Chapter 4
“Ah, hello!”
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and looked at the girl in front of me.
I had forgotten.
That there was a roommate system.
It was something I’d already guessed when I saw there were two beds....
“Excuse me....”
“…H-hello....”
When I greeted her, she flinched in alarm.
She seemed to be scared of something....
“…You’re Miss Yumia... right?”
“You know my name?”
“Of course! You’re famous!”
...I only entered this school yesterday, so why am I famous?
I soon found out the reason.
“You’re second in the year!”
“…What?”
Second place?
I thought something was odd the moment they gave me the A-rank key, but second in the year?
I just hoped I wouldn’t attract attention.
“…Ahem. Anyway, my name is Aris Script. Please call me Aris!”
I gave her a once-over.
Blonde hair that covered half her back and a cute face.
The little cowlick swaying atop her head was especially memorable.
She wore a robe and clutched her staff tightly.
“Um, could you tell me where you’re from?”
“…From where?”
“You must have a hometown, right?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then where are your parents from?”
“Don’t know.”
“Ah, uh, I see.”
“No, wait.”
There’s been a misunderstanding.
A very serious misunderstanding.
“Um... do you know how to use magic?”
It felt like the conversation was going in a strange direction.
“I know how to, but... want me to show you?”
I wanted to somehow wipe away that look of pity.
I raised my hand and chanted.
But the pity in her eyes only deepened.
Come to think of it, this was the sort of thing you’d explain to a five-year-old...
“You don’t... have a staff?”
“Haa... I guess I need to go borrow one now...”
The fear had vanished from her eyes.
Was this... what a noble would look like when looking at a pauper?
“I-it’s okay! You can learn one step at a time. Um!”
It seemed she had misunderstood something.
She grabbed my hand tightly.
“I’ll definitely guide you onto the right path!”
Well, whatever.
***
The next day seemed to have no classes.
They said the semester would start the day after that.
So I suggested to Aris that we go around together.
“This is the student cafeteria. Want to eat first?”
“Sure.”
There were A and B cafeterias, and Aris went into A naturally.
“Just pay here.”
It seemed Aris had arrived here a week earlier.
So I naturally took out the wallet where I’d put the money Isabella gave me.
And when I saw the price written there, I put the wallet back.
“…Three silver coins?”
That was my entire fortune.
Aris looked at me as if that were somehow a problem.
“…It’s expensive.”
“If you’re not going to buy anything, move.”
I turned around at the familiar voice.
It was Karnarov.
He tossed three silver coins into the basket as if to show off.
Clink.
He walked away to the staff dining area without even looking back.
“…?”
What a strange man.
I took the flustered Aris and left the cafeteria.
“I’m sorry... I didn’t think you’d be short on money.”
Aris bowed her head and apologized to me, but I didn’t really mind.
“Do you always pay this much for meals?”
“No. My family sends a donation to the school, so...”
From what I’d heard, if this school received donations above a certain amount, it waived the student’s meal costs.
And I didn’t have that.
“Ah! If you’re exceptionally talented, there’s also a route where you get sponsorship from other nobles! Yumia, you’re second in the year, right? To my father...”
“When does that happen?”
“The... semester after next?”
“Gyaaaah.”
Seeing me practically frothing at the mouth, Aris made a suggestion.
“There is a B cafeteria... Want to go?”
The B cafeteria cost 30 copper.
Three silver coins were 300 copper, so it was ten times cheaper.
And the quality was.
No, how the hell is this worse than army chow?
Dry, crumbly bread, some watery soup, and a chunk of meat that smelled gamey and had some weird hair stuck to it.
“…Ugh.”
Maybe because she grew up in a good family, Aris seemed to have a hard time eating it.
Wasn’t this the biggest danger in this gate?
Serving disgustingly awful, expensive food as economic revenge against intruders...
No way that was it.
It was just average for this world.
This.
“Eugh...”
A sigh slipped out of me.
For now, I was hungry, so I ate everything anyway.
This body is convenient.
I don’t gain weight, and no matter how much I eat, my looks stay the same.
But that’s only an advantage in a modern world where food is plentiful.
In an environment without food, it’s actually a disadvantage.
I took Aris, who couldn’t even bring herself to touch the meat, and went outside.
It’s ridiculously hard to make a living....
“I-I can lend you money!? My allowance is 15 silver a week, so... if it’s just a few meals...”
I looked into her pure eyes.
For a moment, it was a tempting offer.
But borrowing money from such an innocent kid...
I shook my head for now.
“…I see. Then let’s do our best. I’ll help you from the side too!”
We went to the reception desk and borrowed my staff.
