With the principal's speech over, she handed the next part over to the next person in line, which I guess should be the student council. 

Soon, I saw Johanna and Cecilia walk up the stage, followed by a senior. A familiar face to every female citizen in the capital, the 1st prince of Cresenberg, Maximillian. A prodigy in the making. Some said that his talent with his blade surpassed his master at the age of 13 and possess the blessing of 5 spirits. 

Borrowing a term from a book that I remember a long time ago, he would be called the main character of the story, would he not? 

After the members on stage have introduced themselves, I tuned out the speech from the prince as I started to daydream, resting my chin on the back of Lilia's head. 

She already fell asleep again when the speech started. I could not blame her, since it was really boring. While the prince's speech was grandiose and optimistic in nature, it was full of hot air to me. It felt like it was written to suit the ears of certain people. 

Elliana leaned against me as she started to doze off. There were bits and pieces about helping people that were inflicted but I have never seen that actually happen. 

Fernando would say it was a croak of bull. Vulgar but very direct. 

As soon as it was almost over, I nudged the two sleepyheads up. There were people who actually managed to stay awake the whole way. Mostly those were either girls who were admiring the person or nobles who were used to this. 

[Last and not least, I would like to extend a invitation to everyone here to the upcoming birthday of my sister, Jeanne. Details will be sent out a few weeks before the event. That will be all!] 

A roar of applause broke out as they left the stage. Cecilia waved in out direction as she left, holding back her laugh. She must have saw the two of them sleeping away...

[Could the male students exit from the left and female student exit from the right. The rest of the day will be used to settle your room and the people you will be sharing the room with.]

The voice of the vice-principal echoed out and the staff members started to guide the students out slowly. 

[Shall we go then, Elliana, Lilia?] 

---

When all the female students were gathered, the staff started the tour of the school. There were some female prefects behind us to handle anyone who started to stray away from the large group, which happens all the time from what they explained. With the buildings all connected together, other than the dorms, it was still easy to get lost if one was not paying attention to the path they were taking.

If my memory was correct, we took the longer path, going around several notable sites like the training grounds and a main cafeteria for the students. There was even a private café for nobles, which was limited to them obviously. We were given several samples of their cooking, which were all greatly accepted and gobbled down by the girls. There was even a enclosed space for indoor activities, such as swimming and so on. 

It was a very amazing experience for the young girls that have never seen the sort of life nobles had. There were the occasional boasting from some young mistress of their family, which was always normal and not unusual to see. 

Next there was the academic aspect of the academy, with their grand library as the first stop. Needless to say there was a small commotion when the books started to fly around and rearranging themselves. Lilia and Elliana could not stop pulling on my sleeves to ask me to look. After that temporary mishap, we walked around where the classrooms were. The staff introduced the classrooms and their functions to the students briefly before heading to the next area, where the 'towers' are.

The 'Towers' were a part of the academy that was only accessible to staff members and students that were recognised by the magic system, that was put into place by some sage a long time ago. Anyway, there was a different tower for each corresponding element that one possess. 

If someone was like me, they could only enter the main tower. If one was like my dear Lilia, she has the knowledge of almost all the towers at her hand, theoretically speaking, so she could enter any tower and study what she wants. But that requires time and effort for one's body to handle all the different elements that they possesses, so almost no one will recommend that. Rather, they recommend people with multi elements to master at least 1 element before they could use the other towers. 

We were taken to the main tower, where all students could enter and hang around or to take on quests that other students or staff that needed help with. It functioned similarly to the adventurers guild but this was usually much more safer. With the usual introductions out of the way, we were finally on our way to the dorms as we cleared the final area we were visiting.

As the staff members guided us out of the academy, we were brought a distance away from the academy to the dorms where the female dorms were. The male dorms were somewhere on the other side of the floating island, to prevent any hanky panky ongoing from either sides. There was a forest surrounding the area so it made sure most of the students would not dare to try but occasionally there will be some brave souls daring to try.

Besides the dorms, there were facilities that were constructed for leisure use, that we were free to explore in our free time. There were areas for flower viewing, a large garden where one could host tea-parties and more. One could just need to find the time to go and explore. There were rumours about certain secrets areas also, like there was a time where a cult was found somewhere in the training dungeon and a secret club for same sex lovers that was hidden away in the teacher dorms.

...Well, there was something for everyone here. 

---

We arrived at the female dorms with time left in the day to spare. The dorms was like I remembered, the familiar smell of wood and cleaning products filled the air as our group entered the lobby. As the chattering gotten louder and louder, someone exited the office to the left. That was where the head mistress of the dorm stayed usually.

[Ah, dorm mistress! The new students are here already.]

[Oh my! Give me a moment.]

