Ultimately, the decision wasn't that hard. Or at least, not as hard as I thought it would be. I do want to get home, but I'd also like to enjoy this whole 'isekai' thing while I'm here. Revealing my last name could lead to some interesting, if troublesome, situations. So I decided to go for it.
Let's just hope my status changes accordingly, or this might end before it even begins.
I had painted a shocked, contemplative look on my face while I considered things. Deondre was in the middle of reminding Hekiria that my status had no last name when I responded, "I... do."
Both their heads snapped to me as they exclaimed simultaneously, "What?!"
"My name... It's not Aer. Or... not just Aer. Aer's a nickname. My name... my full name... is Aerilei Hagama. At least... I think it is."
I spoke slowly and haltingly, to really sell that this only just came to me. It kind of makes me feel like I'm lying more, even though I'm revealing the truth. When I finished, they both stared at me, dumbfounded, before Deondre found his voice.
"No way!" he shouted, "We saw your status before, remember? It said your name was Aer! You might be able to hide fields, but you can't modify what's in them!"
Moment of truth. I took a quick peek at my status... and gave a little mental cheer. Excitedly I started opening my status to show them.
"No, really! Take a look at this!"
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<Status>
Name: Aerilei Hagama
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As they stared at that I looked through the rest of my status... and frowned.
"Wait, there's more."
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<Status>
Name: Aerilei Hagama
Titles:
[Forgotten Noble]
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This is... odd. I shouldn't have a title like that. I'm not actually a forgotten noble. Maybe it's this world's system making sense of the fact that I have a family name with no family to show for it. I'll have to think about this later.
Hekiria was first to recover this time. "You're a forgotten noble? But I've been taught all the noble houses that existed in the kingdom since it's founding, and I've never heard of the Hagama household."
"Well it wouldn't really be forgotten in that case, would it?" I say. "Besides, maybe I came from outside the kingdom. Though that would beg the question of how I wound up in Mareva."
"There's also the chance that it's some ancient household that people just didn't know had a living heir," said Deondre. "Considering how much people move around, this house could really be from anywhere. Maybe even some fallen kingdom."
Hekiria sighed. "This raises so many questions, but we can't really answer any of them, so we should probably focus on school for now. Once we're out and about as adventurers we'll get the chance to look into this more."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "You're planning on travelling with me?"
"I mean, why not?" she shrugged. "We met hours ago, yet we're already pretty close. It might be a little weird, but maybe it's a sign. That we're meant to work together, y'know?"
So Hekiria's a bit of a romantic. Interesting...
I smile. "Maybe. Either way, I'd be glad to have you."
Just then Deondre leaned forward excitedly, waving his arms around.
"Hey! Don't leave me out of this! Venturing into the unknown, uncovering the secrets of a strange girl's mysterious past. This sounds right up my alley!"
I chuckled, and was about to respond when I noticed a teacher enter the room. She scanned the students for a few seconds before her eyes landed on our table. She then made a beeline straight towards us. Or rather, straight towards me.
"Aer, correct?"
"Yes, that's me," I nodded.
"The principal is calling for you. Head to his office." With that she abruptly turned on her heel and left.
We stared silently for a few seconds before Deondre said, "I think you might have set a new record for how quickly you can get sent to the principal's office."
"What did you do?" Hekiria gaped.
"Well, I showed them my status."
Understanding dawned on both of their faces as they connected the dots. I said goodbye to the two of them, promising to meet up later, then headed out of the dorm. I found the teacher from earlier at the entrance, tapping her foot impatiently. The moment she saw me she turned and left without a word. Assuming she wanted me to follow, I ran after her.
Eventually she led me to the third floor of a building in the center of the campus. Based on the rooms we passed, it seemed the building was both for classes and the faculty. The first floor had a bunch of basic classrooms, with blackboards at the front. The second floor had more specialized rooms, like a potions room, and what looked like a dojo. The third floor seemed to be offices, though they were mostly closed. We stopped in front of a door marked 'Principal'. The teacher guiding me knocked on the door and said, "Principal. Aer is here to see you."
The principal's voice sounded from behind the door. "Send her in."
The teacher turned to me and gestured at the door. Taking a quick breath, I opened the door and headed inside. The principal's office was very... academic. The main decorations were the bookshelves at the sides of the room, filled with all sorts of material. The principal himself was seated at a plain wooden desk, with documents neatly piled on top of it. A single window stood at the back of the room, with a potted plant providing the only semblance of life in the miniature library. Once the principal saw that I had finished inspecting the room, he spoke to me in a gentle tone.
"Welcome. I assume you know why you're here."
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