Chapter 3
…As for the matter of the mysterious outsider…
Karanov. Is the grading done?
Written: 30 points. Practical: full marks.
…Thirty on the written? Isn’t that actually a pretty decent score?
The written exam had always been an area where only a handful of students ever scored above 20.
Karanov’s always-prized solid theoretical foundation.
And the sturdy practical ability that shattered his magic.
A student who possessed both could truly be called the real deal.
Isabel, the potions professor, knew that he was quite fond of highly skilled students.
...Right. He should like that, but....
'Why is his face like that?'
Of course, that bad-tempered bastard didn’t just act like this once or twice.
“So, are you taking that student? If you do, you’d better take responsibility to the end. Accepting someone whose background we don’t even know…”
“I’m taking them. No matter what.”
“Didn’t you say you don’t accept outsiders? I’m in favor of it, though.”
Isabel spoke to Karanov, but he was adamant.
He smiled darkly and said,
“I’ll keep them close and personally grind them into the dirt. I will definitely take them as a research student.”
Isabel thought it had been a long time since she’d seen him use such a vulgar word.
Then he gathered up the dorm key and the school map for her and set off briskly.
***
As I got up from the written exam hall and was looking for a way to escape behind the building, someone called out to me.
“Hey.”
“...?”
“Hey!”
“Eek!?”
“Ahaha! Did I scare you? Sorry. You were so focused, I just wanted to see a cute reaction and startled you.”
I could barely sense her presence.
Was this magical too?
I turned my head to look at the person who’d spoken to me.
Water-blue eyes and shoulder-length hair of the same color.
A crooked hat and a black robe.
Unlike Karanov, she looked quite young.
But she was definitely taller than me and carried an adult air.
“...Who are you?”
“I’m Isabel, the potions professor at Reinhart Magic School. Normally you’d have to receive your dorm key and various supplies yourself, but you’re a bit special, so I came in person.”
“Special?”
“Yeah. That Karanov losing his composure like that was a first for me, too.”
She said with a light laugh.
Did I do something wrong to that old man?
I decided not to worry about it.
“Anyway, you know where this place is, right?”
“A magic school?”
“Right. This is Reinhart Magic School. The Empire’s finest magic school, and also a research institution where the country’s greatest talents gather.”
“Hmm. Nice.”
“Nice indeed. Anyway, you’re now officially enrolled at Reinhart Magic School.”
“...Is that any different from before?”
“It means that unless you commit a serious crime or violate a taboo, even the school can’t abandon you. Not until you withdraw.”
“I can quit and leave?”
“Hmm... that’s possible, though the procedures are complicated. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Why not?”
“Because there probably isn’t anywhere else in this Empire where your talent can bloom so fully.”
...Talent, huh.
It was something I’d heard plenty of times even in the training camp.
In the end, I had no ability and couldn’t even climb the tower to the first floor.
Whether she knew what was on my mind or not, Isabel held something out to me.
“Here! Take it!”
What she handed over was a booklet, a key, and a jingling pouch.
Inside the pouch were three silver coins and seven copper coins.
And a single glass vial.
It contained a sloshing blue liquid.
“The booklet has all the information a new student needs written in it one by one. The school has plenty of dangerous areas, so be sure to read it.”
“What about the key and the pouch?”
“The key is your dorm key. The A-rank dorm is over there.”
“A-rank?”
“Your dorm rank. Well, you’ll understand once you go in. The pouch is a gift from me. It contains a potion and Imperial currency, and especially the potion will raise your own mana beyond its limit for an hour. It’ll help!”
She shrugged, looking pleased with herself.
I could feel her genuine goodwill toward me.
An A-rank dorm, huh.
Did I do well on the practical?
“Any other questions?”
she asked.
Honestly, I wasn’t planning to ask anything serious.
But there was one thing that suddenly flashed through my mind.
A suspicion I had harbored ever since hearing the words magic school.
I had never had any ability in my entire life.
Nature Affinity, Dragon’s Eye, and the Blessing of Language could all be called abilities.
But those were not what I or the world had ever asked for.
That meant I’d been a failure as a hunter.
“...Will I really be able to use magic?”
“...? That’s a strange question. You sound as if you’ve never performed mystic arts before.”
She said it with clear curiosity.
“Well, if you’ve never learned magic before, that makes sense! Then let me teach you one myself!”
“Huh?”
“Well, even if I teach you, it’s only a noncombat spell I’d teach a five-year-old. Give me your hand.”
She took my hand.
And I felt something being drawn out from within me.
I could see it with my own eyes.
No, I guess it would be more accurate to say I could feel it.
‘...I had mana inside me?’
It was only a tiny amount, but it was mana.
“Looks like you don’t even know how to draw out your own mana. Don’t tell me you jammed Karanov’s spell by manipulating natural mana?”