A female human with a rather voluptuous body came out, holding a stack of documents before setting it down on the counter. She wore a sundress with a large hat, with her dress barely able to keep her bosom in. 

Why does it feel like something was wrong with this scene...  I guess it was the fact that she was here instead of being at the other dorm. 

[Everyone, this is Mirabelle, our dorm mistress. She's been around for ten years, so don't worry! Ask her anything if you need some help or someone to talk to. Mirabelle-san, we'll go now. Can you start showing the girls to their rooms?]

[Fufufu, don't worry now. After all, you have me around!]

After exchange a few words with the staff, only the prefects were left and Mirabelle took over. By starters, she started organizing us by referring to her magic parchment. She grouped us up together by our standing and family. Since I was with the Branstein family, I was supposed to be with Elliana and Lilia up in the noble dorms.  

However, before we could head up, Mirabelle held me back as she let the rest go on ahead. I gently let go of Lilia and Elliana and urge them to go up to look at their room. Leaving me with the dorm mistress and prefects, I was invited into the office by Mirabelle. She offered everyone a seat and we all ended up sitting in a circle around her.

[A drink anyone?]

I refused and waited for them to settle down. It took awhile for the dorm mistress to get to the topic at hand, since she looked visibly worried.

[Hmm, well, how do I put this? As you know, Miss Alicia, about your status right now...]

[Is there a problem with me being here?]

[No! No, of course not. The issue at the moment is that there are certain people that are unhappy with people like you being in the academy. So, there were certain compromises we needed to take.]

Mirabelle took a sip of her tea, went silent for a moment and then continued. 

[At this point, the compromise was to limit the benefits that were given to a student. Your room will be considerably smaller and you have to live alone. The prefects are here, due to the fact that you are to report to them at the start and the end of the day.]

[Hahahaha...I see, basically I am just a criminal here.]

Mirabelle and the rest were stunned at my reaction. To me, it was just the same old nonsense. It did not matter to me as long I have a place to sleep and bath. I sighed and got up.

[Is that all, Mirabelle-san? Do you prefer to have a slave collar on me also? If not, I would like to retire to my room.]

[H-How dare you?! Mirabelle-san is also thinking f-] 

I took a step back before the prefect can grab my collar and slapped her hands away. 

[If you touch me, I'll cut that pretty little hand of yours. I'm a 'Scorned' declared by a dubious bishop and I have to take this from you? If the academy was truly thinking about people who are abandoned by the goddess, they should support and not abandon them at first sight. The only reason I can be here was because that my adopted parents, Fernando and Felicia von Branstein are twisting the arms of those who really hates the Scorned. The person spying on us should also take note.]

---

Mirabelle passed Alicia the directions to her room and sent a prefect to accompany her.

Watching Mirabelle sighing from a magic mirror was the principal at her desk. The principal sealed the mirror and turned the magic lamps on in her office on. She was accompanied by Felicia von Branstein with some of the senior staff that manages the academy. Together, they all made the important decisions regarding education and other aspects of the academy.

Felicia began to chuckle after hearing Alicia's annoyance at her situation. It was worth waiting here to hear that from her cute adopted daughter.

And also, it was worth seeing one of the great mages, Albedo, to lose his cool after hearing a Scorned who dares to talk back like that. The rest of the senior staff remained silent as Albedo began to quarrel with the principal.

[Principal Alexis, is this suppose to be a joke?]

[My dear great mage, this is not a joke. Plus, you demanded that any time that I deemed it was important to inform you about the Scorned girl, I am suppose to call you.]

Before the tension got worse, there was a staff member that raised an issue that suddenly changed everything.

[A-Albedo-san, how could she even detect the spying with the magic mirror. Theoretically, it will be impossible for anyone to detect the magic used by the mirror...]

[Now that you say that..!]

The Great mage went back to his seat, and began to think. A few minutes passed until he shook his head. Even he was unable to think of a reason for why a ten year old girl was able to breakthrough the protection that the mirror possess. The gaze that the girl gave as she looked their direction, she somehow knew that. Somehow!

Another few more minutes passed until Felicia got tired of waiting and began to talk.

[Now then, is there any reason for anyone here to not believe her now? If she could see through the mana shielding of the magic mirror, I don't see for her lying about the Cerberus. The blood left on the cathedral ground is also evidence, Albedo.]

The Great mage glared at Felicia but nodded. He could only agree with her. All the evidence so far has shown that the church, or rather, the bishop was at fault. He has personally visited the site of course but he could not wrap around the idea that this girl Alicia could have beaten the Cerberus.

[Alexis, what do you think?]

[Felicia dear, I do not know where to begin. Her soul is especially strong for a ten year old. Plus her instinct and killing intent is not normal at all. How in the world did you even find her my dear? I won't be surprised if you told me she was the demon lord in disguise.]

