"...Servant, did you really forget pain the moment the scar closed?"

My stomach dropped; the air around me plunged like an ice pit. Sunlight spilled through the window, yet winter bit into my bones.

"At first light you feed me talk like this, Servant; what do we do?" Her words drifted like cold mist across a frozen pond.

At some point, Xinuo had woken; her face was a frost mask, a winter moon carved in ice.

Panic sparked like dry straw. "Not my fault! Qianji Sister, explain it to Xinuo!"

I clung to Qianji Sister like a drowning man to driftwood—yet—

"If Emperor wants to see that much, I, your sister, can take off my pajamas right now," she sang, her tone glittering like a mischievous star.

My heart thumped like a panicked drum. "Hey, hey! Don’t joke—wait, you’re serious?! Ah! Qianji Sister, put your clothes on! Don’t strip!"

I lunged and stopped Qianji Sister’s fingers at her hem, snatching her like a kite from a gust; whew, that was close—she almost shed the silk.

"Servant," Xinuo’s voice was an icicle tapping stone, "do you have anything left to say?"

"No," my voice fell like a wet towel, "I’ve got nothing to say."

My heart cooled, a stone slipping into a winter lake.

"Boss, you’re so pitiful. I can hardly watch... sob," Hill said, her eyes shimmering like dew on petals.

Hill had just woken and looked at me with pity; her big, cute eyes glistened like morning drops on lilies.

"Brother, though I don’t oppose sister-obsession, please keep thy dignity; at dawn, letting others hear this is troubling," someone chided, voice like mist over reed marsh.

"Qianji Sister, don’t use your big chest to seduce big brother! That’s cheating!" The protest leapt like dice loaded with lead.

"Eh?! I didn’t seduce Emperor," Qianji Sister’s words fluttered like a pink ribbon in spring wind.

"Please, stop talking—my heart can’t take the hits!" My plea scattered like waves breaking a sandcastle.

"Servant, seems yesterday’s ‘education’ was too light," Xinuo murmured, shadow curling like a whip along the bark.

So it went; the morning was a tragic drizzle, and when I came back to myself, time had slipped like sand—class had already begun.

Qianji Sister and the others had no taste for class, and my little sister wanted to wander Egisia Academy; so Qianji Sister and Elyar drifted with her like wind through leaves.

This period was PE, so we were to don the PE uniform—white short-sleeved shirt and athletic shorts, light as cloud and cut for wind.

But I’m a boy; I couldn’t wear something that embarrassing or change with the girls. I stood firm like a rock in a river and attended PE in my school uniform.

Xinuo’s displeasure clung like cold rain; as the price, her fingers were icy pliers, pinching my cheeks until every girl finished changing.

After a while, the moment drifted like a pale cloud over the field.

The girls, now in PE uniforms, flowed from the locker room like sparrows flocking, gathering on the field; Xinuo, of course, wouldn’t join PE, and she perched on a thick branch like a cat in shade, reading a novel beneath a green canopy.

"Boss! Boss, why aren’t you changing into the PE uniform?" Hill ran to me, her voice tingling like small bells, shaking my right hand like a willow twig.

"Uh...!!!" Heat jolted up; at the instant I saw Hill, my words dropped into a deep well.

Why? Hill in her PE uniform was as cute as a kitten under spring sun.

Because of PE, Hill had tied her hair into a ponytail, swishing like a horse-tail—new for a girl who rarely tied it; her shorts were short, barely longer than boxers, and her pale legs were lily stems, while her small, lovely feet wore white socks and sneakers, neat as shells on sand.

Mhm—I really wanted to hug her, like clutching a warm pillow filled with sunlight.

Thud!

"Uwah!" Just as wicked thoughts sprouted like weeds, a branch slammed into my head like a falling club; pain flared like fire.

"Servant," Xinuo’s words cawed like cold crows, "did you become a pervert lately? Is your desire overflowing with nowhere to vent?"

From a nearby branch, Xinuo’s eyes were icicles, stabbing like winter thorns.

"How am I a pervert? I didn’t do anything... ah!" Panic skittered; I realized a tide of gazes had turned our way, arrows bristling from every corner.

"Uwah—so embarrassing!" My cheeks burned like live coals; that exchange wasn’t fit for a public square.

"Boss?" Not understanding, Hill tilted her cute little head like a curious sparrow; wow, so cute—I wanted a bite like a fox eyeing a ripe peach.

Stare... Xinuo’s glare was a winter moon, colder and sharper than before.

"Ugh!" Since yesterday afternoon, storm clouds had been brewing in Xinuo’s mood; what on earth happened?

"Amamiya, what’s wrong? You look so tired," Eastern Moon Aixue and Faya, already in PE, came to stand before me, worry pooling like soft rain in their eyes.

"Uh, it’s nothing! Class is about to start; let’s line up," I said, shaking my head like a dog flicking off rain.

"Oh, really? Alright then." Her reply drifted like a leaf on a mild breeze.

"Amamiya, don’t push yourself; if something’s wrong, say it," Faya added, concern threading like silk.

They traded me a puzzled look and went to line up, feet skimming grass like light wind over fields.

Once everyone lined up, Stellar Rosa walked to the front like a guiding comet and announced the start.

"The first PE of the term officially begins," she declared, voice like a whip cracking the air, "come, let me drill those slack bodies."

Beside Stellar Rosa stood a feral beauty—the PE teacher of Class 3-A, Nanase Namihui; her name sounded like cherry blossoms, yet her manner was bolder than iron, and her tone was gravel rolling downhill.

Nanase continued, her words dropping like stones into a pond: "I watched the magic test yesterday; aside from a few excellent students, most of you lack stamina—especially in combat drills—so today we train stamina."

When Nanase finished, Stellar Rosa added, her voice a steady flame: "That’s right—never take stamina lightly. For mages, stamina is vital, like fuel to an engine; many advanced or special spells gulp down strength like wolves. Even basic spells sip at your reserves like constant rain.

In yesterday’s combat test, your opponents matched you, or were even weaker, yet many of you struggled, and a few didn’t pass at all—failed!"

"Do you know why? Your stamina was too thin to unleash the strength inside you. Some of you showed fatigue within minutes, faces wilting like flowers; how can that stand?"

"Looks like during the break, training was as loose as moss on stones. So, Teacher Nanase, don’t go soft—hammer these lazy students like steel, especially those with average or poor ratings, and the ones who failed."

She seemed truly unhappy with some students; Stellar Rosa’s fervor gathered like a storm over open sea.

"Alright, since Homeroom Teacher Stellar says so, I’ll show resolve," Nanase said with a nod, then looked over the heads like tall grass and suddenly smiled—teeth glinting like a wolf under moonlight.

"Uh?" Was it a trick of the wind? The girls around me shivered all at once, like reeds bowing to a cold gust; most of them did.