Chapter 31 - Laughter

Currently, I’m inside my room with both hands on my stomach. I’ve suddenly felt painful cramps. Outside my room, I can hear the pitter-patter of students packing their clothes.

“Uuhh, did I drink too much tea?”

In my mind, I retraced everything I ate and thought this might be due to the tea. However, the kind of pain I’m experiencing feels different from a stomachache.

Knock* Knock*

“Come in.”

I squeezed out a reply as I writhed on top of my bed.

“Excuse me.”

Four people entered my room: Emilia, Mary, Vertical Rolls, and Victoria. They each carried a suitcase.

““““Lumina-sama!””””

They dropped their suitcases and ran towards me.

“Is something wrong?”

“Do you have a fever?”

“Is there anything I can do?”

Three of them barraged me with questions while Emilia observed me from head to toe.

“Lumina-sama, did you feel a sudden pain in your lower back earlier?”

“…. Yes.”

“…. Then have you checked your underwear?”

“? Why would I have to check my underwear if I have a stomachache?”

Question marks floated above my head as I held my stomach.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Eh? Ahh! Oi!”

Emilia brazenly flipped up my skirt. I became angry and wanted to scold her, but the serious look she had made me swallow my words.

“… As I expected.”

“Eh? What? Huh?”

Emilia shook her head while the other three stared at me with understanding eyes.

“Liza, please get some napkins. Mary, go get a bag of hot water from the kitchen, and Victoria, please help me change Lumina-sama’s clothes.”

“““ Yes.”””

All of them wore serious expressions. Mary and Liza went out of my room at the same time. Meanwhile, Emilia and Victoria went to my closet and started taking out some clothes and underwear.

I tried standing up from my bed, but the cramps stopped me.

“It’s only a stomach ache. Why should I change my underwear and clothes?”

Emilia took out a red one-piece dress from my closet and placed it beside me. She then looked at me seriously.

“Lumina-sama, what you’re experiencing right now isn’t a stomachache.”

“Eh?”

“Right now, you’re having your period.”

I became frozen from what she just said.

(By periods… does she mean the menstrual cycle?)

I tried recalling all I knew about the menstrual cycle. But since I was a guy in my previous life, I didn’t pay much attention to it. As a result, the only thing I knew was that it comes once a month and that blood comes out from the vagina.

“Ow…”

(I don’t remember it being painful!)

The cramp I suddenly felt made me cringe and snap me out of my daze. Emilia approached me and rubbed my back. The pain eased a bit, and I stared at her with wondering eyes.

“Lumina-sama, you must be confused right now. But don’t worry, I’ll patiently tell you about periods. When I first experienced it a few months ago, a kind senpai approached me, helped me, and explained it to me. This time, I’ll teach you so that the next time it occurs, you’ll know what to do.”

“…. Okay.”

I intently listened to Emilia as she explained, in detail, when periods come and how to cope with them. Although her explanation had some questionable parts, like why it occurs and how it occurs, I let those parts slide, considering we were in a fantasy world.

“Do you understand, Lumina-sama?”

I nodded with blank eyes.

“Then, let me help you get changed, Lumina-sama.”

Even though I was reluctant, I nodded.

“You’re quite cooperative, Lumina-sama.”

“It’s because you’d still change my clothes even if I resisted. So, it’s better not to waste any more time.”

“Then….”

Emilia unbuttoned my clothes and removed them. After a few minutes, I was finished changing. Vertical Rolls and Mary arrived a few seconds later and gave me some napkins.

The napkins they gave me were small strips of absorbent cloths placed in my underwear. I accepted the napkins and wore them.

(So I’m a woman now…. I already know this, but why do I still feel reluctant to accept it?)

* * * * * *

A few minutes after my discussion with Emilia, I stood outside the dormitory in front of almost 200 students.

There were also junior high and senior high general students. Since last year, junior and senior level general students had started attending a different school building, as ordered by the Principal. When we asked him why, he told us it was so we would learn not to rely on others and become independent. Consequently, we primary level general students felt quite isolated.

Looking around, I asked, “Hmm… is this all?”

“Yes,” Emilia answered immediately as she stood beside me. Squinting my eyes, I could see some magic students observing us. They seemed curious about why we were gathered.

“Then, why don’t we go now.”

I started ascending into the sky in slow steps. Emilia followed closely behind me.

A few moments later, the students started covering themselves with mana and slowly flew. All of us carried our things.

The magic students observing us opened their eyes wide. Some quickly ran to the field to tell others, while the rest stood there in disbelief.

Though I don’t know what rank flying magic is, judging from how the protagonist and Eclara used it, it seemed quite low-level. So, the look they had puzzled me greatly.

“Hmm… I think this place is high enough.”

When I judged we were high enough, I made a mana chair and sat on it. The others around me also placed their things on a mana floor they made and started organizing. Some of the servants that carried food gathered in a place and made a kitchen out of mana.

Vertical Rolls and her companions also started unpacking their things near me.

