Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 1

by Funa

  Marcela was a typical aristocratic type. However, she was also quite the generous spirit, and along with Monika, a friend of Marcela’s from before the academy, she had helped to relieve Aureana, the commoner, of a number of worries. It was, she claimed, a noble’s duty to alleviate the suffering of the powerless.

  This time, though, the three of them were acting together.

  “What could she mean by ‘my room is big enough’? All the rooms have the same layout, do they not…?”

  “Who knows? I guess we’ll find that out when we get there.”

  “Let’s go teach that cheeky girl some manners!”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  Marcela could not stand her—that girl Adele. She hadn’t witnessed it for herself, but she’d heard about the impressive power Adele displayed during the assessment. That much was fine. Every person had her own strengths.

  However, what she could not abide was the way that one glance from Adele sent the boys into a tizzy.

  Once she returned home after graduation, Marcela would be groomed as a bride, and two years later, if things went well, she would become the second wife of a middle-aged aristocrat, a trophy bride, or—at worst—the mistress to a powerful noble. Until then, she needed to keep her options open.

  The fact was that the academy was filled with girls in search of romance, and any individual who threatened to monopolize the attention of the school’s male students was breaking an unspoken rule. Marcela, the poor baron’s daughter, was determined to make this apparent.

  Without the expectations that came with noble blood, Monika and Aureana were not as troubled by all of this. However, for the sake of their friendship with Marcela, both girls offered their support.

  At the sound of knocking, Adele jumped up, rushing to open the door.

  “W-welcome! Please come in!” Her heart fluttered with joy and nerves. Even in her previous life, she had never had the experience of welcoming a classmate into her own space.

  But as her guests entered, Adele realized… I don’t have any chairs but the one!

  Why had she been so careless?

  Having a visitor sit on one’s bed was surely bad form. Moreover, having three friends on the bed while she sat in a chair would create an odd sort of one-versus-three situation.

  “I-I’m so sorry! I forgot to prepare any seating! Please wait a moment, while I borrow some chairs from the common room.”

  She flew from the room without waiting for a reply.

  “What a scatterbrain!” Marcela said.

  Monika nodded. “She certainly is. But at least I understand now what she meant when she said her room was big.”

  It was true: the space felt large. But in fact, Adele’s room was the same size as everyone else’s. The difference was that, in this room, there were no chests, no luggage, and no lamps. There wasn’t a single decoration, accessory, or stuffed toy. The room was practically vacant.

  Even Aureana, the commoner, had outfitted her room with a cheap, used chest that she had purchased in town and decorated using trinkets gifted to her by her fellow villagers.

  Looking around Adele’s room, she spoke in a stunned voice. “It’s amazingly empty…”

  Marcela seized the handle of the built-in armoire.

  “Milady! You musn’t—”

  Ignoring Monika’s warning, Marcela flung open the doors. “She has no clothes!”

  All that hung inside were the uniforms the school had provided.

  Next, Marcela reached out to open the drawers below.

  “W-we can’t! It’s not—” Monika tried to grab Marcela’s hands, but the drawers had already slid open.

  Once again, there was nothing inside.

  “Empty…”

  Just then, there was a pained shriek. Marcela and Monika pulled back their hands and turned to see Aureana standing over the desk drawer, an awful expression on her face.

  “What is it?!”

  Marcela drew closer to peek inside the drawer, and Monika followed suit, looking apprehensive.

  They looked inside the drawer and gasped.

  Marcela stood, stunned, and Monika had tears in the corners of her eyes. Aureana was already weeping.

  In the drawer was one thick bone.

  It was on a plate, but there were no scraps of meat. The bone was clean, covered in knife marks, as though it came from a kitchen.

  Marcela’s eyes were wide. “Is this…her snack…?”

  ***

  By the time Adele returned from the rec room, carrying a pair of small chairs, they had returned the room to its former state and dabbed away their tears.

  “Sorry to keep you all waiting.”

  “I-It was no bother…” Marcela cleared her throat. “Anyway, there is something I would like to ask you.”

  Adele arranged the two chairs she had brought in a semi-circle next to the one that had already been in the room. She herself sat down on the bed. Even in a room as empty as hers, there was not much space for seating.

  “What is it?”

  “It seems that you didn’t sit for the entrance exam when enrolling at the academy. So we’d like to know—are you, in fact, a noble?”

  So, Adele thought, they’ve found me out. However, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to her new friends, and so she answered frankly.

  “Well, yes… It’s true. But if I were to use my family name, it’s likely that I would be killed—by my father and my new stepmother, whose child is meant to take my place.”

  Marcela fought desperately to remain composed and do credit to her noble pedigree.

  Aureana was silent, her face white as a sheet.

  Finally, Monika gulped, her voice wavering. “I-I see… W-well, are you gifted at sports or magic, then?”

  “Hmm?” Adele asked. “No, I’m fairly normal. Even during the assessment, I only performed as well as whoever was in line ahead of me…”

  Marcela began to understand the rumors that were circulating. This girl was clueless!

