Chapter 68
“You mean House Dreamwell?”
“Yeah.”
“C-can we go there!?”
“Our family members are mostly in the capital rather than the domain, anyway. I think we should head that way.”
The capital, huh.
Come to think of it, I've hardly ever left Reinhardt in this empire.
The magic tool shop was near the school, too.
Even in modern times, I rarely traveled abroad, and in the empire I stayed near the school all the more, so I had even less reason to.
“Sounds fun.”
“If it's the capital, I know the area too!”
Aris seemed excited as well.
“Even so, there's not much to see at our house... I guess touring the capital will be the main event.”
Linia said, stretching her arms wide.
Then even better.
I'd been cooped up indoors lately, so this was just what I needed.
It was about time I got some sunlight.
* * *
When we stepped out of the room, we saw students buzzing all around.
It was the ranking chart pinned to the bulletin board.
The rankings through fourth year were listed from top to bottom.
“I heard that chatting while looking at this is a magic school tradition... but there are way too many people.”
“It's packed.”
“Since every year is here, that's only natural, I suppose.”
Robert had joined us here too.
We gave up on getting close early and just decided to look from afar.
I decided to climb up onto a structure that was basically a lamppost and call out the rankings for the four of us.
My Dragon Eye's clairvoyance trait had improved quite a bit as well.
Reading the letters was a piece of cake.
[Top Student, Yumia]
“First place is mine.”
I wasn't all that surprised.
Karnarov had already called me over separately and even given me a reward.
The other students' reactions were pretty varied.
“Wow, Yumia really is top rank!”
“I thought Linia would be top rank....”
“I heard that one's got Karnarov playing favorites.”
“What? Didn't you see her in the magic duel? That last one was high-level magic.”
“No way....”
“These days it's all about merit, they say. Supposedly it changed after Professor Karnarov arrived...”
As I watched that scene, I thought.
Meritocracy, huh.
Professor.
I think meritocracy should have its own standards, Professor.
“What country's meritocracy is this, where you go all-out on a student?”
At least he gave me the wand; otherwise, I would have taken all sorts of revenge on Karnarov.
I absolutely wouldn't have let it slide.
I would've made him feel every petty thing in the world.
“Ahaha...”
Aris gave an awkward laugh.
“Linia is second... and Robert is third. Third place again.”
“You looking for a fight?”
Robert, who'd been watching from the side, flared up.
But third place is still pretty good, I think.
“Fight? I'm all for it.”
I'll beat you into the dirt.
“I'd rather decline that.”
Tch. What a shame.
I was thinking of settling my grudge against Karnarov here.
“Aris is... fourth.”
“Huh? Really!?”
Aris bounced in place.
“Congratulations.”
Linia offered her congratulations.
I expected it, but... that's pretty high.
Aris was the type who actually enjoyed studying, and she kept watching over me from over my shoulder.
From the start, if Aris hadn't been there, I wouldn't have gotten first place either.
The one who caught me when I tried to run away from my desk and forced me to study was Aris, after all.
You could practically say Aris was the one who made my first place happen.
“When do the report cards come out?”
“I heard they're delivered by mail to our rooms.”
Then I'll check later... or so I thought, until I remembered Karnarov had already spoiled my grades.
A+ in every subject except Imperial History.
I was pretty worried about the math subjects, but it seems I did pretty well.
Linia seemed satisfied even though she'd lost first place.
Still, shouldn't she have some competitiveness, or think first place isn't easy to get, or something?
Though it's nice that she's not a hassle.
As I was mulling it over idly, someone shouted.
“Oh, there’s Yumia!”
At that, quite a few students turned to look this way.
“Eek.”
Now I get why she's satisfied.
All the eyes are on us.
“It's the new top student!!”
“Hey, I'm Bianco Millen, the legitimate son of House Millen. Interested in our family's patronage?”
Someone pushed through the crowd and approached us, making the offer out of nowhere.
I thought he was an unfamiliar face, but the color of the insignia on his cloak was a little different.
I remembered the color for third-years because I'd seen it a bit too often last time, but it wasn't that.
He seemed to be a second-year.
So they let this sort of person in too.
“I'm not interested.”
But even then, you need to consider timing and the like.
“What! To dare refuse this body's offer!! This wounded honor must be restored through a duel...”
Bianco suddenly got angry.
It was a rather arrogant and amusing attitude.
The nicest thing about the semester ending was that magical duels against upperclassmen had been unlocked.
Of course, there was a condition: a faculty member of professor rank or higher had to act as witness, and it was impossible when Selin, the medical professor, was absent.