To ensure privacy, I made a wall of mana around me and used an ethereal shift. I then made a simple bed and a closet for my clothes. After 30 minutes, I had finished making a room.

I opened the door I just finished making and saw that the others had also made walls for privacy. Each wall had different colors and designs. Some were complex, while others were simple. Overall, the designs reflected their personalities.

For me, I made my walls plain black. The reason is that I like black and it matches the color of my hair.

“Lumina-sama, we have finished making dinner. Would you like to eat now?”

“Hmm, okay. Also, could you tell some of the students to eat in one place? I want to show them something quite nice.”

Emilia tilted her head to the side, floating question marks for a moment before nodding. She then made four mana screens and informed the students.

“Then, how about we go now.”

“Lead the way.”

The two of us walked along the sky and made a table near the kitchen made of mana. Since there were no walls around the kitchen, I was able to see them as they cooked.

Emilia went to the kitchen, took some plates of food, and placed them on a trolley she made.

“You can really see that they’ve become quite skillful in controlling the null element, huh.”

I muttered as I watched Emilia talk to some of the students. To my eyes, it seemed like she was giving them instructions. The students nodded and resumed cutting the ingredients.

I looked around and saw some students arriving. They had smiles on their faces as they talked to each other. I stared at a pair for a while, and when they noticed my glare, they became pale and bowed.

“Haaa~”

Spitting out a sigh, I removed my gaze and searched for Emilia.

“Here is today’s dinner, Lumina-sama.”

“Hmm…”

Tonight’s dinner consisted of meatloaf paired with mashed potatoes and salad. I picked up the spoon and fork Emilia had prepared and started eating.

After a while, Emilia made a few mana screens appear and told me that most of the students had now arrived. I used a napkin to clean my mouth and cheeks before revealing a smile.

“Then, I shall now begin.”

“Yes.”

I made a mana screen appear a few meters away from us. I ensured it was big enough and positioned it perfectly for 200 students to see without any problems.

“Oi! Where’s the food!?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you check the other rooms?”

“The others are checking them right now.”

On the screen, people wearing white blazers could be seen standing in the canteen kitchen, looking for something.

“Shit! Just where did those pieces of trash disappear to!?”

“I told you that they all flew up!”

“As if! You’re telling me that all of them had enough mana to fly? Huh?”

“….”

“You must’ve been daydreaming.”

“Quickly use magic to search the forest! They must be hiding somewhere with the food!”

“Ooh! I’ll get some volunteers to find them quickly!”

“Stop blabbering and get on with it! I’m getting really hungry!”

“Y-yes!”

The student being shouted at formed large beads of sweat as he was reprimanded by the others. I saw Eclara and her friends in the canteen and made a small mana screen in front of her.

“Eclara, we’re having dinner up in the sky. If you’re hungry, you can come up here.”

“Eh?”

Eclara couldn’t answer as I spoke to her through the screen.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.”

Her friend, the girly

boy, looked at her with worry. Eclara shook her head and whispered to me through the screen.

“Lumina-sama, did all of you go to the sky?”

“Yeah.”

“Along with all your things.”

“Yeah.”

“Along with all the food.”

“Yeah.”

“Then… the laughter I hear is…”

“Ah, right now, we’re watching you guys search for food. I wanted to filter out the noise, but it proved quite difficult.”

“Is that so.”

Eclara then looked at her friend and went outside. Since she was now outside, I couldn’t see her anymore.

“““ Ahaha!”””

“They said that we were in the forest!”

“Ahahaha!”

“That’s rich! I can’t stop laughing!”

The general students in the canteen laughed loudly as they watched the magic students search for food and us. Personally, I felt the way they laughed at the magic students was a bit exaggerated. But since this was our small payback for all the insults and discrimination we had received, I also started laughing with them. Even Emilia, who usually wore a poker face in front of the students, laughed hard.

A few moments later, Vertical Rolls and her friends arrived at the canteen. Like the others, when they saw the magic students on the mana screen, they also started laughing. Achil was even pointing at his brother’s image while holding his stomach. Who could blame him? His brother stood at the center of the magic center, along with Vertical Roll’s twin sisters and Frank’s younger sister, commanding them as they searched the forest for us.

Also, Eclara, Michael, and Shin arrived a few moments later. As always, a strong breeze blew when Shin arrived. However, since I had seen him coming, I was able to prepare some countermeasures. The three were stared at by the general students, but when Eclara knelt before me, they stopped looking at them and focused on the mana screen.

Eclara then made a mana table and chairs for the three of them and started eating a short distance from me. Shin and Michael had very confused looks as they watched us laughing. Eclara did her best to explain what we were looking at, but they couldn’t understand and decided to focus on eating.

By the way, while all of this was going on, I was casting heating magic on my stomach to ease the pain of my cramps. Thanks to this, I was able to eat calmly. Though the cramps were quite painful at times, I managed to shrug off the pain as I watched the misfortunes of the magic students.