Nobles from all over the Empire entered the academy every year. Glorenstein was a good place to make connections, a better place to study, and the best place to get your diploma.

I flipped through the pamphlet of the Glorenstein Press Circle. Look at this! The academy was ranked the favorite holiday destination for three years straight. The tagline stated the children liked it so much they felt the school days were their vacation days instead of the other way around.

The Glorenstein Press Circle rated the academy a four and a half out of five stars.

Whoever wrote this academy pamphlet had a questionable sense of humor. Did they cut half a star since the Academy couldn’t accommodate hostages? If that were the case, we would see five stars on the pamphlet next year.

Well, coming back to the point—while nobility from all over the Empire came to Glorenstein, it wasn’t equipped well enough to hold international royalty hostage. To make up for that, hustle and bustle started throughout the academy as a last-minute construction was underway.

I glanced around at the buildings that were being erected at breakneck speed. The beautiful spires and walls were made in a ratio of Gypsum, brick, stone, and wood that only the masons knew. Whatever their formula, the results matched the grandeur and beauty of the rest of the expansive buildings—no, these were grander.

The academy was too large to be toured through in a single day, so the vice-principal handed me this guide to aid in my search for entertainment… Ahem, the student.

I wasn’t supposed to be looking for the student. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told me to butt off all diplomatic issues—but as a professor, I couldn’t leave a stray student alone.

The student had been assigned a room, and as expected for royalty, knights and maids were assigned to the temporary lodgings. Yet, the student was never seen by them.

“She only comes over at night and disappears during the day.”

“It seems she’s homesick. We don’t see her a lot.”

There were clear traces of the student using the room to sleep. The sheets were crumpled, the duvet tossed away, but no one knew when or how. The two knights and two maids said the princess was safe but shy.

There was a simple conclusion to be drawn from this: the student was in hiding. It seemed that the diplomatic problems weren’t unknown to kids either.

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Unfortunately—In an academy working for that last half of a star from the Glorenstein Press Circle—there weren’t many places to hide. Her options were limited to quiet and silent places…

“Like this garbage can behind the shrubs!” I grinned wide and pulled up the lid of the can—which was shaped like a duck.

“Entertain—Student! Are you in here?”

“Myeow?” A purr greeted me. There wasn’t a student inside the trash can, only a cute little Bombay. I didn’t speak cat, so I shut the lid and turned away.

That was the beginning of my grand hunt for the lost student. I traveled all through the campus and checked places no one else would—under the benches, behind the street lights, and above the branches of the long-reaching trees where dozens of leaves were laid out.

Every time I called for the student, the black cat from before answered.

I was tired already. She was nowhere.

Glorenstein had a wide range of amenities that anyone could use, including stores and cafes for students. I went into one at the plaza closest to the construction site and took a short break. After drinking a smoothie and buying cookies fit for the feline from a bakery in a strip of stores, I decided to look around once more.

The cat’s interruption wouldn’t stop unless it got captured. If it came around again, it was getting kidnapped. Sorry.

I flailed the cookie as I continued my search, but the Bombay showed no signs of revealing itself. I looked for the student again and checked behind one of the buildings recently slabbed with marble when I found the cat licking its paw.

“Haah… you’re coming with me.”

Tired, I grabbed it and continued the single-player hide-and-seek game.

Behind the third turn from the Edmund Halloway Training Center, near the place where the new classrooms were being constructed, was the storeroom for the facility. The freshly built storeroom had nothing for anyone who would have business in a storeroom.

“Hm? This place seems like an interesting hiding spot.”

I approached the gates of the storeroom when the Bombay in my arms tussled and jumped off. I spared it a glance and slid the storeroom door open—The door slammed against the walls.

The storage room was lined up with long racks and shelves. It had all the tools for storage but nothing stored on them. I stepped inside the storeroom and gazed around. Bits of sunlight lit up the room from the narrow windows.

I almost called for the student again but stopped since I had to make a good impression. I froze when my eyes landed at the back of the room.

Black hair that rushed down to the ground. A small frame that undoubtedly belonged to a teenager. Donning a black skirt, a white shirt, and a sleeveless sweater etched with the crest of the academy was a girl with long ears sticking out the side of her head.

A catkin.

A member of the cat tribe was sitting in the storeroom. There was no doubt that this person was a student, thanks to the uniform, the student I was looking for.

The girl with senses akin to those of a feline snapped her head my way. A red tint lingered at the edge of her glistening eyes.

She was sniffling—but even a young girl was a proud beastkin—she immediately donned a fierce mask. Her nails grew into claws, and her sharp fangs menacingly flashed my way.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t learned cat in the duration I had carried the Bombay around. It was a trouble I had to solve with some human communication skills.

“Hello there—“

“—HISS!” The girl immediately hissed at me.

With no other choice, I reached into my pocket, pulled out the cat-fit catnip cookies, and held it low toward the girl.

“Pspspssps.”