Felicia could only laugh at the idea that Alicia was a demon lord. 

[No, I have no information of her past at all. Also, I wouldn't mind having a demon lord like her living with us. I can only say that Fernando was the one who met her when he was out looking for leads in the northen region. When they have finally found the cult's hideout, they found out that all the members had already been killed, all done in by a single cut to their throat.]

Felicia then produced an ore from her pouch. It was the same ore that Cecilia had told her that Alicia used for her knives. 

[T-This ore?]

[My little daughter knows too much. Such ores are incredibly hard to find and yet she was able to find and craft several of those knives of hers. You can imagine my surprise when Cecilia had told me about it. It was not impossible that she fought the Cerberus with the knives also.]

[If there were several knives produced, how did she even find a complete golem to salvage from?]

Felicia shrugged and took the ore back from Albedo. 

[All I know is, my adorable daughter is able to handle herself. With blessing or no blessing, I think it was a miracle that the Cerberus was contained and lives were protected. The unique circumstances around the ceremony itself is an oddity already, my friends. In any case, a new bishop will be assigned by the kingdom soon, instead by the church.]

The senior staff all became restless at the possible news of the kingdom butting into the matters of the church. Felicia knows that this was not something to be taken lightly, seeing there were people who were still fervent believers. 

But the evidence they have could not lie. 

[The investigations on Bernard, the bishop is going underway at the moment. What we found was documents of trafficking of Scorned children to slave traders. Fernando is launching a raid as we speak and with all the evidence, we should be able to clear the capital fairly quickly. The attack in the Cathedral had brought many hidden issues to light and I would like everyone here to reflect and think about it.]

Everyone became silent until the great mage finally broke out of his thoughts.

[If it has come to this, we might have to re-evaluate all the recent Scorned cases. The old bastard Bernard...how dare he take advantage the goddess's kindness! All those cases in recent years, was it all his doing? I dare not to think what are the fates of the poor children that Bernard had sentenced them to.]

[But Albedo-sir, the goddess must have a reason-]

[The goddess? From the search results, the bishop interfered with the ceremony on that day also. A powerful curse that was detected by some of the staff here even. Stop putting everything by the goddess and think for a moment! All these years, it was only when Bernard taken the role as head bishop that the 'Scorned' appeared. He basically killed and tormented children by tarnishing the goddess's name in the process!]

The staff member relented and sat down. Everyone was silent as the realisation came to them. 

[I'm glad you are so fired up, Great Mage Albedo.]

[This is a delicate situation, Felicia. Even someone as hot headed like me knows that. Even with our power, we are nothing if the people choose to believe the church. Bernard's case may be the start of a change, but what people think will also need time. I will allow to give back most of the benefits to the girl but she still needs to stay alone, lest any of the nobles complains. With the princess arrival to the academy, more nobles now are sure to pay more attention to us. What a troublesome situation we are in.]

[If the great mage says that, Alexis, if you will.]

[Of course Felicia dear. I'll inform Mirabelle to make the necessary arrangements. She might need to prepare herself before she can meet with Alicia again. It's not everyday that the great mage orders us to throw a student into a confinement state.]

[...I'll have a talk with the staff members tomorrow about the issues we have went through. But the ones that are on the side of the church will not be easily swayed by my words.]

[Well, I am glad convince you to change your mind, Albedo.]

[...You already planned this, you vixen. By glad that her strength has proven her innocence. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave now.]

Felicia laughed as Albedo teleported out the room. With the matter mostly settled, Alexis gave some instructions to the senior staff and they began to make their way out. Felicia rested herself on the comfortable couch that the principal had for guests after everyone has left.

[That went pretty smoothly, Alexis.]

[My, smoothly you say? It was a first for me to see the great mage himself be humble for once and you even managed to change his decision. I thought my poor office is going to be burned to a crisp today!]

[He knows that this is something of utmost importance, especially to the children that either went missing or abandoned in the streets after being declared as a Scorned. I believe that his niece was one of the unfortunate victims also.]

[Albedo dear, no wonder he demanded a week of leave. I always wondered why a workaholic like him needed a week out of the sudden..]

[What about the other great mages, Alexis?]

[They will be back soon. I will either have myself or Albedo explain the situation to them.]

[Very well. Now then...]

Their talk slowly continued into the afternoon and then nightfall...

---

I woke up a few hours later in my new room. What a day, really. 

Out of nowhere, a teary eyed dorm mistress came over to my 'cell' and I was brought to this new room up on the noble level. It was a single room that was cleaned recently and my belongings has been brought over. 

It took awhile for me to convince her that I was alright with the new setup and made her go back in peace. It was better than the storage sized room anyway. The prefects were also let go of. 

