Chapter 56: The Daily Routine of Class~

“If a road is 12 meters long and a tree is planted every 3 meters, with both ends planted, how many trees can be planted in total?”

The voice of the Cat Tribe Priest in charge of the lesson was incredibly hypnotic.

Even though it was the first class of the morning, the Candidate Saintesses in attendance were beginning to feel drowsy.

Phyllis was no exception.

However, that wasn’t due to a lack of focus.

The truth was, the current lesson was just…

Too simple for Phyllis.

For some reason, among the courses required for the Cat People to evaluate Saintesses, there was one subject surprisingly similar to the mathematics from her previous life.

And as for its difficulty…

Phyllis rated it as less challenging than what she learned in elementary school back then.

Not to mention junior high’s rational number operations or high school’s solid geometry.

What this course taught, translated into Phyllis’s understanding, was addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division within three digits, plus some simple word problems.

For her, a university student who had survived the college entrance exam and even studied some advanced mathematics…

She could give the answers with her eyes closed, right?

“Phyllis!”

The Priest’s voice called out.

“Mew?!”

Phyllis snapped back to reality, standing up hastily under the gaze of the entire class of Candidate Saintesses.

“How dare you daydream in class! You will answer this question.”

The Priest tapped the blackboard.

Under the eyes of the surrounding Candidate Saintesses.

Phyllis put on a show of thinking hard.

“…The answer is five trees, mew~”

“Oh? That fast? Explain your method.”

The Priest raised an eyebrow at her words.

The answer was indeed correct, but wasn’t her calculation speed a bit too quick?

“Because a tree is planted every 3 meters, you can divide this 12-meter road into 4 sections. Since both ends are planted, the number of trees is the number of sections plus one. 4+1 equals 5 trees.”

Phyllis answered fluently, though she grumbled internally:

‘This is practically second-grade planting problem stuff!’

“Correct answer, clear reasoning. However, you still need to stay focused in class, Phyllis.”

The Priest nodded, signaling for Phyllis to sit down.

The surrounding Candidate Saintesses cast glances of admiration or envy her way.

“I understand, mew~”

Phyllis sat down and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You scared me! I thought you’d fallen asleep! But Phyllis, you’re amazing as always—you answered even while spacing out.”

Mia, sitting beside her, leaned in and whispered.

“Just average, mew…”

Phyllis smiled sheepishly.

That smile happened to be caught by a few young male Cat-People responsible for cleaning passing by outside the window.

In the sunlight, the black-haired girl’s slightly curved blue eyes were like a lake filled with shards of light—clear and lively.

Those male Cat-People were instantly stunned, their footsteps halting.

Sensing the stares, Phyllis suppressed her smile and sat up straight, silently reciting to herself.

‘Can’t smile, can’t smile… Carola will get jealous…’

Mia looked strangely at Phyllis’s suddenly serious expression. “What’s wrong with you?”

“N-nothing! Let’s focus on class, mew!”

Phyllis waved her hand.

Mia wanted to ask more, but when she looked up and saw the Priest’s gaze fixed on them, she decided to drop it.

Because of that question, Phyllis wasn’t sleepy anymore.

But the Priest’s lecture still held no appeal for Phyllis.

It was all knowledge she had already mastered.

So, Phyllis quietly shifted her attention to the Candidate Saintesses in the classroom.

It wasn’t that Phyllis had taken a liking to any of them.

Her eyes were only on Carola now.

As for the others…

No way.

Phyllis didn’t need to think hard to know.

If Carola ever found out she’d developed feelings for another Cat-Person…

She probably wouldn’t even have to wait until the next day.

That very night, Phyllis could see that Cat-Person’s head laid out before her.

With nothing under the neck.

For both their sakes.

Phyllis completely shut down that line of thought.

Just yesterday, she had only been playing in the Bath Pool with Mia and some other Cat-People girls.

That night, Carola had pinned her straight onto the bed.

She was observing her competition.

After all, all the Candidate Saintesses present wanted to become the Saintess.

But thanks to the Sacred Ground’s rules preventing Candidate Saintesses from harming each other,

And the fact that even if they didn’t become Saintesses,

They could still become Priestesses of the Sacred Ground,

The competition among Candidate Saintesses, though present, wasn’t fierce.

Phyllis herself wasn’t particularly interested in being a Saintess. She had only thought of trying; failing would still let her become a Priestess and protect her Cat Tribe Village.

But now, things were different.

Carola had ordered her to become the Cat People’s Saintess.

‘Master’s orders? Hmm… thinking of it that way…’

Phyllis’s face reddened a bit.

Various scenarios she’d read in books began surfacing in her mind.

Things like outdoor exposure, like wearing nothing under her clothes…

Phyllis was letting her imagination run wild again.

Until another Candidate Saintess was called up by the Priest to answer a question, snapping Phyllis back to reality.

She looked at the Candidate Saintess answering.

This Cat Girl was named Bella. She was a Havana Brown cat.

The Candidate Saintesses generally seemed to lack natural talent in mathematics, with quick thinkers like Phyllis being rare.

This particular one, Bella, with her beautiful chestnut hair and green eyes, came from a small family skilled in commerce and had a sharp sense for numbers.

She was one of the few in the class who could keep up with the math pace.

That made Phyllis take a closer look.

A threat, but not a big one.

Not only was Bella merely sensitive to numbers but still inferior to Phyllis in math,

Even if Bella were better, it wouldn’t matter.

Because Phyllis outshone her in other areas.

For instance, some subjects relied on rote memorization.

Bella struggled with those.

But for Phyllis, they were a breeze.

The bell for recess rang, and the Priest announced a break.

Phyllis stretched, her cat ears twitching contentedly, ready to lie down and nap a bit.

Though she had secretly caught up on sleep during class, last night’s little punishment from Carola had left her feeling… a bit exhausted mentally.

“Phyllis,” Mia’s voice came from beside her, “you solved that problem so fast. Any tricks? I always get confused about whether to add one or not.”

Mia the orange tabby was weak at math, but she hadn’t given up.

She was using the break to seek advice from Phyllis.

Not enough talent, make up for it with hard work.

Though when it came to math…

“Mew~ A trick, huh? Imagine yourself walking along that road. Plant the first tree at the start, walk 3 meters and plant the second… Drawing a picture or counting it out in your head like that makes it harder to mess up.”

Phyllis looked up, thought for a moment, and tried to explain the math problem in a way Mia could easily understand.

Since she and Mia had a good relationship, she didn’t mind helping out with small favors like this.

But she also deliberately kept a certain distance from Mia, to prevent Carola, who might be nearby, from getting jealous.

‘Sigh… it’s really tough~’

“Oh, I see! Thank you, Phyllis!”

Mia’s eyes lit up, and she happily noted down the method.

Phyllis nodded lazily, then lay her head on the desk, ready to go back to sleep.

After all, today’s lessons had only just begun.

But before Phyllis could close her eyes.

“Phyllis.”

A voice sounded in her ear.