And the best part was that it had to be by mutual consent.
Nice.
That is truly welcome news.
The first-year beside him tried to stop his suicidal stunt.
“Senior, wait a moment... Yumia is in the third-year magic combat course...”
But he didn't listen.
“A first-year who hasn't learned encryption is no problem at all. The exam was probably set to first-year level anyway.”
“Ahh, you're giving me a chance to use my wand like this...”
“Young Master Bianco?”
While I was wondering how to wreck him in a way that would drag the others down with him, Aris spoke first.
“Oh? Aren't you the young lady of House Script?”
“It's been a while.”
“Ahaha! Indeed I have, but what brings you here...”
Aris said that with a bright smile.
“It seems Yumia doesn't really like this sort of thing.”
“I don't think Yumia herself would agree...”
“I told you.”
Aris was still smiling, but her tone was not smiling at all.
“S-so there was already someone here! My apologies!!”
Bianco ran away.
The other students slowly backed away as well.
“Did you scare him too much?”
I asked.
Honestly, even without scaring him like that, I'd have split his skull myself.
A little disappointing...
“That senior is on the shady side. There are even rumors that House Millen is tied to demons in the noble faction...”
Aris explained the reason.
“You dumped this on me because it was a hassle, didn't you...”
“Mm-hm.”
Linia nodded with a satisfied expression.
* * *
Strike while the iron's hot, they say, so we got a carriage right away.
It wasn't better than the carriage Karnarov or Isabel had arranged for us, but it was decent enough.
“Index, cold.”
As soon as Linia got in, she made the inside cool.
“This is the sort of thing I really like about magic.”
The inside cooled down for the moment.
Of course, there was the drawback that you couldn't keep using magic even while sleeping, and your mind would automatically focus and stay tense.
In other words, it was convenient because with instant magic, you could do things humans couldn't.
“I want to learn a writing spell too.”
Writing by hand is annoying.
“A ghostwriting spell? I have one. Want me to teach you?”
Linia put her wand away.
“...Just how much magic do you have?”
“As much as I can fit into my dreams?”
“...?”
That's awfully abstract.
“Well, you'll understand when you see it later... I'm going to sleep a bit.”
For Linia, who sleeps twelve hours a day, morning wake-ups were brutal...
Linia fell asleep as if collapsing into the plush carriage seat.
I'm sure everyone in that house is like that.
Even in the dorms, she didn't really spend that much time awake and active.
The only time she really got up was when we were eating.
If she quietly came over and opened her mouth, we'd put a few snacks in it.
Then she'd take them and go back to sleep.
It felt like keeping a cat.
And her name is Dreamwell, too.
Linia didn't even acknowledge it.
She seemed to be sleeping very deeply.
“Don't be too hard on her.”
Aris smiled and stopped me.
“I didn't mean it in any especially bad way.”
Sleeping a lot is a good thing.
It's good for your health and your skin, too.
And so the carriage started rolling.
“This carriage goes to the capital. You'll have to get off in the capital and walk a little, is that all right?”
“That's even better!”
“Then let's take a little tour around the capital first!”
And so the scenery outside the window flew by quickly.
Even so...
“It's a bit slow.”
“Ah, come to think of it, it's slower than the cars in Yumia's world, isn't it?”
It was a little odd to compare a supercar to a carriage, but it was definitely slower.
Especially after my agility went up, because I could run at several times this speed even with a light jog.
“This is part of the fun too!”
“Not that I mind, though.”
After chatting idly for a bit, we arrived in no time at all.
“Yaaawn. Are we there?”
“Yes! Let's get off!”
I hopped down from the carriage.
“Did you pack all your things?”
“I don't have anything, so it's fine.”
Linia answered the carriage stop attendant.
I stroked the horse.
-Frrrrr!
“Good, good.”
Watching me stroke its mane, Aris said,
“You're really close with every animal...”
“Hm? Ah.”
By now it was so natural that I did it without thinking.
I took my hand off the horse.
The horse snorted as if disappointed, then buried its head in the haystack the attendant had brought.
I wanted to do a little sightseeing in the capital too.
So I pulled out my wallet to give the attendant a tip....
“I-I'm sorry!!”
Some kid shoved past me and ran by.
I let myself be shoved aside without resistance.
I didn't even loosen my grip on the wallet in my hand.
“I-it's a pickpocket!? Shouldn't we chase...”
Aris said that, but I remained calm.
“What are you talking about?”
I had two wallets in my hand.
“...What's that wallet?”