In any case, the sudden change of events made me wondered if someone was pulling some strings in the background. Fernando? No, I doubt he has the patience. Felicia was only one after him that I could think about. 

Also, I need to find some way to apologize to the dorm mistress. All I did was to vent my frustrations on her when she was only following her orders. 

I still act like a little girl... 

When I was alone, I sighed into the pillow and fell asleep right after that. 

Now it was already in the evening. My stomach was grumbling and my clothes were all in a mess. The servants had their own matters to settle before they were allowed to come over to tend to their masters. 

In the evening, students were allowed to change to whatever they were comfortable with to walk around in, other than their underwear or something provocative. 

I looked through my luggage that was delivered without any mishaps and changed into the clothes that Cecilia had picked out for me. It was comfortable for either indoor or outdoor use, and was rather form fitting. 

When I reached the cafeteria, there were only a few people  hanging around chatting , including the dorm mistress eating with a group of students that I could not really tell from the angle I was at. 

I took what was left on the menu, a nice bowl of warm soup and bread with some desert to save for later. The moment I turned around to find a place to sit, I saw the dorm mistress waving at me. 

I had no reason to refuse so I headed over to their group. As I got to the table, I realize I probably should have refused her invitation. Why was the princess and her guard even here? Her entourage of girls were looking at me for a moment before they quickly averted their gaze.

I offered a polite bow and took a seat offered by Mirabelle. I started on my late dinner, letting the dorm mistress to continuing whatever they were talking about before I interrupted them. The dorm mistress was introducing to the princess and her small entourage about the academy and the various festivals that the academy hosts, just to let them get a better idea of the place. 

[Every year, the academy will host tournaments and competitions during certain periods of the year, such as after the exam season for the students. We also have guests from the outside to come in and provide guidance and talks for anyone that was interested in pursuing.] 

The increase in the amount of dungeons back then really changed how things were operated. By the time the monster issue was at a all time high, there were barely any festivals and events, only the competition aspect remained in order to search for students with combat potential. 

[By the way, Alicia dear, how does the soup taste?] 

[Ah... I like it. It's very flavourful and mixes well with the bread.] 

Mirabelle beamed as I complimented the meal. She nodded happily and continued to talk about the academy. She occasionally answered questions that the girls asked about, even the princess joined in once in a while. I just focused on my meal, starting to break my bread into chunks to let it soak. It was a way of eating that I barely remembered from Earth, which I finally recall during my time as an adventurer. A group of traveling merchants that I was working with taught me about this style of eating from a faraway land that saved us time. 

As I let the bread sit and soak, I noticed that everyone was looking at me. Oh right, I was with a group of young nobles.

[My, Alicia, you know about this style of eating? I prepared the meal to introduce the girls to it but some won't even touch the bread with their hands.]

Mirabelle sighed, slightly depressed that her idea failed. I guess she wanted to teach them about to be able to prepare a simple meal without needing much preparations. In fact, one could dump most of the ingredients they want and let it cook slowly while setting up their campsite. The bread was something extra that one could add, plus it was easy to carry around. Although it was rather useless for the nobles since, well, they were able to afford the luxury. 

I guess Mirabelle forgotten about that part in her excitement to start teaching her 'children'. I can imagine whenever there was a new batch of student, the dorm mistress will do something similar and it will kind of backfire. 

Sighing, I pushed my bowl of soup and bread to the princess and their entourage, and rested my face on my right palm.

[Try it, it's tastier.]

I began to wait and tap my fingers until one of them gave in. Her guard was the first one to try, letting the bread soak a bit before she took a bite. The princess watched with curiosity as her partner began to slowly enjoy the taste. Mirabelle quickly got up and went over to the kitchen and came back quickly with more bowls of soup and bread. 

This was a partial success, I guess? The bowls were quickly polished off by everyone. The noble ladies all enjoyed the experience surprisingly. It was just dipping bread into soup though. 

I said my goodnight to Mirabelle and the others and took my leave. And surprisingly, they greeted me back. 

---

Taking my time to walk around, I saw the senior students all walking about, either heading out or going out for a walk like me.

It has been awhile since I was here, back again to the familiar walls that somewhat haunts me. The Miriam from my past life still appears occasionally like a nightmare. 

From the fragmented memories from my life on Earth and the one from my previous life, I wanted to at least experience a 'normal' school life. 

The dorms were connected, so my walk took me further into the dorm, where all the seniors stayed. If I meet up with Cecilia or Amelia, I should probably ask where their room was. 

I was ignored mostly, which was a good thing. Only some took a second look at me before heading off. 

As I went past the senior female bathing area, I heard a loud crash and some commotion. 

I suppose I could take a look but knowing my luck, it could be just more trouble.