Chapter 5
True to its reputation as the finest educational institution in the world, Halo Academy's dormitory facilities were astonishing enough to make one's eyes widen.
To start with, having one room per person was a given, and the rooms themselves were huge. It wasn't merely the size of a studio apartment; it was practically a seventy-square-meter apartment.
There was even a device that could adjust the temperature of the dormitory, though I had no idea whether it was powered by magic, and there was even a refrigerator. I had no idea how that worked either, but it must have been magic.
'As long as it's good.'
This is a fantasy world, after all, a place where the common sense from my previous life gets brutally shattered. There are monsters capable of dropping meteors everywhere, so what does common sense matter?
I looked around the generally tidy quarters and walked inside. There was a soft bed, a desk, and everything else I could need.
I was very satisfied.
"Huh?"
Then I spotted some clothes neatly laid out on the bed, and their color seemed oddly familiar. I dragged my suitcase over to the bed.
When I took a closer look, I saw that they were the uniform provided by Halo Academy. The shirt was white, and the pants were black. There were also several other garments to wear over the shirt.
Since the Minerva Empire had four distinct seasons, they had presumably been provided so students could dress appropriately for each one. I looked over the uniform, which seemed to fit my body perfectly.
'They measured my clothes earlier and handed them out right away.'
Honestly, wearing a uniform was better than wearing casual clothes. Even if I wore casual clothes, I'd just wear the same outfit every day.
A little while later, I tried on the uniform. Conveniently, there was also a full-length mirror, making it easy to check my appearance.
"Sigh... No matter how I look at it..."
I look like a girl dressed as a boy. My face was delicate and pretty because I took after my mother, and my body was slim too. Of course, it was much better than being ugly.
I hung the uniform roughly on a hanger and unpacked my luggage. In truth, my luggage consisted of only a few books, some clothes for the weekend, and, finally, my manuscripts. It wasn't as if I had much to pack.
"What time is it...?"
After unpacking everything, I checked the clock. It was currently four-thirty. It was almost time for dinner.
I wanted to enjoy a meal with my brother or sister, but they were both busy. I couldn't exactly call busy people over for something so trivial.
I considered simply skipping dinner, but I was curious about what the food here would be like, so I figured I might as well go. I could write during that time.
"Ah. Right. Paper."
Come to think of it, I needed to find out where manuscript paper was sold. I had brought more than enough spare paper, but it was better to be prepared.
There are no pencils or erasers here, so if I make a single mistake, I have to throw the manuscript away. That's why I've often gotten angry and even cursed aloud.
"Achoo! Ah, fuck."
Just like now.
While I was writing with time to spare, I suddenly sneezed out of nowhere. Spittle splattered all over the manuscript, blurring the ink.
I had been just about to fill an entire page, so I couldn't help but frown. Still, what could I do? It was a shame, but I had to throw it away.
Before tearing up the manuscript, I copied it onto a new sheet of paper, then shredded the remaining sheet and put it in the trash.
However, the sneeze had completely shattered my concentration, so I had no choice but to put down the Magic Pen.
"The time... It's only been thirty minutes?"
Since things had turned out this way, I might as well look around the Academy while getting dinner. I loosened my slightly stiff body with some stretches and got ready.
I debated whether to wear the uniform, but I saw no reason to, so I went out in casual clothes. I didn't forget to bring the spending money my parents had given me and my student ID.
For reference, the student ID had been enchanted as well, making forgery absolutely impossible. If it had been possible to forge, the country would have taken whoever made it for themselves by now. The student ID had been issued before enrollment.
"It's really huge."
I toured Halo Academy in earnest. From the carriage, it had looked like a castle, almost like Hogwarts, but the inside was completely different. It was large enough to be called another city or village.
There were buildings for lectures, of course, as well as a library, bookstore, shops, clothing stores, restaurants, blacksmiths, and so on.
It really did take the form of a small city.
Still, everything wasn't haphazardly mixed together; the different areas were clearly separated. Well, if everything had been jumbled together, it would have felt somewhat chaotic.
It seemed as though they hadn't planned to build an academy from the beginning, but had designed an entire city instead.
