Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 230 The Choir

"Do you understand? It's like when you go camping in the mountains in the summer, and everyone is crammed into one tent. It's crowded, but whatever you do is a lot of fun~"

"You were inside someone else's skirt."

"Do you understand? It's that kind of romantic thing—even though there are brighter lights available, they still light a candle on a small round table and have a candlelight dinner."

"So you're saying you were inside someone else's skirt!"

"Can you understand? It's that feeling of a literature-loving girl visiting a planetarium for the first time. Even knowing it's a fabricated starry sky, she's still incredibly moved!"

"Literary girl?"

"What do you mean?"

After hearing various descriptions of the goddess of bathing, Ritas became genuinely curious about just how dazzling the star pattern on Serenia's body truly was.

Because of Serian's erratic behavior, some things are easily overlooked.

For example, the speed at which she masters the star patterns.

Even though there are many similarities between the power of star markings and magic, the fact that a star marking could appear based solely on information provided in a letter, and that one could then gain a certain degree of control over a star marking by comparing and understanding others' star markings, undoubtedly highlights Seren's personal abilities.

For well-known reasons, only a group of eccentric individuals would join the "Tree Witch Research Institute." But it cannot be denied that those eccentric individuals all possess exceptional talents.

Once everyone realized that Ritas had arrived, the "farce" caused by Seren quickly came to an end.

Perhaps realizing belatedly how outrageous their actions were, an awkward atmosphere filled the hall. Only the "culprit," Serene, remained completely at ease.

Ritas came to the venue of the bathing seminar that day, with roughly two purposes.

The first objective was to monitor the participation of the seminar members in the exchange sessions.

Although the special dormitory area was established to some extent for students with star markings to participate in the seminar, on the surface, since they occupy the special dormitory area, they are required to participate in competitions at the academy exchange meeting.

As mentioned before, the activities of the participants during the academy exchange meetings are mainly managed by the seminar's advisors. Therefore, these fall within Ritas's scope of work.

"Is Noah's 'Hymn Team' the one with the project tomorrow?"

Ritas turned his gaze to Noah, but Noah, as always, looked away.

"There's no need for anyone to accompany them. There are so many people in the choir, it would be troublesome if everyone had to have a teacher with them."

Noah muttered to himself.

"Although I also think this will save me time, it is still work. There are many things that we can't just not do because we think they are unnecessary."

Besides Noah's perpetual unhappiness, Ritas always felt that Noah was deliberately avoiding the company of others.

"Professor, what's our class tomorrow?"

During a break in Ritas's conversation with Noah, Melsie whispered a question.

Ritas shook his head, indicating that the Purplewood Class had no events scheduled.

"That's perfect! I can go cheer Noah on tomorrow!"

"Ah, this."

Noah's expression was subtle, his eyes darting away, wanting to refuse Melsie but unable to resist her clear gaze.

"I'll go even if my grade doesn't have any activities!"

"So you don't need to!"

Seeing that even Tabata was egging him on, Noah looked increasingly panicked.

"If I remember correctly, the chorus was divided into high notes, low notes, and solos, etc.? Which part was Noah in charge of?"

The arrival of the goddess of bathing was undoubtedly a fatal blow to Noah, who was already at a loss. Realizing that he couldn't let these people around him abandon him, Noah sighed resignedly.

"No"

"department?"

"I'll take responsibility for not making a sound!"

Listening to Noah's voice, which sounded more like frustration than anger, Ritas and the others exchanged bewildered glances.

Are there members in a choir who are responsible for this kind of thing?
After a short while, the participants in the bathing seminar had a general understanding of the situation Noah had encountered.

Since elementary school, Noah had been serving as the co-chair of both the Magic Ball Seminar and the Choir Seminar. However, after getting involved in a series of events related to Star Marks last semester, Noah hadn't attended the Choir Seminar again.

Upon learning about the college exchange program, she was required to choose a project to participate in. Then, after learning that the choral workshop would be forming a "chorus," Noah inquired about the workshop's intentions.