  Was it possible that she really had no idea that the people ahead of her had been top of the class in each of their respective fields? Could she truly not know that everyone had noticed the way she deliberately held back in order to match the others?

  Perhaps her parents had instructed her to conceal her exceptional abilities, so as not to cause trouble for this stepsister.

  “I-I see. Normal, yes. Normal…”

  “Yes! It’s nice to be normal, isn’t it?”

  “………”

  In the long pause that followed, Marcela remembered the reason she’d come to Adele’s room in the first place.

  “Miss Adele,” she began. “You seem to get along awfully well with the boys…”

  Adele leapt at the bait. “That’s true! Although I can’t figure out why… I’m awful at talking to boys in general. The only man I’ve ever really spoken to before is my father.”

  Adele continued: “I certainly have no plans of getting a boyfriend right now. I’d be perfectly content just to find one once I’m out on my own, as an adult. I just wish there was some way of getting them to leave me alone…”

  “Wha…?”

  The three girls were dumbstruck. There was something very wrong with this situation.

  The thing that they had originally come to speak to her about no longer seemed important, after all.

  To break the silence, Marcela asked the first question that popped into her head.

  “Well, do… do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

  “Oh, yes. I spend the rest days working. I have no funds and receive no allowance… With the pay I get tomorrow, I should hopefully be able to buy at least one more spare undergarment!”

  The way that she said these words—so cheerfully!—was too much for the three girls to bear.

  Aureana trembled, her face pale.

  Monika was bright red, her teeth clamped down on her lip as tears welled in her eyes.

  Marcela, meanwhile, prayed desperately for seren
ity.

  “W-well, we won’t trouble you by overstaying our welcome. Perhaps we should get going…”

  “Oh, you’re welcome to stay…”

  Marcela replied, standing, “There will be plenty of time for that later. We still have three years here, after all.”

  “Of course!”

  The girls bade farewell to their classmate and returned to their own rooms, leaving Adele overjoyed.

  “I did it! I can finally cross ‘having friends over’ off my list! Three of them, no less!”

  What Adele didn’t know was that the three of them had walked home in complete silence.

  Meow.

  “Oh, you’re back!”

  A little black cat slipped into Adele’s room through the open window.

  Adele pulled the plate from the drawer and set it atop the desk, as the cat jumped eagerly for the bone.

  “You really like that bone, huh? I’ll try to get you a new one next time.”

  ***

  It was the beginning of the second week in the Class A homeroom.

  “Miss Adele, do you have a moment?”

  “Oh, Miss Marcela!”

  Adele bounded happily toward Marcela, who shoved a paper bag in the other girl’s direction.

  “I wasn’t sure of your size, but I purchased this thinking that you may be able to wear it.”

  “Huh? For me?”

  The bag was rather large.

  “Thank you! Can I open it?”

  “N-not right now! Please open it when you return to your room!”

  Judging by the redness of Marcela’s face, Adele was able to form some idea of the bag’s contents.

  It wasn’t something that a girl would normally misjudge the size of.

  “Miss Marcela…”

  Adele inched closer, then hugged Marcela tightly.

  “St-stop that! Miss Adele, let me go this instant!”

  Marcela struggled, turning bright red—but there was no escaping Adele’s inadvertently forceful embrace.

  Their classmates looked on, envious of Adele’s attentions.

  From the next day on, Adele’s classmates began bringing her gifts of sweets and dried meat, girls and boys alike.

  Adele found this odd but accepted the presents gratefully. Still, there were no more joyful embraces.

  “Why didn’t I get a hug from Adele? Hey, tell me!”

  “I-I don’t know anything about that.”

  The other girls in the class pressed Marcela for answers, with more and more students joining in.

  “Marcela, what exactly did you give Adele that time that she hugged you?”

  “I-It was nothing!”

  “It wasn’t nothing! What on earth did you give her?”

  “I-I don’t remember!”

  “Please, tell me! I want a hug from Adele!”

  “Me too! I want Adele to hug me!”

  “And I want to hug her!”

  “Me too!”

  A male voice piped in. “Me too…”

  “YOU BOYS STAY OUT OF THIS!”

  Chapter 4:

  Training

  T

  he following day marked the start of their practical training.

  “All right, you lot! Time to start your training!”

  Apparently, their homeroom teacher, Mr. Burgess, was also in charge of their physical education.

  All the students wore leather guards over their gym uniforms, and unlike the uniforms themselves, these hadn’t been provided beforehand. Instead, they were shared by the various classes, and the stench of leather and other people’s sweat filled the air around Adele and her classmates. Although the students at the prestigious Ardleigh Academy no doubt received their own guards, as well as weapons and armor, the Eckland students didn’t have the luxury of complaining.

  “I should start with the fundamentals of strength training and technique, but I get the feeling that that’ll bore you all to tears,” began Mr. Burgess. “So, we’ll start with a practice battle so that you all can grasp the importance of mastering the basics.

  “Let’s get a good example… Those with prior experience, step forward!”

  Several of the boys stepped forward at his command.

  “One of you—go ahead and show me what you’ve got!”

  However, no one seemed eager to volunteer.

