Chương 31: Trouble in Swim Class

After lunch, the four of us headed off together to our cooking class. Some classes teach cooking specifically, but because this is the adventurer course, the class is combined with a course in foraging. The class teaches many different cooking forms that would be suitable for adventurers—at-home meals and recipes, how to cook monster meat, and what parts are safe to eat.

Today we were learning about recipes to make at home. The first half of the class taught us about common ingredients you can find in the market and how to locate them in the field. The second half of the course taught me how to use them in a dish. Today's recipe was a stew made from mushrooms, common herbs, and a few other things.

After that, we split up again, and I moved on to a swimming class. Carin enrolled me in the endurance course, saying that swimming is an excellent way to get a full-body workout and will help me stay in shape. Swimming is considered a general course, so I will be mixed in with regular students. Usually, general and adventurer course students are kept separate due to past conflicts and differences in status. General courses are mainly for the wealthy and contain some very high-status individuals, unlike the adventurer course that accepts any riffraff as long as they can follow the rules.

It would seem that Carin has quite a bit of influence at this school to be able to bend the rules like this. It doesn't hurt to have the headmaster as your best friend, either. When I got there, I noticed I was the only man in the class. Even if it is an endurance class, swimming isn't exactly considered masculine, sure, some enjoy it, but most men don't seem interested in such things. I probably wouldn't bother with such a class if it weren't a requirement.

I got a few funny looks when I showed up, most likely because I arrived in full gear, but hey, it's not my fault I'm required to wear my gear at all times. Luckily I put a lot of thought into it. The shorts I wear over my compression tights are perfectly suitable as swimwear.

Since I was the last one to arrive, everyone was already lined up and waiting for the instructor. When I took my place at the end, for some reason, the girls in my vicinity couldn't take their eyes off me. And it wasn't because they thought having an adventurer course student mixed in was strange.

*sigh*

'I had a feeling something like this might happen. Luckily they seem to be only mildly affected. My good looks don't help, though, that's for sure.'

It may sound vain, but it's a fact that I'm one of the most attractive males in the school. My androgynous looks are highly desirable, especially among girls in the general course who live a softer lifestyle and aren't fans of all that macho stuff.

After a short wait, our instructor appeared. She was a busty shark-type seafolk with long black hair and narrow eyes. Gray skin, pointed teeth, webbed fingers and toes, and a long tail. She had all the features you would typically find on a shark type. She wore a black bikini with low-cut bottoms, typical of most beastmen with tails.

"Hello, class. My name is Mako Serena; you can call me Ms. Mako."

"I'm sure you have noticed, but things will be slightly different this term. For the first time, we have a male student and one from the adventurer course at that."

Most of the girls began muttering things to each other, but the response seemed pretty positive. No one was outraged to have a male student joining them.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?"

After putting me on the spot, Mako gestured for me to come up to the front. I did my best to act natural, but it was a little daunting to have the attention of over 20 girls on me.

"Hello, everyone; I'm Rune Argentus. Some of you might be apprehensive about having someone like me join you, but I hope we can get along." Keeping my tone as polite as possible, I gave my best impression of a noble's bow.

"There you have it. Due to special circumstances, Rune will be joining us at the request of his mentor, Carin Starly."

"!"

"Carin?"

"THE Carin?"

Even among general course students, her name is well known. I'm getting curious about what kinds of things she has accomplished. I'll have to ask her about it sometime.

"Um, excuse me, what kind of circumstances are you talking about?" one girl asked after raising her hand.

"You can ask him yourselves; it will be a good way to get acquainted. Now all of you go and get changed."

Mako mentioned on the way out that I would have to change with the girls because they have never had a male student join until now. Sure enough, looking around, there was only one building next to the pool for changing. I wasn't sure what would happen when I entered, but regardless I didn't have a choice. Had I looked back, I might have noticed how Mako's calm expression turned more predatory as she licked her lips. It might have prepared me for the future. Sadly not everything goes as you would expect.