Ding-
"Welcome~"
"Do you have any manuscript paper?"
"What kind of manuscript paper do you mean?"
"Something made of this material."
Buying manuscript paper at the shop was easy. I simply brought the paper I had prepared beforehand and showed it to the shopkeeper.
The paper was also quite cheap. The fact that books were so widespread showed that papermaking technology was fairly advanced.
I looked around the shop to see if there was anything else worth seeing, then went outside. There were all kinds of strange things, but nothing interesting enough to hold my attention.
'Should I check out a bookstore?'
As I was heading back to the dormitory, I suddenly remembered the bookstore I had seen on the way. As far as I knew, it was quite a large building, like a major bookstore from my previous life.
Until now, I had simply handed my manuscripts to the publisher with my parents' help, so I had no idea how my books were actually being sold. It probably wouldn't hurt to take a look.
With that, I turned my steps toward the bookstore instead of the dormitory. I had already committed the route to memory.
And then...
[The Chronicle of Xenon is currently sold out in its entirety. We sincerely apologize to all our customers.]
"... ..."
There was an unusual notice posted right at the entrance. It wasn't even a recently published book, yet every volume was sold out. Could this really be true?
As I stared at the notice with a dumbfounded expression, a woman beside me complained in an irritable, shrill voice.
"Damn it. Seriously! I've only read volume five! When the hell is the next one coming out?!"
"Just be patient, Marie. The publisher said they're only printing The Chronicle of Xenon right now, so it'll come out eventually."
"When the hell is 'eventually'?! Every time I come here, all I hear is that it's sold out!"
She was so noisy that I became curious about her face. I turned my head to look at the woman throwing a tantrum.
Perhaps because she was scowling, she looked rather stubborn, but she was a beautiful, cat-faced girl. Unusually, she had snow-white hair, while her eyes were blue.
The man sweating bullets trying to restrain her was presumably her older brother. Their facial features were different, but their hair and eye colors matched perfectly.
While I was thinking that, the white-haired girl's hysteria continued.
"You definitely said that once you enrolled at Halo Academy, there would be copies of The Chronicle of Xenon! Are you saying you lied to me?"
"Th-that... It was definitely there until yesterday."
"How many copies?"
"...There were three copies of volume six, and volume seven was completely sold out."
"Are you kidding me?! You should have bought it for me!"
"Marie. You know that the regulations limit each person to one copy of The Chronicle of Xenon. Don't you remember that group of people who were stockpiling copies got arrested?"
I was dizzy by now.
I had never heard of people stockpiling books before. It wasn't as if they were smuggling anything.
As I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of it all, the white-haired woman happened to look at me. Then her expression grew even angrier than before, and she shouted at me.
"Hey. What's your problem? Were you laughing at me just now?"
"Marie!"
"Let go. She was laughing at me!"
"I'm sorry. Please don't mind her; just go on your way."
"Let go! I said let go!!"
Even as the woman called Marie was dragged away by her older brother, she glared daggers at me. Even after they left, I could only stand there as if rooted to the spot, feeling as though a storm had swept past me.
Still, thanks to her, I was able to get a little sense of how my novel was doing. If people were willing to hoard copies, that said it all.
"...Let's eat."
That girl looked like a freshman too. Surely we wouldn't be assigned to the same class, right?
*****
Halo Academy had approximately 200 freshmen this year. Of those, 150 were in Martial Studies, while only about 50 were in Literary Studies.
If you asked why Martial Studies had three times as many students as Literary Studies, the answer lay in the nature of this world. Monsters and mana existed here, and unlike in my previous life, people relied on human strength rather than machines.
As a result, education had no choice but to focus on 'Martial' Studies, and even magic was considered a form of martial power, so it was included in Martial Studies. I heard that even Martial Studies was divided into classes according to specialization.
If you only looked at those numbers, you might think Literary Studies was being neglected, but that was absolutely not the case. Even here, there were many examples of people changing the world without possessing exceptional physical strength.
Moreover, unlike Martial Studies, which was closer to military service, Literary Studies could be called a profession for specialists. If soldiers were the spear and shield protecting the country, professionals were the backbone that supported it.
So how were the Literary Studies classes assigned?
