By the time they reached the girls' dorm, Lily had seen quite a variety of students and Familiars. It really seemed that they could quite literally be anything, as she saw things as small as a mouse to as large as a horse.

That wasn't even including the weird ones, as she saw birds whose feathers looked like flames or a dog made out of snow. In her opinion, these made her "floating book possessed by a ghost" almost look mundane by comparison.

I wonder why Pete and Rebecca were so interested. Is it just because they are trying to figure out how it relates to my fake bloodline?

Lily ultimately decided it wasn't worth worrying about and continued her people-watching. Of course, she turned plenty of heads herself, as people seemed quite confused about why there was a bunny in the school.

Thanks to her sensitive ears, Lily even caught a few gossiping whispers. The most notable one was, "Is that Alice's kid?" which was usually followed by, "No way, she's too young for a child." It dumbfounded her. Who was Alice?

Wait… didn't Rose's letter mention someone by that name? Or am I misremembering?

Lily's thoughts would have to go unanswered as they arrived at the dorm's reception room, which had a large desk flanked by a pair of staircases heading to the upper floors.

Rebecca stopped and quickly whispered a few wise words to Lily: "Just a heads up, the dorm mistress, Beatrice, is a sweet old lady, but you do not want to get on her bad side. She will have you scrubbing pots and pans or even magically dyeing your hair if she wants to punish you. So don't stay out past curfew, and for your own sake, do not get into any mischief."

Lily silently nodded. She was grateful for the advice but felt it wouldn't really apply to her as she had always been called a bit of a killjoy by other kids. Of course, they didn't know about her nighttime adventures or the fact that she'd done two rituals under everyone's noses.

I bet Rose has caused the poor woman more than a few grey hairs.

The elderly woman at the reception desk was reading a book, and judging by what Lily could glance at from the cover, it was quite a raunchy book. She quickly averted her gaze and stared awkwardly at her feet.

"Hi, Miss Beatrice, I've got another one of the new arrivals today," Rebecca said, walking up to the desk.

"My-my, quite a few new students we've gotten this year," Beatrice said. "Hopefully, there will be a lot of new blood so Regarth can earn the number one spot this year."

"Hopefully," Rebecca replied. "Although my childhood friend says that Stremweth got a heavy hitter this year, so who knows."

"Well then, this year will be very interesting, I bet," she chuckled before finally noticing Lily. "And who are you, my dear?"

"Um. I'm Lily. It's very nice to meet you, Miss Beatrice."

"So you're the VIP! It's nice to finally put a face to the name. I've been wondering for weeks who the bigshot they gave a single bedroom to was."

"Um… Thank you?" Lily replied awkwardly.

"You must have done quite the performance to earn that spot," Beatrice continued. "If you got in on just the merit of being a rare bloodline, they wouldn't have given you this special treatment. You'd be in a double room just like everyone else."

Lily blushed and nodded. Compared to the other schools, Regarth's offer had initially seemed quite bare bones. At the time, she thought the school was telling her to "make her own benefits" by utilizing the school's dungeon. But now it looked like they had made other concessions for her not mentioned in the acceptance letter.

Having a single room is terrific. If I had a roommate, I'd be limited in my practice with Arakil. I don't think I could get away with explaining that my Familiar came with ancient magical knowledge.

"And… I'm assuming that's your familiar?" Beatrice asked, pointing at Arakil's floating book.

Lily nodded, "This is Arakil. He's a type of spirit that has possessed my book."

Beatrice's pupils dilated momentarily as she closed her book and put it on the desk as far away from Arakil as possible.

"Well, it's very nice to meet both of you. At least I'm glad you won't be setting anything on fire or covering anything in mud," she said, followed by a quick chortle.

She then opened a locked drawer that rattled with the sound of metal clinking against each other. She reached in and pulled out a single key, which she handed over to Lily.

"Here's your room key. Don't lose it, or you'll have to work to pay off for the replacement."

Lily held onto it tight and thanked her, offering a slight bow as well.

"Thanks, Miss. We'll be on our way," Rebecca said, waving goodbye and gesturing for Lily to follow her.

"Thank you," Lily reiterated. "It was very nice to meet you!"

Stolen novel; please report.

Beatrice smiled, "The pleasure is mine. It's always nice to get such a polite and cute new student."

They hurried down one of the passageways and began looking for the door that matched the number engraved on Lily's key. It was close to the entrance, which was great for her as she wouldn't have to walk far to return to her new home.

She fumbled the key into the lock and opened it, revealing a spacious room. Lily was quite surprised, as it was nearly double the size of her orphanage room.

"I get all of this space?" Lily gasped.

"Yes?" Rebecca replied. "It's not that big."

"Oh. I guess it's just big compared to my old room then," Lily explained.

"Sorry, my ideas of normal might be a bit warped."

"Or mine," Lily countered with a giggle.

"Anyway, I suggest dropping your stuff, giving it a quick look around, and then we can grab some food."

Lily nodded and placed her bags on the bed. She pulled out a small pouch and fastened it to her side, not wanting to leave without her small supply bag just in case. Then, she casually glanced around the room. Other than the bed, it had a cupboard, a small dresser writing desk, a half bookshelf, an old two-seater couch, and a magical sink.