Upon entering, it was what you would expect, only much fancier. The walls were lined with lockers, and there were benches and a lounge area inside, along with various vending machines. There were a few areas closed off by curtains, and based on the guards around them, I'm guessing they were reserved for high-class students. Not that it matters since I doubt I will be interacting with them much.

I picked a locker next to one of the girls when I went in. It wouldn't have mattered if I chose another one anyways since the number of lockers matches the number of students. I would end up next to someone no matter what. Luckily she didn't seem to mind.

Having no privacy and being closely watched as I stripped down was strange. The whole situation honestly didn't seem real. Some of the girls even tried seductively undressing themselves to grab my attention. And it would have worked, too, was I not dealing with that 'issue' at the moment. All of the girls in this class are real beauties, a side effect of status and upbringing, and in a normal situation, the temptation might have worked.

I stripped off my armor and underwear, trying to act as natural as possible while avoiding everyone's gazes, and slipped my shorts back on, and while I was changing, the girl to my left spoke up.

"Nervous?" she said.

"More like exhausted."

"Heehee, don't worry about them. Most girls here are pretty sheltered, so they don't get many chances to interact with men. I'm sure their curiosity will die down eventually."

"Eh? I don't know about that." the girl to my right said.

"I think it goes both ways. Being so sheltered means many girls here probably have fantasies about being taken by a wild adventurer."

She spoke in a somewhat monotone fashion, or is it unenthused? I'm not sure, but her tone didn't seem to have any meaning, so maybe that's just how she naturally is.

"At the end of the day, aren't they still just fantasies?" I said, turning to the girl on my right.

"True, but you're an attractive, gentle-looking guy, and you're also well-mannered. Some of them might think the scenario plausible."

"That sounds troublesome. . ."

"I'm Rienn, by the way." the girl on the left said

"And I'm Claudia." Said the girl on my right.

Claudia was a tall, slender type of rabbit kin known as a 'lop ear.' She had a sleepy-looking face, light brown hair, and a white cotton ball tail. Her aloof personality and modest proportions only seemed to add to her charm. Unlike Hares like Fleur, whose ears stand up, Lop ears like Claudia, have floppy ears that fall to the sides of their head.

Rienn seemed to be a member of the serpent race. If I could describe her in any way, it would be mature. Despite being a student of similar age, Rienn had a mature body type reminiscent of a sexy housewife. She wasn't super fit or toned, but she was plump in the right places with just enough on her stomach to grab onto, and her voluminous, wild blue hair that matched her scales gave her a hint of mysteriousness.

"If you want, we can keep them off your back. It might help to have a couple of friends at your side."

"Oh, am I volunteering too? Okay." Claudia said in the same unenthusiastic tone.

And just like that, I made two new friends. It was easy for me to accept the offer. The two girls didn't seem to have ulterior motives and were likely trying to help me out.

After everyone finished changing, we went back to the pool area to start class. Everyone laughed when they heard I had joined a swim class without knowing how to swim. Mako quieted everyone down, and then, after directing the class on what to do, she offered to instruct me personally.

Some time passed, and I was getting the hang of the basics. There was just one thing, though.

'Yeah, she's definitely feeling me up.'

I noticed Mako had been sticking close to me, taking every opportunity she could to make contact.

It was subtle initially, but then it became blatantly obvious what she was doing. At the start, she put a hand under my stomach, saying it was to help with my balance, but soon she was moving lower.

"That's it. You're doing good." I was trying my best to act normal, but much to my dismay, I ended up getting hard.

"You're doing very good." The second praise- clearly not directed at my swimming.

The rest of the class continued pretty much the same after that, with me trying my best while Mako made advances on me. My bloodline most likely has a stronger effect on her than the others, so I'm not exactly blaming her. I'm curious about what kind of benefits my fusion could give me from bonding with a shark type, but it's not something I can act on now.

After that, we all went back to change, and I chatted with Claudia and Rienn. They will also be taking yoga, so we agreed to walk there together for our last class.