Isabel held my hand and gathered the mana into a single point.
Then she raised her other hand, gathered her own mana into it, and chanted.
“Star, Platina.”
Blue starlight popped out in tiny bursts.
It sprang up like a fountain from above her white glove.
I saw it all.
“Now watch my mana carefully, gather your mana well, imagine a shining star dancing in your hand, and chant the two-line spell…”
[Dragon’s Eye] observed the mana, and [Great Mage’s Talent] let me grasp instinctively how it worked.
I chanted.
“Star, Platina.”
A different, multicolored light crackled and popped.
Like a meteor falling into a lake, it merrily danced across my hand before vanishing.
I couldn’t help but shiver.
Isabel smiled with satisfaction and said,
“Just as I thought, this is your first time using it, isn’t it?”
“This... works?”
“Well! I learned it the moment I saw it too, but still. It’s proof that your talent doesn’t lose out to mine.”
She said with a smile.
I studied her closely.
Now that I could recognize my mana, I could tell.
She had mana too.
And in an extremely dense, concentrated form.
‘...Is she a monster?’
She carried that much power inside her body?
She smiled faintly.
“You don’t have a wand either, right? If you want to borrow one, go to the reception desk. They’ll rent wands cheaply to students who broke or lost theirs.”
“Is a wand really necessary?”
Karanov did too, and so did the wand at her waist.
Everyone in this world either wore a wand at their waist or carried one.
“You really don’t know anything, do you? For magic above basic magic, efficiency drops sharply if you don’t use a wand.”
She lightly waved her hand.
“Then that’s it for my personal gift. Basic magic isn’t my specialty to begin with. Learn well from Professor Karanov.”
And with that, Isabel left. But.
It worked.
It really worked.
The star burst over my palm, briefly tinting my face and hair before disappearing.
“Star, Platina.”
I cast the magic over and over right there.
Until all the mana I’d drawn out was gone.
I grinned, certain of it.
This place was no gate or anything like that.
It was just a lucky break.
Like one of those martial arts manuals that sometimes turn up in China, or some absurdly broken artifact that comes out of a tower.
This place was definitely one of those lucky breaks too.
Just as I was getting excited, her last words pricked at me a little.
‘Learn well from Professor Karanov.’
Ugh.
That professor was kind of obnoxious, though.
I headed straight for the dormitory.
***
Central bulletin board.
A magical bulletin board used when there were important events, final exams, or very important announcements.
Among the board-type magical tools created by the Empire’s mages, it was especially high-performance.
A crowd of people had gathered in front of it.
There were plenty of freshmen, but even more were upperclassmen up through sixth year.
The dormitory exam rankings had been posted.
Checking the rankings to see whether you knew someone, or talking about them, had already become something like a tradition.
“As expected, the top scorer is her. Linia Fernandes.”
“...Overall second place... Yumia?”
“Who’s Yumia? Do you know her?”
“How would I know?”
“What, is she some hidden daughter of a noble house or something?”
“If so, she wouldn’t be missing a surname.”
“She took second place without even a unique magic?”
The small blonde girl managed to somehow push through the crowd and check her ranking.
And after checking one more rank, she looked slightly surprised.
Then Aris applied at the reception desk for a dorm key, and stared at the golden key in her hand in disbelief.
“...I’m A-rank!”
I’d been worried because I was right on the cutoff, but it seemed I was properly A-rank.
“That’s right. Here is your dorm key. Please check the map.”
The A-rank dorm was excellent.
Not just the security, but the clean floors and bathroom, the living room and attached bedroom, and even the storeroom with its temperature and humidity controlled by magical tools.
But what she was looking forward to most was the people.
A-rank took in students up to the top 20 percent.
Making friends with a good person.
It was something she had always longed for.
And something she had heard from her older brother.
'Actually, A-rank dorm roommates aren’t assigned randomly. They pair the top scorer with the lowest-ranked A-ranker, and the second place with the person one rank above the bottom.'
She was 13th out of the 14 students in the top 20 percent.
The second-place student was famous.
A mysterious genius whose family name and whether they were noble or commoner were unknown.
'I wonder what kind of person they are...!'
Hoping they’d be a kind person, she recalled the written exam from earlier.
There was a small thud, and the girl who had been sleeping soundly amid the fierce competition...
Professor Karanov, supposedly fair and strict, was glaring at her as if he wanted to kill her.
'I just hope I don’t get caught up in any trouble...!'
Still, well, that girl in particular wouldn't be her roommate.
'Besides, there's no way someone like that could be second place, right?'
...Or so she thought.
“Snore... fwoaaah...”
Until she saw the snow-white-haired beauty curled up in the room, breathing softly in her sleep.