Family heirloom, then turned into a demon girl

Chapter 80 Mission: 01-3 Transfer Student

"Okay—even though Golden Week is coming up soon, I still hope everyone will welcome these two new students!"

Chihaya Aine stood in front of the blackboard, her name written on the back. She bowed her head and gestured forward, "I'm Chihaya Aine. Although I chose an unusual time to transfer due to family reasons, I still hope to get along well with everyone."

Then, she calmly shifted her gaze to the side and looked at the blonde beauty standing not far from her.

Although they were wearing the same blazer and pleated skirt, they looked completely different. The blonde, blue-eyed girl leaned forward, lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands, spread it to the sides, and bent her knees slightly in an elegant skirt-lifting salute.

Spicy balls!

Chihaya Aine sighed inwardly. She saw with her own eyes that all the surprised and curious eyes of her classmates were now cast towards this foreign girl. Aine, who had enrolled at the same time as her, was afraid that she would just be a nobody.

"My name is Nero Fortuna," she said, standing up. "This is my first time in Wano Country, so there are many things I don't understand. Please bear with me."

Where did this little princess come from? Why did she choose to go to school in Hanaoka instead of Tsuki no Mori?
Aine, who had originally planned to become a celebrity in her new class, now had a very forced smile.

At the teacher's signal, applause erupted in due time. The teacher then looked at the two transfer students, gestured with his finger, and said, "Then Chihaya-san should sit behind Takamatsu-san. Um... Fortuna-san, can you sit at the back of the window row?"

"Nero is fine." The blonde girl responded with a smile, "I'm more used to people calling me Nero, you can call me that too."

She held her bag in both hands, said hello to the people sitting next to her, and then took her seat. Aine, also feeling sad, came to the seat in front of her.

The purple-haired girl who was called "Takamatsu-san" by the teacher was currently wiping a pile of stones on the desk with her handkerchief and did not look up to greet Aine.

"Takamatsu-san? Hello." Aine tried to initiate a conversation with him. However, she saw him suddenly shudder, and the stone in his hand fell and rolled to the ground.

Aine was about to help her pick it up and apologize, but just as she took a step and before she could bend down, the girl with short purple hair picked it up at lightning speed and put it away.

He still kept his head bowed, showing no intention of responding to Aine.

It seems difficult to deal with him, forget it. Aine thought so, walked around him and sat down in her seat.

She had to listen carefully. She made up her mind: although she didn't know how Nero would perform in the entrance exam, she had to study hard and she would never lose to her!

This is the dignity of being a former student council president!

"Lost."

It was time for lunch break. Chihaya Aine looked at Nero who was surrounded by his classmates and collapsed weakly in his seat.

Monday morning's four classes included English, Chinese, and math. Of these three, Nero, a European, excelled in English, which was understandable—but she also completely defied the stereotype that Europeans and Americans are bad at math, even fluently reciting classical Chinese texts in Chinese class. What was going on?!

Didn't you say this was your first time in Wano Country?!
Although the first exam of the semester was still some time away, Aine already knew that this person was at least her equal. To be able to perform at such a high level in just her first semester abroad—and even then, having joined midway—only proved that Nero's true strength far surpassed Aine's.

"Study abroad..."

Aine's heart skipped a beat at the thought. It suddenly occurred to her how similar Nero's situation was to hers: both studying abroad in high school, both new to the country, speaking completely different languages. Yet, Nero had adapted perfectly, not only speaking fluently but also keeping up with the local curriculum. He even became the center of attention in class, just as Aine had dreamed. But Aine was completely different.

Feeling a slight pang of pain in her heart, Aiyin subconsciously covered her chest with her hand, and then she felt the concerned gazes of several classmates nearby.

"Chihaya-san?" one of the three asked, "Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

Aiyin quickly put on a smile and waved her hands, saying, "No, no, it's just that I didn't understand something in class, and I was just thinking about that question."

Fortunately, these students seemed easy to get along with. They weren't too energetic to make communication tiring, nor too dull to make being around boring. They were the ones I'd choose as my first friends.

So she continued, "Just call me Aine. My former classmates used to call me that too."

This was a lie. Aine used to be called "Chihaya" in her class. But a new place should have a new look, and Aine also had her own little thoughts.

Letting them call her Aine would not only make her appear kind and approachable, but would also prevent them from mentioning her last name when talking to other friends - after all, the person called "Chihaya-san" was a complete loser.

"Is that so? Then Aine!"

"During lunch break, I was still thinking about class. Could it be that Aine is a good student?"

It went very smoothly, and Aine quickly integrated into this small group. She smiled and replied, "I think everyone in Hanaoka has good grades, right? I don't know how I stand out among them~"

"Ah! I thought the same thing on my first day of school."

"Yeah, yeah, I was super nervous at that time too..."

"But if you put it that way, Nero-san is really amazing!"

Nero's name suddenly appeared, causing Aine's face, which had been relaxed, to tense up again. With great determination, she kept her smile from showing any flaws, and feigned interest as she agreed, "Yeah, he's so good at classical Chinese, you can't tell he's a foreigner at all."

However, she sighed secretly in her heart, knowing that the topic would never return to herself.

"I heard that European nobles had to learn at least five different foreign languages. Maybe it's true?"

One of the trio listened to the conversation by the window for a while and whispered, "It seems like Nero-san really is a European princess... I'm actually a classmate of a real princess. Am I dreaming?"

“It’s reality.”

So Chihaya Aine forcibly interrupted the topic and took the initiative to ask, "Is everyone eating bento? If you don't mind, can I join in?"

This naturally received a positive response. However, Aine, who was sitting with a few others, couldn't help but turn her head and cast her gaze towards the seat by the window.

The transfer student named Nero did not take the initiative to integrate into any group and continued to sit quietly in his seat.

(End of this chapter)