[This is quite a nice room. The walls appear to have some enchantments to dampen sound so noisy neighbors won't disturb you. It should also be perfect for your magic practice.]

"Looks like Arakil likes the room, too," Lily said with a smile.

"That's good. On the positive side, you won't have to worry about any potential messes. Unless the book sheds pages for droppings," Rebecca joked.

"No, nothing like that," Lily giggled back.

"I feel sorry for the students who summon things like horses. While having a Familiar you can potentially ride is a fun idea, it's just not practical in the long term."

"Do they really live with horses in their dorm room?"

"It depends. Sometimes, they are forced to live in the stables in the case of a particularly rambunctious Familiar. But the majority do stay with their student, as it's seen as a good motivator for them to learn how to dismiss and resummon their Familiar as soon as possible."

"In my case, I'm almost the opposite; I can't really see any rush to learn it," Lily giggled.

Rebecca paused and tapped her bottom lip in thought. "Good point. The only thing I can think of is if you'd want some privacy from your Family. But, considering it's literally a book, you could just lock him in a cupboard or desk drawer."

[Bah, there's no need. I can simply close my tome and meditate, or do some reading if you wish for some privacy. Then you can call my name to get my attention. Although I suppose we will have to perform some kind of song and dance to appease the teachers here and keep up the facade.]

Lily nodded.

[As you may have noticed, since our bonding, my restrictions are no longer as severe. I can freely open the book myself if I remain within the confines of our connection. No more need to keep my book ajar with pieces of wood.]

So that's how he did it… I guess the Familiar bond treats it as if I opened the book myself. I'll have to ask Arakil to explain when we are alone.

"There are plenty of toilets along the corridors, and the doors are marked," Rebecca explained while Lily perused the room. "And then there's a large bathroom with showers."

"No baths?" Lily asked.

"Not until second year, although it's more of a giant communal bath."

"Communal? That sounds pretty gross…" Lily admitted.

"Ah, no, you're getting the wrong idea," Rebecca corrected. "You must at least rinse yourself off in a shower before getting in. And when I say it's giant, I mean it! It's bigger than this room."

Lily gasped in surprise. It sounded crazy.

"It's kept perpetually at the perfect temperature thanks to some enchantments. It's also cleaned in a similar manner. Honestly, I was hesitant initially, but I've found myself dozing off inside it on more than one occasion."

"Umm… I'll have to give it a try then," Lily begrudgingly agreed.

If the showers are bad, I can just wash up in my room. There's nothing like using magic to solve the problem! I could rework my emergency bath glyph to be semi-reusable or maybe even enchant something in the long term.

Lily's mind was already racing with ideas. She had her own private room and was eager to get it set up for her convenience. At the same time, she wondered if Arakil had any laundry magic he could teach her as she was reminded of what Pete had mentioned earlier.

When Lily was ready, she locked her room behind her and followed Rebecca. Who went on to explain the main reason for the first years usually having to double up was due to the cafeteria taking up a large portion of the first floor. At the same time, she pointed out the numerous toilets and one of the bathrooms filled with showers.

Any students they passed by waved and gave a quick but polite greeting. Even outside, Lily had noted that the students seemed to be in a rush.

I guess everyone is busy. I wonder if the school year has started yet or not.

"How come you're helping Mister Pete?" Lily finally asked. "Don't you have classes or something?"

"Not yet, I don't have any remedial classes to make up. The school year hasn't officially started yet, and not all the students have returned. Some of the wealthy students opt to go home during the end of the year holiday, while most stick around."

"Did you not want to see your family?"

"I do, but not enough to give up the opportunities here. The long holiday is one of the best times to explore the dungeon, which is not an opportunity most will want to give up."

"Other than your bag, have you found any cool treasures?"

"I once found a sword that would sharpen itself, but I sold it. I also got a ring that would conceal your breath, but I stopped using that once I got to my second year."

"Why?"

"Well, I used to use it to stop my roommate from snoring," Rebecca admitted. "A rather amusing side effect. But I'm not some assassin, so I'll probably sell it eventually or give it to my mom to stop my dad from snoring."

Lily giggled, "I had no idea magic items could be so… diverse."

"You'll see for yourself when you enter in a week or two. Regarth actually has a large segment of the dungeon entirely controlled as a sort of 'tutorial' for new students. You even get to pick a piece of treasure that's been donated as a reward."

Lily's eyes widened and sparkled with anticipation. She'd get to pick a magical treasure all for herself? She was practically counting down the days in her head already.

I can't wait!

"I hate to pop your bubble of enthusiasm, but that's where I got the snoring ring from," Rebecca admitted. "It's treasures that have been donated for a reason; either the staff or students had no use for them. Plus, unless you've studied enchanting or identification magic, you'll sort of leave it up to blind luck."

"Oh…" Lily whispered, feeling a little disheartened.

[Well, it's a good thing you'll have me by your side then. With my Magesight, I should be able to identify anything, and while I don't want to get your hopes up, if there's a hidden gem in the items, I can undoubtedly find it.]

Lily had to suppress her smile; once again, Arakil turned a situation into an unexpected boon.

"Crap!" Rebecca cursed unexpectedly.

Lily turned to her in puzzlement, finally noticing that they had reached the cafeteria.

Rebecca sighed, "It looks like Aura is on duty…"