That threw me for a loop, though I didn't know what else to say. "But, what I guess I'm trying to say is that if you have to pick a college, why not literally anywhere else in the world?"
"Your college can't be that bad," Raphtalia said.
"No, it isn't," I admitted. At the same time though, there was little love lost between me and my soon-to-be alma mater. "But what I'm saying is that someone like you who's actually capable should set their sights higher."
"But," Raphtalia said. "Isn't Melty-san going to your college as well? She's a prodigy, isn't she?"
"Hmph! I don't know with her why she bothers coming here," I admitted. "She should be in some top law school in America, not here. She's only here to pass time until she's old enough to get into a real school."
"Still, she's trying her hardest, isn't she?" Raphtalia asked. "And she doesn't seem to be slacking off because she thinks her school isn't good."
"Hey! I'm not slacking off- it's just, ah, I've been busy lately," I said. Not only that, but I was behind yet another year just because of the whole deal with that woman.
In such a scenario, while it was true that Melty was working hard, she seemed like the type of person who would always do so. Like I said, she probably had perfect attendance since kindergarten or something. That is until this latest period where she was absent.
Still, she was putting all that effort for nothing, I thought. She was better off playing with Filo, and enjoying what remained of her childhood, in my opinion.
And Filo could actually start studying- though I didn't know about her finances, it was entirely possible that she was set for life though. So maybe she didn't need to study.
Then again, neither did Melty really. Why was she pushing herself so hard then? Oh right, it was because she had to inherit her parent's legal empire, wasn't it?
Both of them, despite not needing money, were pursuing what they wanted to do without restraint. And though I hated to admit it, it couldn't be said that what Filo was doing was easy either - her road had clearly been paved with thorns, that much was clear from what Fitoria had said.
Compared to me, who was doing law just because I couldn't get my hands on anything else- even those two children were ahead in that aspect.
What is it that I wanted to do?
Despite being in law school, i still didn't know.
Streaming was fun, but I had never looked at it as being a viable career option. Even at the peak of my fame, I was barely making more than minimum wage. It was not something that would be sustainable in the long run. It had been little more than a glorified hobby, so even now, I was still thinking of what to do. I hadn't even thought of a specialization after I'd finished law school.
Neither did Raphtalia, but at least she had a good work ethic and head on her shoulders.
"So what I'm trying to say," Raphtalia said, "is that you shouldn't put yourself down too much. And if your education is that bad- how come you stepped in to help Fohl that time? And how come you're able to help him with this?"
"I have help from Erhard, and that first incident back at the convention was nothing big," I explained. "Again, if you really want to get information that's useful I can give you Shindo's number. He probably knows a lot better than me about actually getting in." Granted, now that he was in a good program, he spent a good amount of time partying and otherwise wasting his time, but that was after he had gotten in. Getting in was usually the hardest step, and things would be smooth sailing afterwards. "Think about it this way- no matter how hard I work, i still won't be able to reach his level because he managed to get into a better program in the beginning. So choose where you're going to go carefully."
"Eh? Is it really like that?" Raphtalia asked.
"Unfortunately so," I said. At least, in Japan it was like that. Raphtalia, though I didn't know too much about where she'd grown up, may have gone somewhere where it was possible to make up for things after you'd gotten in somewhere. Sadly, the pedigree of your school matter a lot, far more than what you actually did. Granted, the top students from a school like mine also were likely to do well, Erhard had been an example before he up and quit his first job, but the point being was that some of us did get into relatively prestigious positions.
It was only that the competition was too tough for someone like me to stand at the peak of things. Granted, part of that was because I had been forced to repeat a year and because I hadn't been in a right state after what that woman had done, but the point still stood.
"Oh," Raphtalia said. She clearly hadn't considered it.
"What do you want to do after graduating?"
"I uh..." she fumbled with her hands. She had likely hadn't decided yet.
"It's fine if you still want to take time to figure it out," I told her. "Though, I'm going to be blunt with you Raphtalia- choosing a school because you're boyfriend's going there is not a wise decision. I don't mean that because I wouldn't mind spending more time with you, but it wouldn't be the best decision for you to make."
"I see..." Raphtalia said.
With all of that said, Raphtalia and I began to split the choco lava cake.
I had to admit that I would've thought that it tasted better had I still had a kid's palate.
But it was not bad by any means.