At first, Noah thought that the people at the choral workshop, who had welcomed her back after several months, were a much friendlier group than she had imagined.

But as training began, she realized something was wrong.

She is always being criticized.

Moreover, it's not just because she hasn't practiced for a long time; even when she performs well, she's still the one who gets singled out for criticism.

Until the choir conductor asked her to only lip-sync when singing in the chorus, and she no longer needed to attend rehearsals.

Noah then truly understood that agreeing to her return to the choral workshop and actively adding her to the choir was not out of kindness, but rather, pure malice.

Since this is the situation...

In the somewhat quiet hall, Ritas opened his mouth as if to say something, but was quickly interrupted by Noah.

"It doesn't matter! It's just something to go through the motions anyway, and I'm not really interested in the exchange meeting."

Seeing Noah, who was clearly putting on a brave face, Melsie, sitting beside her, gently extended her hand.
"In short, don't meddle in other people's business, don't protest for me, or change my project or something!"

With a gentle pull from Melsie, Noah, who seemed to collapse effortlessly as if boneless, lay on his side on the sofa with his legs bent and his head resting on Melsie's legs, and continued speaking.

"."

If it weren't for this posture, the topics Noah and I are discussing now might actually be quite heavy.

Ritas couldn't come up with a good solution in a short time.

While it's true that Noah is quite assertive and "intense" in personality, making it easy for her to be disliked, the fact that she didn't encounter anything significant during her two years in elementary school suggests that Noah actually knows how to maintain appropriate boundaries, knowing when to restrain herself, except when dealing with close friends.

So, the fact that she is now being deliberately targeted and isolated is more or less related to the incident at the Summer Festival.

The ashes of Malik Ezan have probably been carried across the ocean by the winds. However, gossip about him and Noah continues to circulate within the Academy from time to time. Coupled with Noah's involvement in the peculiar and truly exclusive "Bathing Seminar," her reputation within the Academy remains consistently poor.

Lost in thought, Ritas looked at the white disc that was silent alongside him and felt that the goddess of bathing, who was no longer making a fuss, had "grown up" to some extent.

If they had just met, the goddess of the bath, faced with such a situation, would probably have immediately shouted things like "it can never be forgiven" and urged Ritas to kill the members of the choral seminar.

But now, she clearly understands that simply shouting about things that are impossible will only make Noah feel worse.

What Ritas didn't know was that the goddess of the bath, who had been gazing at him as he agonized over Noah, also felt that "Ritas has grown up a bit."

After all, in the past, Ritas's attitude would definitely have been, "Is this even a problem?"

Since the members of the choral workshop, even when targeting and isolating others, have exercised considerable restraint. Furthermore, after this semester ends, the senior students will be moving up to their fourth year, and many students will even leave the academy to pursue their own futures, resulting in less time spent at the academy.

Why bother with troubles that will naturally dissipate after a while?

As for matters of the mind...
At least at that time, Ritas probably thought everyone was like him, without a "heart".

Compared to Noah's project, the projects that Melcy and Tabasha had at the exchange meeting were much simpler.

When Ritas asked Tabasha what sport she wanted to participate in, Tabasha replied, "A sport where I can sleep soundly!"

So, after consulting with Tabasha, Ritas enrolled her in a program related to astrology.

The elementary curriculum doesn't have a deep understanding of astrology? That's not a big problem.

Putting everything else aside, Tabasha would definitely sleep soundly if she used magic to create a galaxy in the sky in the dark!

As for Melsie, Ritas enrolled her in a gardening-related project that she was interested in.

However, he will definitely have to accompany them throughout the entire process. After all, gardening is one of the few dangerous activities that allows participants to handle dangerous weapons (gardening shears). For the sake of the lives of the other participants, he must also be extremely vigilant.

Amid the conversation, Miriam, who arrived late, also entered the seminar venue.

Even though it was during the exchange conference, Miriam's mischievous friends or senior classmates were always dragging him to various places to join in the fun. But whenever he had free time, he would still come to the conference venue to play the piano—or rather, practice magic.

