night.’
‘Otherwise, if this girl smelled another woman's scent on me again, heaven knows what would happen...’
Having already slipped up once in this regard, Lynn had naturally prepared himself early on.
Give up, Lilian! What do you think the ten bars of soap stuffed in the corner of my suitcase and the water cleaning spells I secretly practiced were for?!
I'm a hardened solo-lane player who will absolutely never get ganked!
After being fussed over and dressed up like a dress-up doll by Lilian-mom, Lynn finally followed her out step by step.
Walking down the spiral staircase, they soon arrived at today's destination—the training ground.
...
The early morning training ground was still steeped in a thin mist.
Wet grass clung to the soles of their boots. In the distance, several stone targets used for testing magic power stood quietly, scorched marks from yesterday still lingering on their surfaces.
Lynn rotated his shoulders, smoothly slipped off his uniform jacket, and tossed it to Lilian.
“The usual routine?”
“Of course.”
Waking up early, warming up, basic physical training, sword practice, and finally, mana circulation.
This was a habit formed during his special training period.
Although back then, every time Lynn opened his eyes, he had wanted to beat up the gorilla who made that devilish schedule, now that he had actually stuck with it, his body had instead adapted to this rhythm.
If he didn't practice for a day, he would actually feel uncomfortable all over.
“Let's begin.”
He exhaled a breath of turbid air, put on the weighted magical artifact he had prepared long ago, and began to jog slowly along the perimeter of the training ground.
A low, deliberately suppressed voice suddenly drifted over.
“Not bad.”
“To dare to bind your own flesh with gravity and fight head-on against sleep and laziness at an hour when the sun has not yet fully opened its eyes...”
“Junior, you possess the resolve of the strong.”
Rate on N.U.
