After washing the dishes, Himo looked at the state of the mansion. Some corners hid spiders’ cobwebs, and the floor held a thin layer of dust.
“It’s cleaning time!” Himo pushed open the door to the entrance room.
“Cleaning?” Phylia looked at him.
Himo nodded. “Do you see all this gray stuff?” He slid a finger on the floor. Showing his dusty finger to Phylia, he said, “We need to clean all the mansion from this dust.”
“Oh!” She jumped as though she was about to dive into the floor.
Himo caught her mid-air. “Don’t eat the dust, that’s dirty. Follow me, we’ll go to buy the tools we’ll use.” He grinned and left the room. Phylia rushed after him.
He went to the students’ market and bought all the necessary plus several items of furniture. As an S-rank student, money was no longer a concern of his. Once they returned, he and Phylia spent the rest of the day cleaning. By the time the sun had fallen, floors, walls, and ceilings were devoid of dust and cobwebs.
Tucked in under the blankets of his bed, Himo stared at the new ceiling. He thought of what to do. Images of his family showed up in his mind, but he focused on training. *What should be my next step?*
The gruesome image of the ogres flashed in his mind. He clenched his grip on the blankets. He found his heart pounding, followed by a sense of nausea. He took several deep breaths. Despite having defeated most students and reached S-rank, he couldn’t see himself defeating those monsters.
“Master.” Phylia, who acted as a lap pillow, caressed his head. “It’s fine.”
“Thank you.” Himo forced a smile. After a long, slow breath, he went back to his thoughts. *Either way, the next step is more training!*
-----
“So… why are you here?” The headmaster closed a book and stared at Himo.
“More importantly, what happened here?” Himo frowned. In the room, there were several shelves filled with books, a desk covered by paperwork, and a silk carpet that collected crumpled paper. It was as though a hurricane had ravaged the place.
The headmaster inflicted a critical hit to the desk. “Whose fault do you think it is? You’ve destroyed the ceiling of the stadium, so I have to fill lots of paperwork to begin repairing it!”
“I-I’m sorry.” Himo blinked.
The headmaster slumped into his seat. “Normally, it’d fall under the responsibilities of the administration, but the stadium’s formations require special materials and can be only repaired by me.” He scratched his head. “How did you even pierce the ceiling? I’ve put over ten formations to shield the infrastructure!”
Himo gazed at the mountain of paperwork. “But, even so, does a broken ceiling really require all this…?”
“Ah? Of course not.” The headmaster waved that notion away. “It’s just stuff that got accumulated in the few months I didn’t check.”
*Oi!* Himo’s guilty feelings vanished without a trace. *Don’t fault me for postponing your job!*
Seeing Himo’s devilish frown, the headmaster coughed twice. “What did you come here for, anyway?”
“Training!”
“In my house’s studio?!”
“That’s not it.” Himo shook his head. “I just need to ask a question.”
The headmaster sighed. “What is it?”
“Do you know how to enter the test room? I mean the one we used for the advancement to S-rank.”
"Well, of course." The headmaster showed a pair of keys. "I'm the one that created the tests."
*It was you?!* Himo resisted the urge to complain about their balancing issues. “Can I use it?”
“Anyone can use it; that’s why there are records made by class B students and lower. You can find several of those rooms on the fifth floor of the training hall, though, of course, the test against fifty teachers isn't among those. There is an additional test only I have access to, but, if you want to go there, you’ll first have to prove yourself with the standard ones.” He picked a mug hidden in the pile of documents and took a sip. “By the way, Himo, have you seen Met-3 before?”
“That mecha?” Himo tilted his head. “No. I was surprised to see that something like that existed.” He poked at his cheek and threw a glance at the chocolate-filled mug. *Even on Earth they are rare; only the military has them. Why would this world have them?*
The headmaster took another sip. “I see.”
Himo nodded. “Well then, we’ll go. Thank you.”
“Ah, Himo. One last thing.”
Just as he opened the door, the headmaster called him back.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you think about…” He shook his head. “No, nevermind.”
“Hmm?” Himo stopped a moment, then shrugged. “Bye!” He and Phylia walked out.
*A mecha, eh?* Left alone, the headmaster narrowed his eyes. *First time I hear that term.* He leaned on his desk. “Wait, why is this cracked?”
-----
After leaving the residential area, Himo and Phylia went to the training hall. As he was an S-rank student, access to training facilities was free. And so he went to test his skills. His records increased slightly with each attempt, but he soon hit a wall—a lot of practice was needed to break through it.
With a frown made up of annoyance and hunger, Himo ventured in search of lunch while Phylia followed behind him.