Because he hadn't come the day before, this was the first time Miriam had seen Serian.

Seeing Serian put on a research glove, the female participants in the seminar, who had probably already attended, all showed subtle expressions.

Then soon, the hall was filled with Miriam's exclamations of "Oh my god! What are you doing?!"

Just by listening to the sounds, people outside the seminar would never imagine that the people inside were simply shaking hands with each other.

Ritas was also relieved that Seren wasn't male, otherwise Miriam would probably be hitting him by now.
The project Miriam will be participating in at the academy exchange meeting is called "Life Magic." This self-explanatory project is, of course, a recent addition to the exchange meeting.

During the bathing seminar, Miriam was the only member that Ritas believed would achieve some success at the conference.

As long as he doesn't get nervous during the competition and cooks a good meal as usual.

As Miriam went to the magic room to study magic, Ritas found time to be alone with him.

Then he asked Miriam some questions. This was another reason he had come to the bathing seminar today.

"Senior Langna? Why would the professor ask me about this?"

Miriam, sitting beside the magic lyre, turned to look at Ritas in confusion. The sound produced by Ritas's elbows, which were casually resting on the keys, startled him, and he quickly adjusted his posture.

With her legs naturally closed, hands folded on top, and shoulders slightly hunched, Miriam looked noticeably smaller.

"."

Ritas paused for a moment.

Because Miriam simply changed his sitting posture, Ritas felt that the atmosphere, temperament, and other aspects of the other person had changed.

Without giving it much thought, Ritas continued,

"You know all the female students in the advanced division of Earls Academy, right?"

Now that the intercollegiate exchange event has begun, Miriam has probably already met half of the female students from other colleges, let alone those from Earls College.

"Why would I know them all? Well, I have indeed met Senior Langna a few times."

As Miriam spoke, a complex expression suddenly appeared on his face.

Clearly, something happened between him and Langna.

Ritas was somewhat impressed. He kept an eye on Miriam during class, during seminars, and even at night in his dormitory mansion.

But Miriam somehow managed to squeeze through such a tight defense to have "fateful encounters" with all sorts of female seniors.

"Has that student Langna encountered any troubles lately? If so, I hope that student Miriam can provide some information. Don't worry, it's not a bad thing. You should also know that student Langna is a valuable asset to Ers Academy. And the academy very much hopes that I can help her become a 'Grand Mage' as soon as possible."

To dispel Miriam's suspicions, Ritas spoke patiently.

For a moment, Ritas didn't even know what he was doing.

As a staff member of the college, how could I ask students in my own grade about the troubles of students in another grade?
"Well, since that's the case. There are some things that might concern Senior Langna's privacy, so please forgive me for not being able to say them explicitly. However, if I were to speculate, I think Senior Langna has indeed encountered a big problem recently."

Miriam scratched his face, gathered his thoughts, and then said,

"She is very likely"

Night falls.

Once again held in the white disc in Ritasto's hand, the goddess of bathing saw Ritas talking to Miriam, his expression very solemn.

It can only be said that Ritas has run into trouble again.

Now he seems to understand why Livis and the Star People both want him to solve Langna's problem, but also hope that he can approach her "inadvertently" without touching her sensitive nerves.

"Little Li, I've made up my mind! I'm going to stay with Melcy and the others tonight, so just give the white disc to Melcy later."

Perhaps fearing that Ritas would disagree, the goddess of bathing came up with a bunch of reasons that Ritas didn't really understand, such as "school trip" and "cultural festival".

Ritas, who was considering other things, didn't think much of it. After consulting with Melsie and the others, he ignored Noah, who was in the minority in the majority vote, and handed the disc to Melsie.

He then solemnly instructed Miriam to return to the dormitory before curfew before leaving.

Only after Ritas's figure had completely disappeared from sight did the Bathing Goddess, who had been laughing and joking so casually, reveal a serious tone.

"Gentlemen, I need your strength and help!"

(End of this chapter)