How else? They put all fifty students into a single class.
I ended up in the same class as Cecily and Rina. Damn it.
"Ah~ So you were in Literary Studies too, Princess Cecily. It is an honor to study alongside you."
"Hm? Who are you?"
While Rina and Cecily were having a friendly conversation, a male student interrupted them. A flash of displeasure appeared on the faces of Cecily and Rina, but it quickly disappeared.
Regardless, the male student introduced himself with a greasy smile.
"My name is Jackson Mirell Keryson, at your service, beautiful princess of the demonkin and great sun of the Empire."
I snorted as I watched the man already making his move. His intentions were so obvious it was ridiculous.
You might think I was overreacting, but anyone with a shred of sense wouldn't intrude on a conversation like that.
Moreover, everyone else was keeping their distance after seeing Rina and Cecily seated side by side. I couldn't tell whether to call what he had courage or foolhardiness. Perhaps he was simply oblivious.
After hearing Jackson's introduction, Cecily tilted her head and spoke as though she had no interest in him.
"I don't know even after hearing that. Lady Rina, do you know who he is?"
"...The Count Keryson family is among the wealthiest families in the Minerva Empire."
The bastard named Jackson puffed himself up when Rina explained his family in his place. He was every bit as unpleasant and greasy as he looked.
Perhaps he had gained some confidence from that, because Jackson leaned his face close to Cecily's and asked in an insinuating voice. Cecily's expression remained calm even when his face drew close to hers.
"You heard that, didn't you? What do you think?"
"What do I think?"
"Yes. If you happen to be interested in me..."
"I'm not interested, so would you please go away?"
"...Maybe later, then. Hmm?"
Of course, when Cecily rejected him outright, his expression turned flustered.
Cecily maintained her calm expression as she spoke.
"I was speaking with Lady Rina, so I would like to ask what kind of discourtesy it is to interrupt us."
Cecily then looked at Rina and asked,
"Lady Rina. Are all the nobles of the Minerva Empire like this?"
"No. Only that man. You said you were from the Count Keryson family, right? Is that what they taught you at the Count Keryson estate—to shamelessly hit on ladies?"
"Ah, no. That's..."
"If you have nothing more to say, would you please leave? Class will begin soon."
"S-sorry!"
When Rina, of all people, ordered him in a sharp voice, Jackson hurriedly apologized and left. When I looked at his face, it was red and flushed, as though he might explode at any moment.
They say that if you keep quiet, you'll at least get halfway there, but that guy had cut himself down all on his own. Even so, the son of a count couldn't dare talk back to an imperial princess.
If he provoked her, his head would be the least of it; his family would fall completely. Shouldn't he know how to conduct himself? If he couldn't even do that, he was an idiot.
"Huh? You're that red-haired guy from yesterday!"
"Huh?"
While I was watching the situation unfold, a clear, ringing voice reached my ears from beside me. Somehow, it sounded extremely familiar.
When I turned my head, lo and behold, the white-haired girl I had encountered at the bookstore yesterday—Marie—was pointing at me.
'Oh, for fuck's sake. She was in Literary Studies too?'
What cruel fate. Of all people, I had to share a major with the girl whose first meeting with me had gone so badly.
The white-haired girl named Marie, unaware of what I was thinking, planted her hands on her hips and glared at me.
"You were laughing at me yesterday, weren't you?"
"No, I wasn't."
"Well, you were loitering in front of the door, so your situation must have been the same as mine. Right? You were pissed when you saw it was sold out after coming to buy books too, weren't you?"
I have the manuscript, not the book. And I wasn't pissed so much as dumbfounded.
Unable to think of anything else to say, I pressed my lips shut. Marie raised one corner of her mouth and sneered. Apparently, she had made up her mind based entirely on her own misunderstanding.
Then she let out a deep sigh and spoke as if she were bestowing mercy.
"Phew. Fine. What's the point of fighting when we're in similar circumstances? I'll make an exception and forgive you for being rude yesterday."
"... ..."
"I'm sure the author wouldn't want us to fight. Besides, a situation like that would tarnish their honor, not ours. Right?"
I'm the author, you idiot.