Wyll and I stop at my dorm room to allow me to freshen up, and once that's done, he leads me to the canteen where he thinks Leila Freiss might be. Here's the funny thing, It's been three days since I arrived here, but I've never been to the canteen before.

  Wow… it's only been three days…

  Anyway, I always have food waiting for me in my room by the time I get back, and I sort of just never questioned it. It's a fancy spread as well, enough so that I felt like a king when I first laid my eyes on it. It's got all sorts of meats and cheeses and the food is always warm and fresh, so I never questioned it. I'm guessing they use some sort of skill to keep it that warm for so long.

  The dirty utensils and plates are also gone when the new dish comes in, so I'm guessing I have some sort of housekeeper. Me, a housekeeper! If I told the me from even just a week ago that we'll be getting a housekeeper, he would have smacked me on the head for wasting his time with nonsense. And yet, here I am.

  But it makes sense for there to be a canteen. I only get dinner, and I'm used to only eating dinner because of how I used to eat in my old world, but rich folk don't tend to skip out on breakfast and lunch, right?

  When we arrive at the canteen, I realise what I've been missing. It's large, larger than I was expecting it to be. In the game it was just a background image, so I'm only now seeing its true size for the first time.

  The whole canteen spans almost further than the eye can see, it seems the whole of Ward Academy comes here to eat. Countless students are milling about here, eating, talking, laughing…

  "It'll be hard to find Leila Freiss among all these people," I note.

  "She has her own table," Wyll says, "Everyone's too scared to take it."

  He leads me to a secluded corner, and in the shadows where the light from the windows doesn't reach, there she is: Leila Freiss.

  She has shiny black hair, almond-shaped green eyes, and she gives off the impression of a cat apathetically watching the world go by around her. When we approach her, she barely looks up at us.

  It's clear she won't speak first, and Wyll seems too nervous to do so, so I start, "You are Leila Freiss, correct?"

  "You wouldn't be here if you didn't know that," Leila says, "You're the sort of guy who likes wasting time, huh?"

  I can feel my eye twitch, but I keep my annoyance under control. This is why I find her to be such a troublesome character, every sentence out of her mouth is some sort of barb. Thankfully, she later becomes Claire Weiss' apprentice and mellows out a bit.

  "I'd like to ask you to join our party as a healer," I say, ignoring her provocation.

  She smirks lazily, "So you came to me. I heard you challenged Rex Cranz to a duel, is that why you're running to the dungeon so pathetically now? Because you know you don't stand a chance against that goody-two-shoes."

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  Once more, my eye twitches, "What is your answer?"

  "You need a healer, is it? Can't hack it on your own?"

  "Yes."

  I say the honest truth. I have pride, but the desperation I felt after the lycan matron's death is something I never want to feel again. Even if she's just trying to get a rise out of me, the fact that I need a healer remains true.

  Something in Leila's demeanour changes. It's like she's looking at me properly now.

  "…How far have you guys gotten?" She asks finally.

  "The end of level two. We'll be entering level three today," I say.

  "I heard Rex Cranz is almost halfway through level three," Leila says, her tone vaguely mocking.

  "I wouldn't be surprised," I say.

  There is only silence between us for a time, and the conversations from the other people in the canteen fill the space between us. Wyll keeps looking back and forth from us.

  Then, finally Leila says, "All right. I'm in."

  I try to smother my grin, "We'll be going to the dungeon today, in four hours."

  "Okay," Lelia waves us off, and we leave.

  As Wyll and I walk out of the canteen, he says, "So we've gotten Leila Freiss in our party now…"

  He doesn't sound fully happy, so I ask, "Is there a problem?"

  "No, I hope not," Wyll says, "It's just—she's been invited to a few parties before, but she always ends up being kicked out or leaving very quickly. I hope that doesn't happen to us."

  "Let's see," I say, we only got a small dose of her this time. Things will be far worse in the dungeon, "Now we just need to find a tank."

  "Thomas!" A voice shouts, stopping us in our tracks. I turn to look and see that it's the short girl with pigtails that I saw when I first woke up in Thomas' body, Perri Faye. She approaches us, a worried look on her face, "Thomas, where have you been? What have you been doing? I heard you were injured!"

  The story of Perri Faye in Rising Hero is an insignificant one. She serves as one of Thomas' suck-ups until he loses to Rex Cranz. After that, whether willingly or not, she distances herself from Thomas, just the same as the rest of his friends.

  That's the last time the player sees Perri Faye, who knows what she goes on to do next?

  Perri notices Wyll and makes a face, "Why… why are you with this commoner?"

  Wyll seems intimidated by the way Perri is glaring down at him (even though she's shorter), so I say, "We were in the dungeon together, and when I was injured, he saved me."

  Perri's expression twists like she's swallowed something incredibly bitter, "Th-that can't be… there's no way you'd lose—"

  "Thomas didn't lose!" Wyll suddenly cuts in. He sounds desperate for some reason, "And he saved me! Multiple times in fact! All I did was follow his instructions after he got injured killing a lycan matron… I didn't save him, I was barely of any help…"

  I'm caught off guard by his words, and it seems Perri is too, but she recovers first, "O-of course! As if Thomas would lose to anything! He's been trained by the best of the best since he was a child!"

  So was Wyll, but Perri doesn't know that.

  "So that's how he was injured," Perri continues, "You dragged him down." Wyll looks down at his feet, shamefaced, as Perri turns to me, "You shouldn't bother with these commoners, Thomas. You'll only get hurt again."

  "He didn't drag me down," I say, "He was a big help in getting me to the lycan matron." And as Wyll looks up at me with wide eyes, I have a vague feeling again. It's not exactly a memory, but I wonder if I'm lucky enough that my vague feeling is correct.

  I ask before Perri can speak again, "Perri, are you a tank?"

  Perri frowns at my change in topic, but she answers anyway, "Yes, why?"

  I seriously can't believe my luck. I must have read that she was a tank somewhere and forgotten it. Now, even if it's only temporary, I might be able to form a full party!

  "Will you come with me this afternoon? I'll be going into the dungeon again," I say.

  Perri looks surprised, "M-me?" Then she blushes, "Of course, Thomas! I'll see you after class?"

  "Yes, thank you very much," I say politely. I'm trying my best to act like the refined Thomas Filmore—the way he acts before he begins losing it.

  She giggles and walks away, and I finally let myself grin. Party members acquired!