Right, for now I just had to somehow make do with the 2 silver and 57 copper in my hand...!
“The rental fee is 2 silver and 50 copper per week.”
This is seriously absurd.
I’m going to lose my staff within a week too...
There are too many places I need to spend money on.
I need clothes, I need to rent a staff, I need food....
Let’s try to somehow gather money first.
Gathering money was added to my goals.
But seriously, how am I supposed to do that?
***
I looked up at the ceiling in the dorm room.
This place is different from the modern world.
The novels and webtoons that had been popular both before and after I turned into a girl.
The worlds in those were much more similar to this one.
I spread out my belongings.
My smartphone, wallet, credit card, and spare change.
The smartphone still had 43 percent battery left.
I’d already set it to a mode that barely used battery, but even so, I didn’t have much left.
“Could I ask what that is?”
“…This?”
Aris took an interest in the smartphone.
I taught Aris how to use it.
Aris learned the controls very quickly.
She’s not like the old ladies. Guess that’s because she’s young.
At the place I used to volunteer, even getting on the internet took forever.
“U-um... I don’t get it. What kind of writing is this? Wow... when you press it, all sorts of letters appear... What an amazing magic tool!”
So that’s how she interpreted it.
I almost showed her the camera too, but decided to explain that later.
I left the bewildered Aris alone and opened the status window.
Ever since I came here, my traits had helped me a lot.
I decided to roughly look over the status window and organize my thoughts, but...
Name: Yumia
Ability: [Primitive Magic]
Traits:
[Conversion]
[Great Mage’s Aptitude]
[Nature Affinity]
[Dark Mage’s Aptitude]
[Magic Circle Mathematician]
[Blessing of Language]
[Dragon Eye]
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“Do you know what Primitive Magic is?”
“Primitive Magic is what they call the magic from the era before staffs were even invented... Is there some problem?”
“No, nothing.”
Apparently the status window recognized magic as an active skill.
My certainty deepened.
This place is a gold mine.
***
Three or four days passed.
Reinhardt’s classes were divided into morning classes and afternoon classes.
There were days without classes, but days with both morning and afternoon classes were rare.
“Ugh...”
I clutched my starving stomach and headed to afternoon class.
But today’s class was a little different.
Classes had always been held in tiered lecture halls.
But today’s class was being held in a lecture hall that was more like a practice room, with only a podium and a blackboard at the front.
Because the subject was [Basic Magic], not a theory class like [History of Magic] or [Herbology].
At last, I can learn magic...
It somehow felt like I’d become a late-blooming student.
Even though I was clearly a proper student here....
“Um... would you like this too? I brought it from the cafeteria and didn’t eat it...”
Unable to watch any longer, Aris held out a piece of bread.
I wolfed it down in no time.
Even though it was cold, the bread was still incredibly soft.
“Aris, you’re the only one...! As expected, you’re my one and only precious friend...!”
I took Aris’s hand in mine.
“H-heh...?”
Human warmth settled into my hand.
Workers need bread...!
What makes someone a noble anyway? If you give me bread, you’re a noble.
If all nobles were like Aris, there wouldn’t have been any riots...!
“T-these are things I bought at the snack stand too, but if it’s okay...!”
Aris blushed and took out some other snacks too.
You’re the best friend ever.
“A friend!? A friend... ehehe.”
No, maybe she was an angel.
The one who feeds you is a good person. Yep.
***
Before long, class time arrived.
“Uh, wait, why is that person...”
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a class run by the teaching assistant...?”
The students’ expressions turned sour.
Especially the upperclassmen retaking the class after failing looked even worse.
The reason was the man standing in front of the podium.
It was Karnarov.
As soon as Karnarov came in, the atmosphere changed in an instant.
Even the students who’d been chattering shut their mouths at once.
Karnarov stood at the front of the podium and took out his staff.
Then, with a creak, a training dummy rose to its feet.
It seemed to be a training dummy.
“I’ll begin class. The subject is [Basic Magic].”
Karnarov, in his uniform, grinned.
“I’ll warn you in advance. This class will be the hardest one for you to get a good grade in.”
He raised his staff.
Mana gathered on the staff.
It was as if an Awakener were using an ability.
If you ignore the sophisticated rules and how dense it is, it would be similar.
Though that was the most important part.
“But if you successfully master this magic as I, Karnarov, intend.”
A blue line swept across the practice hall.
—Paaang!
A clear sonic boom rang out.
The training dummy’s head had vanished from the neck up.
The students stared blankly with their mouths open.
I was the same.
I was certain.
“I can say for certain that you’d all be perfectly fit to serve as mage soldiers right away.”
If you master that, you’ll be able to start climbing the Tower right away.