  Just when it seemed that Mr. Burgess would have to give up and pick someone himself…

  “I will!” Kelvin, the baron’s fifth son, took a step forward.

  “O-ho! Kelvin, is it? All right, let’s go! I’ll allow you to select your opponent.”

  At the academy, rank was rendered irrelevant, so even the children of nobles were addressed by their first names.

  As Kelvin looked over the pool of potential opponents, everyone carefully averted their eyes. Half of the children assembled were nobles who had already witnessed his prowess during the physical assessment.

  After taking the time to leisurely assess each student, Kelvin pointed a finger.

  “You there! Let’s go!”

  It was Adele. She stared back, mouth agape. “Huh? Why me? I-I don’t really have any experience…”

  She looked to Mr. Burgess, hoping for an out.

  However…

  “It’s Adele, right?! Okay—well, this should be an interesting one. Let’s do it!” Mr. Burgess grinned. Rumors about Adele had circulated among the teachers as well as the students, and he was pleased with this chance to test her abilities.

  “Huh…?”

  Adele, for her part, was bewildered. Suddenly both Kelvin and her teacher wanted her to fight?

  She had only just learned the face and name of the boy who had called her out—the boy who she always seemed to catch staring at her. At first, she’d wondered if he were in love with her, but his attitude suggested the opposite must be true.

  In fact, his sharp gaze seemed to label her as his rival.

  But if he had to choose a rival, Adele thought, wouldn’t it be better to choose someone of exceptional ability—not an average, ordinary girl like herself?

  “Please be gentle with me…” Adele pleaded, as she lifted her wooden sword, but Kelvin only readied his weapon, silent.

  Adele steeled herself. Kelvin seemed quite serious. These might only be wooden swords, but if he hit her hard enough it would still hurt, even through the leather armor.

  Her strategy was decided.

  Fighting in Normal Girl Mode, at the level she’d been at before her reawakening, would mean an instant loss. What’s more, she would have to continue to perform at that level in future practice sessions, meaning she would never be able to train seriously. That would be a problem.

  Although she might be fast and powerful, Adele had absolutely no knowledge of technique. Therefore, in order to prepare herself for life after graduation, she would need to do some serious training. In order to do that, it made sense to show some strength and battle—at least from time to time—with the strongest of the boys, so that she could benefit from the guidance of the instructor.

  Even if getting hit would be painful.

  Or maybe she could avoid getting hit?

  If she could manage that and let her sword be knocked away at an appropriate point, then perhaps the battle could end before she suffered serious injuries.

  With this in mind, Adele prepared for the fight.

  “Begin!”

  Just as the command left Mr. Burgess’s mouth, Kelvin rushed toward Adele.

  In this world, there was no suri-ashi or okuri-ashi, the stepping techniques of Japanese kendo. Rather, the aim appeared to be simply to take out as many opponents as possible on the battlefield.

  Sensing Adele’s hesitation, Kelvin moved quickly, swinging his sword down from above. Of course, it would have been frowned upon to aim directly at a girl’s skull, so he moved instead to strike her shoulder, which was covered in the leather armor. In kendo, such a move would have been a kesa-giri strike.

  Victory was in
sight—or so Kelvin thought. But his sword cut through only air, with an empty whiff.

  “Huh…?”

  As Adele easily evaded his swing, Kelvin’s confidence wavered. However, he wasn’t foolish enough to allow an opening. He quickly raised his sword again and swung it towards Adele’s right side, she herself having dodged to the left.

  Thunk!

  She blocked his blow with her sword.

  He sent a swift attack toward her left side, hoping he might catch her off balance. Yet this blow was easily blocked as well.

  Kelvin continued attacking, and Adele continued blocking.

  Kelvin swore. How could this be happening? The girl had the stance and technique of an amateur. How could she move so quickly?! How could she block each one of his attacks?!

  Kelvin was overwhelmed with confusion—but so was Adele.

  Eeek! His attacks were getting stronger. How could she gracefully lose the battle without allowing herself to get hurt?

  Finally, Kelvin’s reckless side emerged.

  If Adele was already blocking each move with her sword, he had no choice but to aim at her blade intentionally. Then, at least, he might have a chance of overwhelming her with his strength.

  He bore down, aiming for the spot just above the grip of her sword. Drawing on both his strength and the blade’s momentum, he focused his energy on the third of his sword closest to the tip. Adele’s sword was stationary, and when he struck, he would hit it at the base.

  He’s going to hit me!

  Without thinking, Adele grew tense.

  Cra-aaack!

  Her sword made a terrible, grating sound.

  Thwap!

  Kelvin’s wooden sword struck Adele’s wooden sword near the handle. One sword flew out of its owner’s grip, going tumbling across the ground.

  “Huh…?”

  The one who was left staring down at his now-empty hands was Kelvin.

  Rats, Adele thought. But it was already too late.

  Just as with her magic and as she had seen with the door handle, it was clear that God had done something to impact her physical strength. And whether it was due to a mistake, a misunderstanding, or a deliberate choice, that did nothing to change the outcome.